Chapter 3


    He looked at the picture Miss Parker was showing him. On it, she was just a toddler, but he had no trouble recognizing her: she still had the same smile. Her parents were on either side of her. He remembered seeing them a couple of times. Her father had always been just a voice; his face had always been hidden in the shadows.

    But her mother had come and see him, she had talked to him, asked him questions. She had smiled at him, just like Miss Parker always did. She seemed to genuinely be interested in him, and not because of what he could do.

    Looking at the picture of the happy family, he wished he had one with his parents. But he had nothing; he couldn't even remember their faces or their voices. It was like he never had parents. He had tried asking Sydney about them before, but he had never answered his questions. Speaking about his parents seemed to be a taboo.

    He wanted to believe that his parents loved him, and that they didn't just abandon him, but it was difficult. If his parents loved him, why did they never come to see him? If they loved him, why had they decided to send him away? Sydney wouldn't answer these questions, and Jarod thought he knew why: it was because the truth was just too hard for him to hear. The truth was that his parents had abandoned him and that he had to stay here forever now.

"Why do you look so sad, Jarod?" Miss Parker's voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

"I don't have a picture of myself with my parents," he told her a half-truth. "I don't remember what they look like."

"Did you ask Sydney about it? I'm sure he has one."

"He doesn't. And he doesn't want to talk about them."

"Maybe I could ask Mama or Daddy?"

"No, don't," he replied. "It's ok."

"No, it's not, Jarod. And you're sad about it."

"Yes, I am, but I'll be fine. Now, what do you want to do, today?" he asked, plastering a smile on his face; he didn't want or need her to worry about him.

    It turned out that all Miss Parker wanted to do was to teach him to play a game she had learned in school the day before.

"You see, it's easy. I wrote down a sentence," she said, demonstrating at the same time. "Then I fold the paper over it, and write the first word of the next sentence and you do the same. The goal of this game is to write a story and read it out loud in the end."

"But, if I don't know what you've written, and you don't know what I've written, the story won't make any sense!" Jarod exclaimed, not understanding the rules.

"That's why it is funny. Come on, Jarod, play with me," she begged, making those puppy-dog eyes he couldn't resist.

    Sighing, he took the sheet of paper and the pen she was holding out to him, and looked at word she had left uncovered: "stars".

"Don't think too hard about it, just write the first thing which comes into your head," she told him after he spent a couple of minutes looking at the paper.

    In the end, they played the game three times, and none of their stories made sense. Once he got the hang out of this game, he understood why Miss Parker wanted to play it: it was fun, and for once, he didn't have to think. Most of the time, he just wrote down what came into his mind when he saw the word she left him.

"We should play this game again. You were right, it was funny."

"You should know that I'm always right, Jarod," she said on such a serious tone that they both had to laugh at that.

    She picked up the picture of her parents and herself she had put on the table when they started playing, but instead of pocketing it, she handed it to him.

"Here. I want you to have it."

"It's yours, Miss Parker. I can't take it."

"You need it more than I do. Until you get a picture of you with your family, we can be your family. Take it, please."

    She didn't break out the puppy-dog eyes this time, but he could see from the determined look she was giving him that she wasn't about to back down. Reluctantly, but still touched by the gesture, he accepted the picture and looked at it.

"I'll take good care of it."

"I know you will."

    They smiled at each other, and she left the room as Sydney came in; it was time for him to run another SIM.

    His head hurt; he wanted to make it stop but he couldn't.

    It was far from the first time it happened, but for the past few weeks, it had become more and more intense, as if something had changed. He had no way of knowing what though, not without exposing himself, and he knew it wasn't the right time for that.

    It was still early, way too early to be outside but he couldn't stay in this room any longer. Bundled up in his coat to ward off the cold November wind, he stepped onto the sidewalk and started walking with no destination in mind. Dark clouds were obscuring the sky; it would rain later, probably a storm judging by how the wind was slowly picking up in intensity. It was doing nothing to relieve his headache, quite the contrary actually, but he still felt better to not be cooped up in the room anymore.

    He didn't really know how much time had passed since he had first stepped off the bus into this town, but he knew he would have to move on, and soon. He couldn't risk being found, not now, not ever. He had no idea where he would go, but it didn't stop him before. He would stop whenever he would feel it was right to.

    He was running, he knew that. He was running from his family, he was running from the only people who could ever understand him, but he had no choice; if he had stayed, they would have been in danger. His stops in different towns were only pauses; he needed these pauses to go on, to remember that he wasn't truly alone.

