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Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre, Sydney’s Office
July 19, 1998
Both looked up as she strode into the office wearing her usual tight black skirt that reached her mid thighs and a white skintight shirt under a black suit. She had her usual ice-cold expression in her eyes. She strode over to the balding man that had his face on a computer screen and leaned down to his ear slowly.
“Any sign of Jarod, Broots?” she whispered, no expression at all. The computer geek shivered at the tone of her voice that was so close to his ear.
“Ah, I’m ah, working on it, M-Miss Parker,” he stuttered out. She enjoyed the power she had over people. One snap of her fingers and she would have five people walking to Hong Kong.
“Work harder!” she snapped suddenly.
Broots jumped at the sudden bark of order and quickly typed on the computer, his eyes dancing back and forth as he
watched the screen. The older man sitting in the corner of the room couldn’t help but laugh at the scene before him. She was a Parker all right. Suddenly her cold blue eyes were on him.
“Something funny, Sydney?” she asked in her lowest and most dangerous tone. He chose to ignore her question and got up from the leather couch in which he sat on. He strode over to the two who were leaning over the computer screen.
“Ah… bingo!” Broots said with a smirk. He was rather proud of himself.
“Well, you idiot, where?” she snapped. His smile disappeared quickly and then pointed to the screen.
“There was a sighting of Jarod in Winter Gardens, Florida,” he said, spinning in his chair to face them. “I can get you a plane ticket right away or you can…”
“Get the corporate jet ready now!” she interrupted. He gave her a nod and reached for his phone that lay beside the
computer. Miss Parker turned to Sydney.
“Are you going to be joining me?” she asked, not even a splinter of politeness. “I’m sure you want to be there when rat
boy is caged.”
“He is very smart Miss Parker,” Sydney said calmly, ignoring the name she so rudely called him. “What makes you so sure this is the day?”
Miss Parker opened her mouth to answer, when the door to the office swung open to reveal an old man and two blondes, one with short hair and the other with long.
“Because you are getting help,” Mr. Parker answered Sydney’s question.
“Daddy!” Miss Parker said with a hint of joy and walked to her father.
“Hello angel,” he greeted her and wrapped his large arms around her. Miss Parker glanced into the face of the blonde that stood by her father’s side, as he let go of her. She gave Miss Parker an evil wink.
“Brigitte, how nice to see you,” Miss Parker said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Hello love,” the blonde greeted back. Miss Parker’s eyes leaped to the other blonde.
“Who the hell are you?” she asked.
The woman was taller that Miss Parker was. She wore black leather pants, similar to Brigitte’s, and a leather jacket over a red button-up blouse. Her perfectly straight hair was about six inches down from her shoulders. Her eyes almost looked like a doll’s. She gave Miss Parker an evil grin.
“Angel, this is your new partner, Alex,” Mr. Parker introduced.
“Partner? You have got to be kidding!” Miss Parker said with a laugh.
“Nice to meet you too,” Alex said with sarcasm. She had bit of an accent, kind of a New York one.
Miss Parker stared at her with a stone expression, as she stared back in the same manner. Miss Parker finally turned to her father again.
“Why a partner daddy?” she asked, almost in a little girls voice.
“It’s about time you got more… professional help. Alex here as been a highly trained cleaner from the Tower and she has always done her job right…”
“Wait, did you say the Tower?” Miss Parker asked, as she glanced over at Alex. “The bimbo is from the Tower?” Her
father nodded. “Why the hell would someone from the Tower be helping us to recapture Jarod?”
“Because they agreed to help if they could have some of the tapes of Jarod’s Sims in order to them as well. Kind of a truce you might say,” he father explained.
"Well I don’t need any help bringing Jarod in, especially from the Tower!” Miss Parker said, as she turned on her heels and started to walk back to her two companions, when her father started to talk again.
“You have had almost two years now to catch Jarod and you haven’t. It’s about time we get better help.”
Miss Parker spun around to face them again. She put on her coldest face.
“Better help? So Brigitte got rusty, eh?” she said, glancing at the blonde. She just couldn’t help but not saying that one. Brigitte gave her an evil eye.
“Just pretend she is here for the ride, okay Angel?” Mr. Parker said with a wink.
“I don’t pretend,” she snapped, almost forgetting whom she was talking to. Mr. Parker gave her a fatherly smile and then left the room, with Brigitte following close behind. Alex smirked and then strode passed Miss Parker to the two by the
computer.
“I heard you three got a lead on our man. Well what are we waiting for?” Alex asked, turning to Miss Parker.
“Broots,” Miss Parker snapped suddenly. Broots quickly looked up from the screen. “Well you moron, did you get the
corporate jet?”
“Y-yes,” he said softly.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Main Street
Same day
He wanted to be out of Florida a day ago but found that the case was harder than it appeared to be. He knew that the
Centre was already tracking him, and he wouldn’t doubt it for a second that they already found him. He was on the edge of his seat with fear and frustration about this case. He had read the news paper clipping over and over trying to get more details about who could have possibly murdered the eight year old girl. She was found brutally beaten to death and was found in a dumpster on Main Street. The only thing left to do was for Jarod to go to the scene of the crime.
As soon as he entered the alleyway where the dumpster was located, he felt a gush of cold air. He shivered at the sudden
chill. It was rather hot in Florida and that breeze was rather surprising. He cautiously walked to the dumpster and peered inside. It looked like an ordinary dumpster. He then placed his hands on the rim of it and closed his eyes.
He faintly saw a small child running from a door of an abandoned warehouse. The way she kept glancing behind her
seemed as if she was being chased. She suddenly tripped and fell to the ground. She looked up and screamed as a shadow
stood above her.
“Please, no! Don’t hurt me!” she screamed, but had no affect on her pursuer. She watched as the shadow lifted its hand
and… blackness.
Jarod snapped his eyes open and let go of the rim. He stepped back and looked down the alleyway. Sure enough, there was the same door to the warehouse that he had saw in his vision. He began to walk towards it, studying everything carefully. There were no signs of anything. No clues, no nothing. It was a clean break. He studied the door. It was slightly open. Jarod pressed his head against the stone wall of the building in order to peer inside the crack of the door. It was too dark to see anything, so he pulled on the handle. It let out a loud creek as it revealed access to the building. Jarod looked around for a second and then stepped inside.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Airport - Same day
Miss Parker pulled off her sunglasses as she looked around her surroundings. That day was hotter than hell and she knew his wasn’t going to be pleasant, even if they did get Jarod. Alex had insisted that they didn't need sweepers because “she is so good at her job”. Miss Parker got really sick of her bragging to Sydney and Broots about how all her cases were so successful on the way over. Miss Parker just hoped they would find Jarod, shackle him and then drag him back to the Centre. She would drag him by the hair herself, and walk to the Centre, if it meant avoiding the bimbo.
There was a black limo waiting for them at the airport. Without a word, Miss Parker jumped in, while Sydney, Broots and Alex followed.
“Where do you think he is?” Broots asked. Miss Parker glanced at him and was about to make a snide remark when she
realized the question was directed to Alex. “He’s a genius. He could be anywhere,” Alex replied with a smile. “That’s what makes it more fun.”
“Fun?” Miss Parker asked, glancing over at her.
“You heard me. Don’t you get the thrill out of the hunt?”
“I don’t get ‘thrills’ out of my job.”
“That’s a shame. Maybe we can teach ya.”
“I don’t need to learn anything from you,” Miss Parker shot back and returned her attention to the window. Alex shrugged her shoulders.
“Fine… but you are really missing a lot.”
Winter Gardens, Florida
Main Street - Same day
It was then when he heard the familiar skid of tires of the paved road outside that returned him back to reality. He was making a lot of progress, but his conscience was screaming at him to get away, so he had to put the case on hold. He ran to the exit of the warehouse and quickly checked if the coast was clear, before running out.
He knew it wasn’t smart to keep the same car from last time he ran into the Centre. That is why they knew he was down on the alleyway, cause his car was parked on the side of the street. But he didn’t have time to exchange it for another.
"There he is! Get him!” he heard the familiar voice of Miss Parker shout from behind him. He suddenly picked up speed
when he heard footsteps running behind him. He sharply turned a corner and jumped a wooden fence that separated the two alleyways. He rounded another corner and stopped to catch his breath. He listened very carefully for any further footsteps, but heard none.
Suddenly heard someone hold their breath as they leaped the fence and then the thud on their feet hitting the ground on the other side. Jarod held his breath and began to inch his way further down the alleyway. He kept his eye on the corner where he had turned for his pursuer, when suddenly he felt his leg hit something and glanced downwards just as the crates came falling down to the ground with a loud crash.
Jarod let out a gasp and began to run. He heard more yelling and footsteps behind him. As he turned another corner, he noticed it was a dead end and skidded to a stop. He studied his surroundings as he panted uncontrollably.
“There is no escape handsome,” he heard a strange voice come from behind him. He spun around to see an unfamiliar face. The blonde smiled wickedly at him as she aimed her gun at his chest.
“Who are you?” Jarod asked cautiously. Her smirk seemed grow larger.
"Your new nightmare,” she said in a stone cold tone. She stepped closer to him, as Jarod stepped back. She let out a wicked laugh. “You are coming with me if you like it or not!”
