IMPOSTER - PART TWENTY ONE

PREVIOUSLY

A cold chill surrounded and settled over her feverish body and she heard a voice that was Todd's but had some strange quality behind it. She felt a chunk of her long hair being grabbed forcefully and her head was jerked back as the voice whispered in her ear in a breath thick and hot. "Do you know me, Tea? Do you...now?"

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The question posed to her in such a contemptuous manner pierced her heart with terrible agony as she heard it. Pete! No! You're not him anymore! I would know him now. His smooth cheek pressed against the side of her face, and his hand grasping her hair did not loosen its grip on her. So what is this? Who is this? Suddenly her body relaxed again, and she moved her head toward his with no trepidation. So, Todd, my love, you are testing me, aren't you? You want to frighten me, is that it? You want me to see the real you, and cower before your hideous nature. Sorry, Manning, I'm not backing off this time!
Todd listened to her shallow breathing and waited for any sign of fear from her. His heart beat wildly and his rational mind tried to expose the cruelty of what he had just done. Somehow he knew he was torturing himself more than her because he didn't think he deserved any happiness. Not after all the things he had done. How could he ever start over from a life full of missteps down a road headed for his own self-destruction? He was out on a ledge now as he had been that day at the hospital. Viki had coaxed him down. Tea was pulling him in, too, but he knew that there were expectations of him waiting on the other side of that ledge. I don't know, Tea! You've already been through so much with me -- more than any other woman would ever do.

Delgado got off the phone and almost growled out loud with impatience after listening to the report from the helicopter. Nothing yet. Damn! He wanted to take off himself and plunge headlong into the ground search, but he was the lead man on this one, and he had to be with the police as a go-between and coordinator. He would have much rather done it as he had done when he was staking out the bodega -- knee deep in fieldwork with little interference from the Department or the locals. Thinking of the "locals" made him grit his teeth. Sykes! Now there was a cold, pragmatic professional if ever he saw one! He admitted to a kind of grudging respect for his tight control over his crew, but Sykes was a man who did everything by the book. He, on the other hand, was not. I do what it takes, and I will do what it takes to find you, Tea. To hell with the Department, to hell with the locals and to hell with that monster who duped you into marrying him. Todd Manning, when they find you, you are mine!

The glossy black coats of the dogs shone against the flashlight of their trainer, and once more Maloney halted his search as the dogs zeroed in on another smell -- this time from the side of the cabin road. Both Marcus and Damon alerted him that they had located a smell similar to the one on the shirt he had given them to sniff. So Manning had been on foot down in this area -- but when? Edwards had filled him in on what that sister of his had told Sykes. She had seen a car traveling at top speed pass her on this road. His guess was that the woods were no longer where they were, and to continue here was a waste of their time.
Maloney signaled the other men on his team tramping through the woods to rendezvous with him. "We're gonna do some branching out, guys," he spoke to his dogs as he always did -- as if they were human. It was time to move out into the countryside off the main road. That's where I think you are, Mr. Manning, and that open land out there will be a lot easier for my beauties to pick up your scent.

Tea knew only one thing in this moment -- she knew she had to let him know that his attempt to defy her love for him had yielded nothing.
"Whoever you are...whatever you are...you're mine!" Tea answered him with unwavering finality and her fingers reached up to entwine with his own fingers still clutching her hair.
Something in her forcefulness brought him up sharply to look at her again. This woman! This woman with the tinge of color to her skin and the honey- brown eyes who alone had claimed his soul out of all the other souls of men out there that she could have had. Tea...Tea..this is the only man I am. Am I enough for you? When you unravel me and all my identities, will I be the Todd Manning you will want to have a life with?
From out of her steady gaze he caught a flicker of recognition -- a direct sign to him that she called his bluff and refused to be daunted by his old tactics. You have survived all of my destructiveness, and even you...you, Tea, are much more than I ever expected. You didn't know then how to deal with my hate, but look at you now!
The scarred, shadowy face of Todd Manning seemed to melt into another visage. This visage altered from a face desperately masking the forces of bitterness and self-loathing into one softened by a selfless love and admiration for another human being. HIs long fingers slowly loosened around her smaller ones, and he moved his arms in a protective way around her -- slightly lifting her petite body into his larger one so that there was no longer any space between them.
"You've always had me, Tea," he whispered and he finally acknowledged to himself that he could love her with no pretense or fear that she would discover the unknowns to his character. The fiery gates of hell still lurked in the shadows of his guilt, but he chose not to allow them to come to the forefront of his life anymore. With a final powerful release of everything holding him back, he gave up the ghost of his tainted spirit, and made her his.

