IMPOSTER - PART FIFTEEN

PREVIOUSLY

Sam had reached out and grabbed the door rest on the car as the Continental spun around -- his body lurching against the side of the door. He stared in amazement at the woman sitting next to him -- the refined matriarch of a powerful Llanview family -- who had just given him a show of driving which left him speechless.
"Viki!" he managed to find his voice again, "What in the Sam Hill are you doing?"

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"What do you think I'm doing, Sam?" she spoke evenly but with an imperceptible twinkle in her eye. "I'm in hot pursuit of that car!"
"You're what?" he licked his lip nervously as the Continental barreled down the road at a very fast clip.
"Viki! Let's be rational here! There's a very dangerous man inside that car with Tea. We can't go off half-cocked after a crazed maniac like Pete!"
"I intend to find out where he's going. I promised Todd that I would help Tea and that's what I'm doing -- so put a sock in it, Sam!" Viki said in a tone that meant business.
Sam Rappaport threw his hands up in the air in a surrendering gesture. What can I do? She's his sister! They're cut from the same cloth!

Todd Manning peered into the rear view mirror and saw the car they had just passed a few seconds before almost pivot on its wheels and turn back toward them. Who the he!! is driving that car? The police? The FBI? No sirens. Who would be nuts enough to follow them - someone evidently who knew who they were and was intent on keeping up with them. One name came to his mind, and his hazel eyes widened with amusement at the picture of this person in a road race with him. Viki! She probably had figured out that Pete would come to her cabin and had decided to check it out. Viki, you're a wild woman! Must be the Lord genes coming out. Well, sister of mine, let's see what you've got!
His foot bore down on the gas and pushed the magnificent machine to an even greater acceleration and with expert control, he turned right at the end of the cabin road with little time to check if there were any other oncoming cars on the road.
Tea's brow wrinkled up in worry as the Lamborghini made the sudden turn onto the main road. "Todd, for God's Sake, don't kill us trying to get out of here!"
With his arms stretched out over the wheel with complete ease, he laughed boyishly and then abruptly changed his expression to a serious one. "Do you think I would let anything happen to you, Tea? Now that I've found myself again, you're the Number One priority in my life -- you and Starr, of course." As he said this, his entire face softened in a way that made Tea marvel that this was the same face that had been a vision of cruelty and revenge. A disturbing thought crossed her mind which she immediately pushed farther back into the recesses of her memory. Todd had said that Pete was still alive within him somewhere. What did he mean by that? How did she know that Pete would be locked away for good?
As the Lamborghini sped down the road, the Continental smoothly made the right turn onto the main road. The pursued automobile was already at least half a mile up the road and gaining in momentum with every second. With a sudden new burst of speed, the finely engineered vehicle shot further ahead and disappeared from view over a hill.

"Where are they?" Sam asked as their car rapidly advanced over the hill and there was not a sign of any car in sight.
The late night stillness pervaded the atmosphere around them, and Viki heard the complete frustration in her voice as she realized that this crafty alter named Pete had given her the slip.
"Damn! We lost them!" she said with her face screwed up in a frown and a hard slap of her hand against the steering wheel.

