The third car had at least a decent radio and Miss Parker could finally fill her head with something other than doubts. She was doing little less than thinking about it, about failure and betrayal. Jarod wouldn’t do it to her, but sometimes she thought about how easy would be to betray him. She wouldn’t gain her freedom and Raines would never gain her loyalty but the Triumvirate could look at her differently. Having power could change things.

But, she suspected, the man she knew as her father thought so too. Instead, it had driven him to madness.

The road looked less and less used and Miss Parker sighed. “I hope this road has an end, Jarod,” she said to the emptiness and then laughed, maybe she was going crazy already, there were the signs. She was in the middle of nowhere, driving the third car Frankenboy left for her for a rendezvous with the man himself. The adrenalin was getting the worst of her, but she loved it.

In the end, the chase simply hadn’t been enough. She wasn’t able to feel it, the goose bumps, and the weight of her gun in her hand. In the end, it all meant nothing because the goal had changed. She didn’t want to catch Jarod, she maybe wanted to stay alive.

This, however, was very different. She was following trails, breadcrumbs, expecting the wicked witch of the west to be waiting at the end of it. Someone could’ve been following, maybe somewhere in the Centre someone is just signing her very own death sentence.

Miss Parker knew it wasn’t healthy, but it kept her going.

She did take all the precautions. If she would endanger Jarod’s family in any way, the deal was off the table; it was the second point of their new rulebook, the first was mutual trust and honesty. She still wondered how it wants to get out of that one.

A dog barked from the side and turning, she spotted the cottage. It looked like a shack, garden house, on a very weird place hundred miles away from any humanity. It had Jarod written all over it.

Parker parked few feet from it and exited the car, the dog, a German Sheppard was immediately at her side. She let him sniff and lick her hand and off it went barking loudly. A man came out of the shack and it wasn’t Jarod.

“Hallo, Miss Parker,” Major Charles greeted her and she couldn’t help but laugh. She came all the way here and the genius wasn’t here, of course, why would he be.

“Major Charles,” she said in greeting. “I suspect Jarod is not coming.” She felt like asking that, it wasn’t like the files she brought were anything groundbreaking. Few of Lyle’s new projects that needed disrupting, even Yakuza took pity on him again, oh, she hoped Jarod would have fun with that one.

“I’m afraid not, he’s still involved in a pretend, wouldn’t be able to get out for few more days,” he explained, at least he had enough in him to look apologetic.

The wind suddenly arose and Miss Parked looked down, kicked at a small stone that had the unfortunate luck to stand in her way. “Hope, there’s coffee at least,” she noted in the direction of the cottage, if she could even call it that way.

Major Charles smiled. “Yes, Jarod said it would be easier to deal with you if you’ll be properly caffeinated,” he replied with a grin and entered, and after one more kick, she followed.

It was surprisingly spacey inside, she was even able to sit on a small couch that probably served as a bed too. He handed her a cup.

She put the folders on the small table and waited. It was just an exchange, she would bring the information, wait for Jarod to go through them and then wait. It wasn’t exactly the way she imagined this to go, but they needed to start somewhere and Parker knew he still had hard time trusting her. If he would find the information valuable, which he always did, Jarod either took action on his own or they came up with it together.

For now, it worked, but Miss Parker knew that these small plans were just a distraction, the plan was bigger, much bigger but neither wanted to talk about it first.

Major Charles picked up the folder and opened it, scanning the page quickly. “I would deliver it to my son as soon as I can,” he said and put it in a bag next to his feet.

Miss Parker just nodded and they both continued to sip their drinks in silence. It was comfortable enough, but she felt like she shouldn’t be sitting here just like that, she felt like she was intruding, involving Jarod’s family never was a part of the plan, but it was necessary, they both knew it. And she needed them to know that she appreciated it.

“Thank you,” she let it out quietly and although it was meant for Major Charles, it was spoken into the cup. He still heard, and a question settled on his face. Maybe he knew, he probably did but Miss Parker understood he needed to hear it from her. She was sure that they discussed this matter enough, discussed her involvement, and she was sure that they all had her doubts about her. She didn’t blame them, she would have them too.