    His feet brought him to the same diner over and over again, and when he pushed open the door, the waitress smiled at him. He smiled back, politely, before taking a seat at his usual table. There was only one other customer this morning, a patron who always seemed to be the first here. Once, he even wondered if the patron just didn't sleep in the diner at night.

    He hadn't ordered yet, but the waitress was already coming towards him with a cup in her hands.

"Hello Stranger. Here's your hot chocolate," she said, placing the cup in front of him.

"I didn't order anything," he protested, but she just continued smiling.

"I know, but you always order hot chocolate anyway. I thought I would save you some time."

"And if I wanted something else?"

"Do you want something else?" she countered, but he shook his head no. "Do you mind if I sit here for a bit?" she asked, already sliding into the seat on the other side of the table. She waved at the patron, before turning back to him. "Bill here is really nice, but he doesn't have much conversation, and as you noticed, it's quite dead here in the morning. Or all day long for that matter."

"Why is that?"

    He couldn't stop himself, he had to know. Even though his headache was still present, his curiosity got the better of him. And somehow, her voice was soothing him. She couldn't make his head stop hurting, but he was calmer than he was before he entered.

"Another diner opened just on the other side of the street from us," she answered, nodding towards the outside. "I don't know how they do it, but their prices are half ours. One by one, our customers left to go there. We can't compete with them. My uncle is thinking of closing down, but I know it would kill him. He worked hard all his life to be able to buy this place. I don't want to see him give up on his dream. Only Bill stayed out of loyalty for my uncle."

    For a moment, she looked like she was about to cry, and he didn't know what to do. He had never been confronted with a woman crying, and he didn't want to start now, with someone he didn't know. But thankfully for him, she composed herself and willed her tears away.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you all this. You're not even from here, and I don't even know your name. I'm Mia by the way," she said, holding out her hand. When he didn't reply anything, she resumed talking. "This is usually the point where you shake my hand and tell me your name, Stranger."

    He wasn't willing to give her his real name. He didn't think he could be found with just his name, but he would rather not risk it. He might not know anyone in this small town, but it didn't mean that no one could end up being a danger to him.

"You can keep calling me 'Stranger'," he just replied, shaking her hand.

"'Stranger', eh? You're not one to trust people easily, right?"

"Trusting someone could be dangerous."

"I know what you mean. The man who opened up the diner across the street? He was my uncle's best friend. He trusted him with everything, including the money. I'm not even sure he didn't steal some from my uncle. Anyway, you're not interested in any of that, I'm sure."

"Maybe there's something I can do to help you."

    He didn't know where that was coming from. Not even one hour before, he had decided that it was time to leave this town, and here he was, offering his help. He had never done that before, but hearing Mia talk, he had wanted to help her. He hoped that it was the right choice, that it wouldn't come to bite him in the butt in the end.

"I couldn't possibly... And there's nothing we can do."

"I'm offering. I'm not saying that we can save the diner, but we can try, can't we?"

"Yeah. Just stay right here. I know you don't usually eat anything when you come, but let me fix you a plate of pancakes."

    Seeing her bright smile as she got up from her seat, he had no regrets about having offered his help. For a moment, he was worried that he only got Mia's hopes up, and that he wouldn't be able to save the diner. He would try his best, at the very least.

    A man he had seen only once before was coming towards him, a plate of pancakes in his hand. He guessed that was Mia's uncle, and that she had talked to him about his offer.

"I'm Martin, Mia's uncle," the man said, confirming his thoughts. "She said that you wanted to help us... Stranger."

    He could see that Martin thought that the situation was hopeless and that he didn't trust him. He couldn't blame Martin, really; he didn't know him, and truthfully, who would trust someone who didn't want to reveal his real name. He needed to gain his trust if he wanted to help him.

"Mia told me a bit about what is happening to you," he said, and watched as Martin lowered his eyes, as if in shame; he wondered why.

"Before we talk about that," Martin replied, sitting across from him, "let's talk about you. Why do you want to help us? You're not from around here. You don't know us. What do you get out of this?"

"Nothing. I was just told once that when you can, you have to help people. Like I told your niece, I'm not promising anything, but I'll try."

    It seemed to satisfy Martin for the moment as he nodded and started to tell him the whole story.

    When he left the diner, he realised that his headache was gone, as if his decision to help Martin and Mia appeased the voices for the time being. For the first time in a long while, Ethan felt lighter.

    Miss Parker had barely slept the night before, even after she had packed everything that could be seen as suspicious to the Centre's eyes. The voices had left her alone after that, but her mind just wouldn't shut down. She had kept waiting to hear sweepers entering her house all night long. Even though the rational part of her knew that they wouldn't try anything while she was in the house – she was still a Parker after all, no matter who her biological father was – she couldn't do more than doze off for more than a few minutes at a time.

