Inside the Limousine

Miss Parker started to open her eyes slowly and looked around. No. Limousine clearly. Who was driving? She was cuffed behind her back, and lying on her side. “Bastards,” she muttered as she started trying to work with the cuffs. Dislocating a part was hard, and she had no idea if it would be different now that she was pregnant, but she had to move.

Then, the window between the limousine and the front came down. I knew it, I knew it! She struggled harder. “I’m not part of this family reunion.”

“No, you’re not,” Emily said as she looked at her. “The Parkers aren’t going to hurt us anymore. No matter what you’re trying to do.”

“What I’m trying to do?” Miss Parker scoffed. “What makes you think I was a part of this?!”

“You’d do anything to get Jarod. You’ve been chasing him ever since he escaped your clutches,” Emily said. “You want to go to The Centre, force Jarod to come back in order to see his children. It’s not going to happen.”

Oh, she could have asked her how she thought something ridiculous would be what The Centre itself would ever come up with as an actual plan. But, instead, she turned away from the excuses. She didn’t need to explain herself to Jarod’s family. “So what then? You’re going to plug me away behind my own glass? Teach me a lesson? Justifiable revenge, is that what this is getting marked down into in the family’s old album?”

“We don’t want to do this,” Major Charles finally said. He couldn’t turn around though since he was apparently driving the fancy getaway car. “I don’t want to hurt Jarod, and I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt anyone, but I can’t risk you going back to the Centre. It tore everything away from us. I can’t just let something happen.”

“So you tailed your own son, found out where he lived, and abducted me,” Miss Parker said straight to him. “Don’t make excuses, own up to what you do! Own it.”

“Don’t talk to my father that way!” Emily warned her as she glared. “You are going to get the best food, for them. The best diet, for them. If it’s for them, you get it, otherwise you don’t deserve anything.”

“Fantastic, I’m just the luggage again.” Miss Parker groaned. “Then what are you going to do? Take them away from their own mom? I will hunt you down, and I will kill you, and I won’t stop until you kill me,” she warned her. “So if you plan on taking my kids, you better plan on killing me. Emily.”

“Let’s not go there. We aren’t going there.” Major Charles groaned. “We aren’t killing you afterwards.”

“I will kill you then,” Miss Parker said darkly. “I will hunt you down for the rest of your life and I will kill you.”

Major Charles was quiet for a time. “If we take you, it’s wrong. If you take them, it’s wrong.”

No one ever said that was what she chose. She just barely even heard her father was back. To take them back to The Centre, with Jarod still out there? It was. A hard decision. A decision she knew that was too tough to consider the first time around. “You may hate this,” she said, knowing they’d hate it. “But the sad truth is, that I know Jarod better than you,” she said with venom. “The only way he’s going to be a part of their lives, and not let a mother be a part of their only child’s life, is to kill me. That’s a fact. But, Jarod holds tight grudges,” she warned them. “Real tight. Family or not, I would not want to be you.”

“He holds that grudge deep inside because he can’t see our mom,” Emily corrected her. “He is going to be sad, and it will be hard. Especially when he already has to share a brother with you, and this is really hard on Ethan too! But our family is not going to be forcibly tied to The Centre. You aren’t taking them into The Centre. Jarod or otherwise.”

“Angel and Onyssius, are none of your business,” she seethed. “When I get free. I’m going to have to consider these harsh decisions made against me and why very hard. Or I will come straight after you and kill you.” She glared hard at them.

“It’s not going to be Angel.” Emily pointed rudely at her. “I looked around enough. I know enough. That’s your dad’s pet name for you. My little niece, my only little niece, won’t be named that!” she sighed. “You’re a vindictive woman. You made friends with Jarod when he was little, trying to keep him in The Centre with it. Then you moved away and your job changed, and you didn’t care. You hunted your friend. It wasn’t a big problem. He was probably just an assignment as a child.”

“You have no business talking about my childhood,” Miss Parker struggled more.

“I’ve studied The Centre.”

“The Read Along Version for Kids apparently.”

“The only reason he doesn’t hurt you, and he lets you keep chasing him is because he cares. And that caring is nothing that you deserve.” Emily turned back around in her seat and Miss Parker watched the window between them go back up.