She took a deep breath. It was now or never. “Thank you for your help. You didn’t need to be involved and you could’ve refused on Jarod’s account too. He would’ve probably listened, and maybe he should, so thank you,” it came out rushed and probably confusing but it was out and she didn’t need to stay here any longer.

Major Charles watched her with curiosity, her rushed words, hurried movements, took the empty cup from her and watched her exit the shack. He could only follow.

“I wouldn’t,” he called after her. She was already near the car, her hand on the handle. “I wouldn’t forbid Jarod any of this, it’s what he does, and maybe it doesn’t look that way, but he trust you. And that’s enough for me.”

His words were full of warmth, fatherly warmth. The man she knew as her father never talked this way about her, and this stranger, this man whose family she had helped her destroy, had trusted her nevertheless. She smiled at him hoping there was warmth too, she couldn’t be sure, the cold followed her everywhere.

He was about to wave, say goodbye but “oh, wait” came out instead and he turned abruptly and went inside once again.

He came back in a moment holding something in his hand. A leather pouch, and Miss Parker had a pretty good guess what could be inside. “From Jarod. He said it’s untraceable and only one number can be dialed from it.”

Another ‘thank you’ felt forced, so she nodded and smiled again. She had a strange sense of deja-vu. Was her life really changing that much? Was she becoming someone else just because she finally let herself trust the man she was supposed to hate? Did he do this to her?

“I wish you a pleasant journey, Miss Parker,” this time he waved, and she waved back finally hidden in the car. The radio came alive when she started the ending, the dog came out from the bushes and wiggled his tail. It felt surreal, it all did. She wondered when she would wake up.

The phone ringed as soon as she entered the house. Sometimes she wondered if he installed some kind of system that let him know when she came home, it would explain few things. She never thought about it too longer, she put it in a folder and hid in the cabinet of things rather not thought about.

“Hallo, Jarod,” she said picking up. She shed her coat and made her way into the kitchen waiting for him to reply.

“Seems you have picked up some new habits. I must say I approve,” he replied. He sounded tired and she bit into her tongue not to ask about it, she didn’t want to show concern, didn’t want to let him that a part of her might care.

The cabinet, to be honest, was quite full these days.

“Old habits still die hard, so be careful next time you pull a stunt like this one,” she said putting the kettle on. These days she preferred tea over bourbon, it was easier to think about how not to get herself killed, she was also too old for hangovers. She briefly wondered if Jarod picked up on this new habit as well.

He dared to laugh. “But it seems you get on with my father well enough,” laugh still in his voice and he was moving too, she could hear it, a door being opened and closed, people talking, and bell, there was a church nearby. Like she said, old habits die hard.

“It’s not about your father, Jarod, and you know it,” she knew she sounded harsh, but she needed her own ground, her own set of rules. It might have nice to have an understanding with Major Charles, to be able to say ‘thank you’ with any side intentions, but she still risked her life for a meeting that didn’t occur and she had the right to be pissed off.

“I know,” the exhaustion was back in this voice. “I’m sorry.”

She stopped in the middle of pouring the hot water in the cup, shock evident in her every move. Jarod might not realize what he has just done, but Miss Parker suddenly had all the insurance she needed. He trusted her, he trusted in her abilities and he trusted her with the life of his own family. The pressure suddenly made her heart hurt.

It was just a second, or two but she had time to think and remember, and it all scared her more than anything.

“I’ll be careful next time,” he continued more, still apologizing. It forced her to speak.

“Yes, you’ll be,” she replied, her voice raspier than before. She poured the rest of the water into the cup and started pulling the tea bag up and down, the herbs started to work their magic and the water started to change, from light brown to darker and darker. It felt like the future.

“Now tell me how much we can fuck with my brother?” she asked brining the light tone back, his laugh came back too, and this time, she grinned too. There was certainly more than one common ground for them.