“In your dreams!” Jarod shouted, as he dashed by her. She tried to grab his black leather jacket, but was a second to late. She aimed carefully and…
BANG!
Miss Parker reacted to the shot first and then she pointed to the right. “It came from that way! Move, move!” she shouted to Sydney and Broots. They all took off in the same direction. They picked up speed when they heard several more shots.
“She better not have killed him!” Sydney shouted, his voice shaky with worry.
BANG!
She aimed again…
BANG!
He was always a corner ahead of her. She turned a corner and looked around the dead end. Where could he have gone? She studied the surroundings carefully. Suddenly he dropped from the fire escape behind her. She reacted to it quicker than he expected and received an elbow to the gut. He let out a grunt of pain and held his stomach with his left arm. She spun around and knocked him to the ground.
“There you are!” she shouted. “Now, now. Don’t play ghost on me!” She aimed her gun at his head. “Now get up!” she
ordered.
Jarod just laid there on his back and panted softly, trying to catch his breath from the sudden blow.
“I said get up!” she screamed and then kicked him hard in the side.
Jarod let out another grunt of pain and decided to listen to her. He didn’t know this woman and didn’t know what she is capable of. The only safe way is to obey.
He slowly rose to his feet, noting how tall she was. She wasn’t as tall as him, but was only about two inches shorter. She was surprisingly strong as well.
“Put your hands on your head, now!” she barked. He obeyed. He watched her look him up and down and came uncomfortable. She then locked her eyes on his and smiled. “That wasn’t so hard now was it?” Jarod just stared at her with no expression in his brown eyes. “Don’t try anything, you got that?” Jarod nodded slowly. “Good boy. Now, turn and walk slowly. One wrong move and you got your very own sky light in your head, got it?” Jarod slowly turned and began to walk, as she followed close behind.
Suddenly, he heard Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots coming around the corner and glanced back at the blonde. She just
watched him and paid no attention to the three, who just now turned the corner and spotted them.
“You got him!” Broots shouted in amazement and excitement.
“Oh hip, hip hooray,” Miss Parker said sarcastically to herself, but Sydney caught it. They walked up to Jarod and Alex.
“And you said he was so hard to catch,” Alex said with a smirk.
Miss Parker glanced at her and then pulled out handcuffs. She held them up to Jarod’s face and smiled.
“Remember these?” she said in sarcasm. She unlocked them and then roughly snapped them on his wrists that he held out in front of him. “Are you giving up or just giving us a break?”
Jarod ignored her. Even though he wasn’t staring at her, he kept his attention on the blonde behind him. He didn’t want to get more hurt, or his escape plan will not be easy.
As they turned to walk back, Jarod felt the urge to scratch an itch that was taunting him on his brow. As he lifted his hands he saw just a glimpse of a fist as it crashed into his face.
Everyone spun around to see Jarod hit the ground and bring his
hand to his face in pain.
“Why did you do that?” Sydney shouted at Alex as he bent down on his haunches to aid Jarod.
“He was trying something!” Alex claimed.
“Yeah, I was trying to scratch my brow!” Jarod yelled back, his voice a bit muffled as he held his sore nose.
Broots let out a laugh, but quickly stopped when Miss Parker spun around gave him a look that could kill. Sydney helped
Jarod to his feet as he still held his nose. Jarod glared at Alex.
“Well next time, don’t even try that!” she said, getting up into his face. “Don’t ever push your luck with me! You got that?” Jarod just stared at her blankly. Sydney and Miss Parker exchanged looks. “You got that?” she repeated angrily. He still gave her no response. She brought her hand up and slapped him hard across his face, causing Jarod’s head to snap to the right.
Sydney stepped in between them. “That’s enough Alex!” Sydney said.
“Don’t tell me how to do my job old man! If you knocked some sense into your project, maybe he wouldn’t be such a
smart-ass!” she shouted at him.
“That’s enough!” Sydney shouted again. Alex stared at him as if she was about to pull out a knife.
“Do your job however you will, but don’t give me orders on how to do mine!” and with that she pushed Sydney out of the
way and grabbed Jarod by the arm.
She roughly pulled him in front of her and snapped, “Walk!” He obeyed.
Only their footsteps on the pavement was the sound they heard. No one dared to make a comment, most of all, Jarod. This woman Alex was definitely dangerous and she could so easily snap his neck in one blunt slap.
They finally reached the limo. They all climbed inside, still no word and drove to the airport where their plane was waiting.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Airport - Same day
“What hell do you mean, ‘they took off’? Why would they do that?” Miss Parker shouted at one of the sweepers.
“Y-your father just called. He said that they didn’t have enough money to pay them to wait. It might be a couple days until they return back here,” the brave sweeper explained cautiously.
Miss Parker let out a frustrated and angry sigh and kicked a stone across the pavement.
“Why don’t they have enough money?” Sydney asked the sweeper.
“Well,” he began and glanced at the shackled Jarod and then quickly returned to Sydney. “They are running low on money
because Jarod has stolen a lot from the Centre. It will be in a couple days before they can pay the pilot.”
Miss Parker glanced at Jarod and gave him an evil eye, but Jarod ignored it.
“Fine, we will get a hotel,” Alex announced to everyone.
This is going to take a lot of effort, thought Jarod.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Nearby Motel
“I’m sorry, but we only have two connecting rooms left. One with two beds and the other with one,” the clerk said to the attitude high bitch.
Miss Parker tapped her fingers impatiently on the counter. She glanced out the huge glass window in the front where the others waited patiently. She let out a frustrated sigh.
“Fine you half wit. I’ll take it!” she snapped.
After getting her keys, she took off for the door and walked to the limo. She leaned inside the door and said, “There are only two connecting rooms. And there are only three beds as well.”
“Well, Jarod is not leaving my sight!” Alex said, glancing at Jarod, who sat across from her in the limo. Miss Parker
snapped her head up.
“Oh? And when did you become Queen of security?” Miss Parker sneered. Alex gave her a knowingly grin.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Motel room
After almost an hour of debating, Miss Parker, Alex and, because Alex insisted she keep an eye on Jarod, shared the two
bed bedroom and the other room was for Sydney and Broots to fight over.
When Jarod entered the bedroom, Alex and turned to him and then pointed to a chair at the far wall.
“Sit,” she snapped. He obeyed. Alex walked over to him and pulled the coat that they used to hide his shackled hands off his shoulders. She gave him a wicked smile before unlocking the cuff off his right hand and snapped it on the chair’s back leg and then she took out another pair and did the same on the other side so his arms were forced down and back. Jarod winced at the unnatural position that he sat, as Alex gave him an evil wink.
Jarod sat in silence as he watched the two women make their beds for the night. He sighed as he looked to the ground. It’s going to be a long night, he thought.
Suddenly, they heard a knock on the connecting door. Miss Parker walked over to it and opened it. Sydney stood in the
doorway.
“Do you mind if we keep this door open? I would also like to keep an eye on… things,” Sydney said glancing from Miss
Parker to Alex. Miss Parker stared at him in consideration for a moment and then glanced at Alex who was heading for the bathroom.
“Whatever, old man,” Alex said wickedly before disappearing in the bathroom. Sydney shook his head in disgust.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this one Miss Parker,” he said softly, making sure that Alex was unable to hear him.
Miss Parker nodded. Sydney then glanced at Jarod who sat staring at them in the corner. Sydney felt the urge to run over to him and ask him if he is okay, but held him self back. Sydney, instead, just gave him a simple nod and returned back to his room. Jarod looked down to the ground in disappointment.
Later that night
The eerie silence was enough to drive Jarod up the wall! The only sounds he heard were the soft voices of the TV in Sydney and Broots’ room. He sat there with his head leaned back against the wall, as Alex and Miss Parker read their books.
It had been almost four hours since they first got there and he was beginning to get an awful cramp in his lower back. He tried to sit up and when he did the chair let out a huge creek. Both Miss Parker and Alex’s head snapped up and glared at him. He froze in mid stretch and then quickly stopped. They seemed to stare at him for almost an eternity. He found he was holding his breath and finally exhaled nervously.
“Is there a problem Mister?” Alex sneered at him. He glared at her evilly.
“Well, it’s a little uncomfortable to sit the same way for almost four hours!” Jarod snapped back. Alex quickly jumped to her feet, which caused Jarod to jump as well. Mentally, Jarod was kicking himself for saying that.
“Fine. Want me to cuff you another way?” she asked, the concern in her voice an obvious act. Jarod nodded softly. She
stomped over to him and pulled the cuff key from her pocket. She roughly unlocked his hands from the chair and forced him to a stand. She pulled him over to the bed and pushed him onto it. Miss Parker slowly stood up.
“What are you doing?” Miss Parker asked, as she watched Alex roughly cuff Jarod’s hands apart to the brass bed.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting him more comfortable!” she snapped. She then looked down at Jarod,
who stared up at her in confusion.
She slowly bent over him so her lips were barely touching his.
“Isn’t that right? I’m just getting you more comfortable,” she said seductively. Miss Parker took a step towards them. Alex looked up at her. “This is where I get my fun. You can take notes if you like,” Alex said and bent down for rough kiss from Jarod.
