"The world is a rose, smell it and pass it to your friends."
-Persian Proverb- 

It was nothing more than a show now. Her heart wasn’t in it; never had been. She couldn’t ignore what had happened on the island, and apparently, neither could he.

Miss Parker stood with her hands on her hips and looked slowly around her living room and dining area.

Roses everywhere.

Yellow…

Red…

Pink…

She walked over to the arrangement of red ones sitting on the coffee table and grabbed the note that was peeking out from the top of them.

Missed you in Dallas, it read.

“Of course you did,” Miss Parker sneered, because, apparently, while she, Broots and Sydney were off in hot-as-hell Texas, he was here, arranging a few hundred roses in her home…her air-conditioned home.

Dropping the small card to the table, she walked into her bedroom and began undressing. It wasn’t as hot in Delaware as it had been in Texas, but it was still muggy and nasty out. She donned a robe and pinned her hair up while her bath was running and went into the kitchen for something cool to drink. A glass of wine sounded nice. She poured one and as she passed through her bedroom, she grabbed the cordless and made her way into the bathroom.

She hadn’t been relaxing in the water ten minutes before the phone rang. She knew it would. “What?” she sighed into the receiver, eyes closed.

“Did you get the roses I sent you?” came the deep voice on the other end of the line.

“All twenty dozen of them,” she quipped.

“Mm…more like twenty-five dozen.” She could hear the humor in his voice.

“Well, I’m glad you think this is funny, Jarod. If anyone stops by I’ll have hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to cover if anyone comes around snooping, but I doubt you’ll have anything to worry about,” he said.

“And why is that?” she asked before taking a sip of her wine.

“Well, lets just say that Mr. Lyle is busy trying to keep the FBI out of his hair for some recent activities he’s been involved in and Mr. Raines…has he ever been to your house anyway?” Jarod asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he all of a sudden decided to. Not a day goes by where that ghoul doesn’t get weirder and weirder,” she shuddered. “Speaking of the devil, he wasn’t very happy to learn that we’d been fooled…”

-----

“….into going on a wild goose chase…again,” Miss Parker said from the other end of the line.

Jarod sighed as he looked around his latest lair, located not too far from Blue Cove. While Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots were in Dallas, he had snuck into her house, still dressed from his latest pretend as a flower delivery man. He took his time looking around and situating each arrangement of flowers carefully. She had gotten a new rug for the living room. Once the flowers had been put in place, he went into the kitchen in search of something to eat and shook his as he found nothing but a bottle of wine, once green grapes, now brown from sitting so long, and a container of leftover takeout food.

After they had gotten back from Carthis, she had told him that nothing changed.

“You run, I chase…” she had said.

Business as usual.

But it wasn’t.

Somewhere along the way, things had changed between them.

He smiled as he remembered the moment it had happened.

He sat in one of his many converted warehouses, typing away on his laptop when he heard the sound of cars coming to a screeching halt outside. Hurrying to the window, he stealthily pushed aside one of the curtains to see three of the unmistakable black town cars the Centre was so fond of using. Broots and Sydney were climbing out of one, but he didn’t see his beautiful huntress anywhere in sight. That was a dangerous thing.

Running back to his computer, he slammed the lid down and stuffed it and a few other things into a black duffle bag. He started to run for the door, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Miss Parker standing there, leaning against the frame as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

Neither said anything.

The building was six stories high and there wasn’t a working elevator. It would take the others a few minutes to reach them and if he could just make it past her, he would be free once again.

Not a minute went by where he didn’t think about what had almost happened in Ocee’s cottage. It was the closest he had been to her since he was a little boy and he didn’t think he would ever forget that moment, the way her naked body looked through the changing screen, the way she smelled as they sat in front of the fireplace, like the Chanel she always wore and the cold rain they had both been drenched by earlier that night. And as their lips moved closer together, hers slightly parted, he could smell the sweetness of her breath from the honey Ocee had used in the tea…

Jarod was very aware of the fact that Miss Parker was a dangerous woman and that his very life could be at stake, but he could never help but take the time to admire how exquisite she was. She was dressed immaculately, as usual, in a black skirt that showed off gorgeous legs, a long, flowing jacket to match, a light purple shirt underneath and, of course, sexy stilettos. He watched the muscles in one of her lean thighs flex as she pushed away from the doorframe, making her way slowly around the room. The door was now free and he thought about just making a run for it. She didn’t have her gun out, but he knew it would only take her a second to have it aimed and ready. Instead, he slowly followed her with his eyes.

“I’ll give you…ten seconds,” she said.

Jarod kept his eyes from widening too much and then gave her a brilliant smile. He ran out the door, grabbing his leather jacket on the way, and didn’t look back.

“Why do you continue to stay there?” Jarod asked her over the phone. “There’s nothing left for you there and Raines has made it clear that you’re expendable.” He had half a mind to just kidnap her and take her as far away from the Centre as possible.

“I’ll deal with Raines,” was all she said.

“But Parker…” he began.

“Jarod,” she warned. It was a conversation he tried to have many times, but she would never let him. She’d obviously had some sort of epiphany since their time on the Isle, but he didn’t understand why she continued to let herself be tortured by that place. “So, Jarod, what exactly are the roses for?” she asked, changing the subject. He decided to indulge her.

“Just beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman,” he told her. The line was quiet and he sighed. They were on much better terms these days, but he could tell that she was still holding back. It took him nearly six years to get her to have a civil conversation with him and he knew better than to go too fast with her. She had but to say the word and he would gladly continue what they had started on Carthis. She had to know how he felt with all of the gifts he had been sending her. Candy, flowers. The man in the gift shop said he couldn’t go wrong with candy and flowers, but Parker barely acknowledged that he gave her these things. Once, he had even sent her an entire case full of banana Laffy Taffy when he discovered it. He liked sharing his new discoveries and these days, Parker was always the first person he wanted to share them with. He was ecstatic at having his friend back, even if they were taking baby steps.

“Time for me to run, Parker,” he said looking at his watch. He had been working on his phone manners. Parker told him that if they were going to be affable toward each other then the least he could do was learn how to say a proper goodbye on the phone rather than just hanging up in her ear. “Oh, and by the way, leftover sweet and sour chicken is delicious.”

“Oh, you son of a…” was all he heard before hanging up.

-----

“…bitch,” Parker muttered as she stared at the phone. It was going to be her dinner, but the little rat had eaten it.

Finishing her bath, she stood from the cooling water and exited the tub, dried off and re-donned her robe. Once her hair and body were dry and she was dressed, she pattered around her house wondering what the hell she was going to do with all of the roses. Retrieving her glass of wine from the bathroom, she settled in the living room in front of the television. She really wanted to kick Jarod’s ass for eating her dinner and she didn’t feel like ordering anything else. Going into the kitchen, she yanked open one of the cabinets and reached into a container for a hand full of Laffy Taffy.

“Bastard,” she mumbled as she tore into one of the wrappers and shoved the candy into her mouth. She plopped down onto the couch and read the jokes that were on the wrapper. The first one asked: Q: Why don’t oysters give to charity? A: Because there shellfish. Miss Parker rolled her eyes and read the next one. Q: How do crazy people go through the forest? A: They take the psycho path. She looked to see where the joke was sent in from and saw that it said Jarod C. from Blue Cove, Delaware. Balling the wrapper up, she tossed it onto the table, finished her glass of wine and fell asleep watching television.

“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.”

-Aeschylus-

Miss Parker stood at the window in her office, staring out at the waters crashing onto the shore, her gaze wandering between the view and the picture of her mother and father she held. Three months had passed and they hadn’t heard a single word from Jarod, not even any packages had been sent. Broots had come up with a few leads for them, but they were all dead in the end.

I hope you haven’t gone and gotten your self into trouble, Rat-boy. She was loath to admit it, but it had been a lonely three months. No late night phone calls, no smart mouth banter. Days and nights at the Centre were filled with catching up on long overdue paperwork and dodging suspicious questions from Raines and her brother. Sydney kept himself busy with patients and Broots was always needed somewhere to figure out a systems mishap.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her abdomen and she moved uncomfortably to her chair. The pain subsided as quickly as it came, but still left her feeling a little weak. Her ulcer hadn’t bothered her in months, but things had been stressful lately. Didn’t Jarod realize that he needed to actually participate if they were to keep playing the game? The way things were going now, he was going to get her killed. Raines was unpredictable now that he was in charge and Lyle was always eager to sit by and wait for her to screw up.

A knock sounded at her door. “Come in,” she answered and looked up to see that it was Broots. Thank heaven. “What is it, Broots? Any news on Jarod?” she asked. As far as she knew, he and Sydney were not aware of her and Jarod’s unspoken agreement.

“Sorry, Miss Parker, still nothing,” he said having a seat on her couch. “It’s like he just disappeared.”

She sighed and relaxed back in her chair. “Well, if anyone can, it’s him.” She could feel a headache coming on.

“You okay, Miss Parker?” Broots asked.

“Do me a favor, Broots, and go fetch me something for this headache, would you?” she asked with her eyes closed.

“Sure thing,” he said.

Keeping her eyes closed, she listened to his footsteps and the sound of chatter in the hallway as he opened the door. She sat as still as possible hoping that maybe the headache would just go away. What she wouldn’t give to open her eyes and find out that this all had been a bad dream, that her mother was still alive and that she had never gotten involved with the Centre in the first place, that Jarod had never been taken away from his family and that maybe they could have been…

…deet…deet…deet…

…deet…deet…deet…

…deet…deet…deet…

Furrowing her brow and opening her eyes, she listened intently to see where the sound was coming from. She rolled her chair over to her file cabinet and hurriedly looked through each one. Standing from her chair, she yanked the top drawer open and froze at the site of the bomb.

-----

Broots walked swiftly back to Miss Parker’s office with two Excedrin and a hot cup of tea as a surprise. She was such a magnificent woman, forced to survive in a circus of evil with Raines and Lyle as the ringmasters, but always coming out strong and proud. He knew that if he were in her position, he would have given up a long time ago. The things that went on in the Centre were enough to drive a person insane. The only reason he hadn’t been certified yet is because he knew his little Debbie depended on him. She was the one thing that would always keep him going.

He smiled as he thought about the time Debbie told him that she wanted to be just like Miss Parker. He wasn’t too comfortable with the idea at first, but the more he got to know her throughout the years, the more he was able to recognize what a strong woman she was. And vulnerable, too. She hid it well, but he had seen glimpses of it and it made her that much more amazing to him. If Debbie grew up to be as wonderful a woman as Miss Parker was, he’d have no complaints.

He was about ten feet away from her office door when the explosion occurred. Excedrin and hot tea flew from his hands as he was blown back by the force, a groan leaving his lips as he hit the floor. He groggily came too a moment later, amidst the screams and yells of the others who had been in the hallway. He looked through the smoke to Miss Parker’s office wide eyed and shocked, a gaping hole where the door was just a few minutes earlier. Debris and cement lay everywhere.

“Miss Parker!” he yelled, scrambling up from the floor and running to her office. He stopped dead in his tracks as he got closer. Part of the ceiling had caved in and the outside wall had been blown out as well. “Miss Parker, can you hear me?” he yelled again. Suddenly, he was yanked away from the scene by forceful hands. “What are you doing?” he yelled, looking to see that it was sweepers dragging him off. “She’s in there!”

“Everyone is to evacuate this sector of the building immediately,” one of them replied robotically.

“You have to help her!” Broots screamed. He was pushed into the crowd of people rushing to get out, but tried to fight his way back in.

“Broots!” came the unmistakable voice of Sydney. “Broots, what’s happened?”

“Sydney! It’s Miss Parker,” he said out of breath. “She was in her office…with the explosion…she’s still in there,” he said trying to push his way back through the crowd, but this time it was Sydney who held him back.

“Broots, we must let them do their jobs,” he explained, referring to the emergency personnel who were now entering the building. He was just as worried as Broots was, but he knew that it was best to stay out of the way.

Broots looked on helplessly as people scattered about. Occasionally, someone would be carried out on a stretcher, but none of them had been Miss Parker.

“All we can do now is pray,” Sydney said as he too looked on.

-----

1 Month Later

Jarod groaned and stretched as he stepped off the plane that had just landed in Los Angeles. He had been deep in a pretend as a drug dealer in Mexico and had succeeded in shutting down a smuggling operation. He never boasted about the things he did to help others, but it felt damn good to know that those drugs would never reach the streets because of him.

He hadn’t contacted anyone from the Centre in four months and smiled as he pulled out his cell phone. He missed Parker most of all, but Sydney was the first number he dialed. He had something special planned for Parker later.

“Sydney,” the psychiatrist answered.

Jarod frowned at the sound of Sydney’s voice. He somehow sounded defeated. “Sydney, you sound tired,” Jarod told him.

“Jarod, it so good to hear from you after all this time,” the older man said with a little more life in his voice. “What have you been doing with yourself?”

“You know me, Sydney, never bored,” he said vaguely. “And how are things at the Centre these days?” he asked, smiling as he began walking down the street, his lone black bag slung over his shoulder.

“A lot has happened in your absence, Jarod…nothing pleasant I’m afraid,” he said, the defeat returning.

“Well, I can’t say that the Centre really deserves any pleasantness,” he remarked.

“Jarod…Miss Parker…”

“Uh, oh, Sydney,” Jarod smiled, “Don’t tell me Miss Parker has been giving you and Mr. Broots hell because I haven’t been in touch,” he joked.

“Jarod, listen to me!” Sydney said. Jarod’s brow furrowed at the anger in his voice, a feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach. “Miss Parker is gone.”

“What do you mean ‘gone’ Sydney?”

“I am sorry to have to say this…but, Miss Parker is dead, Jarod,” he whispered.

Jarod stopped dead in his tracks at hearing the words Sydney just spoke. His breathing became erratic and he shook his head, refusing to believe it. “You’re lying,” he accused Sydney harshly. “This is probably nothing more than a ploy to get me back at the Centre.”

“Right now, I wish that were true, but I assure you that I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this,” Sydney said.

Jarod felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest. “How?” he ground out, hating having to admit that deep down he knew Sydney was telling the truth.

“A month ago…there was an explosion in her office.”

“And did they…did they recover her body?” He wanted to cry.

“Apparently, she was standing very close to the bomb when it went off. There was a lot of blood, Jarod…”

-----

“…too much for anyone to have survived,” Sydney explained. He ran a hand across his weathered face. He knew the pain that the younger man must be feeling. “Jarod, perhaps we should meet. I can try and help you get through this,” he offered. After a few minutes of silence, he was afraid that Jarod had disconnected the call. “Jarod? Are you still there?”

A few more moments of silence.

“Goodbye, Sydney,” Jarod finally said before hanging up.

Sydney sighed and closed his cell phone.

“Sydney?” Broots asked from where he had been leaning on the corner of his desk. “What did he say?”

“I’m afraid, Broots, that is the last we might ever hear from Jarod.” He knew that the Centre believed him to be the main reason Jarod stayed in contact, but the truth was that he and Miss Parker shared a connection that not many could comprehend and now that she was gone, there was no reason for Jarod not to disappear for good.

“Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough.”

-Mark Twain-

Jarod sat at the bar with a glass of vodka in front of him. He wasn’t much of a drinker, but he wondered if it would help ease his pain like so many of the other patrons seemed to believe it would. Miss Parker used to think it helped her, but he knew it didn’t. So often he wished that she would let him help her, but she was too proud, too stubborn, and now she was gone. Picking up the glass, he threw it back in one gulp and squeezed his eyes shut as it burned it way down his throat to settle warmly in his stomach. He hated the taste.

“Another, bartender,” he called, lifting his glass. He watched as it was refilled and sighed. It was better than thinking about Miss Parker, about the fact that he would never see her again.

“You look like you just lost your best friend,” came a female voice from the seat next to him.

Jarod looked over to see a woman with long dark hair, dressed scantily in a short skirt and tight tank top. How was it that Miss Parker could be wearing the exact same outfit and somehow still look classy, while this woman just looked…different, he thought with a frown. “Are you psychic?” he asked, looking at her strangely.

“What? No,” the woman laughed. “It’s just an expression.”

“Oh,” Jarod said, turning back to his drink.

“So, did you?” she asked.

“Did I what?” Jarod asked, wishing the woman would leave him alone.

“Lose your best friend, silly.”

“Yes,” Jarod answered solemnly before throwing back his second drink.

“Sorry to hear it,” she told him. “Maybe I could help you forget,” she cooed unashamedly.

“I don’t want to forget her,” Jarod said annoyed. “I just don’t want it to hurt so much.”

“Then maybe I could help you ease the pain,” she said.

“I thought that’s what the alcohol was for?” he asked. He looked up quickly when he felt her hand on his thigh.

“That’s not the only way to ease the pain.”

-----

A few drinks later, Jarod was feeling the oblivion that the vodka offered. The barfly who had been bothering him earlier went away after he rebuffed her advances. He slid off of his stool clumsily and headed for the door, tripping a little as he went through it.

“Whoa, there, big guy.” He looked around to see that it was the woman from earlier. “How about I walk you home to make sure you get there okay?” Jarod didn’t say anything, too tired to tell her to leave him alone.

They walked along until they came to a bus stop bench and Jarod sat down to wait, the woman sitting down next to him. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his jaw and before he knew it, he was being pulled into a kiss. Her tongue invaded his mouth, swirling around his, but something wasn’t right. He pulled away and looked at the woman with a furrowed brow. She didn’t taste right. She tasted like…pretzels and beer. She moved toward him again and began kissing his neck, but he pushed her away again and stood up.

“You don’t smell right,” he accused.

“Hey! I’ll have you know that I take a shower everyday,” she said angry.

Jarod shook his head and stood by the edge of the street as he saw the bus coming. It stopped in front of him and the door slid open. “You’re not Miss Parker,” he told her before climbing aboard.

-----

A few days later, Jarod found himself standing in Parker’s kitchen. It wasn’t safe for him to be in Delaware, but he didn’t care. He needed to be close to her and since her house was all that was left, he came. Making his way into the dining room, he ran a finger across the table where a layer of dust had settled. It didn’t look like anyone had been in the home, which surprised him. He thought that Sydney or even Broots would have been by to check on things.

Walking into the living room, he plopped down on the couch and closed his eyes. He could smell her scent, but it only made his heart ache even more for her. As he opened his eyes, he noticed a book sitting on the mantle. He walked over to it and saw that it was a copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Something was keeping the book from closing flatly and he opened it to see that it was the head of a rose, dried and flattened. He smiled as he picked it up, realizing that it was probably one of the roses he had given her, a red one. Maybe he had been getting through to her with his gifts after all.

The distant slam of a car door brought him out of his reverie and he knew it wasn’t smart for him to stay any longer than he already had. Grabbing the book and a few other items, he peeked out the window before hurrying back to his car.

-----

Arizona was much warmer than Delaware was this time of year. Jarod drove along the lone strip of rode, in the middle of the desert, in a state of the art RV, his jeep towed behind it. He had bought the RV from a dealership in town which guaranteed him that it was everything he needed for the ultimate travel experience. Now, all he had to do was find a nice secluded area in the desert to make camp. He had already been to the grocery store and the trailer was full of supplies he would need for a week or two of solitude, paid for by his own hard earned money. Contrary to what the Centre thought, he didn’t always use their funds for everything. Many of his pretends paid quite well and he had racked up a nice savings of his own throughout the years.