“Emily, we have a tail,” Major Charles said. “Three cars down from us.”

“How long?”

“For some time now,” he admitted. “It’s not a Centre car. It’s not Jarod either.”

Miss Parker looked toward the door. The car was going slow enough. Since someone was following them, she could normally shove her feet against that door, popping it open. At the very least, it would cause a commotion on the streets. At the very best, she would be able to get herself to roll out of the vehicle.

But both options weren’t options in her condition anymore. How am I going to save myself?

Argyle’s Car

“Aw, no. No, no!” Argyle whined and called Jarod. “They must have spotted me, they turned direction on me. I’m sorry, J-dog, I really tried.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure my family’s good at getting rid of tailers. Which direction?”

“Uh. Left, lost me on a streetlight,” he said. “I’m sorry, J-Man, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be Argyle.” His voice picked up a strange cheeriness for the situation. “That’s just where I need them at.” Jarod had been following the directions of Argyle, and already predicted the way they were heading out. In fact, if his math was correct in where Argyle was, how fast he called him, and the shortcuts Jarod took then- “There!”

He gunned it. “Kids, stay strapped in tight, and hold onto something!” He switched gears. “We are in for a bumpy ride.”

Debbie clung onto the side door as the car picked up way more speed.

“This is highly past the posted speed,” Gemini said as he looked toward Debbie. “Are you okay?” Debbie nodded. “It will be fine, though we are excelling at a greater velocity, Jarod should be able to control it and time-“

Jarod made a tighter turn, and then shot to the left, avoiding the car coming, swerving back to his right side. “Totally in control,” he agreed.

Limousine

“Oh, damn, it’s Jarod,” The Major said as he saw the driving. Only his son could perform the moves he could to catch up like that. “I can’t outrun Jarod, Emily. We both know that.”

“She can’t go back to The Centre! She isn’t taking them to The Centre!” Emily cried out. “No more, dad.”

Major Charles sighed. “The Centre never stops tearing my family apart. Next place we pass, I’m stopping. Even if I wanted to maneuver, we’ve got a pregnant woman onboard. Jarod knows that.”

At a cheap restaurant, he pulled in and waited for the inevitable.

Jarod’s Car

“Stay here and don’t move,” Jarod warned the kids as he got out of the car. He slammed the door as he went toward the limousine. He knew exactly who had to be driving it.

Emily came out first. “Stop, Jarod, don’t do this. It’s a mistake.”

“Then it’s mine to make, we went over this!” Jarod yelled at her. He watched his dad come out of the car. “Why?”

“She works for The Centre, Jarod,” he sighed. “I was on edge most of the time which way to turn, but Mister Parker came back.”

“Mister Parker?” The man who raised her? The one last seen jumping out into the sea with the scrolls?

“The Centre would feel more like home, now than ever,” his dad said.

“Trying to find me, to call me,” Jarod said slowly, trying to keep back his anger with what they just did. “That would have been a much better idea than stealing her away from me!”

“Jarod.” Emily came from the other side of the car closer to him.

Bullseye! With the car stopped and in the right position, she dislocated her shoulder and held back the pain. She’d been through much worse, she just needed to focus on what was important.

Her dad was right, Jarod’s family was not going to let her go. At the Centre, she risked her children, but with them, she was risking her life. With no way to win, she made the only decision she could. When she heard Emily get out, she made her move, using her good arm to get the door open. She slid out on the side and into the small restaurant in front of her. She opened the door quickly and ran up to the person behind the register. “Please, help me!” She cried. Not hard, she dislocated her shoulder. Her acting would be stellar. “I was kidnapped, and they are right outside. Please don’t let him get us!” She was big enough she shouldn’t have to pat her stomach, but just for good measure, she was sure to rub it.

The person behind the register took her to the back. “Manager!” The manager came forward to her. “She says she was kidnapped.”

“Yes, they are right outside, lock the doors, please! They are trying to kill me! A man and a woman. Be careful, there are more kids in the other car.” Jarod wouldn’t have risked leaving them behind, they needed to be careful. “ I-I need a phone, to call the police!”

