Disclaimer: Like always, they are not mine and I don’t intend to make any money with them. I’m just writing this little story for fun. So please don’t sue.

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil

Rememberance


Nearly thirty years

It was April 13. Nearly thirty years before her mother had died in an elevator.

Well, at least it was what she believed for most of her life. She knew now that her mother didn’t commit suicide on that day all those years ago. She was let to believe it and she did for a long time. But now she knew that this wasn’t what had happened.

Her mother was murdered some month later by Raines after giving birth to Ethan, hers and Jarod’s half-brother.

But even if her mother died several month later, April 13 would always be the day for her to mourn.

Today was no exception.

She was walking to her mother’s grave clad all in black, dark thoughts on her mind.

The only difference to all the other years was that Lyle was walking next to her.

When he had appeared on her doorstep in the morning just before she wanted to go to the graveyard, she was angry.

She wanted to be alone on this day. It was her time to think about what had happened till this day.

When Lyle then had told her that he would accompany her to their mother’s grave, she had been ready to shoot him.

She didn’t want him anywhere near her mother’s grave. Not when she herself was there and especially not on this day. If it was for her she didn’t want him there ever.

Her mother was a special person and Lyle was not worth standing at her mother’s grave, mourning. He was just too… ‘sick and perverted,’ she thought.

Lyle had been very persistent in his request to accompany her.

“Com‘on, Sis. Why don’t you let me come?” he had asked her.

“Oh, you know exactly why I don’t want you anywhere near mom’s grave, Mr. Psycho!” she screamed at him.

“You know I’m not that evil,” he exclaimed a hurt expression on his face.

“Yeah, sure. Tell that your great-grandfather! Or, no, better not. He will probably believe you for it was him who founded the Centre in the first place,” she growled.

“Sis…,” he pleaded.

She was ready to reject him again when she heard her mother’s voice in her head.

“Let him come, precious,” she whispered in her mind.

‘Mom, you don’t even know this man. I don’t want him there. He is…’ she thought back.

“Let him come,” her mother whispered again.

“Sis? “ Lyle asked again.

“Ah, to hell with it,” she snarled. “Lyle, if you make even one wrong step, one statement I don’t like, I swear to god, I will make you pay. Is that clear?” she threatened, advancing on him.

“Crystal! Shall we go now?” Lyle asked, backing away slightly.

“I will regret this,” she swore under her breath.

~~~~~~~

And here they were, walking together through the graveyard.
When they reached their mother’s grave, they both noticed the bouquet of flowers lying on the ground, in front of the gravestone.

Parker went over to the flowers and kneeled down to touch one of the rose petals.

“You think someone else was here today, to mourn?” Lyle asked.

“N-no. The bouquet is from me. I called the florist and had her sent the bouquet,” Parker replied quickly.

In fact, she had done nothing like this. But she already had an idea where the bouquet came from. She scanned it over and saw a small corner of a piece of paper lurking out of the flowers.

“Aha,” was all Lyle said.

“Yeah, they did a good job,” she said, again touching the flowers and quickly drawing an envelope out, all the while effectively blocking Lyle’s view. Tucking the envelope securely away into her coat pocket she then straightened and slowly went back to Lyle’s side.

They stayed at their mother’s grave for some time neither saying a word.

“Come on, let’s go,” Lyle said, slowly turning away.

Parker, too, straightened. She quickly scanned the area while turning.

Localizing Jarod standing a in the distance slightly covered by an old tree, she pattered her coat pocked, looked at him and nodded curtly. Then she turned and followed Lyle.

Jarod just smiled slightly and went to the exit opposite to where the twins were headed, where his car was parked.

~~~~~~~

After dropping Parker off at home, luckily Lyle went his own way.

Parker had feared that he would keep on staying right besides her during the rest of the day. She was relieved that this wasn’t the case.

She slowly slipped out of her coat and went into the living room. After pouring herself a glass of wine she sat down on the couch.

The visit of her mother’s grave had been a strange one. She didn’t feel as close to her as she usually did while on the gravesite on this day.

She didn’t need to pretend to be the person the Centre had forced her to become in front of her mother. She could mourn openly but with Lyle next to her she had been forced to constantly stay on her guard. She had not been able to relax and feel her mother’s presence.

Somehow she felt unsatisfied.

She toyed with the thought of returning to her mother’s grave now that she was alone again but she dismissed that thought. She didn’t feel like going there again.

Taking a small sip of wine she pondered what she should do next.

Her thoughts returned to the visit earlier that day.

It had felt strange being there with Lyle; and then the flowers. What did Jarod want to accomplish by that.

‘The envelope’ she sat straight up on the couch. ‘How could I forget the envelope?’ she thought to herself.

She put her glass onto the coffee table and quickly went to fetch her coat.

She searched through the coat and swiftly pulled the piece of paper out of depth of the pocket.

Returning to the couch she turned the envelope over and it nearly fell out of her hand.
On the front stood:

“To my precious angel” in her mother’s handwriting.

Shivering slightly she sat down on the couch and stared at the envelope.

She gently touched the writing. Turning the paper again and opening the envelope, she pulled out two sheets of paper with shaking hands and unfolded them.

Taking a deep breath she started to read…


To be continued…

Well, that was the first part. I hope you enjoyed it!
Feedback is always welcomed. Tell me if you liked it or if you didn’t.

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

Authors Note: Ah, by the way, again I want to remind you that I’m no native speaker so please bear with me.
Next thing is that this story is not betaed! I’m rereading the chapters several times but that won’t keep me from overlooking some mistakes. Please keep that in mind.

~~~~~~~

To End The
Evil Part 2

The letter



April 13, 1970


My beloved daughter,

I know now that my plan to get Jarod, Timmy, or now Angelo, and you, my precious daughter out of the Centre, will fail.
I was so hopeful that I would get the chance to show you the world and right at least some of the crimes that the Centre committed. But I won’t be able to do that.
I can’t protect you from them anymore and for that I will be forever guilty.
I can only hope that one day you will be able to walk away from the Centre on your own despite the fate the Centre and your father have in store for you.
I wanted to get you out of there to avert that fate but that will not happen anymore.
I know that I’m in danger. Someone close to me is trying to kill me. The only way for me to survive is to fake my suicide. I have another life to think about now.
I told Sydney about my plan just before writing this. Stay close to him, my love. He will try to protect you. He gave me his word and I know I can trust him. He will do his best to not let harm come over you.
What he doesn’t know is that I trust in Dr. Raines to help me survive this day. I’m not happy with this solution but it’s the only way for me to survive and maybe even get another chance to get to you.
I would prefer to ask Sydney for help but that’s not possible. He has to stay here and protect Jarod and also you, my darling. If Jarod was to fall into Raines hands… I can’t even think about that. What happened to Timmy mustn’t happen again!
I hope that Raines was honest when he promised me his help.
I will try to persuade Dr. Raines to let me see Jarod sometime later, when or if I’m still alive.
I trust in Jarod and so should you. He is the only one that will be able to tell you my secret plan. I can’t tell you right now, in this letter, what my secret plan is, for I fear that it might fall into the wrong hands.
I know that Jarod will be able to protect the knowledge I will give him till both of you are ready.
No one will be able to pry it out of him. Not even Sydney. I will see to that!
Only together with you, he will be able to recover that piece of memory.
Only with him, you will be able to find the DSA about the secret plan I left behind for you; and only together when you two join forces, you will be able to execute the plan.
When you get this letter you might already know about the Vespasian Scrolls. They are the key to everything. It’s a prophecy about the rise and fall of the Centre.
It would be too easy to say that everything is the Scroll’s fault but only due to their existence the Centre was founded.
Well, as I said: They are the key to everything. Jarod and you, you have to find them. Only with them, you both can learn you destiny. Unless you find them, you won’t be able to understand your parts in my plan.
I had a chance to read them and so I know both your parts in the Scrolls but you will have to find out for yourselves. It will take you to a long journey with lots of dangers and lies but in the end, it will be worth it. Always believe in that. It will be worth it!
I have to go now, my darling.
I probably won’t see you again and it breaks my heart.
I hope that one day you will get this letter otherwise everything was in vain.
I love you very much and I know that you will make me very proud!

All my Love

Mom




So? What do you think? Give me, give me, give me FEEDBACK!

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 3

Reactions


When she came to the end of her mother’s letter, tears were streaming down her face.
Though the words swimming in front of her eyes, she tried to read it again but she just couldn’t concentrate on the words. Slowly the letter fell out of her hands onto the table.

The meaning of the letter was repeating itself all over in her head.
‘She knew she would fail and this is her goodbye’, her mind screamed at her again and again.

“Oh mom,” she choked out, burying her head in her hands.

“It was her goodbye and her promise for the future,” a deep voice mumbled from behind.

She spun around and found herself face to face with Jarod. Not succeeding in controlling her emotions and angry that he had again found her in her most vulnerable; she did the only thing she knew to protect herself:
“Why are you here? Came to gloat?” she lashed out at the pretender.

“No. I just thought that you shouldn’t be alone after reading this. You may need a friend,” he replied calmly as if someone had just asked him a polite question.

“A friend?” she huffed. “Oh, yeah, what a glorious thought. I sure would call ‘you’ in that case,“ she growled.

In a fleeting moment she saw pain flitter across the pretender’s face. In her own ordeal she ripped out once more, feeling a strange satisfaction in hurting Jarod. “We sure should be considered close friends. You can even call us buddy’s, can’t you,… rat-boy?” she snarled.

Jarod knew that she was only trying to protect herself from the pain but her comments hurt nonetheless.
He briefly closed his eyes and when he opened them again, she was staring at him, a hostile expression on her face.
“I’m not here to gloat or hurt you. As I said, I came as a friend,“ he repeated in a soft tone.

“You don’t want to hurt me? Then why did you give me that letter?” she screamed picking up the item in question and waving it in front of Jarod’s face.

“You deserve to know the truth,“ he answered.

“I deserve to know the truth? How generous, Lord Jarod,“ she retorted.

Jarod knew they would get nowhere with this conversation so he turned on his heel, making his way to the back door. Tears started to roll down his cheeks. Just as he had so often, again he had the feeling that he had failed her. He just wanted her to know the truth but again he had only made the situation worse. Maybe he shouldn’t have bothered to come.

“Jarod, where the hell do you think you’re going?” she wanted to know, following him to the kitchen.

“Since you don’t want to talk and since you only act hostile towards me… I’m leaving,“ he responded.

“Oh, no. You don’t. Don’t you dare leaving me like this!” she challenged.

Jarod kept on walking as if he didn’t hear her protests. When Jarod didn’t respond her anger evaporated. She suddenly felt tired.

“Jarod?” Parker asked in a small voice, slumping against the counter and lowering her head.

Jarod stopped right in front of the back door, not turning around.
Taking his hesitance for a good sign, Parker took a small step in his direction.

“Tell me where you got the letter. Please, I need to know,“ she pleaded.

“I got it from your fath… Mr. Parker’s safe,” he told her finally turning to face her.

“You had it all these years since before the incident in the Dover Bank and never bothered to show it to me?” Her head snapped up. New rage flared inside her. Though her vision was blurred by tears that thought brought, she charged at him, an angry growl escaping her throat.

Jarod easily blocked her movement after realizing what she was up to.
“And you want to be a friend! Liar!” she accused and tried to punch him. She was trying to hit him repeatedly but he blocked her every move. Then firmly grasping her shoulders, he shook her.

“Parker! Stop that! Are you insane? Don’t you trust me at least a little bit? I didn’t have the letter back than. I wouldn’t have withhold it from you! You should know that!” He was angry now. “I’m going outside now onto the porch. When you regained some of your senses and when you quit throwing a tantrum every two seconds, you can come out and ask that question again,“ he scolded. He let go of her shoulders and strode out without another word, slamming the back door shut behind him.

Parker stood in the kitchen dazed and shaking.

She had never seen Jarod that angry and she realized that she had been frightened. She wasn’t scared that he would hurt her but of his general appearance. He was intimidating when he wanted to be.

‘He dumped me like a spoiled child,’ she realized.

Instead of anger another emotion welled up in her at that thought. Embarrassment and shame.
She had in deed acted like a spoiled child. She had accused him of things and didn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt. This was Jarod… he deserved at least that much. He had never, in all the time they had known each other, lied to her or withheld information. Especially not such concerning her mother’s death.

She returned to the living room. She had to think and she had to calm down.
Sitting down on the couch again she pondered some more.

Soon she was angry at herself. Jarod was not the person to be angry at. He was the first person available and so he was the one having to face her wrath. He had been there to help and she had lashed out at him without a second thought. ‘And it wasn’t even the first time,’ she acknowledged. He had been there for her before, in situations similar to this one, and she always took it out on him. She knew, she had to apologize for what she’d done.

Her eyes were drawn back to the letter, still lying on the table. She picked it up and reread it.

… and I know that you will make me very proud!

‘The person I have become wouldn’t make you proud, mom. You would be disappointed. The way I just minutes ago ripped into Jarod…,’ she sighed.

“But you realized your fault and now it’s up to you to undo it,” her mother’s voice whispered in her mind.

‘Mom?’ Parker asked. Her head shot up when she heard her mother’s voice inside of her.
But she was greeted with silence. “Great. Not very communicative,“ Parker muttered.

She stood up and went into the kitchen to make coffee. She knew she was trying to postpone her encounter with Jarod but she couldn’t help it.

She huffed and took two mugs out of the cupboard. While she waited for the coffee she took a look out of the window. Seeing that the sun was about to set she was amazed about how long she must have been in the living room, pondering the situation.
Wondering briefly if Jarod would still be there, she filled the mugs with the steaming hot liquid.

Taking a deep breath she set off for the door, a cup in each hand.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 4

Making peace with a friend


Taking a deep breath she set off for the door, a cup in each hand.

She slowly opened the back door, careful not to spill the hot liquid.

Jarod sat on the steps leading down to the back yard. He was watching the sunset.

Parker sat down next to him. He didn’t acknowledge that she had joined him but when she offered him one of the mugs he took it without hesitance. Still, he kept watching the sun go down.

“It’s so beautiful. Just the sight of the sun disappearing behind the horizon is admirable,” Jarod uttered.

“Jarod. We…I…”

“Shh. Not now. Let’s enjoy this short moment,“ Jarod interrupted, effectively silencing her.

Parker surrendered and lowered her head.

“Hey, to enjoy the sunset you have to watch it,“ Jarod emphasized, stealing a sideward glance at Parker.

“Jarod. I… I just wanted to say… I’m sorry and I want to apologize,“ she stuttered.

“Ok.”

“Ok? Is that all you have to say to that. Well, I mean I just said that I’m sorry,“ Parker replied irritated.

“Yes, I know what you said. And I know that you are sorry. Otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting next to me taking pleasure in that beautiful sunset,” Jarod stated simply.

Parker was totally caught off guard. She sat there staring at Jarod. She opened and closed her mouth several times without uttering a word. Eventually she turned her head to the sun not really seeing it because she still trying to work through his statement.

When the sun had vanished, Jarod turned to Parker. She was sitting besides him with unseeing eyes staring straight ahead.

Smirking he sipped at his coffee. When he turned his head back toward her, she hadn’t moved an inch.

“Come on. Let’s go inside. It’s getting cold when the sun isn’t there anymore.” Jarod rose.

When Parker didn’t move he knelt down and gently tugged at her elbow. She snapped out of her reverie and looked at him, a blank expression on her face.

“I said we should better go in for it will soon get pretty cold here,“ he repeated patiently.

Parker followed him inside the house still dazed.

They went into the living room and Parker sat down as if on autopilot.

Jarod went to the fireplace and carefully started a fire.

“Jarod?”

“Hmm,“ he grunted without turning around.

“What… I mean. What the hell was that about?” she asked.

“What?” he asked back.

“That! I mean… Just a few minutes ago… what you said outside.”

Jarod didn’t answer.

“Well. I always thought the day I apologised to somebody, let alone to you, you would throw a party,” she said.

“Parker. I already told you that I knew you were sorry and that’s all that matters,” Jarod replied.

“But... aren’t you angry at me? I behaved like an idiot, accusing you and ripping into you without so much as a second thought,” she questioned incredulously.

Jarod, having finally lit the fire, stood up and turned towards her. When he saw her troubled face, he sighed and walked over to her. He sat down on the couch next to her.

“I was angry at you,” he admitted. “That’s why I went out. Your accusations hurt and I didn’t want to turn the tables on you and start dishing out myself. I think you and I both needed some time to regain our temper.”

“Nevertheless, I’m sorry,“ Parker exclaimed.

“I know! And it’s already forgotten,“ he smiled reassuringly at her.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Jar.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, a content smile at hearing her voicing his old nickname.
She grinned back.

They sat in companionable silence for several minutes just watching the other.

“Oh, hey. I think you wanted some answers to your questions,“ he remembered.




To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 5

Questions and decisions


“Oh, hey. I think you wanted some answers to your questions,“ he remembered.

“Yeah, you’re right.” She straightened.

“Well, go ahead.” Jarod relaxed and leaned back, all the while watching her expectantly.

“Ok. To start, where we left it: where did you get the letter?” Parker asked.

“As I told you earlier, I got it from one of Mr. Parker’s safes,“ Jarod replied. “And to keep you from throttling me again,” he grinned “I didn’t have it when we met at the Dover Town Bank and the hell broke loose there.”

Looking the pretender directly in the eye, she found no trace of discomfort or avoidance there. She hadn’t really expected anything else but she was relieved that he was obviously honest. “When did you find it then? I didn’t know that my father, or whoever he really was, had anymore safes or safe-deposit boxes you hadn’t found yet,“ Parker smirked.

“Well, I just recently found out about that one. He hid it very well.”

“Obviously not good enough. When exactly was “recently”?” she asked.

“You want to nail me? Trying to find a reason for throttling?” Jarod challenged. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, watching her intensely.

Parker returned his gaze and didn’t respond.

Shaking his head, Jarod chuckled slightly. “I was never able to beat you at that,” he revealed.

“What?” she asked innocently, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“You know exactly what I mean. That little stare game of ours. I was never able to beat you at that,” he replied.

“Yes, I know. I just wanted to hear it once more. It’s good to know that the genius doesn’t always win a game,“ she declared with a wink.

“Not always and not this one against you,“ he admitted. “But to get back to your question, I found out about that safe nearly one and a half weeks ago and before you say something, I opened it yesterday and didn’t have the letter till than. I wanted to get to the safe a few days earlier but first I had my latest pretend to finish and than I had to loose Lyle’s and your team. You got pretty close this time. I had to make sure no one was following me.”

“I thought you were long gone when we arrived in Montana,“ she said surprised.

“No. In fact I just barely got away. Five minutes earlier and you may have got me,” he shrugged.

“You mean if we had searched more closely you wouldn’t be sitting here now but in a Centre cell?” she asked incredulously.

“No. I don’t think so. I was quite fast when I saw you,“ he grinned. “I had a good car and I knew the area around the building. You would have gotten closer but you would have lost me in the end,“ he shook his head.

“As always,“ was her comment. “Did you find anything else in the safe?”

“There were several other things but nothing concerning your mother,” he said.

“Anything else important for me to know?” she wanted to know.

“There were a few Centre contracts and some cash.”

“Centre contracts?” she asked, interested.

“Yeah. I already looked through them. They are a few years old. I didn’t think they are very important.”

“One would think a safe very well hidden from view would have more secrets. Incriminating stuff,” she mused.

“I thought so too. I was pretty disappointed when I looked through the contracts. At first I thought I had hit the jackpot. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose,” he shrugged again.

“Do you still have them? I mean, did you take them with you? Maybe there is a deeper meaning to them but one doesn’t understand it at once.”

“Maybe. Yes, I do have them. Even though I didn’t think them important I took them with me. You never know,” he said.

“Hmm. What do you think, does my father have the DSA mom talked about in the letter?” she wanted to know.

“I don’t know,” he told her truthfully.

“Are there any more safes that you know of?” she asked quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Not at the moment!” he said without hesitance.

She picked up the letter and read it again. “Even if he didn’t get the DSA in his hands we still had to find it. The DSA and the Scrolls.” She also leaned back on the couch letting her hands with the letter drop into her lap.

Jarod looked at her in wonder.
“So you even consider searching for her plan and go through with it?” he asked astonished.

“You know… I did some serious thinking after you went out of my back door today,” she confessed. “I was never happy with the situation at the Centre. Not just with the situation at the Centre to be honest. I was always trying to get the one thing I wouldn’t get. Much the same as you but you still have your chance. Our situations were similar and yet different,“ she said.

When she saw Jarod’s confused look, she went on, “As I said while you still have your chance to find your parents my chance to get what I’m longing for most is gone. But even if my father… Mr. Parker was still alive, I wouldn’t, not in a lifetime, once get his approval. As hard as I tried I couldn’t get him to say the words,” she said.

Jarod was surprised at her honesty. He didn’t interrupt her. He had the feeling that she had to free herself from Mr. Parker. Maybe she was doing that now. And maybe in meantime he would find his old friend once again when there was no Mr. Parker or the Centre to chase her away. He couldn’t do anything more than let her talk and offer some comfort when the time came.

“Maybe he had to jump out of the damn airplane for me to realize that,” she continued. “And maybe it is time for me to let go, to turn around and walk away from the Centre. I mean, there is nothing that can hold me there now. Since my father, or the man I always thought was my father, isn’t there anymore, there is nothing more but further pain and annoyance for me to find. I have no more family ties to that hellhole,“ she sighed. “In the last few years since your escape I got to see much of the dark side of the Centre. More than I ever wanted to see.” She closed her eyes in surrender. “I’m tired of the game, Jar.”

Jarod looked at her, stunned. Before he had the chance to reply, she straightened and looked up. When she made eye contact, he saw the determined expression. He knew that look. It told him that she had set her mind to something.

She had always had that look since they were still kids.
Usually that look would result in their sneaking around and occasionally it meant trouble when they were caught.

He had always loved that fire burning in her eyes when she wanted to have something her way. Not once had he been able to resist that fire he always admired. Not even when he knew that what they were doing was stupid.
He had often tried to talk her out of her plan but when she had that firm look and that fire burning in her eyes he always surrendered.

He knew this would most certainly not be an exception, whatever it was she had set her mind to do.

“I think it’s time for the Centre to go down!” she said determined.




To be continued…

Disclaimer: see part one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 6

Choices


“I think it’s time for the Centre to go down!” she said determined.

Jarod stared at her. He knew she really meant it. Otherwise her eyes wouldn’t look as if they were on fire. Her eyes…

He lost himself in these pools of stunning blue. He felt himself being drawn deeper and deeper into them. They were just too mesmerizing.

“Well?” Parker asked him carefully noticing his far-away expression.

Jarod snapped out of his trance. He squeezed his eyes shut briefly and shook his head.

“Let’s do it!” he said as determined as she was, giving her a court nod.

When she saw that he, too, meant it, she smiled.

“We better start plotting!” she declared.

“Ok. You’re right,” he agreed, his mind already spinning about the possibilities.

“Well, what do we know and what do we still have to find out?” she started.

“I dare say that the ‘what do we still need to find out’-part is going to be pretty gigantic compared to the ‘what do we know’-one,” he said.

“Brilliant, Sherlock,“ she huffed.

“Sorry. Let’s start with the letter and what we know already!”

She once more started to read the letter only to be interrupted by Jarod.

“We know or knew even before this letter, that your mother had a secret plan. What this one was about, we didn’t know. Until now. Ok, we still don’t know what exactly her plan is but I guess it is about the destruction of the Centre,“ he paused to look at her. When she didn’t interrupt or argue he went on. “She apparently made a DSA explaining that plan of hers.” He stopped once more.

“Yes and it is obviously important that we find the Scrolls because she said unless we find them we wouldn’t be able to “understand our parts in her plan,” she recited. Looking up from the letter sighed. “The thing is just that Mr. Parker jumped out of the plane with them. They are probably still floating somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean,“ she said resigned. “Great. I think this it what one would call a dead end.”

“Hey. That’s no reason to give up. We were presented so many obstacles in our life and this is just another one of them. Plus I might be wrong but I think that this won’t be the last one we are about to come across.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just that I feel as if I’m standing in front of a huge wall that is getting bigger by the moment,“ she huffed again.

“I know what you mean but have faith. We’re going to work through this. You know, Sydney always told me that one could do everything one set his mind to,“ Jarod replied slowly.

“That may work for you. You are a pretender, Jarod. A genius who can become anyone that he wants to be. That’s the reason why the Centre wants you back in their little cage so badly,” she retorted.

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Parker! First of all you are pretty good at having things your way. Second, I have seen you do things other people would never have accomplished and third, you have the pretender gene, too,” he pointed out looking at her.

She got up from her seat on the couch and went over to the window. Hugging herself she stared through the glass.

It was dark outside. The world seemed to consist of shadows only. One could vaguely recognize the tree that stood a few yards away but anything else was just slightly darker than the object next to it and the other way round. The moon was overcast by clouds racing above the sky.

Jarod stood up and went over to her. She seemed lost and he knew she was fighting to keep up with the sudden turn her life was about to take.

When she felt Jarod’s presence next to her she sighed and let her head drop.

He reached out and drew a stray of hair out of her face. Gently cupping her cheek he drew her face up so she was looking at him.

“Hey. You are not about to regret your choice, are you?” he asked quietly. “You have to be certain that you want to do this to be able to succeed. If you are not, we can still go back to status quo.”

“No, we can’t and you know it,“ she answered.

She straightened and drew a deep breath.

“Let’s do it!” she repeated his earlier statement.

Jarod had just given her the opportunity to back away from her former decision. He had given her the power to choose.

She suddenly noticed that she had needed that free choice to go on. All her life things were decided for her: where she went to school, what she had to do, what she had to believe, even whom she was to date. The moment she revolted against that by dating Thomas, the Centre stepped in and punished her for it.

This time Jarod had given her card Blanche so to speak. He had given her the opportunity to choose for herself. And she had chosen. She chose for herself where she wanted to go from here.

She chose the betrayal of the Centre.

Hopefully it wouldn’t result in another disaster.

“Thanks,” she said.

“What for?” Jarod questioned.

“For letting me choose where to go from here,“ she replied seriously.

He smiled slightly and gave her a reassuring nod.

“What do you think, shall we eat something before we continue plotting our moves?” he asked.

“Ok, but I guess we will have to improvise to get something resembling dinner. I don’t have much in the kitchen to go with,“ she announced. “You know I’m not good at cooking!” She grinned.

He chuckled slightly.

“We’ll find a way to survive,” he assured her.

“Good,” she shook her head, still grinning.

“Let’s see what we can find to keep ourselves from starving,” Jarod said, already starting to head for the kitchen.

Parker watched him vanish into the kitchen. Soon she heard him rummaging.
Suddenly he poked his head through the door.

“You coming?” he asked, a questioning expression on his face.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 7

Cooking together


Cooking together with Parker was fun. They had found enough food in the fridge to cook dinner.

Jarod swiftly included her into the preparations and Parker soon started to relax.

It was as if she in deed had freed herself from the influence of the Centre.

The little girl that had once brightened his day started lurking out of the shadows the Centre had made her live in.

Over the course of the evening Parker fell back into her ice-queen roll several times but with every time that she superseded this persona the little girl came back faster.

They worked together all the while chattering, quickly rebuilding the connection they once shared. They talked about many things they never had a chance to talk about. Things like films, music, books and much more.

They were both having a great time and enjoying themselves immensely, content that they could share this time with the each other.

They had found some cheese, some hem, a few eggs, milk, whipped crème, some salad and spaghetti so they had decided to cook Spaghetti Cabonara. Well it was more Jarod’s decision and it was also due to his cooking skills that they got such a meal out of it.

Parker was impressed at how Jarod had turned her few food possessions into a wonderful meal. She probably would have gone to the supermarket and bought something you just had to heat in the oven, after seeing what was in her fridge.

Now, Parker sat at the table making some salad while Jarod stood at the stove and prepared the Cabonara sauce and kept an eye on the spaghetti.

“…Yes and when Raines picked up the receiver, awaiting Brigitte’s call to tell that she had captured the prized pretender, and it wasn’t Brigitte but you on the other end… You should have seen his face! It was priceless. Oh, he was furious. I thought he would have a fit,” she laughed.

“Oh, I can imagine! I heard his voice, remember?!? But to be honest, I was pretty lucky to be chained on a pipe with hot steam. It could have easily ended otherwise,” he shivered thinking about the consequences.

“Oh, believe me, I was worried, too. Not just about your safety but about Broot’s, Sydney’s and also mine. If Brigitte had caught you the first time she was given the chance to do so, the Centre would have wondered what ‘we’ did all the time. They would have concluded that we didn’t try and they wouldn’t have been amused,” she shook her head. “To be honest, I was scared. That T-Board wasn’t something I would repeat willingly.”

“That’s for sure! Any other time you attended a T-Board you were on the other side of it, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, and even that wasn’t a pleasant experience,“ she acknowledged. “But tell me, what did you say to Raines on the telephone?”

He looked back over his shoulder, a smile gracing at the corner of his mouth.
“I told him that it was just Jarod speaking to him and that he could come and pick up his blonde.”

Parker looked up and over to Jarod. He still stood at the stove looking over to her.
Simultaneously they both burst out laughing.

“No, you didn’t!” Parker gasped between fits of laughter.

“Yes, I did!” Jarod replied, also trying to catch his breath.

“My goodness, now I can understand why Rains looked as if he had bitten into a lemon,“ she still giggled.

“Brigitte also wasn’t that pleased to wake up chained to the pipe and gagged,” he grinned. “Must have been quite embarrassing to be freed by a sweeper-team!”

Again they broke into peals of laughter. Parker reached up to wipe away a tear that was slowly making its way down her cheek.

After finally sobering, Jarod turned his attention back to the sauce. He took out a spoon to taste it.

“Hmm?“ he murmured, frowning.

“What?” Parker asked, getting up from her place and stepping behind him.

“I don’t know. What do you say?” he questioned refilling the spoon.

He turned slightly to offer the treat to her and she opened her mouth.
She closed her eyes savouring the flavour of the sauce.

“Hmm. Quite ok but something is amiss,“ she mused.

“That’s what I thought,” he agreed.

“It’s the salt. Put a little more into the sauce,” she said.

After complying with her wish he again offered her the spoon first to refill it for himself afterwards.

“Yes, now it’s good,” she exclaimed.

Jarod’s face brightened.

“Where did you learn to cook that good, Jarod?” she questioned.

“I take this as a compliment,“ he said.

She rolled her eyes. “It was meant as such.”

“Thanks. I once did a pretend in a quite fancy restaurant. Very interesting what you can create with food,” he crooked his head.

“I’m sure it is,” she said, the tone of her voice clearly giving away that she didn’t believe him.

“You would be surprised. Maybe I can cook something for you when I have more food at my disposal,“ he looked at her.

She just shrugged and walked back to the desk to finish the salad.

He followed her moves with his eyes.

“Hey, boy wonder. I think it’s time to take the spaghetti out of that boiling water,” she called.




To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 8

Making Plans


His head shot up. Panting he tried to regain his senses and get back into reality. The nightmare had brutally roused him from his sleep. He frantically looked around.

He was half lying, half sitting on Parker’s couch with her head leaned on his shoulder. She was still sleeping peacefully. Calming down considerably by her soothing presence he leaned back on the couch again. He took several deep breaths to relax some more.

He would probably get no more sleep after this nightmare so he allowed his mind wander back to the last evening.

Dinner had been as pleasant as the preparations before. They had further extended their friendship.

After the meal the atmosphere had cooled down some, when they again approached the subject of plotting their moves against the Centre.

They had exchanged their ideas and worries.

They agreed that they needed to find the Scrolls and the DSA Catherine had made. After that they would plot their next moves.

What worried them though was the fact that Mr. Parker had jumped out of the airplane with the Scrolls. They were probably destroyed by that.

After some time Parker had asked him what Catherine had told him in Raines house in the wood. What she had told him about the secret plan. Parker hoped that the knowledge would bring them any further.

The problem was that he had no idea what Catherine had told him. He didn’t know. He wasn’t even sure that she had told him more than they had already found out due to Sydney’s hypnosis.

He had been thinking about it ever since he first read the letter. He didn’t come up with anything.

They would have to wait. Maybe he would remember something. Catherine had said that she would see to it that no one was able to pry something out of him. Not even Sydney.

That meant that hypnosis wasn’t the key. Sydney had tried that. Well, ok, they had succeeded in finding out something but there had to be more and obviously Catherine had been able to hide that very well in his consciousness.

Hopefully not too good, so that he ‘would’ remember something eventually.

Catherine had mentioned that only together with Parker he would be able to recover that piece of memory. So they had dropped the subject.

Instead they had started to consider where they should begin with their search for the DSA.
A list with some places still lay at the coffee table in front of him.

They must have been fallen asleep over the list with possible places.

He closed his eyes after finally having calmed down to do so without getting agitated again.
In his mind he once more went through a list where Catherine might have hid something.

Eventually he dozed off again, listening to Parkers rhythmic and calming breathing.

~~~~~~~

When he woke up again dawn was just breaking. He didn’t know how long he had slept that night but he was wide awake now. His sub consciousness told him it was time for him to get up. He had slept long enough.

Slowly as not to wake Parker he got up from the couch. He padded to the kitchen to make some coffee.

A look on his watch told him that it was nearly six o’clock. No wonder that he was wide awake. Almost seven hours of sleep was more than he was used to. Normally he would wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and not be able to go back to sleep. He rarely slept more than five hours.

~~~~~~~

When Parker woke up barely an hour later she found herself on the couch in the living room, covered with a quilt.

She stretched and groaned quietly when her back protested. Sleeping on the couch wasn’t very comfortable. She craned her neck and groaned again when a bone slit back into his original position.

Upon entering the kitchen she found Jarod sitting at the table sipping at his cup of coffee, lost in thought. In front of him there was a sheet of paper. She easily recognized as the list they had started to put together last night.

On her way over to the coffee pot she placed her hand on his shoulder as a greeting.

“Morning,“ she yawned.

“Morning. Slept well?” he asked.

“Yes but my back isn’t awfully pleased upon my choice of bed,“ she replied, helping herself to some coffee.

“There is fresh brewed coffee. I used the guest bathroom to take a shower. I hope you don’t mind,” he told her.

She came over to the table and sat down next to him.

“No, of course I don’t mind.” She sipped at her coffee.

They spent the next minutes in silence. Parker struggled to wake up some more and Jarod played with the pen in his hand.

“Ah, now that’s better,” Parker breathed. ”I just can’t wake up without coffee in the morning,“ she explained when Jarod looked up at her, confusion clearly visible on his face.

“Ah yeah, sorry I was a few miles away so I didn’t get it at first,“ he answered, slowly getting back to reality.

“You could say that!” she smirked. “Say, what did you do all the time you were up besides using my bathroom to shower and making coffee?”

“I continued with our list,“ he responded.

“So I saw. Let me have a look”, she requested, reaching out for the paper.

He shoved the sheet over to her. She silently looked the words over. Jarod had added some more places to the list.

“You were busy, weren’t you?” she looked up at him and grinned.

He shrugged. “These are just ideas. Some are pretty unlikely but I added them nonetheless. It’s better to search some places unnecessarily than to say ‘Had I just searched there’. It also depends on how long your mother had planed on bringing the Centre down.”

“How are we going to do this now?” Parker wanted to know.

“We have to keep up appearances. You will go to work, cursing me like you always do,” he grinned. “And I will be the pain in the ass you curse me to be and sent my clues.”

“And when will we go and search the places on this list?” she questioned pointing at the letter.

Jarod remained silent and intensely studied his mug, trying to avoid looking at her.

She huffed. “Com on. I know now that I won’t like it but spill it anyway.”

Jarod looked up again, watching her. “I will do most of the search alone.”

“Just as I said, I don’t like it,“ she growled. “Jarod, I…”

He put up a hand to silence her. “I know that you don’t like it and I understand that. I contemplated the scenarios but believe me when we want to get any further than planning without getting caught by the Centre, we have to keep our covers. You can’t drop of the face of the earth without the Centre getting suspicious. Plus it will be easier for us when we have insider information.”

“I could tell them I need a break and I want to go on a vacation,“ she argued.

“And you think that won’t make the Centre even more suspicious? “ he shot back.

She clenched her teeth angrily.

“Parker… be reasonable. You never take a vacation.”

“I know,” she grumbled. “But it doesn’t make it better. I don’t want to stay back and let you go discover everything alone.”

“Hey, I’m gonna share!” he promised, putting a hand over hers. “You do trust me with that, do you?” he suddenly probed carefully.

Her head shot up. “Of course! It’s not that I don’t trust you. I know that I can rely on you. It’s… I feel left out,” she admitted.

“I tell you what: To the places we can go to together without making the Centre suspicious because you are AWOL, we go together. And the other ones I will have to do alone,“ he paused. “Maybe we can even arrange some of the investigations during the hunt. I could pick up a pretend in the general area and when you come to analyze the lair and such we can get you away from the team for some time. It’s not like they are always close on your heals while pursuing me. Deal?” he asked, reaching out his hand again.

She quickly contemplated his suggestion. “Deal!” she took his hand. “Wait! What time is it?”

He looked at his watch. “About half past seven.”

“Damn. I’m late,” she got up to hurry to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

“Relax Parker. First off you don’t have to justify all your moves in front of the Centre, second: you still have plenty time to get there and third: you can always say that you’ve got a hang over and didn’t get out of bed. They won’t question that considering what day was yesterday,” Jarod soothed, following her moves with his eyes.

“You’re probably right but I better get the day started anyhow,“ she said, somewhat reassured by his words, and went out of the kitchen.

“Shall I make you something for breakfast?” he called after her.

“No, I never have breakfast and before you say something else, I know that it’s not healthy but usually I don’t have the time,“ she retort.

Jarod closed his mouth and shrugged.

He had in deed wanted to inform her about how unhealthy it was to go without breakfast.

~~~~~~~

When she came back down she was dressed in her usual business outfit. She wore a perfectly fitting beige suit and a red blouson beneath. Completing the outfit she wore high heel stilettos.

“So, when do we start exploring?”

Jarod just stared at her.

“Jarod?”

“Hmm?”

“Hey, pez-head. Come back from lala-land and stop staring.”

Jarod shook his head vigorously trying to clear his mind. “Sorry. It’s just that I normally don’t have the time to admire your outfit. Every other time I turn around and get away as fast as possible when I get a glimpse of you,” he shrugged, grinning.

When last night it was Jarod being surprised at her honesty it now was her turn to be astonished. Her eyebrows rose high up on her forehead.

“Ugh, to get back to the question at hand, when do we start exploring?” she asked again, still slightly shocked.

“We still have some research to do before we go out investigating. I think we should put up our headquarters here.”

“Ok. Sounds fine to me,“ she agreed easily.

“If you don’t mind I would stay here for the time being. I could use the guest room.”

“You want to stay here permanently? In my house?”

“Yes. But when you do mind we will find another solution. I could rent a house in the neighbourhood. But it would spare time when I won’t have to cruise around all the time,” he said after seeing her shocked expression.

“No. I don’t mind. It’s just… you here in my house… with the Centre nearby… You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty strange for me, too. But the advantage besides the time factor is that the Centre sure won’t come to look for me here,” he grinned.

“Probably not,” she assented.

“Ok, now that’s settled, you better hurry before you’re real late. I will go and get my laptop to get some of the research done. If everything goes smoothly we might start investigating places tomorrow or the day after.”

“Ok, I’m gone then.” With that she was already out of the kitchen on her way to the front door.

“Parker, wait,“ he called.

Her head appeared in the kitchen door once more. “What?”

“Do you have any wishes for dinner? I’ll stop by the supermarket on my way back,“ he told her.

“Your choice,“ she responded shortly, turning on her heel and heading out again. She called out “See you later” over her shoulder and with that the front door closed behind her.

Walking to her car she shook her head in wonder. So much had changed in the last twenty four hours. She still had a hard time to keep up to date with the development.

