Genetics by AngelWings, admin
Genetics by AngelWings
Author’s note: Hi, My name is Kari. This is my 1st Fan Fiction story so bear with me on this one. I am a big fan of The Pretender and an even bigger fan of Michael T. Weiss (Jarod), so I wanted to write a story of my own about The Pretender… I hope you enjoy it! The characters: Jarod, Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots, and Mr. Parker are property of The Pretender. Other characters are mine.



Genetics

By AngelWings








Blue Cove, Delaware
The Centre, Sydney’s Office
August 19, 1998

They heard the familiar click of her heels and the smoke of her cigarette before she even entered the office. The two men looked up from their work to see her stride into the room with her usual "don’t mess with me" expression in her cold blue eyes. She wore her usual black skirt, reaching her mid-thighs, and a white blouse, and her black hair down and curled perfectly out.

She strode over to the balding man that had his face on a computer screen and leaned down to his ear.

"Any news on Jarod, Broots?" she said, no politeness in her cold tone. She felt the shivers that ran down his spine and held in the satisfied smile of power she had over him.

"Ah… um, no M-Miss Parker," he stuttered out nervously. She enjoyed the power she had over him. Heck, if she wanted, she would have him going to Hong Kong on foot with one snap of her fingers.

"Well get some!" she snapped. The sudden bark of orders startled him and he quickly moved his fingers faster over the keyboard. She stood up straight and glanced over at the aging man who sat on the leather couch in the corner of the office. She gave him an evil smirk and turned on her heel and left the office.

"Jeez. I think her whole job involves being rude and vicious to everyone," Broots said looking away from his computer screen and rubbing his sore eyes.

"She’s a Parker," Sydney replied, a small accent lingering in his voice. Getting up from the couch and walking over to the computer, he peered over Broots’ shoulder.

"You can say that again," Broots agreed, turning around to the screen and beginning to work again.


Miss Parker’s office
Same day

She let out a frustrated sigh as she sat down in the soft leather chair behind her desk. She glanced down at the paper work scattered about the desk and shook her head in disgust. All this work and always she turns up empty-handed. She glanced at her computer and noticed the blinking icon on her screen indicating she has mail. She reached for the mouse, thinking it’s probably a message from Jarod, reminding her of her failure and opened it. It read:

Dear Little Miss Catherine,

Tragic of how you lost your mother, isn’t it? Someday you will join her. I’ll make sure of that… Like they say… like mother, like daughter.

Yours truly

She found herself reading it over and over again. The message scared her. She swallowed hard and looked nervously around her office, making sure she was alone. Maybe it was a prank message from Jarod. He is always playing games with her. But never like this. So many questions ran through her head. She didn’t want to be alone, so she quickly escaped the file and took off towards Sydney’s office. Every step she took, she glanced around her surroundings, seeing if anyone looked suspicious.

She finally reached Sydney’s office and burst inside. Both looked up in surprise. She quickly walked over to the couch and awkwardly sat down and crossed her long legs. She gave them an odd look.

"Something wrong Miss Parker?" Sydney asked worriedly. She cocked her head innocently.

"No," she snapped quickly.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I’m fine Sydney! Now don’t ask again or I’ll…"

"Um… bingo!" Broots interrupted. He waved them over to the computer. "There was a sighting of Jarod in Granville, Ohio at a Restaurant on Main Street. They said he works there. Shall I get us the corporate jet?"

"Yes, you moron! Now!" she ordered and slapped him on the shoulder. He winced and quickly picked up his cell phone and dialed. She pulled out a cigarette, lit it and stuck it in her lips. "This time I’m gonna get him!" she said, thinking of the message she had received. She is going get her answer of who sent her that no matter what it takes.


Granville, Ohio
Main Street
Same Day

"Yeah that is Jarod," the blonde behind the counter said, after looking at the photo Miss Parker gave her. "He was the nicest guy. He had the whole package: Handsome, sweet, sexy…"

"Do you know where he went?" Miss Parker interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest.

"Ah… well. I thought it was odd that he said he was gonna take off so fast, so I made it my business to know where he was going. I really liked him and wanted to, you know, get closer. So I…"

"Well? Where the hell is he?" Miss Parker rudely interrupted again. The blonde gave her a hard stare.