Pretends these days were few and far between. He still helped people when he could, but he didn’t actively seek out pretends like he did before. Two whole months had passed since he was last in contact with the Centre, when Sydney had told him that Miss Parker was dead. It was still so hard to believe.

Slowing the RV down, he turned off of the paved road and onto the desert terrain. He drove for a while, passing by cactus and other desert plants before finally deciding on a place to park. It was far enough away from the road to provide seclusion, but not so deep in that he would get lost. Cutting the engine and jumping down from the RV, he looked around, satisfied with the spot he had chosen. “This’ll do,” he said smiling.

-----

Night had fallen and the temperature had cooled considerably. Jarod stood in the tiny RV shower washing away the days sweat and grime. Dinner consisted of nearly an entire pack of hot dogs, Twinkies and, of course, Pez. The RV was quite roomy for what it was. It was fully furnished with a queen sized bed, a dinette, a sink, a toilet, a shower, and an easy chair. There was plenty of cabinet space in the small kitchen and as long as he timed his showers right, he would have enough water in his tanks to last a few days before he would need more. The RV also had a built in generator, which was exactly what he needed since he was in the middle of the desert.

Stepping out of the shower, trailed by a plume of steam, he wrapped a towel around his waist and opened a few windows for a breeze. Grabbing another towel, he dried his hair and sat down at the dinette where his laptop was already setup. In lieu of pretends, Jarod had been working on finding his family. He knew where his father, sister and clone were, but they all reluctantly agreed that it would be best if they had minimal contact. It wouldn’t help if the Centre found them all at once. They would be harder to find if they were separate. The search for his mother was still proving to be difficult, but he would never give up and neither would the rest of his family. Both parties were actively looking for her and they shared any information they got by way of email.

Someone who was proving to be just as elusive as his mother was Ethan. As far as Jarod knew, he still didn’t know about his sister. Ethan, as well as Parker and Catherine Parker all had the inner sense, but Jarod didn’t know exatly how it worked. He knew Parker and Ethan had a special connection, but he didn’t know if their gift would tell them if something happened to the other.

As he waited for his email to load, he looked around his cozy new home. “I should have thought of this a long time ago,” he said to the quiet room. He allowed himself to imagine Parker there with him and smiled as he pictured her looking around unimpressed. Thinking about her brought the sting of unshed tears to his eyes and he quickly refocused his attention back to his laptop. No messages.

Walking over to his duffle bag, he pulled out a clean pair of gray briefs and tugged them on. After turning out the lights and making sure everything was secure, he climbed into bed and dreamt about Miss Parker.

-----

1 Week Later

Jarod was in town picking up more supplies for his camp in the desert. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was nearing eleven pm and he thanked heaven for twenty-four hour stores. After picking the night clerk’s brain about one of the tabloids he’d spotted, he purchased it, along with his other items and made his way to the jeep at the far end of the parking lot. The store he had chosen wasn’t in the best neighborhood and he could hear sirens a few blocks away.

As he scanned his tabloid with the help of a parking lot light, he looked up when he heard footsteps. A big burly, bald man ran straight passed him as if the devil himself was behind him, making his newspaper flutter violently. He watched puzzled until the man disappeared down an alleyway then turned again when he heard another set of running footsteps. Whoever it was ran so close to him that he ended up falling to the ground, the boxed, mini grill he had purchased falling with a clang, the groceries in his paper bag spilling out across the pavement. “Damn it!” he cursed angrily as he pushed himself up to a sitting position. He glanced up just in time to see the second figure disappear into the alley.

Jarod looked down at his broken eggs and smashed bread and forced himself to calm down. He began salvaging what he could when he heard two loud gunshots come from where the two people had just run. They sounded like bombs, they were so loud. He ran as fast as he could toward the sound and skidded to a halt in the opening of the passage. He could just make out the burly man standing over the second runner with a gun. “Hey!” he yelled running toward the man. He knew it was a dumb thing to do, but luckily it served to scare the man off. Jarod ran to the person lying on the ground and knelt down beside them. “Sir, can you hear me?” Jarod asked. The only light was a small fixture attached to the side of the grocery store, but it wasn’t helping much. He ran his hands along the man’s torso, checking for wounds, but he was wearing a bulky vest. He checked the person’s legs and found no injuries there either.

“Mmmm,” came a deep moan. Jarod was shocked to realize that it wasn’t a man’s voice he heard, but a woman’s.

“Ma’am, can you hear me?” he asked. When he got no answer, he moved her closer to the light so he could get a better look at her. If he had a mirror, he would have seen himself go white at the sight of the woman’s face. “Miss Parker?” he whispered.

“Even in the desolate wilderness, stars can still shine.”

-Aoi Jiyuu Shiroi Nozomi-

A million questions ran through Jarod’s mind as he drove carefully back to his camp, his precious cargo, an unconscious Miss Parker, in the back seat. She was supposed to be dead. Sydney said that there was too much blood for her to have survived. He glanced back to make sure he wasn’t dreaming and caught a glimpse of her face in the passing street light.

Finally reaching his RV, Jarod lifted Miss Parker out of the cramped back seat of his jeep, carried her inside, and gently laid her on his bed. Sitting down next to her, he brushed the thick, dark hair away from her face. Even passed out she was beautiful. He quickly checked her pulse, which was strong and steady, and then proceeded to remove her bulky vest, only to find another vest underneath, a bullet proof vest, which explained why she didn’t have any wounds.

Why in the hell would Parker need a bullet proof vest and why in the hell was she chasing that man? Jarod shook his head in disbelief at the entire situation and pulled the vest off. Examining it closer, he saw two tears where the bullets had hit and he could feel the dents in the metal. Even though it had probably saved her life, he knew that she would be sore and bruised. Gently lifting the tight blue tank she wore under all of the gear, he winced at seeing the bruises that were already starting to form, one on her stomach and if he went by the indications on the vest, one on her chest. He lifted the shirt higher to try and see when suddenly a hand reached out to stop him.

“Looking for a cheap thrill, rat-boy?” said her groggy voice.

Jarod looked up to see a dazed Miss Parker, struggling to sit up. “No, stay down,” he told her.

Parker didn’t fight him considering all the pain she was in. She groaned and swallowed. “Where the hell are we?” she asked looking around. When she didn’t receive an answer, she looked up to see Jarod staring at her anxiously. Before she knew what was happening, he was leaning down to her and a moment later, his lips were covering hers. Too shocked to do anything, she let herself be kissed.

As far as Jarod was concerned, Miss Parker had a hell of a lot of explaining to do, but right now, he just wanted to kiss her in case it was all a dream. Just hours ago, he was still trying to get used to the fact that he would never be able to do this with her, but she was somehow back from the dead and he wasn’t going to waste any time. He deepened the kiss when she didn’t pull away, surprised that she hadn’t slugged him one. Taking his chances, he pushed his tongue passed her soft lips, tasting, exploring, and drinking from her as if he was dying of thirst. It was perfect. He had never been so addicted to a taste before, not ice cream, not Pez. He had his first taste of her lips when he was just a boy and he never forgot. Nothing tasted as good as she did.

Miss Parker pulled away with the need to breathe, their lips, seemingly fused together, sounding in the quiet as they pulled apart. She stared at him shocked and placed her hand in the middle of his chest when he leaned in for more. “Jarod, what the hell are you doing?” she asked panting.

“Kissing you,” he said a little dazed, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“Well, if you try that again, I might have to hurt you,” she said, not letting on to how much the kiss had affected her. Pushing him further away, she forced herself to sit up with a painful moan. “Where are we?” she asked again.

“In the desert,” he told her, watching her every move.

“Mmm,” she moaned, holding her chest. “I’m gonna kill that bastard when I catch up to him.”

“Parker, what in the world is going on here?” he asked her harshly. “Sydney told me you were dead.” He stood up from the bed suddenly and backed away from her. “If this is some twisted plot to get me back…” he accused, remembering what he accused Sydney of when he first told him the news.

“Calm down,” Miss Parker ordered. “In case you’ve forgotten, I stopped trying to bring you in long before I ever left the Centre.”

“And just how did you manage to escape the Centre? You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Don’t you know that no one really dies at the Centre?” she said cryptically.

“Parker,” Jarod growled.

She was beginning to get annoyed by his mood swings. One minute he was shoving his tongue down her throat and the next he was demanding answers. “Do you have a mirror?” she asked, ignoring him for the time being. She stood from the bed and hobbled forward a few steps, following Jarod as he opened a closet door to reveal a long mirror. Inching closer, she pulled the hem of her shirt up to reveal an ugly bruise on her stomach. “Son of a bitch,” she muttered. She lifted the shirt higher to look at the other bruise and caught Jarod’s eye in the mirror, smirking when she saw him blush.

Jarod caught a glimpse of the lacy, royal blue bra that matched her tank top and turned away shyly, running a hand through his hair. She had been in his presence for less than thirty minutes and already she was driving him crazy, in more ways than one. Going over to the mini fridge, he pulled out the ice tray and dumped it into a cloth. “Here,” he said, “It’ll feel better if you put ice on it.”

Miss Parker accepted the ice pack and moved over to the small dinette table. She scooted across the bench seat until her back was against the wall of the RV, one booted foot resting on the floor underneath the table, the other dangling over the edge of the seat.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Jarod asked, taking a seat across from her. She had her eyes closed as she held the ice to her body.

“What do you want to know?” she said tiredly, as if he hadn’t been asking her for the past few minutes.

“I want to know why Sydney told me you were dead two months ago.”

Parker saw the look on his face and decided she had dodged the question long enough. “I almost was dead,” she began. She told him all about the bomb and diving behind her office couch for protection at the very last second. She had been hit in the back with pieces of debris and had somehow gotten a gash in the back of her head. “When I woke up, I found myself laying face down in an airshaft.”

“Angelo,” Jarod whispered.

“The little monkey pulled me into the vent before anyone could see,” she told him. Jarod watched as her eyes took on a faraway look. “He kept on saying ‘be free, Miss Parker’. Before I knew it, he was leading me out somehow. I was still dizzy from the head wound, but when I felt the outside air on my face, I just ran as far and fast as I could.” She left out the part about her inner sense, her mother’s calm voice that was also telling her to be free. This time, there was something in her mother’s voice that she just couldn’t ignore, and for the first time in a long time, she simply listened to it.

Miss Parker groaned tiredly and Jarod decided that she could tell him the rest of the story later, when she was feeling better. “When’s the last time you got any rest?” he asked her.

“I lost track,” she yawned. “Been busy.”

“Busy chasing men down dirty alleyways?” he prodded.

“None of your business,” she said with the venom in her voice he was used to. “You just drop me off in town and I’ll be out of your hair.” She stood from the table and made her way to the door, but not before Jarod moved to block her.

“Parker, you aren’t in any condition to go anywhere. Those bullets hit you with enough impact to knock you out. You should be resting.”

Parker gave him what could only be described as a growl and moved around him, continuing to the door. She opened it and looked out to see that they were indeed in the middle of nowhere. “Is this for some sort of pretend you’re on?” she asked slamming the door back closed.

“No,” he said quietly. “Just taking a vacation.” His eyes followed her as she made her way to the bed to lie down gingerly.

“I’m only staying because it’s too damn dark to go traipsing through the desert. I’m gone first thing tomorrow morning.”

Jarod turned out a few of the lights and leaned against the kitchen counter watching her sleep. Someone at the Centre had tried to kill her and he was going to find out who, though he already had a few suspects in mind. He figured Sydney was just passing on what he had been told all those months ago without having actually seen any hard evidence. He mentally chastised himself for not investigating it more. He was too caught up in his grief instead.

They way he saw it, someone at the Centre knew that Miss Parker was still alive. He hated to even think about it, but if she had taken the brunt of the explosion, they would have at least found body parts. Walking closer to the bed, his eyes roamed the length of her and he was so glad that she was still in one magnificently put together piece. He could tell by her breathing that she was already slumbering deeply and it made him happy to know that she was comfortable enough around him to do so. He decided that she couldn’t be comfortable sleeping in the black, leather, Harley Davidson, stiletto boots she wore and slowly moved to take them off, along with her black socks, smiling when she wiggled her polished toes. He though she would be more comfortable without her jeans, too, but didn’t dare attempt to remove them.

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."

-Chinese Proverb-

The next morning, the RV was filled with the wonderful smell of hash browns and breakfast sausage. Miss Parker stretched from her spot on the bed, but quickly stifled it as her sore body made it self known. Jarod was standing in the small kitchen stirring something in a skillet when he turned around at her involuntary moan.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he smiled.

“More like walking dead,” she said as she slowly stood from the bed and went to look over his shoulder. She then pulled open the closet door with the mirror and fixed her hair as best she could.

“Not funny,” Jarod said. He watched as she walked back over to the bed and sat down to put her boots back on.

“I’m outta here,” she said breezing past him.

“Miss Parker, I highly doubt you’ll be able to walk all the way into town with your injuries. You haven’t even had anything to eat and I’m not driving you back until you agree to sit down and eat and tell me what you’re doing here.”

Miss Parker turned back to see the smug look on his face and it pissed her off. “Why do you think you always have to be in control of everything and everyone, Jarod? You just can’t stand the fact that you don’t know what’s going on, that I didn’t come crawling to you for help,” she snapped. Ignoring her injuries, she plopped down at the dinette.

Jarod simply made their plates and sat down across from her. “Just something I learned at the Centre,” he said calmly, though her comments had struck a chord. “Always be in control, show no emotions or they’ll be used against you. You managed to stay in control during your time at the Centre, Miss Parker. Just look the other way when things got ugly.”

“Fuck you,” Miss Parker spat and this time she really left, blatantly stealing his sunglasses that were sitting on the counter. She would have stolen his keys, too, if they had been sitting there, but she knew he probably had then on him somewhere. The heat was absolutely draining and she knew it was dumb to go walking off into the broiling desert with absolutely no supplies. She felt for the gun at her back, surprised Jarod hadn’t taken it from her. She had things to do, which didn’t include standing by while Jarod played mind games and whined about the Centre. The longer she stayed here, the colder her lead got on the scum she had been chasing.

Back in the RV, Jarod paced around angrily, periodically glancing at the door Miss Parker had slammed through. Why did they always end up hurting each other? He thought they had been making progress, but apparently he was wrong. Parker was right. He usually was in control, but she was the one person who always made him spin out of control. He had half a mind to leave her out there to suffer, but he was too afraid that she would disappear again to entertain that idea for long. With a grumble, he yanked the door open and went after her.

-----

I should have hotwired the jeep, Parker though. She had been walking for five minutes before she thought of it and abruptly turned around to do so when she heard the roar of an engine in the distance. Jarod came over a hill in the jeep and she turned back around to continue walking to the main road.

“Miss Parker, get in,” Jarod said as he pulled up next to her, inching the jeep along as she continued walking. “You won’t make it in this heat. You’ll be dehydrated before you know it,” he reasoned.

She knew he was right. Stopping abruptly, she moved toward the jeep and got in. Maybe if she just cooperated, he would be out of her hair faster. “You can drop me off where you found me yesterday,” she ordered.

“In the alley?” Jarod asked confused. “Why would you want to go back there?”

“Last I checked, I was a grown woman and I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

He had a white knuckled grip on the steering wheel. She was the most frustrating woman. Sucking up his pride, he spoke. “Look, Parker, I’m not trying to interfere with your life. I was just worried. In case you’ve forgotten, I though you were dead for the last two months. And when did you plan on letting Sydney and Broots know that you weren’t?” he asked.

“I don’t plan on letting them know and you’d better not say anything. I mean it, Jarod,” she said pointing at him. “It’ll be a lot easier for everyone if I just stay dead.”

“You think it’s easier for your friends to think that you were blown to smithereens by a bomb? I know that you and I have had our differences, Miss Parker, but I never wanted anything to happen to you. Do you have any idea what these past two months have been like for me?” he accused.

“You forget that you seemingly dropped off the face of the earth for three months before my supposed death,” she retorted, regretting it as soon as the words left her mouth. She hadn’t meant to let him know how she felt. She turned away from him to look out her window.

Jarod felt like a jerk. There relationship had been changing all those months ago and he had disappeared without so much as a note to her telling her he would be gone. They had started becoming friends again, but he had done a very inconsiderate thing. “Parker, I’m sorry about that,” he began softly. “I was deep in a pretend and they were watching my every move.”

“Its fine, Jarod. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“But I want to. I should have called you or something to let you know what was happening.” He could only imagine the pressure she got from Raines during that time.

By the time they reached the alley, Parker’s anger had diminished. She didn’t want to argue with Jarod anymore. It never got them anywhere anyway. She wasn’t interested in the Centre anymore. That was his obsession and he could have it. She was through wasting her life looking for answers. “Thanks for the lift,” she said as he came to a stop.

Jarod watched helplessly as she disappeared down the alley. Quickly making a decision, he parked his jeep in the grocery store lot and ran to find her. He didn’t care if she got angry again; he wasn’t going to let her out of his sight. Turning a corner, he saw her about twenty feet in front of him and ran to catch up.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked after turning around to see who was behind her.

“I’m going with you,” he said smiling.

“Believe it or not, I can survive without you, boy genius.”

“Miss Parker, I thought we were becoming friends again,” Jarod said trying a different approach. She stopped so suddenly that he collided into the back of her. They stood closely when he regained his balance and he felt like taking a step back at her piecing gaze.

“I know what you’re doing,” she said in a dangerously low voice. “Trying to make me feel guilty.”

“No,” Jarod interrupted. “I just want to help you.” To be with you, he left unspoken. “You’re about the only person in this world who knows me, the real me…and now that you’re free from the Centre…” He held her gaze and saw her features soften.

“Fine,” she said after a few minutes. “You can help me, but I call the shots here, Jarod!” She put her finger in his face. “I don’t care how smart you think you are.” With that said, she turned and continued walking.

Jarod smiled wide behind her back and followed her through the alley until they came out on the main street. Pulling keys out of her pocket, she strode over to a black sports car and hit a button to unlock it. “You’d better go and get your jeep,” she told him. “This isn’t such a great neighborhood.” She climbed into the car and slammed the door shut before he could ask her why her car hadn’t been vandalized. He ran around the corner to his vehicle and climbed in, starting it up just as Parker came screeching around the corner, zooming past. Jarod smiled and hit the gas, tearing out of the parking lot in order to keep up with her.

-----

The neighborhoods became considerably nicer as they drove along. Jarod was surprised they hadn’t been pulled over yet due to Miss Parker’s led foot. She slowed her speed as they passed through a residential neighborhood and soon after that, they were pulling into a very nice apartment complex. Whereas Jarod was satisfied hiding out in an abandoned warehouse, he could tell that Miss Parker took the hiding in plain sight approach. Rarely did he allow himself to stay in luxury.

Miss Parker eased into a parking spot and cut the engine. Jarod was such a busy body; he always had to have his nose in everyone’s business, especially hers. She got out of the car and made her way inside with Jarod right behind her.

“Nice place,” he commented, looking around. It was a Molise style apartment with a private entrance. They walked into a small foyer and to the left was a tiny, yet stylish, kitchen with an open wall/counter that looked out into the cozy living room. Following her further into the home, he watched as she tossed her keys onto the glass coffee table and disappeared behind a door.

