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Disclaimer: The Pretender and its characters belong solely to NBC. I'm not making a profit off of this and mean no harm by it. Thank you for not suing!




No Place like Home

by Asta Spumanti





Blue Cove, Delaware

12:56 A.M.

Miss Parker's Office


Miss Parker sat at her desk restlessly dreaming of her father, Brigitte, and Lyle laughing at her. It seemed no matter how hard she tried to reach them they stayed out of reach. Pointing at her. Laughing. Cruel laughing.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! The phone woke her from her nightmare with a start. Who would be calling her this late she wondered as she looked at the clock. No, the better question would be who knew she was still here?

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

She grabbed the phone and growled an irritated "What!?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I must be calling at a bad time. Would you like me try again later?" A very nervous voice asked from the other end of the phone.

"Who is this?" Miss Parker asked.

"M-my name is Robert Jansen. I'm calling regarding a friend of yours. He's about 6', 165 pounds, has black hair and brown eyes. I found him in an abandoned warehouse about 3 blocks from where I live. He was shot in the shoulder and lost some blood but I patched him up. I think I should take him to the hospital. All he had on him was this cell phone and a silver brief case. Its been about half a day now and he still hasn't woken up. I-I think something is wrong with him." The man hurriedly finished.

Jarod? It couldn't be could it? After 3 years of chasing him around the country he was going to be delivered to her gift-wrapped?

"Where are you?" She asked slowly.

"I'm in Kansas City, Kansas. Actually a little town a few miles to the east of it."

"Alright. Give me your exact address" She scribbled it down on her hand.

"Ok," she started, "the man you have there is a wanted criminal. He robbed a grocery store and shot the owner, which is probably how he got shot. Consider him very dangerous! Do NOT take him to the hospital; he'll survive until I arrive. Put him somewhere where you can lock him up, alright?"

"Yeah sure, I have a Tornado shelter I can lock from the inside and outside."

"Great! I'll be there by-", she glanced again at the clock, " 1 P.M. Remember, take no chances with him!" She slammed down the phone and paused. Should she bring Sidney or Broots? Nahhhhh. Let 'em sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Jansen's tornado shelter

9 A.M.


Jarod woke with a start and sat straight up. His head instantly swam before his eyes. He laid back down. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was getting shot at by a farmer, who had really lousy aim. He was aiming for a wild dog in the sheep pen. He remembered running away from the farm and into an old building nearby. He was just glad he had gotten away and hid out of pure fear and instinct before the farmer caused real harm. His shoulder! He took the bandage off to examine the damage. It was only a flesh wound, thankfully. But who patched him up? Jarod instantly reached for his cell phone to discover it was missing! He slowly stood to examine his surroundings. He seemed to be underground in some sort of shed or something. He tried to open the opening to find out that it was locked solidly. There was nothing else down there but him and an old blanket. He started shouting in the hopes that someone would hear him. After 5 minutes he was rewarded with a voice.

"Keep it quiet down there will ya? You're scaring the cows! How are ya feelin'?" A mans voice asked him.

"Not too good! Will you unlock this door and let me out?" Jarod shouted back.

"Sorry, but no can do! Don't worry though, your lady cop on your cell phone is on her way here. Unfortunately for you, it looks like the weather is getting pretty bad so she might not make it, in which case, you're stuck down there until she does!"

Lady cop? That had to be Miss Parker.

"Please! You have to believe me! She is not a cop; she wants to take me back to a horrible place! Please!"

"Listen up down there. You are stayin' put 'til she gets here and that’s that!" The voice said retreating.

Great. Now what, Jarod wondered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blue Cove, Delaware

Centre Airport

10:34 A.M.


"What do you mean we can't fly there?!?" Miss Parker shouted.

"Well, there is a severe storm warning in effect for the entire region of Kansas. It would simply be suicidal to try and fly there right now. I'm sure the weather will clear up by tomorrow." The pilot calmly stated. Boy this lady was being a bitch.

Miss Parker pulled out her silver 9mm and pointed it at his head.

"Would it be more suicidal than telling me no again?" She asked sweetly.

"No Miss! I'll get this jet in the air pronto!" The pilot whimpered.

"Good choice asshole." She muttered beneath her breath as she boarded the jet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kansas City, Kansas

11:47 A.M.

