By the time John arrived at the Philadelphia hotel, he knew Allison must have left for Llanview. She wouldn't have wanted a suitcase containing the hoped-for million dollars to be left unattended for more than a few minutes.
But he faced a dilemma. With his skills, he could undoubtedly break into "Walker Laurence's" suite. If he could be sure he'd be rescuing a bound and gagged Victor, with no one else on the scene, that would be the best course of action. Discreet - causing the least possible further trauma for the victim.
But if Victor wasn't a victim - if he'd been Allison's partner in the plot - he might see John and start shooting!
And there was a third possibility. Assuming Victor was a prisoner...John thought it most likely Allison was working alone. But he couldn't be sure. It wasn't inconceivable that she'd been in contact, somehow, with the Manning-Baker Mob. And if she had, there could be a half-dozen armed goons guarding Victor.
So he couldn't simply barge in. He had to consider not only Victor's safety, but that of other hotel guests.
If he involved the Philadelphia police, they'd send a SWAT team. And he believed the situation that called for discretion was the most likely.
So he came up with another plan.
He knew he couldn't pose as a Philadelphia cop. His Llanview PD badge couldn't be mistaken for anything else. But he had a backup...something he'd hung onto in case he was ever in a situation where using it would be the only solution.
He was still carrying, very illicitly, his decade-old FBI ID.
He showed that at the hotel's registration desk, and said he needed to speak with the person in charge of Hotel Security. Then he rattled off a cock-and-bull story about an ill-conceived "prank" that had probably resulted in someone's being trapped, bound and gagged, in one of their suites. Why was the FBI involved? Because the "prank" had included what was technically a kidnapping. It was just an annoying nuisance - he was eager to get it over and done with. So...could the hotel let him into that suite? With a few armed Hotel Security people accompanying him, on the extreme off-chance there might be some sort of danger? If there wasn't, he'd be able to let them know immediately, and they could leave. No fuss, no muss.
The hotel staff bought into it completely. As he'd expected, they were just as anxious to avoid a public uproar as he was.
It was only when he and his Security team were headed for the suite that he realized there was something he hadn't thought of.
Perhaps, in the flurry of necessary decision-making, he hadn't let himself think of it. But now he was moments away from walking into that suite...
And what I find may be Victor's dead body!
Allison's a completely loose cannon. It would be just like her to have killed him before going to pick up the ransom. To have left here with no intention of coming back.
It will kill Tea if she's lost him all over again! Without even a chance, this time, to say goodbye...
And the people I have with me are a bunch of amateurs. I had no right to do this to them, to put them in a situation where they may walk in and see a murdered man, for the first time in their lives...
He found himself facing the door. Steadied himself with an effort, and went through the necessary routine of knocking.
And he thought he heard a muffled sound from within. Just the kind of sound that could be made by a bound and gagged person trying desperately to be heard...
God, let me not have imagined that!
He used the passkey he'd been given. Opened the door. Stepped inside.
Unmistakable sounds were coming from a bedroom. He rushed in. Gun in hand, just in case...
And saw a very much alive Victor in the bed. Victor was struggling against his bonds, looking as if he was mad enough to kill someone.
John could finally take a deep breath. He gestured to the men at his heels to back out.
"It's okay," he told them. "Check the rest of the suite, make sure no one else is in here. Then you can leave.
"I'll take care of the victim."
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He'd decided not to do anything till the hotel staffers left. He didn't want them to hear any outburst from Victor, who might blurt out things he wouldn't want repeated. They were gone in less than a minute; but even that delay had brought the frustrated Victor close to tears.
"Take it easy," John said gently. "Are you okay, Victor? Do you recognize me?"
An impatient nod.
"Okay." John had thought of making a joke. Saying, "I want you to know that if you spit at me when I take this gag out of your mouth, I'll spit right back." But as he saw the anguish in the other man's eyes, he knew it wouldn't be appropriate.
He just took the gag out.
And Victor immediately began yelling at him. "Tea! Is Tea all right? Don't let that crazy bitch Allison near her!"
"Calm down, calm down!" John was trying to get the pajama-clad Victor untied, but he seemed to be waging a losing battle. Victor was too agitated to hold still. "Tea's fine, perfectly safe. No one's going to hurt her.
"I need you to tell me -"
"I want to talk to Tea!" The tears were flowing in earnest now.
John had finally gotten Victor free of his bonds. "You can do that soon," he promised.
"But I need you to tell me this. Was Allison the only person who was here with you? There wasn't any guard who's gone out for a smoke or something, and might come back?"
Victor was finally paying enough attention to grasp the significance of the question. He caught his breath, made an obvious effort to pull himself together, and said, "No guard. It was just Allison."
"Okay. That's good. Now tell me, are you hurt in any way? I can see the rope burns - anything else?"
