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Raines stared at both Sydney and Lyle, and took note of the fact that Lyle was avoiding eye contact. He turned toward the doctor.

“Well, Sydney?”

Shoving down his overwhelming anger, the psychiatrist met the fish-eyed stare with as even a tone as he could muster. “I hardly see that I have a choice in this matter.”

Raines smiled. “I knew you’d be reasonable once you understood the circumstances.”

“There’s nothing reasonable about any of this...but let’s just get on with it.”

“I want you to contact Jarod--”

“--What makes you think I can do that?”

Raines positioned his DSA monitor so that Sydney could see it, and pressed a button on the keyboard. The images of Jarod speaking with Sydney in his house from the night before sprang to life, and Sydney felt a white hot anger filling his chest.

“You planted cameras in my house? How dare you, Raines--”

“--No, doctor, how dare you. How many other times has Jarod contacted you and you haven’t reported it? Not only didn’t you report this contact, but you also advised him to disappear permanently.”

And Sydney knew for a fact that he was dead where he stood; the Triumvirate would surely have charged Raines with that task upon seeing a copy of the footage from his conversation with his protégée. Unable to keep his fear hidden, Sydney ran a hand through his hair, and Raines smiled.

“I see you understand the gravity of your actions.”

Sydney looked directly at the man. “I understand that my life is forfeit, yes; that is not my concern now.”

Raines leaned back in his chair, his hands folded demurely on top of his desk. “I’m listening.”

“What I want is a guarantee regarding Miss Parker if I bring in Jarod.”

Raines glanced over at Lyle, who had been unusually quiet throughout the exchange. “Mr. Lyle?”

Lyle looked nervously back at Sydney, who calmly remained still, then he licked his lips and gazed at Raines. “I...see no reason to kill Miss Parker as long as she can be reconditioned.”

Sydney interrupted, “No, that isn’t acceptable. You get Jarod, but you let her go. She walks away from the Centre, free and clear. And for that matter, so does Broots and his daughter.”

Raines couldn’t help but admire the man’s moxie despite the odds stacked against him, and there was no reason to let on that he had no intention of making good on any promise made during this meeting. He smiled at the psychiatrist. “Very well, Sydney. After Jarod is here, we’ll let Miss Parker go.”

Sydney shook his head. “No. Once you have Jarod, there will be no reason for you to let Miss Parker go.”

“The same can be said of you bringing in Jarod if we let Miss Parker go first.” The man took a long rasping breath before continuing, “I assume you have a suggestion?”

Sydney nodded. “The exchange will take place simultaneously.”

Lyle broke in, “Then Jarod will know he’s about to be taken, he’ll never go for it.”

“I’ll have to set up a meeting place with him that’s in public either way, Lyle, or he’ll never agree to come. I'll set it up for a park nearby, and when you see him walking towards me, you let Miss Parker go, by then it’ll be too late for Jarod because he’ll be in plain view of the Sweepers.”

Raines thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “That will be acceptable.”

“Broots and his daughter will also be allowed to leave, with no Centre interference.”

“That’s fine, Sydney, I doubt we’ll miss Mr. Broots in any case.” Sydney inwardly shook his head at the man’s gross underestimate of Broots’ value to the Centre, but he said nothing. “Mr. Lyle will escort you to your office so that you can contact Jarod and set up a meeting for tomorrow morning, then he’ll take you back to Miss Parker, where you’ll stay until it’s time to leave.”

“I don’t know if I can set this up that quickly...the only way I can contact Jarod is through email, and he doesn't always answer right away.”

“Fine, email him, we’ll monitor it for a response. Lyle, make sure he says nothing more than he needs to in it.” Lyle and Sydney headed toward the door, “And Sydney, make no mistake: if you do anything to tip Jarod off, I’ll kill both of them. Do you understand?”

Sydney’s lips pulled into a tight line, and he nodded. “I understand. No tricks, Raines; from either of us.”

Raines watched as Lyle escorted Sydney out of the room, and a large smile spread across his face. It had finally come to pass; not only was he going to be rid of both Sydney and the Parkers, but he was going to have Jarod back in the bargain. Life didn’t get much better for William Raines than it was at this moment.

---------------------------

Tired of waiting for news from Broots, Jarod logged into his email account and quickly scanned through them, finding two from inside the Centre. He opened the one from Sydney first:

Jarod - I need to speak with you as soon as possible, but face to face.
How soon can we meet at Seaford Park? I need your help. - Sydney

Jarod frowned, and opened the second Centre-related email. As he read the words, an idea begin to form in his mind...