Jarod began to squirm from under her. He desperately tried to pull away, but the cuffs wouldn’t allow it. She then forced her tongue into his mouth, causing him to squirm more.
“Stop it!” Miss Parker shouted. She was about to pull Alex away from Jarod but Alex backhanded her across the face,
causing her to fall to the other bed.
“What’s going on in here?” Sydney asked, running into the room, with Broots close behind.
Alex quickly turned around and glared at him, as his eyes looked at the scene.
“What are you doing?” he asked, turning his attention to Alex again, after seeing Jarod cuffed to the bed and Miss
Parker holding her face with her hand.
“Jarod just told me that he was tired of sitting in the same place for too long, so I moved him to the bed. Is that a problem?” she asked him innocently. Sydney looked form Alex to Jarod and then to Miss Parker, who shook her head slowly.
“Maybe you should have your own room,” Sydney said cautiously, considering the fact that wasn’t safe to leave her
alone with anyone, especially Jarod or Broots. Alex cocked her head to the side innocently.
“What?” she snapped.
“You heard me,” he said quietly.
“Nice try old man, but I’m not letting him out of my sight!” Alex demanded, pointing behind her at Jarod.
“We can watch him,” Sydney replied. Alex stared at them.
“No you can’t. That’s why you have never brought him back before!” Alex shouted angrily. “You need to show the science
project whose boss, but all three of you are softies!”
“Alex, get your ass in there!” Sydney shouted, loosing his temper all of a sudden and pointing to the other room. Broots
quietly took a step back from the sudden out burst. Alex gave him a long and dangerous stare before roughly brushing passed him and into the connecting room and slamming the door.
When she out of sight, Jarod let out soft sigh of relief. Miss Parker slowly got up form the bed and made her way to the
bathroom without a word. Sydney and Broots exchanged worried glances and then walked over to the other bed
and sat down awkwardly. As Broots reached for the remote, Sydney turned to Jarod, who lay there with his eyes closed.
“Jarod?” Sydney asked cautiously. Jarod slowly opened his eyes and turned towards Sydney’s awaiting expression. “Did
she… did she hurt you?” he asked, trying not to sound too much of a father.
Jarod gave him a smile and then slowly shook his head no. Sydney smiled back and then turned to see what Broots found
on the channels.
Early Morning
Other than having his arms pulled up and apart, Jarod had a good nights sleep. He slowly opened his eyes and waited for
them to focus properly before looking to see where everyone was.
“Well, finally,” Sydney said with a smile, as he saw Jarod look in his direction. “I thought you’d never wake up,” he said, and then folded up the newspaper that he was reading and then got up and walked over to Jarod. “Have a nice sleep?” he asked with a smile.
“Yeah, considering the fact that it was probably the longest I’ve slept since I escaped,” Jarod replied, his voice a little hoarse from sleep.
Sydney’s smile quickly turned upside down. “Well, that can’t be good for your health,” Sydney said
worryingly. Jarod looked around quickly.
“Where is everyone?” he asked. Sydney glanced around.
“Oh, Broots went to get ice and Miss Parker is in the shower,” Sydney explained. Jarod nodded, for the first time hearing the running water in the bathroom. “What would you want for breakfast?” Sydney asked, returning back to the table in which he sat at.
“Why are you asking me?” Jarod asked.
“Well, when Broots gets back, he and I are going to get breakfast. We are all open for suggestions.”
Jarod lifted an eyebrow in confusion before saying, “I don’t know. McDonald’s is what I usually get,” he said with a boyish
smile. Sydney shook his head with a knowingly smile.
“All that healthy eating wasted!” he said.
Just then, Miss Parker came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head neatly and wearing the same close she had on yesterday, since they didn’t know this was going to be an overnight trip.
“Wow, you look different,” Jarod said with a smile. Miss Parker glared at him. “Can I have a shower too?” Jarod asked,
turning his head to Sydney.
Sydney looked down at Jarod, then glanced at Miss Parker. “Maybe later,” he replied. Jarod let out a soft sigh of frustration before nodding his head.
Suddenly, Broots entered the room, carrying a bucket full of ice. He set it down and then turned to Sydney. Sydney quickly got up and then clapped his hands together.
“Okay, what does everyone want?” he asked, looking from each person to another. No one made a move to answer.
“Okay, McDonald’s then,” he said, giving Jarod a smile.
He heard a huff come from Miss Parker, but chose to ignore it. “All right, let’s go Broots,” and with that Miss Parker and Jarod were left alone in the room.
Miss Parker found herself standing there for a while and quickly walked to the other bed and sat down. She reached for the remote and began clicking through the channels. The endless click, click, click, click was driving Jarod crazy.
“Can I please take a shower?” he asked finally, trying to avoid lying on a bed and hearing the TV being abused by its very own remote.
Miss Parker made no show of looking at him and kept clicking through the channels. Jarod was mentally counting down the
seconds before he was going to scream and rip of his own arms so he could get away. 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4…
“Fine,” she said, throwing the remote on the end of the bed after a tiring search, but found nothing on. She walked over to the table on the opposite side of the room and picked up the cuff keys. She then unlocked him from the bed and led him to the bathroom. To his surprise she followed him inside.
“Ah… what are you doing?” he asked, turning to her in confusion. She stared at him innocently.
“Well I don’t want you disappearing down the drain now do I?" she said with a smile. “Now, strip,” she snapped. He just stared at her in shock.
“Excuse me?” he asked, becoming a little uncomfortable.
“Strip,” she repeated, sitting down on the lid of the toilet seat. He just stood there staring at her. She gave him a threatening look. “If you are going to take a shower then you are going to have to strip. Strip!”
Hesitating just for a second or two, he then pulled his shirt over his head in one swift motion. She leaned a little closer and he noticed her action.
“What?” he asked cautiously. She looked up from his abdomen to meet his eyes.
“Who hit you?” she asked. For the first time he heard her concern for him.
He glanced down at the bruise that covered his stomach.
“Alex,” he replied softly.
“When?”
“Yesterday, when you guys caught me.”
She leaned back again, still staring at the painful looking bruise, and shook her head in disgust. Jarod began to pull off his shoes and then his socks. He looked at her quickly, noting she was watching his every move, and then he quickly unzipped his pants and slid them down his hips. He slid his fingers in the elastic of his blue boxers and then looked up at her. She looked up after she realized he had stopped.
“What?” she asked.
“Turn around,” he said in shy manner.
“Like I've never seen it before,” she said. He lifted both his eyebrows.
“Fine,” she said with a huff and then turned the opposite way.
She heard him quickly pull down on them and the soft thud as they hit the tile. She then heard the shower curtain being opened and closed after he stepped inside. The sound of water soon followed. She spun around again and sat there in silence.
“So…” she began, trying to start a conversation. Why am I acting like this? I shouldn’t be nervous around boy wonder, she
thought.
“I want to thank you for trying to stop Alex,” he said finally, breaking the uneasy silence.
“Well, ya know. I wanted the first shot at you,” she lied, not wanting to admit she helped him.
“Of course,” he said sarcastically. Silence broke threw again.
To keep busy she leaned over and began folding his clothes. She was trying not to think about what was behind the curtain. Just that thought made her cross her legs.
“She is a real bitch, you know that?” he suddenly burst out. Miss Parker couldn’t hold in the laugh.
“I know, I know,” she said, laughing and shaking her head. “She makes me look like an angel, right?” she said with smile
still on her face. She couldn’t remember when she last smiled like that.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, a smile in his tone.
“Hey!” she said in a playful manner. What was she doing? This isn’t like her to be so… happy? Especially around rat boy. She quickly wiped the smile from her face. “You almost done?” she snapped.
“Patience young Jedi," he said with a laugh. She smiled. She waited a while. She then glanced at the handle of the toilet and smirked to herself.
Flush! “Yoooowwww! That’s cold!” he shouted. Miss Parker couldn’t but laugh until her heart’s desire.
“Okay! I am getting out,” he shouted playfully, turning off the water. “Can you hand me a towel please?” he said through his teeth.
“Come and get it!” she shouted with a laugh, twirling the towel around in the air.
Suddenly, he reached out from behind the curtain and tried to grab the towel from her, but she yanked it away.
“Ah-ah,” she said playfully. “You have to come out and get it.” She gave him a wink as he returned with an evil smile.
"Oh really?” he said, lifting his eyebrows. She smiled wider as she began twirling the towel again, taunting him with it. “Fine… I guess I’ll wait until I air dry,” he said, pulling the curtain shut again.
Miss Parker waited and waited for him to jump out, but he didn't. She slowly sat down. Well I can wait too, she thought
with a smirk. Suddenly, he reached out and yanked the towel from her grasp before she could even look up. She could hear him laughing as he pulled the curtain shut.
"You idiot!" she shouted at him, as she stood up. She could hear him rustling around as he dried himself. Hmm.. she thought. She reached out and yanked the curtain open, just as he
wrapped it around his waist. He gave her a wide-eyed expression.
"Damn!" she said in disappointment.
“And what were you wanting to see?" he asked, as he stepped out of the shower and brushed past her.