"No. I'm not...hurt. But...but...nothing makes sense!" The eyes that met John's were deeply troubled. "H-how did you know where I was? How did you know about Allison?"
"Just good, solid police work," John said, trying to make it sound routine.
Victor still seemed puzzled. He hesitated, then said softly, "McBain? I hate...admitting this...to you. Especially...you.
"But...there's something wrong with me. In my head. I'm all mixed up. I don't know how I got here! I was just here, with Allison. And she kept making fun of me. Joking about..about...how many of my marbles I'm missing!"
John hadn't meant to cut in, but at that point he couldn't help saying, "That sounds like Allison. Believe me, she's missing quite a few of her own."
Then he asked, "What do you remember, Victor? From before you were here with Allison?"
He hasn't questioned my calling him "Victor," so he at least knows he isn't Todd Manning.
Victor's eyes were downcast now. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he seemed to be talking to himself. "I remember being shot. And Tea being there with me. I thought I was dying..." A slow shake of the head. "After that...I know time passed. For a while, there was a lot of pain. But everything seems...blurred. It's somehow worse than having no sense of time having passed at all. There were...weeks? months?...when something must have been going on. But it's all a blur.
"And then I sort of woke up, and I was here in this bed, and Allison had me bound and gagged and was making fun of me.
"She kept a gun trained on me whenever she had to take the gag out of my mouth. At first, I did risk trying to scream. But when I did that, she smacked me in the face with the gun, so hard I damn near passed out. And she never let me have more than one hand free, briefly - always the left, because I'm right-handed."
He shuddered. "Sometimes...sometimes she said that when she got around to it, she was going to...do what Margaret Cochran did to me. Just for kicks. But other times, she said she didn't understand what Margaret, or any woman, could have seen in me.
"At first she said she was 'waiting for Mitch.' Mitch Laurence. But later, she said he 'must have really gotten himself killed this time.' She didn't seem upset about it.
"And she insisted on reading to me. Driving me more nuts than I already was...
"I thought...well, at times I thought...that I was dead. In Hell. I only began thinking of all this as real when she started talking about ransom. And babbling about killing me, and Tea, and...God knows how many other people.
"Even when she left, she said she was going to come back and kill me. When she could describe to me how she'd killed Tea."
Then he looked up, his eyes brimming with tears. "B-but...but...if it is real...sh-shouldn't Allison have been in prison?"
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If Victor had claimed a months-long gap in his memory - with the planning of a prison break among the things he'd "forgotten" - a year ago, when he and everyone else thought he was Todd Manning, John wouldn't have believed him.
But now? He knew Irene and her minions had blighted this man's entire life. And the same organization, minus Irene, had recently had him in their clutches again. Looking into those tortured eyes, he didn't doubt for a moment that Victor was sincere.
So he phrased his answer carefully. "There was a prison break a few weeks ago. You weren't the only person terrorized by an escapee, but you were the only one held for ransom.
"Mitch Laurence was the worst of the lot, and he has been killed. Allison's the last one at large. Our people will take her down tonight, and the danger will be over.
"I can imagine how disturbing that gap in your memory must be. But you had a long, slow recovery from the gunshot wound, and you had to be heavily medicated. That probably accounts for it. Now that Allison can't torment you any more, you'll be feeling like your old self in no time."
He wasn't at all sure of that. He just hoped he could keep Victor stable long enough to get him home.
Should I take him home? To a hospital? To St. Ann's? A case could even be made for arresting him.
But what I want to do - what I intend to do, if he doesn't turn into a raving lunatic - is deliver him to Tea.
As if he'd heard that thought, Victor resumed fretting about her. "I want to talk to Tea! Is she all right? Maybe she's worried about me."
"I need to make another call," John told him. "And then you can talk to her. Okay?"
"Okay. Does Tea know what's been happening to me? She may be worried. I'm worried about her..."
John got a little distance away from him. And made a quick call, not to Tea's cell phone, but to her brother's. "Tomas?" he said in a near-whisper. "Are you with Tea? ...
"Okay. Good news! I've recovered Victor. In Philly. He seems to be in reasonably good shape physically, but there are problems with his recent memory. He's confused, and easily upset. Can you warn Tea about that, before you put her on the line with him? And, uh, he almost certainly doesn't realize everyone's thought he was dead.
"The person holding him was Allison Perkins. I'd known that almost from the start. She'd left for Llanview by the time I got here. Apparently, no one else was involved. But from the things Victor's been saying about Allison, she may be more trigger-happy than I thought. I've decided we should have a disguised police officer - female, of course - carry that suitcase into Angel Square, rather than Tea herself."
He'd initially thought Allison might arrive early, hide - and take off, if the suitcase wasn't delivered by a recognizable Tea Delgado. But now that he knew she'd threatened to kill Tea, they couldn't take that risk. An officer wearing a bulletproof vest could probably pass for Tea, if she was accompanied by a recognizable Tomas.