----------------------
 
Parker opened her eyes to find Sydney sitting in the chair next to the bed she was lying on. He looked as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Parker reached out a hand for him.

“Syd?”

He took the battered hand gently in his larger one and caressed it. “I’m here, Parker.”

“You look about as good as I feel...”

He forced a smile to his lips. “Don’t you worry about me. I need you to conserve your strength. You’ll be getting out of here soon, and I want you to be able to get as far away from this place as possible.”

She frowned at him. “Getting out of here? Even if Raines does let me out of this cell, I’ll never be free of the Centre, and you know it.”

“Yes, yes you will, Parker.”

She stared into the tortured chestnut eyes, and the truth struck her like a blow. “Oh Sydney...... you’re going to give them Jarod; but you know Nosferatu will never honor his end of the bargain.”

“I don’t want you to worry about it, Parker, I’ve worked it out. I just need you to be ready when the time comes. Do you think you’ll be able to walk away and not look back?”

She gazed at him for a long moment. “What about you? And Broots?”

“Broots will be fine, he and Debbie will be able to leave any time they choose.”

“How do you know that?”

“You need to trust me, Parker.”

She squeezed his hand. “And you? What about you? You didn’t answer me...”

He looked down at the hand clasped inside of his. “Three out of five isn’t bad, Parker...”

She felt the sting of tears, and swallowed hard. “No, Sydney, no. I won’t allow it.”

He looked at her then. “I’m afraid you don’t have any choice in the matter, Miss Parker.”

“You can’t just let him......." her voice died out with emotion, but a moment later she rallied.  "Sydney, please.”

Sydney kissed her hand gently, then set it down on the bed as he stood and began pacing. “Miss Parker, there is no choice. It was me and Jarod for you, Broots and Debbie. It’s as simple as that.”

“At least I know he won’t harm Jarod, the Triumvirate would have his head.....”

“That's true, Jarod’s much to valuable.” He turned to look at her, an ironic smile on his face. “But I, on the other hand, am as expendable as they come.”

“Oh Sydney...there must be something...”

He sat back down in the chair and once more took her hand in his. “There is.” The deep chestnut bore into dark grey. “You get as far from here as you can, and you never look back. I mean never, Parker. You’re as much of a pretender as Jarod:  use the skills, lose yourself so that they can never find you, and live, Miss Parker. Live your life with no regrets.”

Her voice was soft, almost lost. “But there will be regrets,” her eyes filled with unshed tears as she continued, “at least two of them...”

Sydney let the moisture that had formed in his eyes sprinkle down his cheeks, making no move to hide them from her. “Your mother would have wanted it this way, Miss Parker. I will have fulfilled a promise I made to her a very long time ago.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “We’ll both finally be free, Parker.”

Her voice was a bare whisper, but it caused a pang in Sydney’s heart. “But Jarod won’t...”

----------------------------

The ringing of the phone almost caused him to jump out of his skin. He stared at the ringing phone, but didn’t answer it.

“Daddy? Daddy, aren’t you going to answer that?”

Broots looked at his daughter and swallowed. “Well, sweetheart, I’m just tired of being on the phone is all, and it is dinnertime...”

“Daddy...” Debbie picked up the phone. “Hello?”

There was silence for a moment, then a man’s voice she didn’t recognize. “Hello Miss Broots, is your father there?”

“Yes, just a moment please.”

She handed the phone to her father who smiled unenthusiastically. “Hello?”

“Mr. Broots...”

“Are you crazy calling me here?” Broots noticed that his daughter was listening to him with great interest, so he moved into another room as he spoke. “What if this line’s bugged?”

“I’ve taken care of any traces on my end. Look, Sydney’s in trouble.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You know what?”

“They planted a camera in Sydney’s house and caught your conversation from last night with him on a digital feed.”

Jarod frowned. “How did you find out about it?”

“There’s this guy in fiber optics, his name’s Gelil, he’s this old guy who has a wooden leg...”

“A wooden leg...”

“Yeah, anyway, I was talking to him, and he happened to mention that some psychiatrist got nailed talking to a Centre fugitive after Gelil went to his house and laid out some lines. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who he was talking about...”

“Mr. Broots, I need your help. I need to get Sydney and Miss Parker out of the Centre, and I need to move tonight.”

“Look, Jarod...I think the world of Sydney and Miss Parker...”

“But?”

Broots sighed deeply. “But I have a little girl who depends upon me to take care of her, and I’m going to pack her up tonight and leave town. So I’m really sorry, but I can’t take a chance that they’ll come after me or Debbie next.”

Jarod pursed his lips, thinking, then said, “I do understand Mr. Broots. You’re right to get out while you can.”

