Chapter 9. Ties that bind.

  Rubbing her temples exhaustedly, Miss Parker paused briefly outside her office. ‘Signed, sealed and delivered,' she muttered fishing her keys from her pocket, ‘You think you could've warned me on this one?' she asked of no one in particular, as her key met the lock. When she got no response, not that she was really expecting one; she proceeded to open the door just wide enough to accommodate her slight frame.

  Urging her hair to lay subtly over her shoulders with a negligibly quick shake of her head, Parker dismissed the continual nagging void left by her mothers absence and re-focused her attention on the more immediate concerns occupying her office. Slipping inside the dark room and flicking on the light, she leant against the doors without bothering to consciously examine her surroundings. "You can't be serious Broots... Maybe if I were deaf, blind and a complete moron, it wouldn't occur to me to look under my own desk."

  Broots stuck his head out sharply, looking distinctly akin to a flighty meerkat, "Umm...Miss Parker... I'm really not good at..." he clambered to his feet only to then sink back down into the office chair behind him, leaving her to fill in the blank.

  Miss Parker fought the urge to send Broots packing, with the comfort of knowing foremost, that he couldn't possibly make this situation any worse and secondly, albeit annoyingly, that Broots had probably played his hand to the best of his ability - and for that matter, anyone else who was unfortunate enough to be in his position.

 Choosing her words carefully, as always, she decided her token sarcasm wasn't wasted on this situation. "Yeah well, you're not alone there..." she muttered with the figure on the couch springing into mind to share the blame, the corner of her eye focused in his direction.

  She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, unable to bear the sight of either of the two men that had made her office feel as if it were the suffocating, small and rather insecure structure of a walnut. Granted, the room carried the strong, dark and deeply organic décor of leather, polished timber and frosted glass that was analogous to a walnut's powerful, hard outer shell and thick fibrous husk. But deep at the room's core was an instability that was just waiting to shatter under the escalating pressure, not unlike Parker herself; especially considering her father's earlier presence had yet to be thoroughly examined. After his latest miraculous appearance from where, Parker dared not speculate; she was finding Mr. Parker's motives even more grey and vague than ever and she'd learnt from all the very best at the Centre, that grey and vague could be infinitely more dangerous than clear and evil. Furthermore, in her father's case, Mr. Parker seemed to be building an even bigger, thicker, more ambiguous shell around the already enigmatic nut he hid deep within his core.

  Broots rested his forehead on Parkers desk next to the handcuffs she had thrown to him in the closet earlier. In a muffled and slightly cracked voice, he uttered once again, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do."

   "I just hope you did it before anyone else found out." She stopped short at the thought of naming the particular ‘anyone else's' that came to mind, reminding herself that this mess wasn't entirely Broots' fault and for that matter, probably wasn't his fault at all.

  Parker slowly opened one eye, followed by the other and transfixed her gaze upon the man now occupying her couch. Seeing as Broots wasn't the real object of her frustration, her usual scapegoat had become the furthest thing on her mind. She was now ready to aim a barrage of questioning at his silent companion.

   "And you! What the hell were you thinking? Some psychic you are! You must have realized how incredibly idiotic that little stunt was.  Not to mention the fact that you look like a Swedish Elton John impersonator who found his suit in a dime store! What exactly did you hope to achieve? And if he can pick you out of a lobby full of people... My God what were you thinking?" Miss Parker's questions were purely rhetorical and if it wasn't already plain to see, it was quickly becoming clear to Broots that the two had a somewhat unspoken, yet emotionally laden, history.

   Elton John opened his mouth to mount a defense but was cut off before he could get a single word in.

  "...Don't answer that, I don't want to know. You've got five minutes to get as far away from here as possible. After that, I'd suggest you leave the country... I hear Antarctica's wonderful this time of year."

   Waiting until she finally took a second to catch her breath, Elton pulled the wig from his head and tossed it on the couch next to him. "I had no choice," he declared in a softly spoken yet decisive voice.

   Just those four little words were enough to get Miss Parker revved up again.

  "No choice! No choice? How about not coming here?  There are always choices.  How about staying as far away from the Centre as is humanly possible? How about not getting all of us killed in the process?" Her hands had found their way to her hips, her steely eyes deeply penetrating his for a moment, as she maintained the familiar Parker ‘power stance.'

  "Perhaps it's not us that we should be worried about..." His tone was smooth, his demeanor calm and as such, unnerving; a fact that only seemed to ignite Parker even further.

