Jarod tested once again the communications and realized that nobody was answering on the other side. Even their mobiles were mute, probably because whoever had found the earphones had taken the mobiles, too, forcing his friends to turn the devices off.

Scrolling the videos of the surveillance cameras, Ethan finally found the corridors of SL-19. He and Jarod both couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Mr. Parker?” Jarod exhaled, turning the computer screen towards himself.
“And that man over there is Hasani. They tricked us, Jarod. They lured us into a trap and we took the bait like a bunch of amateurs.” Ethan commented, realizing how naïf they had been to believe the Triumvirate and Lyle’s words.
Jarod swallowed the bitter bite, too worried and guilty to say anything.

§§§

In the meantime, Sydney and Broots had been taken down to SL-19 to complete the family reunion. Two sweepers pushed them next to Miss Parker and Angelo, clearly dividing the present people in two factions.
On one side the three stooges and poor Angelo, still holding Michael; fortunately, the kid didn’t seem to have notice the growing confusion.    
On the other side Raines, Lyle and Mr. Parker, who seemed to have never been happier and more satisfied.
Hasani was standing next to him, smiling, pleased by the way things have just turned.
“They had these.” Raines said, showing Hasani the earphone that Broots and Sydney used to communicate with Parker and Jarod.
“Miss Parker?” Hasani asked, reaching out his hand towards her. Unwillingly, she had to deliver her own device, finally revealing her true faction.
Time had come to drop the act.

§§§

 “They have been exposed…I must get inside!” Jarod shouted.
“No!” Ethan stopped his brother, pushing him against the driver’s seat.
Jarod wasn’t thinking straight, whole the rationality he was best known for was completely forgotten. All he knew was that the only people he had ever cared for were in that building.
Sydney, the man he considered a father.
Angelo, his childhood playfellow and friend.
Broots, the goofy technician that once saved his life.
But most of all, Miss Parker. His best friend. The woman he had fallen in love with when he was a kid. The mother of a son that he hadn’t been able to hold, yet and who was pregnant with his unborn child.
He couldn’t let anything happen to them.
He’d rather die than see someone hurting them.      
“Ethan, let go of me!” he shouted again, trying to escape from his held.
“I can’t, big brother!” Ethan yelled, struggling to keep Jarod from running.
“They need me!”
“I promised my sister I wouldn’t let you inside the Centre for anything in the world, and I always keep my promises!”
“Not at the expense of her life! Ethan, nobody’s going to help them! They only have us!” Jarod growled, trying to reason with his younger brother.
“Let’s wait and try to understand what’s going on!” Ethan shouted more than Jarod had ever heard him. The pretender waited a few seconds, then he nodded in agreement.

 §§§

 “Angel, I’m very disappointed.” Mr. Parker said.
“Then it’s two of us.” she replied, a lashing tone in her voice.
For months she had been worried for this man, but now she was finally realizing that Mr. Parker had deceived her.
Again.
He had survived - god only knew how; he had managed to get back in the Triumvirate’s good graces.
As always, he was saving his butt, even in spite of his daughter’s life.
“Hand over the child.” Hasani said.
Parker’s lips turned into a frozen smiled, the one that she usually aimed at the people she hated the most. And now, Hasani was at the top of the list.
She took her weapon and aimed towards him, causing a turmoil among the sweepers who immediately rose their guns.
The fact that she was still alive made her understand that they had probably received the order not to shoot.
“Come on, Hasani. I hope you didn’t come all this way to throw such a ridiculous request on my face.”
Hasani couldn’t help smiling at her, “I’ve no intention to leave this place without a pretender. The baby is too young to take part to high level simulations, but we can wait a few months.”

 §§§

 Jarod and Ethan’s eyes were glued to the video. Ethan’s inner sense was tickling. He had a very weird feeling, but he didn’t want to say anything to his brother.
Jarod, on his hand, didn’t need the inner sense to get the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

 §§§

 “Let’s hear Plan B.” Parker commented, ignoring Hasani’s request.
“I could forget the boy, if Jarod surrendered spontaneously and came along with us, without resistance.”
Sydney opened his mouth, but Miss Parker interrupted him before he could talk.
“Yeah, let’s move on to Plan C, because this one cannot work either. Your favorite Lab Rat is lost hell-knows-where. You’ve probably lost the previously on this show that mentioned the fact that Jarod has been on the run for the last five years or so.”

§§§

For a moment, Jarod believed he was having hallucinations, because something really weird and unlikely was happening.
Mr. Raines, Lyle and Mr. Parker were laughing with the sweepers and Hasani.