“Will you be able to help them anyway?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Broots, but I’m going to try.”

Broots nodded and swallowed hard. “Jarod...if you get them out...well, when you get them out, tell them I’m sorry I couldn’t stay, but I have to think of Debbie.”

“I’ll be sure and tell them.”

“Good luck, Jarod.”

“And to you, Mr. Broots.”

Broots hung up the phone and wondered if Jarod would still want to help Sydney once he realized that Sydney sold him down the river to save Miss Parker. Broots then allowed himself to feel remorse over not helping Jarod for about ten seconds, then he went into the kitchen to get Debbie busy on the chore of packing.

Meanwhile, in his motel room across town, Jarod answered the second Centre email he had received, and hoped that Angelo would read it sooner rather than later...

------------------------

Mr. Parker was tired, and thoroughly sick of the African climate. He couldn’t help but wonder how long these damned Zulus were going to keep asking him the same damned questions over and over. In addition to feeling utterly bored, he couldn’t stand the idea that Raines was back at the Centre, running things in his absence. He couldn’t trust the man when he was right down the hall, much less half a world away. He knew that it had to have been Raines who put the doubt in the mind of the Triumvirate in the first place, because they kept asking him about his loyalty and the loyalty of his family to the Centre. It was preposterous really, that they could even question his loyalty at this late date in his service; but here he was, answering questions about the chase for Jarod, and defending his "misjudgment” in having his daughter and Sydney on the search team. Deep down Mr. Parker had a sinking feeling that he didn’t have all the pieces to this little puzzle, but he also knew he wasn't going to have them any time soon.

His cell phone rang for the first time in days, and it startled him. “Yes?”

“Mr. Parker...”

“Jarod? Jarod, you've got some nerve calling me!”

If he hadn’t been so pressed for time, Jarod would have at least laughed at the bellowing tone of Parker’s voice, but time was of the essence. “I’m in Blue Cove, and we've got a big problem.”

Parker almost dropped the phone. “And you expect me to believe you?”

“Yes. And if I were you, I’d be on the next flight back if you want to save your daughter, in addition to your own ass...”

Parker gripped the phone tighter. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

“I'm talking about the fact that Lyle is holding Miss Parker against her will at the Centre, and Sydney too. Raines is well on his way to a coup d'etat."

He could feel Parker’s body tense through the phone line. "Ridiculous. I would know about such a thing. One of my Sweepers would have called me if my daughter was in danger."

“I had to circumvent the block that the Centre’s put on your incoming cell calls...I’m guessing I’m the first call you’ve had all week.”

“That son of a bitch.”

“I think you’re beginning to get the picture...”
------------------------

Sydney sat with his arms crossed in front of him in the rigid chair by her bed, keeping vigil over her.  It was the only thing still left for him to do.  He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest with each breath that she took, and his mind recalled watching another......

He watched from a safe distance, carefully keeping an eye on her, but cautious not to be noticed by those who would report him to Mr. Parker.  To the unobservant eye, Sydney was merely checking on his own patients in the Centre infirmary, but he could watch her from across the ward, noting any changes in her condition.  Her husband had gone too far this time; actually, in Sydney’s mind, the man had gone too far the first time.  And still Catherine would say nothing.  She would do nothing.  Sydney couldn’t understand it.  He looked at his watch, it was getting late, soon most of the employees of the infirmary would be gone for the night, and he would easily be able to distract the night nurse with an errand, and he would have his chance.  He simply had to exercise patience, something for which he had never had abundance.

His eyes refocused on the present as Miss Parker turned in her sleep.  He gently reached out a soft hand, placing it on her arm as she slept, in a gesture of comfort seen only by the eyes of the camera in the room - and any eyes watching.  That thought made Sydney shiver.  He had been watched his entire life.  From the time he was young in a Nazi camp, through his years working at the Centre, he had been observed.  Well, let them see.  He no longer cared.  The jig was up in any case, there was nothing further to be gained by hiding how much he loved the young woman asleep on the bed, and he refused to deny at least this part of it all any longer.....

He watched as the nurse left to speak to maintenance about the climate control as Sydney had asked her to do, and he quickly made his way over to Catherine Parker’s bed.  He gently shook her arm.

“Catherine?  Catherine, wake up.  It’s me, it’s Sydney.”

The deep grey eyes slowly opened, pushing against the swelling holding them closed.  “Sydney?”

“Yes.”  He sat down on the edge of her bed.  “How are you feeling?”

“My little girl......how is my little girl?  Is she all right?  Sydney, where is she?”

He rubbed a soft hand against her arm.  “Shhh, don’t worry, she’s fine.”

