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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 12
"No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it..."
Denis Diderot
Fighting
August 7, 2000
31 weeks to go.
Jarod still had difficulty in understanding the reason that his visitor had come and seen him. After all, the danger that he would be seen and recognized was almost overwhelming. It had taken a few seconds for Jarod to recognize the visitor and, Jarod had to admit to himself, it was due to a fear that the person would be Raines, Lyle or, and this was the worst possibility, Sydney. Seeing the real Steve McCaffrey brought first a wave of relief and then one of anger. He managed to keep his voice a low, fury-filled hiss.
"What are you doing here? Do you know the kind of danger you're in, being here?"
"What about you?" The man's voice held the same level of tension as Jarod's. "Why are you pretending to be me? What do you hope to gain by it?"
"Your freedom."
The visitor's eyes widened and then narrowed. "So what? I'm not guilty."
Jarod leant closer to the man. "I know. But any jury would find you guilty. I'm proof of that. There wasn't a single person that could identify me as you, but I'm still here." He glanced up and saw that the guard had moved slightly closer. "Now listen, Michael," he stressed the name and knew that the other man understood the reason for its use, "tell Julie that I'm fine. It won't be for much longer and I've got a much better chance of things going well if she doesn't interfere. Just tell her to wait and not do anything that might cause problems." Jarod raised his eyebrows questioningly and the other man slowly nodded.
"All right. I suppose. Is there anyone I should tell?"
"No, nobody. The less people that know about this, the better."
The real Steve McCaffrey got to his feet and pushed the chair back under the table. "I...you'll understand if we...nobody comes very often..."
"Yes, I'll understand. Now you just go and take care of that family of yours. I'll be out before you know it."
The other man turned away and Jarod watched as he was let out of the room, before being taken back to his cell. He understood the feelings that the other man was harboring and knew how difficult it must be for him to see a man, innocent as himself, take the punishment for which a third man had gone free.
August 4, 2000
"Don't tell Jarod."
How cruel that the last words spoken by two of the most important men in her life should be about someone else. You look so like your mother. Don't tell Jarod. Both so impersonal. Admittedly, her father's comments had some personal meaning, but not enough. Never enough. And always the reference to her mother, as though the daughter was not a person in her own right but only a shadow of the woman who went before.
Miss Parker shook her head to clear the thoughts and rounded on the doctor as they entered a small office.
"So, what is it?"
"It's hard to tell, at..."
"Don't give that crap. Just tell me what you think it is."
"Sydney shows signs of...poisoning."
"What?!"
"He has an increased level of several sodium-related products which, due to the degree in which they've been absorbed, suggest that this has been occurring over a period of about a month. In fact it's incredible that there have been no signs before now."
"So he had a little too much salt with dinner every night," she growled. "Are you telling me that you haven't got the facilities here..."
"Miss Parker, this is not sodium chloride, or table salt. We're looking at sodium polyphosphates, carbonates and salicylates."
"So?"
"These occur in many common cleaning products, particularly in dishwashing powders."
Miss Parker stared at the doctor. "How on earth would he have swallowed that?"
"I couldn't tell you. But if it were deliberate, a small amount in foods ingested daily could easily result in levels this high."
"But, now you know the cause, you can do something about it."
"We're doing everything we can, for the moment."
"Which is?"
"The symptoms in this type of poisoning include severe pain in the mouth, throat and stomach, swelling in the throat, drop in blood pressure and the collapse that you witnessed in his office, an hour ago."
"But you can treat those symptoms and he'll be okay, won't he?"
"Treating the symptoms is all we can do. It's possible that he may have extensive internal damage in the mouth, throat and stomach due to the acidity of the sodium. The fact that he's still alive now, a month after the assumed initial poisoning, is a good sign but we need to keep monitoring him to make sure. If he's still alive in another four weeks, then he should probably survive. But there might be permanent injury to the throat. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get the results of the tests."
August 11, 2000
A week, and the doctor was still fighting for his life. Raines smirked and pressed the tips of his fingers together as he leaned back in the chair and watched the screen. The other occupant stood behind him and watched also, his eyes lighting up as he saw a dark-haired woman enter the room and slip a small syringe into the figure's arm, pressing the plunger and then rapidly disappearing. Suddenly the man's brow furrowed.
"You didn't order that, did you?"
Raines spun the chair around and stared at the figure. "I was under the impression that you had, my friend."
"Friendship doesn't enter into this. It's a business relationship, Raines, as you should be aware by now." He turned to the window and clasped his leather-gloved hands behind his back. The figure in the chair looked again at the screen and then chuckled softly.
"It would seem that we have a little competition."
"God! Of course we have competition," Raines burst out. "This is the Centre! But who is it?"
"The woman has a natural choice as a partner. And, indeed, wouldn't have much choice in the matter."
The two men looked at each other for a moment before the younger chuckled in much the same way as Raines had done.
"So much the better. We can kill a multitude of birds with a small handful of stones. How long until the plan goes into effect."
"Five weeks. That will give us enough time to get rid of any unforeseen problems as well as dealing with the ones we do know about."
The two men watched as another woman entered the room and sat down beside the bed, taking Sydney's hand in her own.
"And Miss Parker?"
"Will be dealt with."
"Good, good."
"Oh, and Raines?"
"What?"
"I'd better get my share."