It would take some time getting used to the thought of working together with Jarod.

~~~~~~~

Before she went to her own office, she strolled into the simlab where Sydney and Broots were already waiting for her.

Broots looked as if he had bitten into a lemon. He scurried around and fidgeted with his hands. Parker observed his movements without comment. She secretly smiled. Broots would always make these movements when he didn’t know in what a mood she was in.

Today being the day after ‘that’ day, he was even more nervous as usual.

Sydney on the other hand had his clam, psychiatrist face firmly in place. He, too, didn’t know what awaited him and how bad her mood was today.

His expression was schooled determinedly to neutral. He had decided to wait and not approach her in any way.

She had to stifle a chuckle.

“Ok, boys, what do we have, if we have anything that is?!?” She looked expectantly at Broots who seemed to get even more nervous under her stare.

“Miss Parker. We didn’t await you just now,” Sydney’s soft voice flowed around the room.

“And why would that be?” She asked.

“Yesterday was…” Broots started.

“I know what day was yesterday, but well that day is over, isn’t it?!?” She said, raising an eyebrow.

“I suppose so,” Broots mumbled.

“You seem to be in quite a good mood today, Miss Parker,” Sydney observed.

“You want to change that, Freud?” She snapped. She wasn’t really angry but she realized that she would have to be on her guard. Damn, he was good.

“No. Not necessarily. I was just wondering if anything happened…,“ Sydney let the sentence hang in the air.

“No,” she answered plainly and hoped that she would turn him flat down with that. “Can we get back to business now?”

“Sure,” Broots stuttered. Sydney merely nodded, still keeping his psychiatric face. She rolled his eyes. “Well, then…,” she snapped her finger at Broots.

~~~~~~~


She walked into her office to find Lyle waiting for her. He was sitting in her leather chair behind her desk.

The moment she saw him she groaned. The day had started good but obviously there was someone who didn’t want her to be content.

“What are you doing in my office and in ‘my’ chair?” She snarled.

“Easy, sis!” Lyle replied smoothly.

“What do you want?” She asked.

“I wanted to thank you for yesterday,“ Lyle said.

Parker quirked an eyebrow questioningly.

“I know that you didn’t want me there. Thanks that I could come,“ Lyle told her.

She looked at him in bewilderment. Drawing a breath she just nodded dumbly.

They stared at each other for a few moments.

“Is there anything else or do you think I can work now?” She asked sarcastically but lacking her usual sharpness.

“No, nothing else. Any leads on Jarod?” Lyle questioned.

“No.”

“Well, then I’ll better let you start working. You need all the time you can get,” he said smugly and went out of her office.

“Arrogant bastard,” Parker grumbled.

She just didn’t get it. One time he actually was behaving like a normal person and only a moment later he went back to being his annoying, arrogant usual self.

Maybe she would understand it sometime.

Obviously it wouldn’t only take some time to getting used to working with Jarod but also time to getting used to Lyle’s ‘new’ persona.

If it even was a new Lyle or just a temporary weakness or abnormality.

She silently laughed at that thought.

Everything concerning Lyle was abnormal. There was nothing new to that but still…




To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 9

Doubts and changing the course of action


“Another useless visit,“ Parker groaned when the door closed behind them.

Nearly two weeks had passed since they had made the list. Nearly two weeks and three visits at places they suspected some hidden information from Catherine later, Parker was starting to believe there was no plan for them to find.

Maybe the Centre had found all evidence shortly after her mother had been murdered and removed everything to defend themselves against any interference from the outside.

They had started their investigations at places they thought had a high potential to hide information and that lay in the general area around Blue Cove but they had yet to find anything.

“We’ll find something,“ Jarod reassured her.

They walked down the steps leading to the car. She went over to the driver’s side and opened the door.

“I’m not sure about that anymore,“ she confessed. She bent down and got into the car.

Jarod followed suite. He was barely able to shut the door when she put the car into gear and sped of.

“Hey. Relax will ya,” he exclaimed. “There is no need to get us a ticket for speeding because of that!”

She didn’t respond but at least slowed down some.

“Parker. We are only at the beginning of our investigation,“ he tried to sooth her. “Sometimes it takes a while to get onto a hot tail. You of all people should know that after so many years of chasing a pretender all over the country,“ he scoffed, trying to lighten her mood.

“Just shut up, rat-boy!” she snapped.

“Stop that! It’s not my fault that we can’t find a thing,” he shot back.

She remained silent and continued staring onto the road ahead of them.

“Your mother was too intelligent for putting something that important close to the surface.” Jarod paused. “Maybe we are taking this from the entirely wrong direction. Perhaps we should concentrate on the places we put at the bottom of our list because they were unlikely.”

“What if there is nothing for us to find?” she voiced her concern, interrupting his musings.

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking at her with a frown.

“What if the Centre found everything and destroyed it?”

Jarod was silent for a few minutes. He contemplated her argument.

“No. I don’t think so,” he said finally.

“But why? They might have found it. You got the letter from my father’s safe, right?”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nodding his head.

“So they knew that she had a plan. Surely they moved heaven and earth to find out what she wanted to do.”

“They would have tried but I don’t think they succeeded,” he said.

“Why?”

“Think about it”, he said, shaking his head. “No. It doesn’t fit. Had they really found anything they wouldn’t have kept the letter.”

“Maybe my father wanted something to remember Mom,” she argued, no convinced by that argument herself but voicing it nonetheless.

“Then he would have stored it with her other letters I found years ago, close to where he was,” he reasoned.

Parker pondered this. Jarod looked over to where she sat. He could see that her concentration was still on the road to some degree but he also saw the wheels turning in her head.
She shook her head, still not entirely convinced.

Seeing her frown, Jarod went on with his arguments. “If the Centre had found a thing the persons we visited would either be dead because they tried to stand in the Centre’s way or they would at least have mentioned ‘people in dark suits that wanted to have something Catherine brought to me years ago and told me to store for her till she had the opportunity to take it back or till her daughter and a friend of hers would come to pick it up’,“ he imitated.

That seemed to do it. Parker relaxed in her seat and quickly looked over at Jarod.

“You actually believe in this, don’t you?” she questioned.

“Absolutely! And you should do so, too! You knew her best. She was your mother. From what I can tell about her, she was a person true to her word. If she said, she hid something, than she did it!” he said vehemently.

“You’re right! I shouldn’t have doubted her.”

“It’s only natural to doubt. You might get the chance to remind me of my former words of confidence sometime later.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she declared.

Jarod was certain after their first fruitless attempts to find the plan that there were more failures to come. He had probably underestimated Catherine. He had let himself believe that the solution lay close to the surface. He should have known better because of the fact that her plan had remained unknown for nearly thirty years.

“What did you mean when you said that we should concentrate on the other places?” Parker got back to the subject.

“Well. Maybe we were trying to find our answers at places too obvious. Come to think about it, that was quite dumb,” he scolded himself. “It’s pretty obvious that the obvious places are far too obvious.”

“Wait, stop, timeout. Will you speak English, please?” Parker put up a hand to stop his rambling.

“Where would the Centre search for her plan first?” He went on without a pause. “They would search the places we searched first, ourselves. But your mother knew that she had to hide her plan better than that. She had to be better than the Centre to keep it missing for such a long time. So we have to start looking at the places she would have thought safe. Places the Centre either didn’t know or thought unlikely for hiding it. We just did the same mistake the Centre probably made. I’m such an idiot. I should have thought about that earlier,“ he grumbled.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over this. I could have thought about it, too. Then we will have to turn our strategy upside down. As you said, look where nobody would have thought!”

“Hmm,” he agreed still upset about his own mistake.

“Ah, com on. Cheer up. We just corrected our mistake by finding it,” she soothed.

“But it cost us time!” Jarod whined.

“Time is not of essence in our case!” she clarified. “Her plan stayed hidden for nearly three decades. It doesn’t matter if it stays hidden for a few more days. So stop that now!”

He huffed and sank deeper in his seat crossing his arms in front of him in defence.

Parker made a face but didn’t comment his actions. They rode in silence for several miles.

“Listen, I’m gonna drop you off at home and go on to work. My lunch break is nearly over. You’re gonna stop sulking and we will contemplate our next steps in the evening when I get back. Get your hands off of our problem for a while so that you can concentrate on it again when the time comes,” she ordered.

“Ok. Might not be such a bad idea. I have to prepare the next lair anyhow,” he relented.

She stopped the car in her driveway.

“Ok, so now get out and do something productive,“ she smirked.

“Shut up, get back to the Centre and catch me if you can,“ he shot back, grinning. His good mood had returned somewhat and the light bantering with Parker was always fun.

He shut the door and she drove of.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

Authors Note: Hi everyone. Up to now, I think there is no real ‘drive’ in the story. I just can’t persuade my muse to get it going. It is still a little slow but that will change soon.
At the moment I’m still trying to describe the situation Parker and Jarod are in and the disappointments they have to take before they get to Catherine’s plan and everything gets moving. And it will get moving soon! ‘wiggles her eyebrows’
Have fun with the next chapter and leave a review, please.

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 10

New ideas


Parker drove back home from work. She had just had an encounter with Lyle. He was back to his normal annoying self. This time there had been no trace of the person she saw briefly at the graveyard and then again a day later when he waited for her in her office.

No, this time he took all his pleasure in annoying the hell out of her. ‘Why she couldn’t bring Jarod in and such.’

She chuckled mirthlessly.

Pushing all thoughts of Lyle and the rest of the Centre away when she arrived at home, she got out of the car and walked up to the front door.

“Jarod? Jarod, are you there?” she called out into the dark house, when she got in.

She was greeted by only silence.

“Obviously not,“ she murmured to herself.

There was no light in the front but then there never was when she got back in the evening. Jarod always sat working in front of his laptop in one of the rooms in the back of her house. They had agreed that this would be best.

Should there be anyone from the Centre either following Parker or dropping by to install bugs or something else they shouldn’t be alarmed by lights in the house when Parker wasn’t there.

In case there should be any Centre personal coming by to install bugs, Jarod would always have enough time to get out of the house through the back.

Though he slept in her guest room, there were never many things from him to find. He had stored his clothes in the basement, still hidden effectively from view. Normally, the only thing that indicated that he was there was his laptop sitting on a desk.

If the DSA case was in her house she hadn’t found it yet. Not that it bothered her. She didn’t even search for it. It didn’t matter.

She went into the living room. It was dark. When she switched on the light she saw that there was no laptop on the desk.

Jarod either took it with him or stored it with his clothes when he left the house.

So he wasn’t here. Maybe he was still busy, preparing the lair.

‘I wonder where he leads us this time,’ she speculated.

Hopefully he had calmed down enough that they could start planning the next visits this evening. He had been pretty upset about his own ‘mistake’, if it could be considered as such.

She went upstairs to change into something more comfortable. Twenty minutes later she came down again to start some coffee.

The moment she reached the bottom of the stairs she knew something had changed.

“You better put my mother’s photo back onto the mantelpiece,“ she called out.

“Or else?” Came the reply from behind her.

Startled she turned on her heel to find Jarod standing close to her.

“Stop sneaking up on me,” she breathed.

“You’re not on your guard anymore. It could have been someone else.”

“Yeah, someone who took my mothers’ picture with him but not the TV, microwave or anything else of value,” she frowned doubtfully at him.

“Ok, you win!” he relented, smiling. “So, what’s new in hell?”

“At the moment it’s all quiet. That’s what I don’t like. Silence in the Centre is never a good sign,” she huffed.

“I know what you mean but maybe we are just being paranoid. I keep looking constantly over my shoulder these days,” he agreed.

“You always have to look over your shoulder to watch your back, boy wonder,“ she reminded him pointedly, frowning.

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, but now it’s different!”

“Sure!”

“Yes, it is!”

“Ok, ok, fine, if you think so!” She raised her hands in surrender.

“Yes, it is!”

She groaned and he just smiled.

~~~~~~~

The living room was lit dimly. Parker and Jarod both sat side by side on the couch just the way they had many evenings in the last two weeks. They had been talking about the next place they would go to investigate for some time. By now, they both were loosing themselves in their own memories.

Parker was dozing of, her head on his shoulder in much the same position she had dozed of on the first evening these few weeks back and Jarod, too, had difficulties to keep his eyes open.

As it is so often, solutions tend to arrive in stages of sleep or slumber.

Suddenly Jarod shot up, stuck by a thought. The sudden movement roused Parker from her sleep.

“What is it?” she asked sleepily.

“Parker, is the Centre aware of Ben or the position he had in Catherine’s heart?” he questioned.

“What?” she still struggled to wake up.

“I kept thinking. Till now, we were trying to find Catherine’s plan or the DSA close to the Centre. Now that we didn’t find anything in the near district we have to change our way of thinking.”

“Yeah, that’s what we talked about in the car this afternoon. I just don’t see what connection Ben might… have… in that…,“ she tailed of.

Jarod could see her thoughts racing. Her eyes started sparkling.

“That might be it!” she cheered, suddenly wide awake again.

“Wait, Parker. It’s too early to get joyful yet. It might be another dead end,“ he objected.

“Yeah, maybe, but the Centre doesn’t know about Ben, as far as I know. I didn’t tell them a thing, and mom… I don’t know but I think she would have tried to protect him from the Centre. She wouldn’t have told them about him. If she had, she would have wiped away her last refuge. There is still the possibility that they found out anyhow.”

Jarod considered that. “I thought so, too. I didn’t find anything on Ben in the Centre’s records. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything but I think we should take our chances!”

“Ok, next visit: Ben’s inn! When?”

“Hmm,… today is Tuesday. We could head up there on Friday, that way we will have some time there. If he doesn’t have the DSA we can relax a bit in Maine and get our wits together again!” Jarod suggested.

“Ok, Friday it is!”

She leaned into him once more, relaxing.

“Jarod?”

“Hmm?” he mumbled.

She looked up at him and he returned her gaze.

“I’m glad that we are in this together,“ she admitted.

“Me too!” He admitted, freeing his arm and gently encircling her.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 11

Visiting an old friend


Ben went over to the window when he heard a car stop in front of the inn.

He didn’t expect any visitors. It was the end of April. It was usually quiet this time of the year. Usually. He dropped his head in sadness.

Since many years April wasn’t what it had once been…

In fact, nearly thirty years ago, April had been his favourite time. Though there were never many guests in April, there was one special person always coming by that time of the year.
It had made April special to him.

That was until these visits ceased abruptly. He sighed deeply and looked up again.

The sight that greeted him left him breathless.

Miss Parker stood near the back door of the car stretching while Jarod got their luggage out of the trunk.

“It seems that your prediction is finally coming true, my dear Catherine,” he whispered a small smile gracing at his lips.

Smiling he went to the front door to welcome his visitors.

Opening the front door, he found Miss Parker walking up to the porch.

When she saw him standing in the doorframe, her face lit up and she gave him one of her rare real smiles.

She quickly closed the remaining distance between them and gave him a hug.

Her action surprised him but he eagerly returned the hug.

They parted when they heard Jarod chuckling softly from behind.

“What, pez-head?” she growled playfully, turning to Jarod.

“It’s just that Ben has a pretty confused expression on his face,” he grinned.

Ben laughed. “He’s right, you know.”

She just shrugged and smiled warmly at him.

“Come on in, there is fresh coffee in the kitchen,“ Ben invited them in.

Parker strode into the house, leaving Jarod to the task of getting their luggage inside.

Jarod shook his head and laughed. Then he reached for the bags.

“Jarod, wait. I’ll give you a hand,” Ben said and came down.

Before he took her bag he reached out and drew Jarod into a hug.

“It’s good to see you again,“ Jarod said, returning the hug.

“I can say the same,” Ben admitted. “Come. Let’s get the luggage into the house.”

They calmly went into the house and left the bags in the den. Afterwards they joined Parker in the kitchen. She had already prepared three mugs and was just putting some sugar into Jarod’s.

“Ben, I don’t remember, do you want sugar or milk into your coffee?” Parker asked, without looking up when Jarod and Ben came into the kitchen.

“One spoon of sugar, please,“ Ben replied.

Parker nodded her head, still turned away from them.

Ben and Jarod each took a seat. Parker turned and went over to the table carrying all three mugs. She gave Ben the coffee and sat down next to Jarod, handing him his mug.
Jarod’s hand brushed against Parker’s when he took the coffee. She looked at him and smiled.

Ben observed this silent communication between his guests.

“So, what do I own the pleasure of having you both together in my home?” Ben asked.

Parker looked over to Jarod who nodded in response.

“Well, Ben. We… I’ll make it short. We,” she again looked over to Jarod, “hope that you may have something from my mother. Something we are searching for. A disk maybe,“ she said hopefully yet she already steeled herself for the next disappointment.

“Your mother said that one day you two would appear on my doorstep together but I have to admit that I didn’t believe in it after your last visits,” Ben mused.

“So you do have something?” Jarod asked excited.

“Indeed, I have,“ Ben confirmed, looking from one to the other.

Jarod and Parker exchanged a look.

“Can we see it?” Parker asked a little impatient.

Ben chuckled. “Since you asked me so nicely... Jarod seems to do you some good. You do get your temper under control.” He still grinned.

“The day is still long,“ Parker growled but the mischievous sparkle in her eyes gave her away.

They all started chuckling.

“That’s more the old Parker,“ Jarod smiled.

“You want the ‘old’ Parker back, genius?” she threatened mockingly putting just a small amount of venom into her voice as a warning.

“Not really,” he replied, smiling at her split-second-transformation.

Ben watched the slight banter. They seemed comfortable around each other. There was nothing that indicated the uneasiness that Jarod had showed when he talked about the relationship between Parker and himself when he first showed up on his doorstep.

“Ben, I don’t want to be rude but… can we see the disk?” Parker asked longingly.

“Sure,” Ben said, snapping out of his observation. He got up and went to get the disk. “It will take me a while to get it.” He left Jarod and Parker in the kitchen.

“Wow,“ Jarod breathed.

“Just what I thought,“ Parker replied, as stunned as Jarod was.

Several minutes passed and Ben still wasn’t back.

“Hey. Who knows where Ben hid the disk and how much time he needs to get it. We should get our stuff to the rooms. You still want to stay here for the weekend, do you?” Jarod asked.

“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s get the stuff!”

They both got up.

“It’s already in the den,” Jarod told her, when they walked out of the room together.

~~~~~~~

When Parker returned to the kitchen ten minutes later, Jarod was making new coffee.

“Usually it is me who needs coffee every few minutes. You’re more the sugar-addicted type of person,“ she frowned.

“I thought we would probably need it after we saw the disk!” he explained at her questioning expression.

She nodded.

“Let’s go into the living room,“ Jarod suggested.

When they walked through the den, Ben reappeared, a DSA in his hand.

Together they made their way over to the living room.

The moment she entered the room, Parker saw the DSA player sitting besides the table.

“I didn’t realize that you had it with you all the time and that it even was in the car,“ she said, indicating the device with a nod of her head.

“I don’t have it with me all the time. Most of the time was stored at your place during the last few weeks,“ he replied, putting the player up on the coffee table.

She raised an eyebrow and grinned.

Somehow the knowledge that the DSA player was at her house, since the evening that had changed her life, pleased her.

Jarod had trusted her enough to leave the player with all his disks in her house.

When she didn’t comment, Jarod looked up to find her smiling at him. He grinned at her faraway look.

“Ben, can you give me the disk, please?” Jarod asked and held out his hand.

Wordlessly Ben complied.

Jarod inserted the DSA in the player and the screen flicked to life. There was a picture of Catherine but they had yet to start the film. Jarod looked at Parker.

“You really want to do this? It’s still time to back away,“ he said.

“I told you weeks ago that there was no possibility for me to back away. Nothing has changed since then!” she stated firmly and went over to the couch to sit down. Jarod seated himself besides her.

Ben still stood in the room, feeling out of place. He felt two pairs of eyes watching him.

“I better go and…,” he tailed off and turned.

“Ben?” Parker asked irritated.

“It’s not my place to see this disk,“ he declared a sad undertone in his voice.

“Do you want to see it?” Jarod asked him.

Ben nodded slightly.

“Then come on over. We are about to start,” Parker told him firmly.

Ben looked at them, unsure but when they both nodded he accepted their invitation.

“Ready?” Jarod asked Parker.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied shakily.

With a flick o his hand, Jarod started the DSA.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 12

Her plan



With a flick o his hand, Jarod started the DSA.

The screen came to life. Catherine Parker was sitting calmly on a couch. She looked directly into the camera.

“Hello my precious angel, hello Jarod, Ben.

Today is February, 11. 1970.
When you are watching this DSA, I’m dead because otherwise this tape wouldn’t still be at Ben’s. I had hoped to avoid my fate but the odds are against me.
First of all I have to tell you that I’m very proud of you, Melina.
You are watching this together with Jarod so that means that you turned away from the evil that is the Centre and the fate they had in store for you. I am so proud of you!

You two must have been actively searching for this disk for I instructed Ben not to give it to you unless you were together and asking him to hand it over.
I think you know or have a general idea what this disk contains. If not I will give the short version.

You might be aware that I never agreed with the Centre’s policies but I didn’t have the power to stop them,“ Catherine smiled sadly into the camera.

So I developed a secret plan.
I started gathering incriminating evidence against the Centre some years ago.
My plan was to gather enough evidence to bring it down. Over these years I gathered a good amount of data.
I had to hide it for the Centre started to get suspicious.
Till today they haven’t tried to do something against me but I…,” she tailed of and crooked her head. The picture flickered briefly. “…I understand that this will change soon. I will try to hide some more things but I don’t know how long I will be able to do that.
I divided the evidence in several parts and hid it. Until now there are four different places with evidence.

As I said, at first my plan was to bring down the Centre.
That was until I had the chance to read the Vespasian Scrolls.
After reading them and learning about your rolls in these Scrolls I found out that there is a different plan for you. The measures are the same yet the outcome will be different.
It is your decision if you want to destroy the Centre completely or go along with the Scrolls’ prediction. To decide what you want to do, you will have to read the Scrolls and find out about your fate.
I not only had the chance to read the Scrolls but I was also able to get them to safety.
I hid them on a small island in Scotland. It’s the Island of Carthis.”

Catherine Parker paused. Again there was static for several seconds.

"If I get the chance I will entrust Jarod with the knowledge as to where you have to search for the rest of the evidence. He will remember these places in time.”

She crooked her head and seemed to listen. Her smile faltered.

“I have to go now. I know that the two of you will choose the right way! You always have to keep one thing in mind:
Together you can achieve anything you set your minds to! Try as they might, even the Centre can’t stop you once you made up your minds.
Before I go, I want to thank you, Ben, for keeping this disk until Jarod and Melina had the chance to come looking for it,“ she breathed.
“You, Melina, I again want to tell you how proud I am of you. Trust in Jarod despite everything the Centre tried to make you think.
Jarod, I hope you will be able to find your family once this chapter in your lives is completed if you haven’t already found them”, she paused once more and listened. When she looked up again, tears were shining in her eyes. “Please, keep an eye on my angel.”

With that the DSA ended.



To be continued…..

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 13

Getting closer together


With that the DSA ended and the room fell silent.

Jarod, Parker and Ben sat on the couch still staring onto the screen.

Ben was the first to regain his composure. He looked over to Jarod and Parker. They were still sitting next to each other and by now they were holding hands. Silent tears rolled down Parkers cheeks. Jarod was pale and had a shocked expression on his face.

Ben silently got up and went to the kitchen to make some coffee for them. He needed time to come to terms with what he had just seen and he supposed that Jarod and Parker needed just the same. He wanted to give them the space to comfort each other.

The coffee Jarod had started before they watched the disk was ready when Ben got to the kitchen. He took three mugs out of the cupboard and filled them.

When Jarod got back to his senses, Parker was still seated next to him but Ben was gone. He heard faint noises out of the kitchen and assumed that Ben was finishing the coffee. He turned to Parker.

She was crying softly. Without a second thought he reached out and took her in his arms.

She didn’t struggle but willingly accepted his gesture. Burying her head in his shirt, she started sobbing openly.

Ben returned to the living room and found Jarod and Parker hugging each other, giving and taking comfort at the same time. They were both crying softly.

Ben turned and went over to the window, one mug in his hand.
He took the window seat and looked unseeingly into the darkness that had settled outside. He was still trying to comprehend what had happened.

After some time Parker and Jarod both calmed down. Parker looked up at Jarod. He returned her gaze, his eyes red rimmed, just as her own were.

Jarod reached out and laid his hand on her cheek. She leaned into his touch. He tripped her head up slightly and dropped a feather light kiss onto her forehead.

She drew a deep breath. Then she straightened and withdrew somewhat.

Jarod let go of her hand to give her the space she needed.

He looked at her and when she nodded indicating that she was ok, he smiled comfortingly and relaxed a little.

She saw the mugs standing on the coffee table in front of them and reached for one.

“Seems you were right with your estimation that we would need coffee after we saw the disk,“ she sniffed and handed him the mug, then reached for the other one.

“Looks like it. But to be honest, I would have preferred to be wrong in this situation,“ he replied.

“Me too!”

They fell silent once more.

“Again we are staying in front of the problem that we don’t have the Scrolls,” she huffed.

“Yeah and that doesn’t make the riddle any easier,” he agreed.

Parker remained silent and contemplated their situation.

“Maybe we have to concentrate on your memory,“ she suggested looking over to Jarod.

“The problem is that I still can’t remember anything.”

“How do you know that there is anything in your memory?” Ben asked, startling both, Jarod and Parker, when he spoke up. They had been too much lost in thought to realize that they were not alone in the room.

“Mom talked to Jarod after her supposed suicide,” Parker explained.

“I wasn’t sure if she did really talk to me about her plan but now I’m certain that she did,” Jarod agreed with Parker.

“You are? Do you remember anything?” Parker asked.

“No, I don’t remember a damn thing but somehow I’m certain that she told me something. Don’t ask why I know that….. I just know,” he huffed, shrugging his shoulders.

“Ben, when did she give you that disk?” Parker directed her next question to Ben.

“She gave it to me in April 1970. It was the last year she came up here. She came earlier than usual. Normally she came at mid-April but that year she arrived the last day in March,“ Ben remembered. “She didn’t stay long. Barely a week and when she was ready to leave, she gave me this disk and made me promise to hide it until the both of you came up here together and asked me for it. It was the last time I ever saw her.”

They fell silent again.

“And what now?” Parker asked.

“Now we all go to bed and try to get some sleep. We have to get our wits together to solve this,” Jarod advised. He got up and Ben followed suite but Parker stayed where she was.

“Come on, Parker. It’s useless to stay here. Without sleep we won’t be able to get through this. I, too, want to stay here and try to figure out a way to get to the answers we need but that won’t happen. We will have to digest what your mother just told us. Plus, I might be able to go without sleep for a long time and still get sims accurately performed but I can’t force my mind open to find out what your mother told me. And like it or not, I think we depend on that piece of a memory now,” he said.

“I don’t like it,“ she growled. “I want to actively do something, not wait until you remember.”

“Then we are already two!” Jarod grumbled. “We will start with a new list of places tomorrow,” he promised.

“Ok,” Parker huffed and got up.

All three went out of the living room and parted to their own quarters.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 14

Trying to remember


Jarod wandered into the kitchen. The house was silent which was not surprising because it was one o’clock in the morning.

They had left the living room about an hour ago to call it a night.

He had already known back then that it would be hard for him to get some sleep.
It had turned out that it was not only hard but downright impossible.
He had lain down for some time; tossing and turning in his bed and not getting anywhere near sleep.

So now he had decided to give up on trying to sleep and get up once more.

He opened the fridge and aimlessly searched through it. What he was looking for was beyond his knowledge.

Without finding something of interest, he shut the fridge and leaned against it.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

His mind was still spinning, trying to digest what they had found out this evening.

Catherine’s dedication to each of them had been heart wrenching.

Parker was shocked but he knew that she had to deal with this alone.
She was used to cope with her problems that way and he wouldn’t be able to change that.

And even if she would have let him comfort her, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do so if he wasn’t in control of his own feelings.

That was why he had insisted on their going to bed. He knew he had to understand their situation himself first to be able to help her get over the shock.

To be able to work through his own feelings he had to be alone to analyze them.

He went back to the living room, sitting down on the couch and staring sightlessly ahead.

Catherine had hid the Scrolls in Scotland. The problem was that they weren’t there anymore. In fact they had no idea where the Scrolls were now, if they still existed.

Catherine’s letter had made it pretty clear that they would need the Scrolls to execute her plan properly.

When they were able to find the evidence she brought to safety they would at least be able to go through with her original plan.

Then they could destroy the Centre.

What he feared now was that Catherine had told him the places where they would have to look and coupled this knowledge to some sort of key-word.

That alone was no problem but when the knowledge would only surface if you combined the key-word and the information the Scrolls provided they wouldn’t stand the slightest chance of ever finding the hidden evidence.

On the other hand he was confident that Catherine wouldn’t trust in the prospect that everything would go according to her plan. Not after she had lived under the influence of the Centre for such a long time.

She knew better than to trust fate.

Which again brought him to the problem that they desperately needed his knowledge about what Catherine had told him all these years ago.

He shakily drew in a deep breath.

Forcing himself to relax he stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes.

He concentrated on slowing his breathing down. Then he directed his focus on his on mind and tried to wander back in time to the moment Catherine had told him about her secret plan.

In his head he went over the information they had uncovered thanks to Sydney’s hypnotisation over and over again and tried to find some kind of stepping stone into the part of the conversation between Catherine and him that still lay in the darkness.

Several times he had the feeling the information they needed lay just at the tip of his tongue, directly under the surface waiting to come out only separated by a tiny wall.

He struggled to go beyond that point but try as he might he wasn’t able to overcome the barrier.

Frustrated, he let himself be carried out of the past and back into the present.

He got up and went into the kitchen to get something to drink. He wanted to try to access the hidden information once more after getting in touch with the reality again.

He was just about to reclaim his seat on the couch when he heard someone scream in terror.

It was Parker.

While his mind still tried to understand that part of information he was already up and running trough the hall leading to Parker’s room.

He threw the door open and scanned the room.

It was then that his brain finally caught up with his actions.

Parker was sitting in her bed, panting and shivering uncontrollably.

The moment he burst through the door her head snapped up. Her eyes were wide with fear.

With some more big strides he went over to the bed and crouched down in front of her.

“Parker?” he asked. He wasn’t sure if she even saw him. Her eyes were darting back and forth.

“Parker!” he called out more forcefully trying to get her attention. This time it had the desired effect. Her eyes came to rest on him and they seemed to focus.

“Nightmare?” Was all he asked.

She nodded still panting.

Slowly, as not to startle her, he got up from his crouched position and sat down on the bed besides her.

She still had a hard time breathing.

“Hush now. You’re safe! Concentrate on your breathing!” he gently directed.

He reached up and started stroking her back. She responded in leaning into his touch, seeking comfort there.

Feeling her still shivering, Jarod drew her into his arms.

“Hush. Just breathe, Melina. I’m here,” Jarod consoled. He kept stroking her back.

She clung to him and he tightened his hold on her. He placed his head on hers.
When he saw a shadow in the doorframe, he looked up.

Ben was standing in the light staring at them and searching Jarod’s gaze. “Do you need help?” Ben whispered.

Jarod returned his look and shook his head slightly. “Go back to bed, Ben. We can manage,“ he replied.

Ben hovered in the door but Jarod shook his head once more. “She’ll be ok!”

Making up his mind, Ben nodded curtly and turned.

“Ben?” Jarod called.

Ben’s head returned in the door.

“Would you shut the door, please?”

Ben nodded again and drew the door shut behind him, leaving Jarod and Parker in the dark.

The moment the room was dark, Parker’s breathing quickened. She started to get agitated again.

“Shhh...,“ Jarod cooed.

He reached for the lamp on the bedside to switch on the light.

Comforting her, Jarod murmured nonsense into her ear and continued to stroke her back.

At long last, she calmed down.

“You want to talk about it?” he questioned cautiously.

She shook her head. “Not now. I don’t want to go there now,” she replied in a small voice.

“Ok.”

“Will you stay with me? “ she questioned.

He just nodded.

Drawing in her breath, she relaxed back into his arms.

Jarod merely continued to hold her and the rest of the night was spent in silence.



To be continued…..

Disclaimer: see Chapter one

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 15

Nightmares and fears


Slowly the sounds and odours around her invaded her consciousness.

Parker struggled to open her eyes. Groaning, she closed them again, shutting out the light that blinded her.

She relaxed back and concentrated on her senses.

She could smell the sweet scent of coffee. Then she felt a small movement under her head and there was a soft rustle of clothes.

She didn’t feel threatened but merely curious so she opened her eyes once more.

Looking up, she saw Jarod smiling down at her. He was sitting on the bed, with her head resting on his legs. In his hands he had a big mug, probably filled with the coffee she had smelled.

“Hey there,“ he smiled.

“Hey,“ she replied hoarsely, her voice rough with sleep.

Jarod stayed silent, giving her some time to wake up.

“Have you been here all night?” she asked.

He nodded his head yes.

“In that position?” She questioned further frowning.

He merely nodded again.

“You shouldn’t have,” she whispered.

He looked at her and questioningly quirked an eyebrow.

“I can’t imagine it being very comfortable,“ she explained.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ve slept in worse positions and places,” he grunted and smiled.

“All the same: You shouldn’t have!” she insisted.

“You asked me to stay with you last night and I told you I would stay. So, here I am. You know me, Parker. I’m no one to break my word,“ he shrugged, sipping at his coffee yet again.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

“You’re welcome,” he winked and sipped once more on his mug.

It was then that he saw the longing expression on her face. He reached over to the bedside table and produced a second mug she hadn’t seen before. Ben had brought both mugs some time ago.

“Sorry, I forgot. You might want that,” he gave her the mug.

“You’re a saint, Jar!” she said sitting up and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I should stay in your room more often when you are in such a good mood afterwards,“ he pondered, a twinkle visible in his eyes.

“Shut up,“ she chuckled.

They both sipped at their coffee for some time, lost in their own thoughts.

“Do you want to talk about it now?” Jarod asked.

“About what?” she shot back innocently.

“Aw, come on. Don’t play dumb. The nightmare you had last night. The nightmare that had me barrelling through that door,“ he said, indicating her bedroom door.

“I’m not sure yet,” she confessed, looking up at his face.

He kept a neutral expression and gave her time to decide for herself.

“It was a strange dream. I don’t know what I should make out of it,“ she admitted.

“Maybe I can help you to set it straight?”

She considered this and shrugged her shoulders, giving up her reserve.

“It was a little bit like travelling through time. At first I was back in our youth. Back at ‘that’ day. The day mom died. I could hear the shots again,” she shuddered.

Jarod reached out and gently rubbed her back. She shot him a look of gratitude and then drew in a deep breath to continue.

“Next thing I know is that we were in the plane. You know, when Mr. Parker jumped,“ she paused once more, hesitating to go on.

“And then…?” Jarod probed slightly.

She swallowed hard and clenched her jaw, her mouth becoming a thin line. Her hands were clasped tightly at her sides.

Jarod reached out once again, this time touching one of her tightly balled fists. She didn’t look up.

“Parker?” he asked carefully.

“The next scene plays somewhere in between past and future. Again I’m standing in front of this elevator. Again, I can hear the gunshots but this time, when I round the corner it isn’t my mother lying on the floor…,” she looked up and met his eyes. They were full of despair. “This time it is your body lying in that damn cabin!” Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“Oh, Mel!” Jarod tightened his hold on her hand and drew her over to him.

She accepted his offer of comfort and started sobbing.

“What if it is kind of a foreboding?” she snivelled. “What if that is what is going to happen if we continue this?”

“Oh no,“ Jarod took her shoulders and pushed her slightly away from his body. “No, that’s not going to happen,“ he said in a determined tone of voice.

“How do you know?” she shot back.

“We can’t be sure but you know what? We can’t be sure of anything in life.” He searched her eyes and held her gaze. “Maybe one of us or someone close to us will have a car accident tomorrow or the day after. Or something else happens. We don’t know. That is what life tells us everyday. We don’t know what comes next. We can only live our lives as best as we can. The rest isn’t our choice to make,” he stated.

She leant back into him. “I’m scared. I feel like I’m not in control anymore,” she confessed.

“I know.”

“I’m scared to loose you,“ she whispered.

“I know,” he repeated.

They fell silent for some time pondering the situation.

He looked down and searched her eyes. She returned his gaze. He felt himself being drawn into the pools of stunning blue. They held some sort of spell over him. And not only her eyes but the person Parker was herself.

Never in his life had anyone else had so much power over him. He would go to hell and back for her.

She was special to him:

His best friend, the girl who gave him his first kiss, until not long ago his enemy, and maybe there was a prospect for more.

He knew that he had deeper feelings for her.

After their encounter in Scotland he hadn’t been able to deny it any longer. At least not to himself. But laying the cards open on the table in front of her… that was still not possible.

Not at the moment but maybe in the future.

“There was one more thing in the dream,“ she said, interrupting Jarod’s musing.

Jarod remained silent and waited.

“Not a new scene or else but something was strange. Remember when I told you about Mr. Parker jumping out of the plane?”

Jarod nodded.

“I heard mom in that moment,” she uttered and entangled herself from him to some extent.

Jarod looked at her and frowned.

“When daddy….. I mean Mr. Parker jumped, I heard her say: ‘They still exist’!” she huffed. “I think she referred to the Scrolls.”

“Then maybe we haven’t reached a dead end,” Jarod contemplated.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: The characters known from the show don’t belong to me. I only own the ones I created myself. I don’t intend to make any money with this story and there is no other reason to sue me, so don’t even try.

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 16

St. Catherine of the Hills






More than a week had passed since they had left Ben and headed for Blue Cove again.

They had discussed the situation several times together with Ben and alone.

Just as Jarod had promised they had made another list of places they could think of where Catherine might have concealed the evidence she talked about.

They had left out the persons they had already visited. These were somewhat close friends of Catherine but there was nothing to be found at their homes.

Ben had told them about two or three other places he could think of, where Catherine had felt safe and had possibly hid something.

When Jarod and Parker left, Ben had told them yet again that they could always come to him when they needed a secure and secret place.

Since the day they had left Ben they had searched two places from their list together.

Parker had searched at two places, they had thought likely to hide something, in the Centre. She had done this alone for the obvious reason that Jarod couldn’t just walk into the Centre.

He could have managed to sneak in and out but they had agreed that it would be easier this way.

On the weekend they had been in Catherine’s birth town. She grew up there and knew the area. But they hadn’t found a thing.

Right now they were on their way to the St. Catherine of the Hills Convent. Catherine Parker had lived there for several years.

Jarod parked the car and they got out. Parker strode directly toward the entrance. When she reached the door realized that Jarod hadn’t moved and was still standing next to the car, she frowned and went back. Standing in front of him she crossed her arms in front of her chest and impatiently tapped her foot on the ground.

“What?” she asked irritated. “We are not going to get any further by standing outside. Believe me, if we want to find something we will have to search for it. It’s not going to fly here and place itself into our hands,“ she snapped ironically.

Jarod didn’t answer. He turned to watch the area. He seemed to be lost in a memory.

“Jarod!” she snapped again.

He turned towards her. She searched his face. Several emotions flickered over his face but they were gone before she could determine them. Only the last one stayed: sadness.

“Jarod? What is it?” she asked this time without malice or impatience.

He huffed and his shoulders fell.

Parker put her hand on his shoulder. She spotted a bench and gently tugged at his elbow to manoeuvre him towards it.

Jarod followed her without complaint.

She pushed him down to sit on the bench and seated herself next to him.

“So, wonder boy, tell me what your problem is.”

“I’ve feared to come here,” he said silently as if it explained everything.

“Why?” She asked confused.

“I’ve been here before,“ he swallowed and looked over to her.

She crooked her head but waited for him to go on.

“It was nearly a year after I got away. I know that a lot has happened since then but…,“ he huffed.