“You promised me, Sydney.  You promised you would never let anything happen to her.”

“And I won’t.”

“Did you read the file?”

Sydney looked away.  “Yes,” he answered softly, “yes I did.”

“Then you know why you must protect her.”

“I would have done so anyway, Catherine.  Besides, we don’t even know if it’s the truth.”

“How can you look at all the physical evidence and doubt it?”

Sydney stood and began pacing.  “It’s impossible, Catherine.  It’s just impossible.”

“You know that Mr. Raines has been experimenting in this area.”

“Yes, but his experiments have not included the kind of parameters the report outlines.”

“We don’t know that for certain.”

Sydney sat back down on the bed beside her, taking her hands in his own.  “And we’ll never know the truth for certain.  Not here.  Not from the Centre.  My brother Jacob was right:  what goes on here is immoral and we shouldn’t be involved in it.”

“What are you saying, that you’ll just walk away?  Sydney, what will happen to my little girl if something happens to me and you’re not here to protect her?  Please Sydney, you promised me....”

“Sydney..... Syd....”  His eyes focused back on Miss Parker, and she continued.  “What’s the matter?”

“The matter?  Nothing.”

She frowned at him, and he realized that tears had covered his cheeks, and embarrassed, he wiped them away with his hand.  “I’m sorry, Parker.”

“Where were you just now?”

“Right here.”

“Your ass may have been in that chair, Freud, but you were a million miles away.”

He looked down and brushed her hand with his own.  “I was thinking about your mother.”

Parker wasn’t expecting that answer, and for a moment, she could say nothing.

He looked up at her.  “You do remind me so much of her sometimes.”

Parker frowned.  “What is it, Sydney?  What have you been hiding?”

He shook his head.  “When you were a very little girl, you couldn’t have been more than four or five, your mother and I took you to the zoo.”

Parker’s brows knitted together.  “You never went with us, I only--..... wait, wait, there was one time....my father had been promising to take me, but he was always too busy, so my mother decided we should go anyway.”  A smile turned her lips as she remembered.  “Mama was terrified of tigers and lions, and didn’t want to see the exhibit.  You took me by the hand and we went while she looked around the gift shop.”

His voice was soft like a breath of air, “Yes.  What else do you remember?”

Parker shrugged.  “Nothing.  Just that I had fun that day, and wished that my fath--”  She looked away, and the soft hand touching hers brought her attention back to him.  “I remember wishing that my father would spend time with me the way you did.”

Sydney smiled at her.  “There was a woman in the lion exhibit, she was there with her family.  She walked over to me while you were looking at the animals, and she told me what a lovely daughter I had.”  Dark chestnut looked deeply into sea-grey.  “I didn’t tell her that you weren’t my daughter.  For the next ten minutes, while the woman and her family were still there, I let myself pretend that you really were mine.”

She looked at him, amusement filling her eyes.  “Why?”

“Those were ten of the best minutes of my life, Parker.  For a few brief moments, you were mine to cherish, to hold and be proud of, and I wouldn’t have missed it.”

Parker’s eyes began to sting with tears.  “Don’t get maudlin on me, Sydney.  The last thing I need right now is some big sappy display.”

“No displays.  I just want you to know that you have meant a great deal to me, Parker.  You’re a big part of my life, and I wanted to say it, just once.”  He leaned over and kissed her forehead.  “You get some more rest.  When the time comes, you’ll need to be ready.”

“My father would never have allowed it to come to this you know.”

A strange look came over his face, one that Parker couldn’t place, and his tone was slightly brittle when he answered.  “No, I’m sure your father wouldn’t have....”

Sydney stood and walked away from the bed, his back to her.  She watched him stand there as still as a statue until her eyelids became heavy.  And momentarily, Miss Parker was asleep, no longer thinking about the mysteries of her life, nor the outcome of her fate.

---------------------------

Jarod finished typing the last few sentences of his response to the email Sydney sent him, and he pressed send.  He looked at his watch, and realized there was not much time to prepare.  After his conversation with Broots, Jarod knew good and well that trying to bust Sydney and Parker out of the Centre would be a waste of time.  He could only hope that Mr. Parker would hold up his end of the bargain they struck.  A small smile lit Jarod’s lips; he wouldn’t trust Mr. Parker if the man were the last man on earth....

----------------------------

Lyle entered Raines’ office at a quick pace, holding a printout of the email Jarod had sent to Sydney.

“Here it is.  Jarod confirmed a meeting for tomorrow at dusk at Seaford Park.”

“Good.  Have you assembled a Sweeper team?”

