Who's the Real Todd?, Ch. 45

Todd walked into his office and over to the desk where he sat down and found the jar for the implant. Reluctantly he put the implant away and let his eyes and mind adjust to the loss of sight again. He knew now that Blair had to get the ring finished, he couldn't stand being incapacitated much longer. He heard someone come in and looked up to see if he could figure out who. John had been talking to Natalie in the living room when he had headed for his office so it was either John or Natalie. Turns out it was both. "Were you able to get much Natalie?" He moved the wrong way and gasped as the gash in his side protested the movement.

"Christian was careful not to leave prints, Todd, if the bullet in the hallway and the ones in here hadn't matched those in his gun, you might have been in trouble. But they do match his gun and your conversation was taped by John. So we have Christian dead to rights. I just don't understand, I thought Christian was free of Carlo's control." said Natalie

"Natalie, Carlo is capable of much more than you realize. With regards to Christian, I think he should have a cat scan John, it's possible he could have problems from the bullet crease. I wouldn't want him suing me. If I'm right, there might be a way to keep Christian's incarceration to a minimum." replied Todd. He went on to explain about the implants to his niece leaving out the fact his own implants were helping him see.

Natalie was surprised by the latest information and stunned by what her uncle had been put through. Her mother hadn't told her about his surgery until it was over and she had believed the article when it had told how he lost his sight, now to find out he had been used as some sort of guinea pig for Carlo made her sick. "Todd, that's terrible what you've been through, no wonder Mom has been so worried. So you think there is a possibility Chris might have something similar in his brain?"

"I don't know Natalie, I just think he should be checked out. John, Chris came to kill me directly and didn't try and take me out with sniper fire. That means you can't connect him to the attempt on Manning. He also talked about Poseidon which means everything he's been doing stems back to those days when we know Carlo manipulated him. All of his problems started after Manning appeared in town. I think it's a safe bet Carlo used something on Chris, that he developed while experimenting on both me and Manning." Todd slowly got up from his desk feeling the wound protest his movements. "Blair should be home soon, I don't know how I'm going to explain this to her." Todd searched the top of the desk until he found his mobility device and turned it on so he could make his way back to the living room.

John and Natalie stepped aside so he could leave the room and followed him out. John had noticed the slump in his shoulders and knew Todd was missing the use of his eyes. He had really begun to like the guy, which surprised him, knowing Todd's past and everything. The guy was a survivor that was sure. Even blind, he had kept his cool and managed to outwit Christian. There weren't a lot of people who would have come out on top the way he had. Thanks to Todd, they had captured Christian in the act. It was possible Christian might have been the one who killed the two assailants Samuel had identified. If he was, two more cases could be put to bed.

Todd had walked over to the wall feeling along it till he found the place where the bullet had impacted into the stone. Luckily, Blair probably wouldn't notice that hole. He knew the ones in the office, as well as the bloodstains on the floor, wouldn't be easy to explain, not to mention the gash in his side.  No matter how he looked at it, there was no way he could lie to her about today. He made out the ocean sounds coming from the suite upstairs and turned to Natalie. "Natalie, I hate to ask, but could you go turn off the sounds in the Key West Suite."

Natalie and John looked at each other. They hadn't heard any sounds coming from upstairs. "Uh, sure Todd." Natalie headed upstairs to go find the sound. Sure enough, as she neared the rooms, she heard the sound of the ocean and seagulls. She found the control and turned it off and decided to check and see if the other rooms needed something turned off. No more sounds were emanating from anyplace upstairs so Natalie returned to join John and Todd in the living room. Todd was trying to clean up the mess he had made when he had knocked over the vase, but he was actually making it worse. "Todd, go sit down, I'm sure John has a few more questions for you. I'll clean that up."

Todd nodded and moved to one of the chairs away from the mess. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his handkerchief and began wrapping it around a finger he had nicked when he had attempted to pick up some of the shards. "So John what else do you want to know?"