Local broadcast


"A tornado warning has been issued for Kansas City area. People are advised to take shelter in their homes. If the weather should continue to mount, then it is advisable that tornado shelters be put into use. I repeat…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kansas Airport

50 miles from Robert Jansen's house

12:24 P.M.


Miss Parker was furious beyond words. The stupid piece of shit pilot had refused to land at the Kansas City airport, and had instead dropped her off at a local Airport owned by crop dusters. At least the pilot had made sure a car would be waiting for her when they landed; but then again, having a gun at your temple will accomplish miracles.

She climbed into the blue Sedan and drove off at 50 MPH. Not her usual speed, but she had heard about these small towns. She could hardly wait to see the look on Jarod's face when she cuffed him and sedated him. She was just glad she had had the foresight to bring a few medical supplies. Daddy would sure be proud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Jansen's tornado shelter

12:45 P.M.


"Hey! Uh Jarod? I tried calling that lady but for some reason the phone won't work. It says Low Battery or something like that. Anyway, I'm going to my Brother's farm 2 hours away from here until the storm blows over. I'd use the tornado shelter, but since its occupied…I'm going to leave her a note about where I went. I probably shouldn't be talkin' to you, ya know, being a criminal and all, but I didn't want you to panic. Especially being shot and all. Well bye!"

"Wait! Don't leave me here! Take me with you! Please!"

Silence greeted Jarod. Damn! Why didn't that man believe him? Did he look like a criminal? Well, the DSA case probably didn't help any. The guy probably thought he had stashed the money in it; in which case, the man probably took it with him! Well, at least Miss Parker won't find that! Jarod listened as the wind began to howl outside. At least I'm in a shelter designed for this weather he thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kansas City, Kansas

1:07 P.M.

Local broadcast


"A severe tornado warning has been issued for the entire Kansas City area and surrounding towns. Please take shelter in a sound structure or tornado shelter. I repeat…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Jansen's house

1:10 P.M.


Miss Parker pulled up in the driveway. She climbed out of the car with her medical kit and ran to the house. The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse. The sky was gray and the wind was fearsome. She pounded on the door. No answer. As she went to pound again she saw a slip of paper weighted down next to the door. She picked it up and read it:

Dear cop lady,

Jarods out in the tornado shelter in the back. I went to my brother's place up north until this weather blows over. If it gets any worse you're welcome to use the house or tornado shelter until it stops. I'm glad I could do my duty as a loyal citizen, but if there were any reward money I would really appreciate it!

Robert Jansen


Miss Parker dropped the note and ran to the back where she froze. Out in the distance, a small but steadily growing form of a tornado could be seen. Shit! Miss Parker started running towards the tornado shelter. Once she reached it she saw that all that had been holding Jarod was a thick tree branch jammed underneath the handles. She immediately pulled it out, drew her gun and pulled one of the doors open. Then she grabbed a lantern that had fallen near the entrance and lit it. She placed the medical kit just inside the shelter then locked the shelter from the inside. She proceeded slowly down the stairs. When she had reached the bottom she could see Jarod sitting in one of the corners, apparently asleep. She walked closer and when she was inches from his foot she kicked it.

"Wake up Rat Boy!" She growled.

Jarod opened his eyes and just looked at Miss Parker with no expression on his face. He remained silent, which further irritated her.

"What?!? Have nothing to say?" She sneered. "Get up."

Jarod silently stood. With the gun still pointed at his head she cuffed him tightly. Jarod pick-pocketed the key to the cuffs while she was busy gloating.

"Well Jarod, I finally caught you. Daddy will be very pleased indeed." She smiled a victory smile at him that faded the instant she saw his smug face.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh, it's just that you're stuck with me until the tornado passes and the storm rides out." He smiled at her again.

"Great." She muttered. "Sit down." She instructed.

Jarod sat down and winced when he hit his sore shoulder against the wall. This reminded Miss Parker of the medical kit she left on the stairs. She turned around and retrieved it. When she returned, she opened it up and shuffled through it. Jarod looked at her uncertainly. What was she planning to do? Miss Parker then reached for his shoulder. Jarod backed away out of refelex. Miss Parker scooted forward a few more feet while Jarod kept scooting back until he was flush against the wall with no where to go. She smiled a dangerous smile at him as she took scissors and cut off a large square of cloth off his shoulder to show the bandage. Miss Parker nimbly took off the gauze to reveal a swollen, bloody, painful looking wound. Jarod watched her with nervous eyes the entire time. She's not a doctor, what is she doing?