"This!" she shouted and yanked the towel away from his waist.
Outside the door of the bathroom, Sydney and Broots quietly set down the bags of food and listened to the laughing and the playful shouting. They exchanged looks when they realized it was Miss Parker and Jarod.
"Hey! Give it back!" Jarod shouted from the bathroom. They heard Miss Parker laughing in response.
"Come get it!" she shouted.
"What do you think they are doing?" Broots whispered to Sydney. Sydney smiled and shook his head in confusion.
"Should we knock?" Broots asked, stepping towards the door. Sydney quickly grabbed Broots' shoulder and pulled him back.
"No. Let's let them have their fun," he said with a smile, listening to the muffled laughter coming from the bathroom.
In the bathroom, Jarod managed to get his boxers on, but Miss Parker got to the rest of his clothes first. Luckily the bathroom was pretty big, or Miss Parker wouldn't have anywhere to run. Laughter filled the room, as Jarod chased Miss Parker around.
Finally he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him. Their laughing softened at the sudden closeness they had. She
suddenly realized he was becoming closer, as he leaned down for a kiss. She slowly closed her eyes and waited for what's
coming... but then she felt the clothes in her hands being yanked away, causing her to snap her eyes open.
"Gotcha!" Jarod announced with a satisfied smile on his face. She gave him a wicked smile in return.
"You cheated!" she said taking off after him.
Outside the bathroom, Sydney tapped his fingers on the table. He listened to the laughing and almost burst into tears of
happiness. Never in his life has he heard Miss Parker, as well as Jarod, laugh like that. It was so pure, so happy. He smiled at that thought. Broots was already devouring his sandwich, clearly in no desire to wait for the happy couple to come out of the bathroom.
Sydney let out a sigh satisfaction. Broots looked up. "Now are you going to knock?" he asked, finishing up the last
couple bites. Sydney shook his head with a smile.
"Let them come out on their own," he replied. He was dying to hear what they have to say about this, better yet, dying to see their expressions when they came out.
"Fine, you win," they heard Miss Parker say with a sigh.
"Don't I always?" Jarod said with a laugh.
Jarod was allowed to finish getting dressed, as Miss Parker caught her breath while sitting on the toilet seat. When he was finished she quickly brushed passed him and walked out of the bathroom, as Jarod followed close behind.
She stopped so suddenly, that Jarod didn't time to think and bumped right into her. He found her staring in shock at Sydney and Broots! They both felt themselves blushing. Sydney and Broots had a smile on their faces that made Miss Parker and Jarod want to smack right off.
“I'm glad you two are getting along,” Sydney finally said. He gestured towards the McDonalds bag. Both, smirking, sat
down in the other two chairs and began to eat their sandwiches in silence, glancing at each other once and a while as if they were little kids again and just got in trouble for playing in the mud.
Just then, Alex barged through the door with her “don’t mess with me” attitude. Sydney was literally kicking him self for not locking that damn door! She gave them the most dangerous look.
“What the hell is this?” she said angrily. “Why are you letting the little smart ass sit with you? Not to mention letting him eat! That’s why he always gets away. Softies, I repeat softies!”
“Alex calm down! He isn’t going anywhere and besides prisoner or not, he needs to eat!” Sydney shouted back at her. She glared at him.
“You can never trust them old man,” she said firmly. “I called the Centre last night, and I am now completely in charge of Jarod.”
“What?” Miss Parker shouted, as she stood. “And who gave you that permission?”
Alex walked up to her and got into her face. “Dear old daddy did of course,” she sneered. Miss Parker stared at her, half
shock and half hatred filled her eyes. Alex then turned to Jarod.
“C’mon… pumpkin. We are going to our room now,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling out her gun with the other.
Sydney got up from his chair. “You are not going anywhere!”
“Oh? And you are going to stop me? I’d like to see that!” she said with a laugh. She began to pull Jarod towards the
connecting door, but Jarod yanked his arm away from her. She spun around and put her gun to his head. He froze.
“Don’t even go there!” she threatened. He just glared down at her. “If you are really the genius that I heard you to be, then don’t mess with me,” she said in a dangerous tone.
Miss Parker quickly walked up to them and swiped the gun from Jarod’s head.
“Don’t you dare!” Miss Parker threatened back. “I have had enough of your damn high and mighty little act. The way I see it, you are looking up to us. We have been on this damn case a lot longer than you have! We know what Jarod is capable of and not capable of! And I am in charge of him, not you! ME!” she shouted at Alex, which seemed to have no affect on the woman.
“You tell the Centre that then,” and with that she turned and began to pull Jarod into her room. But before she could even reach the door, Alex got a kick to her lower back by Miss Parker, causing her to let go of Jarod and fall to the floor. Alex spun around on her back and aimed her gun blindly.
BANG!
Jarod felt the piercing pain zap through his body, unable to pinpoint exactly where it hit him. He let out a cry of pain and, as if it was in slow motion, the ground came to meet his body. Way back in his mind, he could hear Miss Parker shouting his name repeatedly, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't answer her. He opened his eyes slightly and could see her over him. For the first time, he saw that her eyes were full of worry. Everything seemed to slow down and his eyes began to feel heavy. He tried to keep them open, but it was no use, and the blackness began to seek through his view and mind.
“Jarod no!” Miss Parker shouted at him, as he closed his eyes and fell unconscious. Sydney collapsed beside her and tried to remain calm as he checked Jarod for breathing. He let out a nervous sigh of relief when there was breathing.
“You shot him! You bitch, you shot him!” Miss Parker shouted at Alex, who just stared down at them with no expression.
Broots dropped to his knees and stared at the scene.
“Actually the shot was for you,” she sneered back at Miss Parker. Miss Parker shook her head in disgust.
“Please… Jarod needs help. He is losing a lot of blood fast,” Sydney pleaded with a shaky voice. “Please, for once Alex, help us.”
Miss Parker could see Sydney shaking all over. She knew how he felt to see Jarod like that. She was on the verge of panic and tears as well, but as usual, she held it in.
Alex stared at him, but not evilly this time, perhaps consideration. She let out a sigh before replying, “Fine. I’m going for a walk. That’s the best I can do for you,” she sneered and then headed for the door.
Sydney leaped to his feet.
“We need your help!” he yelled at her, but she opened the door, and before she stepped out, she looked back and gave him an evil grin.
“I’ll call for help,” Miss Parker offered, as she pulled out her cell phone.
Sydney knelt down again and kept his attention on Jarod’s breathing and heart rate, not caring what Miss Parker said to the 911 operator. All he wanted was Jarod to be safe and alive in the hospital, already recovering from the shot to the chest.
Broots helped Sydney stop the bleeding. Suddenly, Jarod stopped breathing.
“Oh my god!” Sydney shouted in panic and began to do rescue breathing on Jarod frantically. He would stop between breaths, making sure that he was or was not breathing and would always react with a frown when there was none. “Jarod! Jarod breath damn it, breath!” he repeated over and over.
Miss Parker watched in horror as Sydney tried to revive Jarod, but was having no luck. “Please Jarod! Oh please!”
Suddenly, Jarod let out a small gasp of air. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” Sydney shouted towards the ceiling. He patted Jarod on the cheek gently. “Now… stay with me, okay? Stay with me Jarod,” he whispered softly.
Just then, Miss Parker hung up her cell phone with a frustrated huff. Sydney looked at her in surprise. “Why did you hang up?” he asked with a frantic expression.
“Don’t worry, the bimbo knows what happened and where we are. I just couldn’t stand to be on the phone with her and doing nothing, while I could be helping you.”
Sydney shook his head in disgust, but after a while gave her a weak smile.
“Sydney…” they heard Jarod whisper hoarsely. They all turned to him in surprise.
“Jarod!” Sydney said in excitement. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, trying not to get Jarod worried, but was having a hell of a time doing so. Jarod gave him a weak smile.
“Of course. Everything is going to be… just fine,” he said, more to convince Sydney than himself. Sydney nodded in agreement.
“Of course,” he repeated with a smile.
Just then, they heard the distant cries of sirens.
“Is that for me?” Jarod asked, jokingly.
Winter Gardens Hospital
A day later
“The doctor said you will heal nicely. You are going to be okay,” Sydney said, smiling down at Jarod, who lay in a hospital bed.
“That’s good,” he whispered back. “I can’t wait to get out of here and back to the… Centre.”
Miss Parker and Sydney caught the sarcasm in Jarod’s voice and both exchanged glances.
“Only this time!” she shouted down to him, suddenly, causing him to jump a little.
“What?” he asked cautiously.
“We are only let you go this one time, you hear me?”
He responded with a smile. “Thank you,” he said softly. She replied with rolling her eyes.
“What happened to Alex?” he asked out of the blue. Miss Parker glanced at Sydney before answering.
“I had called my father and he had said to forget about her,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I just don’t get it. They can make people disappear so easily, form your sight and your memories as well.”
“That’s the Centre for you,” Sydney replied.
Just out of the hospital door
She smiled her usual wicked smile as she clicked the safety off her gun.
“Here are some more thrills for ya, Miss Parker,” she whispered to herself.
Before she can return to the Centre, she needed to… destroy the traitors.