On the far wall of the living room was a wide, sliding, glass door that led out to a private patio. He heard noise from what he assumed was her bedroom and turned around to find her coming out, dressed in a bathrobe. She walked into the kitchen and he caught a glimpse of a smooth thigh. “So,” he cleared his throat. “What exactly have you been up to, Parker?”

Miss Parker grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and handed one to Jarod. “You might not believe it,” she told him, moving to the couch. Jarod followed and sat down beside her.

“Try me,” he smirked. Parker rose from the couch and went into her bedroom again, only to come right back out with a file in hand. He sat his water down and took it from her.

“Andrew Jackson,” Parker said.

“I’m guessing you’re not talking about the seventh president of the United States.” Miss Parker stared blankly at his lame attempt at a joke. Jarod opened the folder and stared down at the picture of the man Parker had been chasing last night. “He’s a bounty?” Jarod asked as he read on. He looked up at her disbelievingly. “You’re a bounty hunter?”

“Told you you wouldn’t believe it,” she said sipping her water. Her head whipped around to look at him when he started laughing. It wasn’t completely unexpected, but it pissed her off just the same. Of course, he would find it humorous that the cold and unfeeling Miss Parker would actually do a good deed. He’d probably really be tickled if he found out that she didn’t even keep the money that the bounties offered. She snatched the folder from his hands and went into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

“Parker, wait,” Jarod pleaded as he made to follow her. He slumped back onto the couch when the door slammed.

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."

-Anonymous-

Parker stood in the spray of hot water with her eyes closed. She was annoyed that she was allowing Jarod to get to her so easily. Things would be much simpler if he had never found her. What were the chances that they would end up in the same city? She had to admit that it had been a lonely two months since she had been gone from the Centre, absolutely no one to talk to and no one to spend time with. A small part of her admitted that she was glad Jarod had found her. One thing he was right about, that she couldn’t deny, was that they knew each other better than anyone else. They knew the darker parts of one another, something that would take an outsider years to understand, if they ever could at all.

Turning around, she let the spray of the water massage her back. It still got sore from where she was hit with the debris. Thinking back on it, she still wasn’t quite sure how Angelo had managed to save her, but she wasn’t going to question it. It was one of those turning points Jarod was always prattling on about. She still didn’t think she had much to turn to, but it was better than being stuck at the Centre for the rest of her life.

It wasn’t hard for her to delve into the life of a bounty hunter. It was what she was good at, after all. The only reason Jarod was able to elude her for so long was because he was a genius, always able to think himself out of a tricky situation. The thuggish morons she hunted down in Arizona didn’t even have the smarts that one of Jarod’s brain cells offered. So far, she had caught five bounties and Jackson would be her sixth when she got her hands on the bastard. He was wanted for murdering his ex-wife and selling drugs. She would be sure to give him some special treatment for shooting her.

Another benefit of the job was the solitude it offered, and Jarod wasn’t the only one who could fake a badge. She flashed it when she needed to, but mostly she just delivered the bounty and took off before anyone could ask questions. She didn’t need the money. She would have been a fool not to have some sort of monetary savings that the Centre didn’t know about. The hunting was really just something to do so she wouldn’t go mad with boredom.

Getting out of the shower, she decided that she had kept Jarod waiting long enough.

-----

Jarod wandered around Parker’s kitchen, surprised that she actually had a few groceries. He didn’t mean to laugh at her. He just found it comically ironic that she chose bounty hunting. He had no doubt that she was very good at it. Hell, he knew damn well she was good at it. He had been a bounty hunter once and it wasn’t an easy task. One thing he didn’t like was the fact that she could get hurt. This Jackson fellow had no qualms about shooting her last night and it probably wasn’t the first time it happened, her being shot at.

Jarod looked out into the living room when he heard her bedroom door opening. He was surprised when she came out dressed in a very short pair of jean shorts and a red t-shirt, one, because he rarely saw her dressed so casually, and two, because she looked damn good. She said nothing as she entered the kitchen, brushing by him, and he caught her hand. “Parker,” he said softly, “I don’t want to fight with you anymore.” They were both free of the Centre now; they should be friends. He was very pleased when she didn’t pull her hand away and squeezing it a little tighter, he held her gaze as she looked at him.

With a small sigh, Parker gently slipped her hand from his and decided to accept his offer of a truce. “Jackson likes to hang out at a bar in the neighborhood we were in,” she said, changing the subject to something safer. “He probably thinks I’m dead after last night. We can wait until tonight and then go and get him.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jarod said.

Parker knew quite well that Jarod had been a bounty hunter once and she figured that he was probably chomping at the bit to add his two cents about the whole situation, but she didn’t care. Her way had been working just fine and he didn’t get to come in out of the blue and start making decisions just because he was a genius.

“You must be starved,” Jarod said. “I’ll make us something if you don’t mind,” he offered.

Parker remembered the breakfast he had cooked for them back at his place and she felt a little guilty for wasting it. “I’ll cook,” she offered instead. “You can go and read Jackson’s file.”

Jarod wanted to tease her for offering to cook, but decided against it. She seemed touchier than usual and he wanted nothing more than to be in her good graces. Some part of him just could never resist teasing her. Once, on a pretend as a school teacher, he observed a little boy who constantly picked on the little girl who sat in front of him. Later, he overheard the boy whispering to one of his friends that he liked her. He was confused by the contradiction of the boy’s actions, at first, but as he time passed, and he came to terms with his own feelings for Parker, he realized he did the same to her that the boy had done to the girl. His calling Parker at crazy hours of the morning was the equivalent to the boy pulling on the girl’s hair everyday.

For so long, even before he escaped, he had been upset with Parker for ignoring their friendship and the things that went on in the Centre. No matter how much she angered him though, he couldn’t forget what they had shared as kids. The relationship had meant the world to him because it was one of the precious few he had, but as they got older, she seemed to forget about him and it hurt. As he looked back on it now, he realized that all of the teasing, and making her life difficult in general, was just a way for him to get back at her for turning her back on him, a way for him to ignore the feelings that she had pulled from him so many years ago. As long as they were snarling at each other, he could forget about the fact that he loved her. If he really wanted a new beginning with her then he knew he would have to change some of his old habits when it came to her.

Giving her a small smile, he moved into the living room to let her work. It was only ten o’clock in the morning and they had plenty of time before they needed to be at the bar. Instead of looking at the file, Jarod sat down on the couch and switched on the flat panel television that hung on the wall.

“Where did you go when you ran from the Centre?” Jarod asked her as she worked at the counter. He turned the volume of the television down low and flicked through the channels. “Did you come to Arizona right away?”

“No,” Parker answered as she chopped some vegetables for a breakfast frittata. “I was hurt pretty badly after the blast. I had cuts on my back, a gash in my head. I stole a car and drove to Maine to see Ben. I still don’t know how I made it there without crashing,” she finished softly.

Jarod’s attention was pulled away from the television as she began speaking.

“Needless to say, Ben was shocked when I arrived all bloodied and battered on his doorstep,” she continued. “I hadn’t seen him in years. I wanted to, but I was afraid of what would happen if the Centre found out.” It was funny really. Ben was her mother’s secret lover, but he was one of the only sanctuaries she had away from the Centre. She shook her head at the thought and continued. “He took care of me for a couple weeks, begged me to stay longer, but I knew I couldn’t. I was already taking a chance by going to him in the first place, but he was the only person I had.”

You had me, Jarod thought as he watched her. But he knew that even if she did turn to him, she had absolutely no way of contacting him. That was going to change. He picked up her cell phone from the coffee table and programmed his information in. “How did you decide on Arizona?” he asked, continuing the conversation. He looked up, surprised when she let out a laugh. She had such a beautiful laugh, but it was a rare occasion that anyone got to hear it. She reminded him of the Sirens in Greek mythology that he read when he was a boy; no man could resist their song. That’s what Parker’s laugh was like.

“You wouldn’t believe me,” she said smiling as she worked. Jarod raised an eyebrow. “I closed my eyes and pointed at a map,” she confessed. He laughed, too.

Jarod moved from the couch to one of the barstools that sat on the other side of the open counter, in the living room, to watch her. “Here,” he said, sliding the phone toward her. “I’ve programmed my information into it. If you ever need me, you’ll have a way to reach me,” he told her. Miss Parker was stunned. Jarod was always the one to call the shots. You didn’t call Jarod. Jarod called you. It was a huge display of trust on his part, a display that she didn’t feel she deserved. Quite frankly, he had been right earlier. Anytime things got too ugly, she turned the other cheek, especially when it came to him. She didn’t understand why he even wanted anything to do with her anymore. Simply nodding, she continued preparing their meal.

“Teamwork is essential. It allows you to blame someone else.”

-Proverb-

Parker looked up occasionally as Jarod giggled at something stupid on the television. She put the finishing touches on their plates and carried them into the living room where he sat on the sofa once again. “Here,” she said offering him a plate. Jarod took it and inhaled the delicious aroma of the frittata. There was even a pile of freshly chopped strawberries and peaches with whip cream.

“I see you’re eating much better these days,” Jarod commented. She shrugged. He watched as she stretched her long legs to rest on the corner of the coffee table, feet crossed at the ankles. She seemed to have no idea that her legs were like magnets. Forcing himself to look away, he tucked into his food.

“Do we have to watch this?” Parker said, referring to the cartoons on the screen.

Jarod finished his food and picked up the remote. “What do you want to see?” he asked, flipping through once again.

“Anything but cartoons,” Parker said taking a bite of her fruit. She watched Jarod from the corner of her eye as he studied the television. It was nice to just be with him and not arguing. When she saw the look of confusion spread across his face, and it registered in her mind that she was hearing moaning and grunting, she looked at the T.V.

“An entire channel dedicated to pornography?” he asked, shocked by what the people were doing.

“Oh, please,” Parker said, sitting her plate on the table. “Don’t tell me that you’ve never seen the porn channel before.” Jarod looked at her and shook his head. She snatched the remote from him and turned the channel. “Well, I didn’t order that. It just came with the package,” she explained. Looking back at Jarod, she saw him giving her a mischievous grin. Rolling her eyes, she picked up their plates and carried them into the kitchen.

-----

A few more hours had passed and Jarod grew bored with the television. He now busied himself with Parker’s laptop. It was very nice, much nicer than his old one. “There,” he said as he typed a few more lines. “Now you’re protected from even the best hackers.”

Parker looked over from where she sat on the couch painting her toe nails. “What did you do?”

“I installed an anti hacking program that I developed myself,” he smiled proudly. Parker went back to painting her nails and Jarod continued tweaking the laptop some more.

-----

“Listen, Parker,” Jarod said later as he stood from her desk and stretched. “I need to go back to my place and take care of a few things for tonight.”

“Fine,” she said rising. “Just meet me back here no later than ten.”

“Actually,” he began, “I thought maybe you would want to come along. That way we could just kill the rest of the time at my place without having to come all the way back here,” he rambled. “I know it’s not as nice as your place, but…”

“Okay,” she agreed easily. “Just let me get changed.”

He watched her walk into the bedroom and slumped back down into his seat when she was gone. She was driving him nuts. Her scent had been lingering in the air since her shower and he definitely hadn’t forgotten about that kiss last night. She came out a few minutes later dressed in a pair of black leather pants, and a black, kimono-sleeve tunic with a matching belt synched at the waist. No one could say that Miss Parker didn’t know fashion. He had never seen a better dressed woman in his life.

“Ready?” He watched as she checked the gun at her back and grabbed a jacket. She didn’t need the gun; she could knock out these bounties with her good looks.

“Ready.”

-----

Ten o’clock finally rolled around and Miss Parker sat in the darkened booth waiting for Jarod to return with their drinks. Jackson hadn’t shown up yet. After stopping at Jarod’s place, she had waited while he took a shower.

“Can I get you anything?” Jarod asked as he pulled his t-shirt off.

Parker stared at his muscular, perfectly hairy chest and shook her head no, continuing to watch as he kicked off his shoes and socks. She was a little shocked as he moved to unbutton his jeans, but he stepped into the small shower room, out of her view, before removing them.

He came back out ten minutes later wrapped in a skimpy towel and disappeared behind the bedroom curtain to get dressed.

“Here you go.” Jarod sat down across from her smiling.

“What’s got you so happy?” Parker asked, taking a sip of her drink.

“Nothing in particular,” he said.

Parker eyed his drink and pulled it toward her for a sip. “This is nothing but Coke.”

“I’m not much of a drinker, Parker.”

“Hasn’t one of your pretends ever required you to let loose and throw back a few?” she teased smiling.

“It wouldn’t do for me to be drunk on a pretend,” he said sipping his soda. “I’ve only been drunk once in my life.”

“Oh, yeah? When was that?” she asked watching him.

“When I thought you were dead.” The smile slipped from her face and she looked away.

“I thought we had already been through this,” she told him.

“We have,” Jarod said, reaching for her hand across the table, “And I’m sorry.” He kept a hold of her hand and they sat quietly as a slow country song started playing. “Parker, I think someone at the Centre still knows you’re alive.”

“Probably,” she stated calmly, very much aware of his warm hand on top of hers.

“You don’t seem very concerned about it.” He took the opportunity to trace her fingers lightly with his.

“Why should I be? All I can do is make sure they don’t find me.” She watched as he lifted her hand and interlaced their fingers. “What are you doing?”

“It might look better if we pretend to be together,” he explained, his eyes never leaving her face. They were a little out of place in the country bar. Most everyone else was dressed in jeans. “Would you like to dance?” he asked.

Despite her better judgment, Parker said yes and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor. Jarod placed his hands on her waist and she put her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

She felt so good against him. His fingers brushing against the gun at the small of her back, underneath her jacket; he smiled, thinking it sexy. He noticed that she was getting quite a few stares from the men in the room and pulled her closer.

Parker silently scolded herself for giving in to her feelings for him. She was supposed to be working, not here on some sort of impromptu date with Jarod. Still, she couldn’t seem to make herself pull away from him. His arms around her felt wonderful. It had been so long since someone had held her this way. She felt a slight pressure on her foot and lifted her head to see Jarod smiling nervously.

“Sorry,” he whispered at stepping on her foot. She smiled back lazily and softly ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. Jarod leaned toward her slowly, softly tasting her lips. He was pleasantly surprised when she was the one to intensify the kiss, her tongue stroking against his, slow and drugging. He was still dazed when she pulled away breathless. He wouldn’t mind getting drunk off the taste of her. Suddenly, he felt her stiffen in his arms. “What’s wrong?” he asked. She was staring over his shoulder.

“Jackson just walked in,” she said into his ear. The moment was officially over. She stayed in Jarod’s arms and followed Jackson’s movements over his shoulder. “He’s at the bar.”

Jarod twisted them around so he could get a look. “Parker, maybe we should wait until he leaves and follow him. We don’t want to put any of these people in danger.” She agreed and they headed back to their booth, this time sitting on the same side in order to keep an eye on Jackson. Jarod slid in first and Parker cuddled against him, glad for the poor lighting in the bar. Any brighter and Jackson could have easily spotted them.

“We’ll corner him outside when he leaves,” she said. “No way will he be able to escape the both of us this time.”

Jarod was ridiculously happy that she was including him in the plans. He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head affectionately. “That kiss was wonderful, Miss Parker,” he told her.

Parker looked at him annoyed, even though the kiss had affected her just as much. “Jarod, are you even paying attention to me?” she asked.

“Mm-hm,” he answered, his eyes glancing to the bar to see Jackson guzzling a beer. “I’m multi-tasking.” Parker rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

-----

Two hours later, they were still in the booth…kissing. Parker couldn’t seem to control her hand as it rubbed along Jarod’s chest and stomach, her fingers occasionally dipping into one of the openings of his button down shirt to feel the hard muscles beneath. Jarod was in heaven as their lips caressed softly. He groaned when Parker pulled away.

“Jarod,” she said trying to catch her breath, “We’re supposed to be working, not making out in some seedy bar.”

“We can do both,” he said, trying to pull her in for more. She held him at bay with a hand to his chest and looked toward the bar to make sure Jackson was still there. He wasn’t. She looked around frantically, but didn’t see him.

“Just fucking great,” she cursed. She punched Jarod in the shoulder and stood up. “This is your fault if he gets away.”

Jarod frowned at the throbbing in his shoulder and followed her to the entrance. He didn’t understand that logic. She was all over him just as much as he was her. Smiling, he picked up his pace.

They burst out onto the street. A few people were milling around, talking and smoking, but for the most part, it was quiet. Parker looked to her left and saw a large figure walking away from the bar. “There he is,” she told Jarod. They began following at a discreet pace and watched as he turned into yet another alley.

“Does he live in there or what?” Jarod whispered.

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Parker retorted. She pulled her gun when they got to the mouth of the alley. “Stay behind me,” she ordered. “He could be armed.”

Jarod didn’t like the idea of her being in front of him, especially since she wasn’t wearing her vest this time, but there was no arguing since she was the only one with a gun. “Why didn’t you wear you vest?” he asked quietly.

“Because it didn’t match my outfit,” she deadpanned before peeking around the corner.

“That’s not funny, Parker,” he scolded. “Did you see him?”

She nodded her head. “He’s taking a leak. I’ll go out first and confront him,” she said digging into her pocket and pulling out a pair of handcuffs. “You take these and cuff him.”

“Be careful,” he told her. She gave him a dangerous grin and moved out into the open.

“Hi, Andrew, remember me?” Parker said as she aimed her gun at him. He looked up at her drunkenly and squinted his eyes.

“Bitch, don’t you die?” he asked as he finished his business and zipped his pants.

“Nope,” she said, moving closer. “You keep your grubby hands where I can see them.”

“I ain’t goin’ back to jail. You’re gonna have to shoot me first.”

“Don’t think I won’t,” she warned. She noticed some movement behind him and saw Jarod moving in closer. “If you’ve got any weapons you’d better drop them now.” She kept him distracted. Jarod continued forward and raised something over his head. Jackson heard it and turned around, but he was too late. Jarod whacked him and he felt to the ground, out cold.

“Way to go genius,” Parker gripped as she holstered her gun. Jarod looked at her confused as she snatched the cuffs from him. “Now we have to figure out how to get him into the car.”

“Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval. When man is happy, he is in harmony with himself and his environment.”

-Oscar Wilde-

“There you have it,” Parker sighed as they drove away from the jail after dropping Jackson off. “A day in the life.”

“It was fun,” Jarod said, smiling as he caught a glimpse of her face in the street lights. “Much different from the way I would have done it.”

Miss Parker chuffed. “If we had done it your way, we’d still be plotting revenge for another two days while he walked around free.” Jarod just gave a lopsided grin while keeping his eyes on the road. “But I must admit that the touch at the end was nice.” They left him handcuffed to a fence, where he couldn’t be missed, with his wanted poster taped to his chest.

“We make a good team, Parker. I’ve always known that. We just never were on the same team until now,” Jarod said.

Parker lolled her head to the side and watched him. “You’re right,” she said after a moment. “It’s much nicer to have a partner in all this…someone to do the heavy lifting,” she teased, smiling when Jarod squinted his eyes at her. He was the one who ended up lifting a six-foot three, two hundred and fifty pound Jackson into the car.

“What now?” Jarod asked, leaving it up to Parker to decide what he meant by it. He very much wanted to continue what they started in the bar, but Parker was skittish sometimes. As much as he wanted her, he would let her decide their pace.

She realized what a loaded question that was, but she decided to keep it simple. “Let’s go back to my place. I’m hungry.”

