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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Naturally there was no sighting of the pretender in Philadelphia. Though Sam reported he did recognize a black sedan with tinted windows. Lyle was still having his team following her. For the sake of staying with her phone call, Parker and her three companions went to the other side of the city to the Liberty Bell and acted as if they were on one of their usual searches for Jarod.
When they returned to the Centre, Miss Parker wrote a report on the lead, just like all the other times to support her act and make it all appear more believable. She so wanted to go to Lyle and make him pay. She felt the deep urge to grab him by his throat and squeeze it tightly. She wanted to watch how he struggled for a breath, wanted to see his fear in his eyes. She at least wanted to beat the living shit out of him and stuff the damn report where the sun never shines. But she couldn't, she wouldn't. She swore to herself that the day would come. Soon. The image alone of the chance of getting back at Lyle made her feel better a bit.
******************
The room was dead silent. Everyone looked at Jarod in awe. He had just explained his newfound solution to his family; how he planned to fake the results and send it to the Centre.
To Jarod the silence was so loud that it seemed to echo in the room. He wanted them to talk.
"Well, what do you think?"
When still no one answered him, he turned to Ethan "Ethan? Any thoughts?"
Ethan looked into his brother's eyes. He had a serious but supportive expression on his face.
"I think it could work."
"But..." came from behind in a hesitant voice. Jarod turned to that voice. He wanted to hear all opinions.
He actually was ready to follow up on the plan in any case, but his family's opinion was important to him, especially on this. Maybe they would point out something that he had overlooked. The pretender was well aware of the uniqueness of the situation. On any previous pretend, he had never doubted his own conclusion, he had always made sure that he had thought of any possibility. But somehow he didn't feel so certain this time.
"But, Ryan? But, what?"
"I'm sorry Jarod, I just don't understand. Why would you do it, if you're sure they eventually find out anyway? What good would it do? Why not disappearing without this?"
Jarod smiled at this question. Ryan was thinking in 'pretender terms'. He calculated the pros and cons, thought about all possible ways and when he reached a conclusion he went for it. But Ryan didn't know all the variables, except for Ethan, no one really did.
"Because, I know it is difficult to understand, but I need to finish something else. And I need a bit more time. We will disappear, but I can't leave all of it behind just like that."
"What about Catherine's plan, Jarod?" Margaret's voice sounded defeated but also aggravated.
"Mom, listen. Whatever Catherine had thought could work, won't anymore. Too much has happened in the past for us to be able to ever feel safe. I will make sure we will disappear, but I can't promise you anything. We always will be chased, no matter what!"
In a last effort to convince her son of her idea, her dream of how they could finally find peace, Margaret rose and took her son by his upper arm. "But if you cease to be a pretender you will be useless! What reason would they."
"I'm sorry mom, but times have changed. As someone told me: we must face reality. They would still be after us. So, what I intend to do, is end the game from my end. I have what I wanted: you, my family. Now I will cut all contact to the Centre. No more leads, no more breadcrumbs.."
He looked at Margaret with pleading eyes. Jarod wanted nothing more than his mother's consent. He needed her support and her trust on this. A brief silence had fallen upon the room after his last words had died down. The pretender turned, to once again address Ryan and finally answer the real reason for the delaying tactic.
"And there is something else. Well, not something, someone." After a little pause, Jarod added: "I might not be able to actually make her come with us, but at least I could help her find her own way out of there."
The major smiled a sad smile at this, it took Emily a few more seconds to catch on, then she smiled as well.
Ethan was still looking rather seriously at his brother. But he felt relieved that his half-brother was not abandoning his half-sister. In Ethan's opinion it was just the way it should be. It was Catherine's plan. He never had believed in Margaret's 'solution' anyway, he always had his own idea about this old plan. Well, more than an idea, he had a 'feeling' about the real thing. Not on what his mother had planned in detail, but that it was Jarod AND his sister together that were essential to it. And Ethan somehow knew that this way it would work.