Once she got the phone she pretended to dial 911. “Hello, I am Miss P, Someone is trying to kill me.” She gave the location.

Back to Jarod’s Conversation

“Mine. My family,” Jarod said. “You’re a part of it, but you have no right to steal any other part of it, Emily!”

“I’m sorry, but don’t you see?” She begged him. “She’s evil. There’s no choice. She’s going to desert you and go back home. It’s inevitable. You have to get rid of her!”

“And say what to them?” Jarod asked. “When they ask where their mom is?” Wait. He saw something when he said that, that ran across her eyes.

“Tell them anything you want. Tell them she was a fairytale princess if you want,” Emily said.

“Because she’d never see them to tell them the truth?” No, no, no. Her hatred. Losing him. Losing Kyle. The Centre. It was so great that . . . “Or because she’d never live to tell them the truth?”

Major Charles held up his hands. “Jarod, nobody knows what is best at this point.”

“Well, I do!” Jarod yelled at him. “I am taking care of them. Like it or not. Centre related or not.” He looked at Emily with the eyes that he didn’t want to. That he saved for the worst people in the world. And he didn’t want to. She was his sister. She’d been through a lot. But she needed to understand.

It wasn’t a choice. It was never a choice. “Open up the back, give her back, and get the hell out of here. I don’t want to see you ever come near any of us again, Emily, because I swear.” He didn’t want to say anything more.

And he didn’t have to. Her trembling, crying face was enough of an answer. “Wrong choice. Don’t come to me later, don’t come back to me later when you and your kids are trapped back in The Centre!” She ran back to the car and got in.

Major Charles just stared at him. “Jarod-“

“She met mom,” Jarod said, trying not to explode on him. He knew that he was caught in the middle. Between justice, between worry, and between love.  He couldn’t be easy, but he couldn’t be hard either. “Did mom like Aerosmith?”

Major Charles couldn’t help a smile. “Well I’ll be.”

“Miss Parker drove in the car with her,” Jarod said, “and mom was fine to her.” Jarod pulled out his wallet, reached in and got the new photos. He held them up. “She gave me these, said mom wanted me to have them.”

Major Charles came over closer and looked at the pictures. “So it’s true. She met Margaret.”

“And mom didn’t take her away from me,” Jarod said, still trying to stifle his anger. “Never did anything. Went on a ride for half an hour, talked, and she was right back. So. If mom, of all people, the one that none of us can get to could get along with her?”

Major Charles nodded and handed the photos back. “Alright, Jarod. Maybe Margaret knows something we don’t.” He took a deep breath and sighed.

“I need Gemini to help me with the little girl,” Jarod said slowly. “I need to work on the cure. I am going back to get storage for everything. After that.”

“Untrackable,” Major Charles whispered. “Be careful, Jarod. I hope one day this gets straightened out. Enough, that-“

“-we can be together again,” Jarod said. “I hope so too.” He moved toward the back of the limousine and opened it up.

Gone.

“Emily?!” Jarod yelled at her from the back. The window was open. She knew she’d escaped.

“She got out herself,” Emily chided him. “You want responsibility Jarod, you watch that bitch yourself.”

“Damn it!” Parker was good. He looked next to him where they stopped. He tried to go into the door, but it was locked. When the car stopped, she was already thinking of her moves. Went inside, claimed kidnapping, asked for phone. She’d say cops but she’d call The Centre. “The Centre is going to be coming,” Jarod said, but the screech of wheels were already heard. He went toward Gemini and Debbie. “Miss Parker bailed.”

“They took her,” Debbie said looking at the ground. “I don’t blame her for that. Do you, Jarod?”

Jarod heard the sirens coming from behind. No doubt she’d be headed for The Centre, back to daddy. Especially if she sensed the deep anger within Emily.

He got in the car, hit reverse, and got out as quickly as possible. Miss Parker.

With her dad back in control of The Centre, her running back to it, and him carrying two kids in his car. What was he supposed to do?

---------------------

The Centre

Miss Parker walked through The Centre, in disbelief she really had to do it. She wanted anything to get away from the life she was forced to live because . . . not going to do it, I am not going there. Instead, she opened those beautiful office doors she used to open and saw a sight she had wished to see over a year.