The Centre, Sydney’s Office
July 19, 1998
Both looked up as she strode into the office wearing her usual tight black skirt that reached her mid thighs and a white skintight shirt under a black suit. She had her usual ice-cold expression in her eyes. She strode over to the balding man that had his face on a computer screen and leaned down to his ear slowly.
“Any sign of Jarod, Broots?” she whispered, no expression at all. The computer geek shivered at the tone of her voice that was so close to his ear.
“Ah, I’m ah, working on it, M-Miss Parker,” he stuttered out. She enjoyed the power she had over people. One snap of her fingers and she would have five people walking to Hong Kong.
“Work harder!” she snapped suddenly.
Broots jumped at the sudden bark of order and quickly typed on the computer, his eyes dancing back and forth as he
watched the screen. The older man sitting in the corner of the room couldn’t help but laugh at the scene before him. She was a Parker all right. Suddenly her cold blue eyes were on him.
“Something funny, Sydney?” she asked in her lowest and most dangerous tone. He chose to ignore her question and got up from the leather couch in which he sat on. He strode over to the two who were leaning over the computer screen.
“Ah… bingo!” Broots said with a smirk. He was rather proud of himself.
“Well, you idiot, where?” she snapped. His smile disappeared quickly and then pointed to the screen.
“There was a sighting of Jarod in Winter Gardens, Florida,” he said, spinning in his chair to face them. “I can get you a plane ticket right away or you can…”
“Get the corporate jet ready now!” she interrupted. He gave her a nod and reached for his phone that lay beside the
computer. Miss Parker turned to Sydney.
“Are you going to be joining me?” she asked, not even a splinter of politeness. “I’m sure you want to be there when rat
boy is caged.”
“He is very smart Miss Parker,” Sydney said calmly, ignoring the name she so rudely called him. “What makes you so sure this is the day?”
Miss Parker opened her mouth to answer, when the door to the office swung open to reveal an old man and two blondes, one with short hair and the other with long.
“Because you are getting help,” Mr. Parker answered Sydney’s question.
“Daddy!” Miss Parker said with a hint of joy and walked to her father.
“Hello angel,” he greeted her and wrapped his large arms around her. Miss Parker glanced into the face of the blonde that stood by her father’s side, as he let go of her. She gave Miss Parker an evil wink.
“Brigitte, how nice to see you,” Miss Parker said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
“Hello love,” the blonde greeted back. Miss Parker’s eyes leaped to the other blonde.
“Who the hell are you?” she asked.
The woman was taller that Miss Parker was. She wore black leather pants, similar to Brigitte’s, and a leather jacket over a red button-up blouse. Her perfectly straight hair was about six inches down from her shoulders. Her eyes almost looked like a doll’s. She gave Miss Parker an evil grin.
“Angel, this is your new partner, Alex,” Mr. Parker introduced.
“Partner? You have got to be kidding!” Miss Parker said with a laugh.
“Nice to meet you too,” Alex said with sarcasm. She had bit of an accent, kind of a New York one.
Miss Parker stared at her with a stone expression, as she stared back in the same manner. Miss Parker finally turned to her father again.
“Why a partner daddy?” she asked, almost in a little girls voice.
“It’s about time you got more… professional help. Alex here as been a highly trained cleaner from the Tower and she has always done her job right…”
“Wait, did you say the Tower?” Miss Parker asked, as she glanced over at Alex. “The bimbo is from the Tower?” Her
father nodded. “Why the hell would someone from the Tower be helping us to recapture Jarod?”
“Because they agreed to help if they could have some of the tapes of Jarod’s Sims in order to them as well. Kind of a truce you might say,” he father explained.
"Well I don’t need any help bringing Jarod in, especially from the Tower!” Miss Parker said, as she turned on her heels and started to walk back to her two companions, when her father started to talk again.
“You have had almost two years now to catch Jarod and you haven’t. It’s about time we get better help.”
Miss Parker spun around to face them again. She put on her coldest face.
“Better help? So Brigitte got rusty, eh?” she said, glancing at the blonde. She just couldn’t help but not saying that one. Brigitte gave her an evil eye.
“Just pretend she is here for the ride, okay Angel?” Mr. Parker said with a wink.
“I don’t pretend,” she snapped, almost forgetting whom she was talking to. Mr. Parker gave her a fatherly smile and then left the room, with Brigitte following close behind. Alex smirked and then strode passed Miss Parker to the two by the
computer.
“I heard you three got a lead on our man. Well what are we waiting for?” Alex asked, turning to Miss Parker.
“Broots,” Miss Parker snapped suddenly. Broots quickly looked up from the screen. “Well you moron, did you get the
corporate jet?”
“Y-yes,” he said softly.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Main Street
Same day
He wanted to be out of Florida a day ago but found that the case was harder than it appeared to be. He knew that the
Centre was already tracking him, and he wouldn’t doubt it for a second that they already found him. He was on the edge of his seat with fear and frustration about this case. He had read the news paper clipping over and over trying to get more details about who could have possibly murdered the eight year old girl. She was found brutally beaten to death and was found in a dumpster on Main Street. The only thing left to do was for Jarod to go to the scene of the crime.
As soon as he entered the alleyway where the dumpster was located, he felt a gush of cold air. He shivered at the sudden
chill. It was rather hot in Florida and that breeze was rather surprising. He cautiously walked to the dumpster and peered inside. It looked like an ordinary dumpster. He then placed his hands on the rim of it and closed his eyes.
He faintly saw a small child running from a door of an abandoned warehouse. The way she kept glancing behind her
seemed as if she was being chased. She suddenly tripped and fell to the ground. She looked up and screamed as a shadow
stood above her.
“Please, no! Don’t hurt me!” she screamed, but had no affect on her pursuer. She watched as the shadow lifted its hand
and… blackness.
Jarod snapped his eyes open and let go of the rim. He stepped back and looked down the alleyway. Sure enough, there was the same door to the warehouse that he had saw in his vision. He began to walk towards it, studying everything carefully. There were no signs of anything. No clues, no nothing. It was a clean break. He studied the door. It was slightly open. Jarod pressed his head against the stone wall of the building in order to peer inside the crack of the door. It was too dark to see anything, so he pulled on the handle. It let out a loud creek as it revealed access to the building. Jarod looked around for a second and then stepped inside.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Airport - Same day
Miss Parker pulled off her sunglasses as she looked around her surroundings. That day was hotter than hell and she knew his wasn’t going to be pleasant, even if they did get Jarod. Alex had insisted that they didn't need sweepers because “she is so good at her job”. Miss Parker got really sick of her bragging to Sydney and Broots about how all her cases were so successful on the way over. Miss Parker just hoped they would find Jarod, shackle him and then drag him back to the Centre. She would drag him by the hair herself, and walk to the Centre, if it meant avoiding the bimbo.
There was a black limo waiting for them at the airport. Without a word, Miss Parker jumped in, while Sydney, Broots and Alex followed.
“Where do you think he is?” Broots asked. Miss Parker glanced at him and was about to make a snide remark when she
realized the question was directed to Alex. “He’s a genius. He could be anywhere,” Alex replied with a smile. “That’s what makes it more fun.”
“Fun?” Miss Parker asked, glancing over at her.
“You heard me. Don’t you get the thrill out of the hunt?”
“I don’t get ‘thrills’ out of my job.”
“That’s a shame. Maybe we can teach ya.”
“I don’t need to learn anything from you,” Miss Parker shot back and returned her attention to the window. Alex shrugged her shoulders.
“Fine… but you are really missing a lot.”
Winter Gardens, Florida
Main Street - Same day
It was then when he heard the familiar skid of tires of the paved road outside that returned him back to reality. He was making a lot of progress, but his conscience was screaming at him to get away, so he had to put the case on hold. He ran to the exit of the warehouse and quickly checked if the coast was clear, before running out.
He knew it wasn’t smart to keep the same car from last time he ran into the Centre. That is why they knew he was down on the alleyway, cause his car was parked on the side of the street. But he didn’t have time to exchange it for another.
"There he is! Get him!” he heard the familiar voice of Miss Parker shout from behind him. He suddenly picked up speed
when he heard footsteps running behind him. He sharply turned a corner and jumped a wooden fence that separated the two alleyways. He rounded another corner and stopped to catch his breath. He listened very carefully for any further footsteps, but heard none.
Suddenly heard someone hold their breath as they leaped the fence and then the thud on their feet hitting the ground on the other side. Jarod held his breath and began to inch his way further down the alleyway. He kept his eye on the corner where he had turned for his pursuer, when suddenly he felt his leg hit something and glanced downwards just as the crates came falling down to the ground with a loud crash.
Jarod let out a gasp and began to run. He heard more yelling and footsteps behind him. As he turned another corner, he noticed it was a dead end and skidded to a stop. He studied his surroundings as he panted uncontrollably.
“There is no escape handsome,” he heard a strange voice come from behind him. He spun around to see an unfamiliar face. The blonde smiled wickedly at him as she aimed her gun at his chest.
“Who are you?” Jarod asked cautiously. Her smirk seemed grow larger.
"Your new nightmare,” she said in a stone cold tone. She stepped closer to him, as Jarod stepped back. She let out a wicked laugh. “You are coming with me if you like it or not!”