“Yes.”

“And Sydney, what about him?”

“Your call.  We can either dispose of him there, or bring him back here and do it.”

Raines smiled, and Lyle had to stifle a shiver.  “I have thought of a better use for Sydney.”

“What?  You’re not going to kill him?”

“Not right away, no.  It dawned on me that Jarod might be more pliable if we can use Sydney as leverage.”

Lyle grinned.  “Not bad.  Not bad at all.”

“You’re the one who is always fond of saying ‘waste not, want not,’ Lyle, I am merely taking a page from your own manual.”

“And Miss Parker?”

“Willy is arranging a Sweeper team to tail her.  We’ll pick her up as soon as Sydney and Jarod are secured.”

“And Broots?”

Raines looked at his watch.  “I believe that is being handled at this very moment....”

-----------------------

Broots fumbled for his car keys in the dark.

“Daddy, why don’t you just turn on the garage light?”

“I already told you Debbie,” he whispered, “I don’t want to disturb the neighbors.”

“I don’t understand why we have to leave tonight.  I’m supposed to go to the mall with the girls tomorrow, Daddy.  You promised.”

Broots turned toward her.  “I know I did, honey.  I know, and I’m sorry.  But this can’t wait.”

Debbie pouted slightly.  “I just don’t get it.....”

Broots fit the key into the lock and opened the door.  “Okay, Debbie, in you go, honey.”

Debbie tossed her bag into the backseat, as did Broots, and they both got into the car.  A moment later, Broots started the engine, only to freeze when he felt the cold metal of the gun barrel at his head.

“Go ahead, back out.  But your destination plans have changed.”

Broots looked in his rearview mirror and recognized Willy, and another Sweeper now sitting in the backseat of his car.  He groaned, and Debbie screamed.  The short Sweeper covered her mouth with his gloved and hand and Broots made a move toward him, but Willy restrained him.

“Don’t you hurt her.  Don’t you hurt my little girl.”

“Calm down, Mr. Broots,” Willy intoned, “nothing bad needs to happen here.  You just need to get driving to the Centre, and your daughter needs to keep her mouth shut.  Simple as that.  Do we understand each other?”

Broots nodded.  “Yeah.  I understand you.”  He turned to Debbie.  “You need to stay quiet, sweetheart, and nothing will happen.”

“But--”

“--No buts, Debbie.  I really need you to do this for me, okay?”

She nodded, but Broots couldn’t guess how long she’d go along with it.  He looked back at Willy.

“You just keep that other Sweeper off of her.”

“As long as you two play by my rules, we have no problems.  Now drive.”

Broots put the car in gear and backed out of the garage.  A moment later, he, Debbie and the two Sweepers were headed to Blue Cove, and beyond it, the Centre.  He swallowed hard, and tried not to think too much about what awaited them.

---------------------

He crawled as quickly as he could through the ventilation system, until he reached the area where Angelo usually spent most of his time.  And sure enough, the strange little man was there.

Jarod smiled.  “Angelo!  Are you all right?”

Angelo seemed more than a little agitated.  “Sydney......help Sydney.”

“I don’t know that we can.  Did you understand my message?”  Angelo nodded.  “Good.”  He looked at his watch.  “If Sydney was somehow able to cut a deal with Lyle, the first part of this should just about be handled.....”  He looked at the empath.  “The real question is whether or not Mr. Parker’s going to follow through with his end.”

Angelo smiled then.  “To save the daughter, he will help.”

Jarod looked into the bright blue eyes.  “I hope you’re right, my friend.  Now, show me the way to the files I told you about.”

“They are no more.”

Jarod grasped Angelo’s shoulders.  “I know there are copies somewhere.  There have to be.  We have no chance to save Sydney without them.”

Angelo frowned, and then scurried off, with Jarod moving as quickly as he could to keep him in sight.

****************

Willie froze as he heard the gun cocking in his ear.

“Put your gun down, or your brain matter’s gonna be all over that window.”

Willie swallowed, but forced his voice to sound cutting, “Manny, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m doing what Mr. Lyle told me to do.”

Watching it all unfold from the rearview mirror while still driving, Broots unsuccessfully tried to keep the panic from his voice.  “Uh fellas, what the hell is going on back there?”

Both sweepers looked at the computer technician and shouted, “Shut up!”

Manny pushed the gun harder into Willie’s temple.  “I ain’t playin’ so you’d better put up that gun.”

Slowly, Willie let the gun dangle on his finger, and Manny took it, shoving it into his pants belt.  Keeping the gun and his eyes trained on Willie, he spoke to Broots.

“Mr. Broots, we have a new destination.”