Parker put her hand on his to give him some moral support.

He looked up once more with despair in his eyes. “It was the first time I saw Kyle after decades and I didn’t even know that he was my brother at that point. I know that he neither died at this place nor had it any meaning for him but I just can’t help it. In my mind this place is tied to my first encounter with Kyle in the real world. For me it has a special meaning.” He clenched his teeth and swallowed again.

Parker reached out and cupped his cheek in her hand and later on drew him into her arms. Maybe she could give some small part of the support he had given her back to him. If not, at least she was here and he didn’t have to go through this alone like they both normally had to.

Kyle. Another child that wasn’t able to grow up with his parents thanks to the Centre. Kyle. Jarod’s little brother who had been Raines lab rat and who had been turned into a psychopath. Kyle, whom Jarod had never been able to get to know even if he was his own brother.

She could understand his pain, hell she even knew it first hand.

Her own twin brother had been ripped from her and again it was Raines who turned Bobby into Lyle, into a sick psychopath.

It seemed as if all ways of evil lead back to the Centre.

She could feel Jarod’s body shaking in her embrace. She tried to soothe him and whispered words of reassurance to him, just like he had done so many times since they started their ‘project’.

It took Jarod a while before he finally caught himself. He drew a last shaky breath and then straightened.

Parker withdrew to allow him to get his composure back.

“Better?” Parker asked when he looked at her.

His eyes were still red but he nodded and even managed a small smile. “Thanks Mel,” he whispered hesitantly, using one of the old nicknames he had given her all these years back.

“You’re welcome, Jar,” she replied, liking the feeling she got when he voiced her forename. She nodded her consent that she was ok with him using it and he smiled slightly.

Parker saw that there was still hesitancy in his eyes. “You don’t have to go in there. I can do that alone or we can go home directly,“ she suggested.

“No, first off we are in this together and second I don’t want to stay outside,” he replied, getting up.

“Ok,” she reached out once again and gently cupped Jarod’s cheek in her hand. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

~~~~~~~

They were shown to the bureau and told to wait. A few minutes later an older nun came. After closing the door, she turned to face her visitors and froze.

“Catherine?”

“No, I’m her daughter,” Parker replied.

“You look just like her!” the nun whispered astonished.

“I hear that a lot. I take it you knew her,“ Parker asked sadly.

“Knew?”

“Yes, she died several years ago,“ Jarod replied instead of Parker.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Of course I knew her. She lived here for some years. I always liked her. She was such a good person! Forgive me, where are my manners… I’m Nancy.”

“I’m Jarod and this is…,” he hesitated.

“Melina,” Parker introduced herself, silently thanking Jarod that he left her the decision to tell her forename or not.

Nancy smiled warmly at them both. “So, how can I help you two?”

“We wondered if my mother gave you something for safekeeping, a box with files for example.” Parker explained.

“Not to me personally and I don’t know about the other nuns but I believe there still is something stored from her in the basement,” Nancy mused.

Jarod and Parker exchanged a look of excitement.

“Can we see it?” Parker asked.

“I don’t know why not,” Nancy shrugged. “Follow me.”

All three got up and Jarod and Parker followed Nancy through several long corridors.

At long last they were standing in the basement. A musty smell hang in the air and the small light bulb left them in semi-darkness.

Nancy went ahead of them and determinedly strode over to a large closet. She opened it and searched through the contents.

“Ah, there it is,” she reached out and pulled a box out of one board to put it on the floor.
“We stored it here in case she came back looking for it.”

Parker and Jarod crouched down to get a closer look.

When Parker reached out to open the box, Jarod could see her hand shaking.

There were some clothes in the box, a bible and another book. Parker was about to close the lid in disappointment when Jarod interfered and reached into the box.

He pulled out a smaller box covered with dark blue velvet.

He looked up and searched Parker’s gaze. She returned his glance and nodded, shivering in anticipation.

Jarod slowly opened the jewellery box. There was only one item in it. It was a delicate bracelet with a small tear shaped pendant.

Jarod looked at it more closely. Somehow it seemed familiar but he couldn’t quite place a finger on it.

Parker watched him frown and put her hand out. He placed the bracelet in her hand and she inspected it.

When she looked up, she saw Jarod staring into space in concentration.

‘There is something to this bracelet’ her mind screamed. She looked at it once more.

‘Yes, there is, darling. Give Jarod time, don’t push him. He will remember,’ she heard her mother’s voice.

“You looked for some files, didn’t you?” Nancy asked, interrupting Parker’s musing.

“Yes, we did,“ Parker confirmed gazing over to Nancy who had a questioning expression on her face.

“I’m sorry there isn’t anything else in the box,” Nancy said compassionately.

“Don’t worry. We will find them eventually. Can we take the box with us?”

“Sure. It’s yours anyway. Catherine would want you to have it,“ Nancy nodded.

“Thanks,” Parker stated and straightened. Addressing to Jarod she said “Jarod, come on, we have to go.”

Jarod, too, straightened, sober again. He still had a confused frown on his face when he looked over to Parker.

She kept silent and decided to comply with her mother’s advice not to push him.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 17

Conversations in the night


He was stretched out on the couch in the living room. Parker had left him there, going to bed herself some time ago.

The bracelet was dangling from his fingers in front of his face.

The evening had been quiet. They hadn’t talked much.

He knew that Parker was suspicious and he even suspected that she knew that the bracelet had a meaning to him. He huffed.

A meaning that he couldn’t make out.

Angry, he sat up. Why was he the only one knowing from that secret plan. They needed his knowledge but he couldn’t remember.

Try as he might, he couldn’t!

Every time he thought that there was something in his mind and he reached out to grasp it, it evaded him, getting just out of reach.

It was like a carrot dangling in front of the donkey.

It was as if it was mocking him and that thought made him even angrier.

The fact that Parker didn’t seem to be angry but was patient and supportive didn’t make it any easier. On the contrary, it agitated him even more so.

Growling quietly he got up and grabbed his leather jacked. He put the bracelet into his breast pocket and strode over to the back door.

~~~~~~~~

In her bedroom, Parker heard the backdoor close softly. She was tired but sleep evaded her. She was worried about Jarod. He had been so withdrawn the rest of the day. She wanted to approach him several times but her mother had constantly warned her to leave him alone.

She sat up in bed and considered following him. ‘Maybe he needs me,’ she pondered.

‘No, darling. He’ll be ok. You can’t help him with that now. He will come to you in the end because you are the only person that will be able to help him remember.’

‘Why don’t you just spare time and tell me what to do?’ Parker accused suddenly.

‘I’m here to guide you along the way but I can’t tell you the result. You have to do the journey alone. It’s not only a journey to finish my plan but also a journey for both of you to find yourselves,’ her mother explained.

‘But…’

‘You’re on the right path, Melina,’ her mother’s voice faded away.

Parker opened her eyes and looked up.

“It will still take me some more time to get used to this,” she mused aloud, meaning both her ‘conversation’ with her mother and the path they needed to take.

~~~~~~~

Jarod walked trough the wood behind Parker’s house till he reached the shore. He wandered along the small beach.

His fingers toyed with the bracelet he had taken out of his pocket after reaching the wood.

“What did you tell me Catherine and why can’t I remember?” he chewed on his lower lip.

Sitting down on the sand he watched the water.

Ever since he had escaped the Centre, the ocean had held a special meaning for him. This infinite power that couldn‘t be tamed by anyone; the open and wide surface. It meant freedom to him.

The ocean had had a calming effect on him since he had first seen it. He breathed in the scent of salt and algae, closing his eyes.

He knew he needed to calm down. Otherwise he wouldn’t get anywhere.
So he just sat there, facing the ocean and breathing deeply and deliberately in and out.
He was using an old calming exercise Sydney had taught him and soon he felt himself relax.

Silently he thanked Sydney for all he had taught him over the years.

Sydney. Jarod straightened abruptly.

Maybe talking to his old mentor would help him get to the memory he so desperately craved.
A quick look on his watch told him that it was half past ten. He flicked out his cell phone and dialled the programmed number.

“This is Sydney,” his mentor answered after the second ring.

“What can I do to recover some information I know is hidden somewhere in my brain but can’t get a hold on it?” Jarod asked without preamble.

“Jarod. You didn’t call for a long time,” Sydney responded without hurt or reproach in his voice.

“Sydney, what can I do?” Jarod questioned again letting some of the despair he felt show in his tone.

“What information are we talking about?”

“Information about the past, the present and the future,“ Jarod replied quizzically.

“Hmm,” Sydney huffed obviously unsatisfied.

“I just can’t overcome the blockade,“ Jarod huffed equally unsatisfied and frustrated.

“You mean like you did back then, when we discovered the information about Ethan?”

“Yes and no. Basically I feel the same, it’s just that I know that hypnosis won’t work to recover the information.”

“How do you know?” Sydney asked puzzled.

“I just know,“ Jarod shrugged, as if his mentor could see him.

“Then you will have to find another way. I told you back then that every waking moment is saved somewhere in our mind. We just have to find the right drawer,“ Sydney said.

“Yeah, I know,“ Jarod replied.

“Maybe you will have to put yourself back into the position you were in when you learned that information,” Sydney suggested.

Jarod looked up and frowned. That might be the key. He snapped the phone shut just as he heard Sydney’s voice asking if he was still there.

Jarod contemplated walking back to the house but he wanted to stay on the beach for some more time.


When he finally got back to Parker’s house it was late at night. Dawn would break soon.

He had been tempted to try Sydney’s approach when he arrived but in the end he refrained from it. He needed to sleep first. He was tired after all. The last few weeks had been tiring. Not so much physically but emotionally.

He felt that he had to keep up Parker’s and his own faith. On the other hand, today it had been the other way round.

Jarod chuckled and went to the guestroom, feeling a calm he hadn’t felt in a long time.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 18

Dangers and a ray of Hope


She was on her way to the Centre yet again.

Jarod was still asleep. She hadn’t heard him come back last night and she had wanted to make sure that he was ok, so she had quietly sneaked into the guestroom to see him.

Reassured she had left afterwards.

Parker strode into her office. Broots and Sydney were waiting for her.

“Do we have anything on the lab rat?” she snapped at Broots. Of course they wouldn’t have anything of importance but she wouldn’t let that show. After all she, too, was a pretender.

“N-n-no, Miss Parker,” Broots stuttered.

“Well, then the meeting is concluded. Go on searching!” she dismissed them. Broots was already out of her office but Sydney stayed.

“You are quite fast with your orders, Miss Parker,” he said calmly.

Her gaze snapped to Sydney. “Do you have to add something? In that case spill it!” she growled.

“He called me last night…,” Sydney shrugged.

She rolled her eyes. “Where’s the news?” she asked exasperated.

“Something was different about him,“ Sydney said, looking at her.

Her head snapped up. “You have my attention. Spill it!” she ordered sharply.

~~~~~~~~

He woke up from a soft noise. He listened and heard Parker going down the stairs.

Jarod got up and showered. Ready to start the day, he booted up his laptop and accessed the internet. Afterwards he left for the kitchen to get himself some coffee.

It was still early but Parker had already left for the Centre. Her car was gone.

He sipped at his coffee when he heard his laptop chirping, indicating that he had received an eMail.

Jarod strolled slowly back into the living room and opened the Mail.

It was a video message from Angelo, showing Mr. Raines while he talked to Willy.

“Jarod… didn’t make… contact for a long time…,” Raines rasped. “Maybe… Miss Parker… is… deceiving the… Centre. I… want you to tap… Miss…Parker’s phone!”

“Yes, Mr. Raines,“ Willy nodded obediently.

“Dismissed,“ Raines wheezed.

Willy left the office and the video transmission stopped.

~~~~~~~

Jarod quickly looked at the time the message was sent. It had been tonight. The time code on the surveillance tape showed that the conversation had taken place yesterday evening.

Wheels were turning in his head.

He had to get going. The Centre was always fast when it came to setting bugs. Jarod got up and quickly strode over to the kitchen to rinse his mug.

He had to remove all evidence that he had been here. He was working fast, his heart beating overtime all the while.

Jarod was about to open the backdoor to get out when he heard someone pick the lock on the front.

He threw the duffle back and his laptop case over his shoulder and was out before the front door opened. Hasting over to the wood he ducked for cover.

~~~~~~~

“I don’t know. He sounded… desperate,“ Sydney said.

“Desperate?” She quirked an eyebrow. “Doesn’t fit into the profile. Normally he is just irritating and annoying,“ she replied, hiding her own worries under the façade of cursing Jarod.

“No. It was…,“ Sydney started, only to be interrupted by Broots who came back into the office.

“Broots, in case you haven’t noticed. In the entrance to my office there is something that is called a door. Normally you pause there, knocking and waiting for me to call you to come in,“ she snapped.

“S-s-s-sorry, Miss Parker but a package arrived a few minutes ago. I think it is from Jarod,” he stammered.

“You are not paid to think about such things,“ she snarled viciously.

“Y-y-y-yes, Miss Parker.”

“Well?”

“Well?” Broots asked back, uncertainly.

“Where is the package, Broots?” she growled impatiently.

“O-oh, sorry, I have it right here.”

Parker rolled her eyes and snatched the package out of his hand to open it.

It was indeed a hint from Jarod. Sydney stood next to her when she searched through the small box.

She already knew where the next lair was because Jarod had told her two days ago but this time she found the hint quite obvious.

“Broots, search in your computer for a Jarod whatever in Richmond, Virginia and get the Centre jet ready,” she ordered.

Sydney and Broots looked at her, stunned.

“What?” she asked, crocking her head dangerously.

“Why Richmond?” Broots asked and Sydney looked at her expectantly.

“In the package there is a Book from Edgar Allan Poe and a picture from a small jewellery. I will explain it further to you, Broots, because I know that you have no idea of art. The jewellery is a small egg. It is made by a Russian jeweller named Fabergé. As far as I know the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has a quite extensive collection of these, plus there is an Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond. So Richmond will be our first try,“ she said.

“What if there are other towns with Fabergé eggs and something about Edgar Allen Poe?” Broots questioned.

“What then? We won’t catch Boy genius. But that’s nothing new, is it?” she shot back.

“I guess not,“ Broots agreed.

Sydney stood over the package that had just arrived and analysed the hints.

“What?” Parker went over to him.

“Something is different.”

“We already had that, Freud,” Parker rolled her eyes.

“He changed his pattern,” Sydney said.

Parker frowned. “How so?”

“He’s sticking close to Blue Cove,” Syd explained.

“Maybe he’s getting home sick,“ Parker shrugged. She had to divert Sydney’s attention from that theme and in the evening she had to tell Jarod that he needed to pick pretends in places that were further away from the Centre.

“I don’t know. Something is up; his call last night and his lairs over the last month or so. They were so close. Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey and now Virginia, all these states are close to Delaware,“ Sydney mused.

“Like I said, maybe he’s getting homesick. Broots, what are you still standing here? We have a pretender to catch!” she snarled.

~~~~~~~~

Jarod sat in a small restaurant. He had made his way to Dover to avoid being spotted by Centre personal. Even here in Dover he still felt insecure.

He had decided to keep his head down for the rest of the day and maybe he wouldn’t even return to Blue Cove tonight. He didn’t want to endanger Parker and himself.

Sipping at some coffee, he was sunken into his own thoughts. If their adventure was to continue like this, he would be addicted to coffee soon. He smiled.

Suddenly his cell phone rang. He frowned and opened it.

“This is Jarod,“ he said, much the same way his mentor answered a phone call.

“Hey Jarod, it’s Mark,” a voice greeted him.

“Hey Mark,” Jarod exclaimed while he relaxed back in his seat. “I haven’t heard from you in a long time. How are you?”

“I’m fine and how are you?” Mark asked back.

“Well, I’m knee deep in a new job,” Jarod stated, smiling at the description.

“Then you’re not the only one, man. I do have a new job myself,” Mark replied.

“That’s great! The last time we spoke, you were still searching.”

“Yeah, but now I finally got something. I had to leave home but well, you have to be flexible these days,” Mark said light-heartedly.

“You can say that,” Jarod confirmed. “And where is that new job of yours?”

“It’s in England and that’s also from where I’m calling you right now,“ Mark answered.

“England?”

“Ye…, look, this is not only a social call,“ Mark hesitated.

“What is it?” Jarod asked openly.

“Remember the last time we met, nearly half a year ago?” Mark questioned.

“Sure I do,“ Jarod said reaching for his mug again.

“You were searching for some documents,“ Mark hesitated once more.

“The Scrolls,“ Jarod stated still uncertain where the conversation was leading to.

“Are you still looking for them?” Mark asked.

“Yeah,” Jarod replied carefully, frowning.

“I think I know where they are!” Mark stated.



To be continued…



Oh, and the thing about Richmond… I have no idea if everything is true. I searched through Encarta for a town close to Delaware and randomly picked Richmond. Encarta said something about an Edgar Alan Poe Museum and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with Fabergé eggs. If that’s not true (anymore) blame Encarta and not me. Well, you can also blame me for believing everything I read in Encarta but… ah, hell, do what you want *chuckles and waves a dismissive hand*. Please leave a review!!!

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 19

Preparations for the show


“I think I know where they are!” Mark stated.

Jarod sat up straight in his chair.

“Jarod? Are you still there?” he heard Mark’s voice.

“Yeah… but…,” he swallowed and breathed. “What did you just say?” Jarod wanted to know.

“I think I know where the Scrolls, you were searching for, are,” Mark repeated patiently.

“Whoa. Give me a minute to get that straight,“ Jarod said suddenly out of breath. His heart was beating overtime in his chest.

Mark chuckled. “Sorry to run you over like that but I thought you might be interested in it. I remember that they were quite important for you.”

“They are!” Jarod confirmed firmly. “So, tell me, where are they?”

“Well, I already told you that I got a job in England. I work for an Archaeology team at the Oxford University. About a week ago another team at the University got some very old documents…..”

“The Scrolls…,” Jarod murmured, interrupting Mark.

“Yes. I got a glimpse on them. One of the rolls is titled the Vespasian Scrolls.”

“Then they are the documents I’m searching for,“ Jarod said, signalling the waiter that he wanted to pay his bill.

“I thought so and I wanted to give you a head start. Back then I got the impression that it was very important for you to get these Scrolls, whatever they might be, in your hands.”

“It is, now more than ever,“ Jarod replied cryptically. “But wait a minute; you said you were giving me a head start. What do you mean?” Jarod asked irritated.

“In two days there will be a big article in one of the international Archaeology magazines about the documents. You will have to hurry if you want to have a look on them before that article is published,“ Mark clarified.

“Two days?” Jarod inquired and got up from his seat.

“Two days!” Mark confirmed.

“That will have to do it then! Ok, Mark. I’m on my way to the airport. See you in a few,” Jarod said and disconnected the line.

He would have to hurry, indeed. The moment the article was out, the place would be crawling with Centre agents. Though the Centre wasn’t generally interested in Archaeology, this would certainly catch their eye.

Additional to the time problem he had to find a way to get the Scrolls into his possession. He didn’t only want to have a glimpse on them. He needed to take them with him. He couldn’t allow for them to fall into the Centre’s hands again.

He would have to do some research but first he had to organize himself a flight to Europe.

~~~~~~~~

Jarod sat in the plane and tried to relax. He needed to wait for the plane to get on cruising height before he could boot up his laptop.

He had thought about pretending to be an airline pilot and piloting the plane himself but in that case he would have to wait with his research until he was in England. In the end this time could be of essence.

After leaving the restaurant he had hurried over to the Dover Town Bank where he had a safe-deposit box with some cash and several false passports.

He went under the name of James Horton during the flight. Afterwards he would slip into different roles just as he did all his life. For him, it didn’t make any difference under what name he went. He took all the passports he had stored in the bank with him so he could move without using a name twice. That way he would be able to get to and from Europe undetected.

He had made the passports for occasions like this one. He didn’t want to have the Centre on his heels so he even travelled with other forenames and various surnames.

Getting a ticket for the next plane to Europe hadn’t been a problem. The flight hadn’t been full and so Jarod had even managed to get a place without any neighbours in his row.

It had taken him some time to convince the woman on the ticket window but a small amount of cash and the explanation that he had some very important business to do that mustn’t fall into the hands of another person or even an opponent had done it in the end.

Now all he had to do was waiting for the plane to reach cruising height and then he could start his research.

All the while he wondered how the Scrolls had gotten to the university. He mentally added the question to several others he would have to ask Mark if he got the chance to meet with him.

“Dear passengers. Just now we have reached cruising height,“ a voice told the travellers over the loud speaker.

Jarod quickly loosened his belt and took out his laptop. He knew that he would be busy for the next few hours.

~~~~~~~~

By the time the plane landed it was somewhat around midnight in America and nearly six o’clock in the morning in Europe.

He landed in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and an hour later continued his journey to England.

He had used the short time he had to bridge in Amsterdam before taking the plane to London to get himself a room in a hotel in England.

Jarod had worked out a plan to get the Scrolls but he had yet to lay the final touches on it.

The moment he got to the hotel he continued setting the whole thing up.

He was tired but he knew he couldn’t allow himself to rest; not yet.

It was too important to finalize the preparations for his plan so he kept working to prepare everything for the day.

He only had today before the article was published. After that the Scrolls would be lost for Parker and him if he didn’t get them before that. If the Centre got them he doubted that they would ever get the possibility to lay hands on the documents again.

The next twelve hours or so would decide if he was able to get to the Scrolls at all and if he was able to get to them before the Centre did.

It was nearly ten o’clock in the morning when he finally completed his preparations. He drew a deep breath and got up from his seat.

Jarod left the laptop running and went over to the bed to finally get some rest. He was really tired and he wasn’t able to keep his eyes open any longer.

He stretched out on the mattress and was out like a light the moment his head touched the pillow.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 20

Let the games begin



Jarod walked confidently through the halls of the Oxford University.

His destination lay at the end of the corridor. He smoothed his tie down once again and straightened regally. Firmly closing his hand on the handle of his briefcase he purposefully walked up to the desk besides the office door.

“Can I help you?” The clerk asked politely.

“I hope so,“ Jarod answered. “Steve Taylor. I’ve got an appointment with Professor Rudd.”

The clerk took out the calendar and nodded curtly. He reached for the intercom and waited for his boss to answer.

“Sir, your two thirty is here,” he said.

“Show him in,“ a disembodied voice ordered.

The clerk got up from his seat and went over to the door to open it for Jarod.

Jarod nodded his thanks to the man and went into the office and at the same time into the role he had to personalize for the time to come.

An elderly distinguished looking man with slightly greyish hair stood up when he saw Jarod enter the room.

Jarod walked up to the man and shook the offered hand.

“Professor Rudd. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Jarod addressed to the man.

“Mr. Taylor. Well, I wish I could say the same,” the Professor answered. “To be honest I’m confused. You were pretty vague this morning on the telephone when you asked for this meeting. The only thing you told me was that you wanted to talk to me about some documents that currently found their way into our possession.”

“That’s right, Professor,” Jarod answered.

“Please have a seat,” the professor offered and eased himself down opposite to Jarod.

“Well,” Jarod started. “I better start at the beginning.”

“That would be helpful, wouldn’t it,” the Professor chuckled.

Jarod smiled and nodded. “I am here on behalf of a big archaeology firm from Connecticut. I’m not sure if you are aware of it but about two years ago our firm was robbed. Several valuable things were stolen. Ever since then we have been searching for the items those were stolen. Until now we have managed to get at least some of them back. ”

“Yes, I remember the robbery. There was a big article about it in the newspapers. But I still can’t see, why you are here,“ the Professor frowned.

“I have reason to believe that some documents we are still searching for are in your hands. One of the items that were stolen from us were the Vespasian Scrolls,” Jarod said meaningful, looking the professor directly into the eye.

The Professor stared blankly at him. Jarod saw the recognition in his eyes. Professor Rudd knew what Jarod was referring to.

Swallowing hard, the Professor said, “Indeed these documents are in our care. How do you know about them? The article won’t be published until tomorrow.”

Jarod smiled slightly. “I have my sources. Professor, you surely understand that my employer likes to have the Scrolls back.”

“I sure understand that but you must also know that I can’t just hand the documents over to you. We are just starting to examine them,“ the Professor objected.

Jarod nodded. “I know that.”

“How do I even know that these Scrolls were in your firm or if you are a member of the firm?” Professor Rudd asked somewhat desperately, not wanting to let the treasure slip through his hands.

“You might want to contact the firm and make some inquiries about the stolen objects and me,” Jarod suggested and shoved a card over to the man. Up to now everything was going just as he had planned. The dangerous part came now. He had faith in his plan but it wasn’t foul proof.

The Professor looked at the card and reached for his telephone.

Jarod silently drew a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes.

“I want to talk to your chairman… Yes, it is urgent… Yes, I’ll wait,“ Professor Rudd looked up at Jarod who calmly returned his gaze.

They fell into an uneasy silence while waiting for the chairman to pick up the call.

When the call was answered the Professor put it on loud speaker so Jarod was able to follow the conversation. Jarod silently thanked his fate. The fact that he could hear both ends of the conversation gave him some security. In a worst case scenario he would have a head start to get out of here.

He forced himself to relax when that thought crossed his mind. He had to appear calm and in control of the situation not tensed and fearful.

“Thomas Harper speaking,” the chairman answered.

“Mr. Harper. This is Professor Rudd from the Oxford University.”

“Professor. What do I own the pleasure to receive your call?” the chairman asked politely.

“Well I have a Steve Taylor in my office as we speak. He claims to be one of your employees and is asking me to hand some ancient documents to him. He says they are part of the loot you lost two years ago due to a robbery,” Professor Rudd explained, all the while observing Jarod rather closely.

“Well, we do still search for some items and at the moment there are several agents of our firm trying to get them back. These agents aren’t directly under my orders. We have several departments responsible for different items. I will have to look it up in the database. What did you say the agents name was?” Harper asked again.

“Taylor, Steve Taylor,“ Professor Rudd repeated.

After a few seconds Mr. Harper answered, “Yes, we do have a Steve Taylor. He works for the department of ancient documents. What exactly did he want you to hand over? I will look it p as well.”

By now, Jarod had a hard time to keep form smiling openly. He relaxed in his seat. Everything was going according to plan. The only weak point in his plan had just passed.

Jarod had inserted the name he would use and the “stolen” Scrolls into the firm’s database. His only apprehension had been that the chairman, Thomas Harper, knew his employees and would be suspicious when he found a name he didn’t recognize. Luckily, his fears didn’t come true.

“He asked for ancient documents called the Vespasian Scrolls,“ the Professor responded.

Over the phone one could hear the chairman typing on his keyboard. “Yes,“ he said. “Those were part of our loss two years ago. “

“Thank you,“ the professor responded sadly, looking down.

“Could you please hand the documents over to Mr. Taylor so he can bring them back to us, as soon as possible?” the chairman demanded.

“I will do that at once. I’m sorry I stole some of your precious time but you certainly understand that I wanted to make sure,” the professor explained.

“Of course. I appreciate your concern! These are valuable items we are talking about.”

“Yes, they are. Thanks once again and have a good day,” the Professor greeted.

“I wish you the same,“ Chairman Harper retorted.

Terminating the call Professor Rudd looked up. “Well, I think we better go so I can give you the Scrolls,“ he said.

Smiling slightly, Jarod nodded and stood up.

~~~~~~~

He walked out of the building that was the Oxford University with the Vespasian Scrolls securely stowed away in his briefcase.

There had been a grim sadness in the lab when the scientists handed him the documents.

Though no one had been suspicious, Jarod hurried down the street and was quickly lost in the stream of people.

When he reached the car, he closed his eyes briefly and breathed a sigh of relief. Only now he let himself relax and soon he felt the exertion fall away.

He started his car and drove back to London.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 21

Worries and a call


Jarod walked tiredly into his hotel room in London.

Here in the hotel he was known as John Alborne. At first he wasn’t sure if this secrecy was necessary but now he was glad he had chosen to use so many different names.

The Centre wouldn’t be able to find him. Even if they managed to link the name he used to come to England to him, they would loose his tracks after that.

In addition to that, the University people wouldn’t get to him if they got suspicious. They knew him as Steve Taylor, a person that didn’t exist and wouldn’t be found anywhere.

He sighed and went over to his bed, dropping the briefcase with the Scrolls next to it. Though he was curious what the Scrolls said he postponed examining them.

It was quarter to eight PM here in England and now that all his exertion wore off, the jet lag that he had suppressed before surfaced.

Jarod decided that he would get himself something to eat and sleep some more after that.

Since his hasty departure from Miss Parker’s house he had only slept two hours.
That alone was nothing unusual. He was used to go without sleep but he hadn’t been able to rest much even before he left Blue Cove.

Jarod ordered room service and went to take a shower.

After eating he felt somewhat better but now his tiredness took over again and he yawned.

He would have to call Parker sometime tonight but not now. It was just about noon in Delaware and he didn’t want to call her in the Centre. Not with the news he had to tell her.

Suddenly the pretender stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn’t tell her. Not even when she was home. Her phone was bugged. He swore slightly.

He had to think of something to warn her.

Jarod contemplated that thought and tried to find a solution for this new problem but his mind just didn’t cooperate. His concentration had reached its limits.

He would also have to decide what he would do now. He wouldn’t be able to get out of Europe before the article about the Scrolls was published.

Flying directly after it was out in the open was dangerous, too, for the Centre would sure observe the airports with intercontinental flights back to the USA.

They wouldn’t buy the story with Mr. Taylor from an archaeology firm in Connecticut for long. Not when the Scrolls were involved. They would try to catch him to get to the Scrolls.

Perhaps he should hole up somewhere and wait till the Centre got tired of waiting for him to show up on some airport.

But how long would it take them to get to that point, he wondered.

He sighed and finally went to bed. Maybe after a short nap he would be able to find a solution for his problems.

~~~~~~~

Miss Parker walked into the house and quickly went to the backrooms.

Nothing; nothing more than emptiness.

She huffed irritated.

She had left while Jarod was sleeping in her guestroom yesterday morning.

Since then he was nowhere to be fond. He had just vanished. Nothing indicated that he had been there in the first place. Even the duffle bag with clothes that had been stored in the basement was gone.

She didn’t know what to think about that. She wasn’t sure if she should be worried.

Of course, Jarod could take care of himself and sure enough there was a good reason for him to vanish but the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach stayed.

The small “what if’s” continued to come to her mind.

What if the Centre got him?

What if he prepared a lair and something happened?

On the other hand she was sure that he was ok. It just didn’t feel like anything had happened.

But still… she ‘was’ worried nonetheless.

A short time ago she had had to admit to herself that she cared about Jarod.

She huffed once again. Reluctantly she acknowledged that there was another reason that irritated the hell out of her.

A few weeks ago she would have laughed about that but now… she wasn’t used to come into a deserted house any more. Even if Jarod wasn’t always in the house when she got back from work, he appeared sometime later.

She hadn’t been concerned about coming into a dark house yesterday but she had been sure that Jarod would show up sooner or later.

They hadn’t had the time to talk about their discovery at St. Catherine’s and she had been convinced that they would do so that evening.

But Jarod didn’t come yesterday and he wasn’t here now. She would spend the rest of the evening on the couch waiting for him to come back.

Maybe he had done a pretend further away. Hell, it was what she had wanted to run past him after Sydney did his “something is different about him” and “something is up” talk.

They didn’t need anyone to become suspicious, not even Sydney; at least not right now. They had a hard time to cover their asses as it was.

Maybe Jarod had reached that conclusion himself and went to the west coast or somewhere else in the States to prepare a lair.

Parker actually tried to believe in that thought but she wasn’t convinced by it.

As hard as she tried, she was worried.

~~~~~~~

Jarod blinked his eyes open, frowning slightly when he didn’t recognize his surroundings. It took him a moment to remember everything.

He got up and walked over to the window from where he could see the Thames River. It was foggy outside but pretty nonetheless.

Jarod yawned and ruffled his hair. A look at his watch told him that it was nearly six o’clock in the morning. Frowning, he realized that he had had slept awfully long.

He must have been extremely tired to sleep that much. On the other hand it was perfect timing for he could call Parker now. It was nearly midnight over there. Not like his usual calls in the wee hours of the morning but good enough so that the Centre wouldn’t be suspicious.

They had to keep appearances after all. Giving away their connection was not on his list of things to do. It had been hard enough to cover their asses until now. And the time to come was even more dangerous.

He went over to his duffle bag to retrieve his cell phone. After that he resumed his place in front of the window.

Before he dialled, Jarod contemplated his moves.

He had to warn Parker of the bugs inconspicuously and had yet to cut the call short for he feared that the Centre might try to trace his call. Of course, he used a scrambler but he didn’t want to take any chances. Not before he had decided what he would do next.

An idea forming in his mind, he nodded confidently and hit speed dial.

~~~~~~~

She was startled out of her sleep by the telephone.

She reached for the receiver.

“What?” She snapped sleepily.

“Ah, and a good evening to you, Miss Parker,” Jarod purred.

Parker frowned. “Jarod, where the hell are you?”

“Safe and sound and away from the Centre. What more can I hope for?” he retorted smugly. Jarod closed his eyes and prayed that she would understand and play along.

In Blue Cove Parker’s frown deepened. She raised an eyebrow. Jarod had either gone mad or he couldn’t speak openly. She decided not to doubt him but to play along and return to their old game. “A nice little apartment in one of the Centre’s sublevels?” she suggested.

Jarod grinned, relieved that she didn’t question him. “Cuuute, not funny but cute!” he drawled.

“Yeah, well…,” she huffed. “What do you want?”

“Have you missed me the last few weeks?” Jarod asked back.

Again, she frowned. Weeks? Jarod had left the house just yesterday, hadn’t he?

She quickly snapped back into the conversation. “Come to think of it… no! But if ‘you’ did we can always arrange a meeting place or better still, I could come to you. I think I would be able to make time in my appointment calendar. So where are you?”

“Nice try Miss Parker but you had better ones,” Jarod chuckled.

“Yeah, sometimes you win, sometimes you loose,” Parker said, repeating Jarod’s words from the first evening they spent in companionable friendship, trying to get him to open up.

Jarod smiled at her comment. “Yeah, right, oh and sorry to disappoint you but I’m very busy right now. It may take a while until I’m able contact you again!”

“Well, anyhow, my door is always open for you,“ Parker declared.

“Yeah, right and you wouldn’t even need to pick up the receiver to call in the cavalry. No thanks!” Jarod replied and terminated the call. He hoped that she would get the meaning.

Parker stared at the phone in confusion. That conversation had been strange.

She frowned and replayed it in her mind. She got up from the couch where she had fallen asleep waiting for Jarod to return. At least now she knew that he was safe and away from the Centre.

Her head snapped up and she smiled.

Maybe this conversation wasn’t that strange after all. Perhaps Jarod had tried to tell her something along the lines.

He had told her that he was not in the Centre but somewhere else safe. He had also told her that she wouldn’t have to worry when he didn’t make contact soon.

What still puzzled her was his question if she had missed him the last few weeks and his comment about calling the cavalry without picking up the receiver.

Cavalry surely referred to the Centre but why wouldn’t she need the telephone to call them. It would mean that they already knew what was happening in the house…

A thought stuck her like lightening: Bugs.

She clenched her teeth. Now everything made sense. Jarod couldn’t talk openly not because ‘he’ wasn’t alone but because ‘her’ line was tapped and surely so was the whole house. His last statement had made that clear.

It was not like the Centre hadn’t bugged her house before but they hadn’t tried in a long time.

Together with Jarod’s last statement the question about the >last few weeks< resolved itself, too.

If the Centre was listening, it was important that they thought they hadn’t had any contact. They would question her loyalty if they thought she lied to them.

And they had all reasons to question her loyalty. They just didn’t know that by now and hopefully it would remain that way.

She huffed. Well, now that she knew about the bugs it would be easy to remove them.

Parker straightened and walked to her bedroom. She would remove them tomorrow. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 22

Gut feelings and leaving England


Jarod sighed when he snapped the phone shut. He really hoped that Parker would get the meaning. He had faith in her. She was a pretender after all. Maybe she would need some time to figure out the meaning behind their conversation but eventually she would get it… hopefully.

She would definitely be puzzled by his call at first. He had directed the call to their usual banter. It was the only way for him to give her some information without making the Centre suspicious.

The rest was up to her. He would have to be careful when he called her the next time.

He was just glad that she had played their game without question. The Centre would never know that she was puzzled by that call. They wouldn’t pay attention to the slight frown that was apparent in her voice if you only listened hard enough.

He smiled. She knew how to play their game; he had to give her credit for that.

Jarod breathed deeply and straightened. He would get something to eat first and then get himself the Archaeology magazine with the article about the Scrolls. It would definitely be interesting to read it.

After that, he would have to make some decisions! And eventually he would also make the time to study the Scrolls.

He got his leather jacket and walked out of the hotel room.

~~~~~~~

She was about to walk into the Centre, when the doors suddenly opened and several sweepers hurried out. Lyle was walking at the end of the group. The moment he was about to pass Parker, she determinedly stepped into his path.

He stopped, annoyed. “What do you want, Parker?”

“What are you up to, Lyle, hurrying along like this?” Parker countered.

“None of your business!” he snapped.

She merely glared at him. “Where are you off to?” she emphasized each word.

He crooked his head. “The Centre is a big cooperation, Miss Parker. You are not responsible for everything,” he paused and smiled smugly, “but come to think of it… you ‘are’ responsible for your constant failure concerning Jarod’s capture!”

She growled at him but didn’t leave.

He scowled and moved a step to the side to walk around Parker.

She turned to watch him go. She didn’t like that.

~~~~~~~

After a rather lengthy sightseeing tour Jarod returned to the hotel at noon. He had decided to take a short break from all the excitement and get a look at the city.

Jarod unhurriedly walked through the spacious lobby of the hotel. For once he had chosen a fancy hotel to stay in. He scanned the area, not seeing anything or anyone suspicious.

He huffed and got to the elevator. Before the doors closed and the elevator went upwards, Jarod scanned the lobby once again.

‘Old habits die hard’, he thought and tried to calm down, breathing deliberately in and out.

Jarod attempted to smile but somehow it didn’t turn out that way.

He hit the button for the elevator to stop on the next level and got out of the cabin the moment the doors opened. He shook his head and went to the staircase to make his way down again.

Maybe he was just being paranoid but something felt not right.

He opened the door to the lobby and scanned the area once more. Still everything was calm.

Jarod made his way over to the desk.

“Mr. Alborne,“ the clerk greeted him.

“Yes, sorry to disturb you,“ Jarod smiled.

“That’s no problem. How can I help you?” she asked.

“How much time do you need to prepare my bill?” Jarod enquired.

“You want to leave us? But you just got here yesterday and I thought you wanted to stay several days?” she looked at him incredulously.

“Yeah, I know, but something came up. I have to leave at once. I got a call from my company and they told me to head back to America,” he lied smoothly.

“Oh, well. What a shame. Your account will be ready in about fifteen minutes then,“ she replied.

“Thanks,” Jarod said and turned away from the counter.

Walking over to the elevator again, he clenched his teeth.

He didn’t really want to leave the hotel. The reasonable side of his brain told him that the Centre couldn’t possibly be that fast and come here. The article was just published but still his gut was telling him to go and he had long ago learned to listen to what his gut told him.

It had saved his butt several times. Now that he had the Scrolls he didn’t want to endanger his safety. It would be stupid to do so. Not only his own safety but also Parker’s would be at stake and they would never see the Scrolls again if they fell into the Centre’s hands.

He got out of the elevator and made his way to the room. He didn’t need much time to get his few belongings together. The duffle bag wasn’t even unpacked for he had had no time to do that. He put the laptop into its case and put it into the duffle bag. After that he stowed the Scrolls away.

He surveyed the room to ensure that he didn’t forget anything, grabbed the duffle and his DSA case and left the room.

The fifteen minutes the clerk had proposed were not over yet but he went down there however.

Jarod went over to take a seat in the lobby. He took out the Archaeology magazine he had purchased after breakfast and started reading.

From time to time he glanced over his reading to ensure that he was still safe.

There was busy movement in the hall. People were coming and going. Nothing indicated that his foreboding might come true. But then again, Jarod didn’t have the desire to find out if he was just being overly anxious or if there was something to his gut feeling. He supposed that the Centre wouldn’t find this place that fast but he wanted to get moving nonetheless.

He tried to deepen himself in the reading again but he couldn’t concentrate on it. He grumbled and put the magazine away. Getting up from his seat he walked over to the counter.

“Ah, Mr. Albourne. Your account is just finished,” the clerk said.

“Very well,“ Jarod replied. He quickly paid his bill and strode out of the hotel.