"Are you his wife seeking revenge or something? Because I didn’t touch him!"

"No I am not his wife you bimbo! Just tell me what you found out or I will rip out every single little blonde hair off your empty head!"

"Is he wanted of crime?"

That was the last strike. Miss Parker leaped over the counter and grabbed her by the collar and pulled her half way across the other side.

"Listen you dizzy blonde! Tell me what you found out about Jarod or I’ll keep my promise and you will be bald by tomorrow!" Sydney grabbed Miss Parker’s arm and pulled her away from the scared woman. The blonde returned to the other side of the counter and straightened her shirt nervously.

"Please excuse my companion here. She is a little edgy," Sydney explained, calmly. The blonde nodded softly. "Please, tell us where you think Jarod might have gone," Sydney asked politely.

The blonde glanced at Miss Parker, then back at Sydney.

"I, ah, found out that he got a plane ticket to Florida. I also found out that he had changed his name for some reason to Wright," she began.

"Where in Florida?" Miss Parker asked impatiently.

"Um… Winter Gardens I think," she replied.

"Broots," Miss Parker said with a snap of her fingers. "Winter Gardens now!"


Winter Gardens, Florida
Airport

He took off his sunglasses, revealing his dark brown eyes, and looked around at his surroundings. He had flown to Florida just because and he was planning on going to a place called Disney World. People told him it was really fun there and he wanted to check it out himself. He retrieved his bags and grabbed a taxi to the closest motel, since it was so late. There he would decide what to do next.

Winter Gardens, Florida
Motel

"Thank you," Jarod said, as the clerk handed him his room key. He picked up his bag and walked to the elevator. Just as the elevator doors closed, Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots barged into the front door of the motel. They had decided to go the nearest motel and were surprised to find an expensive car outside; obvious that is belonged to Jarod because he always got the best vehicles.

Miss Parker strode over to the front desk and pulled out a photo of Jarod.

"Have you seen this man?" Miss Parker asked, no politeness at all. The young clerk glanced at the photo.

"Yes. He just checked in," he replied. Miss Parker flashed Sydney and Broots a smile.

"Room number?" Miss Parker snapped, more of an order than a question.

"Um… room 31," he answered nervously. Obviously this woman was no one to mess with, he thought.

"Thank you," Miss Parker said evily. She flashed him a wicked smile and then took off for the elevator with the two others following close behind.


Motel, room 31

Jarod let out a sigh as he collapsed on the bed. He hadn’t had a good nights sleep in days. He found it was hard to keep his eyes open now that he was lying down. Right when his eyelids drooped down shut… BANG! The door flung open, and before Jarod could react, he was pinned to the bed. He looked up to see Miss Parker leaning over him and grinning her evil grin.

"Hello Jarod," she said wickedly.

"Nice to see you again Miss P.," Jarod replied in the same manner. "How did you find me so fast?" he asked calmly.

"Your girlfriend told me."

"Girlfriend?"

"Get up!" she ordered, ignoring his question, and pulling out her gun and aiming it at him. He obeyed. She pulled out handcuffs and threw them on the bed in front of him. "Put those on… now!" He slowly reached for the cuffs, trying to delay as much as he can. "Within the hour Jarod!" she snapped.

Suddenly, the cuffs became air born and flew right over Miss Parker’s head. She had to duck in order to avoid them. When she recovered she saw just a glimpse of Jarod before he disappeared on the balcony.

"Get him!" she shouted and leaped over the bed towards the sliding glass window. Broots and Sydney followed.

She burst through the open door and looked around for any signs of where he could have gone. She glanced up and saw him trotting across the roof of the motel with DSA’s in hand and disappear on the other side.

"Damn! Get down to the lobby. He is not going to get away this time," she shouted to the other two and took off for the elevator, but decided against it. Her own feet were faster than that blasted contraption.

Two steps at a time she took, hurrying as fast as she could possible go. She was getting her answers, and she was getting them tonight! She finally reached the bottom and practically leaped through the door, causing a guest to spill her coffee in surprise. Ignoring to help the woman, Miss Parker took off to the exit. Not caring weather or not her two companions were behind her, she ran through the darkness in search of Jarod. She glanced up at the roof every other step she took. Where did he go? He couldn’t have disappeared off the face of the earth. Then she spotted him climbing down a fire escape on the far side.