    Going to work at the Centre in this state wasn't ideal, but not going in at all was not an option for her. Still, when she saw Lyle and Cox waiting for her when she entered her office, she wished she had called in sick.

"You're not looking so cute, here, Sis. You have trouble sleeping?"

    For a second, Miss Parker wondered if he had cameras hidden in her house, but she didn't let it show on her face. She knew it wasn't the case anyway; while she wouldn't put it past him and Raines to place her under surveillance to keep eyes on her at all times, she trusted the voices to warn her if they were to do something like that. And she did a sweep of her entire house every two days, just to be sure. Still, she felt a wave of relief course through her at having stopped by the post office before coming in.

    She didn't answer Lyle's question, but he wasn't expecting her to.

"Any news of the lab rat?" Lyle asked.

    They were watching her face carefully, and she knew they were waiting for her to lie to them. But she had nothing to lie about and even then, they wouldn't know: she had quite the poker face. It was even a requirement when you work at the Centre.

"You know that even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," she still said. "After all, aren't we rivals now?" she replied with a feral smile.

    Cox didn't seem fazed, but she could see a small flicker of fear pass on Lyle's face. She had always taken great pleasure in making her twin brother sweat.

"I believe you are right, Miss Parker," Cox replied. "I guess Mr. Lyle and I shouldn't bother you any longer."

    And on those words, they left her alone.

    It unsettled Miss Parker to see them leaving so soon after she arrived. It was making her feel like they weren't even here to talk to her in the first place. She started to wonder if she hadn't interrupted them when she entered her own office. Going to her desk, she picked up the phone and pushed the button for Broots' extension.

"Hello?"

"My office, now," she said, hanging up before he could reply.

    She waited for him to arrive, feeling uncomfortable. She looked around, but everything was where she had left it the night before. Nothing appeared to have been disturbed, but she felt like something was missing. If she could only know what.

"Miss Parker?" Broots entered, looking nervous; he had lost no time in coming. "You asked me to come?"

"Lyle and Cox were here when I arrived. I want to be sure they haven't left behind an Easter Egg."

"I'm on it," he assured her, before leaving her office to go get what he would need to do a sweep of the room.

    She waited for him to return, still standing before her desk. She didn't want to sit down, to try to get comfortable in her chair until she was certain her office was safe. Or really, as safe as it would be considering that it was the Centre.

    Broots was quick to return, with Sydney in tow. He must have encountered the psychiatrist in the corridors and told him of the situation in a few words. They didn't speak as the technician was working; if there was a mic in the room, they didn't want Lyle and Cox to hear anything that would be said.

    She knew that Sydney was taking advantage of that time to observe her. She had no doubt that he noticed the dark circles under her eyes even through her make-up. He would probably remark on it as soon as Broots declared the room clear. And she was right.

"You had trouble sleeping last night, Miss Parker?"

"I have trouble sleeping ever since I first stepped foot in this House of Horrors."

    It wasn't entirely true; it wasn't until after her mother's death that nightmares started to plague her nights. Sydney knew that of course, and he didn't say anything. She was grateful for that because the last thing she needed was to lie down on a couch and talk, thank you very much. She knew she could use the same excuse she did for years, that it didn't do her mother any good; Catherine Parker hadn't committed suicide but had been murdered by Raines. And someday, she would make him pay.

"Miss Parker?" Broots' voice jolted her out of her thoughts. "What were you thinking about?" he asked, before he could stop himself.

"An eye for an eye," she simply replied. "What have you found?"

"Nothing. There are no microphones, no cameras, and no system of surveillance of any kind in your office. Whatever Mr. Lyle and Mr. Cox were here for, it wasn't to spy on you."

    She wanted to feel reassured by his words, but she wasn't. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly yet, but she was sure they were missing something important. If she didn't trust Lyle and Cox on their own, she trusted them even less when they were together.

"Broots, find me what Lyle and Cox are up to, these days."

"Do you think they are on Jarod's trail?"

"I don't know. But something tells me that they're up to something, and whatever it is, it's not good for us."

"You mean that I have to break into Mr. Lyle's office again?" Broots asked, already feeling sick at this idea.

"If you don't find answers anywhere else, yes," she replied, before turning towards Sydney. "Let's go ask Angelo if he knows anything."

    She wished she still had the picture Jarod had sent them but she had packed it too, and it was well on its way to safety. But at the very least, she could show him a picture of Anderson alone that Broots had found in his file; it might prompt a reaction from her old friend. Taking the picture out of her purse, she left her office. She trusted Sydney to follow her to where she knew they would find Angelo.