~~~~~~~~

The clicking of her heels echoed through the hall. She strode confidently in the middle of the corridor.

The people walking into the other direction scurried out of her way the moment they say her.

She was used to have things her way and nobody dared opposing her.

She went into the tech room.

“Broots,” she snapped.

The tech winced when he heard her voice. He spilled the cup of coffee he was holding over his shirt. “Argh”, he cried out on pain. “M-m-miss Parker!”

“Broots”, she looked at his shirt in frustration. “I want you to do something for me!” she ordered.

Broots swallowed hard. That wasn’t good. When Miss Parker said something like that he was usually in trouble. In front of his minds eye he saw himself sneaking into Mr. Raines office. He started sweating.

“Broots, stop shivering! You look as if you want to creep into a hole in the floor,” she observed.

“Maybe that’s because it ‘is’ what I would like to do now,” he mumbled.

“You should grow a backbone one of these days!” she said, exasperated. “But now back to why I came: I want you to determine why Lyle just strode out of the Centre, a predatory smile on his face. I want you to find out what he is up to!”

Broots gulped. “Y-yes, Miss Parker!”

She turned. “So, what are you waiting for? Call me if you have anything!” With that she walked out of the tech room.

~~~~~~~

Suddenly, everything got dark. But only a moment later, the overhead lights went on, illuminating the inside of the train.

They had just entered the Euro channel which connects France and Britain. The tunnel goes below the Channel, under the water.

Jarod had decided to leave England and go over to the European continent. He had opted to go there by train. Even if he didn’t think the Centre that fast he wanted to be on the safe side. They may have an eye on the airports but he couldn’t believe that they would observe the train stations by now.

Finally relaxing somewhat he leaned back in his seat and considered what to do next.

He wanted to stay in France for some time, stay close to the coast and rent a small house or something like that.

There he would have enough time to get a look at the Scrolls and be out of the Centre’s clutches.

~~~~~~~

Parker walked into the sim lab, quickly localizing Sydney, reading some journal. She went up to him.

“Freud!”

“Miss Parker. Good morning. What can I do for you?” Sydney asked.

“Did Jarod call you again?” Parker asked.

“No, why?” Sydney replied cautiously.

Parker turned on her heel. “I was just wondering. Tell me if he does call!” she ordered, throwing a dismissive hand over her shoulder.

Sydney watched her go.

~~~~~~~

She strode towards the office.

“Hey, stop! You can’t go in there now! He is busy,“ the secretary tried to block her way.

She walked up to him and glared him in the eye.

“I don’t give a flying rats ass if he is busy or not. He will make the time!” she hissed.

He didn’t back away. “He has a meeting!”

“Yes, he sure has. With me,“ with that she pushed the secretary out of her way and walked into the office.

“Miss Parker,“ Raines wheezed when he saw her.

“Oh, you can see. Then you are not as ill as I thought,” she drawled sarcastically.

“Why are… you here? I… didn’t send for you!” he rasped.

“As if that ever mattered. I got a call from Jarod last night. I just wanted to report that. He didn’t say where he was and there aren’t any other clues as to his whereabouts,“ she said.

She turned, not waiting for Raines to dismiss her, and left Raines speechless in his office.

~~~~~~~

When she was in her office she sank into her chair.

She buried her head in her hands, blocking the surveillance camera’s view, and grinned. She sure had confused Raines.

She knew that they needed to keep up appearances. With her going to him, she wasn’t exactly sticking to her profile. On the other hand they didn’t need the Centre suspicious.

He certainly knew from the call and she needed to report it. They needed for the Centre to think she was still loyal to them. At least for as long as possible.

She straightened and reached for some files lying on her desk. She had some work to do. Or at least she needed to pretend that she had work to do. She grinned slightly at that thought.

Parker had been working at the files for several hours, when there was a knock on the door.

“What?” She snapped her usual greeting.

“M-m-miss Parker, I f-f-found the information you wanted,“ Broots stammered, coming further into the room. Sydney was walking behind him.

“Well? What is my idiot brother up to?” she asked.

“You better look for yourself,” Broots said, giving her a file.

Parker suspiciously looked at Broots, who seemed to cower even more by that, and then quickly looked into the file. Sydney observed her quietly.

She read through the file and suddenly threw it onto the table.

Broots jumped up when the folder connected with the surface. Both men could see that she was seething with anger.

Parker got up and paced.

So that was where Lyle was headed. England. They had found the Scrolls. No wonder that he didn’t want her to get in his way.

She quickly looked at her watch and growled. Even if they started now they wouldn’t reach England in time. They didn’t have the slightest chance to be faster than Lyle. Damn!

Parker hoped that Jarod had read that article the file was about, too.

She contemplated calling him but if he wasn’t already on his way he wouldn’t make it in time, too.

On the other hand, knowing Jarod, he was possibly on his way to England that very moment to be faster than the Centre.

She could only hope he was.

~~~~~~~

Jarod sank into the chair he had bought out on the terrace. Enjoying the sunset he snuggled deeper into the seat and breathed in deeply. The air was filled with the smell of salt and water and there was a soft wind blowing over from the Atlantic Ocean.

He had found the small house with a beautiful view above the ocean. Upon arriving at Calais he had rented a car with another new passport and started driving down the coast.

When the sun had vanished behind the horizon, he got up and walked into the house.

He switched on the light and went over to his duffle bag to boot up his laptop. He wanted to get a look on what went on in the Centre. He needed to know if they had seen and reacted upon the article. He didn’t dare to call Parker for it was just noon in Blue Cove and she surely was at the Centre. Even if they didn’t bug her cell they would keep a close eye on her.

He hacked into the mainframe and smiled.

They had indeed seen the article. And they had reacted upon it! Currently, there were several sweeper teams on their way to England.

‘And guess who is with them?’ he thought. “Good old Lyle,“ he murmured. “Obviously they don’t trust Parker anymore and left her out of the loop.”

From the information the mainframe provided, Jarod couldn’t determine if they had a clue on what was really going on. He would have to wait.

He shut his connection to the mainframe down but left the laptop running.

Jarod straightened and went to his duffle bag once more to retrieve the Scrolls.

He knew without a doubt that Parker would not be pleased that he studied the Scrolls without her but he needed to know. He needed to find out what they said and if reading them triggered a memory in his head that would bring them closer to their goal.

After lighting a fire in the fireplace he sat down on the couch and stared at the documents in his hand.

He breathed and started reading.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

Author’s note: Hi everyone. The next part is there… the Scrolls; the mysterious Scrolls. They will bring some light into the dark but they will also bring up a bunch of new questions. This chapter is comparable with the twelfth chapter of this little odyssey – Her plan (the DSA Catherine had hidden). This chapter is short and only about the contents of the Scrolls. Even though I’m fairly certain that you guys would love to skin me alive because of the shortness of the chapter, I decided to keep it that way – with only the Scrolls contents. I liked it better because it’s more ‘closed’ that way. There is nothing to divert the attention from the Scrolls.

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 23

The Scrolls



He breathed and started reading…



The Centre shall rise. The chosen will be found, a boy named Jarod. He will bring great profit to those in power.

He will remain in the Centre for a long time but upon realizing the corruption he will break free.

The Chosen will be on the flight with the Centre hunting him.

Along the way, he will help those who can’t help themselves. He never completely vanishes from the Centre’s view.

While fleeing he constantly searches for his own personality and for the past, his own and the angel’s.

*

The Angel seems to be made of ice and yet she breathes fire.

She once was the Chosen’s friend but over the years she will be turned against him.
When he leaves the Centre she will be his persecutor. It is her profession to bring him back.

The Chosen will help her find the hidden spots in her past.

*

The Chosen and the Angel will reconnect and from that point on the two of them will work together. It is their destiny to destroy the evil that is the Centre.

With the Angel’s help, the Chosen will remember knowledge installed in him.

Due to that, the Angel and the Chosen will find evidence against the Centre, hidden from the woman ripped from the Angel’s life. They will combine the evidence with that gathered on their own.

The Chosen will make use of his acquaintances to get to their goal. The Angel admonishes caution and she will keep them safe due to her insight in their opponents operating.

*

When the Centre learns of their aim they will try to stop them. The Chosen and the Angel will be in great danger. They will meet with another person from their past and future who will help them to get to a secret place where they will find shelter from the Centre.

*

In the end it will be that person, close to both the Chosen and the Angel, who will make the Chosen’s and the Angel’s connection and therefore the Centre’s demise complete.

*

The three will work together.

Together they will raise a new Centre. This one will be even more glorious than the last but there will be no corruption.


The Centre shall rise…



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 24

The long journey back home


Lyle stormed into Raines office.

“Anything new… hhh… since we last… hhh… spoke?” Raines gasped.

“No, we didn’t find the Scrolls!” Lyle replied with a growl.

“Jarod must... hhh… have them! Hhhh… we need… hhh… to get them,“ Raines wheezed and looked directly at Lyle who stood in front of his desk.

“I know and we will get him, together with the Scrolls!”

“Miss Parker mustn’t… hhh… also know what… hhh… the Scrolls say. Keep Jarod… hhh… away from her! Hhh… at any costs!”

Lyle nodded. “I suppose that he is still in Europe. We have the airports under serve surveillance. He won’t get back to America!”

“Good!”

~~~~~~~

Six day and still no word from Jarod. He hadn’t made any contact after the call with its hidden meaning.

She had removed the bugs the next evening and searched for new ones twice a day. She had found a new set of bugs yesterday.

They would have to be even more careful from now on.

The thought that Jarod wasn’t back by now and that he hadn’t made contact worried her somewhat. She wasn’t really worried that something had happened but… she didn’t know what it was.

Her heart was telling her that everything was ok, but still…

Lyle returned empty handed yesterday. He had been furious. They hadn’t found the Scrolls. From what she could gather there had been someone who took the Scrolls to bring them back to some archaeology firm in Connecticut. But that someone never turned up in that firm to bring the Scrolls back.

The Centre was livid. They supposed Jarod had been the mysterious ‘someone’ but there was no proof of that. The man had introduced himself as Steve Taylor.

Lyle had searched every hotel, every train station and the airports but this person was nowhere to be found.

And so was Jarod. There weren’t any clues from him; he didn’t call Sydney nor did he call her.

The moment Lyle got back from Europe he came to her office to torment her. He reproached her that she still hadn’t caught the fugitive pretender and that it was time for him to come back and that she should work harder to get him.

She had listened passively and had made some side comment that he shouldn’t lecture her when he wasn’t able to fulfil his own mission. He had stormed off at her vicious remark.

Lyle still had the airports in Europe but also the ones in America under severe observation. He was confident that they would find Jarod when he stepped out of the shadows to get back to America.

Parker on the other hand was sure that Jarod would stay in Europe for some time to stay hidden but she wasn’t sure how long the observation would continue. It surely would take some time to get back without being caught.

~~~~~~~

Jarod warily scanned the area from the car. There were several sweepers walking around the airport. He was sure that they had orders to stay in the background and not attract any attention but he saw them nonetheless.

In fact, he had easily spotted them when he first came here. They could have also carried big, red neon crosses on their backs and they wouldn’t be anymore hidden and striking than they were now.

Jarod put the car into gear and drove on. He would have to make some plans to get away from here in one piece and with the Scrolls in tow.

He had left France the day before. Now he was in Frankfurt, Germany, from where he wanted to get back to America.

By now he painfully regretted that he had chosen to hole up in Europe and that he didn’t go back to the States the moment he had the Scrolls.

The Centre wouldn’t have caught him then. They wouldn’t have been suspicious at that point but the moment they found out about the missing Scrolls they had put the airports under observation.

The last few days had been hard. Jarod had read the Scrolls countless times but it still didn’t trigger the memory of his conversation with Catherine Parker all those years back.

Though a great deal lay still hidden in the dark, some pieces had fallen into place after Jarod had read the Scrolls.

It didn’t surprise him anymore now that the Centre tried everything to keep Parker and himself away from each other.

What they didn’t know was that they had already failed.

Parker was not his enemy anymore. He smiled despite his problem at hand and then resumed his former musings.

It was no wonder that the Centre tried to keep them from the Scrolls.

Up to now everything the documents said had been right: He broke out of the Centre and it was Parker’s job to bring him back. He helped the week and abused while trying to find himself and he uncovered parts of both, his own and Parker’s, past.

Just as Catherine had promised in her letter, the Scrolls cleared the picture somewhat.

‘The Chosen will make use of his acquaintances to their goal. The Angel admonishes caution and it will be her duty to keep them safe.’

The documents would hopefully help them define their rolls in Catherine’s plan.

Still… He couldn’t remember anything from his talk with Catherine. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the Scrolls were important for him to remember something. But… there was a black wall he couldn’t overcome.

He had tried to set himself back into the position he was in when Catherine had talked to him, just like Sydney had proposed… It had been to no avail.

He didn’t get a single step further. He had reread the Scrolls time after time during his stay in France but it had brought him nowhere.

The only thing that he knew now was that he wanted to return ‘home’. He hoped that Parker would be able to see something that he couldn’t see.

But he had to get there first and it wouldn’t be easy with every airport crawling with sweepers waiting for him to show up.

~~~~~~~

“Wait a moment, sir. We will help you to get to your gate,” the clerk said in German. She had made the seating reservations for the man.

“Thank you but I can manage,” the man answered politely in her language.

“Ok, but you will have to meet with an orderly before boarding time. They will get you onto your plane safely,“ she replied.

Seeing the man was about to protest she firmly insisted, “Sorry, but these are the regulations. You will have to live with it.”

He huffed and nodded grimly. After that he turned towards the entrance of the waiting area.

~~~~~~~

They were clearly exaggerating the thing but he didn’t want to attract any attention otherwise he would have argued.

He was on his way to the boarding zone.

Spotting a sweeper he held his breath. ‘Now or never,’ Jarod thought and pushed himself further. He needed to get past the sweeper and now would be as good a time as ever to see if his disguise was sufficient.

He rolled past the sweeper openly, directly in front of his nose.

“Uh, excuse me, sir,” Jarod heard the sweeper address to him. He swallowed and kept wheeling as if he hadn’t heard the man.

“Sir!” The sweeper called again, more forcefully this time. Jarod’s mouth got dry. Should that guy have noticed anything? He readied himself for a fight.

“Sir, you lost something,“ the sweeper called after him.

Jarod stopped and turned around, plastering a fake smile on his face.

The sweeper came over and looked down to him. He had a small backpack in his hand that had fallen down without Jarod noticing it.

“Oh, thank you, sir,” Jarod said nearly choking on the words, reaching for the backpack.

“Not a problem,“ the sweeper replied.

Jarod put the backpack in his lap and started to push the wheelchair over to the gate.

When he reached his destination he released his breath and grinned slightly. Obviously his disguise ‘was’ good. That idiot of a sweeper hadn’t realized that the person he was searching for was standing or better sitting directly in front of him.

Well, Jarod had to say for the sweeper’s sake that it had taken some hours of careful planning and disguising for him to look like he did now.

He wore a wig with longer, fair hair that looked out under a baseball cap. He had coloured contact lenses, masking his usually brown eyes. On top of the blue contact lenses came a pair of glasses with a big, dark rim, diverting the attention further from his eyes. Not enough done with that he wore a small silver ear-ring and a long scar was on his right side, drawing from directly under his right eye, where his mole normally was, over his cheek.

He had also changed his clothing. He didn’t wear his usual black jeans and leather jacket but white denim trousers and a blue shirt.

The wheelchair did the rest.

A look in the mirror showed a different person but one could still see Jarod in that person. You only had to look hard enough.

Now that he had seen that his costume was good he relaxed and wheeled over to the gate to get to the orderly the clerk had insisted on.

He was on his way back to America after all.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 25

Homecoming


It was dark but the moon gently illuminated his way through the woods.

The journey had been eventless. He had been able to get a direct flight to New York where he had parked his car before the odyssey had started.

Getting rid of the wheelchair hadn’t been difficult and also the rest of his disguise was quickly shed. He was relieved when he was able to get out of the things. Especially the wig had started to get unnerving.

He had then quickly made his way back to Blue Cove. By the time he had arrived in the small town it had gotten dark. He parked his car at its usual place when he ‘visited’ Parker and walked the last mile or so to get there from the back.

Finally her house got into view. He breathed a sigh of relief and crept on. He could see that there was light in the living room, despite the late hour.

He slowed down to scan the area once more. He didn’t have the desire to run into a sweeper stationed close to Parker’s house to report anything suspicious.

Jarod crouched down and waited a few minutes to see if anything moved.

When nothing happened he crept on and walked up to her back door. He let himself silently in.

After listening for several minutes he went into the living room without making a sound.

He smiled at the sight that greeted him upon entering. Parker lay on the couch on her side sleeping with the telephone lying close to her hand. She had obviously hoped that he would call.

Jarod closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. He was glad to finally be… home. Startled he opened his eyes. ‘Home?’, he wondered… Yes, that was how he felt. He had the feeling of coming home to Parker.

Shaking his head slightly he went further into the room and took a light blanket to cover her with it. He then went back to retrieve his baggage and went down into the basement to hide the bigger ones.

He took several things out of his duffle bag and put them into the lighter backpack to take them upstairs again. At last he took out a small electronic device. Though he was sure that Parker had searched the house for bugs, he wanted to make certain that she had gotten rid of all of them.

He was tired but he knew that he had to do this before he could sleep. He got up from his crouched position and went upstairs.

Jarod opened the door. The moment he stepped into the hall, Parker rushed up to him and threw herself into his arms.

Quickly getting over his surprise he closed his arms around her and held her, savouring the feeling of having her in his arms.

She snuggled up to him and he too, tightened his hold on her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Parker took a step back. She opened her mouth to ask Jarod one of the questions spinning in her head but he hastily put up a hand to silence her. She blinked confused.

Jarod shook his head and showed her the device. Before she could argue he put his finger up to her lips.

When she shrugged defeated, he smiled at her. She easily returned his smile.

Parker turned and walked into the kitchen and Jarod started his search.

~~~~~~~

She went into the kitchen to make some coffee and let Jarod get to his task to search for remaining bugs.

Though she was happy to have him back she couldn’t oversee the deep lines of fatigue on his face. He looked as if he hadn’t slept at all the last few days.

She contemplated letting him go to bed and tell his story tomorrow but on the other hand it was important for her to know what he had been up to the last week and if he had indeed gotten to the Scrolls.

In the end, curiosity got the better of her and she decided to keep her mouth shut and wait for him to tell his story.

~~~~~~~

Twenty minutes later Jarod came into the kitchen with a destroyed bug he had found in his hand. Parker looked at the remains in his palm and he just shrugged.

“I thought I got them all,” she said.

“You got close. This one was hidden quite well. How many did you find?” Jarod asked in return.

“The day after your call I found eight in the whole house and yesterday I found six new ones,“ she replied.

“Nice!” he said sarcastically.

“Very”, she agreed. “You sure that you found each and every one of them”, she questioned, nodding into the general direction of the trashcan, where Jarod had put the remains just seconds ago.

“Yes! This little device is a nice toy with which you can be sure to get ‘all’ bugs,“ Jarod said convinced.

“Well then, you can tell me finally what you did the last week. Grab yourself some coffee and get your ass over to the living room!” she ordered rather playfully.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jarod saluted jokingly.

“I’ll show you ‘ma’am’,” she replied winking at him.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jarod grinned and saluted again.

“Oh, shut up, Jar,” she grinned and walked into the living room with a cup of her own.

Jarod chuckled slightly and followed her. When he entered the room, she was sitting on the couch where he had found her earlier that evening.

She patted onto the couch’s surface indicating Jarod to sit down next to her. Jarod eagerly complied with her wish.

“Well?” she asked expectantly.

“It’s been just a week but I have the feeling that enough happened to last for at least a lifetime,” Jarod mused.

“Then you better get the story started because I expect to hear it all,“ she suggested.

Jarod grinned. When he looked over to her he sobered. “I’ve missed you,“ he said earnestly. He reached out and cupped her cheek in his palm.

She crooked her head. Her eyes softened. “I missed you, too. “

“And I’m glad to be home again,“ he went on.

“Home as if in ‘back in America’?” Parker asked lightly.

“No, home as if in ‘back here in your house, together with you’,” Jarod confessed.

Parker smiled. “I’m glad, too.”

“I’m sorry, that I was gone without a note or something like that,” he acknowledged.

“You could have pinned a letter onto the front door for the sweeper and me to find saying ‘Sorry, I couldn’t wait for you to come back, took my things out of the basement. I’ll be back soon. Jarod’,“ she said ironically.

Jarod chuckled heartily. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“See! But now, get your story started, or wait… One question before you start…,” she began.

“…Yes, I have them!” he said nodding, already knowing what she wanted to ask.

Her eyes lit up and she grinned triumphantly.

“Story first or the Scrolls?” Jarod asked.

She frowned undecided. “Can you make the story short?”

He grinned. “I’ll try!”

“Then I want to hear the story first,“ she decided.

“Congratulations Parker, you worked on your patience,” Jarod said, mildly surprised upon her choice. “Well, here we go…”

~~~~~~~

Jarod had shortly told her about the last week’s events and had then fetched the Scrolls from the basement.

Parker had indeed not been pleased to hear that Jarod had already read the Scrolls but after some reasoning, she had agreed that it had been the right thing to do and that she couldn’t have demanded for Jarod to wait a week before reading them only because she wasn’t with him. She knew that she wouldn’t have had the patience to do so, herself.

Now, they were again sitting in the living room. They were sitting on the couch once more, Jarod seated on Parker’s right side.

During her reading, her eyebrows climbed high up on her forehead. When she sat the documents aside she looked at him.

“No wonder that they tried to keep them away from us,“ she said.

Jarod nodded.

“Do you realize that everything the Scrolls proposed until now came true?”

“I had nearly a week to study the Scrolls, and believe me I read them countless times. It would be a miracle if I hadn’t noticed that!” Jarod replied.

“Point taken,“ Parker acknowledged. “What do you think, who is the ‘one close to us both’ who will help us?” Parker asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe Sydney… or Angelo. We will see,” Jarod shrugged.

Parker nodded. The tear shaped diamond ring on her finger and the matching bracelet-pendant glistered in the soft light. She started reading the Scrolls again. This time she read them out aloud:

“…The Chosen and the Angel will reconnect and from that point on the two of them will work together. It is their destiny to destroy the evil that is the Centre…”

Suddenly, Jarod winced and reached up with his hands to grasp his temple.

“…With the Angel’s help, the Chosen will remember knowledge installed in him…,“ Parker went on.

Jarod moaned softly, trying to block out the pain that roared through his head.

“Jarod?” Parker looked up when she heard him moan in pain. When she saw him sitting on the couch with his hands on his head, a pained expression on his face, she let the Scrolls drop and reached out to him.

“Jarod? What is it?” she asked helplessly.

He closed his eyes tightly and winced again, when more pain shot through his head and pictures invaded his consciousness.

“Jar! Talk to me, please. Are you ok?” Parker called desperately.

“Agh, good god. It hurts,“ was all he could say.

“What, Jarod, what hurts?” she questioned.

“Bright, so bright,” Jarod mumbled incoherently. A new blaze flashed through his head and he moaned again, clutching his temples and sinking onto his side.

Parker caught him and settled his head into her lap. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. “Tell me, what to do, Jar,” she pleaded.

Jarod didn’t reply. He was beyond answering. The flashes came more and more rapidly and each one was more vicious than the last. He winced again, moaning in agony.

“Jar! What can I do?” Parker cried.

Jarod just continued to whimper in her arms. Parker’s tears fell freely and she continued to caress his cheek.

They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity until Jarod quieted down at least somewhat.

Finally he calmed down and relaxed a little, letting his hands drop from his head. Parker caught one of his hands and took it in her own.

Jarod was clenched in sweat and shivering. Parker reached over and took the blanked Jarod had covered her with some time ago, to do the same for him.

“Melina,” he whispered.

“Shhh, it’s ok. It’s over. You are ok,” she hushed, tucking him in.

“Cold, it’s cold; so tired,” he mumbled groggily.

She tucked the blanket more closely around him. “Shh, it’s ok, try to sleep. Whatever that was, it’s over,” she hushed gently, all the while stroking his face.

Jarod didn’t reply but finally his breathing evened out and fatigue took over.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 26

Getting back to his senses


He woke up to the sensation of someone gently stroking his cheek. It was a light touch but the repeating pattern of it got through to him in the end.

When he tried to open his eyes, they felt as if heavy weights held them down. Not giving up, he tried it once again, with the same result.

He settled down just to try it again shortly afterwards. His head was pounding and he felt as if an elephant was standing on his skull, attempting to burst it into thousands of little fragments.

The pressure was increasing slightly and again he stopped his attempts to open his eyes.

The movements continued and he concentrated on it, only to be lulled back to sleep without realizing it.

~~~~~~~

She hadn’t slept much. She had sat there on the couch, his head in her lap, caressing his face.

Just twice had she dozed of for a short time.

He looked as if he at least slept peacefully. Still the memory of the last night frightened her. She had felt so helpless.

It was Friday. She would have to call the Centre to let them know that she wouldn’t come. They would be suspicious; sure they would but she would not, under any circumstances, leave her friend alone with this ordeal. They were in this damn thing together and that wouldn’t change.

He had helped her so much, not only the last few weeks since everything had started but also in the years before.

Maybe it was finally her turn in helping him and repaying some of her debt to him.

She would call Sydney later and tell him to cover for her. Perhaps the Centre wouldn’t question that.

But she would tend to that later, once Jarod was awake again and she was able to determine how bad a state he was in.

~~~~~~~

He roused again. The constant caress was still there.

Letting out a deep breath he tried to open his eyes yet again.

~~~~~~~

She felt him stir slightly and waited what was about to come.

Seeing his eyelids flutter she huffed slightly relived.

~~~~~~~

His eyelids were heavy. They still felt as if the were glued shut. But he kept working on prying them open.

Light invaded his eyes and he shut them again. Everything felt out of order. Only the tender caress resumed.

Again he breathed deeply and opened his eyes. He moaned when the light attacked his senses and he tried to block it out by shutting the lids once more.

“Shh, easy Jarod, easy,“ Parker hushed.

“Melina?” Jarod rasped.

“Yeah,… yeah it’s me,” she replied.

“What…?” Jarod started.

“Shh. You had some kind of fit,“ she told him.

Jarod didn’t reply but slowly opened his eyes again. This time he was prepared for the bright light. He looked up at her.

“You look like hell, Parker,“ he croaked.

“Thanks, Jar,” she replied sarcastically. “But you look worse!”

“If I look half as bad as I feel, that’s ‘the’ understatement of the year,“ he grinned and then winced at that small movement of his muscles.

“You need something against the pain!” Parker stated firmly.

“Nothing to object to that,” he said tiredly.

She gently lifted his head from her lap and entangled herself to get up. Though she was very careful he winced at the small movement.

“Stay put! I’ll be back in a minute,” she ordered and was gone.

“I won’t go anywhere,“ he mumbled.

When she returned, she had a glass of water in the one and two pills in her other hand.
She crouched down in front of him. “Here,” she said and offered the treat.

Jarod roused somewhat trying to ignore the pain and took the pills. “Thanks,” he said and let himself drop back onto the couch carefully.

“You’re welcome. You stay right here. I’ll be back soon!”

“Where do you go?” he asked groggily.

“I’m going to call Sydney and tell him to cover my ass.”

“You have to go to the Centre, you know that,” Jarod argued awake now. He sat up and groaned.

“Jarod, I won’t leave you now!” she shot back.

“You will have to.”

“Forget it. I will stay and that’s final,“ she snared.

“Parker, be reasonable! The whole Centre searches for the one who has the Scrolls…”

She interrupted, “…and they don’t have proof that this one is you.”

“That may be but they are suspicious. I had a hard time to get back to America as it was. Just imagine how suspicious they will get when you don’t turn up to work suddenly…,“ he let the sentence hang in the air.

She huffed. “I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Come here,“ he said and stretched out his hand. When she took it, he drew her onto his lap. “That’s sweet, but you won’t have a choice. Maybe you can come back earlier than usual. It’s Friday after all,” he suggested.

She leaned into him. “Will you be ok, when I go?” she asked with a small voice.

“Yes, I will be alright! And now get moving. The sooner you go to work, the earlier you can come back.”

~~~~~~~

Parker came back down and poked her head through the door leading to the living room to observed Jarod.

She walked over to the couch. He lay there, with his eyes closed and she could practically see him forcing his concentration upon his breathing to divert it from the pain.

Gently putting a hand on his shoulder she whispered, “You ok?”

Jarod cracked one eye open and smiled slightly at her. “The pills are slowly starting to have an effect,“ he answered.

“That’s good. You think you will be ok this way or do we need to get you to a doctor?”

“No, it’s just a major headache. It will be better soon and when you come back we can start on the Scrolls again. That’s what started the damn thing in the first place,” he said

“What do you mean?” she asked, frowning.

“When you read that one passage out loud, it was as if opening a door to a secret chamber.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “You were the key to the memory. There was some kind of lock and you were the key,” he explained.

She still frowned.

He sat up slightly and put his weight on his elbows. “I remember, Parker. I remember what your mother told me.”

“You mean…?” she didn’t complete the sentence.

“Yes, we will have everything that we need soon and we will be able to complete your mother’s plan,” he smiled at her and held out a hand for her to take.

She laid her hand in his and he again gently drew her over to him. “It’s finally time for the Centre to go down,” he told her.

She breathed deeply and closed her eyes for a second. Looking at him, she smiled. When she saw the look of pain and fatigue in his eyes she gently pushed him back into a lying position. “You will have to recover first, though. You have to rest! Lie back down.”

He smiled and complied with her wish grateful to be in a horizontal position once more.

She crouched down in front of him. “Good boy,” she cooed and bent over to give him a kiss onto his forehead.

She straightened and walked to the door. “I’ll be off then. See you later.”

He smiled up at her. “Till later.”

When he heard the door snap close, he relaxed fully into the couch. He knew he had to recover at least somewhat before they would be able to talk about his insight.

Not only would he need all his strength to be able to prepare their plan together with Parker but also to be better than the Centre.

The time to come would be uncertain and dangerous.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 27

Revelations


It was barely half past three when he heard a car roll up the driveway.

Jarod got up from the couch and walked over to the door to peer out. When he recognized Parker’s car he let out a relieved sigh. He clearly wasn’t in good enough shape to run from sweepers. The headache had abated but was still present, lingering behind the next corner and waiting to return.

He didn’t wait for Parker to come in but turned and walked back into the living room.

~~~~~~~

She opened the door and quietly went it. She quickly got out of her light coat and the shoes and noiselessly walked into the living room. She didn’t want to wake Jarod if he was asleep.

Parker didn’t have to worry about waking him though, for he was already up.

She went over to the couch, where he sat, watching her moves.

“How are you?” she asked, looking closely at him.

“Better than this morning, thanks,“ he replied.

He did look better than in the morning though this was not hard to accomplish. He had looked like death warmed over. There were still dark circles under his eyes but he was getting better.

Jarod didn’t comment on her silent examination.

In front of him there were several sheets of papers scattered upon the table.

“Hey, what are these?” she asked nodding at the papers.

“Come on over here. You better get a look yourself,“ he said, looking up at her.

She sat down on the couch, next to him and he looked at her.

“Parker, before you see these, I better tell you some more of what I remembered yesterday. I already told you that I remember the conversation your mother and I had all these years ago. She told me back then that she gathered evidence against the Centre,“ Jarod looked her in the eye.

Parker nodded, urging him to go on.

“She told me some part of the Scroll’s prediction, that the Scroll’s said that we would destroy the ‘old’ Centre and build a new one without corruption. She told me that we would have to decide if we wanted to go along with the Scroll’s prediction just as she said in her DSA.
Ultimately her goal was to destroy the Centre we know now. Everything else is in our hand,“ Jarod concluded.

“She always wanted the Centre to do legitimate research and stop the evil that went on there,“ Parker sighed silently.

“Yeah”, Jarod confirmed with an equally silent voice.

“There was something else in the Scrolls…,” Parker tailed off. “Where are they? I don’t remember that part correctly.”

Jarod let his hand wander over the table and drew the documents out of the pile. He gave them to her.

“Here, this part… ‘They will combine the evidence with that gathered on their own’ and ‘The Chosen will make use of his acquaintances to get to their goal’. Do you have an idea what that means?” she asked Jarod.

“Yes… and maybe. ’The evidence gathered on their own’ to my mind certainly refers to the fact that I did collect evidence over the years. With that from your mother we should have enough to get the Centre falling. The other part of the prophecy also refers to my part. But here I can only assume what might be intended. I have some friends in the higher ranks of the FBI and other agencies. I suppose that the prophecy is that we turn over the evidence to the officials and wait for them to act,“ Jarod said, shrugging.

“Sounds like a plan at least and it sounds reasonable. And after letting the agencies take over?” Parker wanted to know.

“As I said the choice will be ours to make. We don’t have to decide right now though; I just wanted to remind you of these possible outcomes,“ he paused. “Well, whatever we do in the end, we have to get back the evidence your mother hid first to take the next steps,” Jarod said.

“And with that we are back to the original question: Where is the evidence?” Parker huffed, looking down at her fingers.

Jarod smiled. “That problem resolved itself together with the question about what Catherine and I talked. She told me where the evidence is,” he grinned.

Parker looked up sharply.

“These sheets of papers are part of Catherine’s hidden evidence,“ Jarod told her, grabbing some of the sheets that lay in front of them on the table.

She just gaped at him. “What the hell… Where did you get them?”

“Your mother had them stored here, in this house,” he answered.

“Where?” She breathed, already anticipating the next statement.

Jarod looked over to the room she had shut off all these years ago, the room Thomas had helped her setting a foot into again.

She took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

“They were here, all these years?”

Jarod nodded and watched her.

“Wow. What do they say?” she asked breathlessly.

“Well...,“ Jarod paused. “I’m not sure about that. There are just numbers,“ he huffed.

“Let me see,” Parker directed and took one of the sheets Jarod had been holding out of his hand.

It was as Jarod had said. There were several rows of numbers at the sheet. They were organized and divided into parts.

Each row consisted of twelve to fourteen numbers. These were subdivided into blocks of two or three signs.

“Looks like a code, don’t you think?” She asked Jarod.

“Yes. It is a code but I’m not sure what this one is about…,” Jarod agreed.

“13 08 30 41 46 11. The next row is 114 12 15 22 27 39. That looks familiar somehow…,“ Parker contemplated.

“You know these numbers?” Jarod asked astonished.

“I didn’t say that. I meant that the pattern looks familiar. I’ve seen that before,“ she frowned in concentration.

Jarod, too, pondered.

“I know,” Parker straightened. “I saw this pattern when there was that leak in the Centre. Somebody sold information and smuggled it out of the Centre to the Data Annex for the buyer to take from there. Broots was in serious trouble back then,” she remembered. “I think you helped him. You should know that pattern, too, for Sydney gave the numbers to you!”

“Of course,“ Jarod exclaimed, brightening up. He reached for the sheet and looked at the numbers. ”Melina, you are brilliant!”

“I am?” she asked baffled, her eyebrows quirked.

“Yes! Do you know what these are?” he questioned, shaking the paper in his hand.

“Noooo,“ she drawled, looking expectantly at him.

“These are GPS coordinates!” Jarod explained excited. “I need my laptop. Then we can determine where these places are,” Jarod said, getting up swiftly. The moment he stood, Jarod swayed.

Parker quickly got up and steadied him. “Don’t overdo it. Sit back down. I’ll get your computer,” she ordered.

When Jarod was seated again, she quickly went to get the laptop.

Soon, she came back and Jarod helped her setting the computer up.

“Let’s see, where these coordinates take us,” Jarod suggested.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 28

Expanding the group


“Hong Kong, LA, Moskau, Africa, Australia, somewhere between Sydney and Brisbane, Italy near Rome, Brazil, Africa and so on and so on,“ Jarod sighed.

“What do all these places have in common?” she asked.

“I have no idea,” he groaned. The headache had returned some time ago. His head was throbbing and he was tired. The excitement about their new discovery had abated with the same speed the headache returned.

“Ok, let’s get that straight. My mom wrote down these places or better made a list of them. They should help us to destroy the Centre…,“ she paused, thinking.

Jarod stared at her. They had started to decode the list they had found earlier in the studio. There were about twelve places on the list. Now they were trying to determine what these places had to do with the Centre and why Catherine had found them important enough to hide.

“I can think of some things,” Parker continued her earlier statement.

Jarod raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“First, there is the possibility that these places contain more hidden evidence but there might be another connection the Centre has with the places from the list. Another relationship comes to my mind. One that I think more likely...,“ she paused again. “The places might be subsidiary companies.”

Jarod straightened. “You may be right. There was a research station in the Arctic; why not at these places? We know that there is one in Africa…,“ Jarod started.

“LA has one, too,” Parker interrupted. “They are responsible for your business dealings on the west coast. I always thought that they were also responsible for those made in Asia. Obviously I was wrong,“ she contemplated.

“The net seems to be far tighter than I thought. It’s is more or less world wide if you are correct with that assumption. There are at least several strategic points; Australia, China, Russia, Central Europe, Africa, and on both American continents,” Jarod pointed out.

“I wonder why I don’t know about these,” Parker frowned.

“I didn’t know about them, too. Up to now, I never found anything about those in the Centre’s mainframe.”

“Well, there has to be some remark about them,“ Parker shook her head.

“Most likely there is, if you know where to search,” he tailed off.

Parker nodded slightly.

“We have to assume that there are more places than this list consists of, though,“ Jarod voiced his concern.

“You’re right. Mom made this list some thirty years ago. Who knows what business the Centre has done since that day,” Parker growled.

“We have to get a hand on a list with ‘all’ places where subsidiary companies are. If we want to destroy the Centre, we must do it consequently. There mustn’t remain some cooperation to be able to keep up dirty business!” Jarod looked determinedly at her.

“Can you get us into the mainframe?”

“I sure can but I don’t think we would find anything there,” he shrugged.

Parker looked at him puzzled.

“You know, ever since I broke out of the Centre, I’ve been hacking into the mainframe to get to information. I ran many searches. I never found a thing about those,” he indicated the list with a trip of his head.

“You didn’t know where to search…,“ Parker whined.

Jarod smiled slightly and nodded. “Yes, and that problem is still present. I might be able to get a hand on them eventually but that would need time, much time.”

Parker sighed deeply. “And I fear that’s exactly what we don’t have.”

Jarod frowned, silently watching her. “A few weeks ago you told me that time was not of essence.”

“That was a few weeks ago, Jar. Many things have changed since than. Or better since the Scroll’s ‘departure’ from the Oxford University. The PTB’s are suspicious! I don’t think we can keep this under the surface for much longer,” she looked meaningfully at him.

“I thought so,” Jarod gritted his teeth. “But we will need some more time to get everything rolling!”

“How long?” She asked.

“At least a week! That’s the absolute minimum. Two would be more realistic. Depends on how soon we can get that complete list and the other evidence that is hidden,” Jarod mused.

“Shit! That’s long. We need to cut it short.”

“No, we need to change the course of action.”

”What do you have in mind?” she questioned pointedly.

“We need to think about getting other persons into the plan…,“ he let the sentence hang in the air.

“Sydney,” she stated. He was the first person that sprang to her mind, a person they could trust.

