IMPOSTER - PART THREE

From Part Two:

"I'm sorry, Viki," Sara's voice broke in over the intercom. "Tea's office said that she has already left for the day."

Part Three continued:

Viki's face turned pale as she realized the full impact of Sara's information. Whatever was going on, she knew she had to get to Tea. Todd had been adament about her not going to the penthouse.
"Sara, can you get me her cell phone number, please?" She nervously waited, hoping that Tea was carrying her phone with her.
"Sorry, Viki. I have her cell number but there is no answer. I have her pager number. Would you like me to try that?"
"Yes...yes, Sara! Thank you!" Viki hoped that this last attempt would be successful. I'll wait five minutes she thought. After five minutes she contacted Sara again.
"Anything, Sara?"
"Nothing, Viki. Sorry. If she calls in, I can call you on your cell phone. This must be an urgent matter."
Viki pressed her lips together tightly. "You don't know the half of it, Sara!" she said. "That's fine. Call me if you hear anything...anything at all. I'm on my way out."
Tea drove home just as the sun was casting its hues of soft rose and gold in the dusky sky. It was an absolutely beautiful night -- not humid at all for a late August, but a little on the cool side for this time of year. She was getting a sort of exhilarated feeling with the cool air blowing gently on her hair and she kept thinking about what Todd...or Tom had said to her.
Something special. It had kept her wondering all day and even as she remembered his words, she saw that her arms on the steering wheel had broken out in goosebumps. Tea, you're being silly. Whatever it is, it's probably not nearly as exciting as you think and not really worth getting so worked up about. She knew she still didn't have any real proof that Todd was faking his condition, but she had chosen to keep an eye on him at the penthouse. It would be very difficult even for Todd to keep up this pretense for an extended period of time, and seeing him every day would allow her to watch for anything at all which would indicate his deceit.
This morning had been rather unnerving she thought. Tom was so eager to please her and youthful in his enthusiasm to the point that she almost forgot there was a chance he was faking. He always seemed perfectly harmless to her and she didn't have one minute's worry while she was there with him. Still, there were a couple of moments today that had left her very confused. If he really had DID, then there could be a possibility that there were other personalities. She had done some research on the subject and even looked into Viki's case file with her permission. Viki had certainly been one messed-up woman then

She reached without thinking into her bag on the seat of the car for her cell phone to call Tom and let him know she was on her way. Oh, yes, the phone. She couldn't imagine what had happened to it. She found out today that it was not in its usual place in her purse. It had mysteriously disappeared, and all Tea could figure was that it was at home somewhere. It just wasn't like her to set it down and not return it to its proper place. Could Tom know something about her phone? Maybe he had used it and forgot to put it back. She didn't like to think that Tom was sneaking into her purse, but his behavior had been so strange, anything was possible. She also carried a pager and that was missing, too.
She dismissed the thought of the missing items. Her mood was in high swing and she didn't want to spoil it. As the colors in the sky deepened and blended with the oncoming sunset, Tea turned on the car radio and began humming a song by Genesis -- "Tonight's the night..."

Viki slapped the steering wheel angrily as she sat behind the line of cars stalled on the highway. What was going on? Some accident somewhere and she just had to be lucky enough to land right in this! She picked up her cell phone and called her office again. Sara told Viki that Tea's office had not heard from her and there was still no way to reach her. For some reason, Viki had not considered leaving a message for Tea at the penthouse. Something told her that this would not be wise. Maybe it was the way Todd had sounded over the phone. The "penthouse" seemed to have some sinister significance, and he had definitely not wanted her there at all.
She got our her pocket phone book and looked up Sam Rappaport's phone number at the Palace.
"Hello?" a young, masculine voice answered.
"Hello. Is this Will?" Viki asked, recognizing that it wasn't Sam.
"Yes. Who's this?"
"Hello, Will. This is Viki Carpenter, Jessie's mom. I was wondering if I could speak with your father."
"Uh, he isn't here right now. He was out with a realtor today, but he's due back any minute. Can I give him a message for you?"
"Yes, please, Will. I will give you my cell number for him to call me, but in case we don't touch base, please tell him to meet me at Todd Manning's penthouse. It's extremely important that you give him the message. Would you do that for me?"
"Sure thing, Ms. Carpenter." Will said rolling his eyes upward as he said it.
Viki hung up and breathed a sigh of relief. At least Sam could get over there to check on Tea even if she couldn't.

Will hung up the phone and felt the surge of anger he always felt when Todd Manning was mentioned. Damn! Same old story. Dad probably has to bail Todd out of another mess. He hadn't been with his Dad much at all today, and already there was an interruption from none other than that pschyo "adopted" son. Well, he was probably going to regret this, but he was owed a little time with his Dad before he ran out on him again to help that screw-up. I'll tell him a little later...sometime early this evening. By then whatever the problem was would probably already be solved. He could always just say he forgot to tell him.

Tea inserted her key into the lock of the penthouse door. It always seemed strange that she was coming here every day now. This was supposed to have been her home ever since the "hearts and flowers" proposal by Todd, but it had taken on an entirely different meaning ever since Todd had become Tom. There was no way it could really be "home" to her until the real Todd came out of hiding and "hiding" could represent either faking or not faking. Funny how she did actually look forward to walking in the door every day to see his grinning face. Was she so pathetic in her need for him that she could settle for a clownish representation of the real thing? She was even tingling with anticipation of what he had alluded to that morning -- the "surprise". Tea, get a grip, she thought forcibly.
She could never have been prepared for what met her eyes when she pushed the door open. All five of her senses were exposed to a wonder of delights as she stepped into the room. The entire room was filled with candles of every size and shape glowing and flickering and casting amorphous shadows on every wall in the room. In the dining area a regal-looking tablecloth had been carefully placed over the table with solid silver candlesticks and a beautiful spray of ornamental flowers as a centerpiece. A heavenly smell of fragrant spice permeated the air intermixed with another delicious smell of something roasting in the oven. Several golden bowls of fruit with luscious grapes, apples and melon were sitting on side tables as well as small silver trays of canapes and other oer derves. A very large bottle of Dom Perrignon sat in a large silver bucket of ice chilling.
She stepped back one step in total disbelief at what she was seeing. This was the penthouse, wasn't it? As it registered in her mind that this was indeed the penthouse, she heard the sound of her voice saying, "Ohhhhh..."
Another voice spoke with a smooth, rich, mesmerizing quality. "Surprise!"
She darted her eyes around the room to locate the direction of the voice, which had come out of the shadows of the room. She made out his form sitting off to the side in a large comfortable chair -- his large frame and broad shoulders outlined against the fabric of the chair. As her eyes began to see him more clearly, she felt a jolt of adrenalin inside her that could have shot her to the moon. He sat with his arms resting on the arms of the chair in an attitude of mastery. His long, rich brown hair hung loosely on his shoulders against a silk shirt of pale cream color which was open almost all the way to his waist. With his shirt he wore a very expensive-looking, deep black leather vest matching a pair of equally well-made leather pants.
His eyes were dark and slanting and looked straight into her soul as he purred the words,
"Hello, Tea. My name is Pete."

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~