Conspiracy by Zanna
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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
And here we approach the end of conspiracy. Strange, it's almost like raising a child and I am having Empty Nest Syndrome. Not that I would know, mind you. A thousand thank you's belong to Yip for editing this piece, correcting my typos and then redoing it in HTML. Words cannot describe my feeling of gratitude. For my very own FanGirl, ANISA2, virtual chocolates and every other naughty gift imaginable for kicking me in the cajones when I was too tired to type and for the reminding me why I do this in the first place. Lastly, I must thank all you, my readers. For without you, my story would've been another waste of bytes and valuable internet time. Before you all flood my e-mail box, no, there will not be a sequel. Conspiracy is done and no more can be done to tell the tale. I won't stop you if you want to write one, just let me know. Contained in this posting is also the epilogue, for those of you who would want some closure.
Zanna
zannamjs@yahoo.com
Conspiracy
part 12
by Zanna
He liked to work in absolute quiet. That way he could hear every sound that his victims made. Every squeal, every grunt, every cry of pain. In absolute silence he made his way towards the Simlab. Strange that he didn't hear a sound from there either but if they weren't in there he would wait.
A lone light was on in the lab and it took a while for Whitehead to realise that a man stood under it. With the light playing on the man's face, it looked like he didn't have any eyes and when Whitehead squinted, it looked like a skull. The shadow spoke.
"Senator Whitehead I presume."
"But of course. You must be Jarod."
Jarod slightly tilted his head for confirmation.
"I want you to know that after I'm done with you I am going to kill her. After I sampled the pleasures of her flesh, of course."
Jarod made no move and his face showed no reaction to Whitehead's provoking.
"She really is lovely, isn't she Jarod ? Just like her mother although, I will have to do a more detailed examination before make that comparison. Both of your deaths will give me enough pleasure to last for years, but I will relieve this unpleasant urges of mine first. I wonder if she will protest so much as Catherine."
"So you killed Catherine Parker." A statement, not a question.
"Yes, I did. After I raped her, but that wasn't in my original orders - just think of it as a bonus. One of the perks of the job, so to speak."
"Who ordered her death ?"
"Why, Mr. Parker of course. Just as he ordered the death of his little girl. I don't know a lot about Mr. Parker, but he sure knows when to cut his losses."
"Why ?"
"You were becoming a bother, both of you. Trying to right wrongs that were never meant to be corrected. You can ask her darling Daddy, he'll deny it at first but in the end he will cave in."
Whitehead glanced around the room, his eyes by now accustomed to the gloom around him.
"Poor Midea, I suppose he had it coming after all these years."
Whitehead started to walk towards the body. Faster than the blink of an eye, Jarod's gun was aimed at his head.
"Don't move. Parker ?"
With a determined stride, Miss Parker stood next to him.
"Search him, and you're sure that he's clean, let him join Mr. Parker."
With Jarod's gun still pointed at him, Whitehead endured Miss Parker's hands traveling over his body, enjoying this search for weapons.
"Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me ?" Miss Parker asked when her hands strayed over his Glock. Taking it out of his pocket and throwing the gun and spare clips to Jarod, she purred at Whitehead while prodding him towards a sidedoor.
"All of that, just for me ?" She batted her eyelashes and opened the door. The yawning jaw of the boiler shaft grinned at him.
"Say hi to Daddy for me !" With the last word accentuated with a grunt, she pushed into the shaft and his yell of despair grew fainter with each passing second.
A loud thud echoed in the shaft an eternity later. Miss Parker spat down the shaft.
"Is your father ...?"
"I couldn't take his lies anymore Jarod. I can't take any more of their lies. Even if we kept him alive, he would've left us with more questions and even more doubts. I just want some closure Jarod. Rather let the prick die than allowing him to screw up my life further. " She shut the hatch firmly and closed her eyes while leaning against the cool steel of the door.
"Sometimes it's better to not to know the truth."