Ryan stared a bit dumbfounded at his 'older brother'. The young man knew that his brother meant Miss Parker, he knew about their connection. It was still quite a mystery to him what exactly this connection was, but he knew there was one. He had seen it in his brother, and he had seen it in her eyes. He remembered her eyes, it was a fond memory. The only good one he had from all the years at the Centre.
He adored his big brother, he wanted to learn to live in this weird world by learning from Jarod. If Jarod had concluded, that it was the right way, Ryan would follow him to any length. And if the woman with those incredible sad blue eyes could be helped, Ryan was even more for it.
Only Margaret looked at her son as if he had just explained he would go back to the Centre. Tears were forming in her eyes, but she didn't want anyone to see them. She simply turned on her heels and retreated to the kitchen.
Jarod watched her leave sadly. He turned to his father in search for any sign of support.
"It's gonna be ok Jarod. She's gonna be fine."
"Maybe I should go...."
Charles took him by his arm to hold him back. "No son. Don't. Leave her alone for a moment. I'm going to check on her in a little while. For now let's leave her alone. It's better that way."
With a deep sigh Jarod relented. He didn't want his mother to be upset. But apparently there was no alternative at the moment. And he was eternally grateful for his father's support in this. There was a lot of work waiting for him and he needed to get on with it.
After a bit more of consulting and explaining, he went to get some tissue- sample from Ryan and himself. With the appropriate tools and the secured sample, he returned to his room to pursue his intentions that very night. The change of the results was actually not too time consuming. He was finished by the next day afternoon with a little sleep in between.
Now all that was left for him to do was to send the results to the Centre. The missing thing in his plan was still exactly how he could help Miss Parker.
What he planned to do, was either to contact herself or make Ethan contact her the moment the Centre would be on its proverbial toes after he had sent the probe. They would be too involved in finding out about the merits of the results, than to pay her actions too much attention. Syd, Broots and herself, even Angelo, they all could use the moment of confusion to get out. He would help them of course in any way possible. The only question was, if she would take his help or once again turn down his offer.
********************
Raines and Lyle looked in utter shock at the computer screen. This morning the Centre's senior operatives had gotten the same mail by the elusive pretender. Jarod had sent an e-mail to Raines and Lyle as well as the actual sample by real mail.
Somehow Raines felt as if he couldn't get enough oxygen anymore. With erratic breaths he started to cough. In between he uttered:
"If this ........is true ..........everything .............we worked on ..........is ..........useless."
Lyle was confused and upset as well. But he was not completely convinced by the information they'd gotten. He tried to stay clear headed about it. "It might be a trap. I can't believe this can be done that easily."
Raines looked up from the screen. "He is a pretender. He did things you can't even start to imagine, when he was no more than 10 years of age. He could do this too."
The old man turned away from the screen and got up, dragging his oxygen tank along. Raines started to pace. An activity that did not fare well with his already drained lungs. But he wouldn't have survived that place without always finding a solution, without finding another way to seal his power rank. With a face, that told Lyle that the he had yet again an idea, Raines returned to his chair and sat back down.
"But you're right. It could also be a trap. Have the lab check up on this immediately. And I want the best people on this. But just in case, we need to start the child-search again. Immediately. We need a pretender, Lyle! And we need one fast. Our contacts want results."
"How do you propose to do this new 'search'?"
Raines' face turned into a secretive but nevertheless, evil grin.
"Lyle, the Centre never bets its existence on only ONE race horse. A few years ago we have invented a special search program and secretly installed it on all the big computer networks of clinics and laboratories in the country. Since we failed with NuGenesis and that boy, our tech people had worked on this search program. It is designed to find all matching data. Meaning, if the specific pretender pattern of a person, a child, is detected, we will know about it."
"Well, interesting. Why in the world didn't we use it before?"
"Because we needed to be careful. If Jarod found out, it would've been ultimately dangerous to us. But now we don't have a choice. And I have the feeling, that he not only pursued this little thing here to let us know he is useless. He has found his mother. That has always been his most important goal. I have the feeling he is trying to disappear for good now. Sydney had said that many times. The time might have come."