Jarod nodded and wondered if she was aware of the subtext as much as he was. He was always hungry for food, but lately, he had an appetite for something else, too.

-----

“I haven’t had pizza in a very long time,” Parker said taking a bite of her slice. Jarod had the idea of stopping to get something so neither would have to be bothered with cooking. They sat side by side at the kitchen counter.

“I remember when I first had it,” Jarod said smiling and chewing. “It was about five years ago and I had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner for about a week straight.”

“And how do you manage to stay in such great shape while eating all of this junk?”

Jarod looked at her and grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Lots of running.” He was glad when Parker laughed because he only meant it as a joke. It had been so long since he saw her as happy as she seemed to be in this moment and he was glad that he was the one making her feel that way.

Parker took a sip of her cola and pushed her plate away. It was nearly two in the morning and she was beat.

“That’s all you’re going to have?” he asked. She looked at her plate, seeing one crust and one half of a slice left.

“I’m stuffed and I don’t understand how you’re not.” He was like a human trash compactor.

Jarod finished off his fourth piece, crust included, and took a swallow of his drink. He thought about getting another piece, but he didn’t want to seem greedy. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he turned to ask Parker if she wanted to watch a movie, but found her looking at him intently.

“You could sleep here tonight if you want,” she offered softly. “It’s very late. I could get you a pillow for the couch…”

“Okay,” he agreed readily. He would take any chance he could get to be close to

Parker, especially when she was the one offering. He didn’t feel like driving all the back out to the desert anyway. He busied himself with putting away the leftover pizza while she disappeared into her bedroom.

Parker let out a deep breath once she was alone. She didn’t want him to leave, but she didn’t know how to tell him. Now that Jackson was in jail again, there wasn’t really any reason for him to stay. Surely, he had some pretend to prepare for, his mother to find. As alone as she had felt in the Centre, it wasn’t much better outside of it, but having Jarod with her these past couple of days had been nice, even if they had gotten off to a rocky start at first. Grabbing up a pillow and a blanket, she made her way back to the living room. Jarod was sitting on the couch watching television and he smiled when she tossed the pillow at him.

“Goodnight.”

Jarod grabbed her hand before she could leave and pulled her down onto the couch with him. He didn’t even speak as he pulled her into a kiss, her soft lips pliant against his. It didn’t take long for things to get heavy. Jarod’s hand roamed down to her hip, but didn’t get much further before Parker broke away. He leaned in for more, but was stopped by her hand covering his mouth. Looking up, he saw her smiling. “Goodnight, Casanova.” She stood from the couch and went to her room, softly closing the door after giving him one last glance.

Jarod sat staring at the door, more than a little turned on. When she didn’t come back after five minutes, he gave up and turned back to the T.V. though his mind was far from it. “Casanova…” he whispered. He went over to Parker’s laptop and looked it up.

-----

After only an hour of sleep, Parker’s stared at the ceiling, wide awake. The sheets and blankets were in a tangled mess at the foot of her bed and she sighed in frustration, kicking them the rest of the way off. Looking toward the door, she could see the light from the television peeking in through the cracks. Jarod must still be awake, she thought. Maybe he was as frustrated as she was. She didn’t know why she stopped him earlier. He obviously wanted her, but something had held her back.

Standing from the bed, she decided that she didn’t care about the consequences anymore. She pulled open the door and peered out to see Jarod’s form, highlighted from the light of the television. She couldn’t see all of him because the arm of the couch was partially blocking him, but she could tell that he was still dressed in his pants, his shirt and shoes in a pile on the floor. She couldn’t see the T.V. from where she stood and walked out further to see what he was watching so intently.

It was the porn channel with the volume turned low. She lifted an eyebrow, surprised, even though she knew she shouldn’t be. Jarod was always intrigued by new things and, of course, sex would be no different. She knew he wasn’t a virgin, but she wasn’t exactly sure how much experience he had with the opposite sex. She knew about Nia, which she didn’t care to think about, and she had her suspicions about the redhead he had been spotted keeping company with. Beyond that, she wasn’t sure, but he didn’t seem like the type to have frivolous sex. There was always an emotional connection when Jarod was involved. Maybe that was part of the reason she had been so reluctant earlier.

Parker cautiously stepped closer. She didn’t know of any man who could watch porn and not pleasure himself in the process, but, again, she shouldn’t have been surprised. Jarod sat perfectly decent with the remote in one hand, still aimed at the television as if he had meant to turn past it, but just never did. She was amazed that he wasn’t on the phone with Sydney, asking questions while he watched.

He finally looked up as she stopped next to him. She slowly took the controller out of his hands and hit the power button. The small light on the desk was still on and she could see him watching her. He had yet to say anything and she slowly moved until she was straddling his lap. His hands immediately moved to touch her and she could feel their warmth through the thin material of her short gown. She could also feel his firm arousal against her as she put her arms around his neck.

“Too bad I can’t take credit for this,” Parker whispered as she rocked her hips forward slightly. Jarod groaned and pulled her tighter against him.

“No,” he began, his voice deep and thick, “I wasn’t thinking about those people,” he tried to explain. “I…I was imagining us…you.”

Parker pulled back slightly, smiling at him, and then leaned down to touch her lips to his. It wasn’t long before his tongue swept across her lips, pushing past them to explore her mouth. She moaned when his hips rocked upward between her legs, and she reached down between them, lightly brushing her hand over the swell in his pants.

“Parker,” Jarod groaned, breaking their kiss. He couldn’t stop his hips from moving and lightly squeezed the flesh of her hips. The little movements she was making were driving him insane.

“Jarod,” she whispered, her lips and tongue teasing his earlobe as her hips continued to press against him, “If were going continue to dry hump like teenagers, I’m going back to bed.”

His laugh turned into yet another moan as she unbuttoned his pants, the pressure of her hands sending jolts of pleasure through him. “So,” she asked seductively, playfully, “Did you learn anything?” He nodded his head and she smiled. “Show me.” She sat still as he slid the straps of her gown off her shoulders and ran his hands down the smooth skin of her back, his fingertips catching the material and tugging it down to reveal her breasts to his hungry gaze.

Jarod felt her fingers bury in his hair as he leaned forward, placing wet caresses between her breasts teasingly before kissing his way to her nipples. He groaned as he took one into his mouth, her hands having found their way between them again, finally freeing him from his pants. She took a hold of him firmly, caressing the hard length of him over and over again. Jarod’s hands moved down to her thighs, slowly making their way to the heat between her legs. He nearly lost it when his fingers encountered warm, soft, moist flesh. Miss Parker wasn’t wearing any panties.

She gasped as his long fingers stroked her, before slipping inside gently. “Mm, Jarod…” she moaned. She pulled his head up from her breast and kissed him hard, her tongue shoving past his lips to play. “We have to do this,” she whispered into his mouth, “Now.” She moved up to her knees and hovered above him, gazing into his eyes before sinking down slowly.

Jarod had to fight hard to control himself as he was encased in her heat, her muscle clenching. His hand gripped her hips as she began a steady pace up and down. He continued watching her face as her eyes fell shut, her breathing increased. She was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Parker used the back of the couch as leverage and sucked in a breath as Jarod once again lavished her breasts with attention, the roughness of his stubbly beard adding to the feel. He was so full inside of her and the sensation was nearly overwhelming.

“Parker…” Jarod grunted as he pumped his hips upward in time with her downward thrust. Their deep breathing and low moaning echoed throughout the darkened room and Jarod could feel her body begin to move more frantically as she reached her zenith. Her muscles clenched him tightly as she came and his head fell back against the couch as he continued pushing inside of her. He felt her mouth and tongue on his neck, sucking and biting, urging him on. His arms tightened around her, crushing her against his chest as he gave one last powerful thrust, his essence pouring inside of her.

They continued to rock together gently as they both calmed down. Jarod had yet to let go of his death grip on Parker and she placed more kisses against his neck and face, eventually making her way to his mouth where she planted warm, moist kisses against his lips. She massaged the back of his neck and pulled back slightly to look at him.

Jarod was speechless as he looked into her eyes. It had never been like that for him before, so emotional, so powerful.

Parker sighed shakily as she watched him, not knowing that his thoughts were mirroring her own. She gave him a smile as she played with his hair. “Think you can muster up the strength to carry us to bed?” she asked softly.

Jarod beamed at her, glad for her playful tone in the intensity of it all. With one last kiss, he lifted her as if she was the most precious thing in the world and carried her into the bedroom.

“It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.”

-Lucille Ball-

Hours later, Jarod lay sleepily in the morning light, watching Parker’s back as she slept facing away from him, the sheets pooled at her waist. He had pushed the sheets from his own body hours ago, enjoying the cool air that the AC offered. They had made love again once they were in the bedroom and both completely naked. He took his time exploring her body and she his. There attraction to each other was something that they had both been denying for years, but when it finally came to a culmination, there was no stopping it. He felt electrified every time she touched his skin, even when she simply looked at him. At times, it was like she could see right through him and he supposed that, in a way, maybe she could. It was easy to pretend with everyone else, but the real Jarod always came out when she was around. In all his life, she was the one person who didn’t have any expectations of him, who knew the real him. They knew each others highs and lows like no one else ever could or would. Scooting closer, he spooned against her and placed his arm around her, his hand resting on her stomach.

Parker smiled as she felt his fingertips dipping into her belly button, caressing the skin just below it. “Didn’t you get enough last night?” she asked, her voice deep from sleep. She turned over onto her back to see him propped up on one elbow.

Jarod smiled at her as he continued to play with the soft skin of her stomach, his fingertips disappearing just underneath the sheet that was still covering her lower half. “It’ll never be enough,” he said. He could spend every hour of every day making love to her and he knew that he would always crave more.

Parker pulled the sheets up to cover herself and sighed. “Jarod, why do you even bother with me?” she asked quietly. “I’ve hunted you relentlessly for years and all for selfish reasons…why would you want anything to do with me?” she asked, truly baffled.

“Parker, you were fighting for your life,” he said. “It’s seems like we both have been, ever since we were born.” He brushed the hair away from her face.

“That doesn’t make it right,” she said. “I’ve been so lost for so long. Daddy had me believing so many lies. Sometimes I feel like such a fool,” she confessed.

Jarod knew that these things couldn’t have been easy for her to say. Miss Parker wasn’t usually one to bare her soul. “We all lose our way sometimes, Parker. All that matters now is that you’re free from that place and I’m glad we found each other again, even if it was under dire circumstances,” he said referring to the night he found her in the alley. The bruises had faded, but he could still see them on her skin. Leaning closer, he placed a kiss on the one above her right breast. “Does it still hurt?” he asked as he nuzzled the spot.

“Mm, not much,” she said enjoying the contact. She felt the sheet being tugged away and watched as Jarod trailed his kisses down to her stomach, stopping to pay special attention to the other bruise.

He continued on past her navel, but stopped when he heard her stomach growl, laughing as he looked up at her. “Have you ever had cold pizza for breakfast?” he asked smiling.

-----

Standing in the kitchen, preparing a pot of coffee, Jarod looked up when Parker sat down at the counter. After their breakfast of leftover pizza, they had taken a shower together, both still frisky from their lovemaking. Once the water turned cold, they were forced to get out. “Coffee?” he offered.

“Sure,” she said. She watched as he fixed them each a cup, trying to decide how she was going to tell him that she wasn’t staying in Arizona.

“Do you have anything planned for today?” he asked, moving to stand across from her. “Anymore fugitives to catch?”

“No, actually,” Parker said after taking a sip of her coffee. “Do you have any plans?” she fished. “Any pretends?”

He shook his head no. “I haven’t been on a pretend in months.”

“Why?” she asked confused. Pretending and helping others seemed to be what he lived for.

“I was grieving for you,” he said softly. He slid his hand across the counter until it was resting on hers. “I guess I sort of shut down.” He had already suffered so much loss in his life. Miss Parker was his breaking point.

Parker looked at him in wonderment and grabbing hold of his hand, she brought it to her lips. “Well, grieve no more,” she smiled. “I’m all here, body and soul.”

“Yes, you are,” he grinned as he leaned over the counter for a kiss.

“Jarod,” she began hesitantly, keeping his hand in hers, “I’m not going to be staying in Arizona.”

He watched her, quietly breathing a sigh of relief. He knew that he couldn’t stay in Arizona forever if he wanted to find his mother and he had been trying to figure out a way to ask Parker to come with him. She just made it much easier. “I have to find my mother,” he said, “which means I won’t be able to stay for much longer either…but I would love it if you came with me.” It was what he had always wanted for them, to be together. He always knew that their lives consisted of more than the Centre and its traps. He had found a way to escape those traps, and now that she had, too, there was nothings stopping them.

On the inside, Parker was elated that he had asked, but she still had her doubts about whether it would work or not, about whether they would work or not. Sex was only one part of a relationship, an aspect that, luckily, turned out to be great, but they couldn’t survive on sex alone. She knew that her feelings for Jarod went deeper than the physical, but they had been hurt so badly by the Centre and by each other, and each time they got hurt, their souls got damaged in the process. Sometimes, she felt like maybe her soul was ruined. How could anyone who worked for the Centre possibly have one? Then she would think about people like Broots, an outsider who had simply been caught up in her family’s web like so many others. She was quite sure that he didn’t expect threats and to have to hunt down a man like an animal when he applied for his job.

Looking up at Jarod, who was looking at her expectantly, she decided that there was only one way to find out if they would work or not. “I’m not an easy person to live with,” she said, giving him one final out.

He smiled, knowing that he probably wasn’t very easy to live with either. He could just imagine the reaming she would give him at finding candy and toys scattered about all the time. “I can’t wait,” he grinned.

-----

Much later that night, Parker laid in Jarod’s RV bed on her stomach, wide awake, wondering about this little adventure they were about to embark on. Everything she owned was now sitting in the backseat and trunk of her car. Her business in Arizona was complete, so there was no sense in staying at her place any longer. She had backed her car into the private garage that was located just off the kitchen, away from prying eyes, and loaded up with Jarod’s help. She didn’t have much really, aside from a few clothes and her laptop. She wasn’t used to having so little, but it was part of the price she had to pay in exchange for freedom from the Centre. She listened as the water cut off in the tiny bathroom.

Jarod stepped out of the bathroom to find Parker laying about in a pair of pink, boy cut panties and a matching sleep tank. “Comfortable?” he asked, smiling as he joined her on the bed. He placed a kiss on her smooth shoulder and leaned back against the headboard. All of the lights were turned out except for a small one in the kitchen, creating a cozy glow about the room.

“Mm, yes, actually.” She turned her head to look at him, dressed in nothing but his underwear.

“Where do you think we should go?” he asked her.

“Well, have you gotten any leads on your mother?”

Jarod shook his head no. “Nothing solid. My dad had a lead a few weeks ago, but it went cold.”

Miss Parker wondered how the woman was able to be so elusive. They had come closer to capturing Jarod on several occasions than they ever had his mother. She wondered how that could be considering Jarod was supposed to be the genius, always able to outthink his opponents. “She’s like a wet bar of soap,” she commented. Jarod smiled at the analogy. She moved to lie on her side facing him and he scooted down in the bed until he was lying next to her, sharing her pillow.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” he told her as he rubbed his nose against hers.

Parker sighed softly and kissed him lightly. “Me too.” It beat sitting in her office at the Centre pretending to catch him or wondering if her time was finally up. Apparently, it had been, and whoever planted the bomb was an amateur. As much as she wanted to forget about the whole thing, she couldn’t stop her mind from assessing the situation. Lyle was her number one suspect. He had tried on more than one occasion before. Besides, a bomb just wasn’t Raines’s style. He would have probably used her in some sort of cruel experiment first, taunted her with information about her mother. Oh, how she hated that man.

“What are you thinking about?” Jarod asked, noticing she had gone quiet.

Parker looked at him for a moment without saying anything. If she brought it up, she knew he wouldn’t let it go. And even if they did find out who tried to kill her, it wouldn’t matter. Nothing stopped the Centre, and most importantly, she wanted to stay dead. She missed Sydney and Broots, but things would be better this way.

“Just wondering what we’re going to do on this journey of ours,” she told him, trailing her fingers through his hair affectionately.

“We’ll do whatever we want. Nothing and no one can stop us…not even the Centre.”

-----

“Parker? Parker, quick, come look at this!” said an amused Jarod from the RV’s driver’s seat. A few seconds later, a weary looking Miss Parker appeared and plopped down into the passenger seat.

“What?” she said in her typical fashion.

“Look,” he said pointing, and she directed her eyes to a giant chicken statue on the side of the road.

“You woke me up from a dead sleep to come and look at a giant chicken?” she said, giving him a hard look.

“I thought you might enjoy seeing it,” he told her nervously.

She sighed and settled back into the passenger seat.

“You should put your seatbelt on if you’re going to stay there,” he advised innocently, missing the cold look Parker gave him as he kept his eyes on the road. He only looked up briefly when she used his seat to steady herself as she went to the back again.

Parker was annoyed as she stood at the counter making a turkey sandwich. Jarod was such a child. How could she have romantic feelings for such a man-child? And she just knew he was trying to rot her teeth with all of the candy he kept around. She had to admit that the Skittles were delicious though.

Slapping a piece of mayonnasied bread on top of the other half of the sandwich, she cut it diagonally and carried it back to the front. “Here,” she said as she sat the plate down on the console between the seats.

Jarod looked up surprised, thinking she had gone back to sleep, and smiled when she sat down and put her seatbelt on. “Thanks,” he said as he grabbed half the sandwich.

Parker watched him take a large bite and held back her smile. For some reason she liked the boy genius, more than liked. “So, where in the hell are we?” she asked. They had left Arizona over two weeks ago, stopping here and there for a break.

“We’re in Montana,” he said, taking another bite of his sandwich.

“Well, I’d like to stay at a nice hotel tonight,” she told him. “If I have to squeeze into that tiny bathroom again, I’ll go insane, and the water pressure is pathetic.”

“Oh, come on. It isn’t that bad, especially when we squeeze in together,” Jarod said smiling his sexy smile that he knew she couldn’t resist, but her face remained expressionless and he laughed. The truth was that he knew she was getting tired of the RV life already, but she hadn’t complained, too, much. It had been fun while it lasted, but he was ready to ditch the road for a while himself. “A hotel it is,” he said as he switched lanes to get off on the next exit.

-----

“Isn’t this nice?” Parker asked from her spot in the bathtub, eyes closed. Jarod was standing at the sink, shaving, with a towel around his waist.

“It is,” he agreed. “Maybe we should stay for a while.”

“You want to?” she said, opening her eyes to see if he was serious.

“We could. I can continue searching for my mother just as well here. We could even do some more bounty hunting,” he said smiling at her.

“Sounds good to me,” she said sinking further into the hot water. Her eyes snapped open once again when she felt Jarod stepping into the tub with her. “Hey, this is my bath,” she complained, even as she eyeballed his wonderfully naked body.

“Scoot,” Jarod ordered as he sat down on the opposite end. Parker situated her legs to give him room and rested her feet on his thighs once he was comfortable.

“You were happy using the RV shower, remember?” she asked as she watched him massage one of her calves, working his way to her foot.

Jarod nodded his head. “You were right though. This is much better,” he said before taking her big toe into his mouth. Parker laughed and he melted.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.-

“Doug Murdoch, age 38, wanted for armed robbery and drug possession,” Jarod read aloud as he and Parker reclined on the king sized bed. Her laptop was sitting in between them as they read through Montana’s most wanted list and munched on room service.