“W-we do?”

“Yes.  You’re heading to the airport, and you and Miss Broots are getting on a plane bound for the Caribbean.”

“Cool!”

“Debbie, honey, just don’t get too excited here...”  He looked in the rearview at Manny.  “And just what are we going there for?”

“You were trying to get away from the Centre, weren’t you?”

“Y-yes.”

“Well then, Mr. Lyle is helping you do just that.”

“Mr. Lyle?  N-no, h-he wouldn’t help me....”

Manny’s voice showed his impatience, “You wanna stay here with Willie, or go to the Caribbean with your daughter, Mr. Broots?”  

Broots nodded nervously.  “W-well, when you put it that way, I’ll take the Caribbean with Debbie.....”

Manny pulled two plane tickets from his pocket and threw them into the front seat.  “Here, complements of the Centre.”

Broots turned the car toward the airport, and tried to understand what just happened.  But no matter how many times he turned it around in his head, it didn’t add up.  He’d humor them all, and they’d start in the Caribbean; but then he and his daughter would fly and drive through several more cities until he was sure that no one would ever find them, especially anyone from the Centre.

****************  

Sydney turned sharply at the sound of the metal grate being removed.  His student stuck his head through, smiling at his mentor.

“Jarod!  You shouldn’t be here!  I’m sure this room is under surveillance.....”

Jarod smiled, waving a small electronic device.  “Not right now it’s not.”  He pulled himself through the opening of the grate and landed on the floor of the room.  He glanced over at Miss Parker.  “Is she all right?”

“She will be,” Sydney answered.  “Although in no thanks to Mr. Lyle, who took it upon himself to beat her almost senseless.”

Jarod’s lips pulled into a straight line, making a mental note to teach Mr. Lyle a lesson regarding manners.  “I sent an email to your account, confirming the meeting at Seaford Park, but I figured they put you up to it.”

“I’m sorry, Jarod, they left me no choice.”

Once again Jarod looked over at Miss Parker.  “I can see that.”

“Raines is supposed to let her go in the park, but I don’t trust him.  I want you to take her with you now, Jarod, and get as far away from here as you can.”

“And just what do you think they’ll do to you then, Sydney?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Jarod.”

“And what about Broots and Debbie?”

Sydney looked at his watch.  “Right about now they should be on their way to the Caribbean.”

“What?”

“I cut a small side deal with Mr. Lyle, and you know Broots, he’s smart enough not to stay where they’ve sent him.  He and Debbie will be fine.”  

“Are you nuts?  You can’t trust Lyle!”

“This one time, yes I can.  You see Jarod, I promised him that if Broots and Debbie weren’t safe before we made the exchange, I’d tell Mr. Raines that Lyle was planning to kill him once he had you back.”

“How could you have known about something like that?”

Sydney shrugged.  “I didn’t.  It was an educated guess, and apparently not that far off, eh?”  He put his hands on Jarod’s shoulders.  “Now, take Miss Parker, and go, before they realize you’re here.”

“I can’t let them kill you, Sydney.”

“It’s a small price to pay to get all of you out of here, believe me.”  Sydney stared into his student’s dark eyes.  “Please Jarod, I owe all of you at least that.”

Jarod looked at his watch.  “Listen, I don’t have time to explain, but you’re going to have to trust me, Sydney.  We’ve got an ace in the hole at the park who’ll watch out for Miss Parker.  In the meantime,” Jarod reached into his pocket and pulled out a DSA and a folded file, handing it to his mentor, “take these and keep them safe.  It’ll restore the balance of power around here - and Sydney, don’t destroy them, we can’t expect Angelo to keep finding these things.....”

Sydney put the files into his inner coat pocket and stared at Jarod.  “Are you sure you can keep Miss Parker safe tomorrow and keep yourself from being caught?”

“I’m confident of the first part, not so sure about the second, but as long as you have the DSA and file, everything should turn out reasonably well.”  Jarod smiled.  “Relax, Sydney, I think we’ve got Raines where it counts this time, you’ll see.  I’ve got to go.  I’ll see you tomorrow.  And Sydney, take care of Miss Parker.”

Sydney smiled as he watched Jarod pull himself into the grate, closing it behind him.  “Be careful, Jarod.”

*****************

Feeling weak from her injuries, Parker shivered in the back seat of the towncar.  Sydney reached over and pulled her hand into his own, gently warming it.

“Try not to worry.”

“Raines isn’t going to let me go, Syd, you know that.”

His chestnut eyes glanced up toward the driver, who was watching them in his rearview mirror and listening to everything they said.  He leaned in toward her ear, whispering.