"What about my sister?"
"Whatever happens, she must not find out about this. Jarod has found Margaret before we could. We have failed there. Margaret knows things. She has probably told him all by now. This could be the result of what Catherine had wanted to do so many years ago. Have Miss Parker continue the search for Jarod but keep her under constant observation. We all know by now that she is too much like her mother when it comes to children. Too emotional. She could compromise the whole operation. And we both know how she can get, when it's about some secret of Catherine's. So keep her busy, Lyle, under any circumstances, keep her in the dark."
Lyle listened and wondered if the old man was really that blind or just plain stupid. Keeping close tabs on Miss Parker was not the problem. He already did that. But keeping her from uncovering the Centre's secrets, was a different story. Even Lyle had developed a healthy appreciation for his sister's determination and spunk. But Lyle wouldn't go into this discussion right now. As long as Miss Parker didn't get in HIS way, he would simply do as he was told.
"If Jarod is indeed gone, why have her continue to search for him?"
"I know what you're getting at Lyle. 'Whoever wins lives', isn't that what I said? Well, I was thinking of not wasting valuable resources. Your sister can in fact be still valuable. She has a powerful gift, if used correctly and for the right reason. We could still use her. I have actually a plan on doing so. But not yet. Not yet."
***************
Jarod had also sent the e-mail to Miss Parker and Sydney. They needed to be aware to what was going on.
It was late afternoon when Miss Parker read the e-mail for the hundredth time. She knew exactly what the graphics and genetic codes meant. But as shocked as she was, she refused to believe that Jarod had actually done it. 'If he did it, I'm gonna kill him. Slowly!' she thought, as the door to her office opened.
"Miss Parker?"
Broots entered the room with Sydney at his heels.
"What Broots? Anything?" she looked up and quickly added, remembering the prying ears at the Centre, "on Jarod?"
"Well ... actually... it could be something. Look at that." He handed her a printout. Two dozen sheets full of numbers. Line after line, each explicitly showing today's date. She used to be SIS, she knew what it meant. It was a printout of the mainframe-computer work program. And it meant that a specific program was working overtime since this very morning. The mainframe was hacking into hundreds of different networks and computers all over the country. And it was not one of the usual search-programs running a search for Jarod.
Someone had been very busy. But what she couldn't tell by the numbers was WHAT exactly the target of this search was. Margaret? Gemini? Broots interrupted her musing.
"Take a look at page 13 and then at 15 and 18. That could be interesting. Could be ... Jarod."
Broots had added the name of their prey with a hesitant but hinting voice. He also paid his 'tribute' to the listening ears he knew were always there.
She immediately took the pages out of the stack. Several lines were highlighted, and Broots had written something on the corner. Barely readable, but she had gotten used to his erratic handwriting. It was similar to his speech-pattern.
Aside each highlighted line, her tech had written its apparent source. 'Boulder Maternity Clinic', 'Central Unit for Advanced Children, San Diego University'; 'Children's Center at Phoenix Central Hospital'; CDC Genetic Research Unit, Atlanta. Even a few governmental labs belonging to the Department of Health, were hacked into.
All this indicated one thing to Miss Parker: the Centre was looking for a child. A special child. They had restarted the pretender-search again.
Parker processed this as if nothing happened. Inside though, she was boiling. This could not happen. She grabbed the papers and stuffed them into her handbag. She needed to think, but she couldn't do that here.
"Broots those information look promising, but I need more details. Keep on searching. I want details by tomorrow morning. I'm not gonna run from one side of the country to another just because you and your tech-freak- colleagues are incapable of pinpointing the place he is!"
With that she waved at her two friends and left. But not without a grateful look into Broots' eyes and a concerned glance at Sydney.
Miss Parker sat in her dimly lit living room. The tv was running, but the sound was turned off. She looked forlornly at the screen, not really realizing the program. She held a glass of scotch in hand and mused about the day's occurrences and pondered about her next step.