"Why don't you just tell me what happened after you realized Carlo might have been sending someone here," asked John?

Todd told John everything that had happened after Blair had left. He told about distracting Christian long enough to escape the suite and then he told how he had used the sounds from the suite to draw Chris into that room so he could get downstairs. He recalled how he hadn't known it was Chris till the intruder spoke while coming down the stairs and that was the reason he had accidentally knocked over the vase. "The rest you know John. I called you the minute I made it into my office. I can't tell you how relieved I was to see you after I had taken that shot."

The sound of a purse falling and her gasp drew all of their attention to the entrance of the living room where Blair stood shocked by what she had heard.

Todd tried to get up too quickly, winced, and fell back into his chair. He felt something wet on his side and knew he was probably going to have to go get some stitches. The bandage wasn't doing the job. He covered the stain on his shirt with his hand and tried to get up to go to his wife.

John stopped him and said. "Stay put Todd.  Blair, what did you hear?"

Blair looked at John, then noticed what Natalie was doing. It was true, everything she had heard. "When? What about Chris? What shot?" She looked over at Todd and noticed he was favoring his right side. "Tell me the truth. Why are you here?"

John knew Blair had heard enough to know something bad had gone down. He respected her too much to lie to her. "Christian Vega came here today to kill Todd. Todd managed to evade him long enough to get a call out to me and then managed to keep him talking until we could get here. There was gunfire and Todd was injured but he managed to wound Chris and knock him out. Natalie and I were just getting the rest of the story from Todd which is what you heard."

Blair had rushed to Todd's side when John had said he had been wounded and saw the stain spreading on his shirt. "Why isn't he at the hospital. He's bleeding," she demanded, looking at John.

"I'm fine Blair, we can go get me stitched up after John and I finish." Todd tried to calm her.

"It's a flesh wound Blair, the EMTs patched him up, but we were trying to keep the incident under wraps. You know Carlo sent Christian, and we've been trying to figure out what to give to the media. I don't want him to know we have Christian." John felt bad, the wound had obviously started bleeding again, no wonder Blair was distressed. " If Hesser is watching, he knows one person was taken from here in an ambulance. We want him to believe it was Todd and that the perpetrator was gone when we arrived. The only way we're going to get Todd out of here now is to disguise him. Natalie, take off your forensic jacket and hat."

"John that'll never work, I'm in a skirt. If they're watching, Carlo will know a woman came into the house. Todd will never be able to pass for a woman." Natalie looked at them all shaking her head.

Todd suddenly got the biggest grin on his face. "You might be surprised Natalie." closing his eyes he went looking for her. 'Ms. Perkins, I need you.'

Ms. Perkins arrived and shifted positions sitting primly on the edge of the chair "My dear Natalie you have no idea how much I've longed to meet you. Now I understand from Todd you need me to get him out of the house. Blair darling, perhaps you have a skirt I can borrow, these jeans will never do. Oh my goodness, I'm bleeding, well this shirt is certainly a loss, we'll never get this blood out.  Blair, I need to find something to wear quickly because this wound is hurting me grievously. Detective, if you would help me up please." Ms, Perkins held up her hand and John aided her. "Thank you, sir. You're a true gentleman. Come, Blair, I'm sure we can make one of your wrap dresses work, and then I can use Natalie's jacket and hat." Ms. Perkins placed her hand on Blair's elbow and sauntered out behind Blair.

Natalie and John watched stunned as she walked up the stairs following Blair. About twenty minutes later Ms. Perkins and Blair returned downstairs. The transformation was an eyeopener. Blair had pulled Ms.Perkins's hair back into a high ponytail similar to the way Natalie was wearing hers. She was now wearing a dress also closely resembling Natalie's skirt. She walked very sedately down the stairs holding the rail till she arrived at the bottom. "Detective, if you would please help me into the jacket and Natalie, how do you wear the hat. " She stood quietly as Natalie fix the hat. "Thank you, my dear. Well, Natalie, do you think I'll pass for you just to get out to the car." She struck a pose and waited for Natalie to answer.