  Most people would have found this tone soothing. To Parker however, it came as an arduous reminder that her brother was also Jarod's brother.

  "Yeah well, after this little stunt, I don't think we'll have to worry about Jarod anymore."

  "This isn't about Jarod."

  "Everything's about Jarod. Always has been, and always will be." Parker stoically folded her arms across her chest, her eyes piercingly resolute. 

  Elton met her glare with his own enduring sense of tacit resolve. "This isn't."  

  Watching their vaguely familiar exchange as intently as only someone with the somewhat assigned, thought admittedly preferred, invisibility of a fly on the wall could; Broots found his attention diverted from an equal Ethan-Parker exchange, to being focused solely on Parkers' lack of sarcastic retorts. Just recently, he'd learnt to judge the extent of a bad situation based on the words that his boss didn't say, rather than those she did. So naturally, his brain was working in overdrive at the sheer notion that Parker didn't even attempt to insist on having the last word.  After all, that was a liberty she only ever awarded to her father and more recently, didn't demand from Jarod. Though, Broots dismissed even her most valiantly failed attempts as more of a ‘trying to touch the stars by standing on a footstool,' type battle that could never be won, when it came to Jarod.  The annoying habitual phone tactic of how he ended conversations always ensured he'd have the last word. 

  Mid-way through his latest thoughts, it occurred to Broots that Sydney would have an absolute field day analyzing this short but rather telling exchange between the half-siblings.  Broots felt his stomach sinking deep into the recesses of his stomach, as his posture unconsciously straightened. It took him a second to register the root cause of what was actually nothing more than a normal physiological response. Yet, Broots froze to the core when he noticed that Miss Parker was looking directly at him, mouthing the distinct words ‘we've got company.'

<~>

  Sam approached her office casually. He was so used to dropping whatever it was he was doing; he had even come to appreciate the way Miss Parker carried out her precise brand of business that this particular corridor held none of the ‘death row' connotations it held for his colleagues. Besides, going cross-country with Parker was infinitely more exciting than the strictly hands-off babysitting of Jarod tied to a gurney that he would have otherwise been forced to endure.  And given their history, Sam had to admit to himself that he did rather enjoy the hands-on approach when it came to Jarod.

  Knocking rather eloquently on the heavy timber, Sam waited for the familiar "What?" that would signify his permission to enter her inner sanctum and his unwavering dedication to her cause. This time however, he was met with a sharply opened door and completely diminished personal space.

  Without words she pulled him inside her office, before leaning firmly against the doors to ensure their abrupt and secure closure.

<~>

  Upon hearing Broots' familiar gasp, Miss Parker turned to face the sweeper, only to see Sam's gun pointed squarely between the eyes of the instantly recognizable figure occupying her couch.

  "If I wanted trigger happy I'd have called in the big black bozo. What I need is protection while we sort this whole mess out." Parker directed his gun to the floor, in which case it was immediately holstered and replaced by the restraints and uniform she'd requested. "So, I need to know upfront. Are your loyalties with me?"

  Sam nodded a voiceless confirmation and took up her position in front of the door, relieving Parker to openly pace the carpet.  Her eyes swung back to the couch, she paused and then resumed her seemingly one-sided discussion with her half-brother. "Well Elton, if this isn't about Jarod, then you sure as Hell better start explaining just why it is that you decided it was a good idea to show your face around here." 

<~>

  Lyle waited impatiently for the tower elevator to reach the lobby, tapping his shoe in frustration. After Cox's phone call, he could no longer write off his sister's haste as her just being her. No, she was definitely up to something.  He'd be damned if he was going to be kept out of that loop, especially if she was going to pinch on-duty sweepers out from right under his nose. And he was certainly not about to let her ruin his chances with the Triumvirate. Regardless of the integral role she may have had in Jarod's return, at the rate she was going, she was a threat he just wasn't prepared for. Sure, he had the stuffy old shrink locked away, but he was no longer certain that Freud's safe return to Jarod was enough to get Parker on side.

  Glaring disgustedly at the nervous janitorial staff desperately trying to avoid all eye contact, while they mopped up the debris from what Lyle was now beginning to suspect was a deliberate diversion. Lyle retrieved his phone and for the third time, tried dialling Sam's number. 

<~>

  Elton stared at his shoes, "She's quieter... here, you know?"

  "Most people are." Parker finally let her eyes fall away from his and found a carpet thread, that sat ever-so-slightly lower than the rest of the pile, to focus her attention on, during the uncomfortable silence.  Finally, while maintaining a reserved manner, she broke the silence by cautiously uttering, "You disappeared."   

