Who's the Real Todd?, Ch. 43

Todd knew Kelly was shaken by what she had read. He couldn't see her face, but there was something about the jerk of her head that told him she was shocked by what she was reading. He felt Blair take his hand and knew that she was upset about everything that had happened too. She was still mad at Carlo for almost killing him and she was fearful that because of his loss of sight he was, even more, a target than before. He had to convince her to begin working on those pieces of jewelry for the implants. Once he could see again he could really go after Carlo and Kipling with both barrels. He heard the door behind them open and waited to find out who had entered. He turned his head trying to figure out who it was. He realized it must be Tea and Manning when Kelly stood up.

"Toddman didn't expect you in my office, to what do we owe this honor?" Manning remarked sarcastically, he suddenly smiled at Kelly and Blair and shushed them as he began going around the room searching for hearing devices. He continued talking as he worked so whoever was listening in wouldn't know what he was up to. "My lawyer tells me we can't fight your buyout so I guess I have to share the Sun with you, but it doesn't give you the right to barge in on my Executive Editor. Perhaps you'd like to explain why you're here," he held up three electronic bugs and went to the door to drop them outside and then continued looking.

Kelly spoke up. "Todd, Samuel came in so I could have the exclusive story about his honeymoon accident. You and Tea have been away, so you have no idea what occurred. It seems my new cousin-in-law was recently blinded while on his honeymoon."

That brought Manning up short as he turned to look at Tea and she nodded. He frowned. Tea hadn't told him. He felt fortunate that he could still see Tea and sorry for the man whose life he had taken all these years. He shook his head and looked over at Blair and mouthed. 'I'm sorry.' "That's tough Toddman, especially for an artist. How did it happen?"

Todd turned his head in the direction of Manning's voice and saw his blob moving around the room. "Let's just say I'm not as proficient on a horse as I thought I was, and had the misfortune to fall and hit my head."

Manning had finally swept the whole office and had taken the last of the bugs and deposited them outside the office. Turning around he said. "Now we can talk." He looked at the people sitting in front of him and at the man who was the real Todd. He was slowly getting back his own memories but sometimes he kept seeing Todd's life flash through his mind. When he had awakened in the hospital in Seattle, he had known several things. He had remembered his real name. He had known his wife Tea, and he had realized he had been living someone else's life for eight years. How do you apologize for taking some one's life? He knew he wasn't responsible for his actions but still. On top of everything else, Todd Manning had actually talked Michael McBain into performing the surgery on him, and Manning knew that was a bloody miracle because Michael and Marcie hated him. "Todd, you have my sympathy about your eyesight. Tea didn't tell me. It seems I owe you my life. McBain told me, my surgery was almost too late. According to him, our unwanted guests were falling apart in me, but McBain was able to get every piece. Tea and I delivered them to John just a short time ago. I gather you and Kelly have been able to find out something about Carlo and Kipling."

Todd nodded, "Kelly perhaps you'd like to fill in Manning."

Manning looked up and said quickly. "The name's Jacques Boudreau, but you can call me Jake. Tea's still working on it but I think it's getting easier for her, we've been getting to know each other all over again. Haven't we Dawlin'." he looked at his wife and winked.

Tea blushed, then turned to Todd. "I don't think we're going to be able to keep up the charade any longer. Jake no longer even sounds like he used too, and although he's been working in this business these last eight years, it seems, he's more into oil than newspapers. Jake, it seems, is a wildcatter, who happens to own several oil wells off the coast of Louisiana. His company has been in limbo since his disappearance, but his wells have still been producing oil all this time. The bank was overjoyed to hear from him and we've made arrangements to set up funds here, in Jake's name so we can give you back your money Todd."

To say he was surprised was an understatement. Todd wondered if Carlo knew he had taken someone who actually had some pull when he had picked Boudreau. He'd bet even money Carlo thought he had picked a bum. If Boudreau really had money then between the two of them they could do some major damage to Hesser's pocketbook.

Todd looked over at the man who had lived his life for the last eight years. Jake had done some things as Todd Manning that Todd was still having trouble with, but he knew the man hadn't been himself. Tea was still with him, so he had to have some good qualities. "Well Jake, I'll let Kelly tell you what we've found out. Then you and I need to have a private conversation. Agreed?"