Miss Parker pulled out a disinfectant and a small cloth to grab up any mess. As she started to tip the bottle on the wound Jarod suddenly moved and said,

"No! I'm fine, just leave it alone!"

"What Jarod? Afraid it will hurt?" She asked innocently. "Because you'd be right!"

And with that last word she poured the liquid all over the wound. Jarod yelped and tried to shove her away but she had anticipated that move and neatly sidestepped it. She then returned to her original spot and started to sop up the liquid off his shoulder. She then re-bandaged it tightly causing him more pain. Once she had put the extra bandages away she took out a syringe and a vial and filled the syringe a fourth of the way. Jarod looked at her nervously. Miss Parker just looked at him and laughed.

"This is just to prevent infections. What do you think I would do? Kill my father's favorite Lab Rat?" She pricked Jarod and injected the contents of the needle. She then got out another vial and filled the syringe.

"Now this one is a mild sedative. I would really prefer not to give it to you until we get to the car but if you try anything, I'll give it to you now. Got it?"

Jarod mutely shook his head yes. It had been about 5 minutes since Miss Parker had found him and that was exactly when the tornado decided to pass. The doors to the shelter shook and the noise was tremendous. Miss Parker had never thought it would be this bad, but here she was, fearing for her life. It seemed to be an eternity of howling wind, but it only lasted about 20 minutes before continuing on its path of destruction. Miss Parker sat back exhausted from fear, and that’s when it started. With a grunt Miss Parker fell to her side holding her stomach where her ulcer had started to bleed. Jarod immediately dropped his cuffs, which he had opened 10 minutes ago. He stood and rushed to her side. Miss Parker looked at him with shock and then pulled out her 9mm and pointed it at his chest.

"Don't even think about it." She ground out.

"Listen, your ulcer is probably bleeding right now and you could die unless you let me help you!"

Miss Parker just mutely shook her head no and cocked her gun. Another wave of pain hit her and again she groaned and grabbed at the invisible assailant. Jarod immediately became all doctor and started to take her pulse until the gun was again thrust at him.

"Be a good Lab Rat for me and put those cuffs back on." Miss Parker said threateningly.

Jarod knew she needed help and was in pain so he did the only thing he could think of. He bent over and kissed her passionately causing her to freeze in absolute and utter shock. As he pulled away she realized that she had been disarmed during her momentary confusion. Jarod pulled the clip out of the gun and pocketed it, and then he returned to doctor mode and started taking her pulse again. She tried to feebly fight him off but was failing miserably in her weakened condition. Jarod repeatedly told her to hold still, but still she struggled with him. Then he sighed and reached behind him to fetch the sedative she had threatened him with earlier. Her eyes went wide and she mouthed the word "no" several times as he slipped the needle under skin and injected the contents. Her world became fuzzy but did not disappear. As her body relaxed Jarod continued to examine her. Probing her stomach, checking her eyes, even listening to her lungs. Jarod did not like what he was seeing. He then shook his head and prepare d another syringe. This time when he injected it her world went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

St. Catherine's Hospital

Blue Cove, Delaware

9 P.M.


Miss Parker awoke several hours later to the voices of Sidney and Broots. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but only that it was soothing. She tried to talk, but was instantly told to be still by Sidney. She went back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

St. Catherine's Hospital

Blue Cove, Delaware

The next day 10 A.M.


Miss Parker sat up and looked around her at the surroundings and determined that she was in a hospital. She thought back as to why she would be here when suddenly the memory returned. JAROD! Almost as if on cue, Sidney and Broots walked in and sat next to the bed.

"I'm glad to see you're awake Miss Parker." Sidney said.

"Y-y-yeah." Broots stuttered.

"Let me guess, Jarod escaped again." Miss Parker said angrily.

"Yes," said Sidney, "but he did save your life. He called us shortly after 3 o'clock yesterday to tell us he had stabilized you but that you needed care immediately. You would have died if it wasn't for him."

"I know Sid, I know."

Outside the room, Dr. Jarod Parker smiled and left. His job here was done.









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