He wasn't a pretty woman but after Blair had finished with him, he did indeed resemble Natalie enough to leave the house. "Ms. Perkins, I think it's going to work exceedingly well. So I'll stay here while the three of you head downtown and get Todd's side stitched. Blair, in order to leave the house you need to look like the grieving wife, but that will enable Ms. Perkins, as me, to appear to be helping you when in fact you're helping her. When you all return, I'll be able to leave with John."

John, Blair, and Ms. Perkins left the house. Natalie watched carefully out the stained glass windows and realized Ms. Perkins acted exceedingly well. Someone watching from far away in the woods wouldn't know it wasn't her. It was a little unnerving to see her uncle become a woman in front of her. Still, she knew her mother had Tommy, and Jess had Wes, so knowing Todd had Ms. Perkins made some sense. Natalie decided to take the time to check the rooms where Todd had said he led Christian, just to make sure she hadn't missed any evidence.

Arriving at the Hospital, John went and found Larry.  They smuggled Blair and Ms. Perkins into an examination room where Larry stitched up Todd's side, giving Todd a shot of antibiotics to ward off any infection. He took a few moments to check Todd's eyesight and made note of no improvement. He informed John that Christian was still not talking but he said he would order a cat scan to see if Christian might indeed have implants similar to Todd and Manning.

"Dr. Wolek, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help Todd. That poor boy has already been through so much. Without your help, it is quite possible we could have been dead by now. You have very gentle hands, Doctor. I could hardly tell you were stitching." Ms. Perkins carefully gathered her dress about her again tying it up and waiting patiently for Blair to get the prescription Larry had written.

Larry had been surprised when John said he had a patient that needed services on the down-low but when he saw who the patient was he had been flabbergasted. At first, he thought they had just disguised Todd to look like a woman until she started talking to him and he realized he was talking to an alter. Blair introduced him to Ms. Perkins and then they explained what had happened. "Ms. Perkins, I'm glad I was of service to Todd and all of you. What Carlo Hesser and Ivan Kipling did to him and Manning is heinous and if I have, in any way, aided in the means to catch them, I am glad. You have my sympathy for your loss of sight. I've seen some of Samuel's artwork around the hospital and I know it must be a blow to all of you."

"Yes, that is definitely an ongoing process to cope. You shouldn't worry about us Doctor, Todd is always one who bounces back. He'll succeed this time too." Ms. Perkins took Blair's arm and smiled in Larry's direction. Then they departed and began their trip back to Dragonheart, Ms. Perkins was quiet and Blair glanced over and realized that she appeared to be zoning out. More than probably she was having a conversation with Todd. Blair would have to wait until they were safely back home to find out what was going on in Todd's mind.

Ms. Perkins, Blair, and John arrived back at Dragonheart and entered the house. Natalie was waiting, having been on the phone chatting with the rest of the forensic team about any results that might have already been processed. Ms. Perkins handed the jacket and hat to her and had excused herself to go change. Blair had wandered into the office. She saw the blood on the floor in two different places and felt a chill run through her. She noticed something on Todd's computer screen and sat down to read it. As she read, she realized it was a suicide note. God, Christian had forced Todd to write a suicide note. Her heart skipped a beat because she knew everything Todd had said in the note was true to an extent. She had to get the ring finished, Todd's sanity was on the line.

"I never meant for you to read that. I'm sorry." Todd was standing in the doorway staring in her general direction.

"Todd, I can't believe Chris made you write it, but I'm not sorry I read it. I know how hard this has been for you. Tomorrow everything will change. The ring is nearly ready and I've also got a new watch casing ready for the second implant. Thank you for surviving. We've got Chris where he can't hurt anyone else and maybe we'll be able to get him some help." she got up and went to Todd and wove her hands into his long luxurious hair. "I've got you and I intend to do everything in my power to keep you here with me, fully healthy." she pulled his face to hers and took his lips letting him know that he was everything to her.