Parker remembered the little boy, the Centre had once found due to the contact to NuGenesis. Davy. She recalled her feelings of regret and sympathy for that little boy when she had seen him lying there in Angelo's arms; completely subdued by the drugs and experiments Raines had put the kid under. Back then it had taken her some time to actually admit it. Too many other things had been swirling around in her head. Her search for her unknown twin, Angelo's state of complete sanity and, of course, Jarod, right in front of her.
But she had made the right decision then. She had decided to help Davy. She had never wanted that little boy to get hurt or abused, that it had worked out differently didn't change the fact. Davy had been freed, which had been the important thing.
What could she do now? How could she stop this before any other child would fall prey to the Centre's clutches? Would Jarod be aware of these new developments? Had he disappeared yet?
And yet again too many things happened at once. Margaret, Ethan, Daniel and Jarod. At the end it seemed to be always about Jarod. Well, Jarod and her, always had been and apparently always will be.
Jarod's mother had appeared, with all the secrets. Ethan had told her about the plan. A plan that Parker herself had tried to uncover for years. But the moment she had finally heard about it, she wasn't sure if she'd ever wanted to know. She refused to believe that her mother had come up with something so dangerous.
Parker's only hope was that Jarod was strong enough to withstand the blind faith of a woman that believed in something for so long. She didn't really blame Margaret, she couldn't. Parker herself had believed so many things for so long simply because she wanted to believe them. Jarod's mother was probably caught up in the same trap. But if anyone could convince her to rethink, than it was the annoying little shit of a pretender.
The tv was turned to the evening news. Pictures of government officials were flashing on the screen. The head of the new Department for Homeland Security apparently gave a lengthy interview. Somehow this peeked her interest. Parker grabbed for the remote and turned up the volume. Not because she was too interested in what he had to say, but because a thought in the back of her mind crept slowly forward.
A far away thought, that she couldn't grasp yet. The pictures, the interview and her current dilemma, something told her to connect it all together. What was the connection?
And then it struck her like lightening. The forlorn thought suddenly developed into an idea. An idea so obscure but so simple on the other hand. There, in the middle of her living room Parker just found a way to finish this. It was dangerous, success was a far chance and her own safety was even less certain.
When they returned to the Centre, Miss Parker wrote a report on the lead, just like all the other times to support her act and make it all appear more believable. She so wanted to go to Lyle and make him pay. She felt the deep urge to grab him by his throat and squeeze it tightly. She wanted to watch how he struggled for a breath, wanted to see his fear in his eyes. She at least wanted to beat the living shit out of him and stuff the damn report where the sun never shines. But she couldn't, she wouldn't. She swore to herself that the day would come. Soon. The image alone of the chance of getting back at Lyle made her feel better a bit.
******************
The room was dead silent. Everyone looked at Jarod in awe. He had just explained his newfound solution to his family; how he planned to fake the results and send it to the Centre.
To Jarod the silence was so loud that it seemed to echo in the room. He wanted them to talk.
"Well, what do you think?"
When still no one answered him, he turned to Ethan "Ethan? Any thoughts?"
Ethan looked into his brother's eyes. He had a serious but supportive expression on his face.
"I think it could work."
"But..." came from behind in a hesitant voice. Jarod turned to that voice. He wanted to hear all opinions.
He actually was ready to follow up on the plan in any case, but his family's opinion was important to him, especially on this. Maybe they would point out something that he had overlooked. The pretender was well aware of the uniqueness of the situation. On any previous pretend, he had never doubted his own conclusion, he had always made sure that he had thought of any possibility. But somehow he didn't feel so certain this time.
"But, Ryan? But, what?"
"I'm sorry Jarod, I just don't understand. Why would you do it, if you're sure they eventually find out anyway? What good would it do? Why not disappearing without this?"
Jarod smiled at this question. Ryan was thinking in 'pretender terms'. He calculated the pros and cons, thought about all possible ways and when he reached a conclusion he went for it. But Ryan didn't know all the variables, except for Ethan, no one really did.