“In your dreams!” Jarod shouted, as he dashed by her. She tried to grab his black leather jacket, but was a second to late. She aimed carefully and…
BANG!
Miss Parker reacted to the shot first and then she pointed to the right. “It came from that way! Move, move!” she shouted to Sydney and Broots. They all took off in the same direction. They picked up speed when they heard several more shots.
“She better not have killed him!” Sydney shouted, his voice shaky with worry.
BANG!
She aimed again…
BANG!
He was always a corner ahead of her. She turned a corner and looked around the dead end. Where could he have gone? She studied the surroundings carefully. Suddenly he dropped from the fire escape behind her. She reacted to it quicker than he expected and received an elbow to the gut. He let out a grunt of pain and held his stomach with his left arm. She spun around and knocked him to the ground.
“There you are!” she shouted. “Now, now. Don’t play ghost on me!” She aimed her gun at his head. “Now get up!” she
ordered.
Jarod just laid there on his back and panted softly, trying to catch his breath from the sudden blow.
“I said get up!” she screamed and then kicked him hard in the side.
Jarod let out another grunt of pain and decided to listen to her. He didn’t know this woman and didn’t know what she is capable of. The only safe way is to obey.
He slowly rose to his feet, noting how tall she was. She wasn’t as tall as him, but was only about two inches shorter. She was surprisingly strong as well.
“Put your hands on your head, now!” she barked. He obeyed. He watched her look him up and down and came uncomfortable. She then locked her eyes on his and smiled. “That wasn’t so hard now was it?” Jarod just stared at her with no expression in his brown eyes. “Don’t try anything, you got that?” Jarod nodded slowly. “Good boy. Now, turn and walk slowly. One wrong move and you got your very own sky light in your head, got it?” Jarod slowly turned and began to walk, as she followed close behind.
Suddenly, he heard Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots coming around the corner and glanced back at the blonde. She just
watched him and paid no attention to the three, who just now turned the corner and spotted them.
“You got him!” Broots shouted in amazement and excitement.
“Oh hip, hip hooray,” Miss Parker said sarcastically to herself, but Sydney caught it. They walked up to Jarod and Alex.
“And you said he was so hard to catch,” Alex said with a smirk.
Miss Parker glanced at her and then pulled out handcuffs. She held them up to Jarod’s face and smiled.
“Remember these?” she said in sarcasm. She unlocked them and then roughly snapped them on his wrists that he held out in front of him. “Are you giving up or just giving us a break?”
Jarod ignored her. Even though he wasn’t staring at her, he kept his attention on the blonde behind him. He didn’t want to get more hurt, or his escape plan will not be easy.
As they turned to walk back, Jarod felt the urge to scratch an itch that was taunting him on his brow. As he lifted his hands he saw just a glimpse of a fist as it crashed into his face.
Everyone spun around to see Jarod hit the ground and bring his
hand to his face in pain.
“Why did you do that?” Sydney shouted at Alex as he bent down on his haunches to aid Jarod.
“He was trying something!” Alex claimed.
“Yeah, I was trying to scratch my brow!” Jarod yelled back, his voice a bit muffled as he held his sore nose.
Broots let out a laugh, but quickly stopped when Miss Parker spun around gave him a look that could kill. Sydney helped
Jarod to his feet as he still held his nose. Jarod glared at Alex.
“Well next time, don’t even try that!” she said, getting up into his face. “Don’t ever push your luck with me! You got that?” Jarod just stared at her blankly. Sydney and Miss Parker exchanged looks. “You got that?” she repeated angrily. He still gave her no response. She brought her hand up and slapped him hard across his face, causing Jarod’s head to snap to the right.
Sydney stepped in between them. “That’s enough Alex!” Sydney said.
“Don’t tell me how to do my job old man! If you knocked some sense into your project, maybe he wouldn’t be such a
smart-ass!” she shouted at him.
“That’s enough!” Sydney shouted again. Alex stared at him as if she was about to pull out a knife.
“Do your job however you will, but don’t give me orders on how to do mine!” and with that she pushed Sydney out of the
way and grabbed Jarod by the arm.
She roughly pulled him in front of her and snapped, “Walk!” He obeyed.
Only their footsteps on the pavement was the sound they heard. No one dared to make a comment, most of all, Jarod. This woman Alex was definitely dangerous and she could so easily snap his neck in one blunt slap.
They finally reached the limo. They all climbed inside, still no word and drove to the airport where their plane was waiting.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Airport - Same day
“What hell do you mean, ‘they took off’? Why would they do that?” Miss Parker shouted at one of the sweepers.
“Y-your father just called. He said that they didn’t have enough money to pay them to wait. It might be a couple days until they return back here,” the brave sweeper explained cautiously.
Miss Parker let out a frustrated and angry sigh and kicked a stone across the pavement.
“Why don’t they have enough money?” Sydney asked the sweeper.
“Well,” he began and glanced at the shackled Jarod and then quickly returned to Sydney. “They are running low on money
because Jarod has stolen a lot from the Centre. It will be in a couple days before they can pay the pilot.”
Miss Parker glanced at Jarod and gave him an evil eye, but Jarod ignored it.
“Fine, we will get a hotel,” Alex announced to everyone.
This is going to take a lot of effort, thought Jarod.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Nearby Motel
“I’m sorry, but we only have two connecting rooms left. One with two beds and the other with one,” the clerk said to the attitude high bitch.
Miss Parker tapped her fingers impatiently on the counter. She glanced out the huge glass window in the front where the others waited patiently. She let out a frustrated sigh.
“Fine you half wit. I’ll take it!” she snapped.
After getting her keys, she took off for the door and walked to the limo. She leaned inside the door and said, “There are only two connecting rooms. And there are only three beds as well.”
“Well, Jarod is not leaving my sight!” Alex said, glancing at Jarod, who sat across from her in the limo. Miss Parker
snapped her head up.
“Oh? And when did you become Queen of security?” Miss Parker sneered. Alex gave her a knowingly grin.
Winter Gardens, Florida
Motel room
After almost an hour of debating, Miss Parker, Alex and, because Alex insisted she keep an eye on Jarod, shared the two
bed bedroom and the other room was for Sydney and Broots to fight over.
When Jarod entered the bedroom, Alex and turned to him and then pointed to a chair at the far wall.
“Sit,” she snapped. He obeyed. Alex walked over to him and pulled the coat that they used to hide his shackled hands off his shoulders. She gave him a wicked smile before unlocking the cuff off his right hand and snapped it on the chair’s back leg and then she took out another pair and did the same on the other side so his arms were forced down and back. Jarod winced at the unnatural position that he sat, as Alex gave him an evil wink.
Jarod sat in silence as he watched the two women make their beds for the night. He sighed as he looked to the ground. It’s going to be a long night, he thought.
Suddenly, they heard a knock on the connecting door. Miss Parker walked over to it and opened it. Sydney stood in the
doorway.
“Do you mind if we keep this door open? I would also like to keep an eye on… things,” Sydney said glancing from Miss
Parker to Alex. Miss Parker stared at him in consideration for a moment and then glanced at Alex who was heading for the bathroom.
“Whatever, old man,” Alex said wickedly before disappearing in the bathroom. Sydney shook his head in disgust.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this one Miss Parker,” he said softly, making sure that Alex was unable to hear him.
Miss Parker nodded. Sydney then glanced at Jarod who sat staring at them in the corner. Sydney felt the urge to run over to him and ask him if he is okay, but held him self back. Sydney, instead, just gave him a simple nod and returned back to his room. Jarod looked down to the ground in disappointment.
Later that night
The eerie silence was enough to drive Jarod up the wall! The only sounds he heard were the soft voices of the TV in Sydney and Broots’ room. He sat there with his head leaned back against the wall, as Alex and Miss Parker read their books.
It had been almost four hours since they first got there and he was beginning to get an awful cramp in his lower back. He tried to sit up and when he did the chair let out a huge creek. Both Miss Parker and Alex’s head snapped up and glared at him. He froze in mid stretch and then quickly stopped. They seemed to stare at him for almost an eternity. He found he was holding his breath and finally exhaled nervously.
“Is there a problem Mister?” Alex sneered at him. He glared at her evilly.
“Well, it’s a little uncomfortable to sit the same way for almost four hours!” Jarod snapped back. Alex quickly jumped to her feet, which caused Jarod to jump as well. Mentally, Jarod was kicking himself for saying that.
“Fine. Want me to cuff you another way?” she asked, the concern in her voice an obvious act. Jarod nodded softly. She
stomped over to him and pulled the cuff key from her pocket. She roughly unlocked his hands from the chair and forced him to a stand. She pulled him over to the bed and pushed him onto it. Miss Parker slowly stood up.
“What are you doing?” Miss Parker asked, as she watched Alex roughly cuff Jarod’s hands apart to the brass bed.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting him more comfortable!” she snapped. She then looked down at Jarod,
who stared up at her in confusion.
She slowly bent over him so her lips were barely touching his.
“Isn’t that right? I’m just getting you more comfortable,” she said seductively. Miss Parker took a step towards them. Alex looked up at her. “This is where I get my fun. You can take notes if you like,” Alex said and bent down for rough kiss from Jarod.