Feeling her knees knock under her she grabbed Jarod for support. He encircled her in his arms and as soon as she knew that he wouldn't let her go, big fat sobs escaped her, shaking her body with rage and hurt.
***
As soon as the lockdown had lifted, Broots had made his way towards the Simlab - thinking that unarmed backup was better than no backup at all. When the elevator doors finally opened, Broots could hear crying. Soft at first, but growing more desperate with each wretched cry and in the background, the soft murmurings of a friend, trying to support and comfort a broken soul. Broots knew that it was over without even looking in the room. Knew that whatever held Parker here was gone.
***
12 hours later, Dawn.
The Beach outside Jarod's house.
The sat there, in each other's arms, lending comfort and sharing heat while they waited for the sun to rise. Miss Parker, dressed in a pair of old slacks and a borrowed shirt from Jarod, was tired but for the first time she was truly free. Her eyes were still red and puffy and every time that she dropped her guard, sobs were wracking her body once more. And through it all, Jarod was with her. Supporting her choices, battling her fears with her and making sure that she knew she didn't have to face her demons alone.
A sudden chill coursed through her, and Jarod wrapped his arms tighter around her, pulling her closer to him.
"Andy ?" Jarod's voice cracked with disuse.
"Yeah ?"
"It will get better - in the end. You may not believe it, but in time your wounds will heal. You just have to learn to let go. You have already done the first step by refusing to learn more of the past. You may think it to be a weakness when you cry or when you get close to somebody, but it isn't. Remember what I told you when all this started ?"
Miss Parker nodded.
"You told me that you were proud of me. Proud of what I've become and how I turned out. But Jarod, when I look in the mirror, I don't see that person. I see a bitter woman, haunted by her past. I see a murderer, a cold heartless bitch and no matter how hard I try, I can't see that person you described."
Her voice was wavering again. With a burst of brightness the sun rose and the new day began.
"What about the Blue Files ? Aren't you just a tad bit curious ?"
"I meant what I said Jarod. I don't want to know. I'm tired of fighting for answers. I don't want to know what the Centre did anymore, It's a part of my life that I am going to leave behind."
"You're leaving ?"
"Yes. I've got a ton of backpay and a nice quiet ranch in the middle of nowhere where I will occasionally water a cactus when my soft side makes its appearance."
"You'll be bored stiff." came the warning tone.
"Maybe that's what I need in my life - a little boredom. "
"Never thought I'd hear you say that Parker." Sydney voice drifted over to them. Miss Parker's body tensed, but relaxed when she recognised his voice.
"I've come to tell you that Angelo has recovered. I still don't know what caused the catatonia, but I am grateful that he is responsive again."
"Syd, what will happen to him ?" Sydney sat down next to them and stared at the ocean.
"I don't know Parker. My retirement is long overdue and I would like to start it before I find myself in a car accident or something else that will force me to retire. Since you are leaving, I assume that Jarod will too. Broots has handed in his resignation and has accepted some job in a mega corporation in Silicon Valley. There will be an investigation about Mr. Parker's death, but the general feeling is that it was a suicide. A missing persons report was handed in on Senator Whitehead, but I doubt if he will ever be found."
"You didn't answer the question." Jarod's voice rumbled.
"Jarod, despite what the Centre had done to you and to all the children and people inside it, I still believe that it is the best place for people with Angelo's abilities."
"You are going to leave him."
"Miss Parker, I was going to leave him anyway. Whether through death or by retiring, in the end I was going to leave him."
To Jarod, Sydney sounded old and very, very tired.
" I suppose I could do the noble thing and take him with me, but I won't. You are right Syd. As hard as it is for me to admit this, the Centre is the only place for him. No matter how the rest of us may feel about the place, the Centre is his home. I won't be that cruel and take it away from him." Jarod sighed and buried his face in Miss Parker's hair.
"What about Debbie's stalker ?"