“Worse,” Parker said, taking a bite of a buttery croissant.

Jarod scrolled through the list until he came across a man named Jason Paine. “Age 29, wanted for rape, murder and kidnapping.”

“That’s our man,” Parker said in a dangerous tone. All of these people were scum, but she liked to go after the nastiest ones she could find.

“He’s really dangerous, Parker.”

“I’d say I’m more used to danger than any one person should be,” she said.

Jarod couldn’t argue with that and he also knew that she could handle herself, but he felt much better about the whole situation now that he would be there to watch her back.

“When should we start?” he asked, looking at the clock hanging on the wall. It was just past noon.

“Later,” Parker said. She moved to her bags at the foot of the bed and picked out the warmest clothing she could find. The further they moved north, the cooler it got. “I need to pick up a few things first, maybe at that shopping center we passed on the way here.”

Jarod nodded absently as he watched her slip on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. “You take the car,” he said referring to her sports car. They had ditched his jeep, deciding that her car was more practical.

“And you’ll be…”

“Just gathering a few things we might need. If we’re going to be bounty hunters then we need more than just a badge to be legit,” he explained.

Parker just shrugged and went into the bathroom to fix her hair.

-----

A few hours later, Jarod looked up from the papers spread across the tabletop when he heard the door open. He immediately went to help when he saw Parker entering with what seemed like a thousand shopping bags.

“Is there anything left at the store?” he said as he sat the bags on the small couch the room offered.

“Very funny,” Parker said monotonously. “My entire wardrobe consisted of clothing best suited for weather seventy degrees and above. It’s not even fifty out there right now.” She sighed as she plopped down onto the foot of the bed and looked to where he was sitting at the table. “What are you doing?”

“Falsifying documents,” he said.

Parker nodded. “Oh.” She moseyed over to her bags and began rifling through them. “And for your information, a couple of these bags are for you.”

Jarod grinned as he kept on working, now typing something on his laptop. “How do you know my sizes?” he asked.

Parker huffed. “You’re talking to a fashion aficionado here.” She pulled out a long, dark, brown, suede skirt with a slit up the side and held it up to her waist. “Besides, I just looked at the tags in your clothes before I left.”

Jarod laughed and shut down his laptop, standing to join her. “We’re all set. New badges, pseudonyms, and we’re even registered if someone tries to inquire about us.”

Parker nodded her approval as she pulled a smoky, grey sweater out of one of the bags and held it up to his chest. If anyone was a stickler for the details it was Jarod. All she really cared about was catching the bastards. She’d do it without a badge if she had to. She guessed that was the difference between them. Jarod was a trained pretender and she was a not trained pretender.

Jarod dug through the bags as Parker continued to hold clothes up to him. She had gotten him a number of sweaters and shirts, underwear, pants, and even some earmuffs. “Parker, you didn’t have to buy me anything,” he said, though he somehow felt special that she’d thought of him.

“Well, you certainly needed some new things. I think it’s safe to toss those raggedy, green boxer shorts in the trash now,” she said, ignoring his embarrassed groan as she turned once again to her purchases.

“I’ll be right back,” Jarod said, moving toward the door. “I need to get a few things from the RV.” He smiled as Parker nodded and continued going through the shopping bags. She would have had so much fun with him on his pretend as a fashion designer.

Once he had ridden the elevator down to the lobby, he smiled politely as he passed the receptionist and pulled out his cell phone. He knew that Parker just wanted to forget about the Centre, but he couldn’t do that. Too many of the answers about his life were still wrapped up in that place, Parker’s too, but he couldn’t force her to keep searching for the truth. That didn’t mean he couldn’t do it for her. He also couldn’t forget that someone tried to murder her. He had no doubt that whoever the culprit was was still looking for her. And what did that mean for Sydney and Broots? He had to know how they were fairing.

Dialing the familiar number, he listened to the ringing as he unlocked the RV and climbed inside.

“Sydney,” said the tired voice.

Jarod smiled sadly before speaking. “Long time, no speak, Sydney.”

“Jarod, it’s been so long!” the older man said excitedly. “Too long.”

“Yes, I know,” Jarod said. “How have things been for you?”

“As well as can be expected, I suppose. Things are very different now that Parker is gone.”

Jarod winced as he detected the sadness in Sydney’s voice. It pained him to have to keep the truth from him, but he couldn’t betray Parker’s wishes. He couldn’t say he completely understood her reasons, but he would respect her decision.

“And what about you, Jarod?” the psychiatrist asked, breaking the silence.

“You know me, Sydney. I always manage somehow.”

“Yes, you do,” he said thoughtfully. “There has been more secrecy than normal as of late,” he told. “Miss Parker’s death seems to have been the cause of some kind of panic here at the Centre.”

“Sydney, you forget that I was not the only one mentioned in the scrolls. Miss Parker was just as important to the so called prophecy as I was,” he reminded.

“And Miss Parker’s absence may determine that the scrolls are false.”

Jarod sat quietly, thinking the exact opposite. He was even more sure that the Centre knew Parker was alive and they were probably only in an uproar because she wasn’t there where they could control her. They would have to be more alert in the future.

“Jarod, there’s something else you should know,” Sydney said.

“What’s that?”

“…Mr. Parker…he is alive.”

-----

Jarod sat in the RV for over an hour after he and Sydney had hung up, trying to wrap his brain around the latest revelations of the Centre. Mr. Parker was alive. How was he going to tell Miss Parker and what would that mean for her? For them? He wanted to have faith in her rather than to think she would go back to the Centre because of the old man, but anytime they had gotten close in the past, it was always the Centre that pulled her away, her strong desire to please her father. He hated Parker’s father, if he could be called that anymore, almost as much as he hated Dr. Raines.

The sound of the door opening brought him out of his head and he looked to see Parker.

“Jarod, what’s going on? You’ve been out here for over and hour,” she said.

“Sorry.” He gave her a small smile. “I guess I just lost track of time.” He watched her as she moved into the bedroom area. She looked vibrant, happier than he had seen her in years, and he was afraid that it would all disappear when he told her about her father.

“Hey, where did this come from?”

Jarod looked up to see her holding the book that he had taken from her house. “I took it. I went to your house after…you know. It seemed to have meant something to you.” He went to join her where she sat on the edge of the bed.

“It does,” she said. The autobiography couldn’t have been any more different from her life story, an African American woman struggling with racism, rape, abuse, and so much more, but she found a connection in the struggle that the woman faced, the struggle to free herself from her cage. In her case, it was the Centre and all of its lies and deception.

“I’ve read the story,” Jarod said interrupting her thoughts, and he could see why it would have meaning for her. “Did you know that the title of the book comes from a poem?”

Parker looked at him. “No, I didn’t,” she said softly. Turning back to the book, she took out the dried rose and held it up for Jarod to see. He smiled as he remembered all of the roses he had sent her that day.

“Why did you keep it?” he asked. He had an idea, but he wanted to hear it from her mouth.

Parker shrugged and sighed. “I don’t know…maybe because it was the only beautiful thing in my life,” she told him. She would have kept all of them if she could have. “There’s been nothing beautiful about me or my life for quite sometime.”

Jarod found her words ironic, considering she was one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen on the outside and more than even she knew on the inside. She often hid it with biting remarks and indifference, but he knew better.

“You know, I never forgot you, Jarod, or what we had as children. Not a day went by where I didn’t think about it. But you were right,” she said, laughing sardonically. “When things got too bad, I did nothing, pretended like it wasn’t my problem. There are so many times where I regret doing nothing,” she finished.

“Parker, don’t you see? None of that matters anymore. What’s important now is that you have a second chance and that you’re doing something with it,” he said taking her hand.

“What? This bounty hunter thing?” she chuffed. “That’ll never be enough to make up for the things I’ve done.”

“It doesn’t matter how you start, Annabella. Its how you end up,” Jarod told her softly.

Parker closed her eyes at the sound of her first name. It had been so long since anyone spoke it. The last person to do so was her mother. Daddy always called her Angel and to everyone else it was Miss Parker. “I haven’t been Annabella for a long time, Jarod.”

“She’s still there,” he said, kissing her hand. “You just have to give yourself a chance.”

“Not an easy thing to do,” she said, looking at him.

He smiled. “No worries, Parker. I remember her quite well. She’s in my thoughts everyday and my dreams every night.”

Parker shook her head and leaned over to kiss him softly. “You’re crazy.”

“Only when it comes to you,” he said, returning the kiss.

-----

Later that night, Jarod lay in bed with his arm wrapped around Parker. They decided to get a jump on tracking down Paine first thing in the morning. He had yet to tell her about his conversation with Sydney. It seemed like every time he had some type of harmony in his life another bomb dropped. Sighing softly, he untangled himself from Parker and went into the bathroom.

When he returned a few minutes later, he found her wide awake. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asked, crawling back into bed and scooting close to her.

“No. You either?” She saw him shake his head. “Why?”

“Just thinking,” he responded vaguely. “Why can’t you sleep?” She was quiet a few minutes before she answered him.

“I know I said that I didn’t care about the Centre anymore, but the truth is I can’t stop thinking about who tried to kill me,” she confessed. “And I’m worried about Broots and Sydney.”

Jarod knew how she felt. So many times he had thought about disappearing from the Centre altogether, but something always pulled him back. Taking a deep breath, he decided that now was as good a time as any to tell her about his conversation with Sydney. “Parker,” he said, sitting up and reaching over to turn on the bedside lamp. He hesitated a few moments before continuing. “I called Sydney today.” He could clearly see the surprise on her face as she sat up next to him. “Please, don’t be angry. I didn’t tell him about you…I just needed to know that he was alright,” he explained hurriedly.

“And Broots?” Parker asked quietly.

“They’re both fine…they miss you.”

Sighing, she stood from the bed and moved to look out the window. “And how are things at the Centre these days?” she asked. There was no reason for her to be upset with Jarod. He could call Sydney if he wanted to.

“Strange, according to Sydney.” Parker looked at him with an eyebrow quirked and he gave her a lopsided grin. “Okay, stranger than normal.”

“How could things possibly get any stranger at that place?”

“We both know that there’s not a level that the Centre isn’t willing to stoop to,” he said. “Sydney is also still in the dark about the details of your death. Whoever tried to kill you isn’t going to stop looking. We have to be extra careful from now on.”

Parker nodded as she continued looking out the window. “What else did Sydney say?” She studied the darkened courtyard below then finally looked up when she realized he wasn’t answering her. “Jarod?”

He watched her standing there expectantly, trying to force his mouth to form the words. Standing up, he walked over and took her shoulders. “Parker…it’s about your father…Mr. Parker,” he began.

“Daddy? What about him?” she asked anxiously.

Jarod closed his eyes and sighed. “He’s alive.”

“It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was.”

-Anne Sexton-

Jarod paced around the RV, angry at Parker and himself. She was going to see her father. How could she want anything to do with that man after everything he put her through? He had asked her as much.

“I have to see him,” Parker said once she got over the surprise at finding out her father was alive.

“Parker, no,” Jarod said desperately, ignoring the glare she gave him. “It’s too dangerous. The Centre is after you.”

“There are things I need to know…answers I need from him,” Parker said as she paced around.

“And what makes you think he’ll give you the truth?” Jarod asked. Everything was spinning out of control, just as he feared it would, and he was becoming angry. “He’s done nothing but lie to you repeatedly. He doesn’t deserve another chance!”

“He’s my father, Jarod!” Parker exclaimed.

“Is he? Or have you forgotten that he lied about that, too?”

Parker stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him. “I’m not an idiot,” she began in a low tone. “I know damn well that my father isn’t a saint, but it doesn’t mean that I can love him any less. What would you do if you found out things about your mother or father that were just terrible? Would you stop looking for her? Would you cut off contact with your father?”

“My parents aren’t murdering, manipulating monsters who would sacrifice their own family for power,” he ground out, staring at her harshly.

“How do you know?” Parker demanded, getting in his face. “The truth is that you don’t really know them at all. For years you’ve probably painted this perfect picture of them, but when you finally do get to know them, they’ll probably be far from what you’ve imagined,” she finished. With another glare, she turned away from him and resumed her pacing.

Jarod was trying hard to control his fury. His family was nothing like hers and if she was too blind to see them for what they really were then he couldn’t help her. Deciding to leave before he said something he would regret, he pulled on his clothes from earlier and packed his things.

“That’s right, Jarod, run like always,” Parker accused. She watched as he gave her one last look before stepping out into the hallway, the door closing firmly behind him. “Well, fuck him,” Parker said to the empty room, angry as tears spilled down her cheeks. She should have known that things wouldn’t have worked between them anyway. There was simply too much baggage and he ended up leaving just like everyone else.

Wiping her tears away, she turned the lamp off and climbed back into bed. First thing in the morning, she was leaving. She had her reasons for wanting to see her father, despite his shortcomings, and she didn’t need Jarod’s approval or permission to do so.

Miss Parker didn’t sleep one wink the rest of the night. When morning finally arrived, she took a shower and packed up her belongings. How could things have changed so drastically in a few short moments? All of Jarod’s talk about his faith in her had obviously been bullshit. As soon as things got complicated, it was him who ran, not her, and she’d be damned if she was going to give chase this time. He could run as far and as fast as he wanted and he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing her over his shoulder anymore.

Checking the room one last time for anything she might have forgotten, Parker closed the door and made her way to the parking lot. Once outside, she looked around for the RV, but didn’t see it. He really did leave. Giving a bitter laugh, she climbed into her car and sped out of the parking lot.

-----

Jarod sat in his newly rented SUV, trying to decide what he should do. Earlier, he had gone back to the hotel room to find that Parker had left. His intentions, last night, had been to go sleep in the RV to cool off, but he had obviously given the wrong impression. Parker was gone when he went back to the room and she wouldn’t have seen the RV on her way out because he had gone to see about getting rid of it. Before, he had been angry at Parker and himself, but now he was mostly angry with himself. He thought things would be different since their relationship had progressed and he hated the fact that it had been so easy to fall back into old habits. She had hit a nerve with his family. Every wrong that had ever been done to them was because of the Centre and he was aggravated that she would even think of comparing them or suggest that they might not be good people.

Pulling out his cell phone, he fingered the buttons, hating himself for wanting to call Sydney. He could solve the most complex math equations and learn how to perform brain surgery just by reading a book, but he couldn’t figure out what to do with one woman. Granted, Parker was no ordinary woman. She was the most frustrating, moody, difficult woman he ever knew, but he loved her. She was nowhere near as nice as Nia had been, or as fun loving as Zoë, but he wouldn’t change a thing about her. She wouldn’t be Parker otherwise.

Sighing deeply in the quiet interior of the vehicle, he started the engine and pulled out into traffic. He realized that he shouldn’t have tried to stop her from seeing her father in the first place. As much as he hated the comparison, he realized the point she was trying to make. He couldn’t love his family any less if he had found out terrible things about them. Now, all he had to do was find Parker and try to make things right. Her father had a way of manipulating her like no one else and their argument may have made her vulnerable. If he took the next flight to Delaware, maybe he could catch her before she went to see him.

-----

Parker stared at the mansion from where she stood on a hill, watching for any movement. Her father didn’t usually take any sweepers home with him, but a lot had changed since she last saw him. Aside from stops and rest breaks, it had taken her nearly a days worth of driving to get there. There were even a few instances where she had changed her mind about the whole thing, but, in the end, she had to give her father one last chance and now, here she stood.

It was past midnight, but there were still a few lights on. Parker knew that her father liked to read in his study before bed or when he couldn’t sleep and she wondered what was keeping him up this time. Centre secrets and lies, probably.

Checking her weapon, she holstered it and began looking for the best point to enter. She remembered trying to talk him into getting security cameras for outside, but he always refused, saying that he could protect himself. Now, she was glad that he never listened to her as she snuck down to the back entrance. One thing she did manage to keep with her, after the explosion, was her keys. She still had the key to her Porsche, though it did little good, and she had the keys to her house and her father’s, which made entering very easy. She slid the silver key into the lock, pushing it open gently and immediately turned to shut it as she heard the beep of a security system. She moved to it quickly and prayed that the code was still the same. Punching in the four digit number, she listened and breathed a sigh of relief when it beeped twice, indicating that she got the code right. Things would have been so much easier if she’d had Broots to help her.

Turning around, she looked at the sterile kitchen before her, only lit by a light above the sink. The counters were empty, not one dish or container in sight. Her father had always been a real stickler about clutter. One time, when she was a little girl, she remembered waking up for a midnight snack of peanut butter and jelly. When she was done, she sat all of her dirty dishes in the sink and went back to bed. The next morning, as she came downstairs, she heard her father reprimanding the maid for leaving such a mess. It was one of the few times as a little girl that she had ever seen her father being anything other than nice and kind and it scared her. Later on, secretly, she apologized to the maid named Lily, who assured her that it was alright. Lily was always so nice to her and she always made time to talk to her about stuff when her father was busy, which was more often than not. She never saw the woman anymore after that week.

Passing through the kitchen and the living room, Parker walked down a long hallway until she came to her father’s study doors. There was light beneath and she took a deep breath, assuming that he would be inside. She eased one of the doors open quietly to confront him and let out her breath when she saw that the room was empty. Maybe he had forgotten to turn off the lamp. Shutting the door, she decided to have a closer look around. So many of the good memories she had of her father had taken place in that room. When she was a little girl, she remembered waking up in the middle of the night to find him sitting in his chair by the fire, reading some old book. He would always welcome her to join him and she would climb into his lap while he continued to read aloud. As she would doze off, she remembered him reciting a poem to her:

Come, cuddle your head on my shoulder, dear,

Your head like the golden-rod,

And we will go sailing away from here

To the beautiful land of Nod.

She always loved to hear him recite it and she would never forget those nights where it was just the two of them, simply father and daughter. The only thing that could have made it more perfect was if her mother had been there, too. No matter what anyone said about her father, she knew in her heart that he wasn’t all bad. She did have some good memories of him and she wasn’t going to let anyone take them away, not even Jarod. She knew that he had good reason for hating her father, but she couldn’t help but love him, even with his many faults.

Every wall from floor to ceiling was lined with bookshelves and every bit of shelve space was taken. Parker walked along and ran her fingers across the old books. Some of them were antiques, books so old that collectors would pay hundreds of thousands for them. It was one of the very few normal activities that her father had, collecting antique books. So engrossed in her memories, she didn’t hear the door opening until it creaked. She turned around quickly with her gun aimed and scowled when she saw who it was. “What the hell are you doing here?”

"None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes."

-Johann von Goethe-

Parker kept her gun trained as Jarod moved further into the room. “I asked you a question,” she said.

“Parker, will you put the gun away,” he said annoyed.

She lowered it and walked straight over to him. “You’d better not be here to interfere, Jarod,” she hissed, pointing her finger in his face. “You made it perfectly clear that you didn’t support my decision, but that doesn’t mean that you get to come in here and try to meddle in this.”

“I didn’t come here to try and mess things up for you,” he explained. “But I needed to see you before you spoke with your father.”

Parker pivoted away from him. “You sure that’s what you want? I am related to those murdering monster’s you mentioned. Hell, I could probably even be considered one of them.”

“But you’re not like them, Parker. I’ve always known that…and I’m sorry.”