    When the elevator reached sub-level 5, she turned right before entering a small room. Angelo was sitting on the floor, in the middle of the room; he didn't look up when they entered but neither of them was expecting him to. Sydney closed the door behind them, and watched as she crouched before the man, the picture clutched tightly in her hand.

"Hello Angelo," she said, but he still didn't raise his head. "I need your help. What can you tell me about this man?" she asked, showing him the picture of Matt Anderson.

    Angelo took the picture in his hands and looked at it for a couple of seconds before crumpling it and throwing it away. It fell at Sydney's feet, who picked it up so that it wouldn't fall in the wrong hands. Angelo hugged his knees to his chest and started rocking back and forth.

"Secrets. Big secrets. Bad Secrets. Renewal. Renewal."

    He repeated the same words over and over again. They knew that he would say nothing else for the time being. But when Miss Parker tried to get up, he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him.

"Danger," he whispered so only she could hear. "Daughter careful."

    His words should have surprised her, but they didn't. She had already understood it when the voices kept her awake the night before. Her time at the Centre would soon come to an end, she was sure of it now. But the way she was going to leave this place was still up to her, and she would be damned if she didn't take Lyle down with her in some way.

"It's ok, Angelo. It's ok," she reassured him, prying his hand from her arm.

    She schooled her features before getting up and turning back towards Sydney. He didn't need to speak for her to understand that he wanted to know what Angelo had just whispered to her. But she wouldn't share it; he didn't need to know this. It would only end up with him worrying about her and she didn't want that, she didn't need that.

"This was a waste of time," Parker said as she walked past Sydney and out of the room.

"It was worth a try. Angelo has often been helpful in the past."

    She didn't reply that most times, it had been related to Jarod. And it seemed to her like this time, it wasn't the case. Somehow, it reassured her, and she wished she wouldn't be proved wrong in the near future. Still, just like Sydney, she had hoped that Angelo would give them some answers.

She was feeling tired of always asking questions and having them answered only sporadically. She could count on the fingers of one hand the numbers of answers she got since Jarod ran away from the Centre. And they all came through him.

    But still, her most important questions never got answered. Maybe the scrolls could have helped. But they were lost, somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, along with the man she had thought to be her father. Talk about irony; they were supposed to give them the answers they were looking for, but instead, their disappearance only raised more questions.

    When they entered the elevator to go back to the upper levels, she caught Sydney looking at her. He had that look on his face that told her he was analysing her without her knowing. And if there was one thing she didn't need these days, it was this.

"What?" she said, exasperated.

"It's just… You just seem to get lost in your thoughts quite often since you came back from Carthis. Is there something on your mind, Miss Parker?"

"Nothing that concerns you," she replied, more harshly than she had intended at first.

"You know I'm here if you want to talk. I just want to help you."

"I'm fine, Sydney," she said, putting a stop to his questioning.

    When the elevator doors opened, she was the first one out. She hoped that the psychiatrist wouldn't follow her back to her office; she just wanted to be left alone right now. Closing the door behind her, she went to sit on the couch, sighing. Her eyes fell on the clock on her desk: it wasn't even noon and she already felt like this day was lasting longer than any other.

    When Sydney entered his office, Broots was already there, sitting on a chair. The younger man seemed preoccupied, but for once, it didn't look like it had anything to do with his daughter, Debbie.

"Is everything alright, Broots?" he asked, sitting on the chair opposite him.

    Sydney felt like he had asked this same question about a thousand times before, and he wouldn't be surprised if he had. He was a psychiatrist, and usually, this line would come up at least once per session. But the thing was that lately, he hadn't been asking this to his patients, but to his friends; it was true that maybe they were a bit of both sometimes, even though one of them would never see it like this.

"Have you noticed something off with Miss Parker?" Broots replied to his question with one of his own.

"Yes. I asked her about it, of course, but you know her, she didn't want to give me a straight answer."

"Or an answer at all, I guess," Broots said, and Sydney smiled. "Do you think we should insist? I mean, even though she doesn't think the same, she is our friend."

"She sees us as friends too. She just doesn't always show it."

"It's more like she never does. But I know we're her friends, and this is why I want to try and help her. This is what friends are for, right?"

"Right, but I don't think she's ready to be helped when it comes to her. And I don't know if she ever will be," Sydney added, pre-empting his next question. "The best we can do for her at the moment is to find what Lyle and Cox are working on. I have to say that I don't like it either that she found them in her office when she arrived."