"Because, I know it is difficult to understand, but I need to finish something else. And I need a bit more time. We will disappear, but I can't leave all of it behind just like that."
"What about Catherine's plan, Jarod?" Margaret's voice sounded defeated but also aggravated.
"Mom, listen. Whatever Catherine had thought could work, won't anymore. Too much has happened in the past for us to be able to ever feel safe. I will make sure we will disappear, but I can't promise you anything. We always will be chased, no matter what!"
In a last effort to convince her son of her idea, her dream of how they could finally find peace, Margaret rose and took her son by his upper arm. "But if you cease to be a pretender you will be useless! What reason would they."
"I'm sorry mom, but times have changed. As someone told me: we must face reality. They would still be after us. So, what I intend to do, is end the game from my end. I have what I wanted: you, my family. Now I will cut all contact to the Centre. No more leads, no more breadcrumbs.."
He looked at Margaret with pleading eyes. Jarod wanted nothing more than his mother's consent. He needed her support and her trust on this. A brief silence had fallen upon the room after his last words had died down. The pretender turned, to once again address Ryan and finally answer the real reason for the delaying tactic.
"And there is something else. Well, not something, someone." After a little pause, Jarod added: "I might not be able to actually make her come with us, but at least I could help her find her own way out of there."
The major smiled a sad smile at this, it took Emily a few more seconds to catch on, then she smiled as well.
Ethan was still looking rather seriously at his brother. But he felt relieved that his half-brother was not abandoning his half-sister. In Ethan's opinion it was just the way it should be. It was Catherine's plan. He never had believed in Margaret's 'solution' anyway, he always had his own idea about this old plan. Well, more than an idea, he had a 'feeling' about the real thing. Not on what his mother had planned in detail, but that it was Jarod AND his sister together that were essential to it. And Ethan somehow knew that this way it would work.
Ryan stared a bit dumbfounded at his 'older brother'. The young man knew that his brother meant Miss Parker, he knew about their connection. It was still quite a mystery to him what exactly this connection was, but he knew there was one. He had seen it in his brother, and he had seen it in her eyes. He remembered her eyes, it was a fond memory. The only good one he had from all the years at the Centre.
He adored his big brother, he wanted to learn to live in this weird world by learning from Jarod. If Jarod had concluded, that it was the right way, Ryan would follow him to any length. And if the woman with those incredible sad blue eyes could be helped, Ryan was even more for it.
Only Margaret looked at her son as if he had just explained he would go back to the Centre. Tears were forming in her eyes, but she didn't want anyone to see them. She simply turned on her heels and retreated to the kitchen.
Jarod watched her leave sadly. He turned to his father in search for any sign of support.
"It's gonna be ok Jarod. She's gonna be fine."
"Maybe I should go...."
Charles took him by his arm to hold him back. "No son. Don't. Leave her alone for a moment. I'm going to check on her in a little while. For now let's leave her alone. It's better that way."
With a deep sigh Jarod relented. He didn't want his mother to be upset. But apparently there was no alternative at the moment. And he was eternally grateful for his father's support in this. There was a lot of work waiting for him and he needed to get on with it.
After a bit more of consulting and explaining, he went to get some tissue- sample from Ryan and himself. With the appropriate tools and the secured sample, he returned to his room to pursue his intentions that very night. The change of the results was actually not too time consuming. He was finished by the next day afternoon with a little sleep in between.
Now all that was left for him to do was to send the results to the Centre. The missing thing in his plan was still exactly how he could help Miss Parker.
What he planned to do, was either to contact herself or make Ethan contact her the moment the Centre would be on its proverbial toes after he had sent the probe. They would be too involved in finding out about the merits of the results, than to pay her actions too much attention. Syd, Broots and herself, even Angelo, they all could use the moment of confusion to get out. He would help them of course in any way possible. The only question was, if she would take his help or once again turn down his offer.
********************
Raines and Lyle looked in utter shock at the computer screen. This morning the Centre's senior operatives had gotten the same mail by the elusive pretender. Jarod had sent an e-mail to Raines and Lyle as well as the actual sample by real mail.