“And most importantly Broots. We will need him for this list. He knows his way around the mainframe and he might be able to get to places I don’t know of. Plus, we will spare time when you and I can concentrate on getting the remaining evidence. Maybe we are even able to get some more out of the mainframe with Broots and Angelo’s help,” Jarod said.

“Angelo?” Parker was doubtful.

Jarod grinned. “He understands more than most people give him credit for. He helped me ever since I broke out.”

“He what...?” Parker’s lower jaw hit the floor. Her eyes were wide with surprise and her eyebrows had long reached the hairline.

Jarod chuckled. “Don’t be so surprised. The fact that Angelo can’t express himself in words has nothing to do with his abilities!”

“Damn, and we even included him into the search sometimes,“ Parker growled and slapped a hand over her face.

Jarod remained silent and grinned.

“Ok, if we involve Sydney, Broots and Angelo into our little war, what exactly will be our task?” she frowned at him.

“We will have to stay under radar for as long as possible. All of you will have to go to work as usual. I won’t stay here for much longer. I’ll try to get a room near your house but I think it will be better if I’m not around too often. The Centre will keep your house under observation soon. Considering the places where the last hidden things from your mother are, I would say that we can go to the places here in the States together. The one place in Europe I will have to access alone,” Jarod contemplated.

“We will have to get Angelo, Broots and Sydney to safety once things start to get ugly,” Parker said firmly.

“Of course! I don’t intent to leave them to what will come,” Jarod stated.

“Ok, then let’s do it,“ Parker nodded firmly.

“Give them both a call and get them over here,” Jarod said.

“Now?” Parker asked surprised.

“The earlier the better,” Jarod shrugged. “I think I will prepare something for dinner. Would you help me after you called them?”

Parker looked over to Jarod. She could see that he was tired. “Are you really up to it? We can do that tomorrow,” she said concern written all over her face.

Jarod smiled tiredly. “No, I will be ok. We better get that done now,” he said determinedly and walked to the direction of the kitchen.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 29

Dinner with surprises


“Something… hhhh… is up!” Raines rasped.

“Sydney got a call here in the Centre from Miss Parker, inventing him to come over. Mr. Broots got a similar call at home,” Willy informed him.

“I don’t like that. My sister was never a person distributing invitations,” Lyle pondered.

“I told you… hhh… to keep… hhh… an eye on her… hhh,“ Raines growled.

“We did. Nothing happened until now,” Lyle snapped back.

“She is up… hhh… to something. I… hhh… want you… hhh… to interfere!” Raines ordered.

“I will go and check things out. Have a sweeper team ready to move in. I will go first and have a look at what they are doing. We can react when there is something suspicious,“ Lyle suggested.

“Hhhh… right,“ Raines dismissed them. “And Lyle,” Raines called when Lyle reached the door. He turned around to face Raines. “Hhhh… don’t screw it… hhh!”

~~~~~~~

Sydney arrived at Parker’s house a few minutes earlier than he was supposed to. He was curious. She had called him in his sim lab in the Centre just before he was walking out of it to get his weekend started. She had been very tight lipped about the reason for her invitation.

The last weeks had been strange somehow. ‘She’ had been acting strange. It was just a feeling. He couldn’t quite place a finger on it but he knew something had changed.

Up to now he wasn’t sure if it was be for the better or not. Maybe he would be wiser in a few minutes.

He killed the engine and got out of the car. Just as he was about to lock it to walk up the stairs, another car rolled up the drive.

Recognizing Broots’ car Sydney’s frown deepened. He didn’t know that Parker had also called Broots to join them.

Now he got really curious as to what was about to happen.

“S-s-s-sydney,” Broots stuttered when he got out of his car.

“Hello Broots,” Sydney smiled warmly. “I didn’t know you got a call from Miss Parker, too.”

“Yeah, well,“ Broots breathed. “Do you know what this is about?”

“I haven’t got the slightest idea,” Sydney replied.

“Hey boys. Get your asses over here. I don’t want you to root in my driveway. Gardeners are expensive these days,“ Miss Parker called from the front door.

Sydney chuckled slightly and went over to her.

“Get out of your jackets and get in there,” she grinned when they entered the house and pointing into the direction of the dining room.

“Miss Parker, you didn’t cook for us, did you?!?” Sydney asked surprised when he walked into the room and finding the table completely set up to and a wonderful odour permeating the air.

“No, ‘I’ didn’t,“ she replied mysteriously.

Before Sydney could say something else, Broots interrupted. “T-t-there are four plates on the table. D-do we wait for another person to join us?”

Parker grinned. “We won’t have to wait but yes, there is another person who will be present.”

Sydney and Broots both looked puzzled.

Jarod choose that moment to enter the room. Both Sydney’s and Broots’ back were turned to him so that they didn’t notice him come in. He saw Parker grinning widely at her colleagues.
“She’s right, you know. Waiting won’t be necessary. Dinner is almost ready,” he said.

Two heads flew around and then Broots’ and Sydney’s gaze came to rest upon the pretender’s face.

Behind them Parker laughed out loud and Jarod, too, chuckled lightly. Before either man could recover from their shock, Jarod turned and walked back into the kitchen.

Sydney turned back to Parker stunned and Broots looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

“Was that Jarod?” Broots asked, too shocked to stutter.

“Who else?” Parker asked and grinned sheepishly.

Sydney turned and walked over to the kitchen, leaving Broots and Parker in the dining room.

“Jarod?” he asked, when he entered the kitchen.

Jarod turned and smiled warmly at his old mentor. “Sydney, it’s good to see you again,“ he said and left his place at the stove to walk over to the man he always considered a father.

Firmly embracing each other, Jarod pattered Sydney’s back lightly.

“I’ve missed you, Syd,” Jarod whispered into the other mans ear.

Sydney had to blink back a tear that was threatening to fall. “I’ve missed you, too,” he replied silently.

They both withdrew. Jarod went back over to the stove and Sydney leaned against the fridge.

“I must say, I’m surprised to see you here. How long has this been going?” Sydney asked.

“Parker and I recovered our friendship about six weeks ago,“ Jarod told his mentor.

“Six weeks?” Sydney asked suspicion creeping into his consciousness. “That would be…,” he tailed off.

“Yes. You are on a hot track!” Jarod grinned. “We will tell you everything during or after dinner,” he said.

Sydney silently shook his head. His suspicion had been correct. Something ‘was’ going on. He quietly observed Jarod and quickly noted the deep lines of fatigue.

“Jarod,“ he addressed the younger man who turned in response. “You look…,“ Sydney searched for the right word.

“…Tired, completely worn out, like death warmed over,“ Jarod suggested with a slight smile on his face.

Sydney hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah.”

“The last few days were hard. Not everything went smoothly and so…,“ this time Jarod tailed off.

When he noticed Sydney’s worried expression, he smiled warmly at his old mentor. “Don’t worry about me, Sydney. I’ll be alright.”

“If you say so,“ Sydney replied doubtful.

“Yes,“ Jarod nodded firmly. “Can you get these into the dining room, please?” Jarod asked handing Sydney a bottle of wine and some water.

“Sure,” Sydney said and walked out of the room.

~~~~~~~

Sydney walked into the dining room with the bottles in his hands.

Before he reached the table, there was a loud knock on the front door. The three persons present in the room winced and looked at each other.

Parker frowned and drew a deep breath. She straightened and resolutely stalked to the front door.

Opening the door forcefully, she snarled a “WHAT,” at the intruder.

“Good evening, sis. No need to eat me alive,“ Lyle smiled.

Parker snarled. “What do you want, Lyle?”

“Can I come in?” he asked politely.

“No!” Parker snapped. Lyle’s face remained cheerily and he pushed past her. Seeing Sydney and Broots in the den, he asked happily, “Am I interrupting something?”

‘Someday I will wipe that irritating, cooked grin out of his face’, Parker thought. But first things first; She had to get rid of her brother.

“Yes, you are and now get back to where you’ve come from!” she growled dangerously.

“Now, now, is that a way to greet your own brother?” Lyle asked, faking a hurt expression.

Oh, the good old ‘Daddy-approach’. She rolled her eyes. ‘Ok, let’s play the game.’

“Don’t start the way Daddy tried. It doesn’t work!” she snapped, quickly putting the damn “daddy” into her sentence for cover.

“What a shame,” Lyle huffed mockingly.

Parker growled. “What do you want, Lyle? Is that a question so hard to understand?”

Lyle wandered seemingly aimless into to house. Parker followed him, a feeling of apprehension building in the pit of her stomach.

Lyle walked into the dining room. “I just wanted to visit you. Oh, you set for four people. Do you wait for someone else?” Lyle asked innocently, looking form Sydney over to Broots, to settle his gaze upon Parker. She didn’t flinch but returned his stare unimpressed.

“It’s none of your business but I’ll tell you anyway, to get you out of my house as soon as possible. I thought that Broots would bring his daughter with him and therefore I set the table for ‘Four’ persons. It just turned out that his daughter didn’t have the time. You waltzed into my house before I could take the dish away,” Parker answered with played patience.

“Oh, what a shame,“ Lyle sighed and grinned. He looked over to Broots.

Parker shot Broots a stare that send shivers down his spine. He gulped and hastily nodded his confirmation at Lyle.

“Well. Now that there is one plate to much on the table, I could take her seat,” Lyle suggested, a sly expression on his face. “Where is the food anyway? You didn’t leave it without surveillance, did you, sis?” With that, Lyle turned on his heel and walked to the kitchen, before anyone could do something.

Parker winced and quickly set after her brother. Entering the kitchen, she found no one besides Lyle.

“Your arrival didn’t leave me with another option,” she replied, quickly covering her relieve that Jarod had vanished.

“Hmmm. That smells very good, sis. I didn’t know that you could cook,” Lyle said, sniffling the odour and grabbing the spoon that rested besides the stove.

With two determined strides, Parker was besides him. “Yes, it smells good but you won’t taste anything of it,” she said sweetly and snatched the spoon out of his hand.

“Come on, sis. Don’t play to be so heartless,“ Lyle pouted.

“I don’t ‘play’ heartless. I ‘am’ heartless. You should know that,” she growled.

“Where is the trace of our mother in you?”

He was really pushing his luck. She did her best to get her temper under control but if he went on like that, she couldn’t guarantee for anything.

“Our mother was weak. I’m not! There is no trace of her in me,“ she spat, disgusted at herself for saying that but knowing all the while that she didn’t have another choice if she wanted the Centre to believe that she was still on their side.

“What a shame!” he grinned.

Parker walked up to Lyle until they were standing toe to toe. She then leaned over. “If you don’t get out of ‘my’ house ‘now’, I swear Lyle, I will make you dance on this carpet,“ Parker snarled into his ear and then leaned back to see if the threat had reached its destination.

Lyle frowned.

She leaned in again. He could see determination and something else in her eyes. Something that sent icy shivers down his spine. Her eyes held a dangerous sparkle.

“You will have a hard time avoiding the bullets. Would be a shame if you got your legs ruined, too, after you aren’t even able to hold a cup of coffee without a thumb,“ she whispered dangerously, withdrawing while putting up one hand and hiding her thumb behind the palm.

She looked at him and could see him swallow with difficulty.

Parker took a step back to give him enough space to slip out of the room. She didn’t back away from her position though and Lyle knew that.

“Get out, while you still can!” she threatened once more.

Lyle returned her stare but eventually he backed away when she raised an eyebrow.

She followed him through the den, close on his heel, to make her threat even more palpable.

The moment Lyle was out and the door closed, she leaned against it and sighed. Her mask dropped and Sydney saw her shaking slightly.

He went over to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. He had followed the twins to the kitchen but he hadn’t been able to make out the words she whispered into Lyle’s ear.

“Come on, Parker. Let’s go to the living room. You should have a seat on the couch,” Sydney suggested.

“No, thanks Syd. I’m fine. We better get the party rolling to keep anyone from getting suspicious,” she replied, straightening.

She didn’t know if Jarod would return. That would depend on the surveillance around her house. She feared it would be hard for him to get back. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t try.

“Broots, would you please get the things from the kitchen?” she asked him.

“S-s-sure,” he quickly scurried away.

She looked at Sydney. “Thanks,” she sighed and then walked over to the door leading to the basement.

“Where are you going, Miss Parker?” Sydney asked his concern for her quickly raising again.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Get yourself a seat,” with that she walked down.

She returned several minutes later with the electronic device Jarod had used the last night. He had shown her where he put it and how to use it. She was grateful for that now.

She wasn’t sure if Lyle had touched anything besides the spoon in the kitchen but she didn’t want to take any chances.

They surely didn’t need the Centre to listen into the conversation that was about to take place.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 30

New ways of communicating


Parker had been right. Jarod didn’t return that night. She had shared their knowledge and their ideas with Sydney and Broots.

Broots had been cowering and doubtful at first but after a while the prospect of being able to raise Debbie away from the Centre’s evil doings had convinced him.

Parker wasn’t able to fill Broots in about all the details of his role though because there had been no time for her to talk it through with Jarod properly.

But for the moment Broots would be busy enough with trying to find out more about the places on the list and if their conclusion was correct. She had also told him to search for more places like the ones they had on the list.

Sydney had had a content expression on his face the whole evening. Parker could see that he was very pleased with the development of Jarod’s and her friendship.

Under that content expression there was a layer of worries and fears.

He had been worried about Parker’s extensive search for bugs.

She had taken her time to be sure to get every one of those nasty little eavesdroppers. Luckily, there hadn’t been new ones after Lyle’s unexpected ‘visit’.

About an hour into their conversation Sydney had gotten more and more agitated.

The fact that Jarod hadn’t returned was gnawing at him. She wasn’t that pleased about Jarod’s forced departure and that he wouldn’t return soon either but she needed to cope with it. She had told Sydney not to worry about Jarod. He had always been able to stay out of the Centre’s clutches; adding up to that she was calming down with every passing minute because had Lyle caught Jarod, he would have come back to gloat upon her defeat and to take her into the Centre to join Jarod in a small cell.

It was nearly noon by now and Jarod had yet to come back.

She huffed and clenched her teeth. He would have showed up on her doorstep if he had been able to do so. Something was keeping him from doing so and that something was most likely the increased surveillance on her house.

She had seen the sweeper lurking out behind a tree herself in the morning.

Jarod most certainly didn’t need to look out for them. After years of being hunted she was sure that he had a fine radar for these persons. He could probably smell them a hundred yards against the wind.

Parker got up from her seat and wandered aimlessly around the house. She didn’t know what to do. She had reread the Scrolls, her mother’s letter and the list several times.

Parker growled. She hated not being able to do a damn thing. Twiddling her thumbs wasn’t one of her strengths.

“At least you have ‘two’ thumbs to twiddle,” she heard Jarod’s voice in the back of her mind. She chuckled mirthlessly. Jarod would have answered something like this when she complained about that after her encounter with Lyle.

He would have looked at her, his chocolate brown eyes sparkling mischievously, his head tipped to his side slightly, a light smile on his lips and…..

Parker huffed. ‘Damn!’ She wasn’t able to get him out of her mind anymore. It was not the fact that she worried about him or something like that. It was something entirely different.

Something she couldn’t or wouldn’t define; at least not now.

~~~~~~~

Jarod grumbled. Her place was basically crawling with sweepers.

He had holed up the last night in some small town down the coast but now he had to face the problem of returning to Parker’s house.

Sleep had been a rare treasure last night. A nightmare had roused him in the middle of the night. It seemed as if he wasn’t able to sleep well without her being around him. The moment he knew that she was somewhere in the house, he was calm and felt… secure.

He knew that his feelings for Parker were much deeper than just friendship. He had long since stopped trying to convince himself otherwise. He had to keep his feelings for her in cheek though. Everything else would endanger their mission.

But someday, when everything was over, maybe there was a possibility for more than friendship… hopefully.

Jarod pushed the thought out of his mind and growled. He then noiselessly went back to his car. Getting in and starting the engine he drove back towards town.

He had considered calling Sydney but he suspected that the Centre would tape his call. He knew that he would be able to get Parker back to their little game for the Centre’s ears but he wasn’t sure about Sydney.

He was certain that Parker had searched to house for bugs after Lyle’s departure and that she would be careful but he didn’t want to take any chances. He knew that they had to meet to get on with planning but he couldn’t just suggest a meeting place to her. That place would be crawling with sweepers twenty minutes after the call at the latest.

Even if her phone was not bugged or she had removed the bug, the Centre could also listen in over an espionage satellite like they had some years ago when Harriet had organized the meeting with his mother and sister.

Angelo had informed him about the way the Centre had found out about that supposed meeting.

So calling her was out of question. He couldn’t send a clue or a note into the Centre because he was sure that they would be even more suspicious by now. The minute a note appeared on her desk, Lyle would be next to her to be there when she opened it. Either that or he would be there even before she was, to look through the package himself.

Somehow he had to get a note to her. He just had to find a way for that.

She wouldn’t be too worried about his staying away because she most certainly knew about the surveillance of her house. She either knew or would figure it out.

That and the fact that Lyle hadn’t stormed back into her house to drag her into the Centre would reassure her of his own well being. But he needed to get in touch with her though.

Driving through the streets he came to a small park. It was a fine weather and so there were children playing on the playground. He smiled slightly and thought how innocent children were.

A few seconds later that thought registered again in his mind. Children! He smiled one of his ‘gotcha’-smiles, a plan forming in his head.

~~~~~~~

“Dad, I’m home,” the girl called out the moment she stepped into the house.

She quickly put her purse and keys away and walked into the living room where she supposed her father would be.

Just as she had thought he sat in front of his computer and typed feverishly something into the machine.

When she entered the room, he turned and smiled warmly at her. “Hi Debbie. Did you have a good day?” he asked her affectionately.

“Yes, I did. Sally and I went around the shopping mall and spent some time in a café,“ she answered. “And how was your Saturday?”

“Full of work. It was good that Sally called. I wouldn’t have had much time for you, sweetie. Sorry!”

“Don’t worry, Dad. Oh, before I forget. I have to give something to you,“ she said and walked back into the den to retrieve something out of her purse.

When she came back, she had two envelopes in her hand. She held them out to her father who reached out a hand to take them.

“How did you get these?” he asked suspiciously, even before he took them.

“A man gave them to me,“ Debbie shrugged.

“A man?” Broots repeated, highly alarmed.

“Yes, a man,” Debbie said, rolling her eyes at her father’s startled expression.

“Debbie, I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t talk to strangers,“ Broots reminded her of an agreement they had made years ago.

“Daaaaad,“ Debbie whined.

“No, Debbie. That agreement still stands,” Broots started.

“Dad. He didn’t want anything from me,“ Debbie told her father.

“Why did he talk to you then?” Broots asked pointedly.

“He wanted me to give this to you. Dad! I didn’t do something wrong. I wasn’t alone and he did most of the talking. I was suspicious at first, too. Hey, I mean that guy knew my name,“ she said, looking at her father. Seeing her father was still angry, she went on, “He said that he knew you and also Miss Parker. He also said that you saved his life once,” Debbie paused.

The wheels were turning in Broots’ head. He held the two envelopes in his hand. He swiftly turned them over. One of the envelopes was addressed to him, the other to Miss Parker. When he looked at the handwriting, he recognized it as Jarod’s. Still he wasn’t convinced. “How did that stranger look?” he asked his daughter.

“Handsome,” came the prompt reply.

Broots glared at his daughter. “I didn’t mean that and you know it! So, how did he look like?”

“He was quite tall, as I said good looking, dark hair and brown eyes, oh and he had a small mole under his right eye,“ Debbie answered.

“No missing thumb?” Broots asked.

Debbie looked at him, a strange expression on her face. “Noooo,“ she drawled, shaking her head firmly.

Broots sighed and then started to smile. Then it ‘was’ Jarod.

“Well then, I better call Miss Parker and ask her to spend some time with you,” Broots said.

“So you do know him?” Debbie questioned.

“Yes,“ Broots answered shortly.

“And you saved his life?” she inquired.

“If he says so,“ Broots replied, blushing slightly. “But now, I’ll give Miss Parker a call!”

“Why don’t you give her the letter on Monday,“ Debbie suggested.

“Because this letter can’t wait that long and it will be better if you give it to her,” Broots replied, evading the subject that it would be safer for all of them.

“Ok,” Debbie shrugged. She didn’t mind going to Miss Parker and spend some time with her.

~~~~~~~

After calling Miss Parker, who was bewildered, and taking Debbie over to her, Broots sank back into his chair and reached for the envelope that had his name on it.

He opened it and found instructions from Jarod what exactly he would have to search for. Besides the places on the list, Miss Parker had been very vague about his role and what he would have to search for. But now he had some very detailed information from Jarod that he would be able to work with.

~~~~~~~

Terminating the call with a very puzzled expression on her face, Parker got up from the couch.

She had tried to turn Broots flat down when he suggested Debbie coming over to her.

Usually she didn’t mind sharing some of her free time with Debbie but now wasn’t a good time.

Though she had been quite hard on him, Broots had insisted on bringing Debbie over to her.

Either something was going on or he had developed a death wish. The ‘old’ Parker would have shot him the way he was arguing with her.

Perhaps he had grown a backbone one of these days, just as she had suggested about a week ago. She chuckled at that thought.

‘Well, we will see what this is about the moment he gets here,’ Parker thought.



To be continued…

Hope it was worth the wait!

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 31

Secret meetings


She shot another glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her and strode into the small café.

The riddle had indeed been solved shortly after Broots and his daughter arrived.

Debbie had given her a letter and upon closer examination she saw Jarod’s handwriting. She chuckled when she saw it. He had obviously found a way to communicate with her. Calling would have been easier but well, as long as she heard from him, the method wasn’t important.

He had asked her to come to the small café at the coast nearly an hours drive away from Blue Cove. He also warned her to keep an eye on the rear-view mirror and shake off the sweepers following her. Jarod had asked her to bring his duffle bag, laptop, DSA player and also the Scrolls and Catherine’s letter with her.

The sweepers had given her a hard time. She had hoped to get rid of them earlier but in the end the plan she had formulated in her head had worker perfectly.

When she had returned Debbie in the evening she had asked Broots to hand her the spare key to his car. They had agreed upon a street where he would park the car the next day.

The car with the sweepers had been following her around, always two or three cars behind her. Her plan had been built on that detail. Luckily, Centre policies didn’t change much.

Knowing her way around in town, she was aware of the different ways the traffic lights were suited with each other. There was one particular street that fit perfectly into her plan; Dover Avenue. After stopping on the one traffic light and then rolling on with the stream only the first two or three cars would be able to cross the next intersection before that light switched to red. She had intended to be one of these few cars and get rid of the sweepers that way and her plan had been successful.

After going on she had quickly made her way to Broots car which was parked two streets farther way and had switched cars there.

The rest of her travel had been easy. She had repeatedly looked if there was anyone following her but there had been no sign for it.

So now, she sat in the café waiting for Jarod to show up. She had arrived on time but Jarod had yet to join her. Parker growled silently. Twenty minutes too late.

Suddenly Jarod stepped up to her table and quietly slid into the seat opposite hers.

She drew a deep breath, relieved that he was here.

“Nice idea with Debbie as messenger. Are you ok?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Jarod huffed.

“When was the last time you slept?” she asked when she saw the circles under his eyes.

He just shrugged. “Sorry that I’m late but I had to make sure that there was no one following you. Did the give you a hard time?”

“I had supposed that much,” now it was her time to shrug.

He nodded. “Thanks that you gave me a head start when Lyle showed up! What did he want?”

“They obviously got suspicious. Jar, I’m not sure how long we will be able to stay in Blue Cove undetected!” she told him worriedly.

“I know,” he sighed. “I will try to contact Sydney and you will have to tell Broots to be ready to vanish any moment. They should pack a bag with things they want to take with them. We will give them a code word. Whenever we call them or contact them anyway else and say that word they must go! We will agree upon a meeting point and then vanish completely to get the plan in motion from the distance then.”

“Well, where do we go from here in that case?” she asked.

Jarod took a sip from the cup of coffee the waiter had brought before he showed up. “I have some ideas. Those places will be safe.”

“Where?”

“There is a place in Canada that I have in mind. That is my personal favourite. I don’t think the Centre has any serve connections to Canada and they certainly don’t know about that place,“ Jarod replied.

“Ok, but what if we are not able to meet at the point we agreed upon to get to Canada?” she probed further.

“Let’s hope that won’t be a problem; but if so, Broots and Sydney should hole up somewhere around that place. I will prepare a cell phone that I will give to Sydney so we can contact them in that case,“ Jarod explained.

Parker closed her eyes and sighed.

“Hey,“ Jarod called quietly. “You ok?”

“As much as I can be,“ she shrugged. “I’m afraid,” she acknowledged after some moments of silence.

“I am too,” Jarod admitted.

“Well, and what now?” Parker questioned.

“I won’t come back to your house. It’s too dangerous. We have to retrieve three more hidden things from Catherine’s lot; Two here in the States and one in Europe. Just as we planned, we will retrieve those in America together. Before we can do that I will do a small pretend so the Centre knows that I’m in the States. I will then head east to Europe and get the evidence stored there. After I come back, we can tend the other two places,“ Jarod explained.

“Ok,” she nodded. “Have you already picked a pretend?”

“No, why?” he wanted to know.

“Pick one on the west coast. Sydney already got suspicious because you seemed to stick around Blue Cove. He won’t be a problem anymore of course but I don’t know if the PTB’s were aware of that and we surely shouldn’t take any chances!” Parker explained.

Jarod nodded.

“When will you be back?” she asked.

Jarod thought for a moment while sipping at his mug. “Five days at best. More likely six,” he answered.

“Hurry Jarod! We don’t have much more time.”

“I know,” he sighed. “How far did Broots get with the instructions?”

“I saw him again yesterday evening, when I brought Debbie back to him. He had been working the whole day. He said that he would need some more time.” Parker took a sip from her coffee, too. “Why did you want me to bring the Scrolls and my mother’s letter along?”

“I thought that maybe I should take them with me. I’m not sure if they are safe in your house any longer. The Centre might search rather closely,” Jarod stated.

“Might be not a bad idea,“ she concluded.

Jarod took a look at his watch and huffed. “Look, I better get going now. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it will get! Can you give me my things and the Scrolls and the letter?”

“Ok, come on.”

The quickly left the café and went to the car Parker came with.

She retrieved the things out of the trunk and handed them to Jarod.

He put them on the ground and waited for her to close the lid. When Parker turned toward him, he drew her into an embrace. She relaxed and hugged him back. Jarod’s chin rested on her head she nuzzled her face into his chest.

They stood there for several minutes until Jarod finally drew away. “Be careful, you hear that?” he told her silently, looking into her eyes.

“I will be if you promise me the same,” she said returning his gaze.

Jarod nodded serenely. “I will,” he drew her toward him again and dropped a light kiss on her forehead. Then he withdrew and took a step back. He reached down and picked up the bag. “I will see you soon!”

Parker just looked at him, while he reluctantly turned and walked away.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 32

Background searches


“Sir, there is a problem,“ Willie announced, coming into the room.

Raines drew a deep breath out of his oxygen tank. “Hhhh… What is it?”

“She managed to slip away,” Willie said.

“Hhhh WHAT?!” Raines drew another furious breath.

“The sweeper in charge just called me. She managed to get away.”

“Was she aware… hhh… of the… observation?” Raines asked.

“No. The sweepers were very careful!” Willie stated.

“Then how… hhh… did she get away?” Raines roused.

“They are searching through the streets right now,” Willie proclaimed.

“I want her… hhh… found!”

“Yes, sir,” Willie said and turned around to walk out of the office.

“And Willie… hhh… you better not… hhh… fail!” Raines threatened.

Willie nodded and slipped out of the office. He clenched his jaw. Raines was furious and his own head was at stake. He was frightened. Raines had openly threatened him. He swallowed and walked on.

~~~~~~~

He walked up to his boss office and went in after knocking once.

“Sir!”

“What?” Lyle turned around in his chair.

“I just came back from the house,“ the sweeper acknowledged.

“And?” Lyle asked impatiently.

“We didn’t find anything suspicious,” Steve replied, managing not to squirm under the gaze of his boss.

“Not acceptable! I want the ‘whole’ house searched!” Lyle screamed.

“Sir, we ‘did’ search the whole house. There was nothing of importance,” Steve repeated bravely.

Lyle breathed furiously. His eyes threw flames at his sweeper and he tried to calm down.
“I want to know what she is up to. Inform Mr. Rains of the result of your search!” Lyle ordered.

Steve gulped down his fear and nodded. He quickly fled the office and left Lyle alone in it.

In an unconscious gesture, Lyle rubbed the stump of his missing thumb which had started throbbing with pain again.

He went to the desk and retrieved a statue standing on the desk. He toyed with the item in his hand and then in a swift motion turned on his heel and threw it against the wall where it shattered with a loud thud.

~~~~~~~

Broots typed feverishly at his computer. His hands flew over the keys.

He had just gotten on a hot tail concerning the list Parker and Jarod had given him. There obviously was information stored in the mainframe about these places.

It had taken him some time to find a hint that these places existed but he had found it in the end. Now he just had to get into the files.

He clicked on one of them and a window popped open telling him to enter a password.

Swearing softly, he closed it and tried another approach. He needed to get into the system behind the files to decode the structure.

He took a sip at his coffee and went on.

“Gotcha,” he smiled when he reached the place he needed to get to.

Soon he started chuckling. The Centre had used one of the decrypting programs he had developed for them.

Their own bad luck.

He started typing again. The information they searched for lay just beyond the next corner.
A corner that he intended to round in the next few minutes.

~~~~~~~

Sydney sighed.

There was nothing he could do but wait at the moment.

It was Sunday and he used the time to skip through some psychiatric material. He had read bits and pieces during the afternoon but he couldn’t recall what they had been about let alone what exactly they said.

He angrily put the magazine he had tried to concentrate upon away and got up from his seat. Walking into the kitchen, he poured some water into a glass and gulped it down.

Annoyed he put the glass away again and stalked out of the kitchen. He hated this.

Waiting without doing a damn thing. He could do nothing but wait and it annoyed the hell out of him.

The fact that Jarod hadn’t made any contact with him after his forced departure from Parker’s, two days ago, only added up to his irritation.

It was not like the pretender couldn’t look after himself but he was worried nonetheless.

The lives of his best and dearest friends stood at stake; Not only Jarod’s but also Parker’s, Broots’ and his daughter’s lives.

Hopefully everything would be over soon!


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 33

Trying to ground the conspirators


Jarod sighed and walked towards his car.

Getting the box he carried under his arm had been even more difficult than he had expected.

Catherine’s old friend had been very careful and suspicious. It had taken him quite some time to convince her that he was one of the two persons Catherine had told her about who would come to reclaim the box.

In the end it had been a photo of Parker and himself that had convinced the woman to finally hand the box over.

The last few days had been stressful.

After his meeting with Parker in the small café, he had quickly flown to Canada to prepare everything and to store the Scrolls and other things there. It wasn’t a question of ‘if’ they would come to that place but rather a question of ‘when’.

From there, he had hurried to the west coast, just as Parker had suggested, doing a pretend to distract the Centre and had then hurried to Europe. Though he had left Germany only six days ago he had arrived in Frankfurt yesterday evening again.

Now that he had the box with the evidence he was already back on his way to America.

Time was already racing against them and so he couldn’t stay here any longer.

The evidence he had just now received would have to wait until he was in the plane before he could get a glance on it.

He got into his car and sped of toward the airport.

~~~~~~~

She sat in her office together with Sydney and Broots. They were currently discussing the things they had found in Jarod’s latest “lair”. He had complied with her suggestion to pick a pretend on the west coast. By now, she was sure that he would be in Europe trying to get the evidence hidden there.

The rest of them, though, were trying to keep the Centre from getting too suspicious.

Their extracurricular activities were not mentioned anywhere near the Centre but Parker knew that Broots had succeeded in finding something about the places on the list. He had yet to hand his information over but she was confident that he would be able to do that soon without the Centre noticing it.

They had all put on a façade for the Centre. A façade that reached only as deep as the Centre looked. Under that façade they were busily planning and there was also an anxious feeling left.

They had also started to take precautions for a hasty departure.

Parker hoped that this departure could be delayed for some more time but she got the feeling that it wouldn’t be possible any longer soon.

The atmosphere in the Centre was tense and it was even getting worse.

The PTB’s didn’t trust them anymore. Not that this was something new but the fact that they were right with their suspicious made it more dangerous for all of them.

Parker herself was secretly guarded by one of Lyle’s sweepers around the clock. They tried to stay in the background and not attract any attention but she saw them nonetheless.

At the moment that didn’t matter but when Jarod was back and they were to go to the last two places to get the remaining evidence, they would have to lose these sweepers first. She was curious as to what Jarod had in mind to get her away from them.

She was startled out of her secret musing by a knock on the door. Looking over to Broots and Sydney, she frowned.

“What?” she then called loudly.

Her secretary came into the office. “Miss Parker, Mr. Raines wants to speak you in his office.”

“He will have to wait. I already have a meeting,” she told her secretary curtly.

“Mr. Raines gave specific orders for you to come now,“ came the reply.

She growled quietly and got up. “I think we will have to continue this meeting later,“ she said to Sydney and Broots.

~~~~~~~

“Well?” she asked, storming into Raines office. “You just interrupted an important meeting we had to track the lab-rat. What is so important that I had to leave this meeting right away?”

“Do you have… hhh… any information… hhh… as to his whereabouts?” Raines breathed.

“No, you kept us from drawing a conclusion,” she snapped.

“I’m not… hhh… happy with your latest… hhh… report on the subject,” he rasped.

She rolled her eyes. “Have you ever been? He got away again. That’s nothing new, so why the fuss?”

“It is important… hhh… that the… hhh… subject is found... hhh… and brought back here… hhh… as soon as possible,“ Raines said.

“And that again is nothing new. Do you have anything else to say or can I go back to doing the work you are keeping me from right now?” Parker asked, already turning on her heel and strolling back to the door.

“Be careful… hhh… with… hhh… what you… hhh… do, Miss Parker!” the chairman rasped.

She stopped in her tracks and turned again. Her muscles tightened and she strode back to his desk. She rounded the table and stood over Raines. Bending towards him she invaded his personal space.

“Was that a threat?” she whispered dangerously.

“Consider it a… hhh… warning,“ he gasped back.

Her eyes got smaller and she neared him even more. “Be careful with whom you are threatening,” she said, a hazardous undertone in her voice.

With that she abruptly straightened and turned once more. This time she strolled out of the office without being stopped again.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 34

Houston


God, he was tired.

Again, he had a jet lag. He had just arrived in Canada to store the new evidence there. He had had no time to sort through it due to the fact that he was piloting the plane to North America and that left him no opportunity to get a closer look at it.

Originally he hadn’t planned on piloting the plane but the one that should have brought him back to America had been overbooked and he was too late to get a seat.

Luckily he had heard some steward talk about a plane that should leave for Canada whose pilot had just gotten himself a serious case of the flu.

The replacement pilot could only be there with two hours delay.

Weighting his options he had quickly acted upon impulse. He had piloted several planes for that flying agency and so he had swiftly addressed to the steward and had arranged himself on the job. It was his ticket back to North America.

So now that he was in Canada he would allow himself three hours of rest before leaving again. Three hours wasn’t much and clearly not as much as he needed but he just didn’t have another chance.

They had to get to the remaining evidence soon. The Centre wouldn’t lie low for much longer.

He would have to prepare the next lair and quickly get his hunters there for it would be where the next part of the evidence was stored and where he would meet with Parker.

But right now he would allow himself to sleep for a short time.

~~~~~~~

Jarod huffed tiredly.

Upon arriving in Houston he had quickly sent the first clue as to his new whereabouts. He was sure that Parker would be here soon.

She knew that their next evidence-retrieval would take place here so she would hurry to get here as soon as possible.

He had prepared everything so now all he had to do was waiting for her to arrive.

~~~~~~~

She was tapping her foot on the floor impatiently. This idiot of a clerk just didn’t get his job done properly.

“Look… Carl,” she snapped, looking at his name-tag, “Are you capable of doing your job and getting us a car or not?”

“Yes, ma’am. You will just have to wait a few more minutes and your car will be here,“ the clerk cowered slightly behind the counter. The woman in front of him was really intimidating.

“You told us so twenty minutes ago. Get that car here NOW!” she growled dangerously at him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and hurried toward the back of the office.

Sydney stepped up to her and put a reassuring hand onto her shoulder. “Parker, relax. Jarod won’t be there. As always, he will be long gone by the time we arrive. I don’t know why you are so tense.”

Parker growled at him but before she was able to reply the clerk came back, a key in his hand.

“Ma’am, your car is here now,“ he said.

“About time,” she snapped.

“Will you please sign here now,“ he asked, giving her a sheet of paper.

She snatched the key and pen out of his hand and quickly signed the paper.

Turning on her heel, she strolled out toward the car with Sydney following her.

~~~~~~~

She got out of the car and looked around.

Parker knew that Jarod was here, somewhere close. He was probably watching. She wondered how he would try to get her away from the team. Tough only Sydney, Sam and two other sweepers were with her, she still had to get away from the sweepers. They had left Broots in Blue Cove to do some more ‘background searching’.

“Miss Parker, shall we go in?” Sydney asked her.

She didn’t respond. Jarod had chosen a lair near the centre of the city. There were many people hurrying down the streets.

She scanned the area again. Suddenly there was a head poking out of the masses of people.

Jarod

He looked directly at her, making eye contact and returning her gaze. He smiled boyishly at her and nodded when he saw her questioning stare.

With a small motion of his head he let her know that he wanted her to follow him down the street.

“Parker?” Sydney asked from behind.

‘How do I get away from the team, Jarod?’ she asked herself silently.

‘… when you come to analyze the lair and such we can get you away from the team for some time. It’s not like they are always close on your heals while pursuing me,’ Jarod’s words suddenly rang in her head.

Jarod had spoken those words to her during the first stage of planning this odyssey. So, play the game and get away during the hunt…

“Look, there’s Jarod!” she called, quickly drawing the attention of the whole team on the direction she was pointing out with her arm.

Parker started running and she could hear at least two pairs of feet behind her.

