IMPOSTER - PART THIRTY FIVE

PREVIOUSLY

Grabbing his light jacket, he turned off the small desk lamp - pausing to look out the window at the moonlit night and immerse himself in its peacefulness. Everything would have been so simple if he had never met Todd Manning, but somehow he would have also been without something that he had needed so badly in his life. Shaking his head absently, he walked through the door, turning the lock as he went and closing it quietly behind him. Just as he was walking through the reception area, he heard something which caused him to stop dead in his tracks.

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Any sound at all in the stillness of the building was disquieting, but this one caused Slider to suspend his movements in disbelief. Who would be calling this time of night? He looked over at the reception desk and noticed that the line to his office had lit up. My line! His intuitive mind jumped ahead as he ran through the reasons why someone would be calling in on his line. Someone knows I'm here…
His fingers touched the button hesitantly as the phone continued to ring. Seven…eight…that's ten rings and counting…He didn't like late night calls. Another late night call a long time ago had done infinite damage to a young mind, and he had never forgotten that it all started with the hollow ringing of a phone in the dead of night.
What are you afraid of? Use some of your own advice, why don't you? His index finger pressed down on the button as his other fingers lightly grasped the receiver - lifting it to his ear and waiting quietly for the identity of the caller.
"Hello?" the voice sounded far away and agitated, but there was something in the tone which motivated Slider to speak out.
"You've reached the University. Who's calling?"
Slider pressed his ear down harder on the receiver as a dead silence registered over the line. Okay…wrong number or a prank call…
The silence broke suddenly and this time a voice emerged in a louder, hoarse whisper.
"Slider! "Is it you?"

Driving back from Sykes' home, Sam felt a warm sting in his eyes as he thought of the loss of the man he had chosen to befriend - a man sentenced by his own actions to a sad, abnormal life. I'm going to miss you like crazy, Boomer! Funny…you never got it right, but you tried…that's what I most admired about you. This town never gave you a minute's peace either. You should have left Llanview years ago and gone back to Chicago.
"I miss him…" Viki uttered in a flat tone - never taking her eyes away from the window on the passenger side.
"So do I…so do I," muttered Sam while feeling completely inadequate to express more than this.
"You know…he was first and foremost an individual," she said - nodding to herself in verification. "There will never be anyone else quite like him. What's lost is irreplaceable."
Sam nodded wordlessly as his eyes began to burn from emotion. Why did he feel like the end of Todd Manning's life was also a beginning…for him? Looking over at his passenger, he once more remembered the touch of her lips against his and the glowing warmth that had infiltrated every part of his being. She hadn't known that he was trembling inside with a startling discovery - a discovery that breathed new life into a mind that seemed to be losing its edge and was fast becoming superficial and jaded. I think I may be in love with you…Viki Carpenter..

No information? What? You can't tell me that! I won't accept it…I won't! Tea slung the words out into the cold, dank air of the bare room as she pounded on the door.
"Accept what you will."
The finality of these words was suffocating to her, and she dropped weakly to her knees - gasping for breath and attempting to regain some oxygen. "I can't…I just can't…
"Yes…you can," a deeply sensuous voice implanted itself in her consciousness with an unrelenting force, and she groped around the darkening room to find the source of the words. Her hands shook as she felt an aura in front of her radiating a strength that was at once powerful and unsettling.
"I don't see you…where are you?"
"I'm here…I'm always here…unless…"
"But I still can't see you! " Tea tried with everything she had to make out any shape amid the deepening shadows.
"Don't look for me…you won't be able to see me. Tea, don't you remember? I told you that you would know if I was returning…do you know this?"
Each measured word spoken was aimed straight at her heart, and she instinctively put her hand across her chest. I feel you…you're here…you're…coming back!
"I know it!" she exclaimed with eyes laden with tears.
"Good…you know the truth --they don't…keep it well guarded."
"I..know ..it," Tea moaned, her face turning from side to side on the stretcher as the ambulance pulled into the emergency drive of the hospital. Del's worried face hovered over her, and he immediately boomed out his concern.
"What's wrong? Is she okay?"
The paramedic felt her pulse again, and replied in a tense manner. "Her heart rate is going up…okay, in she goes…now!!"

