Todd was lying in bed just starting to wake up when he felt something cold touch his neck. The next thing he knew something was nibbling and licking his ear. “ What the...?” He proclaimed and opened his eyes to find two dark brown eyes belonging to a tiny brown and black puppy now trying to lick his face. He stared at the adorable face and his heart took a couple of skips. He reached and carefully picked up the little thing, as it squirmed and yelped. “Where did you..?”
“Surprise!” Yelled Starr, Sam, and Jack. “Happy Father’s Day.” They stood in the doorway grinning from ear to ear. Blair stood behind them with a video camera in hand. It had been adorable watching the puppy make its way up to Todd’s head as she taped. The kids had all been watching with anticipation and then they were trying to keep from giggling as the puppy started assaulting Todd. Now the expression on Todd’s face was priceless, it became even funnier when the puppy decided to tinkle down Todd’s chest as he held him.
“Damn!” yelled Todd and he swung the puppy off the top of him. Everyone held their breath to see what Todd would do next. Todd looked at the puppy. “You shouldn’t do things like that, I know you’re scared but you have to learn there’s a time and a place for that.” Without further ado, he got up and took the puppy out on the balcony and set him down. He sat down on the ground next to the puppy, ”It’s okay if you have an accident out here, but don’t worry I won’t get mad if you make mistakes in the house, I promise.” Todd watched fascinated as the puppy sat on his haunches, his little tongue peeking out, he seemed to be listening to every word Todd said. Then the puppy ambled over and climbed into his lap and curled up into a little ball and fell asleep.
Todd sensed his family standing behind him and looked over his shoulder. “I think he likes me. Sam, come here and sit next to me.” Todd waited until Sam was seated and then he transferred the puppy and laid him in Sam’s lap. “Hold him for me while I go get cleaned up. Thank you, all of you, for this surprise. You have no idea how much this means to me.” He smiled at Sam and patted his head as he got off the ground. Turning to face the other three, he said. “Starr and Jack would you mind keeping an eye on them for a few minutes, but let the puppy sleep.” They nodded and Todd grabbed Blair’s hand as he walked back into the room.
She handed him a wet cloth she had already retrieved from the bathroom and Todd wiped off his chest. Then he pulled her into his arms and gave her, his thank you. It was a passionate kiss filled with promises. As he let her go, she looked at him with a glazed look that said he had caught her totally off guard, he smiled and whispered “Later”. Then he turned and grabbed up an old copy of The Banner and rejoined his children on the balcony.
“Okay you guys, let’s talk puppies. Starr, I know you had some experience with pets, but a puppy is a far cry from a snake or an iguana. I’m going to need everyone’s help with this little guy.” Todd sat back down and all of them watched mesmerized as the little fella woke up and clamored off Sam’s lap and began to explore the balcony.
Starr looked at her Dad. “He needs a name.”
Todd gulped. The puppy reminded him of Rufus. but he couldn’t bring himself to use that name again. The little imp was certainly a charmer. He had begun to lick Jack’s toes and when Jack moved them, he had followed after, determined to taste them some more. Jack had laughed and finally relented to the licks, even though everyone could tell the puppy was tickling him. “I think this little scamp is hungry, “ Todd grabbed him up and began to rub him behind his ears and the puppy continued to lick the hand that held him
“Dad, that’s perfect. Why don’t we call him Scamp?”
Todd lifted the puppy to eye level and stared into the alert brown eyes. “How about it, you little imp? It certainly fits. You’ve already started putting your mark on things. Do you like the name Scamp?” The puppy merely tilted his head then gave a little shake of his head. "No huh. Well, how about Rascal?" To everyone’s surprise, the puppy responded with a little “Ruff.” Todd laughed. “I guess that’s a yes. Well, I’m pretty sure Rascal is hungry and I’m famished, I’d say it’s time for breakfast.”
Downstairs in the kitchen, Todd found the carrier Shaun had used to bring the puppy home. He set the puppy inside and looked at his family. “I don’t suppose anyone thought to get any food for the little guy.” The look on their faces told him all he needed to know. “Well, then we’ll just have to give him a little milk and water for now.” He got a small bowl and poured a tiny amount of water and mixed in a little milk and set it in the carrier. Rascal immediately began to lap it up. “Looks like we get to go shopping for supplies after a while.”
Blair was beginning to put breakfast on the table when Todd opened the carrier and said. “Start without me, we’ll be back shortly.” He then walked outside to the grass carrying the puppy and set him down. Everyone watched the puppy relieve himself and although they couldn’t make out the words, they knew Todd was praising the little guy. After letting the puppy amble through the thick grass for a short time. Todd picked him back up and returned to the breakfast room and put the puppy back into the carrier. He removed the water bowl and set it outside the carrier and went to the sink to wash his hands. Turning around he noticed no one had started eating.
