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A little update. I know, it's been a while. I'll try to end this, I really hope I will.

02/15/2018


THE CENTRE

Lyle had never felt so unsafe while walking across the Centre corridors. There was a time when he felt invincible, when being Mr. Parker’s son still meant something.

But that was a long time ago.

Jude was waiting for his arrival next to Lyle’s office door. If his most reliable sweeper was still around, maybe there was a hope after all. Smiling, Lyle speeded up his pace.

“Sir, I’ve been asked to inform you that you are no longer the owner of this office.”

Jude’s words froze Lyle’s blood. The impassive look in the sweeper’s eyes made him realize that it never rains, it pours. He tried to grin, “I see your trust is easy to bribe, Jude.”

The man moved his arm pointing at the entrance, “The new chairman is waiting for you.”

“Lucky me.”

Lyle passed over Jude to enter his former office. The big black chair was turned towards the window so that its occupant was showing only his back to Lyle and Jude.

“They say idle hands are the devil's playthings, Mr. Lyle.”

The man rotated the chair to reveal his identity. Lyle recognized him as Gabriel.

“If you are so keen on proverbs, you might also know that the devil looks after himself.”

Gabriel sneered, “The Triumvirate is very disappointed in you, Lyle. Since Mr. Raines’ death this place degenerated into a pathetic imitation of a nuthouse.”

“With all due respect, I don’t like discussing my conduct with someone I’ve never met before.”

Gabriel smiled to himself, “Sometimes I forget that people at the Centre are not architects, only executors. Let me introduce myself, I’m Gabriel. From this moment on, you will report to me as the new chairman of the Centre.”

“The Centre has always been the Parkers plaything.”

“Talking about the devil.” Gabriel replied, smiling again.

Lyle decided at once that he wouldn’t like this man even if it wasn’t for Chuntao’s disappearance.

“Why removing me?” Lyle asked, trying to sound innocent.

“You’ve softened.”

“What do –”

Gabriel interrupted him, “Since Miss Parker and Jarod’s escape you have never really tried to find them. It looks like you lost motivation. After Mr. Raines’s death, the Triumvirate hopes to get them back evaporated into thin air. You are useless, Mr. Lyle. Too much connected to a sister that you’ve never really forgotten.”

Knowing that he was going to lie, Lyle tried to answer taking advantage of his inclination to manipulation, “I never bore my sister. It’s no news that we hardly tolerated each other.  She cordially detested me. When she ran away with the lab rat, I felt a huge sense of liberation. I was finally able to do whatever I wanted to.”

“So you’re telling me that you have no idea where your sister is?”

Lyle mustered all his courage, “No.”

Gabriel sighed, “It’s so difficult to believe that the pretender gene runs through your blood as much as in mine. You had the gift, but what - a - waste.” Gabriel articulated every word, then waited a couple of seconds before continuing, “I guess that’s why they screwed you up by leaving you to the Bowmans.”

Lyle was boiling in rage, “I wasn’t raised to be a pretender. They taught me how to do their dirty work. They needed me to give orders in this damned place!”

“Such a good captain for a sinking ship.” Gabriel murmured.

A furious Lyle threw himself towards the man, but Jude blocked him by placing himself between him and the desk.

“I’m done with the nonsense chit-chat, where is Chuntao?”

“Mmm. I don’t know if you are ready for this.” Gabriel commented.

Fearing the worse, Lyle was out of breath, “What have you done to her?”

Gabriel was rubbing his index finger under his chin in a way that made him resemble Sydney.

“Come in.” He shouted out to someone who was waiting in the adjoining room.

Lyle couldn’t believe his eyes when Chuntao stepped into the office, perfectly dressed in a black suit with a very short skirt. Lyle had never seen her wearing something like that before.

“What the hell –”

“I’m sorry, Lyle.” She apologized.

“May I introduce you to my associate, Chuntao. She’s the best assistant one man might ask for, isn’t she?”

The way Gabriel was looking at her left Lyle with few doubts about the reality of their relationship. Chuntao was his lover, Lyle was sure about this, because the woman was gazing at him like she did with himself in intimacy.

Lyle tried to scrutinize her eyes, wishing to find the tenderness she always demonstrated towards him. He couldn’t believe that their engagement had all been an act.

“When the Triumvirate realized that our efforts to bring Jarod back were to no avail because of your involvement with Miss Parker, I decided to send someone to keep an eye on you. I didn’t want you to suspect anything, so I asked Chuntao to become your partner.”

Chuntao was still smiling in appreciation. It was the first time that Lyle noticed how much she looked like May Lin.

She looked intently at Lyle, without losing the little smile on her lips, “It’s easy to buy your trust, Lyle. Seducing you was a breeze.”

“Maybe I’m a sucker, but I’d never thought that you were the perfect Triumvirate prostitute. You did a good job, didn’t you? I should have known better than to trust someone whose name comes from a fruit.”

A little annoyed by his words, Chuntao payed him back, “We would have never found them without you, Lyle.”

“What do you mean?”

“The first thing I did when I came here was to check for bugs and secret cameras. When I found the devices in your office, I scanned the signal to analyze the source. It bounced from a point to the other, but after a few months of work I eventually located the real origin.”

“Disneyland?” Lyle asked her.

Chuntao ignored him, “The signal source was in Maine, but I couldn’t narrow the research. And Maine wasn’t part of Jarod’s background, his family was from Illinois. We thought that was a dead end.”

“Then I remember an old report from Sydney. Jarod had been a fugitive for a few months when he sent Miss Parker a particular red notebook named Miss Parker Edition. Following the breadcrumbs of the pretender, they left for Lake Catherine, Maine.”

Gabriel was satisfied when he saw Lyle wincing at the realization of how much he actually knew Jarod’s pursuit.

“We don’t know what happened there, what we know is that there are never coincidences at the Centre.” Chuntao explained. “Following a lead, we found out about Ben Miller, a man well hidden in Catherine Parker’s past. Miss Parker and Jarod thought for a while that he could be her biological father. But he wasn’t.”

Lyle couldn’t understand why he didn’t know anything about this.

Chuntao smiled, almost reading Lyle’s mind, “Mr. Parker wasn’t aware of this either.”

“To make this short, we put Ben Miller under surveillance, and then…it was just a matter of time before we found them.”

Lyle shook his head, “I don’t understand. If you found Jarod, why not bring him back? Why did you orchestrated this plan and kidnapped my sister?”

“You have no idea how much important they are.” Gabriel answered, “Jarod will have to cooperate, if he wants to see them alive again.”

“So why not bring them here together? It would have been much easier.”

“In this very moment Jarod is coming to Delaware, if he’s not here already. I want to give him a chance.”

Hoping for his life that Gabriel couldn’t read minds yet, Lyle asked, “What chance?”

Chuntao coughed to interrupt the conversation, then she murmured something at Gabriel’s ear, “You’re right, we talked enough. I think it’s time to propose our deal to Lyle.”

Hearing a word that he was familiar with, Lyle blinked fast and almost started to stutter, “What deal?”

“Has Jarod contacted you already?” she asked him.

“No.” Lyle lied. He sustained Chuntao’s gaze for as much as he could, trying to convince her that he was telling the truth.

“Well, he’ll do soon. And when he calls you, we want you to bring him here.”

Lyle smiled, “And how should I lure him, uh? With a train full of pez?”

“Do whatever you consider appropriate.” Gabriel was leaving him free rein, “But the end of story must be the one we’ve wanted for twenty years. The pretender must come back where he belongs.” 





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