Gripping the phone, Slider's voice caught in his throat as he answered.
"Who…who is this?
Time melted away with the utterance of the words over the phone, and Slider's legs wobbled visibly as the heard the very real but ghostlike semblance of the voice of someone who was no stranger to him.
"It's me, Slider…Todd Manning."
Slider's body slumped down and rested on the edge of the desk - his mind struggling to assimilate what he was hearing. Not since the day of Todd's incarceration had he heard that voice in recent memory, and then their interaction had all been one-sided. That day Todd Manning had refused to acknowledge him - shutting him off as he had done with everyone who had ever meant anything to him. So you've finally called me…what's up? Why now?
A few seconds passed and Todd's voice - sounding more remote than before - spoke up again. "Slider…this is you, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's me…Z," Slider said slowly -- using the nickname that he had pegged for Todd years ago due to his love of a particular sports car. "Thank God…." Todd said - the relief in his voice unmistakable. "Slider…I know it's been years…but…I'm in a place that I can't get out of…and"
Slider's blue eyes deepened as he heard the familiar, desperate ring of those words. I've waited a long time to hear you say something like this…I wondered if you would ever reach that point…looks like now you have…
"Didn't I tell you I would always be around?" Slider said with a chastising edge to his voice. "Just tell me…"
"I can't go into it now…but I'm hurt and I need…" Todd stopped again in mid- sentence as if thinking to himself and then blurted out something which was so strange-sounding coming from his own mouth, Hell, I need your help, Slider!"
The hidden meaning of his words was not lost on Slider as he remembered back to another time and place. Feelings of a memory long frozen in his mind pored through him again - a memory which had been the catalyst for his life's work.
"Where are you?" demanded Slider forgetting everything else and concentrating on the present and his old friend's plea for help.
Todd paused as if he was thinking something through and then almost whispered his response. "I'm on a road…at some deserted gas station…at a pay phone. I have no car, and I look…well…pretty bad."
A warning went off in Slider's head as he heard these words. With Todd, he had learned that anything was possible at any time, and he picked up on his obvious reluctance to divulge more to him. There's still no choice to be made here. I'm already there.
"Todd, I'm at least two hours from you. Can you hang on until then? How badly are you hurt?"
"Enough…I'm not really sure. I know my arm is broken, but there's more…"
Mentally Slider had already made up his mind not to probe further into the whys of Todd's dilemma. There was a reason - he knew that. Explanations would come later, and the depleted tone in Todd's voice convinced him that time was critical.
"Give me the directions." Slider ordered as his deep, long-standing relationship with his friend erased any doubt that he was doing the right thing.
For a second he thought he heard a slight choking sound as Todd's voice came through again.
"Slider…there's something else. You may hear about it, " his gradually fading voice faltered. "You may want to turn back when you do."
"Todd…you ought to know that I form my own judgments…always have."
What he said seemed to have the desired effect, and Todd spoke clearly this time in an effort to acknowledge the unconditional support coming from someone who had never failed him.
"I know that, Slider…that's why I called you."

Sam turned into Viki's drive and stopped the car. His silver watchband glistened against the wheel, and he noted the time to himself. She's probably dead on her feet and worse…she's depressed…very depressed.
"Viki?" he said softly, but she didn't move and looking more closely, he saw that sleep had taken over for her. She looked so peaceful that he hated to wake her up and intrude on the only respite she had been given that night. Her body leaned against the seat at an angle, and Sam shifted his body -- his arm reaching around her shoulders to hold her up. As he carefully enfolded her closer into his arms, he once more connected with the sensations filtering quickly through him. I've held other women just like this…many of them I felt something for, but this…this is much more powerful…

The hushed quiet of the room reverberated with the somber echo of Slider's voice as he repeated back the directions Todd had given him. Slider hung up the phone and briskly patted his back pocket. Got the credit cards…the car is already gassed up. He slid his jacket quickly over his shoulders and adjusted his baseball cap in a manner of readiness - his intelligent eyes intensifying with each movement as he pieced together any loose ends he was leaving behind and what this trip would mean. Chicago should be fine…I'll call Sherry. She's got a key. She can feed and walk him tomorrow morning if necessary. The first-aid kit is still in the car…

As Todd hung up the phone, he seemed to move like a zombie - planting his feet on the ground as if it had been a long time since he had walked anywhere. The appearance of a gas station had been a another godsend as he had trudged for what seemed like miles down the highway. Cascading beams of light around the station pinpointed several large vending machines in an alcove.
Minutes later he had torn the wrappers off of several cinnamon pastries - wolfing them down like a starved animal. Too bad they didn't have Twinkies. Cold, thirst-quenching liquid ran down his mouth as he took the first of many gulps of a Pepsi, and clutching another can in his hand, he began to furtively seek out some shelter. He's coming…I can hang on until then...just have to find a place to hole up until he gets here…
Rounding the side of the station, he noticed a shed out behind a collection of battered-looking cars. As he neared it, he saw that the latch on the shed was not locked, and he grasped the wood door awkwardly to check inside. What he saw made him stagger back as a pair of blazing yellow balls of light, surrounded by the tar-like blackness of the shed's interior, stared back at him.

~ TO BE CONTINUED ~