Somehow Raines felt as if he couldn't get enough oxygen anymore. With erratic breaths he started to cough. In between he uttered:
"If this ........is true ..........everything .............we worked on ..........is ..........useless."
Lyle was confused and upset as well. But he was not completely convinced by the information they'd gotten. He tried to stay clear headed about it. "It might be a trap. I can't believe this can be done that easily."
Raines looked up from the screen. "He is a pretender. He did things you can't even start to imagine, when he was no more than 10 years of age. He could do this too."
The old man turned away from the screen and got up, dragging his oxygen tank along. Raines started to pace. An activity that did not fare well with his already drained lungs. But he wouldn't have survived that place without always finding a solution, without finding another way to seal his power rank. With a face, that told Lyle that the he had yet again an idea, Raines returned to his chair and sat back down.
"But you're right. It could also be a trap. Have the lab check up on this immediately. And I want the best people on this. But just in case, we need to start the child-search again. Immediately. We need a pretender, Lyle! And we need one fast. Our contacts want results."
"How do you propose to do this new 'search'?"
Raines' face turned into a secretive but nevertheless, evil grin.
"Lyle, the Centre never bets its existence on only ONE race horse. A few years ago we have invented a special search program and secretly installed it on all the big computer networks of clinics and laboratories in the country. Since we failed with NuGenesis and that boy, our tech people had worked on this search program. It is designed to find all matching data. Meaning, if the specific pretender pattern of a person, a child, is detected, we will know about it."
"Well, interesting. Why in the world didn't we use it before?"
"Because we needed to be careful. If Jarod found out, it would've been ultimately dangerous to us. But now we don't have a choice. And I have the feeling, that he not only pursued this little thing here to let us know he is useless. He has found his mother. That has always been his most important goal. I have the feeling he is trying to disappear for good now. Sydney had said that many times. The time might have come."
"What about my sister?"
"Whatever happens, she must not find out about this. Jarod has found Margaret before we could. We have failed there. Margaret knows things. She has probably told him all by now. This could be the result of what Catherine had wanted to do so many years ago. Have Miss Parker continue the search for Jarod but keep her under constant observation. We all know by now that she is too much like her mother when it comes to children. Too emotional. She could compromise the whole operation. And we both know how she can get, when it's about some secret of Catherine's. So keep her busy, Lyle, under any circumstances, keep her in the dark."
Lyle listened and wondered if the old man was really that blind or just plain stupid. Keeping close tabs on Miss Parker was not the problem. He already did that. But keeping her from uncovering the Centre's secrets, was a different story. Even Lyle had developed a healthy appreciation for his sister's determination and spunk. But Lyle wouldn't go into this discussion right now. As long as Miss Parker didn't get in HIS way, he would simply do as he was told.
"If Jarod is indeed gone, why have her continue to search for him?"
"I know what you're getting at Lyle. 'Whoever wins lives', isn't that what I said? Well, I was thinking of not wasting valuable resources. Your sister can in fact be still valuable. She has a powerful gift, if used correctly and for the right reason. We could still use her. I have actually a plan on doing so. But not yet. Not yet."
***************
Jarod had also sent the e-mail to Miss Parker and Sydney. They needed to be aware to what was going on.
It was late afternoon when Miss Parker read the e-mail for the hundredth time. She knew exactly what the graphics and genetic codes meant. But as shocked as she was, she refused to believe that Jarod had actually done it. 'If he did it, I'm gonna kill him. Slowly!' she thought, as the door to her office opened.
"Miss Parker?"
Broots entered the room with Sydney at his heels.
"What Broots? Anything?" she looked up and quickly added, remembering the prying ears at the Centre, "on Jarod?"
"Well ... actually... it could be something. Look at that." He handed her a printout. Two dozen sheets full of numbers. Line after line, each explicitly showing today's date. She used to be SIS, she knew what it meant. It was a printout of the mainframe-computer work program. And it meant that a specific program was working overtime since this very morning. The mainframe was hacking into hundreds of different networks and computers all over the country. And it was not one of the usual search-programs running a search for Jarod.