Parker turned her head to look at him, shocked by his apology. He moved closer to her to say more, but both of them tensed as they heard noise on the staircase. “Quick,” she said, pushing Jarod toward a corner. “Hide.” She watched as he faded into the dark just as the door to her father’s study slowly opened. She caught herself backing up a few steps out of the light, her gun held tightly at her side. It was the moment she had been waiting for, but she had no idea what to say to him. Parker watched him moving around the room, completely unaware that she and Jarod were lurking about. He moved so slowly, like an old, tired man. Of course, he was no spring chicken anyway, but he never seemed so old before.

Deciding to get things over with, Parker put her gun away and stepped forward, softly calling to him. “Daddy?” His head whipped around and he stared at her in shock.

“Angel,” he whispered, immediately moving to envelope her into a hug, not noticing when she took a few more steps backward. “Oh, Angel, I’ve missed you so much,” he told her. She allowed herself to believe that his concern was real and found her arms tightening around him.

“Daddy, I thought you were dead,” she said, her voice quivering. “After you jumped from the plane…” she trailed off, pulling back to look at him. “Where have you been? What’s going on?” she asked. Parker allowed herself to be pulled over to a small sofa, her hands firmly grasped in her father’s larger ones.

“Angel, so much has changed. I came back just as soon as I could and to find that someone had tried to kill you…well, I couldn’t believe it. But it’s alright now. Your brother and Mr. Raines have been worried sick about you, too. We won’t rest until we find out who’s behind it,” he said patting her hand.

“Daddy…” she said, only to be interrupted as he prattled on.

“It’s alright, sweetheart. We understand why you felt you had to leave, but you should have trusted your brother. He wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.”

Parker looked at her father incredulously. “Daddy, for all we know, Lyle was the one who tried to kill me and Raines has done nothing but threaten me now that he's been placed in charge.” He stared at her a moment before speaking.

“No need to worry about Raines now that your old man is back," he smiled. "Things have changed,” he said again. “We Parker’s have to stick together.”

“What things have changed, Daddy?” Parker asked frustrated. “What have you been doing all this time?”

“First things first, Angel. You look worn out. Why don’t you go on home and get some rest and I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow morning at the Centre,” he smiled reassuringly.

“No, Daddy.” His smile faltered. “I want an explanation now, right here, just me and you, away from Raines, and away from Lyle,” she demanded.

“Angel,” he said in a warning tone. “Everything will be revealed tomorrow...at the Centre.”

“Who says I’m going back to the Centre?” Parker said as she pulled her hands from her father’s grasp and stood. It was obvious that he was giving her the runaround just like always. There was no such thing as a straight answer from him.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, his voice raising some. “You’re a Parker and the Centre is where you belong.”

Parker paced around the room. “I can’t believe that I actually came here to give you another chance,” she said quietly.

“Angel, you’ve got to trust me,” he said.

“And I suppose Jarod is still the key.”

“Always has been. Jarod belongs at the Centre.”

“Why! Why is Jarod the key?! You’ve read the scrolls, so I know you know. And what about me? How to I fit into all of this?”

“Enough!” His deep voice bellowed as he stood from the couch and moved toward her. Parker froze, making sure to keep an eye on him, her gun ready at her back if she needed it. “I won’t have you disrespecting me. I’m still your father!”

“Are you?” she said defiantly. “Or is Raines my real father? The man who killed my mother...your wife in cold blood,” she said, her disgust evident. He made to speak, but she raised a hand to silence him. “The truth this time!” she ground out harshly.

Jarod listened intently from his hiding spot. He had almost revealed himself when Mr. Parker had advanced on her, ready to do whatever he had to in order to protect her. The man was insane with his want and need for power.

“I raised you didn’t I?” Mr. Parker growled. “You’ve never wanted for anything in your life.”

“Except for your attention,” Parker said softly. “Your love, your approval…but it seems that the only way to get that is to do your dirty work…the Centre’s dirty work. If you love me so much then why would you make me stay at that place when you knew it killed a small piece of me everyday?” she said, taking a few steps closer to him. “Is power that much more important than your family? Was my mother’s life worth the information in those damned scrolls?!” she demanded, looking her father steadily in the eye. They stayed that way for a few moments before he finally spoke.

“Your mother deserved better than what she got,” he began quietly, turning his back to her as he spoke. “Much better and I know that now after having read the scrolls.”

“You told me that before you jumped,” she reminded. “You said that no one should have that kind of power. So, what’s changed since then?”

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it while I was away. The scrolls are dangerous if left to the wrong people. The Africans should have never had any control over them in the first place.” He turned around suddenly with a pleading look in his eyes. “Angel, please, I promise I’ll explain everything to you, but now just isn’t the time.”

Parker held her ground. “It’s either now or never.” When he said nothing, Parker moved toward the door.

“You’ll be making the biggest mistake of your life if you turn your back on this family!” he yelled harshly. Miss Parker stopped with her hand on the knob and turned to him.

“Goodbye, Daddy.” She heard him calling to her as she rushed down the hallway, wiping the tears from her eyes. There was no telling what he would do now that she had downright defied him…the Centre. A sweeper team was probably already on its way. She knew Jarod would find a way out on his own.

As she entered the kitchen to leave the way she came, it took her a moment to notice that someone was in there. Kneeling on one of the stools at the island was a small boy with a jar of peanutbutter and the makings for a sandwich laid out in front of him. He couldn’t have been any older than three or four and as she stepped closer, she recognized him immediately.

“Annabella?” the small voice said.

She had forgotten that there was one other person, besides Jarod, that she had shared her name with.

Her baby brother.

Parker’s face crumpled as she approached him, lifting him into her arms for a hug. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered, kissing his cheek.

“Me, too,” the boy said, his arms around her neck.

Parker started when she heard commotion from the other end of the house. Suddenly, someone burst into the kitchen and she responded immediately, her gun out of its holster and aimed steadily in front of her.

“It’s me,” came Jarod’s voice.

Parker sighed in relief and tightened her grip on her brother. “What’s going on?” she asked him.

“We have to go,” he said, moving closer to her and eyeing the little boy in her arms. His head was resting on her shoulder and his hands were fisted in her hair. “Your father called a sweeper team after you left. He isn’t going to let you go without a fight.”

“Daniel!” They all started at the sound of Mr. Parker’s booming voice. Parker felt her brother jump and he clung to her tighter.

“Please, don’t leave me,” he begged. Parker looked at Jarod who was watching her closely.

“Let’s go,” she said, moving to the back door. She sat her brother down, keeping a hold of his hand as they escaped into the night.

“Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation.”

-C. Everett Koop-

Parker stood in the bedroom of Jarod’s latest abode watching her little brother sleep. Jarod was probably in the living room waiting for her to come out, but she wasn’t sure if she felt like talking. Things had just gotten a hundred times more complicated now that she had Daniel with her and the Centre would be sure to double their efforts at finding them. Heaving an exhausted sigh, she made her way to the door to get her conversation with Jarod over with.

“Where are we?” she asked him as she moved to join him on the couch, the only couch in the room.

“Still in Delaware,” he answered. “They probably figured we’d be long gone from here by now.” Parker nodded but didn’t say anything else. “I meant what I said at your father’s house,” he began. She finally looked at him, but she still remained silent. “I wasn’t walking out on you that night. My intentions were to spend the night in the RV, and then I decided to get rid of it. By the time I got back you were gone.” He stared at her, desperate for her to tell him that she forgave him. He was confused when she smiled and then broke out into a short laugh.

“Jarod, you do realize that we must be the most screwed up two people in the world,” she said. “How is this all going to work?” she asked sobering up. “How are we to possibly live with each other if we’re going to be at each other’s throat every time we disagree? If Daniel is going to be with us, he doesn’t need to see that. I can only imagine what he’s already been exposed to at the hands of the Centre, but he’s going to need to be around something healthy, something normal.” She laughed again, bitterly, and reclined back against the couch. “That’s exactly what we’re not.”

“Does that mean you want us all to be together?” he asked cautiously.

Parker looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s what I want,” she answered. “But you can’t get mad at me because I still happen to love my evil father who might be the devil himself,” she joked dryly.

Jarod gave a cautious smile and surprised her when he leaned in to give her a kiss. She returned it wholeheartedly, glad that their conversation had gone much better than she expected. Jarod wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he didn’t want to push his luck. Instead, he pulled back and looked at her, hoping she could see it in his eyes.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Maybe we should think about telling Sydney and Broots that you’re alive,” he said. “Now that we have Daniel, we need to know what’s going on at the Centre.”

Parker sighed and closed her eyes. “I was hoping we would be able to leave them out of it this time, especially, Broots,” she said. The Centre games were only getting more dangerous as time went on and Broots had Debbie to live for.

“They may have already told Sydney and Broots that you’re alive. If you made contact with the Centre, it would be through the two of them and they’d want to know.”

“Let’s just rest for now,” she said as she stretched her long body onto the couch. Jarod pulled her boots off, then his own, and stretched out beside her. “We can let Daniel sleep a little longer and then we should probably get out of here.”

“So much for the bounty hunting business,” he commented as he wrapped his frame around hers.

Parker shrugged. “It was just something to do to pass the time. Now that we have Daniel, I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

Jarod listened as her breathing eventually evened out. Parker, and now Daniel, had come along to give him an instant family and he was going to do whatever it took to keep them safe. He had embarked on hundreds of pretends, but the role of father had never been one of them. This was the real thing and he was scared out of his mind.

For some reason, Parker had expected Daniel to be quiet and shy. Surely, his time at the Centre would have dulled the exuberance that most children his age emitted, but she couldn’t have been more wrong. They had been on the road for hours now and he hadn’t stopped asking questions. It turned out to be a good thing though because he was able to tell them about his time at the Centre. It turned out that he was being trained as a Pretender, but they hadn’t gotten very far, which Parker and Jarod were glad for. Having the skills of a pretender wasn’t so bad, but the means by which the Centre gave them to you was. The only thing that seemed to sadden the boy was when they discussed Mr. Parker.

“Was your father nice to you?” Parker asked. She was half turned in her seat so she could see him in the back. Daniel’s face fell after she’d asked him the question.

“He told me not to call him that. I asked him once if he was my daddy and he told me to call him Mr. Parker only,” he told them.

Parker and Jarod exchanged glances. If Daniel was indeed her father’s and Brigitte’s son then why would he deny him?

“Did you make any friends inside the Centre?” Jarod asked the little boy. He knew he wouldn’t have made it in the Centre as long as he did if it hadn’t been for friends like Miss Parker and Angelo.

“Angelo!” Daniel said, his face bright once again. “He always told me you would come for me one day.”

Parker smiled at the boy, a deep surge of fierce protectiveness coming over her. She would die before she let the Centre get their hands on him again.

The trio was now making their way through the Buckeye state, but Jarod knew they would need to find someplace to stop for a while. They couldn’t live on the road forever and they needed to get some things for Daniel. The boy was still wearing his pajamas. He had an idea of where they could stay for a while, but he wasn’t sure Parker was going to like it.

“No.”

“You haven’t even heard me out.”

“I don’t need to. I know it’s a bad idea. The last thing I need is to be around a bunch of people who’d like to see me dead.”

“That’s not true.”

Parker gave Jarod a pointed look and then turned to check on Daniel who was in the car eating a sandwich. They had stopped at a gas station when Jarod decided to drop his bomb on her.

“Parker, it might be the best thing for him. To be around people who love him.”

“We love him! That’s good enough,” she said looking away, her tone brooking no room for argument. “I’m his family and I’m not going to leave him for anyone else to take care of. There’s been enough of that over the years.”

Jarod grabbed her hand and forced her to look at him. “I would never ask you to leave him. I just think we need to lay low for a while. We don’t have to stay for long. We can’t anyway. Just a few days wile we get a plan together,” he said gently.

Parker stared at him and after a moment gave him a tight lipped, “Fine.” Moving past him, she walked around to the driver’s side and got in. Jarod gave a silent thank you and hurriedly climbed into the passenger side as she started the car.

Jarod and Daniel sat outside the women’s dressing room waiting for Parker to come out. The first stop had been the little boy’s department and Daniel was wearing a fresh pair of boy’s beige Dockers and a navy blue turtle neck with a red sweater over it.

“I never wore clothes like these before. At the Centre, I always wore a gray uniform and when I went home with Mr. Parker I wore plain, white pajamas,” Daniel told Jarod.

“Why did Mr. Parker allow you to go home with him?” Jarod asked. It was completely against the Centre’s way of doing things. As far as he knew, their philosophy had always been that the less their subjects were exposed to the outside world the better.

“Well,” the little boy began sheepishly, “He never actually told me, but I overheard him talking to Mr. Raines once. He said that maybe if I spent a little time away from the Centre I wouldn’t wonder so much about what was beyond it.”

The Centre was trying to adapt, Jarod thought. Things obviously didn’t work out too well with him or his clone and now they thought that giving Daniel a small amount of freedom, if you could call it that, would keep him from getting too curious. “The night Parker found you in the kitchen…” Jarod began. Daniel had a guilty look on his face again and Jarod vowed to make the little boy understand that he had nothing to be ashamed of. He remembered all of the times he had been berated for doing the things that came normal to any human being. He remember going through an old newspaper once and coming across the comics section. He was laughing at a Peanuts comic strip when Dr. Raines caught him and snatched it away.

“The nanny usually locks my bedroom door at night, but she must have forgotten. I always listen for it after she closes the door, but I didn’t hear it that time. I waited for a while and then I got up to try the door and it opened,” Daniel explained. “I was still hungry, so I went down to the kitchen. I had read about peanut butter and jelly once in a magazine I found in the nanny’s purse.”

Jarod smiled, glad to see that the boy had a bit of a rebellious streak in him. The Centre hadn’t been able to take away his curiosity.

“How do I look?” Parker asked. She was dressed in black pants, a grey, button down shirt, and a black leather jacket.

“Great, as usual,” Jarod commented as he gave her a slow once over.

“You look pretty, Parker,” Daniel said. He smiled when Parker tapped him under the chin with her index finger.

“Thanks, kid.” She winked at him and went back into the dressing room to get the rest of her things.

After their trip to the shopping center was complete, the trio checked into a hotel to get some rest before they completed the last leg of their trip to see Jarod’s family. Parker was stressed just thinking about it. Unlocking the door to their room, she ushered Daniel inside and dropped their bags onto one of the two beds. Jarod was still at the front desk taking care of some things. Looking around, she had to admit that the hotel was actually decent.

“Parker, is this our new home?” Daniel asked.

“No, sweetie,” she said smiling. “We’re just going to spend the night here and then tomorrow we’re going to see Jarod’s family.”

“Oh.” He studied her for a moment as they sat on the bed waiting for Jarod. “You don’t want to go, do you?”

Parker looked at him with a raised brow. “What makes you think that?”

“I can just tell,” he said. They were interrupted by Jarod finally entering the room.

“We’re all paid for,” he said smiling as he ruffled Daniel’s hair. He plopped down on the bed with them and sighed. “I’m hungry.”

“Me, too,” Daniel said.

“Well, I’m going to take a bath,” Parker said standing. “You two can order room service.” She dug through her bags.

“Let’s see,” Jarod said rifling through the nightstand drawer for a menu. “Have you ever had ice cream, Daniel?” Parker shook her head and disappeared behind the bathroom door.

"No doubt there are other important things in life besides conflict, but there are not many other things so inevitably interesting. The very saints interest us most when we think of them as engaged in a conflict with the Devil."

-Robert Lynd: The Blue Lion-

Part 14

After ordering nothing but junk from the hotel menu and eating all of it, Jarod and Daniel were sitting on the couch watching television while Parker sat on the bed using her laptop. Jarod had been considerate enough to order her some grilled salmon and a salad as opposed to the cheeseburgers, pizza, jello and ice cream he and Daniel ate. After watching them stuff their faces, she warned Jarod that if Daniel got sick he would be the one cleaning up after him. Jarod had only smiled and ushered Daniel off to the television.

Parker looked up from the screen when she felt a dip in the bed next to her. Jarod moved in close to her and looked onto the laptop with her.

“I thought your days of bounty hunting were behind you?” he asked.

“They are,” she said as she typed in a few names. Jarod recognized them as some of the bounties she had been after. “Just checking on a few things.”

Her eyes drifted shut when she felt the warmth of his lips caressing her neck. “What’s Daniel doing?” she asked softly.

“He’s sleeping,” Jarod answered against her smooth skin. Turning her head to face him, he moved his kisses to her mouth, his tongue parting her lips.

“You know,” Parker said, pulling back for air, “as nice as this is, Daniel could wake up any minute.”

“I know,” Jarod said, delving in for one last taste of her. He stood from the bed and Parker’s eyes tracked him as he moved into the bathroom, no doubt frustrated, she thought with a slight smile.

Focusing her attention back on the mug shots on the laptop, she sighed as she thought about seeing Jarod’s family. The crazy part of her would almost rather go back to the Centre. She closed the laptop in frustration and moved to where Daniel was sleeping on the couch. Lifting him gently, she carried him over to the extra bed and snuggled around him as she watched him sleep. If going to see Jarod’s family meant just a little more normalcy and safety for him then she would do it.

Parker had insisted on driving and she listened quietly as Jarod told Daniel about his perfect little family. It was annoying. It wasn’t that she had anything against them, but she didn’t want Jarod to plant any seeds of false hope into Daniel’s head considering they were all so completely unsure of what the future held. They were smart, her and Jarod, smart enough to dodge the Centre, but it didn’t mean that they weren’t still a threat.

They had been driving for hours and Parker looked into the rearview mirror to see Daniel fast asleep. They left at nearly one that morning and it was now closing in on two in the afternoon. They would be at the family’s home in Alabama shortly.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them face to face,” Jarod said from the passenger seat.

Parker softened at the tone of his voice. Although, it wasn’t much, she had been lucky to be able to spend what little time she did have with her mother. Jarod had even less time with his family and it was hard to deal with the fact that it was all because of her family. Not for the first time, she wondered how anything good had ever survived that place, how Jarod maintained such a happy outlook. Reaching over, she picked up his hand and kissed it.

They followed the driveway along slowly to a cozy two story house. It was a fairly rural area, but there were plenty of neighbors nearby and a drive into town would take no more than fifteen minutes. Parker stopped the car in front of the garage and took a deep breath. She was tense, but she didn’t want Jarod to know, so she made sure to school her features. Stepping from the car, she moved to gather a sleeping Daniel. Jarod came around to meet her and together they walked to the home.

It was just the type of corny reunion she was expecting and she watched silently in the background as Jarod happily greeted his father, his sister and his clone with hugs and kisses. She definitely noticed the wary looks she was receiving, but she kept her features neutral. Jarod’s clone was the only one who smiled at her with any sort of sincerity. He had chosen the name Adam for himself. Daniel was beginning to stir and Jarod happily introduced the little boy to his family.

“This is Daniel,” he said, taking the boy from her arms. “He’s Parker’s brother.” Daniel greeted everyone shyly and then sought the warmth of Parker’s embrace once again. She kissed his head and followed along as Jarod’s father showed them where they would be staying.

“The house has five bedrooms and two baths. They’re pretty small, but we make do,” he said as they climbed the stairs. They approached an open door and Parker looked inside to see a cozy, full-sized bed. There was no way she Jarod and Daniel could share the tiny room.

“Jarod, your room is right next door,” his dad said, smiling as he clapped him on the shoulder.