"But I've checked twice and there's absolutely nothing there. Whatever they were doing there, I guess the only way to find answers to our questions is for me to do as Miss Parker told me. There was nothing on the database."

"I know you don't like this idea, but we have no other choice, Broots. Try to think of it as a way to protect her."

"I already do, and it was why I always agree to what she asks me to do. I'll have to wait for both of them and Mr. Raines to leave, though. Any luck with Angelo?" he asked, remembering where Sydney and Miss Parker had just been.

"No, nothing but what we already knew. He did say something about secrets, bad secrets that were going to be revealed."

"Remind me when a 'good' secret had ever been revealed when it came to the Centre and its doings? Every secret we uncovered had always been worse than the previous one. If we think it can't be any worse, it probably will be."

    Sydney nodded, agreeing with Broots' assessment. The last secret that had come to their attention had really been the worst so far and one they hadn't expected. The revelation that Mr. Parker wasn't Miss Parker's biological father – not to mention that Mr. Raines was his brother and her father – had come as a surprise to everyone. But there was no question the Centre could do worse if given the opportunity. And they would.

    He had also been the bearer of some secrets Miss Parker had found out about in the past few years. He wasn't proud of this, and he would not use the excuse of not having been given a choice in the matter, but he wasn't sorry he ever kept them from her. He was just sorry she had ever found out, especially when it came to her mother. But she had needed that closure, they both had, and she gained a brother in the process. At the very least, he had never completely lost her trust, and she understood he did it for Catherine and Catherine alone.

"I just hope that whatever this new secret is about, it won't be one that manages to destroy Miss Parker."

"I hope so too, Broots, I hope so too."

"What is it?" Raines said as Lyle and Cox came into his office unannounced.

    The younger men winced at the sight of him lying on a massage table, a towel thankfully draped over the lower half of his body. This was a vision they could have done without, and they hoped that it wouldn't be burnt into their memories forever. They almost wanted to turn away from him, but he wouldn't appreciate it.

"It looks like we have removed the hidden cameras in Parker's office just in time," Lyle said, looking anywhere but at the older man. "Willie saw Broots going into her office with everything he would need to do a sweep."

"Good, good. They had been useful, too, even though we have to do without them from now on. At least, we know they have found out about Anderson and Project Renewal. It's a real shame your office wasn't more secure, Lyle."

    Lyle didn't reply anything to that; he knew that whatever he could say wouldn't help his cause. Even though he was working closely with Raines since it had been decided he would be the new chairman, he knew that he couldn't risk getting on his bad side.

"The good news is that they don't know anything about Project Renewal," Cox intervened. "There was nothing on Mr. Lyle's computer about the nature of the project."

"This would be a disaster if they were to ever find out," Raines replied. "And if it were to happen, I don't think your heads would remain on your necks for much longer after that."

    They didn't react. They didn't want nor need Raines to know that he had managed to destabilize them with his words, so Lyle bit back the retort that their heads probably wouldn't be the only ones on the line if something happened to the Project.

"Now get out of here and keep an eye on Miss Parker and her team. It will soon be time to act."

    Lyle and Cox left the office, the former scowling, but both glad to not be subjected to this view any longer.

They went back to Lyle's office and closed the door behind them before disconnecting the security cameras; no one needed to know what they were going to talk about, and certainly not Raines or any of his minions. Cox poured them each a drink; they would need it to erase the image of Raines on the massage table from their mind.

"Once we get rid of Parker," Lyle started, after having taking a sip of his scotch, "we'll take care of the ghoul. It's time for him to leave the Centre for good. The new generation has to rise after all."

    They shared a feral grin, before clinking their glasses together. It was almost time for a New Order to rise, with them as the rightful leaders.

    Jarod had explained to them why he thought Rivers was a cop. It wasn't easy to convince them, because he didn't have any evidence to corroborate what he was putting forward. But in the end, they believed him. Their main goal for the time being, though, was to find McCauley, the man they thought to be Don and Julia's murderer.

    Jarod, Brody and Peter met dead end after dead end as they tried to find the whereabouts of Paul McCauley. As they had expected, he was staying underneath the radar. While they were certain that McCauley was somewhere in town, they had nothing to confirm that he even crossed the Massachusetts state line.

    The Pretender was used to laying low, to not be picked up by the Centre's watchful eyes, and while it had often been helpful, this time, he had met his match.

"So how do we find him?" Brody asked, pushing his chair away from his desk, exasperated by the unsuccessful search.

"I may have an idea, but you might not like it."

"At this point, I'm willing to do anything as long as it stays in the limits of the law." At Jarod's sorry look, he sighed. "But I guess I could at least hear your idea, so shoot."