“You need to have faith, Miss Parker.  We’re not alone on this one.”

Parker’s dark gray eyes darted to Syd’s, and a silent understanding passed between them.  She swallowed hard.  “What about you?”

“I’ll be okay.”  She stared hard at him, and he pulled her into his chest, holding her tightly.  “I promise you.”

The car pulled into the parking lot and Sydney, Parker and the driver got out of the car, all of them slowly moving toward the interior of the park.  Sydney kept a tight arm around Parker’s waist, allowing her to lean into him for support as they walked.  The driver stayed at a close distance behind.  Sydney couldn’t see them, but he could feel Raines and Lyle lurking somewhere nearby, and it sent an involuntary shiver up his spine.  Miss Parker tightened her grip on him.

“You okay, Syd?”

“Yeah.”

“I hope Wonder Boy knows what he’s doing.”

“He usually does, Miss Parker......”

As they moved toward the carousel, Sydney caught sight of Raines, Lyle and their men, skulking behind the vendor stands to the right.  His eyes moved straight ahead, and he saw Jarod, slowly walking toward them.  Sydney stopped moving and turned Miss Parker toward him, holding her by the arms.

“This is where I stay.  You walk toward Jarod, and whatever he indicates you to do, Parker, don’t question it, just do it.”  She frowned, and he squeezed her arms hard.  “Promise me.”  She nodded, tears stinging her gray eyes.  Sydney leaned down and kissed her lovingly on the forehead.  “Be careful, baby.....now go on.”

“But Syd--”

“--No.  Just go now.”  

He gently pushed her away and reluctantly she began moving in Jarod’s direction.  Raines and Lyle watched from their vantage point, both smiling as their plan unfolded.

“Jarod looks good, doesn't he?”  Raines asked.

Lyle licked his lips.  “Yes, he sure does.....”

“As soon as Jarod reached the halfway point, I want your men to move in.”

“It’s already in motion....”

As Parker neared Jarod, he spoke to her.  “In a minute or so all hell’s going to break loose, Miss Parker.  Raines will make a play for me, and a man somewhere behind me is waiting to take you by force if necessary.”

“What do you want me to do?”

They were almost in front of each other then.  

“The man waiting for you will be stopped, and at that moment, while everyone is distracted, I’ll make a break for it.  Just head for cover.  That’s all you need to do. ”

“Why should I let you go, Jarod?”  She asked as they lingered for a brief moment in the same spot.

“Because you know that what they’ve done to both you and Sydney in all of this is wrong, and you’d rather try and catch me on your own terms, Miss Parker.”

She smiled at him.  “We’ll see, monkey boy, we’ll just see......”

Jarod continued to move toward Raines and Lyle, and Parker brushed past him, seeing the suit waiting for her just ahead.  The man, whom she recognized as one of Raines’ sweepers, pulled a gun and pointed it at her.

“Stop right there, Miss Parker.”

“I don’t think so,” Mr. Parker’s deep voice boomed as he stepped out from the cover of a large tree.  “You’d better put that gun away, sonny, before I use it to break your head open.”

The man swallowed hard.  “Uh, Mr. Parker, I uh, I.....I was just doing as Mr. Raines instructed, sir, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Daddy!”

Miss Parker ran toward his open arms, as Raines, Lyle and the rest of the team watched their plan begin to fall apart.  And suddenly Jarod made a break for the carousel.  Lyle pulled his gun and ran toward the pretender, but Sydney threw himself into the Lyle’s path, knocking both of them down to the ground.  They scuffled for the weapon, and Lyle came up with it.  He pointed it at Sydney, cocking the trigger.

“I have had enough of you, Sydney!”

“Daddy!”  Miss Parker screamed, “Do something!”

Growling under his breath, Mr. Parker hustled toward Lyle, his voice barking, “Stand down, Lyle.”  The younger man stared at his father, but the gun remained trained on Sydney who was still on the ground.  “Did you hear me?  Put the gun away.”

“I’m sick of it.  I’m sick of him; I would have had Jarod, but he deliberately stopped me.  Why not just get rid of him?  There’s nothing standing in our way now.....”

Sydney pulled the DSA and folded file from his pocket then, smiling.  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Lyle.”

Parker rolled his eyes.  “Lyle, put the gun away.  Now.”

Finally Lyle eased the hammer back and put the weapon in its holster.  Miss Parker knelt next to Sydney.

“You okay, Syd?”

“Yes,” he said as she helped him up.  

He and Mr. Parker held each other’s eyes for a long moment.

“Looks like another stalemate, Mr. Parker.”