Parker glanced at Jarod, who returned his father’s smile, and wondered if he had mentioned to his family that they were a little more than just friends.

“I’ll leave you to get settled,” the Major said.

Parker waited until the door closed before speaking. “Jarod, what exactly have you told them about us?” she asked as she sat Daniel on the floor. He immediately moved to the bed and began bouncing on it.

“Nothing really,” he said, rifling through their bags.

“They’re not exactly welcoming me with open arms. Don’t you think it might come as a shock to them, you fraternizing with the enemy?” She glanced over to Daniel who was now playing with an Uncle Sam Pez dispenser Jarod had tossed onto the bed.

“Parker, they know you don’t work for the Centre anymore. They know that you aren’t like the rest of your family,” he explained.

Like the rest of her family. She could have slapped him. If Parker was honest with herself, she was still a little raw from their argument. Something about the way Jarod said it just bugged her. “No, they don’t. They don’t know anything about me and they have no reason to trust me.”

“I trust you, Parker,” Daniel said as he crunched on a piece of candy.

Parker could only smile at him.

“Don’t worry,” Jarod said. “Once they get to know you, they’ll see who you really are.” He kissed her cheek and Parker stayed quiet, not wanting to continue the conversation in front of Daniel. It was going to be a long visit.

Adam and Emily sat on the back porch talking quietly. It was certainly a joy to have Jarod home, but Emily wasn’t so sure about Miss Parker.

“She tried to save me when I was at the Centre,” Adam said. “I don’t think she would have done that if she was like the rest of them.”

“Still,” Emily said as she looked out into sunny yard, “she chased Jarod relentlessly for years. I just don’t think it would be smart to let our guard down. That place will go to any means necessary to get what they want.” They had been living in the house for nearly a year and a part of Emily had begun to feel safe, but now that Miss Parker was among them, she was beginning to feel restless again. It was like having a fox in the henhouse.

Adam stayed quiet, letting his sister have a right to her feelings on the situation. He couldn’t expect the rest of his family to simply trust Parker the way he instinctively did, but then again, no one had ever told him much about her so he wasn’t sure of her past actions.

Just then, Jarod came outside to join them, smiling brightly. “I’ve missed you both,” he said, taking a hold of Emily’s hand. There was still so much he had to learn about his sister, Adam, too.

“We’ve missed you, too, Jarod,” Emily said. But as happy as they were, they knew things would only feel complete once they reunited with their mother. “Have you come any closer to finding mom?” she asked quietly.

“No,” he said sadly. A part of him felt guilty. Ever since Parker and her brother had come into his life, his search for Margaret hadn’t been as focused.

“We had a lead a few weeks ago,” Adam said. “There was a woman matching her description in New York. Emily went to check it out.”

“By the time I got there she was gone,” she explained. “She did leave something behind though.” Emily went into the house and came out a moment later with a small, silver butterfly pin. “They were always her favorite. I remember she used to where it everyday.”

Jarod held the shiny butterfly and watched as it glinted in the sunlight. Butterflies symbolized lots of different things. Some believed they were the personification of one’s soul and others believed them to be a bad omen. He tried not to think about the latter.

It wasn’t long before Daniel’s shyness was a thing of the past. Parker sat at the kitchen table with a glass of water, watching quietly as he helped Jarod’s father prepare dinner. He had warmed up to the entire family. Parker, on the other hand, had barely spoken two words to any of them. What was there to say really? She had nothing in common with them other than Jarod and the Centre and she doubted they wanted to talk about that.

“Daniel, stay here with the Major. I’ll be back in a minute,” she informed the boy.

“Okay, Parker,” he smiled.

She made her way upstairs to their room and shut the door behind her, breathing a sigh of relief. She was glad Jarod was getting to spend time with his family and that Daniel was having fun, but she wanted nothing more than to get into her car and leave. It all reminded her of how desperately she still missed her own mother.

The weather was much warmer in Alabama, even though it was still technically winter, and Parker decided to put on something lighter. After she finished changing, she sat down on the edge of the bed and simply stared at the closed bedroom door. Her inner voice hadn’t spoken to her since the day of the explosion and she suddenly yearned for it, yearned for her mother to guide her. She, Daniel and Jarod couldn’t run forever. The only possible thing left to do was to go under deeper than ever before. She knew they could do it, had thought about it plenty before Jarod found her. The only reason he hadn’t done it before was because he chose not to, the Centre still having some twisted hold on his psyche. As much as she wanted answers from the Centre, she would leave it all behind to protect Daniel from the kind of life they provided.

The muffled sound of a woman’s voice quickly brought her out of her thoughts and she opened the door to see what was going on. As she descended the stairs, the voice became clearer and she made her way into the living room just in time to see a red headed woman planting a kiss on Jarod with the rest of his family standing around watching, smiling.

Folding her arms across her chest, she watched the scene with perfectly schooled features, the rest of the family having no idea that she was even in the room. The strange woman was dressed in a pair of tight, faded jeans and a black, leather jacket. Her hair was a mess of long curls. Parker had to admit that it was quite a lengthy kiss the woman was laying on Jarod, who had yet to pull away. It was Daniel who finally made her presence known.

“Hi, Parker,” he said loudly as he ran over to her. It was comical really, the way Jarod’s head snapped around to look at her, lipstick smudged across his face, but she didn’t dare crack a smile, deciding to let him stew a minute. Instead she simply raised an eyebrow and ushered Daniel from the room, not sparing a second glance for the new visitor.

“Who was that woman?” Daniel asked as they entered the kitchen.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough,” she told him. “Hey, how about we go outside for a walk.” Daniel happily agreed and they made their way through the back door.

“Who was that woman?” Zoë asked, unknowingly echoing Daniel’s words.

Jarod was stuck on deciding to go after Parker or stay and find out what Zoë was doing there.

“That was Miss Parker,” Adam said, answering Zoë’s question.

“Surprise, Jarod,” his father said, smiling. “Zoë has been keeping in touch with the family and I invited her for a stay. It was just a coincidence you deciding to visit, too. I know she means a lot to you.” He was the one to rescue her from her kidnappers and he had come to see how much they meant to one another.

Jarod stared at Zoë who was smiling brightly. She pulled him into a hug and he hugged her back. He cared a great deal for her, had even told her he loved her. But he had loved Miss Parker for nearly his entire life and he hoped Zoë would be okay with just being friends now. He looked around at his smiling family and swallowed hard. Things were going to be awkward to say the least.

The yard was nearly an acre in size with a vegetable garden and a small gazebo. Parker watched her brother, now dressed in a t-shirt, as he ran ahead of her. It was nice to see him simply being a child. No worries about not finishing a simulation and no punishment for asking questions. He picked up a grasshopper and showed it to her, oblivious to her disgust. “Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Anthropoda; Subphylum: Hexapoda; Class: Insecta; Order: Orthoptera; Suborder: Caelifera.” He grinned at her and ran along, naming orders and classes and kingdoms for every bug or animal he saw. Saying that he was special was an understatement and she decided that it was about time she rose from the dead and spoke to Sydney and Broots. She wanted every piece of information they could dig up about her brother…and his origins. Broots had already discovered that it was unlikely that the man she called Daddy was even her real father. He couldn’t possibly be Daniel’s either.

The screen of the back door slammed shut and Parker looked back to the house to see Jarod making his way toward her. She wanted to smirk, but held it back. He stopped in front of her and gave her a guilty smile.

“Parker, about Zoë,” he began.

The name immediately rang a bell and she knew that it was one of Jarod’s old flames, the one Dr. Cox had kidnapped. She kept the information to herself and watched quietly as he struggled to explain himself.

“Well, we used to…”

“Date?” Parker offered sarcastically.

Jarod rubbed the back of his head. “Something like that,” he muttered. He felt guilty for thinking about the things he and Zoë shared.

Parker quirked an eyebrow, knowing exactly what Jarod wasn’t saying. She had no real insecurities when it came to the woman, but she found it amusing, watching Jarod squirm.

“Well, she’s kind of a free spirit. She doesn’t know about us and…”

Deciding that he’d had enough, Parker interrupted. “Jarod, it’s alright. Just don’t let it happen again.” He smiled and she smirked. He leaned in to kiss her and she moved her head away, instead bringing a hand up to wipe the lipstick from his mouth.

“Sorry.” He brought his hand up to roughly smear it away. He wished he had told his family about them from the beginning and now things were going to be tense. As soon as he got a chance, he was going to tell his father everything.

“Jarod!” Daniel called from the garden where he had been playing. “Look at this.” With one last grateful smile at Parker, he joined the little boy where he was picking tomatoes.

Parker watched as Daniel took a juicy bite of the newly discovered fruit and once again began naming the order and kingdom. She rolled her eyes when Jarod joined him, certain that she was in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Turning back to the house, Parker saw Zoë watching them from the back porch and she had a feeling that she wasn’t the type of woman who could handle being told no. The last thing she felt like dealing with was a jealous ex-girlfriend. Blatantly turning her back to the other woman, she joined Jarod and Daniel in the garden.

To be continued...

"Sacrificing your happiness for the happiness of the one you love is, by far, the truest type of love.”

-Unknown-

Part 15

They had been with Jarod’s family for two days now and Parker was almost at the brink. Zoë made sure to horn in on all of Jarod’s time and Parker was questioning whether or not he realized it. Last night, she had come downstairs for a glass of water only to find them talking quietly in the living room. She watched them for a moment, making sure to stay unnoticed as they conversed. Jarod had a fond look on his face and Zoë…Parker knew the look of want when she saw it.

She wasn’t worried about Jarod doing anything physically inappropriate with Zoë. He just wasn’t the type. But she couldn’t be as sure about his feelings for the woman. She knew that Jarod cherished the relationships he made with others and Zoë would be no different, especially since they had shared more than friendship. She and Jarod hadn’t exactly made any declarations of love. Parker knew she cared for him deeply, probably more so than she was ready to admit.

Deciding that Jarod needed to figure out what he wanted, Parker chose to keep her thoughts to herself when it came to the other woman. She had Daniel to worry about now and it would give her a chance to focus on him and how she was going to provide for him.

Now, she sat on the back porch as she watched her brother playing catch in the yard with Adam. Every time one person caught the ball, the other would say a phrase in Latin. There really was a fine line between genius and insanity.

Her plan was to call Broots and Sydney, but every time she tried to get away she was interrupted. Hearing the screen door opening, she looked up to see Emily coming out. God she wanted to leave the place. She was tired of the awkwardness surrounding the whole situation.

“Hello,” Emily said.

Parker was surprised to say the least. “Hello.” Emily sat down next to her and looked out into the yard. It didn’t appear as if she was going to say anything else, but just as Parker had made up her mind to leave, she spoke.

“Jarod told me that you’ve known each other since you were children,” she said.

“That’s right,” Parker answered.

“He talks about you as if you’re innocent in all this.” Parker could detect the slight anger in her voice. “I remember you from that day,” Emily said, “all those years ago.” Parker knew exactly what day she was referring to. It was the first time Jarod had ever tried to make contact with his family. “If you and Jarod were friends, then how could you try and take him back to that place?”

Parker was expecting that inevitable question. There couldn’t possibly be an explanation that Emily would be willing to listen to, that she could understand. How could she explain that she could never be free from her enslavement at the Centre unless she brought Jarod back? It was selfish, she knew, but her desperation to be rid of that place overrode any compassion she might have had. Could they understand what it was like to have your life threatened on a daily basis by your own so called family? They didn’t realize that she had been as much a prisoner of the Centre as Jarod had. The only difference was that her chain was a little longer.

“There’s nothing I could possibly say to explain my actions,” Parker said as she brushed at some invisible lint on her pant leg. “I understand your contempt of me and you have a right to your anger. I didn’t expect to come here and simply be welcomed as a member of the family.”

“Then why did you come at all?” Emily said, staring at the dark haired woman with accusation in her eyes. She didn’t wait for an answer.

Parker listened as the screen door slammed shut and let out a deep breath. “Good question.”

“Miss Parker doesn’t say much,” Zoë said as she watched Jarod working on his laptop.

“She’s a very private woman,” Jarod answered as he typed away. He smiled softly at the though of her. They’d barely had a moment alone together since they’d been there and he decided he was going to have to remedy that. He finally told his father that he and Parker were together. The Major was wary of the situation, but he told Jarod that he would trust his judgment. He told Zoë about them also and she seemed to accept it. He was grateful for her understanding. His relationship with Zoë had never been official, but they had met on several occasions before the events of Carthis and the sexual attraction was always palpable. After Carthis, contact between them became less and less. Jarod couldn’t get Parker, or the kiss they had almost shared, out of his mind and he didn’t think it would be fair to be with Zoë if he was thinking about another woman.

“Jarod, are you sure you can trust her? She’s done a lot to you in the past,” Zoë said, and that was putting it nicely. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t jealous that Jarod had found someone else, but she didn’t plan to give up so easily either.

Jarod closed his laptop and sighed. “We’ve done a lot to each other.” He was tired of having to defend Parker. “Zoë,” he began softly, “I love her.”

She moved closer to him and placed her hand on his face. “You told me you loved me, too. What we have is special, Jarod.”

Before he could respond, Daniel ran into the room and Jarod was glad for the interruption.

“Jarod, look what Adam and I made,” he said, showing him a small contraption. “Let’s go and show Parker.”

Jarod was pulled out of the room and could only give Zoë an apologetic smile.

Parker sat in the gazebo staring at the cell phone in her hand. It was time to call Broots and Sydney. They probably already knew that she was alive and she could only imagine the strain they had been put under to find her, Jarod and Daniel. No one could actually connect her to Jarod or Daniel and she thought that maybe she should keep those details to herself. The less they knew the better off they would be.

Dialing the familiar number and praying that no one would interrupt her, Parker put the phone to her ear and waited.

“Sydney,” came the familiar voice.

“Long time, no speak, Dr. Freud,” she responded in typical Parker fashion.

“Parker,” he sighed, relief evident in his voice. “I prayed that it wasn’t some twisted lie, that you were indeed alive.”

“I’m alive, Sydney,” she confirmed softly. Although their relationship was rocky at best, Parker had come to think of him as a surrogate father and she missed him.

“A lot has happened, Parker, is happening. Has Jarod tried to contact you?” Sydney asked.

Parker sighed and closed her eyes. Here she was, back from the dead, but Jarod would always be first and foremost on Sydney’s mind. “I haven’t heard from your pet, Sydney,” she lied. “What’s happening at the Centre?”

“There has been more secrecy than ever before. They’ve brought someone here, but this person’s identity and location have been kept under wraps,” he explained.

Parker’s interest was more than peaked and she began pacing the small gazebo. “Broots hasn’t been able to find out who it is?”

“Broots and I have been under very heavy surveillance. Threats have been made concerning his daughter. He’s scared, Parker.”

She closed her eyes at the thought of anything happening to Debbie and she suddenly felt guilty for leaving Broots behind. She had become his protector of sorts and now that she was gone, he was forced to fend for himself. Now, she understood why Sydney refused to leave his patients behind at the Centre.

Looking toward the house, Parker saw Jarod and Daniel headed in her direction. “Sydney, I know it’s dangerous, but if you can find out anything about my brother, I need to know.”

“Baby Parker has gone missing as well,” Sydney said. “They seem to think Jarod has something to do with it.”

“I have to go,” Parker said as Daniel and Jarod approached. “Take care of yourself.” She ended the call just as they entered the gazebo. She would tell Jarod about her conversation later.

Jarod lay awake in bed that night unable to sleep. Unfortunately, he was going to have to leave his family soon. There was still so much to do, so much to plan for now that he and Parker were taking care of Daniel. He knew that they would have to have some sort of permanence in their lives and that would mean less contact with the Centre. So much of his past was still wrapped up in the place, but he wouldn’t pursue it at the risk of Daniel.

Pushing the blankets from his bare chest, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Zoë was another issue. He knew what she wanted from him, to pick up where they left off like they had so many times in the past. But that was exactly what it was, the past. Parker was his future and now that he had her, he would never willingly let her go.

Jarod started when his bedroom door quietly creaked open and in walked Parker. She closed the door just as softly and made her way to the bed. “What’s wrong?” he asked sitting up. He put his arm around her waist as she sat on the edge of the bed, and he could tell she had been sweating, her hair sticking to her face and neck.

“Bad dream,” was all she said.

Jarod pulled her down to the mattress beside him and covered them both with his blankets. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, looking into her glistening eyes. She shook her head no and he frowned, wishing there was something he could do for her. Pulling her closer, he kissed her softly on the lips. “I love you.” It was the very first time he had said it to her and he prayed she knew just how much he meant it.

Parker could barely breathe. She returned his kisses urgently and if he noticed the tears sliding down her cheeks, he didn’t say so. Rolling onto her back, she pulled him with her as their embrace deepened, his body settling gently between her legs.

He probably assumed that her dream was about her mother, but this time it had been something else, someone else. This time she had dreamt of Ethan. She forced herself to focus on the pleasure Jarod was giving her instead of Ethan’s agonizing screams, the connection of her body with Jarod’s instead of the torture Ethan was forced to endure. The dream had been so vivid and she knew that Ethan was the person the Centre was keeping secret. Every thing inside of her, her inner sense, was telling her that it was more than just a bad dream. It was real and if she wanted to save her brother, she had no choice but to leave Jarod, to leave Daniel, and go back to the Centre.

Later that night, Parker quietly unwrapped herself from Jarod’s arms and crept from the room. So badly she had wanted to return his ‘I love you’, but she knew it would only make it harder for her to leave.

She dressed quietly and quickly while Daniel slept, trying hard to fight back her tears. She promised herself she would never leave him and now here she was doing exactly that. But she knew Jarod would take good care of him. Gathering her bags, she gave the little boy one last glance and made her way downstairs.

Moving carefully through the darkened living room, she sat her bags by the front door and was startled by the sound of a voice.

“How can you just leave?” Parker turned around as Zoë approached her. “He says he loves you.”

“I don’t need you to tell me how Jarod feels,” she said quietly.

“You don’t deserve him,” Zoë said with conviction. “I’ll be there to pick up the pieces when he realizes what you’ve done and I won’t let him go.”

Parker smiled dangerously and leaned in closer to Zoë. “You might have his body, but his heart will never be yours.”

Zoë watched angrily as Miss Parker left the house, closing the door quietly behind her. She went back to her makeshift bed on the couch and went to sleep.

To be continued...

“Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.”

-Thomas Henry Huxley-

Part 16 

The next morning, Jarod woke to the sun in his eyes. He wasn’t surprised to find the spot next to him empty, figuring Parker had gone back to her room to check on Daniel. A smile came to his face as he remembered telling her that he loved her and although she hadn’t said the words, their lovemaking spoke for her. Every time with Parker was spellbinding, but last night was more intense than it had ever been.

Dressing quickly in the jeans and t-shirt he wore the day before, Jarod headed downstairs. As he passed Parker and Daniel’s room, he saw that the door was open and the room empty. Expecting to find them downstairs, he entered the kitchen only to find his father sitting with a saddened Daniel.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, fast becoming worried. “Where’s Parker?” She had barely let Daniel out of her sight since they got there and Jarod immediately became suspicious of her absence.

“Son, the car is gone,” Charles said.

“Maybe she just went into town,” Jarod said, trying to convince himself more than anyone.

“Her bags are gone, too,” his father said.