Viki Carpenter slowed the Continental down in marked contrast to the speed she had been doing previously. She knew she was nearing the entrance road to her cabin, and she wanted to see what was happening with the police search. Not too far away from that road, she had been chasing her brother's Lamborghini. If she was right with her instincts, she felt sure that he and Tea were both hiding out down one of those country roads near the cabin. Dimly visible behind the countryside was the outline of mountains overlooking the entire vista of land. She had chosen this cabin retreat long ago because she loved the wilderness and enjoyed hiking in the mountains. It was something she had meant to get back into, but her DID problem had buried so many of her dreams. Looking at those mountains now gave her a sad, bittersweet feeling, but she shook it off in her mind. I'm living proof that there is such a thing as a second chance. There's lots more I want to do with my life. There's lots more waiting just around the corner.
For some reason, she glanced sideways at the man sitting next to her in the intimate confines of her car. Here was a rugged, good-looking blue-eyed man who was as sharp as she was and equally bent on helping a man who needed all the help he could get. There was something about his sensitive, caring nature which touched her -- yet, his gentleness blended in with a quick-witted, brash side which kept him from being boring. HIs pleasant, easy-going manner also masked an intensity probably only a few women had ever seen. Strange. You and I are somewhat alike, Sam. We both look like we take life in stride, but underneath we are anything but calm. In fact, we really prefer that no one guess how life has changed us.
It had been a long time since she had spent time alone with a man, and this was certainly not how she would have pictured getting to know someone. Still, being thrown into this mess almost against their wills, had forced them to form a connection which was next to impossible to ignore. Viki stole another glance at Sam's well-proportioned, masculine shape. Not a bad body, either!
Sam Rappaport felt the hair rise on the back of his head due to several reasons as the car was slowing down. One of them was the persistent feeling that he was the object of her scrutiny and the other reason overrode the first as the night air carried a not so faraway sound to his ears. Dogs barking! As the car passed at a snail's pace by the cabin road, he noticed pinpoints of lights filtering through the dense forest next to the road. Maybe she didn't notice he thought hopefully. This was not good! Trackers were out scouring the area with dogs!
Viki moved past the road silently -- seemingly unaware of what was taking place. She had heard the barking noises and seen the evidence of searchers, but her entire focus was now consumed with finding that road that she knew his Lamborghini had taken to elude her. She tried to think back to that moment when she had been in pursuit of his car and remembered seeing a few of the side roads ahead. His car had still been in front of her then. All at once, she slammed her foot on the gas as she spotted a road that was unfamiliar to her. I don't remember this one at all. Not far from this road ws the hill up ahead which she had zoomed over -- thinking that Todd was right in front of her. It has to be this one! It has to!

Tea's eyes barely opened as she attempted to find sensation in her limbs again. Against her chest she felt the prickle of hair, and her entire body shuddered involuntarily again at the thought of what she had just experienced. Todd Manning had possessed her as if he were a dying man who only had a few moments to live. She supposed that he was collapsed with exhaustion, but when her lids lifted, a familiar pair of hazel eyes stared right back at her -- as if he hadn't taken his eyes off her for a second. He ran his finger over her cheek as if in awe of her and softly brushed her lips with his full, sensual mouth -- that mouth that was once more beckoning to her. Instinctively she pulled his body to her -- aching for him again. The smile that lit up his face was even more startling since it hadn't been often that she had seen this side of his disposition. The warmth of his mood filtered into her senses and she felt her mind and body reacting to the pure ecstasy of having him with her. His face hovered above hers and his eyes slanted with intensity as he spoke out into the quiet enclosing them.
You're mine now, Delgado!"
All she could do was nod wordlessly as her still shaking body let this man envelop her again in his arms and send her once more to a place she had never been with any man before. The depth of his need for her had so astounded every sensibility within her that she had actually sobbed with total abandonment of her emotions. If I ever thought I loved you, querido, I didn't know enough then about you to be certain. You are the center of who I am, Todd Manning. When I found you, I found myself.
Every moment with her was like a golden treasure to him as he wrapped her beautiful form up against him. Now that she was his in every way, his exultation seemed to know no bounds and he wished with everything in him that there was not a world around him trying to ruin any happiness he could have. But this is happening now, and it's been what I wanted, Tea -- even if I didn't show you until now. This is only the beginning of what you will know. There's so much more.

The Continental floated down the isolated road which bordered a sprawling area of land dotted with trees and vegetation. A few small points of light flickered from a distance, but there were no houses close by. The darkened road wound around in a kind of curve, and Viki's eyes tried to focus in the blackness around them.
"Viki, do you really think he could be down here?" Sam asked -- his eyes trying to adjust for the lack of light and the gnawing thought that they were on a wild goose chase. Maybe Todd and Tea were long gone from this area.
"I don't know, Sam, but I do try to give my hunches a chance," Viki said as her eyes squinted out into the thick covering of night. Why do I feel so strongly that you're here? Sometimes I wonder if we're not connected in some psychic way.
For some unknown reason, she slowed down almost to a stop as she passed an offshoot of the road -- a rough, unpaved section off to the side. Something glimmered through the darkness and she slammed her foot on the brake.
Sam lurched with the suddenness of the stop and eyed her quizzically. Viki peered past his shoulder at the shadowy form of something quite large and motionless.
"There!" she extended her arm and pointed her finger at what she knew to be Todd's car.
Sam turned his head toward his window and this time saw the unmistakable outline of the automobile.
"The Lamborghini!" he exclaimed with almost a gasp and something of dread and relief at seeing it. This meant one thing. They had a chance now to find them. Now he and Viki would be in a race against time to find them before the authorities did.

Tea eagerly drank in the entire gamut of sensations poring through her. The intoxicating smell of him...the touch of his smooth skin pressing into hers...the absolute unbelievable feeling of his presence invading her. She was shamefully aware that she couldn't get enough of him. It was as if she had been out on some parched desert and was at last quenching her intense thirst. There was a wealth of mystery still about him that she wanted to fathom and explore.
A very faint rumbling which sounded out of the stillness of the perfect August night caused every nerve in Todd's body to react as he heard it. He knew that sound. He remembered that sound from another time -- a time when he had also been hunted down like an animal. Just great! They sent out a helicopter!

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~