Not bothering to climb down the five or six steps at the bottom, he leaped to the ground below. He noticed her running towards him as soon as he hit the ground. He spun around the opposite direction and took off running.

"Jarod stop! I swear I will shoot you!" she shouted after him. She tried to keep up with him, but with his long strides and her heels, she was no match.

So she aimed as carefully as she could, considering the fact that she was still running and fired at his left leg. It zipped by his thigh and she heard him yelp in surprise, causing to fall to the ground. She ran to him and stopped above him, panting.

"I told you I would shoot," she explained.

He looked up at her. "But you missed… luckily!" and with that he knocked her legs out from beneath her with his leg, causing her to fall to her bottom.

She heard him let out a boyish laugh before getting up and start running again.

"Jarod!" she shouted after him. She aimed her gun again but was too late, he had already turned the corner. "Fine… I can play at this game as well. It’s about time Tom catches Jerry," she said to herself. She got up and brushed herself off. She didn’t know why, but she had a good idea of where he was heading.

Jarod stopped and leaned over and put his hands on his thighs, trying to catch his breath. It was a good thing he had left the DSA’s on the roof in a good hiding place or they would have slowed him down. He glanced around before walking in a fast pace towards another fire escape on the other side of the motel. He hoped someone heard the gunshot was smart enough to call the police. That would stall Miss Parker and the others long enough for him to get away.

He was so deep in thought that he hadn’t heard Miss Parker sneaking up behind him until it was too late. He received an elbow right in the lower back, causing his legs to go limp. He fell to the ground with a grunt of pain.

"Gotcha!" she shouted from above him. He looked over his shoulder at the smirking woman.

"You’re getting smart. I’m proud of you," he said calmly.

"Spare me," she said in a cold tone. "Now get up!" she ordered sharply.

He lifted his upper body up with his arms and then let out a moan of pain and then dropped to the ground again.

"I-I don’t think I can," he said softly.

"Stop pretending Jarod. Now get up!" she ordered again.

"I’m not pretending Miss Parker! I think you hurt me bad!" he claimed.

"I’m not pretending when I say get up!" she repeated.

He tried again and received the same results.

"I can’t!" he yelled at her. She noticed the crack in his voice and began to believe him. She knelt down her haunches and felt his back. Suddenly he swung around and knocked her on her rear again, this time causing her to loose her gun. She reached out and grabbed his legs as he got up and tackled him to the ground. He broke his fall with his hands.

"Not this time Jarod!" she shouted at him. He tried to kick her arms away from his legs but she held on with all her strength. She was amazingly strong for a skinny little toothpick, he thought to himself. He spun around on his back and tried to use his hands to get her off.

"Get off me!" he shouted at her.

"No!" she said as she inched her way up. She finally grabbed his arms and held on with all her might as he waved them around trying to weaken her grip. She pinned him for a matter of seconds, but he was stronger than her and pushed his arms from the pavement.

"Will you let go!" he shouted again.

"No!" was her only answer, still clinging to him. It seemed it was an eternity as they danced around on the pavement. Finally her gun was within her reach and she took the risk to let go with her right hand and grab it.

She managed to get on top of him again and press the gun to his temple. "Don’t move or you will get a bullet through that big brain of yours!"

Jarod immediately stopped struggling. He knew she wouldn’t pull the trigger, but he couldn’t risk bumping her hand and causing the gun to go off.

"Now you a-hole, you are coming with me if you like it or not!"she said, struggling to catch her breath. "But before we go anywhere. Are you the one who sent me that threatening message?"

A grin came on his face and for a second she believed he had.

"Why Miss Parker, why would you ever think I would do such a thing?" he said innocently.

She raised the gun suddenly and hit him across the face hard with it, causing his head to snap to the right. He let out a gasp of pain. She had hit him harder than she had intended to, but didn’t say anything.

"Don’t lie to me!" she shouted.

"I wasn’t lying!" he insisted shakily, still aching from the hit he took.

She had his arms pinned against his side with her legs so he couldn’t wipe the blood that trickled from the cut on his lip. She stared down at him and into his fear stricken eyes and for the first time felt sorry for him. She didn’t know why she had hit him like that. Maybe it was the fear she had from the message. She so much wanted it to be a prank from him, but now she knew it wasn’t.