"I have this suspicion that he won't move to Silicon Valley. In less than a week, we will all be scattered in the four directions of the wind. It will finally be over."
***
Epilogue.
Jarod returned to VICAP and continued to work as a profiler for another eight years until he was promoted to section chief of VICAP. Under his hand solvency rate of Behavioral Crimes rose to nearly 85%.
Miss Parker moved to her ranch and was bored for exactly three minutes until she started planning fundraisers for a children's hospital. The child oncology ward is now called the Andrea Parker wing and she has been known to help patients with insufficient funds.
Miss Parker and Jarod saw each other regularly for five years until Sydney's death. Sydney died in his cabin at Whitecloud in his sleep while Jarod and Miss Parker were visiting. He was buried next to his brother, Jacob, and in his will Sydney left the cabin to Jarod. Overwhelmed with grief and the fear of losing everyone dear to him, Jarod proposed to Miss Parker who accepted. They now live in Quantico, Maryland where Miss Parker still keeps tabs on the hospital and is the chairwoman over a number of charities for gifted children. They have adopted three children, with the fear on continuing the Pretender bloodline.
Angelo did remain at the Centre and happily used his gift as an empath for six more months until he was killed by a stray bullet from a gunfight in the halls. He was buried as Timmy 'Angelo' DeSalvo at the local cemetery and it was rumoured that Raines visited his grave everyday until his own death.
Broots and Debbie did move to Silicon Valley where Broots made his first million within ten months. The lessons that he learned at the Centre allowed him to start his own business and it was rumoured that he would create the next Microsoft empire. The Stalker stayed behind in Blue Cove and Debbie went on to study at Oxford and later became the Press Officer for Miss Parker's charities.
Steven stayed with Jarod for nearly two years until he decided to pursue a career as an actor. he's currently living in Los Angeles and hacks into government mainframes in his sparetime.
Lyle went on to become head of the Centre and his first executive decision was to kill off the Triumvirate. Under his expert leading, the Centre nearly went bankrupt shortly afterwards. He was filed missing a couple of days later.
As for the Blue Files ? Well ... it seems that Midea was less than trustworthy in that department. Currently there are 45 Blue Files in the USA alone with six of them being Purple Files. And they are all busy trying to replenish their numbers.
;) ;) ;)
"I know it doesn't give you the sense of closure that you wanted, but it has more than some of our other cases." Dana Scully to Jose Chung in 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space'
Zanna
zannamjs@yahoo.com
part 12
by Zanna
He liked to work in absolute quiet. That way he could hear every sound that his victims made. Every squeal, every grunt, every cry of pain. In absolute silence he made his way towards the Simlab. Strange that he didn't hear a sound from there either but if they weren't in there he would wait.
A lone light was on in the lab and it took a while for Whitehead to realise that a man stood under it. With the light playing on the man's face, it looked like he didn't have any eyes and when Whitehead squinted, it looked like a skull. The shadow spoke.
"Senator Whitehead I presume."
"But of course. You must be Jarod."
Jarod slightly tilted his head for confirmation.
"I want you to know that after I'm done with you I am going to kill her. After I sampled the pleasures of her flesh, of course."
Jarod made no move and his face showed no reaction to Whitehead's provoking.
"She really is lovely, isn't she Jarod ? Just like her mother although, I will have to do a more detailed examination before make that comparison. Both of your deaths will give me enough pleasure to last for years, but I will relieve this unpleasant urges of mine first. I wonder if she will protest so much as Catherine."
"So you killed Catherine Parker." A statement, not a question.
"Yes, I did. After I raped her, but that wasn't in my original orders - just think of it as a bonus. One of the perks of the job, so to speak."
"Who ordered her death ?"
"Why, Mr. Parker of course. Just as he ordered the death of his little girl. I don't know a lot about Mr. Parker, but he sure knows when to cut his losses."
"Why ?"