§§§

“Miss Parker, we’ve warned you to be careful when you joke with the Africans.” Lyle commented, evidently entertained by that situation.
Parker squeezed her eyes with a quizzical look.
“We’ve known for a while that you are secretly cooperating with Jarod. We’ve been following all your movements and we are perfectly aware of your dirty – how should we call it, affair?” Lyle asked.
Parker opened her eyes wide. They had been so careful, how could the Centre know about her and Jarod?
Mr. Parker decided that some explanation was in order, “Since my arrival in Africa, I’ve suggested Hasani to have you followed by new sweepers. And it wasn’t hard for Lyle to put a special untraceable bug on the only object you always keep with you.”
Parker lowered her gaze on her gun, her fabulous Smith and Wesson.
A satisfied smile appeared on Mr. Parker’s face.

§§§

“Damn them, they kept us under control since the beginning. They’ve always been a step ahead of us.” Jarod commented, realizing how stupid they had been.
“You couldn’t know, Jarod.” Ethan tried and console him.

§§§

Sydney approached Miss Parker, trying to make her feel his protective presence. She was speechless.
“So you know – ”
“Everything, yes.” Mr. Parker confirmed. “After fetching you and Jarod on the Island of Carthis, I noticed the strange way you behaved.”

Jarod was being dragged away by two sweepers while Parker was getting out from the parked limousine to talk to her father, a fake smile on her face. Clearly thinking that their conversation wasn’t over, yet, Jarod stopped next to her to say some last words.  
“That's the wonderful thing about life, Miss Parker.”
She turned her face towards the pretender and looked at him intensely, as never before in her life.
“If you change the story, the ending is up to you.” he sentenced, before disappearing on the plane.

 “I knew that look. It was the same way your mother looked at me. The look of a woman in love” Mr. Parker sighed. “I understood that Jarod had finally managed to obtain what I had desperately tried to avoid. He was turning you against me.”

§§§

“Miserable coward!” Jarod commented, full of rage.
Ethan just gave him a look of agreement.

§§§

“I tried to keep you off that flight, but you got on the plane. And then I realized that it was over. You and Jarod together could become an unfathomable threat for The Centre. Apparently you were still my beloved daughter, but I knew that it was just a matter of time before you accepted Jarod’s lies as your truth.”
“The only lies I’ve been told my entire life were yours, daddy.” she reacted.
Miss Parker was proud to have finally been able to tell him what she had wanted to confess years before.
And Sydney was proud of her, too, at that moment. He looked at her almost in admiration.
Just like Jarod was doing outside, in the car.
A bit shocked by her remark, Mr. Parker suffered the blow, but he kept talking. “When Jarod convinced me to read the Prophecies, I discovered that I had to find a way to separate you. You couldn’t read them, at any cost. I wouldn’t allow you to destroy the Centre, like the Scrolls said!”
“That’s what Mom wanted, too!” Miss Parker yelled, hoping to move something inside is father by mentioning Catherine.
“Your mother was weak and blind; she couldn’t see beyond the children’s sufferance. She never understood the future scenarios of our research.”
“What scenarios are you talking about?” Sydney asked, feeling that this was the right moment for him to intervene. “Kidnapping and exploit children prodigies to satisfy your lust for money and power?”
His eyes fell almost involuntary on Raines who was looking at his rival in anger.
Mr. Parker ignored the psychiatrist’s question, “The only way to keep the status quo was to make you and Jarod surrender to The Centre. But I couldn’t lure him without using a tasty bait. That’s when I realized I had to let things happen, just as the Prophecies say. You two had to join forces, you needed to get together.”
Lyle and Raines exchanged a knowing look.
“You struggled so much to brake the bond between Jarod and me that you needed to create Mind Rain and make us forget everything. Why did you want us to become friends again?”

§§§

Jarod wanted, no, he needed to know the answer to that question just as much as Miss Parker. All this didn’t make any sense. Why did the Centre split them up years before, only to let them reconcile, now?

§§§

“We knew the only way to convince Jarod to come back was to put you in danger, but I wasn’t sure he wanted to risk his own life for his pursuer, and the Triumvirate wanted a real leverage. When he read the Prophecies, Hasani realized that you and Jarod were connected by something more special than being childhood friends. They understood that Mind Rain had been successful, but only on the outside. Suddenly, all your failures during Jarod’s pursuit had an explanation.”
“We’ve always wondered why a professional hunter like you couldn’t manage to bring back one single man to the Centre.” Hasani kept talking. “When we read the Scrolls, everything finally made sense. There was a basic flaw that you both had in your character. Something that bonded you like magnets.”
Parker grinded her teeth, looking at Hasani, “And what was that?”
“Love.” Mr. Parker concluded. “Love was the only means to lure Jarod back. He’s always cared for you, even a couple of years ago, when you got injured at that flight school and he gave up his freedom to try and save your life. What a fool.” The old man smirked along with Raines and Lyle.
Miss Parker was suddenly brought back to a few years before, to the surreal conversation she had with Jarod when he revealed that he’d known Tommy long before her.