As Todd had roared over the hill, he scanned the surrounding side roads quickly. Viki might be on his tail for some time unless he did something right away. His muscular arms gripped the wheel and swung the car into a peaceful-looking country road. It was a very rural area, so there were only about two lights off to a distance, which indicated there were houses there. After several minutes, he pulled over to the side of the road and cut off the engine.
"Why are we stopping?" Tea questioned him and peeked out through the tinted glass to see where they were.
"Just a little break, Delgado. Viki needs to think she's lost us, so I had to come up with this little manuever...not bad, huh?" the curves of his mouth moved up in a smile as he mentally congratulated himself for getting the best of Viki.
"You think that car> was Viki's? Todd, you're crazier than I thought! Why would Viki be way out here?"
"Because it's her cabin, Tea!" he shot back and watched her face begin to change.
"Ohhhh...I see. Pete knew about this place, too! You must have stayed there before then?"
Todd's handsome facial features flinched and he remembered back to another period of insanity in his life -- yet another chapter of his confused existence that he wanted to close forever. I will tell you everything, Tea. Just give me some time. That's what I really need now -- time to straighten out this mess.
"Yeah...I did stay there once." he said and then abruptly reached for the glove compartment. "Wanta snack?"
"A snack?" Tea looked at him in amazement. "But you didn't...I mean...Pete...didn't ever get to the store."
He pulled down the door to the compartment and she stared at an assortment of plastic wrapped packages stuffed inside.
"Twinkies?" she said and began to giggle in spite of herself as he plopped one down in her lap and grabbed another one.
"Yeah! You like them?"
Tea looked at the compartment filled with other goodies. "Can I have those Hostess cupcakes instead?" she asked, ogling the chocolate icing.
"Delgado, for you...anything!" he said as he substituted the cupcakes for the Twinkies and grinned at her sudden interest in her selection.
Tea thought about how she had had a large, sumptuous meal earlier, but for some reason -- maybe it was all the intensity of the car chase -- she was starving. She ripped open the package and brought one of the delicious- looking cupcakes to her lips. "Mmmmm...I haven't had one of these in years. They were always my favorite!"
As she munched away with extreme satisfaction, she eyed him devouring his Twinkie and laughed out loud. "Todd, you're always so prepared, aren't you? You and your stash of Twinkies!"
He smacked his lips and nodded at her, "If you were me, Delgado, wouldn't you always be prepared?"
"You have a point there!" she said between mouthfuls. In her haste to eat, she wasn't aware that some of the creamy filling of the cupcake was left on the side of her mouth.
Todd looked at her face and his eyes twinkled. "Delgado, you've got something on your mouth...wait...let me get that..."
His index finger extended out and wiped a small bit of the white filling from her mouth and leaning closer, he touched his finger to his own lips and tasted it -- all the while looking at her eyes with complete awareness of what he was doing and letting her know that he was doing it. A second later his lips brushed up against the side of her mouth and he tasted the flavor again -- this time moving his full lips across the corner of her mouth in a slow, sensual way which left her frozen with the shock of his move. As if seeking to find one special spot, his mouth continued to inch around hers -- savoring every miniscule area of her skin until his lips found their target -- her lips -- and a thrill shot through her that made her feel giddy and mindless.
"Tea," he whispered hoarsely as his lips parted from her soft, moist mouth, and he suddenly looked at her with full-blown desire in his eyes -- acknowledging that he was the one who was fighting a losing battle and must surrender completely to her.
The only sound in the hushed quiet of the car was their own breathing which became louder as an unseen current of emotion passed between them. Tea's eyelids lowered as she felt the impact of what was happening between them -- all those days and nights of torturous loneliness -- like a wide channel of water that neither one of them had been able to cross successfully because of misread feelings and shattered, haunted pasts. They had known that they loved each other, but until now, there had been so much that had come between them -- a murder mystery, a night in a lodge and an awful moment in a shed. Yet the connection had continued throughout all of it -- even when neither one of them wanted to believe. Something almost mystical existed between them beyond the stark realm of the real world.
I want you, Delgado! I want you to be mine -- not for a brief moment or for a few pleasurable hours -- but always! I want to see and know all the beauty of you, Tea. I even want to know the hidden parts of your soul that aren't so perfect. Tea, if you could see inside me, you would know that you are loved more than you will ever know -- by a man who has been on a quest for your love since the day he first laid eyes on you. One day I'll tell you this.

Oh, Todd. Why doesn't anyone see who you really are? I saw it. I saw something in you that wanted out of your self-imposed prison -- a man who had tried to rise above a brutal crime of violence and had chosen to fight the forces within him rather than give in to it. Am I insane to love you? Everyone seems to think so -- they only see the side of you you show the world, but you've shown me so much more, Todd. That mask of indifference you perfected to shut out everyone and all the hurt they've caused you cracked for me, didn't it? I don't expect you to change into someone else, querido. I just want you, Manning!
The serenity of the night was in direct contrast to what was taking place between them. The moon overhead cast a mellow glow over the car, which sat parked on a lonely stretch of road. The two occupants of the car stared at each other with profound awe that there could be another person on the planet to love and cherish. Tea glanced at her hands, which had suddenly turned very pale and were trembling. I can't look at you anymore -- I can't! Her long lashes lowered almost to her cheeks as the staggering depth of her feelings betrayed her.
All the control that Todd had ever exhibited toward her disappeared in an instant and his arms reached out and pulled her body to him as if he thought he could keep her there forever.
"My God, Tea, what have you done to me?" His long hair fell forward against her shoulders and several tears slid slowly down his face and across his scar as his entire body shook against her. She held onto him and pressed her body into his large frame, whispering soft, comforting words in Spanish while caressing his silky hair. She knew instinctively that he was finally releasing the unfathomable well of hurt stored away inside of him. It's time, my love. You've been lonely for so long. Let it go!

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~