All of a sudden there was a squeal of tires and a black town car sped past her.

~~~~~~~

Jarod jogged down the street. He had heard Parker’s shout and knew that she was pursuing him. Everything was moving just like he had anticipated.

When he heard a squeal of tires he frowned and looked over his shoulder.

It was then that he saw a black town car speeding toward him.

He swore and accelerated his jog to a full-speed running.

Jarod looked around and quickly judged the situation. He changed his direction and ran over toward the nearby mall.

The town car quickly gained on him. Jarod clenched his teeth and drew all his strength together. He had to get into the mall. There he would have at least a realistic chance of getting away.

Luckily he had chosen a lair near the city centre otherwise he wouldn’t stand the slightest chance of escaping.

Jarod raced up the steps to the mall when the car jerked to a halt and several sweepers jumped out, running toward the steps, too.

Quickly sprinting through the mall Jarod dodged people getting into his way.

He could hear the sweepers shouting behind him but he kept on running.

Jarod desperately scanned the area while speeding down the mall. He contemplated the few ways of escape, gritting his teeth at the poor prospect.

Blood was rushing through his veins and he frantically kept going.

There was a second entrance he was speeding towards the opposite site from where he had entered the mall. When he neared that door, he saw the black town car in front and Willie came running into the mall from there.

Skidding to a near halt, Jarod took a look around. Seeing a sign indicating the staircase, he quickly sped off again and ran towards that door.

It was his only chance.

He burst through the door and raced down the stairs.

Going up was out of question for he didn’t stand a chance of getting away from there.

So down it was, to the basement. The sign had said that there was a parking garage down there.

He could only hope that the remaining Centre agents in the car wouldn’t be there first and wait for him to get there.

He broke through the door on the next level and scanned the area.

It was indeed a garage. He ducked behind cars while running.

His mind raced, calculating the ways of escape down here.

Car exit… negative for it would be blocked by sweepers.

Staircase… negative for he just came down there and the sweepers were following him.

Going further down… again negative because the staircase ended on the level he was on now.

Emergency exit…

Emergency exit!

He looked around for a sign of that sort of exit and… yes… there it was in the corner. He ran off towards that sign.

He had nearly reached the door when the sweepers burst through the staircase exit.

Jarod accelerated once again, finding a strength he didn’t think he possessed. He reached the door just when he heard the sweepers crocking their guns.

“Jarod! Freeze!” They shouted.

One hand on the handle Jarod skidded to a stop. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

“Turn around!” One sweeper ordered.

Jarod slowly turned, his hand still lingering on the handle. There were five sweepers standing near the staircase with their guns pointed at him.

Willie stood in front of the others, a smug grin on his face.

‘He spends too much time with Lyle,’ Jarod thought incoherently.

His mind raced.

He had to prevent them from bringing him back to the Centre.

Once they had him in the Centre, everything would be over.

Getting away during the transport was highly unlikely because they would certainly drug him to keep him from doing exactly that.

He stood directly next to the wall, his back pressed against it.

He had to get away.

…Emergency exit….

…Emergency…

“Get away from the wall and come over to us, slowly,“ Willie ordered.

…Emergency…

…Exit…

Jarod clenched his teeth.

Parker needed him. They needed to execute the plan. He focused on Willie and his eyes went small.

Willie kept observing Jarod closely. When Jarod dropped his head and let his shoulders fall in defeat, Willie grinned victoriously. The sweepers relaxed slightly and dropped their aim to some extent.

‘I’m sorry, Parker,’ Jarod thought and closed his eyes.

Then he tensed and pushed the door open with all his strength.

From then on, everything went as if in slow motion and shots rang through the air.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 35

After-effects


Jarod silently entered the warehouse.

Looking around carefully he couldn’t see anything suspicious.

He sighed relieved. He still couldn’t believe that he got away from his encounter with the sweepers in the garage of the mall relatively unharmed.

A bullet had grazed his shoulder and he had some other scratches but besides that he was ok.

The sweepers had been surprised about his move and they hadn’t reacted fast enough. Jarod had barrelled himself through the door with great speed.

Though the sweepers had quickly recovered from their surprise and had started to fire, they hadn’t been able to put a hazardous bullet into his body.

His shoulder would be a little bit sore for some time but he was alive and he was not in the Centre.

The warehouse he had just entered had served him as a lair in former times.

After getting himself some medical supplies he had chosen to make his way to that old lair.

He would have to treat his wound and then he needed to think about his next steps.

Jarod carefully slipped out of his leather jacket and peeled away his shirt to get a closer look on the damage the bullet had done.

It wasn’t that bad. Just as he had anticipated it was a flesh wound. He had lost some blood but that should be no problem. He cleaned the wound and applied some ointment and then bandaged it.

Sitting down on the edge of a chair, he leaned back slightly to relax his muscles.

He groaned silently when his shoulder protested.

Jarod closed his eyes tiredly. Now that the adrenalin wore of he was left with an all-consuming tiredness.

He would have to decide if he wanted to try to get Parker away from the team or retrieve the evidence alone.

~~~~~~~

Parker glared dangerously at Willie.

“What the hell was that about?” she snapped.

“I had orders to catch Jarod once he showed up,“ Willie replied unimpressed.

Parker fumed. This stunt had been dangerous. Not that she worried about Willie and his goons but this had been about Jarod.

While she was glad that Jarod could escape she had yet to maintain the façade of being angry. That was not a problem though because she was precisely that.

Angry… Furious… Livid

She growled. “Whose orders?”

“None of your business,“ Willie shot back.

Her eyes got small. “Jarod is ‘my’ assignment. Everything concerning him ‘is’ my business!”

“Not this time,“ Willie replied smugly.

Parker advanced on Willie. One of the remaining sweepers got his gun out. Her head snapped toward him and she shot him an icy stare.

“If you want to stay alive, stay out of this,“ she snarled.

The sweeper gulped but didn’t back away.

“Willie, get your idiots under control. They shouldn’t even have a gun if they aren’t able to work with it. Missing a person when standing only several feet away shows poor training!”

Willie growled but Parker was unaffected.

“I will put that in my report, be sure of that. You blew it and you will have to take the responsibility for that,“ she snarled viciously at him.

Turning on her heel, she stalked of.

~~~~~~~

Parker sat at the bar waiting for her drink.

They had decided to stay in Houston over night. They would search the lair once again tomorrow.

To tell the truth she had made the decision because she still hoped that Jarod would make contact.

Now that she sat at the bar, she was not sure if Jarod had already done that.

She had received a call from the clerk, saying that there was someone who wanted to meet her in the hotel bar.

Upon arriving, the bar had been completely empty.

The bartender gave her a drink and she quietly sipped at it. Looking down on the napkin the bartender had put her glass upon, she nearly winced.

There was a message scribbled on it. It was Jarod’s handwriting.

She calmly put her glass down as if nothing had happened.

Quickly taking the napkin and putting it away she got up and left some money on the bar.

She strode toward the main entrance and strolled over to the taxis.

“To the McGreen’s restaurant,” she barked, sliding into the backseat.

Without answering the driver complied with her order.

She settled back in her seat and was startled out of her silent musing by Jarod’s voice floating towards her from the driver’s seat. “Melina.”

“Jarod?” she asked, sitting up.

“Yeah, shh. Stay low. Don’t act suspicious. We are being followed. Just listen!” Jarod said.

“Are you ok?” Parker questioned while settling back as Jarod had ordered.

“Yeah,” he sighed and looked at her through the rear-view mirror. “Look, we have to get you away from the sweeper team that is following us right now.”

Parker just nodded.

“Go into the restaurant and order something to eat. Sometime during the meal get up and go to the restroom. In the corridor to the restroom, there is another door. It leads to the backyard. I will be waiting there for you,“ Jarod explained.

“Ok. You think that the sweepers won’t notice my absence?”

“They will but once they do it will be too late. We will be long gone by then,” Jarod said when he pulled the car to a stop in front of the restaurant.

“Be careful,” Parker said and got out of the car, strolling into the restaurant.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 36

Breakdown


Parker poked her head through the door leading to the back yard.

It was dark and there was not much to see.

There were several trash cans near the door. She looked around and saw a car at the far end of the yard.

~~~~~~~

When he saw the door opening and Parker’s head appeared in the stream of light he got out of the car and whistled silently to get her attention.

~~~~~~~

She swung around and quickly localized the source of the sound.

Jarod stood next to a car she hadn’t seen before.

She strode over to him. When she arrived, Jarod had already slid back into the car.

Parker quickly joined him and Jarod started the engine as soon as she was seated.

They drove off in silence.

Jarod concentrated on the street and at the same time observed the rear-view mirror if there was anyone following them.

After a few miles and some roundabout routes, Jarod huffed and relaxed slightly in his seat.

Parker, who had been equally tense, looked at him.

“Everything clear?” she asked, looking over to him.

“Yeah. They obviously didn’t notice you slip away,” Jarod said.

A sarcastic remark lay at the tip of her tongue but she bit it back.

Jarod looked burned out. Even in the semi light of the car she recognized the fatigue in his features.

She gently laid a hand on his right shoulder but the moment she touched him, he winced and groaned softly. He tried to stifle that groan but she heard it nonetheless.

“Jarod, you are wounded,” she exclaimed.

He chuckled mirthlessly. “Bullets tend to do that to people.”

Parker growled. “Which one of them was it?”

“Dunno. There was no back-to-sender address on it,” he replied sarcastically.

“Jarod, that’s not funny!” Parker gasped.

For the first time that evening, he looked directly at her. “No, it isn’t!” he snarled back.

Parker looked at him, her head tilted to the side. She frowned. She didn’t like that undertone in his voice.

“You know what? I’m tired of it. I’m so damn sick of being a living and running target. They got ‘that’ close to getting me today and I…,“ he growled.

“Jarod, pull over!” Parker said calmly, though she didn’t feel that calm right now.

“No, we have to go on,“ he argued.

“Pull over!” she ordered sharply. She knew she had to get through to him.

His head snapped toward her and when he saw the determined expression on her face he complied.

When the car came to a halt she reached over to him and carefully avoided touching his right shoulder.

She cupped his cheek in her hand and gently applied pressure so that he had to look at her.

When he met her eyes, he huffed and closed his.

“Jar, look at me,“ Parker pleaded.

“They nearly got me, it was so damn close, so…,” he stammered.

“Jar,“ Parker interrupted him gently.

“So close. The bullets whipped through the air and… God,” he kept on rambling.

“Jar! Look at me,” Parker directed more forcefully this time. He opened his eyes and met her gaze.

What she saw in his eyes startled her bur she determinedly pushed her emotions aside.

“Jar, the key word here is ‘close’. The ‘nearly’ got you, but you are here, ‘alive’!” Parker clarified.

Jarod averted his eyes from hers and looked down. When he looked at her again, he sighed. “I was afraid. Hell, no, I ‘am’ afraid!”

Parker nodded.

She didn’t know much about what had happened. Willie had been very tight lipped but from what she could get out of him, Jarod had every reason to be frightened.

There was nothing she could respond to Jarod’s remark so she drew his head down onto her shoulder, silently offering him comfort in her touch. He leaned into her and soon his head rested heavily on her shoulder. She gently caressed his back and ran her hand tenderly through his hair.

“They got so damn close,” he whispered.

“Yes, they got close,“ she admitted.

“What if…,” Jarod started but she resolutely interrupted him.

“That’s not of importance! It will forever be a ‘what-if’-case. It did ‘not’ happen and so there is no need in knowing the ‘what if’,” she said.

“But…,” Jarod tried again.

“No, Jar. I won’t let you do that to yourself! You were the one keeping me from asking that question myself several weeks ago. Remember? ‘You’ told me that we couldn’t be sure of anything in life and that we can’t influence what is happening,“ she told him pointedly.

He looked up at her and found only reassurance in her eyes.

Jarod drew a deep breath and withdrew slightly to get a better look at her.

“So, what do we do now?” she asked, feeling him getting a grip on his senses again.

“What do you mean?” he asked back, looking puzzled at her.

“I mean ‘now’. What do you want to do now?”

“I’m tired of it,“ he said.

Parker sighed and let her shoulders fall. She had dreaded that when she had seen the look in his eyes.

“I’m so damn tired of being a running target, tired of pushing me forward. I don’t want that to go on forever. It’s time to finally put a halt to that,” he snarled.

Parker looked up at him again, new hope shining in her eyes.

“I’m sick of it! We have to stop them for once and for all. There are only two places left and I intend to get the remaining evidence to reach our goal. I want the Centre out of our lives… forever!” he clarified.

Parker searched his gaze and he held it, determination returning into his eyes. The emptiness she had seen there before that had startled her was gone and replaced by confidence and certainty.

Seeing that, she smiled slightly and nodded. “Then let’s go get that evidence,” she agreed. When he reached awkwardly for the key in the ignition with his left hand she asked: “Wait, what about your shoulder?”

Jarod snorted. “Nothing serious. Luckily, the bullet just scratched it.”

“That’s good. You want me to drive though?”

Jarod looked over to her and smiled. He shook his head and smiled. “No. I’m fine.”

With that he started the engine again and directed the car back into traffic.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 37

A storm is brewing


Parker and Jarod slipped into the car simultaneously.

The package they had just received lay in Jarod’s lap. Parker had insisted upon driving back and Jarod had been too tired to argue with much force.

He settled into his seat and looked over to Parker who had just started the car.

“That went well,” Parker said when she realized that he was looking at her.

“Yeah, it’s far easier when you are there. They don’t doubt our connection and the fact that you have a big resemblance to your mother helps as well,” Jarod replied and averted his eyes from her to look at the street ahead.

She looked at him questioningly. “What?”

Jarod shot her another look. “It took me quite some time to convince your mother’s friend in Europe to hand me her package. In the end it was the photo I persuaded you to make of us together that did it. Otherwise I probably would have returned empty-handed.”

Parker chuckled lightly.

“She was so damn suspicious,” he grumbled.

Parker sobered. “So, what now?”

“You get back to the hotel and tell Willie to go to hell when he asks questions and I will leave the city now and go back to Canada. I will store the evidence there with the rest we already recovered,” Jarod explained.

“Jarod, you are not up to travelling again,“ Parker said frustrated.

“That doesn’t matter at the moment. I have to get this to safety,” he pattered the package in his lap, “and once I am there I will get some rest. A few hours will have to do it but that’s better than nothing,“ he huffed.

“Jar…,” Parker started but Jarod interrupted her.

“Parker, that’s not negotiable! We have to hurry to get the last piece of evidence. Today was a near catastrophe and I don’t want the Centre to get anywhere close to our last piece,“ Jarod said firmly.

She sighed, realizing that she wouldn’t be able to pull down that brick wall he had set around his mind and secretly she was of the same opinion. They needed to get that done fast and maybe Jarod would be able to get over today’s trauma by going on.

“Take the next street on the right side,” Jarod directed.

“Why, the hotel is some more blocks away,“ she frowned.

“Yes, it is but I don’t think we can drive right up there and change places so that I can drive off again. I don’t think Willie and crew would be pleased about that. The taxi is in the next street and there we will change cars and switch positions,” he explained.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Parker blushed slightly.

Jarod grinned.

“Jar,“ Parker started again.

“Hmm?” he murmured.

“What next?”

“Sorry?” he looked over to her a questioning expression on his face.

“How do we pull this off the next time?” she asked him worriedly.

“I’m not entirely sure yet,“ he admitted. “You will probably have to get away from your pursuers alone. I think it’s best if we meet directly in Wyoming.”

Parker sighed.

“Sorry but I can’t tell you anything more definite right now. I will let you know details through our currier when I’m more coherent,“ Jarod said.

“You should rest more than just a few hours,” Parker tried again.

Jarod drew a deep breath. “I know that I should, but we don’t have that option.” He shrugged tiredly and winced at the pain in his shoulder.

~~~~~~~

Parker strolled into the lobby.

Suddenly a sweeper stepped in her way. She growled and tried to brush past him but he blocked her path again.

“Do you have a death wish?” she snarled, her eyes narrowing.

“No, but I have orders to accompany you to my boss,” he said sternly.

“What does he want?” she asked uninterested.

“You will find out once we get there,“ he replied.

“Sorry buddy but if you don’t give me anything of interest than Willie will have to wait until tomorrow,“ she stated.

“Sorry, can’t do that Miss Parker. I have specific orders to bring you to him!”

“And I don’t care if you have orders or not,” she snapped back. Parker rounded the sweeper and stalked off toward the elevator.

She already thought that she had succeeded in getting away from him when he entered the cabin just as the doors started to close.

He punched in a floor number and silently waited until the doors closed again.

Parker rolled her eyes.

When the doors opened again, the sweeper got out of the car and looked at her expectantly.

She returned his stare unimpressed with a quirked eyebrow.

“I told you I had orders,“ he said.

“And I told you that I don’t care,” she replied evenly.

Before the sweeper could say something else, another one of Willie’s goons appeared.

“Miss Parker, our boss is waiting for you!”

Parker had a hard time keeping her temper down. She stormed out of the elevator car and past the sweepers.

“This better be worth it,“ she growled dangerously at them while brushing past.

~~~~~~~

“Miss Parker,“ Willie started when she entered.

“What do you want?” she snarled, advancing on him. “And who the hell do you think you are, ordering me around?”

“Miss Parker, I had orders,“ Willie started.

She growled dangerously. “We are going in circles here. Tell me what the hell you want and make it short!”

“Mr. Lyle wants to know where you were the last,” he looked provokingly at his watch, “three hours?”

“That’s neither his, nor your business,” Parker replied evenly.

“If you don’t have anything to hide then you can tell where you were,” Willie demanded.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she replied sarcastically. Then she huffed, frustration creeping into her features. “This chitchat is quite nice but well, I have some things to take care of now and I want to get them done. I was down in the hotel bar and later on I went to another restaurant in the city. The ‘McGreen’s’.”

“And after that? You haven’t been in the restaurant for a long time,” Willie asked.

“Did you guys follow me? A little spying tour. Don’t you have anything better to do?” she asked point blank, quickly using Willie’s mistake of telling her that they had been following her.

“Answer the question. Where have you been, Miss Parker?”

“I went to an old friend who lives close to the restaurant,“ she replied.

“Through the backdoor?” Willie asked, his eyebrows rising on his forehead.

“Yes, through the backdoor. It’s a short cut,“ she replied.

“I don’t believe you,“ Willie growled.

“That’s your problem,” she shrugged her shoulders, looking at him.

“I can quickly make it your problem,” Willie tilted his head and quirked his eyebrows.

Her eyebrows rose, too. She was really angry now. Her eyes threw fire at the man in front of her.

“Are ‘you’ threatening me? You better watch who you are talking to, Willie. You might be one of the high-up sweepers, but don’t forget who I am,“ she snarled dangerously.

Willie didn’t back away. Miss Parker turned on her heel and strode out of the room, pushing a sweeper out of her way forcefully.

~~~~~~~

“So?”

“She hides something,“ Willie said.

“That’s not new. I want to know what that is,” Lyle snapped.

“We don’t know yet,” Willie replied.

“You said that she went to a restaurant. Did she meet with someone?” Lyle asked, turning in his office chair.

“We don’t know,” Willie admitted and closed his eyes, glad that Lyle was a good distance away in Blue Cove while he was here in Houston.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Lyle asked, worry creeping into his voice.

“We lost her,“ Willie said.

“You ‘what’?” Lyle screamed and sat up straight in his leather chair.

“She obviously slipped out through the backdoor. We didn’t realize until it was too late,“ Willie explained.

“What are you, a bloody beginner?” Lyle screamed again, furious.

Willie remained silent.

“Idiot! You probably missed a good chance. We’ll talk about it once you get back from that trip,“ with that, Lyle snapped the phone shut.

~~~~~~~

Lyle stalked into Raines office.

“Well?” Raines asked.

“Willie’s team lost her at some point during the evening,” Lyle replied with a growl.

Raines eyes went small.

“Don’t look at me. ‘You’ said that Willie was the perfect man for such an assignment,” Lyle defended himself.

“We have to know… hhh… what she… hhh… is up to!”

“Tell me something new,“ Lyle snapped back.

“Our time… hhh… is… running out,” Raines rasped.

“I know!” Lyle screamed and then took a deep breath to get his feelings back under control. He went on in a calmer voice. “We will get her!”

“You better… hhh… be right!”

Lyle got up and left the office. His sister was dangerous. They needed to know what she had up in her sleeve.

Whatever it was, it could be their demise if they didn’t stop her now.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 38

The calm before the storm


Two days after returning from Houston, she finally got a message from Jarod. It was a Saturday.

She had had a foreboding all day and then at noon, Debbie arrived without announcement, delivering a note from Jarod.

The letter said that it was time to go to Wyoming and that she had to get away from her pursuers alone, just as he had told her that day in Houston. Jarod would meet her at the airport they had agreed upon in Wyoming. He would be waiting for her there Sunday around noon.

She gritted her teeth at the prospect of getting rid of her pursuers alone. The sweepers had been sticking close to her heel the last days. She had to be inventive to get away from them this time.

Debbie, who was still there looked at Parker.

“Miss P., is everything ok?”

Parker smiled. “Yeah. I just have a problem right now and I have to figure out a solution quickly.”

“Can I help you?” Debbie asked, generally interested.

Parker shook her head. “No, I fear you can’t, only if you know a vanishing-trick,“ Parker said with a smile.

Debbie frowned and then looked at Parker suspiciously. “Is that about the assignment my Dad is currently doing? The one because of which he told me to pack a few things together I wanted to take with me in case we had to get away from Blue Cove quickly?”

Parker winced at the silent accusation that shone through Debbie’s eyes. She hung her head. What could she tell her? “Sorry, Debbie. I can’t tell you that,“ she avoided Debbie’s question.

“I’m not stupid, Miss P.,” Debbie roused slightly. “I might not be that old but I have eyes. I see what is going on around me. My Dad has not been happy with his job for a long time. I think he is afraid of something but every time I try to reach out to him, he closes up on me and avoids my questions just like you did a few moments ago. I’m sick of this, Miss P. Just tell me what is happening right now.”

Parker looked at Debbie. In front of her didn’t stand the little girl, she had once played babysitter for but a sensible teen who claimed her right to be included into some decisions or to at least get answers as to why the people around her were constantly looking over their shoulders.

“Yes, Debbie. It’s the same assignment your Dad told you about that gives me this problem,” Parker finally said, deciding to tell Debbie at least some part of the story. The bigger part would lie in Broots hands but Debbie had a right to know why she had to pack a bag to be ready to leave her home quickly. “What did your Dad tell you?”

“He said that he had some work to do that was really dangerous. He said that he wanted me to pack some things so that we could get away from here at a moments notice if we had to,“ Debbie paused. “I don’t want to leave the city, Miss P. I have friends here and I don’t want to loose them,” she argued.

Parker reached out and took Debbie in her arms. “I’m sorry, Debbie. I hope it won’t come that far but I can’t promise you anything. I fact I fear that what you are afraid of will happen soon but we will probably be able to return shortly afterward,“ she whispered softly into the girls ear.

“Are we in danger?” Debbie asked with a small voice.

Parker clenched her teeth again and then shook her head ‘yes’. “At the moment, I dread we are Debbie,” Parker replied with an equally quiet voice. “You are right. Your father hasn’t been pleased with his job for quite some time now. The people we are working for are dangerous and we are trying to get them out of the picture. We are gathering evidence against them to hand it over to the authorities,” Parker explained.

When she felt Debbie tremble slightly in her arms, she gently stroked her back. “Shhh, Deb, it’s ok. I know that you are afraid and you have every right to be but you have to believe me that your Dad is working on that assignment because he wants you to be safe and if we get that job done we will be able to finally be safe,“ Parker tried to calm the girl down.

Debbie pulled away to look at Miss Parker and finally nodded. Parker gently stroked her cheek and wiped a tear away that was slowly making its way down. “How long will that take?” Debbie sobbed slightly.

Parker drew her in her arms again. “I promise you that everything will be over soon. The note you gave me earlier is from a friend of ours who is helping us right now. He wants me to meet him tomorrow and we will hopefully get the last piece of the puzzle,“ Parker hushed her.

Debbie nodded against her. “Can I help?” she asked again.

“I’m not sure about that right now. Probably you can. Let me think about that for some time. Do you want to stay with me for a while longer?”

“Yeah, I would like to do so,” Debbie replied and tried to smile.

~~~~~~~

It was Sunday morning. Debbie had stayed at Parker’s for the rest of the day. Parker had brought her back over to Broots in the evening. Together with Debbie she had delivered a bag of clothes and some other things.

Over the course of the day the foreboding she had had Saturday morning had gotten stronger and by now it was hard not to think about it.

A feeling that something was about to happen soon and that she wouldn’t return to Blue Cove any time soon had grown within her.

So she had quickly packed a few things together; some clothes but mainly some pictures of her mother she wanted to take with her.

She knew that she couldn’t walk out of her house with a bag on her shoulder without making the Centre suspicious so she had put it into Debbie’s bag and asked her to take it.

Debbie would meet up with her tomorrow to give it back to her.

When she had arrived at Broots house she had quickly talked to Debbie’s father. He needed to know that she had told Debbie at least a small part of the story and more importantly she had reminded him to be on his guard.

She had told him about her feeling and that he should be prepared to get the dreaded call from her tomorrow, saying that that they had to leave Blue Cove at once and meet up with Sydney to make the way up to Canada together.

Broots had swallowed with difficulty but he had nodded bravely in the end.

Before Parker left the house both he and Debbie had told her to be careful.

So here she was, Sunday morning in her car trying to get rid of the sweeper following two cars behind.

When she noticed the sweeper overtaking another car and taking his place directly behind her car, she chuckled slightly. He had obviously learned his lesson. They were in Dover Avenue after all. He surely didn’t want to take the blame of losing her.

“Amateur. Do you think I’m stupid enough to do that trick again?” she muttered, shaking her head slightly.

In fact she had an entirely different plan in mind. One that was somehow more risky but she hadn’t managed to think of anything better.

After a few more miles she pulled the car over to the side. The sweeper following her stopped and then moved past her so as not to attract any attention. He stopped the car again half a block in front of her. He couldn’t have been more conspicuous.

“What do we have here? A green horn; beginner; amateur?” Parker rolled her eyes. The sweeper had just told her that he was new in his business. “Lyle, Lyle, Lyle. You are gambling at high stakes,” she murmured, while shaking her head slightly and then she grinned victoriously.

She had just gotten a nice idea.

Putting the car into gear again, she rolled up to the sweeper’s car. After getting out of the car she walked over to the one in front of her.

She tapped on the window lightly when the sweeper busily searched through some papers on the passenger’s seat. He winced and turned to see her standing next to the car. When he rolled down the window, she could practically see him sweating. She had to stifle a grin.

“Hey, why are you following me?” she asked naively.

“I don’t know what you mean, ma’am,” the sweeper replied innocently.

“Ahw, come on. Don’t play dumb,“ she grinned.

“Well, I… I… I have orders,” he finally blurted.

Parker had to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Didn’t Lyle or Willie give these sweepers anything better to work with than ‘I have orders’?

“Well, why do they want you to follow me?”

“They want me to keep an eye on you,” he replied honestly.

“They think I would do something stupid?” Parker smiled sadly and heaved a sigh for show.

The sweeper nodded slightly.

“But now that I know, I am followed, do you think, I would try to do anything?” she asked the man.

He shook his head after thinking about that for a minute.

“Well than, you can go home now. I’m just on my way to do some shopping,” she smiled an easy smile.

“Sorry, Miss Parker but I can’t do that,“ he said.

“You would loose your job, wouldn’t you?” she asked sympathetically.

He nodded. He was confused.

Everyone working in the Centre knew about the lady that stood in front of him right now and everyone knew that she was dangerous. They said that she had a tongue as sharp as a knife and that she had a bad temper that, once triggered, would lash out on anyone available.

But the woman that stood before him didn’t fit into the description of that dragon. She seemed to be a kind and caring woman.

“Well then,“ she said, “you better do your job and follow me around. But I told you that I will just go shopping.” She grinned treacherous and winked. “And you know woman. That shopping tour might take a while.” With that Parker turned around and walked back to her car.

She grinned. That pretending thing really had something to it. That poor sweeper didn’t know what came to him. The confusion had been clearly written all above his face. Maybe that new part in her plan would it make it more secure. She chuckled slightly. It would at least get more interesting that way.

She got into her car and started the engine. Pulling out into the traffic, she drove past the sweeper’s car and waved at him with a sweet smile on her face.


To be continued…

Author’s Note: Oh, people. This one was great fun. These movements so completely unlike Parker were so… comical; so very unlike Parker. I hope you liked it as much as I did. If so (and if not) tell me.

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 39

The winds are getting stronger


Parker looked over her shoulder to see if her shadow was still following her. When she spotted him in the corner, she smiled at him and winked.

But on the inside she was irritated about his stamina.

She had parked the car at the mall’s parking lot and started her ‘shopping tour’.

The sweeper had parked next to her for there was no reason for him to try and stay hidden any longer.

Parker had hoped that he would quickly loose interest in her doing but until now, he had followed her around like a puppy. For he was new on the job and her little talk with him she had imagined that he would make his way back to the car and wait for her there but obviously Lyle and his friends weren’t that stupid.

She gritted her teeth and went on.

Two hours of running through that damn mall took their toll on her. She hated shopping without purpose and today was even worse because she knew that she had to get away from the sweeper and that Jarod waited for her. She still had enough time to get to Wyoming but if that idiot of a sweeper didn’t slip soon, she would have to go over to plan B.

Parker stalked to the cashier to pay for a rag she usually wouldn’t have even touched but she needed to keep up the face she had put up for the sweeper.

She looked around once more to get a glimpse of him only to find him gone from the spot she had localized him before.

Parker frowned and quickly scanned the area around her. She paid the rag nonetheless and went to the next shop, all the while keeping an eye on the area without attracting too much attention.

Five minutes went by and her shadow didn’t reappear. Neither he nor another sweeper showed up. There was no Centre personal in sight.

Parker grinned triumphantly and dumped the package with the rag into the next trash can. She walked to the closest mall exit and from there on to the central station. She had to get to the airport by train because she couldn’t go back to her car for obvious reason.

~~~~~~~

She met with Debbie in front of the airport.

“Miss P. There you are. I was starting to get worried,” Debbie said when Parker arrived.

“Yeah, sorry. It took some more time to get away from my shadow,“ Parker huffed when she took the bag Debbie held out to her. “Thanks Debbie. You better get back now.”

“Ok, Miss P. Be careful!”

Parker smiled. “I will. We will see each other soon!”

Debbie nodded and hurried off.

Parker quickly entered the hall and organized herself a ticket to Wyoming.

The plane took off at half past eleven and she would arrive at about three twenty in Wyoming. That was just perfect. If everything went as planned she would be back in Dover in the evening. Maybe that sweeper wouldn’t notice anything. Maybe. She frowned, not exactly believing in that theory. Ah, well, she would have to make up a cover story. So what?

~~~~~~~

His cell rang. “Yes?”

“Well, where is she?”

“Mr. Lyle…,“ the sweeper stuttered.

“Indeed. So, I asked you a question,“ Lyle growled.

He gulped. He couldn’t imagine that guy and the beautiful woman being twins. Lyle didn’t have a conscience while his sister was obviously not only beautiful but nice and caring.

“She is in the mall in Dover,“ he said finally.

Lyle frowned. “In the mall?”

“Yes, Sir,” he affirmed.

“How long?”

The sweeper looked at his watch. One o’clock. “About four hours, Sir,” he said.

“Four hours?” Lyle sat up in his chair. He frowned again. His sister was not the kind of woman who went shopping all day in the mall. She would go to designer shops but not to ‘ordinary’ shops “Where exactly is she now?”

The sweeper gulped and started sweating. “In the mall,“ he repeated, trying to get away with that.

Lyle growled angrily. Was that person dumb? “A little more precise,“ he ordered sharply.

“I… I… I don’t know,” the sweeper stuttered.

Lyle got up from his seat and started pacing. “What do you mean ‘You don’t know’? Did you loose her?”

“No, but…”

“What?” Lyle screamed into the receiver.

“She talked to me earlier that day and told me that her shopping tour would take some time and,“ the sweeper explained only to be interrupted by Lyle.

“What do you mean ‘she talked to you’?” Lyle asked furiously.

“She knew that I was tailing her and I followed her around for about three hours,“ the sweeper lied about the time factor to make his obvious failure smaller.

“And then you just left her?” Lyle screamed, irritated at the sweeper’s stupidity.

He didn’t reply but hung his head.

“When did you leave her?” Lyle’s voice whipped through the receiver.

“Look, Sir. I’m sure that she is still in the…”

“I don’t care what you think. I want to know when exactly you left her and after that I want you to move your sorry little ass back to the Centre so that we can decide about consequences,“ Lyle snapped and strode out of his office.

“Sometime around eleven thirty,“ the sweeper said plainly, again stretching the time a little.

Lyle terminated the conversation and stormed of to Raines office.

“We have a problem!” he announced without preamble upon entering.

Raines head whipped up and he looked toward Lyle. “What?”

“The sweeper Willie put up to follow Parker lost her,“ Lyle said without informing Raines about the circumstances. He would have a long talk with Willie the moment the chance presented itself.

“Not… hhh… again,“ Raines growled.

“We have to localize her!” Lyle announced forcefully.

“How long has she been gone?”

“One and a half hours,” Lyle said.

“Hhhh…one and a half hours?” Raines scowled furiously.

“Yes,“ Lyle affirmed.

“Get the airports… hhh… under observation… hhh… and get the… hhh… surveillance tapes… hhh… from the last… hhh… three hours. We… hhh… have… hhh… to get her!” Raines ordered.

Lyle nodded and left the office.

~~~~~~~

He left the house quietly, only leaving a short message on the kitchen table that he would make contact soon.

Hurrying down the front lane, he got into the car and started it. He would have to get to the airport quickly.

Something was about to happen.

He had had a splitting headache the last few days.

The voices had screamed at him all at once and he hadn’t been able to sort through them. The volume had risen over the last few hours but then, about half an hour ago it had been quiet suddenly.

After that it had been only ‘her’ voice talking to him. This time the message was clear and it left him stunned. She told him that his brother and sister were in great danger and that he needed to help them.

He huffed. The others would be furious about his absence but he had to get to his brother and sister first.

Ethan didn’t know in what danger they were. His mother didn’t tell him. The only thing that she told him was that he had to act fast. She would guide him.

That was all he needed to know and he had left the house without the others to get his brother and sister to safety.

~~~~~~~

“I’ve got her,” the tech called out to Mr. Lyle who was standing in the middle of the tech room.

Lyle’s head snapped around and he hurried toward him. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know where exactly she is in this moment but she was at the Dover airport three hours ago,“ the sweeper said.

“Where did she go?” Lyle asked impatiently, looking over the tech’s shoulder onto the screen where his sister was pictured. “Can you zoom to the boarding pass the clerk gives her?”

The tech nodded mutely and did as he was told.

“Wyoming!” Lyle exclaimed and turned on his heel to leave the tech room.

The moment he was out the door a collective sigh went through the room.

~~~~~~~

Lyle burst into Raines office. “Wyoming,“ he said. “She is on her way to Wyoming. What can she possibly want there?”

Raines pondered for a moment. “Has Jarod… hhh… ever been in… hhh… Wyoming?”

“Jarod?” Lyle blinked.

“Yes. Hhhh… maybe there is… hhh… something of… hhh… interest that draws… hhh… Miss Parker… hhh… and perhaps also… hhh… Jarod back to… hhh… that place”, Raines said.

“There was something in Wyoming a few years ago. It must have been around the time Miss Parker’s ulcer ruptured,” Lyle remembered.

Raines blinked and then it dawned on him. “The rosary,” he whispered, remembering the surveillance tapes. “Father Moore,” he exclaimed, looking up at Lyle.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 40

In the middle of a hurricane


“Miss Parker has a head start from about three hours. We can make up some time when we take another airport closer to Father Moore’s house,“ Lyle said when they boarded the Centre jet.

“We have… hhh… to be fast!”

Lyle just nodded.

~~~~~~~

Jarod had waited for her arrival just as he had promised and they had quickly started the drive to Gather Moore. Jarod knew the way to Father Moore’s house and they were still on their way to him.

“How long till we get there?” Parker asked from the passenger seat.

“Impatient?” Jarod asked.

She looked over to him and grinned. Jarod looked somewhat better than he had when they had last met in Houston.

“How is your shoulder?” she questioned.

Now it was Jarod’s time to grin at her. “Not a problem anymore.”

Jarod turned right onto a small street. “There we are,” he said when they arrived in front of a small house.

“Jar, I have a strange feeling,“ Parker halted in her movements when she reached for the door handle.

“What do you mean?” Jarod asked puzzled.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “It’s just…”

“Your Inner Sense?” he asked, suspicion creeping into him.

“Yeah,” she admitted.

“Ok, we will be careful.”

Parker nodded and they both got out of the car.

She looked around carefully and got her bag out of the trunk. Jarod looked at her and frowned but he didn’t say anything.

He walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

It only took some moments for the door to open, revealing a slightly shocked Farther Moore.

“Jarod and…,” he paused. “Miss Parker,“ he breathed.

“Father Moore,” she replied quietly.

“I suppose you came here to retrieve something,“ Father Moore quickly got over his surprise and his face lit up.

Jarod chuckled silently and nodded.

“Well then, I think you better get in here,“ he took a step back to invite them both in.

~~~~~~~

“Dad, I’m home,” Debbie called out.

Broots appeared in the doorway. “Good,” he huffed. “How did it go?” he asked his daughter.

“She said that she had a hard time getting rid of him,” Debbie paused. “I think she was pretty worried.”

Broots nodded. “Get our things into the car. I want us to be ready to go at once if she calls!”

Debbie swallowed but then nodded and turned to get their things.

~~~~~~~

They had been talking for two hours when Parker winced and put a hand to her head.

‘Darling, you have to go now!’, her mother’s urgent voice called out to her.

“Jar, we have to go… now!” Parker said.

Jarod looked as if he wanted to argue but when he saw the look on her face he just nodded and swiftly got up. “Sorry, Father but I think she is right”, Jarod said.

“What a shame,” the father replied and got up himself.

Opening the front door, they saw a car speeding up the driveway. It was a black town car…

~~~~~~~

“There! Miss Parker and Jarod are both here!”

“Hhhhh… get them!”

The sweepers jumped out of the car and hurried toward the house.

~~~~~~~

“Damn,” Jarod gave a door a hard push that sent it crashing into the frame and grabbed Parker’s arm. He moved on auto pilot and ran to the backdoor dragging Parker with him.

“Father, we have to get out of here and you will have to come with us,“ Jarod called over his shoulder.

Jarod opened the back door and pushed Parker through it. There was a van standing in the middle of the yard.

Father Moore stood next to Jarod and looked at him in bewilderment. “Father go!”

“No, my home is here, I can’t go.”

“Father, we don’t have the time to argue. The sweepers will kill you if you stay here. Get in the car,“ Jarod said forcefully and gave Father Moore a shove.

They stumbled down the steps towards the Father’s car.

Suddenly the back door burst open behind them and the sweeper’s rushed out.

Parker had reached the car and jumped into it, the Father followed suite.

Jarod was about to reach the door when a sweeper pulled the trigger.

The force of the impact pushed Jarod to the ground. He groaned and rolled into a crouch. Pushing himself up, he raced last few steps toward the car and jumped in.

Parker pushed the gas pedal down the moment Jarod was in the car.

“Where to?” Parker asked him.

“The airstrip I told you about,“ Jarod shot back.

“Jarod, I can’t leave the city,” Father Moore exclaimed once again.

“Ok, ok. We will find a way. Let us get out of here in one piece first,” Jarod said.

“I will stay at the airstrip. Scott won’t mind,” Father Moore told them.

Parker looked into the rear-view mirror. “I don’t see anyone,” she called.

“Let’s hope it stays that way!” Jarod shouted back over the roar of the engine and put a hand on his shoulder. It felt as if his shoulder was in flames. A wave of dizziness and sweat rushed over him. Jarod could feel a sticky warm wetness slowly spread down his arm and back.

They raced down the small street and Jarod directed them to the airstrip. He took out his cell phone and quickly dialled.

“Scott, it’s Jarod. Get my bird ready. We will be there in five minutes…,“ Jarod nodded. “Yeah, that’s right!” he hoped that he would be able to fly but the throbbing in his shoulder didn’t imply anything positive.

He terminated the call and dialled once again.

“Mr. Broots. Get out of there, now!” he ordered. Jarod listened to the reply and added. “Yeah, she’s fine. But now get moving!” With that he ended the short conversation.

Before Parker could say anything else, Jarod dialled again.

“Syd… yeah. Refuge, Sydney. Refuge,“ Jarod groaned when the car bumped on the road and swivelled slightly. He snapped the phone shut. Adrenalin seared through his body and he tried to push the pain away.

“Jar,“ Parker looked over at his groan. “What is it?”

“Are you able to fly a plane, Parker?” Jarod asked in return.

“Are you kidding? Of course not!”

“Then we might have a problem,” Jarod answered.

The car screeched to a halt at the airport and they got out of the car. Jarod winced at the movement.

“Jar. You are hurt,“ Parker called.

“Get over to the plane, Parker,“ Jarod shouted and grabbed his shoulder.

“You can’t fly in that condition,“ Parker argued.

“I will have to or do you have a better idea?” he challenged. Pain clearly showed through his voice, despite his efforts to keep it at bay.

Parker hung her head. “No.”

“But I might have an idea,” a deep voice called from behind.

Jarod and Parker both spun around.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 41

Getting away with it


“But I might have an idea,” a voice called from behind.