"You were becoming a bother, both of you. Trying to right wrongs that were never meant to be corrected. You can ask her darling Daddy, he'll deny it at first but in the end he will cave in."
Whitehead glanced around the room, his eyes by now accustomed to the gloom around him.
"Poor Midea, I suppose he had it coming after all these years."
Whitehead started to walk towards the body. Faster than the blink of an eye, Jarod's gun was aimed at his head.
"Don't move. Parker ?"
With a determined stride, Miss Parker stood next to him.
"Search him, and you're sure that he's clean, let him join Mr. Parker."
With Jarod's gun still pointed at him, Whitehead endured Miss Parker's hands traveling over his body, enjoying this search for weapons.
"Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me ?" Miss Parker asked when her hands strayed over his Glock. Taking it out of his pocket and throwing the gun and spare clips to Jarod, she purred at Whitehead while prodding him towards a sidedoor.
"All of that, just for me ?" She batted her eyelashes and opened the door. The yawning jaw of the boiler shaft grinned at him.
"Say hi to Daddy for me !" With the last word accentuated with a grunt, she pushed into the shaft and his yell of despair grew fainter with each passing second.
A loud thud echoed in the shaft an eternity later. Miss Parker spat down the shaft.
"Is your father ...?"
"I couldn't take his lies anymore Jarod. I can't take any more of their lies. Even if we kept him alive, he would've left us with more questions and even more doubts. I just want some closure Jarod. Rather let the prick die than allowing him to screw up my life further. " She shut the hatch firmly and closed her eyes while leaning against the cool steel of the door.
"Sometimes it's better to not to know the truth."
Feeling her knees knock under her she grabbed Jarod for support. He encircled her in his arms and as soon as she knew that he wouldn't let her go, big fat sobs escaped her, shaking her body with rage and hurt.
***
As soon as the lockdown had lifted, Broots had made his way towards the Simlab - thinking that unarmed backup was better than no backup at all. When the elevator doors finally opened, Broots could hear crying. Soft at first, but growing more desperate with each wretched cry and in the background, the soft murmurings of a friend, trying to support and comfort a broken soul. Broots knew that it was over without even looking in the room. Knew that whatever held Parker here was gone.
***
12 hours later, Dawn.
The Beach outside Jarod's house.
The sat there, in each other's arms, lending comfort and sharing heat while they waited for the sun to rise. Miss Parker, dressed in a pair of old slacks and a borrowed shirt from Jarod, was tired but for the first time she was truly free. Her eyes were still red and puffy and every time that she dropped her guard, sobs were wracking her body once more. And through it all, Jarod was with her. Supporting her choices, battling her fears with her and making sure that she knew she didn't have to face her demons alone.
A sudden chill coursed through her, and Jarod wrapped his arms tighter around her, pulling her closer to him.
"Andy ?" Jarod's voice cracked with disuse.
"Yeah ?"
"It will get better - in the end. You may not believe it, but in time your wounds will heal. You just have to learn to let go. You have already done the first step by refusing to learn more of the past. You may think it to be a weakness when you cry or when you get close to somebody, but it isn't. Remember what I told you when all this started ?"
Miss Parker nodded.
"You told me that you were proud of me. Proud of what I've become and how I turned out. But Jarod, when I look in the mirror, I don't see that person. I see a bitter woman, haunted by her past. I see a murderer, a cold heartless bitch and no matter how hard I try, I can't see that person you described."
Her voice was wavering again. With a burst of brightness the sun rose and the new day began.
"What about the Blue Files ? Aren't you just a tad bit curious ?"
"I meant what I said Jarod. I don't want to know. I'm tired of fighting for answers. I don't want to know what the Centre did anymore, It's a part of my life that I am going to leave behind."
"You're leaving ?"
"Yes. I've got a ton of backpay and a nice quiet ranch in the middle of nowhere where I will occasionally water a cactus when my soft side makes its appearance."
"You'll be bored stiff." came the warning tone.
