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Disclaimer: I don't own "The Pretender" or any of ist characters. Thanx for not suing! ~Oriana


"Who knows the thoughts of a child?"
Nora Perry

~~~~~~~~~

Paper Snowflakes
Part II
by Orinana



In the doorway, between the darkened snowfall and the lightened living room, stood Jarod, the snowflakes covering him a great contrast to his dark hair and jacket. Wide eyed, a face suddenly five shades paler, he looked rather like a deer caught in headlights.

Neither moved, neither spoke--it was as if that one moment were frozen in time. The moment, however, was broken when Parker's mind caught up with the situation: What the hell's the matter? Move already! And so she did, rushing a few last steps the coffee table, and getting a good grasp on her gun. The relaxed Parker reveling in her cocoa and fire was gone and now, standing in front of Jarod, was the Parker of old, arms held in perfect aim, mouth set in a grim straight line, eyes colder than the weather outside.

"You can't imagine how badly timed this is," she said, slowly moving forward. "I don't even have handcuffs on me--but I'm sure there's some rope around here somewhere." A small, unpleasant grin played across her features, and she added, "This just might be a wonderful Christmas after all." Jarod's eyes narrowed, and for the first time, Parker wondered why he didn't bother to run.

"For god's sake, Parker, put the gun down!" he hissed, glaring at her.

She laughed in reply. "Oh, I'm sure you'd love that."

"Jarod?" Parker's smile vanished, and her eyes shot passed Jarod out into the cold night, focusing on the small, childlike voice. "Jarod," a girl's voice came again, "I can't get Teddy's seatbelt unbuckled." Jarod didn't reply, but kept his eyes focused completely on Parker's, silently pleading her to do as he asked.

"Who the hell is that?" she demanded in a hushed voice, brushing past him and poking her head outside. A few feet away was Jarod's parked car. The back door was open, and the overhead light illuminated someone rummaging around in the back seat. Parker moved back inside, and re-aimed her gun at Jarod's head.

"Mind explaining?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have my word that I won't run," he replied through clenched teeth. "Just put the gun down--she's terrified of them."

Parker opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the girl calling out, "Never mind, I've got it!" A door slammed shut.

"Parker, please." The crunching of snow outside announced her movement toward the door. With a venomous growl, she shoved the .9mm under a cushion, and not a moment too soon, because just as her hand came back to her side, a young girl appeared in the doorway next to Jarod.

"I just can't believe we ran into each other, all the way up here," Jarod said cheerfully, his eyes thanking her. He placed an arm around the girl's shoulders. "This is the girl I was telling you about, Samantha. Sam, this is Miss Parker--you remember, I told you about her?" Parker shot a quick suspicious glance at Jarod before walking over and offering the girl her hand. Sam removed her gloves, then took it, and they shook hands--she felt slightly alarmed at just how cold the little girl's hand was.

"Hi," Parker smiled. "You guys must be freezing--come inside and shut the door." Samantha moved inside quickly, going to the fireplace and spreading her hands out in front of it to warm them. Parker gave Jarod a concerned look of question before walking to Sam. "Would you like some hot cocoa?" Sam nodded eagerly. "OK, one mug, coming right up. Jarod, would you mind giving me a hand?"

"Of course," he replied, offering a plastic smile. Samantha squirmed onto the couch and wrapped herself up in Parker's quilt, while the two walked past the dining room, and through the swinging door into the kitchen. She pulled him to the farthest corner.

"You'd better start talking," she snapped in a harsh whisper, "because you've got two minutes before I pull that gun back on you, little girl or no." She reached past him and grabbed the box of instant cocoa mix.

"Look, I don't like this anymore than you do, and believe me, if I'd known you were here, I'd have taken our chances with the blizzard."

"What blizzard?"

"The one starting outside. What're you, blind?"

"I am not in the mood for this, so one more smart-ass comment like that and your Pretender butt's outside with the wolves." She filled a mug with tap water, and stuck it in the microwave. "Now, what're you doing here, and what's up the girl?"

"It's a long story, it's late, and she's tired."

"And freezing, too," Parker added as she retrieved the mug from the microwave. "Another explanation I'm waiting for--pass the marshmallows." Jarod did so, and after stirring in the chocolate mix, she added a generous amount of the small sugary puffs. Picking up the steaming mug, she headed for the door. "We'll discuss this after she goes to sleep," she added over her shoulder. "I'll play along with the 'good friends' routine for now, but the minute she's in bed, I want some answers."

~~~~~~~~~

Samantha was already beginning to doze off, her head lowering, so Jarod asked where the bedrooms were.

"They're all upstairs. You ready to sleep, Sam?"

The little girl nodded. "Will you tuck me in, Jarod?"