"I think that we need to find someone who knows McCauley enough to know how to find him."

"That's a good idea," Peter said. "But he only had two known associates, Julia… I mean Anna, and Rivers. And Anna is dead."

"But Rivers, or whatever his real name is, isn't."

"It's impossible to access the file," Peter reminded him. "You tried it yourself, and you don't have a high enough clearance."

"Within the limits of the law, no, like you said, I can't access the file. But given that it could be the only solution to find McCauley…"

"How do you plan to access it?" Brody asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

"I'm going to hack it. There are no doubts that once I start trying, they're going to know and they will try to locate us. So what do you think, John? Should I try?"

    The sheriff didn't answer straight away. Jarod and Peter could see that he was thinking about it, weighing all the pros and cons; he needed to know if the risk they would take was worth it. They could easily lose their jobs, maybe even go to prison, but then, his eyes fell on the photo of his children and Lucy that was sitting on his desk. He couldn't stop looking at the little girl's smiling face, and all he wanted was to see her smile once more.

    In the end, he came to the conclusion that Jarod was right and it might be the only way for them to find McCauley; Rivers was their only chance. With a nod, he notified the Pretender that he agreed with him, and the latter immediately started typing on his computer.

    It would have been easier to go to his current place and run the search on his laptop; he had all the programs he would need on it. Working from this computer would take him longer, but his aim wasn't to find Rivers' real identity as fast as possible. By using his laptop, the search would be untraceable, and it wasn't what they wanted; they wanted to be found. And the cops, or whoever Rivers was really working for, would have no problem following the trail he was going to leave behind him.

    A bit more than an hour later, Jarod sat back in his chair: mission accomplished; he was able to crack the file.

"I have Frank Rivers', or should I say Robert Collins' file."

    Brody and Peter went to join Jarod at his desk, and started to read the file. It was almost complete; only the photo of the man was missing, probably for the cop's safety in case something like that happened. At the very least, they knew he was working for the Andover PD, Massachusetts. He had been lent for a few years as an undercover cop for the Boston PD. There, he had met Paul McCauley and his then girlfriend Anna, and had gained their trust enough to start working with the two of them on a couple of jobs, until the bank robbery.

"Should we contact the Andover PD and ask for this Collins guy?" Peter asked.

"No. I think they will be here soon enough, probably by tomorrow morning. I have left enough breadcrumbs for them to follow."

"Who will be there?"

"Collins and the other cops who worked the case at the time," Brody replied, following Jarod's thoughts.

"I bet they won't be too happy to have their hands forced."

"No, they won't," Jarod said. "But where would be the fun if we asked politely?"

"Do you think they will cooperate with us?"

    Jarod could hear the worry in Peter's voice. He knew the young cop wondered if their ruse wouldn't end up hurting his young career. It wouldn't if Jarod was right, and even though it could inflate his own ego, the Pretender had to admit that he was very rarely wrong.

    As for Rivers and whoever ends up coming with him cooperating, well, it was another matter entirely. But Jarod was almost certain that they would do anything to find McCauley and the money. Now, they just had to wait and see.

    Ethan had gone back to his hotel room after he left the diner. He needed some time to think on the best way to help Martin and Mia. There were a couple of options for him, and he wished he had more experience with running a pretend, or that Jarod was there to help him. But he had no way to contact his half-brother; he was alone, save for the voices who hadn't been of any help for the moment.

    He ran a search on his computer, wanting to know more about this Lionel Sloan, Martin's so-called best friend. He had seemed clean, at first, until Ethan had been able to access his diner's finances; there was definitely something going on there. As Mia had said, given the prices he charged and how much he was paying his employees and the food he received, he should be bankrupted by now. But he was still making money and quite a lot at that.

    He had to know what Sloan was hiding. Whatever it was, Ethan was sure that it would help Martin and Mia in the end. But first, he had some shopping to do; he needed to collect evidence, and he had nothing to do it with. Looking into a hidden pocket of his jacket, he noticed that he just had enough money to buy everything he would need.

    He would soon have to go get some more cash. Being on the run and laying low meant that he didn't have access to a bank account, so to be more practical, soon after he had run away from Miss Parker's house, he had withdrawn all the money Jarod had set aside in an account for him. He hadn't used much of it, but at least, he knew that he wouldn't run out of it soon.

    Ethan had noticed a small electronic store in the Main street, where he should find the equipment he needed. He soon left with a camera and some recording equipment and went back to the diner; he had to tell them of his findings before proceeding.