Daniel was on the verge of tears and Jarod hugged the boy to him. He didn’t understand why she would do it. Why now? And where could she have possibly gone to?

“Son, I’m worried. I think it might be best if we move,” said Charles.

“No, I don’t think it’s necessary. Parker wouldn’t do that to us.”

“Jarod, we have to be realistic.” The major hated to add insult to injury, but he had his family’s freedom to think about. “Miss Parker left without a word to anyone and we don’t know her intentions.” He stood from his spot at the table and placed a hand on Jarod’s shoulder. “I’m going to gather the family. I’m sorry, son.”

A week later, Parker sat in her car, the massive structure that was The Centre looming in the distance. She studied it over the rim of her sunglasses, working up the courage to actually enter the compound. It was back to the tailor made skirts and expensive pumps. She had to convince them that she was the same old Miss Parker. It was a huge risk going back and she was more than aware that things could go either way. Her father would either accept her or she would more than likely be locked up in the psyche ward. Surely, she would be interrogated first, either way.

She made sure to get rid of all of her previous belongings, taking special care to remove any signs of Daniel or Jarod. Her heart ached at the thought of them and she could only imagine the betrayal they were both feeling. Leaving without saying goodbye was the only way she could ensure that Jarod wouldn’t try and stop her. Her chances of surviving in the Centre were a lot better than his were. Her primary goal was to get to Ethan and help him escape, but in the meantime, she would be able to throw them off of Jarod’s trail. Now, all that was left to do was convince her father and the others that she could still be trusted. With one last prayer, she started the car and made her way to gates.

Jarod wasn’t sure how to feel. The last several days had been spent focusing on moving his family and trying to keep Daniel in good spirits. He was completely blindsided by Parker’s leaving, but he told himself that she must have had a good reason. If only she had told him what it was. The family had moved to a new part of the state, not far from where they had been. He knew they were scared, but he still didn’t believe that Parker would compromise their location, especially since Daniel was with them. Her love for the boy was evident and he didn’t think she would free him from the Centre’s grasp only to have him captured by them once again.

One person who hadn’t said much about the whole situation was Zoë. She claimed that she didn’t hear Parker leave, but Jarod found that hard to believe. He had spent the night with her enough in the past to know that she was a rather light sleeper.

Sitting on the back steps of their new home, Jarod stared at the setting sun, trying to figure out the best place to start looking for Parker. His mind couldn’t rest until he understood why she had abandoned them. Hearing the door squeak open behind him, he looked up to see Zoë standing beside him. She sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Jarod,” she said softly. Honestly, she was. She didn’t enjoy seeing Jarod so saddened, but he would eventually come to realize that Parker was no good for him and he’d be happier for it. She would make him happy.

“Zoë, I have to leave,” he told her.

“I understand. We never were the types to stay in one place for long,” she smiled.

“No, you don’t understand,” Jarod said, realizing that Zoë meant to go with him. “I’m going to look for Parker alone.”

Zoë pulled away from him, suddenly angry. “Jarod, why are you doing this to yourself? She’s made it perfectly clear that she doesn’t want to be here. She left her own brother for Christ’s sake.”

Jarod looked at her suspiciously. “What do you mean she made it perfectly clear? Zoë, did you talk to her before she left?”

She realized that she could have simply denied it, but she was angry at his unhealthy devotion to this woman. “So what if I did, Jarod? She made her decision and nothing you said would have stopped her.”

“You should have told me,” Jarod growled. “I could have tried.” He was angry with Zoë, but he quickly calmed himself, realizing that, ultimately, it wasn’t her fault. “I need to say goodbye to my family,” he said quietly, walking past her.

Zoë sat alone on the back porch and realized for the first time that she never really ever had Jarod.

Protocol required that anyone found guilty of treason against the Centre would immediately be ghosted. Parker had ghosted plenty of other people to know what that entailed, but no one had ever tried to return and she was hoping the fact that she was the chairman’s daughter would carry some weight. She had been taken into custody immediately and locked in a completely empty room. She had been in there for over two hours and there was an obvious camera in the corner, watching her every move. It was an intimidation tactic she had used plenty of times before during her stint as head of security. They would have to do better than that if they wanted to break her, but she was regretting the decision to wear three inch stilettos. She hadn’t even seen Broots or Sydney, so if things didn’t go her way, it would be a long time before anyone found out where she was. Not for the first time, she questioned her decision not to tell anyone about her plans.

Suddenly, the door opened and she watched as Raines and Lyle entered the room. Immediately, her walls went up and she faced them head on.

“Well, if it isn’t tweedle dee and tweedle dumb.”

“You’re hardly in any position to name call, Miss Parker,” Raines said. “Give us one good reason we shouldn’t terminate you?”

“Terminate me?” Parker said, lifting an eyebrow. She didn’t know if he meant permanently or just from her duties at the Centre. Neither Raines nor Lyle elaborated. “In case the two of you have forgotten, someone already tried to terminate me.” She looked pointedly at Lyle. “My entire office was blown to smithereens. Forgive me if I didn’t stick around so they could finish the job.”

“We could have given you protection, Miss Parker,” Lyle said.

“And how do I know it wasn’t you who tried to kill me?”

It was Raines who answered her. “You don’t,” he said.

“Our baby brother has gone missing,” Lyle said as he moved closer to her. “You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that would you?” He watched her closely.

“I don’t do mommy.” She hoped she said it with enough venom to sound convincing. “I’ve barely even seen the kid.” That was true enough. As time went on, Daniel was no where to be found. She didn’t even know he was staying with her father until she ran into him that night.

Lyle seemed to accept her answer and she subtly released the breath she had been holding. “And did you have any contact with Jarod while you were on the outside?” he asked, pacing around her.

“If I had, he’d be locked up in this room instead of me. He is my ticket out of this place, after all. If I had seen him, I would have wasted no time bringing him in.” She wondered why they were questioning her so informally. She was sure she would have failed a polygraph had they made her take one. It suddenly occurred to her that they probably didn’t care what she had been up to on the outside. For some reason, they wanted her at the Centre where they could keep an eye on her. She was detrimental to some plan that she wasn’t aware of.

Just then, her father entered the room and she felt her heart quickening. She hated that he would probably always have that effect on her. “Angel,” he said in his deep, baritone voice. His rough mustache tickled her forehead as he kissed her there.

“Daddy,” she said softly. She was sure he would be angry with her, but he only seemed pleased to see her.

“We have much to discuss, Angel, and we will in due time, but now I need you to get back to work.” His eyes crinkled as he smiled at her.

“Jarod,” she confirmed. He nodded once and placed a hand on her back to escort her from the room. Getting back in had been much too easy and she had a feeling that if she didn’t work quickly, she might not ever get the chance to leave again.

Broots sat at his computer trying to find anything he could that would lead them to Jarod. Lyle and Raines had been breathing down his neck, but it was as if the pretender had dropped off the face of the earth. He and Sydney had been informed that Miss Parker was in fact still alive and he had been so relieved. There was finally some good news to share with Debbie. They had both been in a rut for months, thinking the woman dead, but now it was as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. But the joy hadn’t lasted long for him. The threats were becoming more real and now he was forced to search for Jarod, Daniel and Miss Parker.

Reaching to take a sip of his coffee, he nearly screamed like a woman when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and he nearly fainted when he looked up to see the most beautiful woman in the world. “Miss Parker,” he said excitedly. He hugged her around the waist from his seated position and then immediately pulled back. “Sorry.” He stood up so quickly that his coffee sloshed over the side of the cup and splattered onto the floor.

“Broots, calm down,” Parker said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Where’s Sydney?” she asked. It was good to see the bumbling man, which was why she let the hug slide, but she needed to get down to business.

“Uh, um, he’s in his office I think, but Miss Parker, what in the world are you doing here?” he whispered frantically.

“I work here, Broots,” she said evenly. She grabbed his arm and ushered him out the door toward Sydney’s office.

When they arrived, Sydney was facing away from them, reading through a file. Broots cleared his throat and the psychiatrist turned around, speechless when his eyes landed on Miss Parker.

“You’re back,” he said softly as he stood from his chair. “I wasn’t sure I’d actually ever see you again.”

“Here I am,” she said.

“Why did you come back?” he asked, unknowingly repeating Broots’ question. “You were finally free from this place.”

“You call being hunted like a dog freedom?”

“I guess now you know how Jarod feels.”

He didn’t say it with any malice, but Parker knew he was probably trying to get her to see the error of her ways. Little did he know.

“I take it the mission is still the same,” said Sydney.

“Jarod is the key,” she said mockingly, repeating the words her father had spoken so many times. Sydney only nodded before moving back to his desk. Parker knew he and Broots must have been confused, but she would reveal her plans to them in time.

Later that evening, Parker sat in her office, the same office she had almost been murdered in. It looked exactly as it did before it had been blown to bits. She knew she was being toyed with, being placed back in the same office, but she didn’t care. She wouldn’t let them see her fear. Just then, there was a knock on the door and Broots stuck his head inside.

“What is it, Broots?” she asked softly.

“I was just heading out,” he said. “Do you need anything?” He watched as she thought about it a moment before answering.

“Yes, a ride home.”

They had been driving for five minutes, Parker behind the wheel, and Broots had been talking the whole time. She needed answers about Ethan and she figured Broots car was about as close to privacy as they would get.

“Broots,” she said, cutting his ramblings short, “has there been anything particularly suspicious going on at the Centre lately?”

Broots laughed humorlessly. “Isn’t there always? But come to think of it, I did overhear Lyle and Mr. Raines talking about someone named Sear. You know, like searing a piece of meat.”

“Are you sure they were saying Sear?” Parker asked confused.

“I’m pretty sure. I didn’t stick around long. If they had caught me listening, who knows what they would have done.” Broots was quiet for a moment as he watched Miss Parker drive. He was certainly glad that she was back, but he was still uncertain about the why. Surely her duty to her father and the Centre wasn’t that strong. “Are we really still hunting Jarod?” he asked.

Parker glanced at him before answering. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed, looking out the window. “It’s just getting really old. Is this what the rest of our lives are going to be like? Tracking an innocent man for reasons we don’t even fully understand. What could be so important? What did those scrolls say?”

“I’d like to know the answer to that one.” Pulling up to her house, Parker put the car in park. She and Broots both got out and Parker watch as he walked around to the driver’s side. “Broots,” she called just before he climbed in, “if it makes you feel any better, catching Jarod is the farthest thing from my mind right now.”

He watched until she entered her house, wondering exactly what she meant by that. But, oddly enough, it did make him feel better.

Meanwhile, Sydney sat in his office going over the files of two sets of twins. He was still unsure about Miss Parker’s return. Seeing her alive and well did his heart good, but he was saddened at the same time, hoping that she would have never returned to the Centre. It may have been her only chance for a semblance of a life.

His cell phone rang and he reached for it inside his coat pocket. “Sydney, here.”

“It’s me.”

“Jarod,” Sydney said. He sounded upset. “Are you alright?”

“Fine, Sydney…just a little down.”

“I have some news that may cheer you up.”

“I don’t think that’s possible right now.”

“Jarod, Miss Parker is alive,” Sydney said, not realizing that the pretender already knew, “and she’s here…at the Centre.” A frown came across Sydney’s face as he listened to the dial tone.

To be continued...

“Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned, Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorned.”

-William Congreve-

Early the next morning, Miss Parker stood in her father’s office, staring at one of the paintings that adorned the walls, waiting for him to arrive. All of the African art Lyle had redecorated with while he was in charge had been replaced. She didn’t ever really believe that it fit her brother’s taste, more that he was simply kissing the Triumvirate’s ass. The piece she was looking at now had been a gift from her mother. It was a Picasso and she remembered helping her pick it out for him. Parker stared at the abstract painting and likened it to her own life. None of the pieces had ever fit together quite right and she didn’t know if they ever would. The lies and the deceit were so deeply rooted that she wasn’t sure if she would ever know the complete truth.

The more she learned about her father over the years, the more she thought that he couldn’t have ever really loved her mother. How could he claim to yet let Raines abuse her the way he did? He had to know that Raines had murdered her in cold blood. Her blood boiled just thinking about it and at times her hate for Raines scared her so much that she was afraid she might drown in it. It wasn’t healthy to think about murdering another human being, if Raines could be called that, but how could she help it? Forced to work with and take orders from the man that killed her mother while her father watched on silently, all for some mysterious greater cause that had been kept a secret from her?

“Angel.”

She whipped around at the sound of his voice and was even more alarmed to find that only some of the hatred she was feeling had dissipated. Her heart pounded in her ears and her stomach burned, but she didn’t let it show. It was a hard thing, coming to the realization that man you loved as your father was nothing more than a monster.

He smiled at her and kissed her cheek, apparently unaware of the silent rage building inside of her. “It’s so good to have you back.” Mr. Parker squeezed her shoulders and then seated himself at his desk.

Parker watched as he sorted through a stack of mail and took the time to calm herself. “I’m glad to be back, Daddy,” she lied, “but I need some answers.”

“I thought we’d been through this,” he said sternly, abandoning his mail.

“And yet I’m still in the dark,” she argued. “In the past, I was willing to follow orders without questioning them, but not anymore.” He simply stared and she continued. “Daddy, not long ago, I saw you jump out of a plane with the scrolls. How did you survive? What did they say? Why has Jarod always been the key and what is the point of all this?” she demanded.

“Did Jarod put all this in your head?” he growled. “Are you sure you haven’t spoken to him?”

“I told you, I haven’t.” She had to stop herself from yelling the words and she watched as her father’s face softened once again.

“I know, Angel…I’m sorry. Things have been stressful lately,” he explained. He was silent for a moment before continuing. “The scrolls revealed a lot of things to me, made so many things clear. Your mother was suffering at the Centre, but it shouldn’t have been that way.” He had said something similar right before jumping out of the plane and as Parker listened to him, she thought saw sincerity in his eyes. Maybe a part of him did love her mother. “She passed on so many gifts to you,” he continued, “your beauty, your determination. You play an important part in the prophecy, Angel.”

“What does that mean?” Parker interrupted. He was telling her so much, yet nothing at the same time. “I thought you said Jarod was the key?”

“He is. And we need him here at the Centre. The scrolls mention him…and you,” he said, leaving the words hanging.

“What about me?” she asked cautiously.

Mr. Parker stood from his desk and walked over to the window. “You’re the future of the Centre, Angel. I won’t live forever. Someone has to continue the legacy when I’m gone.”

Parker sighed, knowing she wouldn’t get a straight answer from him. “I’ve got work to do.” She made her way to the exit, wishing she knew where the scrolls were so she could read them herself. Mr. Raines walked in just as she reached the door and she stopped in her tracks, staring at the ghoulish man. Her rage returned instantly. God how she hated him, yearned to pull the 9mm from the holster at her back and use it.

“We’ll continue this discussion later, Sweetheart,” her father said. She didn’t bother acknowledging him, but continued from the room, stopping just out of sight as she heard Raines begin to speak.

“She’s getting too suspicious,” he said. “We don’t know the truth about where she’s been all this time. We can’t rely on her loyalty.”

“You just leave her to me, Raines. She still has too many questions and the answers lie within the Centre. She won’t be going anywhere.”

“What about the attempt on her life? If Miss Parker were to die then the prophecy…” he was cut off by Mr. Parker’s booming voice.

“I know what the scrolls say! You just make sure you keep your son in line,” he said dangerously.

Parker’s mouth fell open as she listened. So it was true. Raines was their real father. Tears stung her eyes and she blinked them away. Of course she had known it was a possibility, but for it to actually be realized was a shock. Gathering herself, she quickly moved away from the office and down the hallway.

Looking around the small hotel room he was staying in for the night, Jarod felt like the walls were closing in on him. He was angry with Parker for making him doubt her, but what else could he think? When he found out she had left, he only expected that things had become too much for her and maybe she needed to get away for a while, but he never expected to find that she had gone back to the Centre, the root of all evil, of all their pain. He couldn’t understand why she would return to that awful place when she had finally felt what freedom could be like. He also wondered if maybe he wasn’t what she wanted after all. It wasn’t the first time it had happened. They had become close when they were in Carthis, like when they were children, but she had turned her back on him in the end. He hated to think it, but maybe Zoë had been right. Parker made her choice and not even his love for her had stopped her from leaving.

Parker paced back and forth as Broots typed away rapidly on his keyboard. Time was of the essence. There was no telling what kind of torture Ethan had been exposed to at the hand of Raines and she needed to find him quickly and get him out. Before, when she needed access without being seen, it was easy to simply have Broots trip a few wires or delay a security camera, but changes had been made while she was gone. There seemed to be a lot more sweepers lurking the halls and even more security cameras that Broots hadn’t yet been able to access. Now, she had him searching for anything he could find about this mysterious Sear person. She was trying her hardest not to snap at Broots to search faster, but patience never was her strong point.

“There’s nothing here, Miss Parker,” Broots sighed. “I’ve scanned all of the databases and nothing has come up that would lead us to whoever this Sear guy is. Maybe Raines has gotten smart enough not to discuss his business in a memo.”

“Raines is like a tiger, Broots. He can’t change his stripes. There has to be something we’re missing,” Parker said, pacing. She wracked her brain for anything that might help them and she suddenly remembered something she had read in Ocee’s cottage. It looked like an old history book of some sort and she had scanned through it, recalling words about witchcraft and the accusations and torture that ultimately came with it during those times. One story told of a man who had been accused of sorcery and she remembered thinking it odd. Of all the history she had ever studied, women were usually the ones accused of being witches.

“Broots,” she said as she quickly moved over to his computer.

Feeling himself being pushed aside, he watched shocked as she began typing rapidly. “I thought I was the only one who knew how to access the database,” he said surprised. Just another amazing fact about the incredible woman, he thought as he looked at her love struck. The computer beeped twice and he looked at it to see that search results had come back for the word S-E-E-R. “Seer,” he said aloud. “You mean…like a prophet?”

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Parker said, standing to her full height. “Go through these, Broots, and find me as soon as you have something.” Her heels clicked loudly as she left the room.

Miss Parker walked through the hallways, her mind going in a million different directions. She didn’t even notice when she walked right by Sydney.

“Miss Parker,” he said. Her head snapped up and she stared at him blankly. “Walk with me,” he asked. Parker did so without protest and they quietly made their way to his office. “Parker, you seem distracted. Is there something you wish to discuss?” he asked as they were seated.

She eyed him suspiciously. “Are you trying to trick me into a session with you, Sydney?”

He couldn’t tell if she was jesting or not. “Merely a concerned friend,” he said, smiling slightly. Parker remained quiet, staring at the wall above his head. “I spoke with Jarod last night,” he offered, watching her closely for any reaction. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he got none.

“And? Is he ready to turn himself in?”

Although Parker’s face remained stoic, Sydney knew better. “I told him you were alive.” She looked at him slowly. “His reaction was…strange, to say the least.”

“Everything Jarod does is strange, Sydney,” Parker said. She stood from her seat and folded her arms across her stomach. She knew exactly why Jarod had reacted that way, but she still wasn’t ready to share the information with Sydney or anyone else. “Have you ever heard of someone named Sear?” she asked, purposely changing the subject and purposely leaving the pronunciation ambiguous. She didn’t want to discuss Jarod anymore.

“I’m afraid I haven’t,” he told her.

“I think Raines has a new patient that he’s keeping secret,” Parker said. “Keep an ear out, would you, Sydney?” He nodded and she made her leave.

To be continued...