Jarod and Parker both spun around. The movement made Jarod gasp in pain. A wave of dizziness washed over him. His legs buckled and he reached out to steady himself on the car.

“Ethan,“ Jarod and Parker both breathed.

Ethan quickly strode over to them and grabbed Jarod’s good arm. Putting it around his shoulder, he steadied his brother.

“Come on, people, we better get moving!” Ethan directed.

“Do you know how to fly?” Jarod asked.

Ethan grinned. “Yeah, I do,“ he said, when they reached the plane. “Get in, Jarod,” Ethan demanded and helped Jarod to get on board. Parker climbed in behind Jarod and then Ethan followed. “Stay with him, Parker,“ Ethan said and went to the front.

A few minutes later the jet taxied down the strip. They got into the air the moment several black cars screeched to a halt next to Father Moore’s van.

~~~~~~~

“God damnit,” Lyle screamed outraged.

The plane flew off into the sky and all they could do was staring after it. They could do nothing to prevent their prey from getting away.

And most importantly and worse than anything else, they could do nothing to get an idea as to where the prey was headed.

“We have… hhh... to get… hhh… them!” Raines wheezed besides him.

“Brilliant deduction but how do you propose to do that?” Lyle snapped.

“I don’t… hhh… care how… ‘you’… hhh… do that,” Raines spat back.

~~~~~~~

Jarod sat in one of the comfortable seats in the plane while they rolled toward the runway.

The knowledge that he didn’t have to fly the plane had made the pain getting the upper-hand in his consciousness. Before that, his concentration on the task at hand had forced the pain down. He closed his eyes and tried to divert his attention by concentrating on his breathing.

He groaned when Ethan accelerated the plane and he was pushed into his seat. Parker reached out and gently cupped his hand in hers. His hand was balled into a tight fist and he was sweating.

“Jar, I have to get a look at that wound,“ Parker stated firmly when the plane took of from the ground.

He nodded, his eyes still closed. “As soon as we are in the air,” he gasped.

Parker remained silent for some minutes and waited for them to gain some height.

“Jarod, is there a first aid kit?” she asked.

He nodded again. “In the cockpit.” He felt something warm on his hand and looked down while Parker got up from her seat and went to the front. Blood was running down his fingers.

Ethan looked up when she entered the cabin.

“How is he?” he asked.

“Not good. He’s very pale. He was already shot about a week ago. I don’t know how bad that one was but he surely lost some blood back then,“ Parker replied, looking around.

“That’s not good,” Ethan huffed.

“Yeah, I’m just glad that you appeared. He couldn’t have flown in his condition,“ Parker said.

“You think he will be able to hold on?” Ethan asked worriedly.

“He will have to. Jarod said that there is a first aid kit somewhere in the cockpit,” she half stated and half asked, looking at her half-brother.

“Yeah, it has to be somewhere back there.” Ethan half-turned in his seat and vaguely pointed to a small corner of the cockpit. “Say, where are we off to? What direction do I have to take?”

“Canada. Wait, Jarod has the map,” Parker remembered and quickly moved away from the cockpit back to where Jarod was seated.

He was pale and sweating. Grabbing a blanket on the way, she went over to him and sheltered him with it. Before the layer of fabric covered his body, she could see a fine line of blood on his hand. She grimaced. “Jar, where is the map from Canada?” Parker asked, keeping her voice determinedly neutral.

He looked up. “My bag,” he indicated the direction with a soft nod of his head.

Parker moved past him and found his duffle in one of the last seats in the plane. She quickly searched through his things and found the map.

Getting to the cockpit again, she opened the map and explained Ethan where they wanted to go to.

“Ok,” Ethan said. “Now look for that first aid kit and go back to him. Call me if you need help,” he told her.

Parker nodded and went back to Jarod.

“Jar,“ she called. He was still sitting there with his eyes closed.

She touched his good shoulder and called out to him once again. Jarod opened his eyes and looked at her groggily.

“I have to get a look at your shoulder. Can you get out of your jacket?”

“Will have to,” Jarod chocked out though clenched teeth.

He sat up slightly and groaned. Parker helped him as best as she could and together they managed to get him out of the jacket and his shirt underneath so she could get a look on the wound. When they had finally managed to strip him out of his clothes, Jarod was clenched in sweat and swaying with fatigue and pain.

His shirt and jacket were streaked with blood. Parker grimaced when she saw the wound beneath. There was an entrance but not an exit wound.

The wound had cracked open while they had moved his arm to get him out of his clothes. Parker sorted through the first aid kit and grabbed some gauze. She firmly pressed it onto the wound to stop the bleeding, making Jarod gasp out loud in pain.

“Sorry,“ she mumbled emphatically and grimaced.

Jarod only nodded vaguely, his eyes clenched shut tightly.

After some time, the bleeding gradually stopped and Parker bandaged his shoulder. Jarod gritted his teeth and clenched his hand at the firm binding.

“That’s about all I can do for you. The bullet is still in your shoulder and we will most certainly have to get it out of there but we will have to wait until we are in Canada. You have to hang on till there,“ Parker gently touched his cheek.

Jarod didn’t respond. His brow was wrinkled in pain and beads of sweat were standing on his forehead.

Parker sorted through the first air kit again. There were some painkillers she hadn’t noticed before.

She quickly got up from her position and moved to get a bottle of water.

Getting back to him, she took his hand and put two pills into his palm. “Jar, I want you to take the pills,“ she ordered.

He opened his eyes and looked at her questioningly. He was pretty much out of it and couldn’t think straight.

Parker nodded reassuringly. “Painkillers. Take them,” she said while she held the bottle of water out to him.

Jarod complied and took the bottle from her. After taking the pills and handing the water back to her, he sank back into his seat warily.

Parker drew the blanket up over his shoulders once more. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,“ she told him.

“Where do you go?” he asked groggily.

“To the cockpit. I have to talk to Ethan,“ she answered and turned around.

When she entered the front, Ethan looked up again. “Well?” he asked.

“The bullet is still in his shoulder. He lost quite a good amount of blood from the way his jacket and shirt were drenched in it. I gave him some painkillers but I fear that they aren’t that effective,” she told him.

Ethan breathed deeply. “Shit. How is he holding up?”

“As good as he can. He has dealt with injuries before, you know. The problem right now is just that he wasn’t that strong before he caught himself that bullet today. From what I could see, he didn’t sleep much over the last few weeks and he had to move a lot. He was pretty tired,” Parker explained.

“He will have to hold on. We will reach the airport in Canada in about an hour,“ Ethan said.

“After that I think that we will have to drive for, say thirty or forty minutes more,“ Parker added.

Ethan nodded. “Ok. Go back to him. I think he needs you right now.”

Parker smiled slightly at Ethan and went over to him. She hugged him from behind. “So you are the mysterious person close to both Jarod and me, who will help us.”

Ethan looked at her questioningly but Parker just waved a hand dismissively at him. “Long story. We’ll fill you in soon,“ was all she said and then added, “thanks for your help and it’s good to see you again.”


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 42

Reaching safety


Jarod had been quiet through the rest of the flight, trying to doze despite the pain.

The pills Parker had given him hadn’t been very strong so they couldn’t block out the waves of throbbing completely.

Parker had been with him most of the time, sitting next to him, holding his hand and quietly stroking his cheek from time to time.

Now that the plane rolled down the runway of the small airstrip that was their destination, Parker got up from her seat and to put their things together.

“Parker?” Jarod called out silently.

She came over to him when she heard his voice. He looked at her through half-opened eyes.

“Hey there,“ she smiled at him and crouched down in front of him. Reaching out a hand, she gently caressed his cheek.

“There is a car near the hangar. The keys are in my bag,” he explained.

Parker nodded. “I was wondering how we would get away from here,“ she said.

“There is a map in the glove compartment that shows the way to the house,“ Jarod went on.

Ethan came out of the cockpit and walked over to his brother and sister.

“Hey, big bro. How are you?” he asked, crouching down in front of Jarod next to Parker who then got up to finish what she had been doing before Jarod had interrupted her.

“I’ve been better,” Jarod smiled weakly.

Ethan nodded. “What shall I do about the jet?” Ethan asked.

“I will talk to Matt. He owns the airport. The jet is here all the time I don’t use it. It usually sands in the hangar,” Jarod explained and roused somewhat.

Ethan carefully pushed his brother back into his seat without touching his bad shoulder. “I will talk to him. Where do I find him?” Ethan asked.

“He will probably be on his way over here as we speak. He always comes to welcome me,“ Jarod smiled slightly.

“Ok, then you stay here and I will go and talk to him,“ Ethan said and padded Jarod lightly on his thigh.

~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later the group had been in Jarod’s car.

Jarod was in the back seat, leaning heavily against the cushion with his eyes closed again.

Parker looked over her shoulder towards him every few seconds in worry. The ride was spent mostly in silence, only occasionally interrupted by Parker’s voice giving Ethan the directions to their destination.

When they reached the house, the passengers heaved a collective sigh.

Parker looked at the house, stunned. It was a big two story house, built beautifully on a small rise, surrounded by a small forest.

“Jarod, it’s beautiful,“ she said, awestruck.

Jarod chuckled tiredly.

Parker and Ethan got out and while Parker took some of their things, Ethan helped Jarod out of the car and over to the house.

Jarod leaned heavily into Ethan, his tiredness and the pain quickly drawing the rest of strength out of his body.

“Do you have some medical supplies here?” Ethan asked his half-brother when Jarod was finally seated on the couch in the living room. “I want to get a look on that wound of yours.”

“There is a room you can access from the kitchen. You can find some medicine there. In the master bedroom upstairs there is a bag in the closet. There are some more tools in it,“ Jarod replied.

Ethan got up again when Parker entered the room with Jarod’s duffle and her own bag.

Parker looked around the room and marvelled the beauty of the house once more. There was a big window from where you could oversee the valley beneath and the lake that stretched out from there.

She looked over to Jarod and saw the fatigue in his face. Walking over and sitting down next to him, she reached out and gently caressed his cheek. He leaned slightly into her touch and sighed groggily.

“Parker, will you help me get the bandage away?” Ethan addressed to her when he re-entered the living room, a bag swung over his shoulder and some packages of medicine in his hand.

Parker nodded and started to undo the bandage.

Quickly looking into the bag, Ethan whistled silently. “Quite a nice amount of equipment, big bro,” he said, looking up to find Parker carefully removing the last bit of gauze. He straightened and moved over to where Jarod sat to get a better look on the wound.

He grimaced slightly. “We will have to get that bullet out of your shoulder,” Ethan straightened and took some things out of the bag. “I’ll give you a local anaesthesia.”

Jarod nodded vaguely and looked up at his brother. “Can’t say anything against anaesthesia,” he rasped.

Ethan chuckled lightly. “I can imagine.”

~~~~~~~

Parker and Ethan were both sitting in the kitchen, eating silently.

It was dark outside. Ethan had made something to eat with which he had been able to coax Parker out of the master bedroom where they had moved Jarod to.

Ethan had given him a rather large dose of medication so that he was asleep.

Parker had been at Jarod’s side for the better part of the evening.

Their silent dinner had been the longest period of time she had been away from Jarod’s side since they had arrived at the house.

“Parker, we didn’t have the opportunity to talk about that until now but… what the hell are you two up to that I had to come and rescue you,” Ethan asked her, a sympathetic smile gracing at the corner of his mouth.

Parker sighed. “It’s about to end the evil that is the Centre,” she huffed.

When Ethan looked at her questioningly, she explained. “Mom started to gather evidence against the Centre. She had made a plan. Jarod and I got to know about it when we found out about your existence but the contents of the plan stayed hidden until nearly two month back…”

~~~~~~~

They had been talking about their mother’s plan for a long time when Parker yawned and rubbed her eyes.

Ethan observed her closely. “You are tired. You didn’t sleep much the last few weeks yourself, did you?”

Parker smiled warmly. “No, I didn’t,“ she confessed.

“Get up to Jarod and stay with him. I know that you want to be with him right now. I will get the rest downstairs done and then go to bed myself,“ he said gently.

Parker looked at him tiredly and reached out to cup his hand with her own. “I know that I’m repeating myself but I’m glad that you are here. Thank you.”

”You’re welcome, Melina,“ he replied.

She looked up startled and then smiled. “She told you, didn’t she?”

Ethan grinned. “Yeah, she did,” he replied without having to inquire about whom his half-sister meant.

Parker nodded and then got up to make her way back to Jarod’s side.

Ethan watched her go and smiled contently.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 43

A call to get help


Ethan quietly opened the bedroom door and walked into the room.

Parker lay next to Jarod, curled on her side facing him.

He walked over to her and gently nudged her shoulder. “Parker, wake up.”

Blinking her eyes open, Parker looked at her brother and frowned.

“Sorry, to wake you but I thought that you would like to get some breakfast and I wanted to get a look on how Jarod is,“ he said gently.

Parker nodded and sat up. “Yeah, you’re right. What time is it?”

“Nearly twelve o’clock,“ Ethan replied.

Parker blinked at him surprised. “Then I better get up,” she smiled slightly.

~~~~~~~

Ethan followed Parker downstairs a few minutes later.

Parker looked up questioningly. “What do you think?”

“He is still very pale and tired. He has lost quite a lot of blood. I fear that he might need a donation,“ Ethan huffed and got himself a cup of coffee. He leaned onto the fridge.

Parker nodded mutely. “We have o bring him to a hospital, right?”

“I don’t like that, Parker,“ Ethan stated quietly.

“Me neither but we don’t have a choice, do we,” she replied.

When Ethan didn’t answer and looked at his hands, she looked at her half-brother closely and repeated, “Do we?”

“Well, there might be a way,“ he fidgeted with the cup in his hands.

Parker got up and walked over to him. She lightly touched his shoulder. “Tell me,“ she pleaded.

“We could get the rest of his family here,” Ethan murmured.

Parker looked at him. “What?” she asked stunned.

“I was with them when Mom said I had to help you. I have a way to make contact,“ Ethan told her in a small voice, still not meeting her gaze.

Parker was silent for some time and then sighed. “But…”

“Look, Parker…,” Ethan started but Parker interrupted him by putting up her hand.

“How soon could they be here?” she asked.

Ethan looked at her surprised. “You aren’t against it?”

“No. The idea is good. I’m sure that Jarod would be glad if his he knew that his family was safe,“ Parker said. “But that wouldn’t make his condition any better. I mean he would still need blood, wouldn’t he? And the Major doesn’t have his blood type.”

“Jamie is with the family,” Ethan said as if that would explain everything.

Parker raised an eyebrow and looked at her half-brother questioningly.

“You know Jay,” Ethan smiled. “But you know him as Gemini.”

~~~~~~~


The telephone rang.

“I’ll get it,“ she yelled and then answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey Em. It’s me.”

“Ethan! Where are you?” Emily questioned.

“Look, can you get Dad. I’d like to talk to him,“ Ethan said without answering her question.

“Sure. Hang on… Dad, it’s Ethan!” Emily shouted.

Shortly afterwards Major Charles ran down the stairs. He grabbed the telephone out of his daughter’s hand.

“Ethan! Where the hell are you?” The Major growled.

“Dad. Sorry, I left without telling you guys anything but I had to. I want you to come to Canada where I currently am. It’s important,“ Ethan told his father.

“Ethan, that’s a bit rash, isn’t it?” The major bit back.

“Yeah, I know but it is really important. I can’t go into the details right now. Just trust me, ok?” Ethan argued.

“Ok, ok,“ Major Charles relented. “Get me the directions.”

~~~~~~~

Parker entered Jarod’s room silently and walked over to the bed. Sitting down on the edge, she reached out and touched his hand lightly.

Jarod’s eyelids fluttered open. “Hey,“ he rasped.

“Hey, how are you?” she asked.

Jarod just nodded tiredly. “Can you give me some water?” Jarod asked groggily.

“Sure,” she replied and got up.

She fetched a glass and went back to Jarod. Helping him to sit up she brought the glass up to his lips. Afterwards she helped Jarod lay back carefully. He sighed tiredly when he was in a horizontal position once again.

Parker frowned but kept quiet.

She also kept quiet about what Ethan was trying to accomplish downstairs. Ethan and she had agreed that they wouldn’t tell Jarod anything. Not before Ethan had talked to the family and even then they weren’t sure if telling him was a good idea. If anything went wrong and they couldn’t come, Jarod would be fairly upset and in his condition upsetting him was not a thing-to-do.

~~~~~~~

Ethan entered Jarod’s room. Parker sat next to Jarod who had dozed off again. She looked up and Ethan went over to the bed where he sat down.

“And?” Parker whispered.

“They will be here tomorrow,” he murmured back.

“Good. Sydney and Broots should be at the meeting point tomorrow, too,” Parker nodded.

Ethan nodded and then reached over to touch Jarod’s forehead. He frowned and got up once again. Parker looked at him questioningly but Ethan didn’t reply. He strode out of the room. A few minutes later he was back, a thermometer in his hand.

Parker looked up sharply and then reached out herself to touch Jarod’s forehead. He was feverish. The thermometer proved their suspicions shortly afterwards.

“Damn,” Ethan growled. “The wound probably got inflamed.”

He shook Jarod slightly. “Jarod, wake up.”

Jarod blinked and mumbled incoherently. “Jarod! I need you to wake up!” Ethan shook him again, this time more forcefully. “Parker, help me. We need to take off the bandage.”

They worked quickly and sometime during the procedure Jarod roused somewhat. He blinked his eyes open and looked at Ethan and Parker through glassy eyes.

“What?” he asked groggily.

“Jarod, your wound is infected,“ Ethan said after he got a look on the wound. “We have to get the fever down. Parker, stay with him. I have to see if he has any antibiotics, besides the ointment, that we could give him,“ Ethan ordered and got up again.

The rest of the day would probably be very long.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 44

Meetings



"So?"

"Nothing. There is nothing in her house that could tell us 'anything' about their whereabouts,“ Lyle growled.

"There… hhh… has to… hhh… be something,“ Raines wheezed back.

"Then go on searching yourself. I've been through Parker's house with a toothbrush and there is 'nothing',“ Lyle snapped.

"What about… hhh… the Broots place… hhh… or Sydney's?"

"Nothing,“ Lyle shrugged. "Face it. We won't find them."

"Unacceptable!" Raines barked.

"I don't care if it is acceptable or not. We can't do anything against it. The only thing left for us to do right now is prepare ourselves for what it is they will bring over the Centre,“ Lyle replied and then turned around.

He left Raines sitting in his office without another glance.

~~~~~~~

"Hey, how long until we finally get there?" Emily asked from the backseat where she had dozed for some time.

Jay looked at his watch. "About an hour till we get to the point Ethan wanted us to meet him,“ he replied tensely. He had been tense before Ethan had called and the call had made his suspicion only creep onto higher levels. He didn't like this whole thing. It was not that he suspected a trap or anything like that. It was something entirely different; something that he couldn't explain but he knew that something had happened; something that involved Jarod.

Emily nodded curtly.

Major Charles was busy driving. He had a reserved expression on his face. Ethan's departure had left him angry and the fact that his son hadn't told him a thing over the phone as to why he had hastily left the clan didn't stick good, as well.

The family had left their last lair shortly after Ethan's call.
They had moved to a small airport from where they had flown to Canada. The airport where they landed was quite far away from the spot where they had agreed to meet Ethan but it had to do.

They had been driving the rest of the night, each of the family members taking turns on the wheel.

Though these kind of 'trips' were not uncommon for the Major's family, all of them would be glad when they finally got out of the car and when they could stay on some piece of land for more than a couple of hours.

~~~~~~~

"Dad, how long till we get there?" Debbie whined.

"A little more over an hour, Debbie,“ Sydney answered patiently.

The little group had been on the road the last thirty-something hours. Getting further away from Blue Cove first and then going on by plane to Canada had been the first steps.

After that quite a lot of time went by with driving, driving and nothing but driving.

They were all tired.

For the last few hours everybody had been lost in his own thoughts.

Broots and Debbie worried mostly about Miss Parker. Broots had been irritated when he got the dreaded call but it was not Miss Parker talking to him but Jarod.

Though Jarod had told him that Miss Parker was fine he was still worried for her.

Sydney on the other hand worried not only for Parker but mostly for Jarod.

He knew Jarod better than most people. The line had been unstable when Jarod had called but he had heard his soft moan nonetheless.

It was not only that but also the slight nuances in Jarod's voice.

He had been afraid; afraid and hurt. But Jarod had ended the conversation before Sydney had had the time to get through to him.

Right now they had no means to contact either Parker or Jarod.

The agreement had been that they would make their way up to Canada the moment they got the call.

They would meet Parker or Jarod, or both of them two days after the call at the meeting point they had agreed upon.

Now all that was left for them was to get there in one piece and hope that Jarod and Parker had been equally lucky and gotten away from the Centre's grip.

It was the wait that was the worst, but it would be over in about an hour and they would finally know what had happened and where they stood.

~~~~~~~

"Look, there is the restaurant,“ Jay called and pointed out of the car window.

Major Charles nodded and pulled the car on the parking lot in front of the small restaurant.

There were only two other cars parked on that spot.

The moment they pulled into the parking lot the door of the car close to the restaurants entrance opened and Ethan got out.

Parker and he had agreed that it would be best if Ethan went to pick their guests up alone. One of them needed to stay with Jarod and Parker's going to fetch the Major and the others was not an option.

"Ethan,“ Emily cried out and jumped out of the car. She ran up to him and hugged him. Ethan gently returned the hug. "You all right?" she asked silently.

"Of course I am,“ he grinned and held her away from him to get a better look.

"Ethan. We were worried about you,“ Major Charles grumbled accusingly from behind when he approached his son.

Ethan nodded sadly. "I know and I'm sorry."

"Well, now that we are finally here, you could tell us what all this is about,“ the Major said sternly.

"Or better yet, you could take us to your place and tell us everything there so that we get out of the cold,“ Emily shivered. Though it was end of June, it was chilly due to the wind that blew from the near lake.

"Yeah, I would love to do both but we have to wait for some more time before we can leave,“ Ethan said.

The rest of the family looked puzzled.

"We are still waiting for someone,“ Ethan explained.

"Aha, and who might that be?" The Major asked.

"Friends,“ Ethan stated with emphasis. Before he could go any further into the details of whom they were waiting for, another car pulled into the parking lot.

Ethan smiled and went toward the new car.

The door opened and the driver got out. He turned and looked around. Ethan could hear a collective gasp from his family when they saw the driver's face.

Ethan turned back to his father. The Major was about to usher Emily and Jay back into the car. "Dad. Stop!" Ethan called.

The Major halted in his movements. "Ethan, are you dumb. These people are dangerous. They are the ones that are after us,“ he shouted.

Ethan turned and walked back toward his family. "No, Dad. They are 'friends'. They are here to help and they are fugitives from the Centre,“ Ethan explained.

The Major shook his head doubtfully.

"Dad, trust me. We don't have to be afraid of them,“ Ethan urged, looking his father directly into the eye.

Major Charles returned Ethan's stare and finally relented. "Ok,“ he scoffed silently.

Ethan nodded curtly and then turned again to walk over to the newcomers.

The Major still stood protectively in front of the rest of his family when Ethan looked back over his shoulder.

Ethan walked up to the car and looked at the newcomers. "Please excuse my family's reaction. They just arrived themselves and so I had no chance to fill them in,“ Ethan said and extended his hand to Sydney.

Sydney shook the offered hand and looked at the man in front of him. "It's no problem. The reaction was not half as explosive as I would have anticipated had I known they were here,“ he replied friendly.

Ethan smiled back and turned toward Broots and his daughter. "Mr. Broots and...,“ he paused to look at Debbie and smiled. "...and you must be Debbie,“ he extended his hand to them both, who shook it.

"I'm sorry, Ethan. We don't want to interrupt the family reunion,“ Sydney said.

"No, Sydney, you are not interrupting anything. Well, not to my mind anyway,“ he grinned.

"Ethan?" Jay asked who had come up behind his half-brother.

"Yes, Jay?" Ethan turned toward him.

"Hello Sydney,“ Jay now addressed to his brother's mentor who had been his own for a short time.

"It is a pleasure to see you again... Jay,“ Sydney said while quirking an eyebrow and extended his hand toward the young pretender.

Jay grinned and shook Sydney's hand. "Ethan, can we go to your place now,“ Jay now turned back to Ethan, trying to get back to the topic as to why they were here.

Ethan winced slightly. "Sorry, I forgot. Of course we can,“ he said. "You can follow me with your cars."

"Ethan, before we go… why are 'you' here to pick us up? Is everything alright?" Broots asked directly.

"Well, I better tell you before we get home,“ Ethan sighed.

"Tell us what, Ethan?" Emily asked who had come up together with her father.

"Is Miss Parker all right?" Debbie questioned.

"Miss Parker? She is here, too?" The Major winced and looked around again.

"Yeah, she is here but she is not a threat for us. She is my sister, remember? She won't harm any of us. And yeah, Debbie, Miss Parker is alright. It's Jarod we are worried about,“ Ethan explained.

"Jarod?" Jay grimaced and quickly composed himself before the others could catch his reaction. So he had been right. Jarod was involved in this and obviously not everything was ok.

"Jarod? Why are you worried about him?" Sydney asked anxiously at the same time as Jay.

"Two days ago, he has been shot."

Jay balled his hands into fists and barely suppressed a growl.

When he saw the frightful faces, Ethan quickly went on, "he was shot in the shoulder. The wound got inflamed and he's got a fever."

"Damn, I knew that there was something in his voice when he called to tell us that we had to get away from Blue Cove,“ Sydney grumbled.

"He called you to tell you to get away from Blue Cove? Will somebody please tell us the whole story,“ Emily requested impatiently.

"We don't have time for the whole story now. I promise that we will tell you everything as soon as we can but right now I would prefer getting back to Jarod and Parker,“ Ethan said and then addressed to Jarod's clone, "Jay, we will most certainly need your help."

"Didn't pay attention to the doctor movies in TV, big bro?" Jay teased, trying to cover his uneasiness and fear for his older self.

"No, Jarod might need some of your blood,“ Ethan went on without commenting on Jay's remark.

"Is it that bad?" The Major wanted to know.

Ethan grimaced slightly. "Well, he's lost quite a lot of blood about a week before,“ Ethan explained and seeing the questions in his audience's faces he went on: "From what Parker told me, he was shot back then, too. That wound is pretty much healed but the doubled loss of blood is not all that healthy."

"Got damn it, what is he into that he was shot twice in the course of one week?" Emily cried, clearly frustrated.

"That's a story too long to tell right away. As I said we will tell it but we have to head back first,“ Ethan said firmly.

When everyone nodded, Ethan started to turn around toward Jarod's car, "Then follow me."


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 45

Difficulties to get along


Ethan walked into the house in front of the others.

“Parker, I’m back!” he called out loudly and then addressed to the other people gathered in the den. “Do you want anything? Tea, Coffee, something to eat?”

“No, in fact I’d rather see Jarod now,” the Major answered and Jay, Emily and Sydney nodded.

Just then, Parker came down the steps and walked into the living room. Debbie smiled and walked up to her. “I’m glad that you are ok, Miss P.”

Parker smiled back and the looked up to greet Sydney and Broots. “Glad that you are ok, too.”
She then looked over to Major Charles, Emily and Jay.

The Major and Jarod’s sister had tensed when she had come into the room.

“I told you that she wound ‘not’ harm anyone and I meant it,“ Ethan said serenely to his father.

“It’s ok, Ethan. No one can expect them to be open toward me after all these years,“ Parker smiled sadly and then her gaze came to rest upon the youngest member of Jarod’s family. She smiled slightly.

Jay returned her smile easily. Parker nearly gasped at the similarity between the original who was laying in a bed a floor above them and the boy in front of her; Project Gemini, Jarod’s clone. The boy who had been a Centre subject just as Jarod had been for such a long time.

Jay took a few steps toward her and extended his hand. “Miss Parker, it’s great to finally meet you again,“ he gave her another full blown smile that nearly knocked her off her feet. He even had the same irritating and lovable sparkle in his eyes as Jarod.

Chuckling, she took his hand. He was so much like Jarod. The boy had grown since she had last seen him and he had not only grown physically, he had also grown on the inside. He seemed to be content and balanced.

“Parker,” Ethan interrupted her musing.

She shook out of her reverie. “Yeah sorry, I just got carried away,” she said and turned toward her half-brother.

This time in was Jay who chuckled lightly at her comment.

“Parker, how is Jarod?” Ethan asked.

She sighed. “Same as before. The fever lowered some but it’s still pretty high.”

“Ethan, I would like to get a look at him,” Jay stated, his voice slightly distanced and his mind already on his patient.

Ethan nodded. “I thought so and I appreciate it. Come on,“ he replied and turned to walk out of the room.

“Ethan?” Sydney called. Ethan turned and looked at Sydney expectantly. “Can we join as well?”

Nodding, Ethan turned around again and led the way.

~~~~~~~

Jay joined Ethan at the window in Jarod’s room. Ethan looked up when his brother came to him. “So, what do you think?”

“I think you were right. You treated the infection correctly. The wound is looking quite ok by now. What worries me is, just as you said, the loss of blood,” Jay confirmed his older brother’s diagnose.

“A blood transfusion?” Ethan asked.

Jay nodded. “Yes. I think that’s best. He would probably recover without it but he will get well faster if we give him the blood. His body will be able to handle the fever better and we would also reduce the risk of another infection,” Jay said.

“Would you be willing to do it?” Ethan now questioned.

Jay tilted his head. “Sure I would. What gives you the impression that I wouldn’t?”

“Don’t know,” Ethan shrugged. “I don’t know if I even had the impression but we can’t just decide things that include you without your consent,” Ethan stated firmly.

Smiling, Jay nodded. “Thanks, but believe me if I wouldn’t agree with it you would have heard about it.”

Ethan returned the smile. “Ok, then let’s inform the others and get everything we need together.”

“Yeah and while we are at it, you can fill us into the story that resulted in this,“ he looked at Jarod meaningfully.

Ethan just nodded and the brothers left the room.

~~~~~~~

Jay sat next to Jarod on the king seize bed. He had been sitting there since they had started the transfusion that was still running smoothly through the tube that connected him to his older… brother.

Yes, Jay thought again. Jarod and he were more like brothers. He didn’t see himself as a clone or a mere copy from the original. He knew that they had completely different starting-points. In his veins might run genetically identical blood but it made him no less worthy of living. He had an own life that was not at all a copy of Jarod’s.

Jarod had been unconscious the whole time since the family had arrived and it hadn’t changed since they had started the transfusion. Nevertheless, Jay had been talking quietly to Jarod. It was not as if he waited for an answer, it was just for talking itself. He was sure that Jarod could hear him somehow and he wanted him to know that he was not alone.

Jay leaned his head back on the headboard and closed his eyes tiredly. The transfusion was wearing down his own body slowly.

“Jay?” Ethan called quietly when he entered the room.

Jay looked up and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“I think it’s time to stop that,“ his half-brother said and indicated the transfusion with a nod of his head. Ethan walked over to the bed.

Jay nodded silently and helped Ethan cutting the connection between Jarod and himself.

“What’s the atmosphere like down there?” Jay asked, grinning.

“Tense but otherwise remarkably calm. They haven’t tried to rip each other’s heads off until now,“ Ethan responded.

“That’s the magical part of the sentence: until now,“ Jay’s grin widened even more.

Ethan chuckled mirthlessly. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”

“Don’t worry. I will talk to Dad and Emily again,“ Jay said.

“Even you can’t make the years of hurt and anger go away,” Ethan reasoned with a sad undertone.

“No, but I will make a point there, trust me! We don’t need any disputes now,“ Jay stated determinedly with a look on the still form of his older brother on the bed.

Ethan held up his hands. “There is no problem with me there. It’s most certainly Dad who will be hard to get to that. But now come on. We’ll get you some more juice and something to eat so you won’t faint.” He grinned when his half-brother slapped him on the arm slightly.

~~~~~~~

When they neared the kitchen they could hear a heated argument going on inside.

Ethan looked at Jay meaningfully. Jay clenched his teeth and resolutely pushed through the door.

“…will not tolerate your…,” the Major was saying when he was brutally interrupted by Jay.

“Dad, stop that”, the young man barked loudly.

“Jay,“ Major Charles said in surprise.

“Can’t Ethan leave for five minutes without you getting into a fight,“ he growled and walked over to the fridge to get himself some juice to drink.

“No, Jay, there are things to be cleared…,” Major Charles insisted.

“What things?” Jay questioned calmly.

“What about them for example?” The Major pointed toward the former Centre personal.

Jay looked over to them as well. Sydney had a calm and somewhat unreadable expression on his face. ‘Psychiatrist’, his mind registered. Mr. Broots sat there next to the psychiatrist cowering slightly. His daughter was next to him. She was clearly confused. What registered in his mind even clearer was the expression on Miss Parker’s face; it was something between frustration and surrender. She looked tired and had deep circles under her eyes.

Shaking his head to clear his mind as well to express his disagreement, Jay huffed clearly frustrated: “What about them?”

“They can’t stay here. I don’t want them to…,“ the Major roused but he was yet again interrupted by Jay, even more forcefully than the last time.

“Stop it right here and now, Dad. That’s really enough,“ Jay spoke sharply.

The Major looked at Jay surprised.

“Don’t you think this is pretty pathetic? Jarod is fighting up there to get better soon and you don’t have anything better to do than rip into them?” he scoffed furiously.

“How dare you? I don’t trust them and I don’t want…”

“That is not of importance now!” Jay snapped. “First, Jarod wanted them to be here, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. Second, Miss Parker is as deep in this as Jarod and they worked on this for some time now, so if she wanted to bring him back she could have done so quite a while ago and third, we all have the same goal. Or no, at the moment we even have two goals we share,” Jay sternly looked around at the faces of the people sitting around the table. “We all want Jarod to get better and we all want a life without the Centre, without the constant threat and looking over our shoulders. So what the hell are you trying to accomplish by spreading mistrust and anger?” Jay growled angrily.

Major Charles sat at the table stunned.

Jay shook his head and walked out of the room. “I’m going upstairs to Jarod. I want to check on him. Before you start getting your gun out again you might want to consider what I just said,” with that, Jay resolutely walked out of the kitchen.

Miss Parker looked at his retreating back in fascination. It was just as she had observed earlier. He had grown and matured. He stood up for his beliefs.

But there was even more… There was a calm in his eyes. Jay drew strength from the same source that Jarod accessed.

An unbreakable will and a never ending trust in his own abilities, the belief that he was worth something and that he valued his life. It had taken Jarod a long time to find that source but then again, he had been inside of the Centre for a far longer time than Jay had.

Parker realized once again that Jay was not a copy of Jarod but a different person.

He was a remarkable individual.

The way he had just chewed out his own father,… whew. The boy was what… sixteen, seventeen. Remarkable indeed.

Parker sighed noiselessly. She would love to go up to Jarod as well but she knew that would only get them into another argument. They didn’t need that right now. She hadn’t exactly participated in the last fight nor did she intend to do so in a possible sequel but…

She would have to wait until she could be with Jarod again.

Just then Jay reappeared in the doorway. “Miss Parker, I would like you to accompany me. I think Jarod would want you to be near him,” Jay said with a look toward his father, daring him to speak up.

Miss Parker looked up surprised but she didn’t question her luck for once.

She got up and walked through the kitchen door behind Jay.

When they were upstairs and walking toward Jarod’s room, Jay looked over to her and grinned conspiratorially.

She returned his gaze. “Thanks,” she smiled silently.

“You’re welcome. But I meant what I said earlier. I think Jarod would want you to be near him just like you want to be near him, yourself,“ Jay said.

Her eyebrows climbed high up on her forehead. “Is it that easy to see?”

“Pretty obvious when you take the time to look,“ Jay repeated, a smile in his voice.

She chuckled heartily.


To be continued…

Author’s Note: Ah, well. I’m not that much of an asset in medical treatment so bear with me if what I wrote was anything but believable. Let’s just say that this would work in fiction but not in reality in that case #smiles apologetically#.

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 46

Wake up


They had been talking for quite some time when they heard Jarod moan softly. Jay, who had been sitting at the windowsill hurried over to the bed.

He swiftly checked Jarod’s temperature and blood pressure. After checking, Jay nodded satisfied. Jarod’s condition had improved over the course of the afternoon and evening.

By now it was quite late and Jay had expected that Jarod would wake up anytime now.

Jarod groaned once more and his eyelids began to flutter. He struggled to open his eyes.

Parker caressed his cheek lightly. “Shhh, it’s ok, Jar. Slowly. Give yourself some time.”

“Lina?” Jarod mumbled groggily and finally opened his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m here,” she grinned down at him.

“What…?” Jarod started and tried to sit up.

Jay pushed him back into the covers firmly but at the same time careful not to hurt him. “Don’t overdo it, bro. Stay put!”

Jarod hadn’t noticed another presence in the room. His eyes flew over toward the source of the voice and came to rest upon his younger self.

“I’m hallucinating,“ he groaned and blinked several times.

Jay chuckled. “Not anymore, bro. The fever is down. How are you feeling?”

“Groggy but ok.” Jarod opened his eyes once more and when he saw Jay still standing next to him, he started believing that his ‘brother’ was there. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, so much for a great welcome,” Jay grumbled light-heartedly and grinned.

Parker chuckled. “Ethan got in touch with your people. Jay here is pretty much the reason why you are already awake.” When she saw Jarod frown at them in confusion, she went on. “You were shot at Father Moore’s and the wound bled quite heavily,” she explained.

Jarod nodded.

“Combined with the loss of blood from the week before, Parker told us about, your body had problems in coping with the infection that resulted in the bullet you caught yourself,” Jay went on.

“He gave you some of his blood,“ Parker ended.

Jarod’s eyebrows climbed even higher and he looked over toward his younger self. Jay merely shrugged his shoulders.

“Well then,“ Jarod breathed. “I think thanks are in order.”

Jay waved dismissively.

“Wait, when you are here…,“ Jarod tailed off.

“Yeah, they are downstairs,” Jay grinned, effectively confirming Jarod’s suspicion.

“Sydney, Broots and Debbie are here, too,” Parker informed him and Jarod sighed relieved.

“My folks weren’t too pleased about that, were they?” Jarod asked, looking first at Parker and then back to his brother.

“No, they weren’t,“ Jay agreed. “Dad was busy throwing fire for some time,” he grinned.

“But…?” Jarod asked expectantly.

“Jay cut him short,“ Parker said.

Jarod blinked. “Impressive,” he smirked.

“You want to see them?” Jay asked and Jarod nodded.

“I’m surprised that he didn’t jump out of bed before you asked,” Parker smiled at Jay, who chuckled.

Jay got up and walked over to the door, leaving Parker alone with Jarod.

“Hey,“ she murmured, smiling at him.

“Hey,“ he smiled back.

“I’m glad that you are ok. You had me worried,” she sighed.

“Sorry,“ Jarod replied. “It wasn’t planed that way.”

She chuckled lightly and belt down to drop a kiss onto his forehead. Breathing in his scent deeply, she tilted her head so that their foreheads touched.

Jarod relaxed and she could feel some of the tension leave her own body. The worst was over. They had made it so far and they would be able to make their dream become reality.

~~~~~~~

Jay walked into the living room, where everyone else was.

They looked up when he entered the room.

“He’s awake,“ Jay stated. Everyone heaved a sigh. “And he wants to see you.”

~~~~~~~

Emily peeked into the room. Miss Parker was sitting on the bed besides Jarod, bent down toward him. Their fingers were entwined and their foreheads touched.

Emily knocked lightly.

When Parker heard the soft knock on the door, she quickly sat up.

Jarod looked over to the door. His face lit up when he saw Emily standing there. “Hey,“ he whispered softly.

Emily smiled and went over to the bed. She bent down and gave her brother a soft kiss on the cheek. Jarod encircled lightly her with his good arm and hugged her.

“Dad,“ Jarod murmured when his father came up behind his daughter.