John knew there was no way to keep Tomas from putting himself in danger. The man lived for it.
Now he waited for the few moments it took Tomas to give Tea - who'd been just out of earshot at his end - the good news, and the "warning," about her husband. Then she came on the line, crying, but deliriously happy. John walked over to Victor, handed him the phone, and politely drifted away.
He didn't mean to eavesdrop. Actually left the bedroom. But Victor wasn't trying to keep his voice down, so he couldn't help getting the tenor of the conversation.
At first, Victor was overjoyed at hearing Tea's voice...but he was also frightened, and, with her, not even trying to hide his distress. The words poured out of him, a distraught confession of that gap - or "blur" that was worse than a gap - in his memory. The man whose arrogance had been acknowledged even by his loved ones now sounded like a lost, hurt child. Desperately in need of comfort and reassurance.
But whatever Tea said in response lifted his spirits. An initial long silence at his end was followed by replies like "You're sure? Oh yes, of course you are, it's been months!" and "Wonderful! I can hardly believe it. Yes, of course I'm happy! The happiest I've ever been in my life. Or in my freaking brother's life. I love you, both of you, so much!"
John was finally smiling. I know that word "both" wasn't meant to include his brother!
Sure enough, when the phone call ended - everyone having agreed they'd talk again after they learned whether Allison had been captured - a more relaxed, closer-to-normal Victor proudly informed him, "Tea and I are expecting a baby!"
"Yeah, I knew." John was more relaxed as well. "Congratulations."
"Thanks. And, uh, thanks for coming to rescue me, too. I don't think I said it before."
No, you didn't. But from you, I never expected it.
Victor hesitated for a moment, then said, "McBain...this baby business reminded me of something. Something I should have told you a long time ago. Before I was shot, I really had made up my mind to do it. But then I never had the chance.
"If you and Natalie don't already know...you're Liam's father."
"Thanks, Victor," John said casually. "But yeah, we learned that a while back. Got the good news from your sister Tina's dog."
If we hadn't learned the truth about Liam, Natalie and I would never have reconciled. And I would have moved to Seattle...
Funny how things work out.
x
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The reinvigorated Victor had decided on his own to take a shower. To the great relief of John, who'd been trying to think of a tactful way to suggest it.
Victor was actually humming in the shower.
He's humming... Oh my God. Even him?
The theme music of Fraternity Row.
Shaking his head, John made a quick check of the closets, and confirmed that "Walker Laurence's" clothes were still there.
It was 11:00 p.m. A good time, he decided, to call Theo Price with the news about Victor, and his revised plan for the ransom drop. Price would probably be in Angel Square already. But he could still forward the order for a policewoman to go to Tea's house, with bulletproof vests for Tomas and herself.
It was taking a little longer than he'd expected for Price to pick up, when the cell phone should have been in his pocket...
And then, a voice that wasn't Price's said, "Yeah, John?"
"Bo?"
"Yep, it's me," Bo Buchanan replied. "I'm the, uh, new Police Commissioner. Finn practically begged me to come back. Frankly, she'd exhausted so many possibilities that I thought if I turned her down, she might offer the job to Tomas! And when I thought about him as your boss..."
John gulped. "I see what you mean. Great to have you back, Bo!"
"I won't know how great it is to be back till I hear your report. What did you find in Philly?"
"Best possible outcome," John told him. "Victor's alive and reasonably well, at least physically. The kidnapper is Allison Perkins, like I thought. Working alone - she'd left for Llanview by the time I got here. She's undoubtedly armed. Oh, and Victor told me she's disguised as a man! Nothing as extreme as a fake mustache, but she's wearing masculine clothes and a watch cap, and has her hair cropped short."
He went on to explain why he'd recommend they take the precaution of having a policewoman impersonate Tea.
"Will do. We'll even fit her with a slight baby bump."
"Are you in Angel Square, Bo?" That was where Price should have been, and he'd seemingly handed his phone to Bo when he saw who was calling.
"Yep. Always was a hands-on Commissioner, remember? But it's getting cold here, so I hope Perkins doesn't keep us waiting much past midnight.
"One thing more, John. How the hell did Victor come to be alive in the first place? Do you know?"
"I think I have a pretty good idea," John told him. "Better than Victor does, at this point. Long story - I'll fill you in later. But it is still conjecture."
And wait till you hear the followup, about him being the Liberator of Statesville!
x
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It had been agreed by all parties that given the lateness of the hour, John and Victor would spend the night in the hotel. John had told Victor that if he wanted to get out of that suite, with its bad memories, they could request other accommodations. But Victor felt that as long as Allison was gone, he'd have no problem with the suite. He'd willingly sleep in the same bed he'd been trapped in - wasn't even demanding a change of sheets.