    Bill had left sometime during his absence, and they were able to talk about Lionel Sloan's diner without worrying about being overheard. Somehow, neither Martin nor Mia seemed surprised by what he was telling them, or they both had pretty good poker faces.

"So Mia was right to think that it wasn’t quite as clear as it seemed," Martin said, when Ethan had finished telling them of the situation.

"I don't understand how he can do it, yet, but I'll find out, I promise you. Mia mentioned that it was possible he stole some money from you."

"I looked into my finances and I don't see how he could have done it. But I'm no expert, and right now, I don't have the money to hire an accountant to look into it."

"Can I see them?"

"Are you an accountant, too?" Martin asked, the tone of his voice implying that he still didn't know what to make of him.

"No. But I'm good with numbers."

    It wasn't the truth, but he couldn't really tell them that he had gone to the library and read a book on the subject before coming back. If there was one thing he had learned from Jarod, it was to keep the secret about their abilities; aside from the Centre, there were probably other people out there who would like to use them for their own benefit.

"Mia, can you go get him the books from when Sloan was here?"

"Of course, Uncle Martin."

    Once she left them, Ethan could see on Martin's face that it was time for some serious talk. He had thought that it was what they had spent the last half an hour doing, but he was obviously wrong.

"I appreciate what you're doing for us, trust me on that, but Sloan can be a dangerous man. I didn't want to say this in front of Mia because she doesn't need to know, but I went to confront him once. I wanted to know why he was doing this when we were friends. He pointed a gun at me, and said that if I didn't mind my own business, he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger next time."

"Did you talk to the police about it?"

"No. There was nothing they could have done. There was no witness; it was my word against his. And for all I know, he could have gotten rid of the gun before the cops went to interrogate him, or it could have been a fake one." He paused, making sure that Mia still wasn't back before resuming. "I guess that what I want to say is that I would understand if you decide to go back on your word, now that you know this. You don't have to risk your life for this," he concluded, gesturing to the diner.

"To be honest, this makes my resolve to help you even stronger."

    Ethan could see that Martin wanted to say something else, but Mia's return prevented him from doing that. She put the books on the table before Ethan, smiling and looking happier than he had seen her since he first stepped into the diner a few days before.

"Should I fix you a plate? It's almost lunchtime, and I don't think it's a good idea to work on an empty stomach."

    He wanted to say no, but the look on her face was so hopeful he didn't want to disappoint her. He nodded and watched as her smile widened. He didn't understand the warm feeling that spread in his chest at the sight.

    Jarod had left the Sheriff's office early, but aside from waiting for Collins to arrive and reviewing the Schaeffer's case yet another time, they had nothing to do. And he needed to get ready for the next day; if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Collins wouldn't trust him easily. He had been an undercover cop, and Jarod wouldn't be surprised if Collins understood that he wasn't who he pretended to be upon first seeing him.

    He knew that if Collins was to call the FBI in Jefferson City and ask for information about a Jarod Baker, he would find out that this person didn't exist. Jarod had to pre-empt any attempt at checking his identity, but it wouldn't be easy. There was another solution, one he would use as his last resort, because he didn't know what would come out of it; it could blow up his entire cover or secure it. Whatever it would end up doing, he had no way of finding out in advance, not unless he wanted to hear questions he wasn't ready to answer just yet.

    Once Jarod was certain that his cover would hold as long as Collins didn't make the call, he took his cell phone and dialled a familiar number. He had some questions of his own that he needed to be answered, and there was only one person who could. It rang twice before being picked up on the other end of the line.

"This is Sydney."

"How can someone deprive a child of growing up with their parents?" he asked without preamble; this is something he failed to understand, even with his own experience.

"Jarod! It's difficult to understand what is going on in a person's head when they have to make this choice."

"What made you do it?" Jarod asked, even thought he knew it wasn't the same.

"I wish I could say that I didn't have a choice and you would accept it, but I know better than that. I had a choice, Jarod, and with time, I understood that I made the wrong one."

"I don't think he would see it as a wrong decision on his part."

"Did this person know he would leave a child orphan?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure he wouldn't have cared any way."

"No matter what happened, this child needs closure to be able to go on. And I know that you will make sure that it will happen."

"When will the feeling of abandonment stop?"

"When did it for you?" Sydney asked, although he already knew the answer.

"It's still there."

    Jarod hang up before his old mentor could add anything else. He could hear the guilt in Sydney's voice as he talked about having made the wrong choice. A part of him still held him responsible for having held him captive all these years, but another part hoped that there would come a day when the guilt would ease for his sake.

    Their situations might be different, but, like he implied, he knew what Lucy was feeling. For years, he had thought his parents to be dead; he had thought that he was an orphan. Lucy was an orphan, and out of anybody else here, he was probably the only one who could understand her.