 "I re-appeared," he whispered, not entirely unlike their shared relative.

  Although Broots was taken aback and openly let out a deep breath, she responded somewhat tenderly. "You really should have called."

  "I had to come..."

  "But why here?" Her tone changed to the child-like whine of the ‘but why?' variety. "What if Raines---?" Her eyes had found their way back to her brother's, failing to notice the pain in his voice that radiated through his troubled gaze.

  She honestly couldn't consider the repercussions if Raines, rather than Broots, had been the one to discover Ethan.

 Ethan offered her a weak, goofy smile in return. "My Swedish Elton John wasn't good enough?"

  Parker re-folded her arms across her stomach, her tone softening slightly. "No."

  Ethan sighed in return. "I hadn't heard from Jarod. Then she told me I had to stop things from getting any worse. That I had to help you." Ethan watched her pupils dilate at the second mentioning of their mother, only to shrink away behind her ice queen façade once more.

  "And you thought you'd do that by coming here? Of all places?"

  "She can be very insistent, when you're in trouble."

  Parker shook her head and resumed pacing. "What makes you think I'm in trouble?"

  Ethan glanced quickly at Broots, who'd taken it upon himself to begin scouring the security footage from the lobby on Parker's computer. "It could have something to do with the fact that you haven't slept in a week; you haven't noticed the mascara smudge under your left eye lashes and that you can't even look at yourself in a mirror."  Ethan lowered his voice to barely a whisper and continued. "You put her portrait in your drawer last night..." 

  "Nice try." She scoffed and offered him an empty smile, before turning her back in his direction. "But I'm fine. You on the other hand, need to mind your own business."

"Sure you're fine. But may I suggest the next time you try convincing someone else, that it might pay for you to believe it yourself." Ethan watched the slight fall of her shoulders. Though lasting only a fraction of a second, it was the tell-tale give-away that there was a chip in her armour.

  Taking a second to regain every ounce of her fallen composure, Parker turned back to face her brother as if nothing had happened. "You said this visit wasn't about Jarod. Are you expecting me to believe that it's just about me?"

  Ethan shifted uncomfortably for the first time since he'd sat down on Parkers couch earlier. "It's not really about Jarod. But it may as well be." It was his turn now to study the carpet. "It's about Jay." 

  Broots stopped typing without realising, giving himself and his eavesdropping ways in, through the virtue of another extended and unnerving silence. 

 Miss Parker eventually turned to face Broots. "Of course it is..."

  Broots sheepishly avoided eye contact, "Miss Parker, um, now might not be the best time, but...um, well..."

 "Spit it out Broots. What else could possibly go wrong now?"

"Actually...uh, Mr Lyle's on his way up here"

 "Perfect!"

"Miss Parker?" Broots studied her expression carefully, unsure as to whether or not she understood the significance of what he'd just said.

 "Just when I thought this was all a bad dream, he decides to turn it into a nightmare."

  Broots examined his palm as if it were encrusted with precious stones, this was the part he was most dreading. "What about Jay?"

  "Franken-twin is on his way here. Ethan, rounding up number two on the Centre's most wanted list and the brother I just happen to share with Jarod is here sitting on my couch... And you want me to worry about Jarod's clone? I'm good Broots, but not that good."  

 Broots took a deep breath and envisioned her 9mm pointed squarely between his eyes. "No Miss Parker... He's here."

 For the first time since he'd taken up post at the door, Miss Parker re-acknowledged her sweeper's presence. "Sam, no one gets in until I say so..."

 Broots cut her off, dropping his former hesitation. "Not Lyle, Jay. Jay's already here!"

"WHAT?"

"So I guess this makes it a night terror..." Ethan raised an eyebrow in her direction, only to receive her trademark glare in return.

  Parker could have sworn that she caught the makings of an all too familiar smirk cross his face, but dismissed it out of denial rather than with any contrary evidence. This was Ethan she was talking to after all. "Who's got him? When did they get him? Where the HELL are they? And why didn't you tell me earlier?"  Without even giving him a moment to take a breath, she continued. "Don't just sit there, I need answers. Now."

  Ethan waited to catch her gaze, "You think I'd be sitting here if I had those answers?"

Parker rolled her eyes. Ethan had been spending way too much time with Jarod as far as she was concerned.  She shifted her attention and ordered her co-worker and friend,  "Broots...   Angelo!    NOW!"