"Sure, c'mon." He took her hand, and led her upstairs. Parker watched them thoughtfully, then walked over to the suitcase she'd left in a corner, choosing an oversized sweatshirt. She stopped to pick up a teddy bear sitting on the couch, then headed up the stairs. One door was open, and the room was illuminated. Sticking her head in, she smiled at the sight of Jarod coming out from under the large bed, and informing Sam that there were indeed no monsters there.

"Hey, I thought you could use something to sleep in. Oh, and I found this guy downstairs. I believe he belongs to you?"

"Thanks!" Samantha smiled. "Jarod, hold on to Teddy while I change, okay?" She scampered out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom.

"She's a sweet girl."

"Yeah," Jarod agreed. "Strong, too. She's been through a lot lately."

"The latest to benefit from one of your pretends?"

"Yes." This brought them around to the original trouble at hand, and both grew quiet. A few minutes later, Sam reappeared, dressed in Parker's sweatshirt, which went down past her knees.

"Ready to sleep?"

"Yep."

"I'll just be downstairs," Parker said, and walked out into the hall. She paused, however, at the banister, when she heard Samantha say, "I thought you said that you guys weren't friends anymore."

"No, I just said that we aren't as close as we used to be."

"Oh."

"It's late. You and Teddy get some sleep, and we'll talk in the morning, okay?"

"Okay." Parker heard her lean over and add in a whisper, "I like her, Jarod."

"I'm sure she thinks the same thing about you."

"And you were right, she is nice."

"Sleep well. I'll be downstairs for awhile, but I'm gonna sleep in the room next to yours, if you need anything, all right?"

"All right. Good night." Jarod flicked the light off, but the lamp on her bedside table remained on. He left the door cracked a small bit behind him, and joined Parker.

"You told her about me?" she asked as they headed down thestairs.

"It was a long drive. We talked about a lot of stuff."

"You didn't tell her about the Centre?"

"Of course not. She'd have nightmares for a month." They continued on to the couch and sat down.

"Of all the times for you to pop up, it had to be now, four days before Christmas. Jesus, don't you ever take a
vacation?"

"Speaking of vacations, what're you doing in Vermont? Wasn't your cabin rental in Quebec?"

"Never mind what I'm doing here," Parker retorted, not bothering to ask how Jarod even knew of her vacation plans, "let's get back to why you're here. And, more specifically, why there's a nine year old asleep upstairs."

"She's eight."

"Whatever." Jarod watched in dismay as Parker reached under the cushion between them and withdrew her weapon.

"Relax, I'm going to hide it in my bag, so she won't find it."

"I'm more concerned with how you intend to use it, than where you're going to hide it." He regretted having to bring this up, but one of them had to. Parker straightened, and the fire reflected her steely eyes.

"We'll get to that soon enough. First, why is Samantha with you? It's the holidays--why isn't she with her family?"

Jarod's eyes wandered to the fire. "Her father works for a Canadian law firm, very large, very powerful. He and his wife went to Ireland, where he was overseeing a company takeover; meanwhile, back in Montreal, police found Samantha's nanny bound and gagged in a closet, and a ransom note on her bed. Her parents received a videotape showing Sam tied to a chair, with a gun pointed at her head."

"Which explains why she hates guns," Parker realized.

Jarod nodded. "I pretended to be a cop, and found out that the nanny was in on it. She told us where they were keeping Sam readily enough--a warehouse in Massachusetts."

"Fine, so Wonderboy saves the day again. That still doesn't explain why she isn't with her parents."

"When they learned of Sam's kidnapping, Mr. and Mrs. Lansing caught the first cab to the airport. Unfortunately, they were involved in a car accident. Mr. Lansing came to the next morning in the hospital, with nothing worse than a concussion. His wife, however, had some internal bleeding. She's fine now, but the doctors insist that she has to stay in the hospital for another week. I'd let Mr. Lansing know that everything was fine here, and offered to take Samantha up to Montreal to stay with an aunt, while he stayed in Ireland to be with his wife."

"And you didn't just fly her, because..."

"Samantha is deadly afraid of airplanes. I didn't think a road trip would be too bad, but that was before I heard the blizzard warning on the radio. The heater in my car broke half an hour before we got here, and I was hoping we'd make it to Bloomfield, but we'd already skidded off the road once, and with the snow coming down as hard as it was, when we first spotted the cabin I figured it'd be best to just come here. I'd seen the lights on, so I knew there was someone here. The fact that it turned out to be you..."

"Was fate laughing in my face once again," Parker finished for him. "I wouldn't even be here, but my damn car broke down."

"I had a feeling that was yours."

"Yeah, well, we're here now, so it's time to talk about plans." Jarod made no comment, but she saw his eyes sway towards the gun in her palm.

"Keeping in mind the little girl upstairs."