“Um, the food’s getting cold, people.” He smiled at their dumbfounded expressions and sat down and began to make his plate. He didn’t know what all the shocked looks were for, it wasn’t as if this was his first puppy. He started eating, he glanced over at the carrier and saw that Scamp was asleep again. As he looked around the table, everyone was now eating and he felt terrific. He was with his whole family, it was going to be a great Father’s Day.
***
***
John rolled over in bed and looked at his alarm. He had to get into work. Normally he didn’t work Sundays unless they had a particularly heavy caseload, but this particular Sunday wasn’t going to be a happy one for him. He glanced at the picture of Natalie and Liam and wanted to throw something. His family was missing and it had now been a month and a half since they had been taken. He was frustrated. When they realized Mitch had her, he had wanted to go back to Hesser’s Compound to see if he could find anything that would tell him where Mitch might have gone. Unfortunately, that avenue had been closed to him by the Mayor’s sale of the property. He had been tempted to go to the colony and ask if he could look around but he knew that all traces of Mitch had probably been obliterated by the activities of the colony.
Forcing himself to get up, he showered and headed into work. Even though the search for all the missing had been called off, he knew that something had to have been overlooked. John sat down at his desk, intent on going over everything they knew. Natalie’s file had been gone over with a fine-tooth comb but maybe he could find what he needed in the other two files. He opened the first file. It belonged to Charlie Briggs’ granddaughter.
Beth Faulkner was the daughter of Matthew Faulkner and Jennifer Briggs Faulkner. It turned out that Beth’s paternal grandparents belonged to the upper crust in Philadelphia and Beth, as their only granddaughter, had a sizeable trust she had come into on her eighteenth birthday. The young woman was actually worth a small fortune. The strange thing about her disappearance was that no ransom note had been delivered. The girl had just vanished. Reading about Beth’s trust reminded John of Liam’s trust. I wonder. Could the second girl also have some kind of inheritance or trust?
He opened the second file and sure enough, there it was. Tiffany Baker had inherited a comfortable settlement valued in the millions following the death of her paternal grandmother. The one common denominator was obviously the money all three women had access to. The kidnappers didn’t need to ask for ransoms, they could get money straight from the women themselves. John reached for the phone.
“Good afternoon Vicki, I need to talk to Clint. Is he around?”
“John, what can I do for you? Do you have any news on Natalie?”Clint asked a short time later.
“Sorry Clint, we’re still coming up empty, but I called to asked if you could clarify something for me. Is Natalie still listed as the trustee for Liam’s trust?”
“Yes, she been in charge of Liam’s trust since the day I handed it to you both. Why?”
“So as Trustee, she can access certain funds for Liam’s benefit is that correct?”
“That’s correct. You didn’t answer my question. Why are you asking about the trust fund?”
“We know Mitch has them. With your permission, I’d like to find out if Natalie is still listed as Liam’s trustee or if someone else is now in charge of it. I think Natalie might have signed her rights away. If she has, we might be able to start tracking down the new trustee.”
“Natalie would never sign away Liam’s trust.”
“Clint, if Dr. Wolek is correct, we know Natalie was and probably is being drugged. There’s no telling what she might do in that state.”
“You’re not suggesting Mitch would ...” Clint couldn’t get it out, he had been trying to keep from thinking the worst scenarios.
“I don’t want to go there any more than you do, Clint. Right now, I’m just can’t help hoping he has gone after Liam’s trust. It would give us somewhere else to look.” John hadn’t meant to get Clint upset. If Natalie was drugged, Mitch could have raped her and she probably wouldn’t even remember it. They would work through all of that when they found them.
***
He stood in the trees, looking at the scene unfolding in front of him. He had found out from Alison about the path that led to Manning’s home and had decided to see the newly raised from the dead Todd Manning. His eyes narrowed as he observed the man he thought had changed forever. He hadn’t been happy to find out Hesser had saved Todd that night. Nor had he been happy because Hesser’s robot Todd had almost killed him, but as he watched the real Todd playing with a small puppy and enjoying his time with the young boys, he began to get an idea of how to reassert his dominance once more over Todd Manning.
Taking Natalie and getting his revenge on her had been sweet. Now she followed his every word and obeyed him implicitly. She had signed the papers making Michael Lazarus the trustee over Liam’s trust fund. Kipling had informed him that day, that Natalie was pregnant. Thanks to the fertility drug and heredity, Natalie was going to give him triplets. Once the babies were born, Natalie would be eliminated. He continued to watch the scene as Blair Manning joined her family. The lovely viper was as pregnant as Alison and he recalled the days he had her in his hands. He had held off from taking her back then, only to have her and that Sea Witch Dorian try to kill him. They had almost succeeded. Perhaps now he could exact his revenge on both Mr. and Mrs. Manning at the same time.
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