Her father, the man who raised her as his daughter, behind the desk. The picture of her mother was hanging over it all once again. At his side was Sydney and Angelo. Angelo looked properly dressed.

“Well, well.” Mister Parker stood up and held his hands out toward her. “Oh, Angel, how I’ve missed you.”

Her heart lifted as she heard those words. She went straight toward him and hugged him. His scent, oh, how she missed it. It was unlike any other scent out there. Daddy. She would never know why he stirred her soul like no one else could. She could be in a blazing fire and he could calm it with just his words. Just his voice. “Daddy, you’re back!”

“Yes, and to wonderful news.” His smile was radiant. “Look at you. The style leaves something to be desired, but don’t you worry about that. I know you were living with Jarod of all people.” He rolled his eyes and looked toward her tummy. “Six months, huh?”

“Jarod’s family were going to hold me hostage for three months,” Miss Parker said, “and then steal my children.” She said it, letting her father get the true vibe of it.

“I know, pumpkin, I know. That’s why I wanted you here.” He smiled. “Now, you’re alright, which is great. Jarod and his family will be great too. So will you. You’ll be able to work right from The Centre, doing paperback and watching my grandkids.”

Jarod and his family would be great? What did he mean? “What are you talking about?”

“Uh, Sydney?” Mister Parker let Sydney approach her.

Sydney bent toward her gently. “Mister Lyle was playing both ends to get The Triumvirate into his pocket,” he said. “The Triumvirate believed that we had held potential bodily fluid of our pretenders, and we believed that they had held bodily fluid back from us. However, it’s not true,” Sydney said. “Mister Lyle deceived all of us.”

“What do you mean, Syd?” Miss Parker looked down at her stomach. “This isn’t a strap-on.”

“No, but, the only accessible Pretender here for Lyle’s scheme . . .” Sydney moved slightly and Angelo approached her.

Angelo smiled. “Hello, Miss Parker. Again.”

Miss Parker raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“Yes, yes, I didn’t want to go over this on the phone. You deserved to be here yourself,” her father smiled. He gestured to Angelo. “Angelo is the father of your children, sweetheart.”

Miss Parker blinked twice as fast. “Angelo?”

Sydney smiled at her. “It’s okay, Miss Parker. It’s better than that.” He placed his hand on Angelo’s back. “When we ran the treatments, Angelo became more expressive with his own self again. Do you remember that?”

Miss Parker had no action left but to nod.

“The effects were irreversible,” Sydney said. “However, it was not a complete regression.”

“I . . . hid,” Angelo confessed. “A little?”

“Oh. My. God.” She touched her forehead. “Daddy, wha-?”

Mister Parker placed his hand on Angelo’s shoulder. “He can learn again. Sydney has steadily been teaching him over the year. A little here. A little over there, until Raines stopped letting him out.” He sighed. “Anyhow, everything is back to normal, and even better now.” He chuckled. “Grandkids.” He patted Angelo’s shoulder. “You see what I mean? The Parker curse ends with you.”

Her mouth couldn’t seem to shut. Angelo?

“Oh. Um.” He walked steadily toward her. He took the fake wedding ring off her finger, placing it in her other hand. He pushed a different one on her ring finger. “For you. Dear?”

“An engagement ring?” Miss Parker looked toward her father.

“Well, honey, we’ve got to look respectable here at The Centre,” Mister Parker said. “We’re changings things. I won’t keep running it the same way, not anymore. But, baby steps. Oh no, it’ll be all better when you take over. All this darker side of the business that was going on, it’ll be all gone. Won’t be The Centre anymore,” he insisted. “We won’t be following the Triumvirates anymore. However, I have to do some things to get it into that spot. Won’t happen overnight and you know the Zulus. Man and a woman aren't even married until a child, and a child coming before and . . .” He placed his hands on his shoulders. “I’m proud of you, honey! You survived some grueling months for the tricks Lyle played.”

“Uh?” She needed to focus. “Debbie?”

“Oh. Jarod will eventually bring her back and we’ll get her cured. Hrm, we have the real thing Lyle hid.” His voice tightened at the end. “I’m sorry, but I’m not happy with your brother’s actions.”

