Jarod’s current lair was located a few miles from the cabin where he and his now two partners had been trapped moments earlier. Driving at a rate of sixty miles per hour, they reached their destination in less than twenty minutes.

Located at a small town, Jarod thought of this lair as one of his favorites. It was one he used from time to time. The closeness to the ocean helped him to relax from what was, otherwise, a very stressful life.

Larry was quickly fond of it as well. It brought him an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. How long had it been since he’d last seen those shores? He sighed.

“This feels strange.”

“What?”

“Being back here. After so many years. I’ve been away an entire life. Everything’s changed, everyone’s different. . .”

“Ice cream is still good.” Jarod replied.

That simple remark helped to ease the mood a bit but, even so, Jarod couldn’t stop thinking about what Larry had said. He had been away from his family for more than thirty years. He didn’t know them; they sure didn’t know him either. His contacts with family members had been brief and sporadic, often followed by a period of going underground. Why was he looking for people who were practically total strangers to him?

The answer was simple.

Because they were his family, and because they had answers to who he was and why The Centre wanted him so badly. Ever since his escape, he always thought that it was due to the fact that he was a pretender. But that final rendezvous with Alex had made him wonder what it really was that The Centre wanted him so much for. And so, there he was, side by side with a man whose life had also been destroyed by The Centre. A man who possessed some of the answers Jarod had been searching for so long.

A few moments later, they finally arrived. Jarod parked the car and they exited, moving toward the house. Once inside, Jarod turned the lights on.

Looking at the state that the living room was, he felt the need to apologize. “Sorry about the mess. Being on the run leaves me no time for housekeeping.”

“Don’t worry. I live alone too.”

Jarod directed Larry to the couch. “Take a seat. You must be tired.” He said, while setting up his laptop.

“Thank you. I am.” He took a seat. “Mon Dieu. . .I haven’t walked like this in ages.”

“I’m still wondering how you managed to find us.”

“The Voices. Once I started to listen to them, they turned out to be pretty helpful.”

“So I heard.”

A few minutes later, Jarod had finished setting up his laptop and walked over to Larry.

“I’m going to grab a bite. Can I get you anything?”

Larry thought of the last time he had a meal, not a decent meal—that had been weeks, months ago—, a simple meal. He was unable to remember when that had happened, but he knew for sure that it was time to refill his energies.

“What do you have?” Larry asked.

“Pop-tarts.”

At Larry’s sudden frown, Jarod added quickly.

“They contain eleven essential vitamins and minerals.”

“Thank you. Anything else?”

Jarod took a moment before answering. “I think I may have some bread and cheese. . .”

“That will be perfect.”

The computer beeped once and an electronic voice spoke. “You’ve got mail.”

“I’ll be right back.” Jarod said, walking quickly to the desk where his laptop stood, screensaver still activated.

He pressed a key to clear the screensaver and clicked on his mail box to read the message.

JS 32

Signed: CJ

It looked like a reference file. To what he didn’t know. Yet. There was a file attached. Jarod clicked on the link, saved it to his hard drive and opened it.

It was a scanned copy of a birthday record from 1935. Jarod read the contents quickly but he couldn’t figure out what it meant. To all appearances this looked like an ordinary birthday record. Unfortunately, Jarod knew that with The Centre involved, there had to be more.

And then he saw it.

The document was signed by a doctor Robert Haring. He recognized the last name instantly as being related to NuGenesis—The Centre’s private fertility clinic. Looking at the date, he assumed this doctor was probably the father of the two brothers who founded NuGenesis.

He read the record again and, when he saw the names of the progenitors of the child, he knew this was just the beginning. Justin Summerson and Elizabeth Summerson were the names.

During their trip Larry had told him a little more about his past at The Centre. Including who his father was; which would mean that Larry had a brother out there. One he probably didn’t know about.

“Larry, it seems our snack is going to have to wait.”

“Why? What happened?”

“I think you should come here and see for yourself.”

Larry got up from the sofa and walked over to Jarod.

“I found something about your past.”

Larry pulled a chair and sat next to Jarod

Jarod quickly showed him the copy of the birthday record he had received. “A friend of mine sent me this. It appears you have a brother.”

“A brother? That can’t be.”

“When we’re talking about The Centre, everything can be.”

Larry read the names on the document and replied. “That’s not my mother’s name.”

“What?”

“That’s not my mother’s name.” Larry repeated.

“Are you sure?”

“I think I know my mother’s own name.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“What do we do now?”

“We hack into NuGenesis system and find out what JS32 means.”

Suddenly, the front door was kicked and a group of sweepers came bursting in. Jarod reacted quickly and tried to run but he and Larry were restrained with almost little effort. Jarod’s anger only increased when he looked at the street door and saw Lyle walking in.

“Lyle. . .” He said, with gritted teeth. “How did you find us?”

“A friend told me.”

Without waiting for the inevitable question, Lyle signaled someone outside. “You can come in now.”

The stranger walked in. Jarod did his best to hide his surprise, but found himself unable to.

“Alex.”

“Hello, Jarod. Did you miss me?”