Jake looked at Todd, hearing something in Todd's voice that meant he wanted to keep the women out of it. Jake couldn't agree more and replied. "Absolutely."

With the bugs gone from the office, Kelly was able to speak freely about the undercover reporter at the Research Facility. She informed Jake and Tea about everything the reporter had found out about Kipling's little experiments in the past and the ones he believed Kipling was currently pursuing. Todd then informed Jake and Tea about his dreams and the corridor. At the mention of the corridor, Jake had gotten real quiet. Tea noticed that her husband had seemed to zone out when Todd was talking about the corridor.

"Jake, what is it? Are you remembering something?" Tea gave her husband a shake to get his attention. Jake turned his gaze to his wife and Tea felt a chill go down her spine. Jake had this haunted look on his face like he was seeing something that truly scared him. "Jake, you're scaring me. Talk to me."

"I've been there Tea, all this time I thought it was just some weird dream." he looked over at Todd. "Do you remember seeing a painting, you know the one with a guy screaming?" When Todd nodded, Jake shivered, goosebumps were running up his arms and he recalled some of the pain of visit after visit down that damn corridor. "Day after day they took me down there and hooked me up to some damn machine. The pain would start and then it would be followed by all these images. They were images of everyone in Todd's life, events, and people. The more they hooked me up, the more of myself I lost, till all I remembered was the images and events I was being fed. At the end of each session, they would ask my name and in the end, the only name I knew was Todd Manning. Your life had become my life. All I wanted to do was come home to Llanview, to my family, I felt this need that it was imperative that I change my appearance, so I had the plastic surgery. The rest of the story you know." Tea reached over and took his hand. "I'm alright, Dawlin. It explains a lot I guess. I'm just glad they didn't wipe out who I really am."

Blair and Kelly glanced at the two men. Their lives were never going to be the same, too much had gone down for both of them. Blair felt bad for Jake, he had been through some horrific things as Todd. Margaret's rape and his execution, fighting for his life at every turn. She had loved him once but she had thought he was Todd. Having found her Todd, she couldn't conceive how she had ever believed Jake was Todd. Jake had had some of Todd's habits but when it came down to it, Jake as Todd was different, he had been bordering on obsessive when it came to his kids and wives. She was pretty sure that the obsessiveness had been a by-product of the implants, as they were set to reinforce any wavering by Jake. Just like Todd's had been set to trigger whenever he had tried to remember.

Kelly had been listening intently and knew the four people in front of her had only told part of the story. Still "Jake", that was going to take some getting used to, had said something about unwanted visitors removed by McBain. Which meant that he must have undergone surgery like Todd's. If his "visitors" were implants like Todd's then this story had gotten even more bizarre. One thing was certain. Jake was very different from the Todd everyone knew. It was true what Tea was saying, Jake no longer even acted like Todd and his southern accent was definitely becoming prominent. He couldn't continue to fool people into believing he was Todd with that accent. Todd was going to have to come out and let the world know he was back. The fallout was sure to be amazing and Carlo would know his plot was uncovered. Kelly turned to Todd. "I'm not sure how much longer we can leave our reporter undercover. Everything you guys have said makes me believe these men are very dangerous to cross and you've both have done just that now that you want to take back your lives. Todd, you've already upset Carlo's applecart by purchasing back the Sun. Jake's had one attempt on his life and Todd, you've had two. I don't want our guy to be another casualty. Let's not forget Jake is probably still a target. Carlo thought he was a liability months ago. His shooter is still at large."

Todd turned his head and tried to focus his eyes as much as possible on Kelly. "You're right Kelly, the reporter is getting pretty close to the action. If he can hang in there just long enough to find the entrance to Kipling's secret lab, I'll be happy. Then we can pull him out. As far as the shooter is concerned, John has someone keeping an eye on the person we think might be the shooter. Tea, you're also right. Jake isn't going to be able to keep up the facade much longer. Jake, your accent is definitely coming out now and people are going to notice. I need your help maintaining the ruse just a little longer, so Jake you'll have to try and act like me for as long as you can. I'm working on something that will enable me to finally step forward as Todd. Just give me a couple of days. Ladies, I hate to ask, but could Jake and I have some time to ourselves. I need to talk to him privately and since I'm the one with the handicap maybe you gals could go find some coffee for us or something."