    He had lied to Sydney when he told him that the feeling of abandonment was still there; it probably wouldn't leave him until he found his mother and his family was finally reunited. He knew that he had been kidnapped, and that his parents hadn't abandoned him, that it was irrational to even feel like this, but he couldn't help it. It was there, and it wouldn't leave him. And because of that, he knew that Lucy would feel it too, even though her parents hadn't left her of their own will.

    Knowing that there wasn't more he could do about the Schaeffer's case until tomorrow, he was about to go back to searching information about Matt Anderson and Project Renewal when his computer beeped; someone was on the videophone, waiting to talk to him, and he had no doubt who it would be.

"Hey, Dad!" he greeted as his face appeared on the screen.

"How are you, son?"

"I'm fine Dad. Why are you calling me? Is there a problem?"

"Why do you assume there's a problem when Dad calls you?" Emily asked, as their father moved to his right to leave her some space.

"Emily! It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too. I see you've finally cut your hair. Good, it wasn't all that attractive."

"Emily!" Major Charles chimed in, a reproachful look on his face. "There's no problem, Jarod. We just wanted to see how you were doing. You have only talked to us once since you came back from Carthis."

    Jarod should feel guilty about it; after all, in this same period of time, he had talked to Sydney and Parker more often than to his own family. But he wasn't feeling the slightest remorse as he convinced himself that it was for their safety; the less contact he would have with them, the less easy it would be for the Centre to find them and use them against him.

"I'm fine. I'm working on a pretend at the moment. You know how it is. I never really stop."

"Why don't you stop once and for all and join us?" Emily asked.

    Their father would never have asked that, because he knew why Jarod was doing this; he had understood since the moment Jarod stayed behind when Miss Parker had been shot. But Emily had no way of knowing, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't understand it. So he settled for a half-truth.

"It's easier for me to track our mother, that way. If I stopped, we might never find her."

"Yes, but every day, you risk being captured by the Centre. Carthis wasn't a close enough call for you?"

"Your brother knows what he is doing, Emily," Major Charles tried to reassure her.

    Jarod could understand her concern. He didn't want to go back being a prisoner of the Centre either, but he wasn't ready to just disappear. And if he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure he would ever be ready.

"Speaking of Mom," Emily resumed, having understood that she wouldn't be able to convince her brother that she was right, "do you have any leads?"

"No. She must be laying low after what happened on Carthis. The Centre had come close to her, if I were her, I would stay in hiding for a while before trying anything else."

"But you'll find her one day, right?" Emily asked, and Jarod nodded. "I still feel guilty to have left her when I found out about Ethan's existence. She agreed with my decision, but I thought that we would soon be reunited. All of us."

"I'm sure that if she were here, your mother would say that she doesn't blame you and that it was for the best."

    Jarod wanted to be as sure about it as his father seemed to be, but he didn't know his mother. He only knew her face; he didn't know the sound of her voice, or what she would be thinking right now.

    He shouldn't be jealous that the two people of the other side of the screen knew her while he didn't, but he was. Once again, what he was feeling was irrational, but he couldn't help it. Major Charles had lived with his wife for years before they had been forced to separate, and Emily had grown up loved by their mother; it was something he would never know even when he finally found her. Nothing he could do or say could bring back these lost years.

"What about Ethan?" Emily asked. "Do you know where he is?"

"No. Neither Miss Parker nor I have any idea where he could be."

"Well, for one, I'm glad she doesn't know where he is, either. I don't want him near anyone associated with the Centre."

"He's her brother too, Emily," Jarod replied, through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'm currently on a pretend and I need to work on it."

"We understand, Jarod. Be careful," his father said with a smile.

"Don't be a stranger, big brother. Talk to you soon."

    Jarod said his goodbyes and closed the program. He couldn't help but be angry at his sister. She didn't know Miss Parker, and she had no right to say that Ethan shouldn't be anywhere near her. Emily thought she knew her because Parker was working at the Centre, and they had kept her family apart and they still did, but if she had met Parker... Well, she would probably still be thinking the same; to say that Parker was an acquired taste was an understatement.

    But Ethan was as much her half-brother as he was theirs, and Jarod would never stop him from seeing his sister whenever he wanted to. After everything he had been through, the younger man needed his family, his whole family. Just maybe not Lyle and Raines, no one needed them in their lives.

    He might have lied to his father about having to work on his pretend to cut the conversation short, but he wasn't lying about working. It was time to see if he could find out more than the little he already had on Matt Anderson and Project Renewal.



To be continued...