“Yes and no, Sydney.  I understand that you’ve got a few things to answer for......”

“Minor things, Mr. Parker, in comparison to your daughter’s safety, I’m sure.”

The two men glared at each other for a moment longer, and then Sydney gently shrugged out of Miss Parker’s grip and walked back toward the car in the parking lot.  Miss Parker turned to her father.

“What did he mean by that, Daddy?”

Parker pulled his daughter into his arms, kissing her on the forehead.  “Nothing, honey.  It’s nothing.  Come on, we have to derive an appropriate punishment for Mr. Raines and Mr. Lyle, whom I understand were extremely ill-behaved while I was gone.....”

****************

Sydney looked up from the book in his hands as he heard the floorboard creak under the weight of his student.

“Good evening, Jarod.”

Jarod smiled.  “You caught me.”

“You didn’t make it very difficult.”  Sydney stood and shook hands with Jarod.  “It’s good to see you.”

“Are you the only one seeing me?”

Sydney laughed.  “Yes.  All of the surveillance equipment that was in here has been removed.  As long as I have the DSA and files, I don’t think Mr. Lyle or Mr. Raines will try anything.  Besides, Mr. Parker still hasn’t forgiven them for their attempted coup d’etat.”

“And Miss Parker?”

“She’s fine, Jarod, completely recovered from her injuries.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Sydney looked down and paced away from his student.  “What do you want me to tell you, Jarod?”

“That you’ve told her the truth.”

Sydney stared into the dark eyes piercing him and shook his head.  “We’ve been through this before; I don’t see how it would be helpful to her.  As a matter of fact, I think it could prove to be very harmful.”

“She’s no less a person for it, Sydney.”

“No.  But she’s everything that Catherine Parker was right down to every last little minute detail.  Don’t you see how that could hurt her?”

“And you don’t think that someday she’ll put together the pieces and realize that I wasn’t the first person that the Centre cloned?”

“I don’t know......she might.”

“And what about the Centre?  Where will it stop, Sydney?  Raines will just continue with his vile experiments on human beings, not caring what it does to the subjects or their families.  Don’t you see that?”

“What I see is that I don’t have a right to tell her.  And neither do you.”

“But she has a right to know who she is and where she came from.  Catherine Parker is dead, Sydney.  She can’t tell her.  Mr. Parker sure as hell isn’t going to tell her.”

“Catherine Parker didn’t want her to be told, Jarod.  She begged me, she made me promise to protect her.”

And then it suddenly struck him; how he could have missed it over the years, the pretender didn’t know.

“You were in love with her.”  And a frown creased Jarod’s brow as another thought entered into his mind, which was no longer clarity-filled, but emotionally-ruled.  “My God, Sydney, are you in love with Miss Parker?”

“How dare you say such a thing to me.”

“It makes perfect sense.  You were hopelessly in love with the original, why not the clone?”

“You have no idea what you’re saying.”

“I read the file, Sydney.  I saw the DSA.  I should have seen it all sooner.  Raines and Mr. Parker approved the experiment, but you did nothing to stop it.  And I think it’s because you saw your chance.  You saw your opportunity to have a Catherine Parker for yourself--”

And without thinking, Sydney struck out, slapping Jarod hard in the face.  Jarod’s dark eyes filled with tears; not from the blow, but from the emotion attached to it.  Sydney reached out then, and Jarod backed away from him.

“Jarod......please, Jarod, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to do that.”

“You.......you hit me, Sydney.”

“I didn’t mean it.  Jarod--”

“--Sydney, you’ve never hit me before.”

Sydney suddenly felt exhausted and he plopped down on the couch, his voice a whisper.  “You don’t understand, Jarod.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“I do love Miss Parker, but not in the way you mean.”  He looked up into Jarod’s glistening eyes then and let out a long sigh.  “Not everything is contained in that file, Jarod.  In the early days of clone study, the process wasn’t cloning as we know it today.  DNA from the subject was extracted and a duplicate egg was made, but that egg still needed to be fertilized--”

“--I read the file, Sydney, I know that.  Mr. Raines ordered you to fertilize the egg with Mr. Parker’s sperm.  And you gladly did it so that you could have your own, personal Catherine Parker.....”  Sydney looked deeply into Jarod’s eyes, waiting for Jarod to make the leap.  And suddenly the truth hit Jarod, hard.  “Oh my God......you didn’t use Mr. Parker’s DNA.”  He sat down next to Sydney, studying the man’s chestnut eyes.  “You used yours.”

And Sydney stared into the dark eyes of his protégé, neither admitting nor denying a truth that was still far too dangerous a thing to possess.....

The End

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