Blair looked over in mock shock and punched his shoulder. "Chauvinist" was all she said as she got up and encouraged Kelly and Tea to follow her. Tea didn't look too happy. She had a feeling the guys were going to be talking about something that was dangerous and possibly illegal.

When the women left the room Todd got up and pulled out his mobility device. He made his way over to the window by walking carefully. "So are you of the same mind as me?"

Jake walked over to join him. "Yep, when can we get them? Do you have a plan?"

"Actually, one has been rolling around in my head for a while. That's why I was thrilled when I figured out the whereabouts of the lab. Jake, you never received any knowledge about my alters because they were too well hidden in my brain. You've met Samuel. I want you to meet Pete." Todd leaned briefly against the window.

"Damn it's good to be out, but you got to do something about this sight Todd. I can't work like this." Pete located Jake standing next to him. "So you're the son of a bitch who took our life. I ought to kill you but I've been listening so I guess I'll have to give you a pass since you got caught up in this like Todd did. But listen up Jake, I don't like what you did to Todd's family, even if you were under the influence of those damn implants. I'll work with you to get Hesser and Kipling but after that, you better stay clear. I'm working on a short fuse as it is. You might get caught in an explosion. Just giving you fair warning."

Jake looked curiously at the man who had just spoken to him. He had heard about Pete just in passing when Tea had brought up what he had been told were Todd's fake alters. But there was no mistaking the anger coming from the man looking at him. Jake couldn't really blame him. He had had to relive the last eight years as if a dream when he had awoken in the hospital and it hadn't been pretty. He couldn't believe how cruel he had gotten over the years toward Starr and Vicki and Jessica. Even Jack had recently suffered at his hand and he was wondering how they were truly going to help Jack, now that he, as Todd, had bought him his freedom. The Todd Manning he had become the last couple of years was worse than his few memories of Peter.

Michael and Larry had informed him just before the surgery that some of his personality traits had been altered because of the implants and their corruption; also the drugs Kipling had been giving him to try and mask the symptoms of the implants, had really done a number on him too. He owed a lot of people an apology. But right now there was the matter of Carlo and Kipling to take care of.

Holding his hands up in surrender even though Pete couldn't see them he said. "Hey, you're right, as Todd Manning I've been pretty despicable, so if you want to go at it when this is through, I'll understand. I've got a lot to correct before I leave here, but both you and I want the same thing right now. We want them to hurt as much as they hurt us. More if it's possible. You can have your shot at me, but I'm not going to let you walk all over me, just know that. Now back to business, what do you and Todd have in mind for these two?"

Pete turned to stare out the window, "We're going to give them a taste of their own medicine. Are you onboard? They strapped us in and gave us those treatments like we were guinea pigs. It's their turn. I'm going to be looking for Carlo, I have a feeling he's close to our estate. You need to contact Dr. Kipling and see if you can arrange a checkup with him. Make it for the end of the week. You get the appointment, I'll take care of everything after that. I'll be in touch when you're to join me for our little party. Don't tell Tea what's going on, she and Blair wouldn't understand. When we're through with them, they're going to beg to be taken to John and Bo." Pete turned and said chillingly. "When I'm done they'll wish they were dead."

He had never seen anyone as cold as Pete, and he had thought Todd was cold-hearted but Pete put him to shame. Jake had to wonder what had caused this alter. He had never gotten past Peter just being a bastard, but now he wondered if Peter Manning had been more of a monster. Whatever Peter did to Todd had fractured him and Pete was the angry violent alter. Jake made a vow then and there that meeting Pete alone somewhere probably shouldn't happen, he might not come out alive. Before they could do any more talking the girls started to come through the door.

Pete spit out. "Get that Appointment. Contact Todd." and then he slumped against the window.

Blair saw the slump and immediately went to her husband. "Todd are you alright."

Todd pushed himself away from the window. "I'm alright Blair, just lost my balance." he took her elbow and they returned to their chairs.

Jake went and destroyed the bugs he had deposited out the door. He had had it with being watched and listened to constantly. He contacted Security and showed them the bugs and said if any more were found in his office they would all be looking for new jobs. Blair, Todd, Tea, and Kelly watched as Jake transformed himself back into the Todd everyone knew. With a few more choice words for security, he slammed the door on them and turned back to his audience. "Convincing enough?"

"You'll do just fine Jake. Thank you," replied Todd.