Jarod began to squirm from under her. He desperately tried to pull away, but the cuffs wouldn’t allow it. She then forced her tongue into his mouth, causing him to squirm more.
“Stop it!” Miss Parker shouted. She was about to pull Alex away from Jarod but Alex backhanded her across the face,
causing her to fall to the other bed.
“What’s going on in here?” Sydney asked, running into the room, with Broots close behind.
Alex quickly turned around and glared at him, as his eyes looked at the scene.
“What are you doing?” he asked, turning his attention to Alex again, after seeing Jarod cuffed to the bed and Miss
Parker holding her face with her hand.
“Jarod just told me that he was tired of sitting in the same place for too long, so I moved him to the bed. Is that a problem?” she asked him innocently. Sydney looked form Alex to Jarod and then to Miss Parker, who shook her head slowly.
“Maybe you should have your own room,” Sydney said cautiously, considering the fact that wasn’t safe to leave her
alone with anyone, especially Jarod or Broots. Alex cocked her head to the side innocently.
“What?” she snapped.
“You heard me,” he said quietly.
“Nice try old man, but I’m not letting him out of my sight!” Alex demanded, pointing behind her at Jarod.
“We can watch him,” Sydney replied. Alex stared at them.
“No you can’t. That’s why you have never brought him back before!” Alex shouted angrily. “You need to show the science
project whose boss, but all three of you are softies!”
“Alex, get your ass in there!” Sydney shouted, loosing his temper all of a sudden and pointing to the other room. Broots
quietly took a step back from the sudden out burst. Alex gave him a long and dangerous stare before roughly brushing passed him and into the connecting room and slamming the door.
When she out of sight, Jarod let out soft sigh of relief. Miss Parker slowly got up form the bed and made her way to the
bathroom without a word. Sydney and Broots exchanged worried glances and then walked over to the other bed
and sat down awkwardly. As Broots reached for the remote, Sydney turned to Jarod, who lay there with his eyes closed.
“Jarod?” Sydney asked cautiously. Jarod slowly opened his eyes and turned towards Sydney’s awaiting expression. “Did
she… did she hurt you?” he asked, trying not to sound too much of a father.
Jarod gave him a smile and then slowly shook his head no. Sydney smiled back and then turned to see what Broots found
on the channels.
Early Morning
Other than having his arms pulled up and apart, Jarod had a good nights sleep. He slowly opened his eyes and waited for
them to focus properly before looking to see where everyone was.
“Well, finally,” Sydney said with a smile, as he saw Jarod look in his direction. “I thought you’d never wake up,” he said, and then folded up the newspaper that he was reading and then got up and walked over to Jarod. “Have a nice sleep?” he asked with a smile.
“Yeah, considering the fact that it was probably the longest I’ve slept since I escaped,” Jarod replied, his voice a little hoarse from sleep.
Sydney’s smile quickly turned upside down. “Well, that can’t be good for your health,” Sydney said
worryingly. Jarod looked around quickly.
“Where is everyone?” he asked. Sydney glanced around.
“Oh, Broots went to get ice and Miss Parker is in the shower,” Sydney explained. Jarod nodded, for the first time hearing the running water in the bathroom. “What would you want for breakfast?” Sydney asked, returning back to the table in which he sat at.
“Why are you asking me?” Jarod asked.
“Well, when Broots gets back, he and I are going to get breakfast. We are all open for suggestions.”
Jarod lifted an eyebrow in confusion before saying, “I don’t know. McDonald’s is what I usually get,” he said with a boyish
smile. Sydney shook his head with a knowingly smile.
“All that healthy eating wasted!” he said.
Just then, Miss Parker came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head neatly and wearing the same close she had on yesterday, since they didn’t know this was going to be an overnight trip.
“Wow, you look different,” Jarod said with a smile. Miss Parker glared at him. “Can I have a shower too?” Jarod asked,
turning his head to Sydney.
Sydney looked down at Jarod, then glanced at Miss Parker. “Maybe later,” he replied. Jarod let out a soft sigh of frustration before nodding his head.
Suddenly, Broots entered the room, carrying a bucket full of ice. He set it down and then turned to Sydney. Sydney quickly got up and then clapped his hands together.
“Okay, what does everyone want?” he asked, looking from each person to another. No one made a move to answer.
“Okay, McDonald’s then,” he said, giving Jarod a smile.
He heard a huff come from Miss Parker, but chose to ignore it. “All right, let’s go Broots,” and with that Miss Parker and Jarod were left alone in the room.
Miss Parker found herself standing there for a while and quickly walked to the other bed and sat down. She reached for the remote and began clicking through the channels. The endless click, click, click, click was driving Jarod crazy.
“Can I please take a shower?” he asked finally, trying to avoid lying on a bed and hearing the TV being abused by its very own remote.
Miss Parker made no show of looking at him and kept clicking through the channels. Jarod was mentally counting down the
seconds before he was going to scream and rip of his own arms so he could get away. 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4…
“Fine,” she said, throwing the remote on the end of the bed after a tiring search, but found nothing on. She walked over to the table on the opposite side of the room and picked up the cuff keys. She then unlocked him from the bed and led him to the bathroom. To his surprise she followed him inside.
“Ah… what are you doing?” he asked, turning to her in confusion. She stared at him innocently.
“Well I don’t want you disappearing down the drain now do I?" she said with a smile. “Now, strip,” she snapped. He just stared at her in shock.
“Excuse me?” he asked, becoming a little uncomfortable.
“Strip,” she repeated, sitting down on the lid of the toilet seat. He just stood there staring at her. She gave him a threatening look. “If you are going to take a shower then you are going to have to strip. Strip!”
Hesitating just for a second or two, he then pulled his shirt over his head in one swift motion. She leaned a little closer and he noticed her action.
“What?” he asked cautiously. She looked up from his abdomen to meet his eyes.
“Who hit you?” she asked. For the first time he heard her concern for him.
He glanced down at the bruise that covered his stomach.
“Alex,” he replied softly.
“When?”
“Yesterday, when you guys caught me.”
She leaned back again, still staring at the painful looking bruise, and shook her head in disgust. Jarod began to pull off his shoes and then his socks. He looked at her quickly, noting she was watching his every move, and then he quickly unzipped his pants and slid them down his hips. He slid his fingers in the elastic of his blue boxers and then looked up at her. She looked up after she realized he had stopped.
“What?” she asked.
“Turn around,” he said in shy manner.
“Like I've never seen it before,” she said. He lifted both his eyebrows.
“Fine,” she said with a huff and then turned the opposite way.
She heard him quickly pull down on them and the soft thud as they hit the tile. She then heard the shower curtain being opened and closed after he stepped inside. The sound of water soon followed. She spun around again and sat there in silence.
“So…” she began, trying to start a conversation. Why am I acting like this? I shouldn’t be nervous around boy wonder, she
thought.
“I want to thank you for trying to stop Alex,” he said finally, breaking the uneasy silence.
“Well, ya know. I wanted the first shot at you,” she lied, not wanting to admit she helped him.
“Of course,” he said sarcastically. Silence broke threw again.
To keep busy she leaned over and began folding his clothes. She was trying not to think about what was behind the curtain. Just that thought made her cross her legs.
“She is a real bitch, you know that?” he suddenly burst out. Miss Parker couldn’t hold in the laugh.
“I know, I know,” she said, laughing and shaking her head. “She makes me look like an angel, right?” she said with smile
still on her face. She couldn’t remember when she last smiled like that.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, a smile in his tone.
“Hey!” she said in a playful manner. What was she doing? This isn’t like her to be so… happy? Especially around rat boy. She quickly wiped the smile from her face. “You almost done?” she snapped.
“Patience young Jedi," he said with a laugh. She smiled. She waited a while. She then glanced at the handle of the toilet and smirked to herself.
Flush! “Yoooowwww! That’s cold!” he shouted. Miss Parker couldn’t but laugh until her heart’s desire.
“Okay! I am getting out,” he shouted playfully, turning off the water. “Can you hand me a towel please?” he said through his teeth.
“Come and get it!” she shouted with a laugh, twirling the towel around in the air.
Suddenly, he reached out from behind the curtain and tried to grab the towel from her, but she yanked it away.
“Ah-ah,” she said playfully. “You have to come out and get it.” She gave him a wink as he returned with an evil smile.
"Oh really?” he said, lifting his eyebrows. She smiled wider as she began twirling the towel again, taunting him with it. “Fine… I guess I’ll wait until I air dry,” he said, pulling the curtain shut again.
Miss Parker waited and waited for him to jump out, but he didn't. She slowly sat down. Well I can wait too, she thought
with a smirk. Suddenly, he reached out and yanked the towel from her grasp before she could even look up. She could hear him laughing as he pulled the curtain shut.
"You idiot!" she shouted at him, as she stood up. She could hear him rustling around as he dried himself. Hmm.. she thought. She reached out and yanked the curtain open, just as he
wrapped it around his waist. He gave her a wide-eyed expression.
"Damn!" she said in disappointment.
“And what were you wanting to see?" he asked, as he stepped out of the shower and brushed past her.