“You listen to me, Jarod. The rules that you and I have been playing by- my indentured servitude to this house of horrors, you shaking your family tree- you just throw those the hell out the window when it comes to Thomas! He is not a game!”
“I would never treat him like one.” Jarod tried and defense himself from Parker’s verbal attack. “Deception was never my goal with you and Thomas.”
“Your goal? What goal?” she asked, incredulous.
Jarod sighed. “Love. Putting you two together was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.”
And he really meant it.
“Putting us together? You’re a liar. We had a chance meeting in Blue Cove at a gas stat – ” Miss Parker looked at the model of her first meeting with Thomas and she suddenly realized. 
“You didn’t meet him after I did. You knew him before?” she asked, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.
“The way you felt about each other had nothing to do with me. I just- I just lit the torch.”

Love. A simple word that had made understand how much Jarod really cared about her happiness. Pushing Tommy to meet her had been one of his greatest gifts.
And now her father.
In his mouth, the same word had the power to evoke the worst nightmares.
It made her realize that Mr. Parker really was a monster.

§§§

Jarod clenched his fists, remembering that moment like it was the day before. How naïf he might have looked, behaving like that.
And yet, Mr. Parker was right. He hadn’t left her behind that day, nor in any other moments she had really needed him. The pretender had always been there lying in the shadows, unconscious to the fact that he’d never stopped being in love with her.
Ethan could feel his brother’s emotions and he tried to hold them off, convinced that Jarod soon would try again to get inside The Centre.

§§§

Miss Parker didn’t know what her father knew that she knew. So, she tried and lie again.
“And yet, the Scrolls disappeared with you. Jarod and I never got a chance to put our hands on them.”
That wasn’t really a lie, maybe a tiny omission of truth.
But once again, Hasani and Mr. Parker exchanged a wicked smile.
“We know that Ethan broke into the Triumvirate fortress. How do you think he was able to get away with it all on his own?” Mr. Parker asked.
The woman felt her breath getting faster again, but she tried not to show how terrified she actually was.
Ethan was in danger too, they knew that he was working with them.
“We made sure that your dearest brother discovered the Scrolls and told you everything about them. Mr. Parker even volunteered and pretended to be a prisoner in a cellar.” Hasani explained.
“While all this time I’ve been welcomed by the well-known African hospitality.” Mr. Parker concluded, almost bowing towards Hasani, who looked very satisfied.

§§§

It was Ethan’s turn to be furious for being manipulated. He also felt betrayed by his inner sense, he didn’t understand why the voices hadn’t warned him.
But of course, his voices just sent him omens, guided him along the way and usually warned him from danger. They couldn’t help him against lies and deceit.

§§§

“Enough with the gossip.” Lyle exclaimed. “We have work to do.”
Using the hand that still had a thumb, Lyle snapped his fingers and a couple of sweepers moved closer to Angelo, intending to take the boy from his arms.
But Miss Parker aimed her gun towards them both.
“Over my dead body.”
Mr. Parker smirked at his daughter’s reaction, “Then it’s true, you know.”
Miss Parker gave herself away when she exhaled with resignation.
“You know how we did it?”
Miss Parker stared at him, full of disgust, “What I know is that you’re a monster. I don’t give a damn about the sordid details connected to my baby’s conception.”
“Brigitte was a compliant human incubator. She was oblivious, very committed when she found out she would be a mother.” Mr. Parker explained, finding Lyle’s agreement.
And yet, Parker wanted to know at least one thing, “When did you, t-take my –”
Mr. Parker grimaced, “When you got hospitalized for your ulcer, remember?”
Miss Parker thought about those terrible moments when she had thought she was going to die and Faith had saved her.
A few days later, she had discovered that Jarod had been through a very similar situation when his plane had crashed on a mountain and he almost got frostbite.
Her father had taken advantage of her physical condition to steel a part of her, the most intimate part of a woman.
Nothing easier, with her fighting between life and dead and in such a precarious condition. With the chaos of all the scars after the operation, she hadn’t even noticed.
Lyle took advantage of this moment of shock to run towards Miss Parker and rapidly steel her weapon.

§§§

When he heard complaining, Jarod couldn’t stand it anymore. He ran outside the car. Ethan throw the laptop and ran after his brother, trying to stop him.
“Jarod, that’s what they want!” he yelled.
“Ethan, I know that you promised, but I’m not staying here just to watch them die!” he shouted in answer.