 "But where will you go, Miss Parker?" Broots stood from her chair watching as she approached the doors.

"With you Broots. You," she said while pointing back towards her brother, almost daring him to defy her. "You are to stay put until we can get this sorted out.

<~>

  "Someone's in a hurry..." Lyle strategically placed himself at the end of the corridor, right in front of the elevator, smiling sarcastically at his sister and her nervous little lap dog.

  "I'm busy but if you're bored and want to play, I'd recommend you go pay a visit to daddy dearest. I'm sure he could find something for you to do." Miss Parker pushed Broots past her brother and into the empty lift, following him at a slightly uncomfortable distance.

  "Actually, I came to offer you my services. Seeing as you're intent on stealing my sweepers and all." Lyle boarded after them, folding his arms with a smile as he took up position behind Parker and Broots as the elevator began its short descent to SL-5.

  "Your sweepers? You shouldn't start something you can't finish Lyle. Besides, I already asked about your involvement in Sydney's disappearance. So unless you've changed your mind and do know where he is, I'd suggest you run along and do whatever it is that you do around here."

  The second the elevator doors opened, Miss Parker pulled Broots out by the collar of his bowling shirt and thrust him across the freshly polished floors. They headed down the fluorescently lit corridor that would take them to the tech room. She could have sworn Lyle called something after them, but so long as he stayed in the elevator, she couldn't care less what it was.

<~> 

  Lyle watched intently from the elevator as Parker and Broots descended down the corridor toward the tech room. "I could be quite the valuable asset Parker," he called after her, not expecting a reaction but rather offering himself a window of opportunity for later.

  Admiring his plan and ever so slightly the sound of his own voice, Lyle pressed the button for the elevator doors to close, suddenly cringing at the deep baritone voice approaching the elevator.

  "...Ahh... Just the man I was hoping to see... Now tell me Lyle, how long until Jarod is ready to go?"

  Lyle turned to face Mr. Parker, who was midway through escorting his associates to the elevator. He was caught off guard but didn't dare let it show. "Do you still think that's the wisest move? The Africans were... less than pleased with the whole scrolls disaster. What's to say they won't just kill him?" Lyle held the door begrudgingly for the party of three, finding himself next to Mr. Parker by the time the doors closed.

  Mr. Parker patted him on the shoulder awkwardly. "That's not for us to speculate upon..."

  Lyle discretely shook him off. "Surely Jarod is of a much greater value here. Alive..."

  "Mr. Parker thinks otherwise." Raines re-assumed his putative position of corporate strength next to the chairman, taking it upon himself to summon the correct floor, ironically, as any lackey would.

  "Well in that case, I'll see what I can do about expediting proceedings." Lyle waited in the elevator, whilst the three other men exited the lift and made their way into the lobby, a false smile plastered across his cheeks, a deep loathing filling his mind.

  "Good - Oh and Lyle, where's your sister?" Mr. Parker turned and reached out to prevent the elevator's closure.

   Lyle offered him a cheap smile. "Following a lead on Gemini."

   "Excellent - I suppose Sydney is with her?"

  That remark drew his attention, effectively stopping Lyle's desire for the elevator to descend. "He wasn't when I last saw her..."

  "If you happen to come across him, would you escort him to my office? It's important."

  "I'll see what I can do." Lyle cursed himself as the doors closed. It was times like this that he needed the kind of loyalty Parker had in her minions.

<~>

  When Miss Parker finally let go of his collar and he was convinced that Lyle was no longer their most imminent threat, Broots dared ask the question that had been plaguing him for the last minute and a half. "Sydney's disappeared?"

  "No, he's right next to you Broots."

  Broots fumbled with his clearance card. "...And you think that Mr. Lyle is involved?"

  "No. I know he's involved." Miss Parker reached past Broots and opened the door with her own card, offering him a sarcastically eclipsed smile as he ducked past her, into the tech room. After all, what kind moron couldn't open the door to his own office?

  "Well, what are we going to do?"

  Miss Parker entered behind him, resisting the temptation to leave Broots to find Angelo whilst she personally began the hunt for Gemini. "Nothing. So long as there are no more unexpected surprises, Lyle will have to release him unharmed."

  "You have a plan?" Broots stared up at her, his eyes leaving the computer screen before him for just a second. Hoping beyond hope, that maybe, just maybe, she did have this mess figured out.

  Miss Parker smiled. "Oh I always have a plan."

<~>