John and Natalie found them embracing and quietly removed themselves from the premises. John had everything he needed from Todd. He looked over at Natalie and wished things were back to normal for them. He couldn't help being envious of Todd at that moment.

Not far away, Carlo sat waiting for word from his operative. Vega was usually very prompt, Carlo turned to look at the tapes of the events that had taken place at Dragonheart. He observed Vega entering the home and then he waited. The next thing his cameras had caught was the sound of a shot being fired. It was followed by more silence. Then two more shots rang out right before the police arrived and moved into the mansion. Carlo watched as the police searched the grounds and figured Vega might have escaped out the back. He sincerely hoped that was the case, he couldn't afford for him to be taken into custody. Shortly thereafter an ambulance had arrived on the scene as well as Llanview's Forensic team, Carlo thought he recognized Natalie Banks entering. Soon someone was being transferred to the ambulance and it roared out of the driveway with sirens blaring. He watched as Blair arrived home and then saw her leave distraught with Natalie and John. Carlo pondered if Samuel had died or just been seriously hurt. Carlo reached for the phone. Calling Kipling, he asked. "Have you heard from anyone at the hospital that Samuel Toddman was brought in?...No?... If anyone of your sources hears anything I need to know immediately." Damn, he was just going to have to wait until either Vega called or a source contacted Kipling. Carlo stood up and walked out of the surveillance room.

Todd heard the front door close and knew John and Natalie had left. He broke the kiss to reach and caress Blair's lips with his fingertips. he loved the fullness and shape of them, she kissed his fingers sending shocks to his heart with each dainty kiss. His hands moved to examine every inch of her face. Samuel had worked from memory all those years and Todd closed his eyes and saw her features appear as his hands flowed over them. "Do you know how beautiful you are? I've never been able to figure out how you, of all people, wanted to be with me. Back when we first met, and you laughed at me in the bar, I was taken with you. There was something easy and natural between us. You lit something in me with your first touch and now the flame fills me. I burn for you, Blair. Feed my fire." he took her lips once more and it felt like everything around them ignited with their passion.

Sometime later, he rolled over, running his fingers down her side, and smiled as she purred and moved into the caress. He held her in his arms, laid there, and replayed in his mind how close he had come to losing her earlier. Unconsciously his arm tightened about her.

Blair had been listening to his heartbeat in her ears when he had tightened his grip and she knew something had bothered him. "Hey there, give a woman a chance to breathe." his arm immediately loosened and she said. "What's the matter?"

"There was a moment today when I realized I might not survive. I was trying desperately to get to the office where the second implant was, and Chris's first shot barely missed me. My hands were literally shaking trying to open that damn container knowing he was going to come through that door and I wouldn't be able to stop him. Time slowed as the implant dropped into my hand and my sight returned and the door crashed open. There we were, he had me dead to rights. No one was more surprised than I was when he didn't shoot, and then I realized he figured I was blind and trapped, he didn't need to rush the shot. That was when he gave me my options, a quick bullet, or a chance to say goodbye to you. He decided to be lenient for your sake. I knew John was listening to the whole conversation, so I went along with the suicide suggestion figuring to stall as long as I could. Chris had no idea I could see him and when he began to raise his gun to shoot me as I was finishing the note to you I flung myself out of the chair just as his shot rang out. There were just seconds as he rounded the desk and took a second shot, he saw my gun too late to avoid my shot, and I rolled to avoid his shot. We both were very lucky." he felt Blair's hand touching his side. "I'm grateful I didn't kill him, I don't want to have to face that again."

Blair had seen the wound at the hospital and was also grateful. She was grateful that Todd's luck when it came to being killed, was still in force, but she wondered just how many more lives he had left. She found herself stroking his chest and again his arm tightened around her but this time it was just enough to let her know he wanted her. She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder saying. "Let's not think about that, you're here with me, that's all we need to think about right now."