"This!" she shouted and yanked the towel away from his waist.
Outside the door of the bathroom, Sydney and Broots quietly set down the bags of food and listened to the laughing and the playful shouting. They exchanged looks when they realized it was Miss Parker and Jarod.
"Hey! Give it back!" Jarod shouted from the bathroom. They heard Miss Parker laughing in response.
"Come get it!" she shouted.
"What do you think they are doing?" Broots whispered to Sydney. Sydney smiled and shook his head in confusion.
"Should we knock?" Broots asked, stepping towards the door. Sydney quickly grabbed Broots' shoulder and pulled him back.
"No. Let's let them have their fun," he said with a smile, listening to the muffled laughter coming from the bathroom.
In the bathroom, Jarod managed to get his boxers on, but Miss Parker got to the rest of his clothes first. Luckily the bathroom was pretty big, or Miss Parker wouldn't have anywhere to run. Laughter filled the room, as Jarod chased Miss Parker around.
Finally he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him. Their laughing softened at the sudden closeness they had. She
suddenly realized he was becoming closer, as he leaned down for a kiss. She slowly closed her eyes and waited for what's
coming... but then she felt the clothes in her hands being yanked away, causing her to snap her eyes open.
"Gotcha!" Jarod announced with a satisfied smile on his face. She gave him a wicked smile in return.
"You cheated!" she said taking off after him.
Outside the bathroom, Sydney tapped his fingers on the table. He listened to the laughing and almost burst into tears of
happiness. Never in his life has he heard Miss Parker, as well as Jarod, laugh like that. It was so pure, so happy. He smiled at that thought. Broots was already devouring his sandwich, clearly in no desire to wait for the happy couple to come out of the bathroom.
Sydney let out a sigh satisfaction. Broots looked up. "Now are you going to knock?" he asked, finishing up the last
couple bites. Sydney shook his head with a smile.
"Let them come out on their own," he replied. He was dying to hear what they have to say about this, better yet, dying to see their expressions when they came out.
"Fine, you win," they heard Miss Parker say with a sigh.
"Don't I always?" Jarod said with a laugh.
Jarod was allowed to finish getting dressed, as Miss Parker caught her breath while sitting on the toilet seat. When he was finished she quickly brushed passed him and walked out of the bathroom, as Jarod followed close behind.
She stopped so suddenly, that Jarod didn't time to think and bumped right into her. He found her staring in shock at Sydney and Broots! They both felt themselves blushing. Sydney and Broots had a smile on their faces that made Miss Parker and Jarod want to smack right off.
“I'm glad you two are getting along,” Sydney finally said. He gestured towards the McDonalds bag. Both, smirking, sat
down in the other two chairs and began to eat their sandwiches in silence, glancing at each other once and a while as if they were little kids again and just got in trouble for playing in the mud.
Just then, Alex barged through the door with her “don’t mess with me” attitude. Sydney was literally kicking him self for not locking that damn door! She gave them the most dangerous look.
“What the hell is this?” she said angrily. “Why are you letting the little smart ass sit with you? Not to mention letting him eat! That’s why he always gets away. Softies, I repeat softies!”
“Alex calm down! He isn’t going anywhere and besides prisoner or not, he needs to eat!” Sydney shouted back at her. She glared at him.
“You can never trust them old man,” she said firmly. “I called the Centre last night, and I am now completely in charge of Jarod.”
“What?” Miss Parker shouted, as she stood. “And who gave you that permission?”
Alex walked up to her and got into her face. “Dear old daddy did of course,” she sneered. Miss Parker stared at her, half
shock and half hatred filled her eyes. Alex then turned to Jarod.
“C’mon… pumpkin. We are going to our room now,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling out her gun with the other.
Sydney got up from his chair. “You are not going anywhere!”
“Oh? And you are going to stop me? I’d like to see that!” she said with a laugh. She began to pull Jarod towards the
connecting door, but Jarod yanked his arm away from her. She spun around and put her gun to his head. He froze.
“Don’t even go there!” she threatened. He just glared down at her. “If you are really the genius that I heard you to be, then don’t mess with me,” she said in a dangerous tone.
Miss Parker quickly walked up to them and swiped the gun from Jarod’s head.
“Don’t you dare!” Miss Parker threatened back. “I have had enough of your damn high and mighty little act. The way I see it, you are looking up to us. We have been on this damn case a lot longer than you have! We know what Jarod is capable of and not capable of! And I am in charge of him, not you! ME!” she shouted at Alex, which seemed to have no affect on the woman.
“You tell the Centre that then,” and with that she turned and began to pull Jarod into her room. But before she could even reach the door, Alex got a kick to her lower back by Miss Parker, causing her to let go of Jarod and fall to the floor. Alex spun around on her back and aimed her gun blindly.
BANG!
Jarod felt the piercing pain zap through his body, unable to pinpoint exactly where it hit him. He let out a cry of pain and, as if it was in slow motion, the ground came to meet his body. Way back in his mind, he could hear Miss Parker shouting his name repeatedly, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't answer her. He opened his eyes slightly and could see her over him. For the first time, he saw that her eyes were full of worry. Everything seemed to slow down and his eyes began to feel heavy. He tried to keep them open, but it was no use, and the blackness began to seek through his view and mind.
“Jarod no!” Miss Parker shouted at him, as he closed his eyes and fell unconscious. Sydney collapsed beside her and tried to remain calm as he checked Jarod for breathing. He let out a nervous sigh of relief when there was breathing.
“You shot him! You bitch, you shot him!” Miss Parker shouted at Alex, who just stared down at them with no expression.
Broots dropped to his knees and stared at the scene.
“Actually the shot was for you,” she sneered back at Miss Parker. Miss Parker shook her head in disgust.
“Please… Jarod needs help. He is losing a lot of blood fast,” Sydney pleaded with a shaky voice. “Please, for once Alex, help us.”
Miss Parker could see Sydney shaking all over. She knew how he felt to see Jarod like that. She was on the verge of panic and tears as well, but as usual, she held it in.
Alex stared at him, but not evilly this time, perhaps consideration. She let out a sigh before replying, “Fine. I’m going for a walk. That’s the best I can do for you,” she sneered and then headed for the door.
Sydney leaped to his feet.
“We need your help!” he yelled at her, but she opened the door, and before she stepped out, she looked back and gave him an evil grin.
“I’ll call for help,” Miss Parker offered, as she pulled out her cell phone.
Sydney knelt down again and kept his attention on Jarod’s breathing and heart rate, not caring what Miss Parker said to the 911 operator. All he wanted was Jarod to be safe and alive in the hospital, already recovering from the shot to the chest.
Broots helped Sydney stop the bleeding. Suddenly, Jarod stopped breathing.
“Oh my god!” Sydney shouted in panic and began to do rescue breathing on Jarod frantically. He would stop between breaths, making sure that he was or was not breathing and would always react with a frown when there was none. “Jarod! Jarod breath damn it, breath!” he repeated over and over.
Miss Parker watched in horror as Sydney tried to revive Jarod, but was having no luck. “Please Jarod! Oh please!”
Suddenly, Jarod let out a small gasp of air. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” Sydney shouted towards the ceiling. He patted Jarod on the cheek gently. “Now… stay with me, okay? Stay with me Jarod,” he whispered softly.
Just then, Miss Parker hung up her cell phone with a frustrated huff. Sydney looked at her in surprise. “Why did you hang up?” he asked with a frantic expression.
“Don’t worry, the bimbo knows what happened and where we are. I just couldn’t stand to be on the phone with her and doing nothing, while I could be helping you.”
Sydney shook his head in disgust, but after a while gave her a weak smile.
“Sydney…” they heard Jarod whisper hoarsely. They all turned to him in surprise.
“Jarod!” Sydney said in excitement. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, trying not to get Jarod worried, but was having a hell of a time doing so. Jarod gave him a weak smile.
“Of course. Everything is going to be… just fine,” he said, more to convince Sydney than himself. Sydney nodded in agreement.
“Of course,” he repeated with a smile.
Just then, they heard the distant cries of sirens.
“Is that for me?” Jarod asked, jokingly.
Winter Gardens Hospital
A day later
“The doctor said you will heal nicely. You are going to be okay,” Sydney said, smiling down at Jarod, who lay in a hospital bed.
“That’s good,” he whispered back. “I can’t wait to get out of here and back to the… Centre.”
Miss Parker and Sydney caught the sarcasm in Jarod’s voice and both exchanged glances.
“Only this time!” she shouted down to him, suddenly, causing him to jump a little.
“What?” he asked cautiously.
“We are only let you go this one time, you hear me?”
He responded with a smile. “Thank you,” he said softly. She replied with rolling her eyes.
“What happened to Alex?” he asked out of the blue. Miss Parker glanced at Sydney before answering.
“I had called my father and he had said to forget about her,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I just don’t get it. They can make people disappear so easily, form your sight and your memories as well.”
“That’s the Centre for you,” Sydney replied.
Just out of the hospital door
She smiled her usual wicked smile as she clicked the safety off her gun.
“Here are some more thrills for ya, Miss Parker,” she whispered to herself.
Before she can return to the Centre, she needed to… destroy the traitors.
