IMPOSTER - PART TWENTY SEVEN

PREVIOUSLY

"OHHHHH!!!!" he screamed out as he felt a piercing slash of pain in his head. His arm shot up to his forehead and simulataneously his foot, which had been precariously wedged between a rock and a deepening hole in the earth, seemed to collapse beneath him. His right knee came crashing down and the rest of his body tumbled awkwardly forward into some unknown abyss. Weightlessness engulfed him as his form rolled over and over and down -- hitting sharp, hardened surfaces as he fell further. Landing with a thud, his large body sprawled out -- his hair strewn over his pale skin. Steady drips of water were the only sounds disturbing the bleak quiet of the cavern, and the limp, unconscious body of Todd Manning lay as if dead in the tomb of the mountain.

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A strange rustling, flapping noise stirred his consciousness and Todd's eyes flickered open to stare up into nothingness. His right arm felt as if a long needle was twisting in and out of his flesh and with a loud groan, he attempted to move it. Landing the way that he had, he was sure that he had broken something. With a sharp intake of breath, he slowly moved the damaged arm and hunching forward, raised his body up slightly. At least my back isn't broken! Other sensations of pain pierced through him with his efforts to rise. He knew that he must have numerous open gashes and torn skin from hitting the pointed surface of the rocks. I'm probably bleeding all over...but I'm still alive! Wasn't this kind of like one of those times at his highschool football games when he got clobbered by several bulldog-like tackles? He tried to reassure himself that his body had been through worse. This is nothing compared to Ireland.

The flapping noise coming from somewhere overhead in the dark stopped his thoughts of his condition. Bats! What else could it be? The idea of these creatures hovering over him was somehow more loathsome than the fact that he was stranded and crippled in the cave. Along with this noise was another one -- a kind of dripping which seemed to be everywhere and which he couldn't pinpoint. Water! Maybe I can get to some...but now I can barely move. The intense physical discomfort infusing his limbs refused to abate. I can just see you now, Delgado...clucking at me like a Mother Hen and fussing over me. God! That would be so good to hear now!

Sam stole a look back at Viki to see her reaction to his statement. It wasn't the subject that was so shocking as to why he had told her. This was a very private memory from his past which he had shared with no one. Maybe it was because it had been his first marriage, or that he had been such a fool, but either way, he had been distrustful of opening up his soul to someone else about it -- particularly to a woman. He noted that her glittering blue eyes had not given the slightest hint of anything but a genuine interest in all he was saying.

"That's it...well, most of it. The epilogue to that story of love and betrayal isn't very entertaining -- a quick divorce and on to a new life."

Tilting her head just a fraction of an inch, Viki looked steadily at him and spoke quietly, "Our pasts make us who we are today, Sam."

Sam stared down into his drink and realized that her words had acted like a balm to his disquieted spirit. He hadn't gone this far back in his memory for years, but talking about it again seemed perfectly natural with her. This is a woman who understands pain...there's nothing shallow about Viki Carpenter.

Tea almost jumped with the noise of a loud knock on the front door of the penthouse. She had been sitting on the sofa -- her legs tucked up underneath her and hugging a large pillow to her chest. It was the pillow she had tossed to Todd the night that Todd had mysteriously disappeared and the beginning of the debacle marked by a young woman's murder. Sometimes in her thoughts she went back to that night and wondered what would have happened if she had not fallen into a deep sleep. He had pulled her to him and kissed her as if he meant to break down the barrier of distrust still lurking between them.

"Coming!" Tea called out and wished for one brief moment that the person on the other side of the door was her husband who had just forgotten his key.

She opened up the door to look at the imposing presence of her brother, Del -- his large shape towering over her and his smooth face broadening with a huge smile. In one quick movement, his large arms moved in and enclosed her small frame -- hugging her to with with brotherly fervor.

"Te..a! I've missed you!"

Tea felt the crushing weight of his body against hers and a sense of relief settled within her. Del is here! He'll help me!

"Del!" she exclaimed with pleasure at seeing him after such a long time and believing in her heart that her big brother was the answer to her problem. She hugged him back -- squeezing his arms in admiration.

"You've been working out again, haven't you?" she said teasingly as he slowly released her.

"I never stopped!" he grinned and looked past her welcoming face and into her eyes to see what was going on with her. She looks different...something has changed. I'm going to find out once and for all what really happened to her when she was held hostage by that sorry bastard husband of hers.

"You're all right, then?" he said, searching her face some more.

"What kind of FBI man would you be if you didn't know the answer to that, Del!" she said in a feisty manner -- knowing that her brother's question had not been necessary for him to ask.

Del commandingly led her to the sofa and pulled off the heavy field jacket he was wearing -- slinging it haphazardly over one of the living room chairs.

"You're right about that, chiquita. I was aware of everything going on. We were working with Sykes on this one."

"Really, Del!" she said dryly. "I doubt you were working with John Sykes at all!"

"You have a point," he responded with a slight bit of humor appearing in his deep voice.

"John wants me to come down to the station tomorrow and make a statement," she said matter-of-factly, "but I may delay that." She swallowed -- preparing herself for her what she would say next and remembering her original purpose in calling him.

"I need your help, Del -- desperately!"