Parker got up and went over to the window where Jay and Ethan were standing.

“Feel out of place?” Ethan asked silently. Parker just nodded. “Come on, let’s go downstairs. You didn’t have dinner,“ he took her arm and tugged at it.

“I will stay here and see to it that it doesn’t get too much for Jarod,” Jay said quietly.

Ethan nodded and led Parker out of the room.

~~~~~~~

Ethan and Parker were sitting at the kitchen table. A plate of food was standing in front of Parker.

Ethan had insisted on warming some of what they had had for dinner up. She didn’t really eat anything but merely shoved the food around.

“Hey, Parker,“ Ethan called softly and put a hand over hers.

She looked up. Deep circles were clearly visible under her eyes and she was pale.

“It’s been a bit much lately, hasn’t it?” Ethan asked.

Parker nodded tiredly.

Before Ethan could say anything else, Sydney walked in first, the others directly behind him. Jay went in last.

“Parker,” Jay called and touched her shoulder.

She sighed and looked up wearily. Jay nearly grimaced at the look of pure fatigue. “Jarod asked me to send you up,“ he smiled warmly at her.

Parker nodded again and got up.

~~~~~~~

She entered Jarod’s room. He lay there, with his eyes closed. When he heard her come into the room, he blinked and looked at her.

She smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey,“ he replied. “Come here,“ he held out his hand. She walked over to him and put her hand in his.

“Jay said, you wanted me to come,” she said tiredly and sat down.

Jarod entangled his hand from hers and lightly brushed her cheek with it. Parker closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.

His hand wandered to the back of her neck and he gently drew her down to him.

Parker opened her eyes but didn’t resist. “Hey, what are you doing?” she asked quietly.

Her head rested on his good shoulder. “Stay with me?” he pleaded softly.

Parker looked up into his eyes.

“We are both tired and I don’t want to be…,“ Jarod started to justify his plea but Parker put a finger on his lips.

She smiled gently. “Shhh, I won’t go anywhere.”

Jarod sighed. “Good.”

Parker got up to turn out the light and then slipped under the cover besides Jarod. She curled up on her side.

Jarod drew her close to him and smiled when she put her head back on his good shoulder. He breathed deeply listened to her breathing.

Soon they both surrendered their tiredness and drifted off to sleep.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 47

Getting better


Jay quietly opened the door and poked his head through it. He then opened the door a little further so that Ethan could get a look as well.

“Should we wake them?” Jay asked his brother quietly.

Ethan shook his head. “No, let them be. We can check on Jarod’s condition later.”

“Doesn’t look that bad, does it?” Jay whispered and winked at Ethan who started chuckling softly.

They shut the door and left Parker and Jarod sleeping in the room.

~~~~~~~

Jarod woke up to the sensation of a body pressed into his. He blinked and opened his eyes. When he looked down and realized Parker was lying besides him, he smiled happily.

She lay on her side and her head rested on his shoulder. He turned his head slightly toward hers and breathed deeply.

Sighing contently in her slumber she snuggled even closer.

Jarod just lay there, watching her when her eyelids started to flutter and then blinked open, revealing her beautiful blue eyes.

“Morning,“ he smiled.

“Hi,” she rasped back, her voice still thick with sleep.

Jarod stretched and dropped a kiss on her forehead. Parker smiled and snuggled closer, her hand on his belly.

“You make a good pillow, you know that?” she said.

Jarod quirked an eyebrow playfully. “Really?”

“Yeah, I think you have the job,“ she grinned.

He chuckled. Parker smiled when his soft laughter vibrated in his body.

“I think, I’d better get up and join the rest,“ she sighed, not all that pleased to face the rest of Jarod’s family.

“They can wait,“ Jarod smiled. “Just stay for a little longer.”

“Since you asked so nicely,“ she smirked.

Jarod playfully growled at her and she laughed softly.

~~~~~~~

Jay looked at his watch. It was nearly eleven o’clock. He shot Ethan a quick glance.

His half-brother smiled and rolled his eyes.

Sydney, the Major and Emily had just left the house to get some more supplies. After Jay’s outbreak the day before, the Major had sulked for some time.

He had obviously taken the time to consider Jay’s words and in the end he seemed to give the other people at least a chance. The Major seemed to be willing to lay the animosity aside for a while in order to give the other fugitives at least the benefit of doubt.

In the evening he had had a long talk with Sydney and they had come to terms with some of the things that stood between them. They had reached a point from where they could work together.

Jay looked at his watch again and Ethan started chuckling openly. Jay looked up sharply toward his brother. He knew that Ethan had caught him and he rolled his eyes. “Ok, ok,“ Jay held up his hands in surrender.

Debbie looked at the two and frowned. Jay blushed slightly and Ethan’s laughter grew even louder.

Shooting Ethan an angry look, Jay grumbled. “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Ethan smirked.

Debbie looked at the half-brothers curiously and especially at the younger of them. He had been with Jarod for most of the last day but she felt that she liked him, even though she didn’t really know him.

“We better get a look on Jarod now,“ Jay said and got up, trying to divert the attention from himself. Ethan shook his head silently and grinned.

Getting up, he followed his brother out of the kitchen, still grinning from ear to ear. Even though he partially didn’t understand why Jay was so eager to check on Jarod, he didn’t interfere. Jay loved his older ‘brother’ dearly and Ethan didn’t have the intention to stop Jay from making sure that his brother was in fact getting better. Maybe Jay needed this to reassure himself.

Jay knocked on the bedroom door softly and opened it.

“Hey, morning you two,” Ethan said when he saw the two pairs of expectant eyes on them.

“Morning,“ Jarod and Parker both replied at the same time and grinned.

“Hey, big bro. How are you?” Jay asked and went over to the bed.

“Better, thanks,“ Jarod nodded. Parker squirmed slightly and crept away from him. Jarod caught her hand and shot her a look, his eyes telling her to stay.

“We wanted to check your wound,“ Jay went on.

Now, Parker looked at Jarod and quirked an eyebrow. Jarod rolled his eyes and surrendered, letting go of her hand.

Parker quickly got up and went over to the window where Ethan stood as well. Jay went over to the bed and started checking Jarod’s wound.

~~~~~~~

“How could someone possibly be ‘that’ stubborn?” Jarod growled at Jay.

Ethan and Parker started chuckling in the background.

“What?” Jarod shot them a look.

“Nothing,“ Ethan grinned widely.

Jarod’s eyes narrowed.

“We just happened to stumble over the fact that Jay is, well…,” Parker grinned.

“They think that we are very much alike,” Jay smiled down at his older self.

“Haha. Very funny,” Jarod grumbled. “Come on Jay. I’m feeling better. There is no use in my lying around in bed up here. I’m ok!”

“Sorry, big bro but the answer is still ‘No’. You will stay in bed today. I just had to give you some of my blood yesterday and I don’t want that wound of yours breaking up or something. You need a break so stay put,“ Jay said firmly.

Jarod rolled his eyes again and clenched his hands.

“Hey,“ Parker mumbled, walking up to the bed and sitting down next to Jarod. “He’s right and you know it.”

Jarod grumbled but then nodded. “Ok. But only today.”

“We will see,“ Jay said and earned himself a sharp glance from Jarod.

“Only today,” Jarod repeated through clenched teeth.

Jay grinned and shrugged.

“Parker, you better hide your gun or else I will have to shoot that boy soon,” Jarod growled and then started chuckling along with the others.

Parker sighed silently. Jarod was swiftly getting better, thank god. They would be able to continue planning soon. Today would be a day to rest for them all for afterwards there would possibly be no more break before everything was over.



To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 48

New problems


Parker and Ethan quietly walked through the small forest around the property.

The last few days had quickly passed and they had fallen into some sort of routine. Jarod had gotten better very quickly and he was out of bed before Jay could even try to scold his brother. The moment Jarod had had his feet touch the floor, he dived headfirst back into their mission.

They had finally gotten the chance to get a look at the evidence they had gathered so far; the one Jarod had gotten from Catherine’s friend in Germany, the one they had gotten in Houston and also that which they had gotten from Father Moore and which Jarod had paid for with a bullet in his shoulder.

What they found was more than incriminating. They had been pleased and disgusted at the same time about their findings.

There were contracts between the Centre and various companies. Mainly between the Centre and the Triumvirate but among the amount of contracts there were some with the Yakuza and other illegal cooperation’s. Next they had gotten lots of hardcopy data about the evil doings of the Centre. These hardcopies confirmed and completed the tale the contracts told. And at last they had found evidence against the devil himself, Raines.

The evidence concerning Raines described projects that neither Jarod, nor Parker or Sydney had ever heard of.

But an extensive search in the Centre’s mainframe, Jarod and Broots had started had left them with more results that they had wanted to find.

Catherine had been able to get quiet an explosive package together and combined with the evidence they had found in the mainframe and with what Jarod had gathered over the years and what Broots had been able to get during the short time he had been included into the mission that was running, there was more than enough to bring the Centre down.

But exactly that point was that got them into trouble now.

Bring down the Centre for once and for all or follow through with the Scrolls prediction?

The Scrolls said that it was their destiny to raise a new Centre which was even more glorious than the last one and was yet legitimate.

Jarod and Parker were not sure themselves what they wanted to do but they tended to go along with the Scrolls. Jarod’s family however was determinedly against it. Well, Jarod’s family… that was not quite correct. It was mainly Major Charles and Emily who were against it.

Ethan tried to stay out of the conflict even if he played an equally important part in the Scrolls prediction as Jarod and Parker. Everyone had agreed that it was Ethan the Scrolls referred to as the one close to both the Chosen and the Angel who would make Parker’s and Jarod’s connection complete and who would work together with them to raise a new Centre.

Jay was also barely able to stay out of everything, not really voicing his opinions thinking that it was Jarod’s, Parker’s and Ethan’s decision for the most part. He was willing to go along with whatever they decided in the end.

Sydney and Broots also stood intentionally out of the conflict that went on, for the good reason that they didn’t want to get caught in the flames.

So the conflict raged mainly between Parker and Jarod on the one side and Jarod’s father and sister on the other.

Who would win in the end was yet to be seen.

Right now Parker enjoyed the company of her younger brother, well half-brother. They had just escaped a new fight in the house.

Parker was undecided if she even wanted to go along with the Scrolls and so was Jarod but especially the Major did everything to keep them from even considering the pros and cons.
Not being able to take another argument, Parker had blocked the verbal attacks and left the house. She had stormed off and Ethan had followed her, shooting Jarod a glance to tell him to stay behind.

They had been walking for some time, Parker resolutely storming ahead of Ethan and he just following her before she finally slowed down her pace.

By now they were walking side by side. A word had yet to be spoken. Ethan had wanted to approach her several times but each time his mother’s voice held him back, telling him that his sister needed some more time.

Suddenly, Parker stopped. She closed her eyes and huffed. Ethan turned to her, quietly observing.

“What shall we do?” she muttered with a small voice and looked up at her younger brother.

Ethan shook his head. “I don’t know, Parker,“ he said earnestly.

“I don’t know either,“ she huffed again and her shoulders fell.

Ethan stepped up to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

“I’m confused,” Parker confessed. “On the one hand I never wanted anything else as having the Centre out of our hair and destroying it and on the other hand now that I have the chance to do so, I just can’t seem to get it done. It is as if some invisible force is preventing me from doing so.”

Ethan was silent. “As I said, I don’t know what to do either. Did you talk to Jarod?”

Parker scoffed. “No. His father never really gave us the chance to talk without his interference.”

Ethan nodded mutely. “I know that Jarod is not sure what to do, just as we are but you should talk to him. He will probably be able to sort through the chaos that is raging in your head right now. He has similar thoughts running though his mind from what he told me.”

Parker nodded uncertainly. “Maybe you are right. What do you want to do?” she asked her brother cautiously.

Ethan smiled. “Parker, I don’t think that my opinion is the important one here,“ he shook his head, refusing to answer.

“Ethan, if we go along with what the Scrolls say, you do have an important part. I don’t think we can leave you out of the planning!” Parker stated firmly.

“I know that you won’t leave me out of the planning if it should come to this but it is not my place to decide,“ when Parker opened her mouth to interrupt him, he held up his hand. “No, Melina. Even though Mr. Raines got his hands on me from time to time and even though he tempered with my mind, I wasn’t directly raised from the Centre or Raines. It is you and Jarod and also Jay who made the most proximate and the worst experiences with them. That’s why I think that it is you who have to decide where to go from here,“ Ethan said.

Parker just gaped at him.

“It is you and Jarod who should decide if you can overcome your fear and aversion against the Centre and start something new and possibly something better on the grounds that tormented both your lives,“ Ethan told her, looking deeply into her eyes.

Parker blinked and nodded her head slowly. “I think, I will have to talk to Jarod once we are back”, she uttered.

Smiling, Ethan took her elbow and gently tugged at it. They started to walk back to the house.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 49

Weighting the options


Parker and Ethan walked back into the house.

“Jarod?” Parker called. “Jar, where are you? We have to talk!”

Jarod’s head appeared in the doorway to the living room. “I’m here.”

Only seconds after Jarod had said that, Major Charles came out of the kitchen and went over towards the living room, clearly intending to participate in the conversation.

Parker gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. Then, she drew a deep breath and strolled into the living room.

The Major had taken a seat in an easy chair and Jarod sat at the table on his laptop. Broots sat opposite to him but the moment Parker came into the room; he winced, already anticipating the next fight. He got up quickly and fled the room.

If Parker hadn’t been focused on the argument that lay ahead of them, she would have smiled at the vanishing act of the tech.

But she didn’t smile.

Jarod looked up at her. “Give me a second. I have to finish this and then we can talk.”

She nodded and waited while his fingers flew over the keyboard. Hitting the enter key, he sat back and looked at her expectantly. “Well?”

“We have to talk about what we want to do,” Parker said firmly.

Jarod winced and looked over to his father.

“That’s what we tried to do the last few days but you haven’t exactly been cooperative,” the Major accused sternly.

Parker narrowed her eyes. She swallowed down her anger and looked back at Jarod. “We have to talk and we have to talk about it ‘alone’, Jar!”

Jarod tilted his head and seeing the determination in her eyes, he got up. The Major followed suite, intending to follow the two people wherever they would go to.

“What part of the word ‘alone’ is hard to grasp?” Parker snapped, letting part of her anger shine through.

Now the Majors eyes went small. “I won’t let you make such a complex decision alone,” he stated firmly.

Parker stepped up to him and stared directly into his eyes. “With all due respect, Major. I don’t think it is your place to make that decision,” she said calmly.

Felling the anger boiling in both persons, Jarod stepped in between them. “Dad, she is right; we have to talk - alone. We need to think this through,“ Jarod said determinedly. He had placed himself strategically between Parker and his father with his back to Parker.

“I told you before and I will tell you again. I won’t allow you to make such a decision alone,“ Jarod’s father snarled more towards Parker than towards his son.

Parker gasped behind Jarod’s back and he felt her body tense and push forward. Jarod swiftly turned and put a hand on her shoulder. Her gaze was fixed on his father and she still pushed forward. “Parker!” Jarod snapped. “Let me handle that,” he ordered.

Parker’s eyes flew over to him and she held his gaze. When she saw his serenity and determination, she nodded and backed away.

Jarod turned back towards his father. “We know that you are against it and we will consider it but in the end it is our decision to make,“ Jarod told his father calmly.

“You are not the only people’s lives at stake here,“ the Major snapped.

“Don’t you think I know that,“ Jarod responded, now equally angry but not letting the anger he felt getting the upper hand. “We know that it is a hard decision but it is ‘ours’ to make. We are old enough to take all the facts into consideration and to take the responsibility!”

The Major opened his mouth but he was interrupted by Jarod, “No, don’t say anything else. I’ve had enough of your constant interference. We will make a decision and we will make it with great caution,“ with that, Jarod turned and walked towards Parker, who stood in the doorframe.

Parker nodded at him and they both walked out of the room together. Jarod snatched his jacked on the way and they left the house.

~~~~~~~

Just as Parker had stormed off in front of Ethan only several hours ago, it was now Jarod who stalked through the woods ahead of Parker.

She followed him quietly much the same way Ethan had followed her and waited for the opportune moment to approach him.

The long and determined strides Jarod made clearly showed her just how angry he was. She had long since learned to interpret his body language.

‘Reach out to him, precious. He needs you now,’ her mother’s voice rang in her head suddenly.

Parker quickened her pace and closed the distance between Jarod and herself. “Jarod, wait,“ she called softly.

He stopped dead in his tracks but he didn’t turn around. His hands were clenched tightly at his sides.

Parker walked around him and stood in front of him. His head was turned downward and he didn’t look up at her.

“Jar,“ she soothed and reached out to him.

When she touched his shoulder, he sighed, trying to release some of his anger.

“I know that you are upset but let it go. Your father is worried about his family and nobody can blame him for that,” she said.

Jarod looked up. “I know but he is just so stubborn. I mean, we are not children anymore. We can make our own decisions,“ he voiced his anger.

“Yes, we can and we will. That’s exactly why we are standing here, outside while the rest of our friends are in your house,” Parker stated.

Jarod stayed silent but then he finally nodded and straightened once more. They started walking again, this time slowly and side by side. “Feels good to keep your own father in cheek in some way, doesn’t it?” Parker smiled.

“Yes and no,” Jarod said. “I didn’t want to be that hard but…”

“…he overstepped his boundaries,” Parker finished and Jarod nodded. “Do you know a place where we can sit and talk out here without interference?” she asked.

A small smile spread across his face. “Yes, I do,“ he reached for her hand and placed it in his own. She couldn’t keep in the smile that crept on her face at his touch.

They strolled quietly through the wood on a small path. Parker wouldn’t have found it even if she knew it was there and several times she thought that they had lost it but Jarod walked on confidently. He knew his way around. He led her around dark and overgrown passages through the wood.

“Careful, there is a small slope,“ Jarod told her shortly.

They broke through some bushes and suddenly they were standing in the open. The wood lay behind them and ahead was the lake one could oversee from Jarod’s house.

There was a small beach they were standing on, between the wood and the water.

Jarod took her hand again, which he had let go of before the slope and started to walk along the beach, with her at his side.

Parker was speechless. It was so beautiful and calm here.

After some more minutes Jarod stopped. He sat down on the still warm sand and leaned his back against a big stone. The ease with which he had picked out that stone clearly showed that today was not the first time he sat there. Parker followed his example and sat down next to him.

When Jarod looked at her, she had her eyes closed and her head tilted towards the sun. He smiled gently and did the same.

They sat there for several minutes until Parker looked up again and started the conversation.

“I talked to Ethan,“ she muttered.

Jarod looked over to her and quirked an eyebrow.

“I told him how I feel about all this,” she went on.

Jarod stayed silent and gave her the time to organize her thoughts.

“Well, that’s exaggerating it a bit,“ she laughed silently. “I don’t really know how I feel about it,“ she looked over at Jarod and met his gaze.

“Try to describe it to me,” he suggested gently, looking at her.

“I’m confused. On the one hand, I want the Centre gone and out of our lives forever but on the other hand… I don’t know. It’s so weird,” she shook her head and then looked down at her hands.

“On the other hand, you don’t want to do it. You refrain from doing so,” Jarod stated.

Parker looked up sharply and Jarod smiled sadly. “That’s how I feel,” he explained, looking down on his hand that lay in his lap. “I don’t really understand it myself. For a long time I wanted nothing more than revenge and bring down the Centre but now that I have the chance…,“ this time he tailed of.

“…you can’t do it,“ she finished his sentence. Jarod nodded. “Then we have the same feelings,” Parker conceded and Jarod nodded again.

“The question is what we want to do about it,“ he said, looking up once more and meeting Parker’s gaze.

“I don’t know,” Parker admitted, making a helpless gesture.

“I mean, do we want to live a life far away from the place that hurt us all that time or do we want to try and make something better out of it?” Jarod clarified. He tilted his head

Parker grimaced. “That’s basically the same question Ethan confronted me with earlier. He told me that it was our decision to make what we wanted to do. If we could overcome the anger toward that place and try to make something new and probably something better out of it,” she repeated.

“The place has hurt us so many times but yet…,” Jarod started.

“I’d like to have the chance to make it better,“ she nodded while finishing his sentence once more. “I can understand your father’s point. He has lost two sons to the Centre and his family has been ripped apart. There is so much hurt in his voice when he argues his point,“ she sighed. Parker leaned back and let her head come to rest on the stone they were still propped against.

“We can never make that pain go away,“ Jarod said, averting his gaze from Parker’s profile and looking out over the lake. “It’s done in the past but maybe we can create a better place and help to prevent similar things from happening again.”

“Somehow I would like to try and achieve what Mom never had the chance to do; turn the Centre into a place that brings good and not bad into the world. A place everyone can be proud of; she could be proud of,” she murmured.

“It is an ambitious goal,“ Jarod objected, turning back to her.

“I know and I don’t know if we will be able to reach it,“ she admitted, meeting his eyes.

“Maybe it’s worth a try. Turn the place that has brought so much evil into the world around and let something better arise,” he mumbled and Parker nodded.

“Somehow I don’t like the idea of turning my back toward the Centre. Even if we bring it down, there would be…”, Jarod struggled to find the words, “there would always be a bitter taste, a bad feeling.”

“We wouldn’t have to worry about that if we were close to the Centre or if we were the ones heading it,“ Parker finalized and this time it was again Jarod who nodded.

“What do we want the Centre to become? What kind of work would we want to be done there?” Parker asked.

“The Centre was bound to do research. We should keep it at that. The laboratories are high standard and if we get some more and new and ambitious researchers we can bring much good into the world with it,” Jarod voiced his idea.

Parker pondered that and tilted her head in approval.

“The next question is if we are able to go to the Centre unloaded and without any reservation,” Jarod asked.

Parker looked up and grimaced. She shook her head slightly, biting her lip. “No. But would that speak against our intention? I mean …,” she tailed of.

“We would lose our distance to the theme,“ Jarod objected.

“Yeah, but we would most certainly not make the mistake of letting the Centre glide back into the evil it embodied for so long”, she stated.

Jarod nodded wordlessly at that letting his gaze again come to rest on the surface of the lake that stretched out in front of them.

“Would you be able and willing to go back to the place that held you captive for so long and that still haunts your dreams?” Parker voiced her next question softly.

“If it stands for something better and if the work done there would be used to help people not to hurt them, yes I would!” he said firmly.

“We can assure that as long as we are there and having the things under our control,” Parker said.

Jarod pondered once more. “We all have endured so much through the hands of the people at the top of command in the Centre. Maybe it is time to turn that place into something better. I mean… it is ‘our’ place and destiny to do so,“ he finished.

“We’ll do it then?” Parker asked.

Jarod drew a deep breath and then nodded curtly, locking his gaze on hers. “We do it!”

Parker turned to look at the water again. She closed her eyes.

‘You’re doing the right thing, precious!’ Her mother’s voice called. ‘I am so proud of you!’

Jarod looked closely at her and saw a lone tear making its way down her cheek. He bent over and wiped it away with his thumb. “Hey, what is it, Melina? If you are not certain about this, if you don’t want to do it, we won’t do it,“ he told her worriedly.

She looked up and into his eyes. “No, it’s not that,” she sniffed.

Jarod caressed her cheek gently. “Then what?” his eyes softened further, if that was even possible.

“It’s Mom. She... she just told me how proud she was,” Parker snivelled.

Jarod smiled gently and drew Parker into a hug. Her head lay at his shoulder as soft sobs shook her body.

“Maybe we can make that place into something one can be proud of, into something that ‘we’ can be proud of and that makes all of our suffering in the past worth the pain,“ Parker murmured through her tears.

“We will do everything to make it into that!” Jarod affirmed and Parker nodded against his chest.

A few minutes later when Parker had calmed down, she looked up at Jarod with red rimmed eyes and smiled slightly.

He met her gaze and bent to drop a kiss on her forehead.

Parker shifted and turned in his embrace. Then she leaned back again.

Jarod was still popped against the stone and now Parker was sitting between his legs with her back against his chest. His arms encircled her lightly, holding her close to him. Jarod’s chin rested on her shoulder.

They both enjoyed the company of the other and were content to share that moment of calm and companionship with the other.

Both their thoughts were silently focused on the other, focused on their feelings toward each other. They weren’t quiet ready to express these feelings yet but they weren’t denying them to themselves anymore.

They had come a long way to reach this point in their relationship and they both didn’t dare to reach for more that fast. They had been through so much good and bad together and both were hopeful to reach out for more in time.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 50

A Major-fight and the after effects


It was late when Jarod and Parker finally returned to the house. The sun had set and it was dark around them. They had found their way back up due to Jarod’s knowledge of the area and with the help of the moon that illuminated their way.

Walking up to the door hand in hand, Parker quietly asked, “Ready?”

Jarod stopped and looked at her. He drew her toward him and embraced her once more. “With you by my side, I’m ready for everything,” he whispered into her ear.

Parker’s heart skipped a beat. “Then we better go in. The night will probably be long and not easy. Not everyone will be pleased with our decision. Your father will be the hardest opponent. Once we have him on your side, Emily won’t be much of a problem,” she stated.

“You think?” Jarod asked doubtfully.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t change the fact that this won’t be pleasant,“ she said softly.

Jarod pulled away slightly and drew her chin up so that she looked at him. “We are in this together, remember? We made the decision and we made it with great care just as I promised my father. I will not back away from our decision because of him because I know that it is what I want to do. They will have to live with it,” Jarod told her firmly.

“Ok,” Parker sighed.

Jarod lightly caressed her cheek and when she nodded, they both turned around and Jarod opened the door.

Emily flew toward them. “There you are! We were slowly getting worried.”

“Em, we are ok. We just had a long talk,“ Jarod said when his sister hugged him tightly.

Ethan came up behind Parker. “Sorted through the chaos?”

She smiled lightly and nodded.

The small group walked into the living room. The others were all gathered there. Jarod looked over to Parker who nodded at him.

“Everyone listen, please. We have to tell you something!” Jarod called.

The room grew silent.

“As you know, Parker and I had a long talk today. We debated the pros and cons of our possibilities,” Jarod announced.

“And?” Jay spoke up. “What will it be then?”

“We will bring down the Centre and then go along with the Scroll’s prediction,” Parker stated firmly.

The Major and Emily gasped. Jay had a small smile on his lips. The other people in the room stayed silent. Everyone prepared for the fight that was to come after that announcement.

Ethan quickly contemplated the situation. ‘So the connection the Scrolls mentioned is complete, now,’ he thought but then he heard his mother chuckling slightly.

‘No, it isn’t, my boy. Your part in making that connection come true is not fulfilled yet,’ she told him. Ethan frowned in puzzlement but before he could give it another thought, the final argument everyone had been waiting for broke loose.

“Jarod, are you sure?” Emily whined.

“Yes, Em. We are sure. As I said, it was not an easy decision but we weighted our options and decided that this would be best,” Jarod said.

“Best for whom?” The Major roused.

“For everyone!” Parker replied evenly, looking at the Major.

“How can you say that? You don’t know a damn thing about it,” Major Charles walked up to Parker only to have Jarod step into his way, blocking his path.

“We didn’t take this lightly,“ he assured his father.

“But she has no idea how it feels…,“ Jarod’s father objected but he was interrupted by Jarod.

“How what feels? Loosing a loved person, being threatened and blackmailed to do something you don’t want to do, being used to get to something, being just a pawn in a twisted game?” Jarod challenged. “Believe me, she does know how it feels! She has experienced all that first hand and not only once but very often!”

Jarod’s father was silent and then started anew. “I don’t want to go back and I don’t want my family going anywhere near that place again either.”

Jarod’s face hardened. “I can understand your point and your aversion to that place,“ Jarod raised his hands in surrender. “I can’t force you to go there. I’d rather have you on our side but I can’t force you to do so and if you don’t want to go there...,“ he shrugged his shoulders, “then don’t.”

Major Charles gaped at his eldest son.

Jarod turned around and left the room. Parker could see the pain that flickered in his eyes. She wanted to reach out and take him into her arms but she saw Jay move out of the corner of her eyes. She looked toward him and he nodded silently, telling her that he would go to Jarod.

“Major…,” Parker started.

“No, leave me alone. You just pulled my son away from me again. You accomplished your goal. Congratulations Miss Parker,“ the Major said, defeated. He half turned away from her.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Parker gasped and stepped up to Jarod’s father. “Don’t you see that it is you who ‘pushed’ Jarod away?”

The Major’s head snapped up. “Don’t you dare…”

“Stop that. You did one hell of a good job in pushing your son away. You are not even approachable with reason. It’s not like Jarod didn’t try, no… he did several times over the last few days. I see your point that you don’t want anything else to do with that place but do you even realize what it must mean to Jarod that you push him away time after time and that you are trying to make him feel as if he didn’t try hard enough? He didn’t make this decision out of the blue, by god he didn’t,“ Parker stated.

“Then why does he do that?” The Major challenged her.

“There are so many reasons,“ she shook her head sadly. “For once he decided that this would be a chance to make up for all these years. This would be the chance to do some good in the world,“ she explained.

“But he did so much good already,“ the Major argued.

Parker smiled slightly. “Yes, he did but this is his chance to make it up to everyone, maybe even make it up to himself. He has endured so much in his life. This is his chance to have the last laugh, to win over the one’s that made the decisions for him and to win over his own demons”, she went on.

“But he does have the last laugh even if we only bring down that place,“ he argued further. “He doesn’t have to prove anything!”

“Major, he knows that,” Parker smiled slightly. “He doesn’t want to prove anything. If we go back to the Centre it is his way of turning something that evil into a better place. This would be his, no in fact it would be ‘our’ chance to make all the years of suffering we endured… make all these years worth the pain by raising a new place, a place people can be proud of.”

The Major looked at her. There was still resistance in his eyes.

“There is another reason Jarod wants to go back and create a new Centre and that reasons is that he wants to keep all of you safe,” Parker revealed her last trump card.

Nearly everyone in the room gasped loudly.

“Keep us safe?” Jarod’s father rasped.

“Yes, to keep you safe. He said that there would always be a bad feeling even if we brought the Centre down. Only if we go back we can keep a close eye on the development there. That way we could ensure that the Centre won’t destroy other people’s lives anymore and only this way he would be able to keep you all safe,“ Parker explained.

The Major turned and walked over to the couch where he sat down heavily.

“Major, you have to understand that Jarod will go back to the Centre with or without your consent. He will do it because he thinks this is best. You have to understand the reasons for his decision,“ Parker walked over to the couch and crouched down in front of Jarod’s father. “Jarod has endured so much in his life. He wouldn’t leave you if he had another possibility but if you push him away with this you might lose him.”

The Major looked at her tiredly.

“Think about his reasons and maybe rethink your decision. I don’t want to talk you into coming to Blue Cove with us but respect his decision. Don’t drive him away intentionally. Don’t make him go through the pain of losing his family again,“ she nearly pleaded. After that, she got up and walked over to the door.

Sydney looked at her and smiled slightly. When she passed Ethan, he lightly brushed his hand over her arm and nodded calmly. She smiled slightly at her brother and walked out to find Jarod.

~~~~~~~

While Parker stayed in the house to talk to the Major, Jarod walked out of the house and sat down at the steps to the front porch.

Jay quietly joined his brother.

“I just don’t see why he is so stubborn,“ Jarod complained.

“He is worried and he fears that place,“ Jay reminded his brother.

“I know but why can’t he at least listen to why we decided that this would be best?”

“Maybe that’s exactly what he does at the moment with Parker. Knowing her she will make an impression,“ Jay smiled.

“Sure she will but I don’t think it will do much good. I don’t want to lose my family just after I found you all,“ Jarod told his younger self.

“It’s more like we found you,” Jay challenged.

“That’s not the point!” Jarod snapped tiredly.

“Of course it isn’t,“ Jay shook his head slightly and smile at Jarod’s words. “Listen, I’m not that big on this family thing, just like you, but as far as I know it won’t come to that. Because he doesn’t agree with you it doesn’t mean that you will lose him,“ Jay said.

“But if he can’t accept it… I can’t just walk away from that chance to make up at least some of what was done. I can’t and I won’t. If he can’t accept that…,” Jarod tailed off and let his shoulders fall.

Jay reached out and drew his brother to him so that Jarod was leaned slightly into him, their shoulders touching. “Let’s wait. Maybe he will come to his senses. But you don’t have to worry about losing the family. You will not get rid of me and Ethan will come with us, too,” he tried to cheer Jarod up.

“Thanks, Jay. It’s good to know that there are some people who will help at least,” Jarod sighed.

The front door creaked quietly behind them and the two men that were twins genetically but separated by a generation turned around.

Parker stood in the light that floated through the door. She walked over to where the men sat and took a seat on the steps, next to Jarod.

“Well?” Jay asked.

“I gave him quite a package to think about. I think he is finally getting the reasons we have to make such a decision,” Parker stated.

Jarod’s shoulders were still hunched and he looked down. Parker reached out and pattered his back comfortingly. “Just wait, Jar. Give him time and he will come to you and talk things through,“ she said.

“I hope so. I don’t want to lose him or the rest of my family,“ Jarod huffed silently.

“I have a feeling that you won’t,“ Parker grinned.

The door swung open again. Ethan walked out to join his brothers and sister. He sat down besides Parker.

“He’s silent and lost in his own world. I think he gives your words quite some thought,” Ethan told Parker and the other two.

Parker grinned but stayed silent and neither Jay nor Jarod said anything.

The foursome stayed on the porch steps for a long time, lost in their own memories and thoughts with the darkness around them and the knowledge that they were not alone in this fight; that there were people to trust in and to lean onto.


To be continued…

Disclaimer: see Chapter sixteen

~~~~~~~

To End The Evil
Part 51

Observations and coming to terms


They were still sitting on the porch. Ethan roused from his musing as to what part he held in making the connection between Parker and Jarod complete.

He looked up and silently observed them. They were sitting side by side and sometime after he had joined them on the front porch they had turned towards each other slightly and by now they were holding hands. Their fingers were entwined and Jarod gently stroke his thumb over the back of her hand in an unconscious motion.

Ethan smiled at the sight of them.

“Come on, let’s go in,“ he finally suggested after shivering slightly.

Everyone got back into the real world slowly and soon they all stood up and went back into the house.

When they reached the kitchen, they saw Sydney sitting quietly at the table and sipping at a cup of coffee.

The house was silent. “Where is everyone?” Parker asked and went over to the counter to get herself some coffee as well. Jarod followed her and stepped behind her, letting his chin come to rest on her shoulder just like he had done on the beach. Parker flinched slightly at first and then relaxed into his touch.

“Don’t you think it is a bit late for coffee?” Jarod murmured into her ear.

She halted in her movements and then grumbled silently. “Yeah, you’re right. I forgot the time.”

Ethan followed Parker’s and Jarod’s movements with his eyes and slowly it dawned on him. There was something between them, something deeper than friendship but there was also a reservation between them. He had noticed it before but not really paid attention to it. To be honest, he had noticed it several times over the course of the last few days.

The way Parker looked at him and was nearly always at his side, especially during these dark and painful hours and the way Jarod looked at her, seemed to draw strength from her presence.

There was an uncertainty in them both that gave away that they both wanted more than the friendship they shared but they both were afraid of that new relationship and so they refrained from walking towards it.

Maybe this was the connection the Scrolls predicted.

But then what was his part in making that connection become a real one? He didn’t want to play the part of pushing them both together. Love was something that had to grow between two people. One couldn’t push that, even if both persons felt a great attraction towards each other.

‘You’re right, you can’t push the love between them but you can help them find the path to it. It won’t take much longer and you already helped them when you sent my Angel to talk to Jarod today’, his mother’s voice told him.

‘Then what do I have to do?’ Ethan asked back.

‘Help them along the way. Help them sort through their feelings,’ his mother advised.

Ethan sighed.

‘They will come to you. You won’t have to push them,’ his mother told him gently.

Ethan snapped out of his conversation in time to hear Sydney tell them that everyone else had retired for the day. The Major still sat in the living room.

“Last time I checked, he sat there in much the same position you left him, Parker,“ Sydney said.

Jarod and Parker had each taken a seat at the table and Jay made a move toward the next chair, too. Ethan stood with his back against the doorframe.

Sydney quietly observed Parker and mostly Jarod. He saw fatigue in his former students face; fatigue and pain.

“How are you, Jarod?” he asked.

Jarod looked up at Sydney with sad eyes. “Honestly, I don’t know.” He sat up and put his arms on the table, crossed in front of his chest in a defensive motion.

Sydney nodded silently and observed when Parker reach out and put her hand over Jarod’s arm. Just as Ethan had seen before, Sydney realized the waves of love and uncertainty that flowed between them.

Sydney had a hard time to keep from smiling. He looked over first to Jay and then to Ethan to see if they had noticed what he had seen.

Jay was not paying attention to what was going on around him but when Sydney’s eyes flew over to Ethan, their gazes met.

Ethan smiled slightly and winked, telling Sydney that he knew what was going on and Sydney smiled back in conspiracy.

Before Sydney got the chance to speak to Jarod again, the Major appeared in the doorframe besides Ethan.

Jarod didn’t look up.

“Jarod,… son. I would like to talk to you,” the Major addressed to his eldest son.

Jarod drew in a deep breath and looked up. “Go on then, talk,“ he said.

“Can we talk alone?” The Major asked.

“I have nothing to hide from the people in this room,“ Jarod said plainly.

“I know that and that’s not the reason why I asked you to let us talk alone,“ the Major responded, grimacing slightly.

Parker silently squeezed his arm, making Jarod look at her. ‘Don’t make this harder for him that it already is,’ she told him with her eyes.

Jarod nodded and looked back over to his father. He got up from his seat and walked over to him.

The Major sighed gratefully and walked back into the living room, followed by his son.

~~~~~~~

“Miss Parker told me some of the reasons you had to make that choice,“ Major Charles started when he was seated on the couch.

Jarod sat down in the armchair opposite the couch.

“I… I…,“ his father stuttered. “Are you certain you want to do this?”

Jarod clenched his hands. “Dad, we’ve already been through this,” he huffed frustrated and shook his head, tired of the seemingly endless argument.

“I know and I won’t doubt the wisdom of your decision anymore. You were right, it is not my place to make that decision for you,“ the Major said and Jarod looked up sharply. He frowned slightly.

“But…,” Jarod stammered.

“The only thing I want to know from you right now is, are you content with your decision, are you sure that you want to do it?” his father asked serenely.

Jarod blinked at this question. The conversation was not going as he had expected it to go. He had been prepared for another fight but not for this… reasonable discussion and his father’s question if he was ok with what he would be doing.

He shook out of his thoughts. “Yes, Dad. Yes, I am sure and I really want to do this,“ Jarod told his father calmly. “There are so many things we could achieve there, so many things to make right.”

The Major sighed.

“I am sorry if the decision is not what you wanted but I can’t help it. I somehow feel that my place is there,” Jarod continued softly.

“You don’t have to apologize for your decision. You are right. I had hoped that you would chose another way but if you are content with your decision and if it is what you really want to do, then I won’t try to hold you back. It would neither be good nor reasonable to do that, I realized that after Miss Parker talked to me. If I did, I would loose you…,“ his father paused and then searched Jarod’s eyes. “…and I wouldn’t want that. I spent a long time searching for you and this decision is not worth losing you again. Nothing is worth it to push one’s son away intentionally! I’m still not sure if I’m able to overcome my aversion against that place and come with you but I will help you any way I can and I will not let you walk out of my life again.”

Jarod looked at his father with tears shimmering in his eyes. “Thank you, Dad,” he whispered. He had given up all hope that he would be able to make it right with his father and it had nearly broken his heart.

That his father had just returned to his side and that made him feel hole again.

He smiled through his tears. “Thank you,“ he repeated.

Major Charles got up from his seat and walked over to his son. When Jarod got up from the armchair, his father drew him in a tight hug.

‘No, this decision was definitely not worth the pain that both he and his son had experienced because of his stubbornness,’ Major Charles decided silently.


To be continued…