"Maybe that's what I need in my life - a little boredom. "
"Never thought I'd hear you say that Parker." Sydney voice drifted over to them. Miss Parker's body tensed, but relaxed when she recognised his voice.
"I've come to tell you that Angelo has recovered. I still don't know what caused the catatonia, but I am grateful that he is responsive again."
"Syd, what will happen to him ?" Sydney sat down next to them and stared at the ocean.
"I don't know Parker. My retirement is long overdue and I would like to start it before I find myself in a car accident or something else that will force me to retire. Since you are leaving, I assume that Jarod will too. Broots has handed in his resignation and has accepted some job in a mega corporation in Silicon Valley. There will be an investigation about Mr. Parker's death, but the general feeling is that it was a suicide. A missing persons report was handed in on Senator Whitehead, but I doubt if he will ever be found."
"You didn't answer the question." Jarod's voice rumbled.
"Jarod, despite what the Centre had done to you and to all the children and people inside it, I still believe that it is the best place for people with Angelo's abilities."
"You are going to leave him."
"Miss Parker, I was going to leave him anyway. Whether through death or by retiring, in the end I was going to leave him."
To Jarod, Sydney sounded old and very, very tired.
" I suppose I could do the noble thing and take him with me, but I won't. You are right Syd. As hard as it is for me to admit this, the Centre is the only place for him. No matter how the rest of us may feel about the place, the Centre is his home. I won't be that cruel and take it away from him." Jarod sighed and buried his face in Miss Parker's hair.
"What about Debbie's stalker ?"
"I have this suspicion that he won't move to Silicon Valley. In less than a week, we will all be scattered in the four directions of the wind. It will finally be over."
***
Epilogue.
Jarod returned to VICAP and continued to work as a profiler for another eight years until he was promoted to section chief of VICAP. Under his hand solvency rate of Behavioral Crimes rose to nearly 85%.
Miss Parker moved to her ranch and was bored for exactly three minutes until she started planning fundraisers for a children's hospital. The child oncology ward is now called the Andrea Parker wing and she has been known to help patients with insufficient funds.
Miss Parker and Jarod saw each other regularly for five years until Sydney's death. Sydney died in his cabin at Whitecloud in his sleep while Jarod and Miss Parker were visiting. He was buried next to his brother, Jacob, and in his will Sydney left the cabin to Jarod. Overwhelmed with grief and the fear of losing everyone dear to him, Jarod proposed to Miss Parker who accepted. They now live in Quantico, Maryland where Miss Parker still keeps tabs on the hospital and is the chairwoman over a number of charities for gifted children. They have adopted three children, with the fear on continuing the Pretender bloodline.
Angelo did remain at the Centre and happily used his gift as an empath for six more months until he was killed by a stray bullet from a gunfight in the halls. He was buried as Timmy 'Angelo' DeSalvo at the local cemetery and it was rumoured that Raines visited his grave everyday until his own death.
Broots and Debbie did move to Silicon Valley where Broots made his first million within ten months. The lessons that he learned at the Centre allowed him to start his own business and it was rumoured that he would create the next Microsoft empire. The Stalker stayed behind in Blue Cove and Debbie went on to study at Oxford and later became the Press Officer for Miss Parker's charities.
Steven stayed with Jarod for nearly two years until he decided to pursue a career as an actor. he's currently living in Los Angeles and hacks into government mainframes in his sparetime.
Lyle went on to become head of the Centre and his first executive decision was to kill off the Triumvirate. Under his expert leading, the Centre nearly went bankrupt shortly afterwards. He was filed missing a couple of days later.
As for the Blue Files ? Well ... it seems that Midea was less than trustworthy in that department. Currently there are 45 Blue Files in the USA alone with six of them being Purple Files. And they are all busy trying to replenish their numbers.
;) ;) ;)
"I know it doesn't give you the sense of closure that you wanted, but it has more than some of our other cases." Dana Scully to Jose Chung in 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space'