“Not happy?” She said. “He held me in a cell for six months, and impregnated me!”

“Whoah, Angel,” Her father scowled. “Don’t raise your voice to me. I didn’t raise you to do that. Now, he’s been taken care of. He’s not going to bother you again, and he’ll never get control of The Centre. It’s obvious he’s unbalanced.” He moved aside and brought Angelo closer. “Now, be nice. Sydney will continue to work with him, and over the years, he’ll get better.”

“He is doing quite well,” Sydney agreed. He smiled at Miss Parker. “Angelo seems quite happy to have his own family too. I think that knowing he will be responsible for new life, may open up his mind even more. He is already excelling well.”

“See? Happy. I told you to just make it home, didn’t I?” Mister Parker chuckled. “No problems with Jarod’s family, he wasn’t ever involved. I’m gaining a new son-in-law, everything’s wonderful. All we need now is the DSA’s Jarod stole.”

Her eyes roamed the room. Her father seemed either happy or relieved. Sydney looked quite relieved, but he was always hard to read. And Angelo? Looked like he won the lottery with that giant smile.

“Not hiding anymore,” he said sweetly. “Not, your brother,” he said as he smirked. “but, husband.”

She felt him touch her arm.

“Honey?” Her daddy said noticing her look. “What’s wrong? You don’t have to worry about Jarod anymore. I’m back. This is a wonderful day.”

“A fantastic occasion,” Sydney said sauntering slightly higher. He whispered something to Angelo.

“Oh. Yes.” He smiled at her. “Can I feel  . . . my children?”

“Uh.” She never even let Jarod feel her belly yet. It wasn’t going a ton, and he would have had to keep his hands there for awhile but. “They aren’t moving a ton right now. It might take a few minutes.”

“I think just touching your stomach is all Angelo is asking for,” Sydney said.

“Oh.” She looked at her stomach. “Sure.”

Angelo put his hand on her stomach. He felt around and then chuckled. He looked toward her. “I felt it.” He stroked her tummy lovingly. “Our boy and girl.” He smiled at her. “Happy day?”

She breathed a little fast, not saying anything back.

“I’ve got a whole wardrobe of clothes for you, Angel,” her daddy said. “Your mother had twins too, and you and her are so much alike, I’m sure they will all fit.”

“I see that you’re overwhelmed,” Sydney said to her. “It is an incredible adjustment to what you believed was the path your life was set on. Your whole life has been disturbed frequently this past year. It may take a little time.”

“Yes,” Angelo said as he looked toward her. “We’ll learn. Together. Dear.” He smiled and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

----------------------------

Jarod’s house . . .

Jarod sighed as he studied the schematics of The Centre. “Most likely, in the office.” He didn’t want to do this. It wouldn’t have happened if his family hadn’t jumped the gun! In The Centre again. His family, in The Centre. For now, he returned back to the safehouse so the kids could get some rest. He had around three months to figure out what to do. How to convince her, one more time, that his family wouldn’t come back.

Then, his phone rang. “Broots? It’s really late now.”

“Hello, Jarod, this is Sydney.”

“Sydney!” Thank goodness, the voice of reason in his life. “It’s good to hear from you. Did you and Angelo make it out okay?”

“Yes. In fact, Angelo has some news he would like to tell you.”

“Jarod!”

Jarod smiled. “Angelo.” He put the schematics into The Centre completely out of his head. “How are you?”

“I’m. Super. Best ever,” Angelo said. “Angelo has exciting news. Oh. Oh, Sydney, I. That’s right. I. I have exciting news!”

Jarod fixed himself up straighter in the chair. Some good news would be a really good thing right now. “What is it, Angelo?”

“I am going to be a father!”

“Oh.” Jarod pulled the phone away to hide his sigh. More than him and Miss Parker were affected. Lyle. He was using another surrogate. What if he did that to the others too, to create his potential pretenders quickly? He moved back to the phone. “That’s great, Angelo.”

“It is. I got all dressed up for her.”

“That’s nice.” At least they were letting him see the surrogate.

“And, I felt it kick, Jarod! Inside her tummy. It’s so alive.”