"I'm not totally heartless, Jarod," Parker snapped. "Much as I may like the idea, I wouldn't cuff you in front of Samantha, and I most certainly am not bringing that gun out again. That is," she added in a warning tone, "I have to."

"So you've decided to bring me in."

"First thing in the morning. We'll take your car to Bloomfield, have her aunt meet us there. By the time Sam leaves, the Centre jet should be at the airport."

"Setting aside the fact that there's no way in hell I'll let you take me back, you've got to be fairly delusional to think anyone's going anywhere tomorrow morning."

"And why is that?"

"Have you not heard the word blizzard I've been continually mentioning?"

"The great pretender's afraid of a few flakes?"

"This isn't a few flakes, Parker. We're talking severe weather here, all roads closed, no way out. The snow isn't even supposed to stop for three to four days, and there's no telling how long it will take for the roads to be safe to travel." With the look of surprise on her face, it took everything Jarod had to not burst out laughing.

"You mean to tell me that I'm stuck here, with you, for Christmas? Oh, well that's just grand. I get to spend my holiday trapped in a stranger's cabin, pretending to be able to stand you. Wonderful."

"Aw, come on, Parker, it won't be that bad."

"You've never seen The Shining, have you, Jarod?" She stood, picked up her now-empty mug, and went into the kitchen. "Great," she called out, "and the cocoa's gone!" Jarod laughed. Parker's head appeared in the doorway, her eyes narrowed. "I fail to find the humor in this."

At the top of the stairs stood Samantha, smiling as she listened to their conversation. Four days...who knew what she could accomplish in that much time.

~~~~~~~~~

"You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm."
Colette


Samantha awoke slowly, enjoying the cozy quilt she was wrapped in. She gave Teddy a hug, then slid down the side of the bed, and padded, barefooted, out of the room and down the stairs. She tiptoed to the large front window and, pulling back the curtain, peered outside. Everything was covered in a very thick layer of snow; in fact, the car's tires were half buried already. And still, the snow was coming down. Not as fast as last night, but in thicker flakes.

A burning stench caught her attention, as well as a muffled curse from the kitchen. With Teddy in hand, she went into the kitchen, finding Miss Parker rushing between pans on the stove, as a small wisp of smoke escaped first one, than the other.

"Oh, screw it," Parker sighed. She took a handle in each hand, and flipped them over above the garbage can, allowing the charred remains of bacon and hashbrowns to fall into the trash. She tossed the pans into the water-filled sink, causing a violent hissing sound and billow of steam as the hot pans met the cool water. "Maybe I'll just try toast."

"Maybe there's something in the cupboards we could have for breakfast," Samantha suggested. Parker turned around, seeing her for the first time.

"Oh, good, you're up. Sleep well?"

"Mm-hmm. Um, maybe we should ask Jarod to cook."

Parker laughed. "I admit, I'm no Betty Crocker. In fact, he offered just the same thing, but I said that I'd cook if he got more wood."

"He's outside?"

"Just over in front of the garage. Most of the chopped wood's over there, and we thought it'd be a good idea to get some for later on, just in case."

"Oh."

"You're right, though, there's probably something in the cupboards." She rummaged through a few, until she came upon a box of instant pancake and waffle mix. " 'Just add water,'" she read. "Not even I could mess that up." Parker met Sam's dubious look, and added, "Well, at least not too badly. I see you've got your friend with you."

Sam nodded, and held up her stuffed bear with two hands.
"This is Teddy. Jarod brought him when he came to get me in Massachusetts."

"That was very nice of him. Tell you what," Parker hurried on, wanting to avoid the subject of the kidnapping, "why don't you go upstairs and change?" Jarod had brought in the clothes earlier. Thankfully he'd taken an extra change of clothes with him, for both of them, in case they had to stay overnight somewhere because of weather. "Your clothes are on the chair in your bedroom."

~~~~~~~~~

When Samantha came down a few minutes later, the scent that greeted her was far more pleasant. She found the dining room table set, with a plate of waffles and a bowl of canned fruit in the middle. She went into the kitchen, where Parker was warming syrup up in the microwave. Parker turned to look at her, and smiled.

"Breakfast is just about ready. Why don't you call Jarod in?"

"Okay." Sam walked over to the front door, stuck her head out and looked for Jarod. When she spotted him far to her right, she called out, but her tiny voice was lost in a sudden gust of wind. She retreated back into the warm house, and informed Parker that Jarod couldn't hear her. A sudden idea struck her and laughing, she led the girl to the front door.

"I know just the way to get his attention," Parker grinned mischievously. "Watch this."

Over at the garage, Jarod whistled to himself as he placed a few more pieces of firewood into the wheelbarrow. Suddenly, a snowball struck the back of his head with a solid whack, knocking his hat off. Turning in surprise, he saw Parker and Samantha standing next to the door, innocently waving at him.









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