Someone had been very busy. But what she couldn't tell by the numbers was WHAT exactly the target of this search was. Margaret? Gemini? Broots interrupted her musing.
"Take a look at page 13 and then at 15 and 18. That could be interesting. Could be ... Jarod."
Broots had added the name of their prey with a hesitant but hinting voice. He also paid his 'tribute' to the listening ears he knew were always there.
She immediately took the pages out of the stack. Several lines were highlighted, and Broots had written something on the corner. Barely readable, but she had gotten used to his erratic handwriting. It was similar to his speech-pattern.
Aside each highlighted line, her tech had written its apparent source. 'Boulder Maternity Clinic', 'Central Unit for Advanced Children, San Diego University'; 'Children's Center at Phoenix Central Hospital'; CDC Genetic Research Unit, Atlanta. Even a few governmental labs belonging to the Department of Health, were hacked into.
All this indicated one thing to Miss Parker: the Centre was looking for a child. A special child. They had restarted the pretender-search again.
Parker processed this as if nothing happened. Inside though, she was boiling. This could not happen. She grabbed the papers and stuffed them into her handbag. She needed to think, but she couldn't do that here.
"Broots those information look promising, but I need more details. Keep on searching. I want details by tomorrow morning. I'm not gonna run from one side of the country to another just because you and your tech-freak- colleagues are incapable of pinpointing the place he is!"
With that she waved at her two friends and left. But not without a grateful look into Broots' eyes and a concerned glance at Sydney.
Miss Parker sat in her dimly lit living room. The tv was running, but the sound was turned off. She looked forlornly at the screen, not really realizing the program. She held a glass of scotch in hand and mused about the day's occurrences and pondered about her next step.
Parker remembered the little boy, the Centre had once found due to the contact to NuGenesis. Davy. She recalled her feelings of regret and sympathy for that little boy when she had seen him lying there in Angelo's arms; completely subdued by the drugs and experiments Raines had put the kid under. Back then it had taken her some time to actually admit it. Too many other things had been swirling around in her head. Her search for her unknown twin, Angelo's state of complete sanity and, of course, Jarod, right in front of her.
But she had made the right decision then. She had decided to help Davy. She had never wanted that little boy to get hurt or abused, that it had worked out differently didn't change the fact. Davy had been freed, which had been the important thing.
What could she do now? How could she stop this before any other child would fall prey to the Centre's clutches? Would Jarod be aware of these new developments? Had he disappeared yet?
And yet again too many things happened at once. Margaret, Ethan, Daniel and Jarod. At the end it seemed to be always about Jarod. Well, Jarod and her, always had been and apparently always will be.
Jarod's mother had appeared, with all the secrets. Ethan had told her about the plan. A plan that Parker herself had tried to uncover for years. But the moment she had finally heard about it, she wasn't sure if she'd ever wanted to know. She refused to believe that her mother had come up with something so dangerous.
Parker's only hope was that Jarod was strong enough to withstand the blind faith of a woman that believed in something for so long. She didn't really blame Margaret, she couldn't. Parker herself had believed so many things for so long simply because she wanted to believe them. Jarod's mother was probably caught up in the same trap. But if anyone could convince her to rethink, than it was the annoying little shit of a pretender.
The tv was turned to the evening news. Pictures of government officials were flashing on the screen. The head of the new Department for Homeland Security apparently gave a lengthy interview. Somehow this peeked her interest. Parker grabbed for the remote and turned up the volume. Not because she was too interested in what he had to say, but because a thought in the back of her mind crept slowly forward.
A far away thought, that she couldn't grasp yet. The pictures, the interview and her current dilemma, something told her to connect it all together. What was the connection?
And then it struck her like lightening. The forlorn thought suddenly developed into an idea. An idea so obscure but so simple on the other hand. There, in the middle of her living room Parker just found a way to finish this. It was dangerous, success was a far chance and her own safety was even less certain.