“Yeah. I know the feeling,” Jarod smiled. “Never felt a kick yet, but hearing its first heartbeat.” He nodded. “It’s unforgettable.”

“It’s all so fast, Jarod. I’m trying to keep up.”

“I know, Angelo.” Jarod knew he would try.

“She liked the ring today, I think.”

“Ring?” Jarod raised an eyebrow at that? “The Centre’s not making you marry her, are they?” That wouldn’t make any sense.

“Um. They said, um, marriage is the correct step. To take for me,” Angelo chuckled. “I don’t mind. She’s pretty, Jarod.”

“That’s . . . good?” Jarod shifted eyes around the room. Marriage was more than how pretty someone had been. There was only thing Jarod could think of. “The mom, involved, is The Centre footing a bill for her to stay quiet?” If that was the case, he could see it. On paper. Papers at The Centre always looked different. But it was doubtful she’d actually stay with him, and that he would get to stay with his kids.

“No bill. It’s just . . . uhh . . . something.”

The Centre never stops interfering. “That’s nice, Angelo.” Jarod didn’t know what else to say to him.

“I kissed her. She didn’t react. Sydney said I did good. She was surprised though.”

“I’m sure,” Jarod answered. “I hope it turns out well.”

“I hope so too. I kind of always liked her. You know?”

“Kind of always liked her?” Jarod didn’t understand that part. “What do you mean?”

“Oh. Miss Parker. I always kind of liked her. Like, um . . . crush? Mister Parker, he put his arm around me too. Welcoming.“

“Whoah. Whoah, whoah, whoah.” Jarod stopped him. “Miss Parker is carrying my twins, Angelo. Are you confused?”

“No. Um. Lyle lied, Jarod. They’re mine.”

“Let me see the phone now, Angelo,” Sydney said as he took the phone. “Jarod? Did you hear the exciting news?”

“Lies, those are mine!” Jarod stood up and shouted, the schematics falling to the floor. “What kind of game is The Centre playing?”

“Jarod, relax,” Sydney said. “Any good therapist would say that someone who only believed that they were going to be a father for a month would not have such violent repercussions to being told the truth.”

What? “No they . . .” Jarod had been a therapist, and he knew any good therapist wouldn’t say that. Sydney would never say that. He sat back down in his chair. In fact, he would not have just let Angelo start talking if he had such news. He thinks the phone might have been compromised.

It would make sense. It was discovered, and then taken by Broots. Given back to Sydney. The more people that mess with it. Or, maybe there were people who knew about the phone, that he didn’t want knowing the truth either. Hiding it from even Broots?

“You’re right, Sydney,” Jarod say, playing along. “Now that I think about it . . . you’re right. All my freedoms are back,” he said. “No one tagging along with me on Pretends. I don’t have to quit Pretending. My family, I can connect with my family again. It’s great news.”

“It’s fantastic news,” Sydney said. “Everything worked out very well. I’m glad you are taking it so well. I told Miss Parker that you would probably be happy with the news and not start torturing her with mind games.”

Even the wording. Torturing. Sydney was playing it very cool. He did have something to say. “Absolutely, couldn’t be better,” Jarod said. Then, he didn’t want it to sound too obvious. “I mean, I liked the thought of having a family, but the stress. Having to bring her everywhere with me, her having no real skills. Then, driving my real family away.”

“Yes, I know. It must have been tough on you, Jarod. It’s going to be a little tough on Miss Parker. I don’t believe she was thinking marriage was in the cards, but her father has put his foot down pretty hard on this one. Very hard. They are working on dates.”

Ah, that was where Sydney was trying to lead him. “Dates, huh? Say, Sydney, is it going to be soon? Might be able to attend far away with flowers.”

“I’m sure. Perhaps a small area on a hill? I believe the date of the marriage should be October 20th. I’ve always appreciate that date. Almost like you always appreciated your favorite number.”

“Sounds like a nice date,” Jarod said. “You should try convincing them, I could work that into my calendar.”

“I believe it would be a sight to see, Jarod. My home would be quite perfect for it in the back, but I’m afraid Mister Parker would probably not allow it. I guess, we’ll just have to see. Nice talking to, Jarod. Take Care.