"Anything...you know that, Tea!" He paused and his large, vibrant eyes suddenly hardened with awareness. "Anything but help that loser husband of yours."

"Then you don't want to help me, Del, because Todd and I are one...one!" she snapped back this last statement in Spanish with fiery indignation at his remark.

"What the hell did you expect me to say, Tea? I've just come off a manhunt for a man who abducted you by force and dragged you to some cabin in the woods where you could have been raped or killed...or both...and you want me to help him?" Del boomed in a thunderous voice back to her. "The man is loco!"

Biting her lower lip, Tea fought back tears of frustration at his words and the ring of truth in them. "I'm not going to defend that, Del...that was not the man I married. It was a side of him..but not him."

"Oh, yes! The alters! I know all about that, Tea," he said with a voice rich with sarcasm, "and your love for this multi-faceted creature has blinded you to everything! He's a fake and a fraud -- a user of women. You were duped, chiquita. He's as clever as they come."

"I was there, Del!" she retorted haughtily, "you were not! I saw what was happening to him, and there could be no mistaking that he had that disorder."

"Then he's an even greater menace to society, isn't he? He needs to get help..but Tea, you're missing something. Todd isn't here."

"You know where he is? Tell me, Del! If he's been picked up..."

Del saw her questioning eyes staring at him -- so startingly intense and capable of flooding with tears in an instant. What do I tell her?

Todd opened his eyes and realized that he must have lapsed into unconsciousness again. This is no time to sleep, Manning! You've got to get out of here before it's too late. Pulling himself up to a sitting position, he gritted his teeth as the pain assumed control of him again. It's just pain...use it...go with it Remember Ireland and four bullets lodged inside you! His left arm anchored against the surface where he had fallen to give himself a push up. Shuddering with this exertion, he stood precariously on the ground and tried to get his bearings. Sounds were the only indication of where he was, so he decided to use them. He would follow the invisible trail of the water dripping.

As his feet moved awkwardly in the direction of the sound, he stopped suddenly and crouched down with a gasp as the original flapping of wings he had heard nose-dived close to his head. Pesky little suckers! All I need is for one of them to bite me! No telling what kind of diseases they carry! The flapping ceased and he rose up to start walking again -- holding his injured arm in a locked position against his chest. The smell of underground water seeped into his nostrils as he inched his way toward it.

"Sam," Viki interruped his thoughts and casting a look at her watch, downed the last drop of Scotch in her glass. "I've got to be going...I didn't realize the time..." she said all this deliberately in order to save him from delving too much into painful memories. With feigned haste, she handed him the empty glass but kept the book with her. He followed her to the door in something of a daze and searchingly looked at her as she stood at the threshold.

"Viki, I...I don't know why I..." he faltered -- his soft eyes betraying something else which she picked up on immediately, creating a tension between them which was both confusing and electrifying. Some instinct within her caused her to touch his arm lightly and her eyes locked into his -- this time letting him see straight into her soul.

"It's...okay, Sam."

"Viki!" he said urgently as if he were afraid that she would disappear forever. "I'll call you."

It didn't matter what he said; the message was clearer to her than if he had asked her right there if he could see her again. She didn't even bother nodding, but her eyes shone with an innate knowledge that she had somehow become important to this man. The carefully constructed layers of protection from hurt which had guarded her for so long seemed to dissolve with the sound of his voice.

"Good night, Sam," she said simply and turning away, she sensed his stare behind her which made her quicken her steps as she walked to the car. Oh my God! What a night! This isn't real, is it?

Del shifted uneasily in the cushions of the sofa as he felt the pressure of Tea's questions. She doesn't know, of course. How could she? The official word is that he's a prisoner of those caves and is a dead man. How do I tell her that? She's strong, but she loves this Manning like no other man in her life. She had to be told though. She will find out soon enough.

"Tea, there's something you need to know," Del began but she automatically stood straight up from the sofa and stared down at him in a challenging way. "Whatever you have to say, Del..."

"He's not going to be coming back, Tea," Del finished -- waiting expectantly for her to collapse in grief. "He's in a cave somewhere deep in one of those mountains. He's not expected to survive. He may already be dead."

The deepness of her brown eyes intensified and each word he had uttered shot through the core of her being -- almost causing her to keel over with the shock. Another voice penetrated her psyche and saved her from disaster. He's lying! No! No! No!

"No, Del! I would know it!" she fired back at him -- all at once perfectly sure of what she was saying. "Todd Manning is not dead!"

The cold, dead aura of the cavern still pervaded his senses as he hobbled forward, but a feeling came over him that he was almost upon the dripping pool. His mouth watered as he thought of finding the desired liquid, but something else caught him completely by surprise as it entered the area. He stood motionless like a statue -- immobilized and transfixed by what had passed over him. His lungs greedily filled up with the welcome sensation and he shouted out loud in exultation at his discovery -- the echo of his voice resounding against the cavern walls. "Wind!"

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~

Don't ask why, your feet just fly
Green and sky is all that you're needin
Why ask why, when all that's true
The sky is blue, blue for no reason

Try and try, you moan and sigh
You just can't find a thing to believe in
Why ask why, when all that's true
The sky is blue, blue for no reason

Raitt/Brady