So that means, John reflected, I'll be sleeping in Allison's bed. The one she probably expected, at the outset, to be sharing with Mitch.
Ugh.
But they wouldn't be sleeping for a while yet. They ordered a decidedly late dinner from room service - which was only prepared for them at that hour because their hosts were awed by John's supposed status with the FBI. They were still lingering over the wine when Bo called to tell them Allison had been apprehended, without a shot being fired.
Victor had a long, loving phone chat with Tea.
As did John with Natalie.
They drank some more wine.
And then Victor said, "Hey, McBain, I'm wondering about something. When Allison took that photo of me to send with the ransom demand...that must have been a real issue of the Sun. And I got the impression Todd really is wanted by the police for some reason.
"What's he wanted for?"
John was surprised by the question. "Well, uh, he just jumped bail. But he'd been arrested for, uh, what he did to you, of course! And a couple other crimes, that only seem 'minor' by comparison."
Victor gave a rueful sigh. "So it was Todd who ordered the hit on me? I'd sort of hoped it wasn't."
"Ordered the hit?" John almost knocked his wineglass off the table.
Victor winced. "Wh-why are you looking at me like that?"
"There was no 'hit.' Todd shot you!"
"No, he didn't!" Victor's face had gone white. "Where the hell did you get an idea like that? He may have ordered the hit, but -"
"There was no 'hit,' I'm telling you! It was all Todd!"
"For Christ's sake, there's nothing wrong with my memory for that part of my life. The shooter was standing right in front of me. Don't you think I would have recognized Todd?"
John was at a loss for words.
But suddenly, a stricken look came over Victor's face. "Oh my God. Did I...could I possibly...?"
"What?"
"Tea asked me who shot me," Victor said slowly. His eyes were wide with something like horror. "I tried to tell her, but I couldn't. When I've thought back on it, I didn't think I'd gotten a whole word out. But...did I say 'Todd'? Say enough to make Tea think I meant Todd had shot me? Was that the only reason you arrested him?"
"No, no," John assured him. "All Tea heard was your trying to say a name starting with T. And Dani pointed out to her that you might not have understood the question - might just have been trying to say her name. So she didn't even tell us about the 'letter T' thing till after Todd was arrested.
"He was known to have been in possession of the gun you were shot with. He made a clumsy attempt to frame someone else. And when we finally arrested him, he didn't try to deny it. He acted more as if he knew we'd be coming for him, sooner or later."
"I don't understand. He didn't do it!"
John took another approach. "You're saying Tea might have thought you'd said 'Todd.' Why would she have thought that, if you hadn't?"
"Because I actually was trying to say 'Todd'! But that was just the first word. What I intended to say was 'Todd's friend.' "
John was stupefied. "You were trying to tell Tea you'd been shot by 'Todd's friend'?"
"Yes!"
Then Victor went on to say, apologetically, "I realize that wasn't much of a description. But I'd never bothered to learn the guy's name. I'd just seen his picture in the paper. The Banner, of course. I wasn't interested in publishing fluff about people who were cozying up to Todd!"
"I still don't see -"
"Remember? Somebody - okay, it must have been Irene's people - had shot Todd, thought they'd killed him, and dumped him in the river. They didn't know he was wearing a bulletproof vest. But he was stunned, and he would have drowned if this guy didn't jump in the river and save him. A black guy."
Now it was John who was "stunned." "Louie? You're saying Louie shot you?"
"I told you, I never knew his name! His name could be Rumpelstiltskin, for all I know. But Viki put a photo of him and Todd in the Banner. And that was the guy who shot me."
There was no changing Victor's mind. He'd taken a stand, and he wouldn't budge.
Before a troubled John fell into bed at 2:00 a.m., he left a message in Bo Buchanan's voicemail. "News flash! Victor insists it was Louie who shot him!"
x
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At breakfast, John and Victor agreed not to wear themselves out discussing that problem. They were both eager to get back to Llanview.
While they were gathering up Victor's things, John couldn't help noticing that Allison had left many of her belongings in the closets. A disturbing sign that she really had intended to come back - and possibly kill Victor. He didn't mean to call Victor's attention to that. But it turned out he'd noticed it too.
Still, Victor managed a twisted smile. "One thing she did take was that damn manuscript she kept reading to me. Guess she wouldn't part with it even for a few hours! I think it was some nutty thing like a proposal for a new soap opera, based on Viki's life, to replace Fraternity Row.
"Will they let her keep it with her when they send her back to prison, do you think?"
"Sure. That's probably where she wrote it. A manuscript's harmless enough."
Victor made a face. "Harmless? I'm thinking about her poor cellmate. If you'd had to listen to her reading it for hours on end, McBain, you'd understand. It's cruel and unusual punishment!"