§§§

While Angelo fought back and Miss Parker wriggled and screamed between her twin brother’s arms, two sweepers took Michael and delivered him to Mr. Parker.
“Here’s my boy.” he said.
“He – is – not – YOURS!” Miss Parker lashed out, while Michael began crying.

§§§

“Ethan, let go of me.” Jarod almost growled, trying to free himself from his brother’s grip.
“I’m sorry, big brother, but I can’t!” Ethan struggled.
Then he was forced to do something he thought he’d never done; he punched Jarod and knock him down, paralyzing him temporarily.

§§§

“Angel, you amaze me. I’ve never thought you were the maternal type, not after your carpenter’s death.”
“You, damn – bastard!” Miss Parker snapped, still trying to extricate herself from Lyle’s clutches.
“Miss Parker, calm down.” Sydney whispered, looking inside her eyes and searching for her gaze to try and soothe her, “Think about your daughter!”
Lyle opened his eyes wide and loosened the grip, allowing his sister to throw herself into Sydney’s arms, tearful.
The general chaos quieted down for a few seconds until Hasani asked, “Daughter?”

§§§

"Brother, forgive me.” Ethan gasped, reaching his hand towards Jarod, who was still lying on the ground, “but you can’t go there, you’d be captured and then you’d be of no use to anyone!”
“Ethan…” Jarod whispered, stunned and exhausted, “I can’t lose them!”
Ethan got back to the car to look at his computer, trying to realize what was going on.

§§§

Sydney understood at once the huge mistake he’d made. The questioning looks of the other people in that corridor did not leave any doubt; the bug inside Parker’s gun had revealed almost everything, but not that information.
They hadn’t known that she was pregnant, until now.
She sighed against the chest of the man she would have loved to be her father, crying in desperation.
“Daughter?!” Hasani asked again.
“What do you mean?” Lyle asked, sending a questioning look at Raines.
Angelo was terrorized; his eyes were running from one side of the room to the other.
Broots kept sweating, aware of the enormous danger Miss Parker would be in, from now on.
“Angel, you’re telling me that we may expect another grand-child? A girl?” Mr. Parker asked, faking paternal joy, “Congratulations, this is – ” he turned his look at Hasani, “  - the most pleasant surprise.”
Hasani looked as pleased as Mr. Parker. He was staring at the woman as if she was a precious piece of jewelry.
Mr. Parker put Michael in Raines’s arms and the doctor tried to stop his crying, to no avail.
“Well, this really is good news. We were planning to get rid of you once we captured Jarod, but…this changes everything.” Hasani commented, approaching the woman who was looking at him full of scorn.
Sydney held Miss Parker tight, trying to make her understand how sorry he felt for letting slip such an information.
She looked at the psychiatrist with affection, knowing that in spite of his mistake, she needed Sydney more than ever.
“Tell me, Miss Parker.” Hasani said. “Are you ready to reconsider my proposal?”
“W-what proposal?” she asked, looking at the African.
“You lure Jarod here, he’s certainly coming to rescue the woman he loves and his children. In return, I’m going to set this – beautiful boy free.” He caressed Michael’s face and Parker started to tremble.
“How did you named him, again? Michael?” Raines asked, smirking and looking at the boy between his arms.
Mr. Parker was observing the scene in amusement, while Sydney, on the contrary, was disgusted.

§§§

“My god, what can we do?” Ethan wondered.
But when he turned around, his brother had disappeared.
“Jarod? Jarod!” he yelled, noticing that the pretender had by then entered the tunnel that took inside The Centre.
“Jarod!” he shouted again, receiving no answer.
Ethan ruffled his air in resignation, then he looked back at his screen.
He couldn’t wait no longer, Jarod was gone and he hadn’t kept his promise.
For the first time in a while, his voices were suggesting an alternate plan.
He could hear them distinctly, as if they were guiding him to his next step.
The path to follow became crystal clear.
Ethan had kept one last secret to his siblings, for a very long time. Now, he couldn’t keep it to himself anymore.
“I must help them, but I can’t do it alone!” he said to himself and to the voices.
Then he anxiously shut the laptop and took his mobile, “I must call them, Jarod and Parker need them!”
Ethan typed  frantically a number on the phone.
“Come on, come on, answer me, damn it!” he screamed.
A few seconds later, somebody answered the call. “It’s Ethan…The situation is dramatic, we need your help…yes…I think it’s time…I know…I know it’s dangerous, I don’t need you to remind me…then don’t waste time, dad!”