She leaned up straighter, still keeping eye contact with him and let out a sigh, not of relief, not of frustration, but of shock. She couldn’t stand seeing him in pain, especially pain she had caused. She lifted her hand suddenly and saw him wince. He thought she was going to hit him again, and that almost made her collapse on his chest and cry for his forgiveness, but she held it in.

Slowly she brought her hand to his face and wiped the blood off his lip. He hissed in pain and that was her cue to be gentler. She noticed the huge bruise forming on his cheek. She finally let him get up.

"Now… are you coming with out a fight or do I have to knock more sense into you?" she said wickedly. He stared at her with his hand on his cheek where she had hit him and nodded slowly.

"Good, now come!" she ordered at gun-point.

He slowly walked ahead of her. They walked in silence. She for once felt the fear he had of her now. She had been waiting for this moment a long time, but now that it was here… she didn’t like it.

"What… what was the message?" he finally said softly. She was surprised of his voice. It was so uncertain and soft. She had never heard him like that.

"None of your business!" she snapped back. He kept quiet. Usually he would have kept asking her about it but he didn’t. She waited for a while, hoping he would insist more, but he didn’t speak at all. He just walked with his hand to his bruising cheek. She bit her lower lip. What now? She so much wanted to talk to someone about the message. It would have made her feel a lot better. She wanted convert. She wanted support. She wanted…

"Jarod?" she said, gathering her courage.

"Hmm?" he said softly.

"I’m ah… I didn’t mean to ah… I didn’t…" she couldn’t get it out. She paused to get her words straight. "I didn’t mean to hit you that hard. I’m sorry."

There she said it. She didn’t know why but it felt good to apologize to him.

He kept silent for a moment and then answered softly and cautiously.

"It’s in your job description," he replied, so soft she barely heard him.

She swallowed hard and looked to the ground.

"It said that I was going to suffer the same fate as my mother," she said suddenly. She so much wanted to tell him, so why not just go ahead and do it. He was silent for a moment again and she waited for him to answer.

"What was the return e-mail address?" he asked cautiously again. She didn’t like him being so uncertain like that, it didn’t suit him.

"It didn’t have one," she replied.

"How to the sender sign out?"

"Your Truly."

"That’s it?" he asked softly.

"Yes."

He was silent again. She waited for him to reply.

"Well?" she finally asked.

"I don’t know what to tell you," he said, just a hint of his normal
tone.

"It’s shame I can’t help you."

"Why can’t you?"

"Well… you caught me Miss Parker," he said, glancing over his shoulder at her. She stopped dead in her tracks as he walked ahead and noticed she stopped. He stopped as well and turned around.

"No, Rat Boy."

He looked around nervously before asking, "No what?"

"No, that isn’t going to work. You are not getting away this time. You can figure out who sent it just fine in one of the Centre’s labs!"

"Yes, but would if the sender is in the Centre?"

She stared at him for a long moment.

"I am not letting you go!" she said shaking her head. He shrugged his shoulders.

"All right, fine. I guess you aren’t getting help from me then," he said as he spun around to walk again.

She felt steam coming out of her ears as she leaped at him, knocking him to the ground. She quickly spun him around on his back so he could see her.

"Listen to me you jerk! I need to know who sent that message! If you don’t help me, I’ll kill you!"

"Well, if you are planning to kill me, then I guess you really don’t need my help that badly!" She slapped him across the face, not hard but it had to be in the same place the bruise was. He let out a scream of pain and shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the pain to subside. She let out a gasp of shock.

Why did she have to hit him again? She quickly got off him.

"Fine! You win!" she shouted angrily as she walked away, more angry with herself then at him. "You know where to reach me!" she shouted back at him.

He watched her disappear around the corner before getting up and brushing himself off. The left of his face stung like hell. He actually couldn’t move his left side of his lips properly. He began to walk the opposite way.



"Well? Where is he?" Sydney asked as he watched Miss Parker walk silently towards them with a lost expression on her face. Sydney began to worry she had shot him.

"He got away," she replied softly and brushed past him.


Blue Cove, Delaware
Miss Parker’s office
August 20, 1998

She stared at the message that taunted her from her computer screen. She let out a sigh of fear and looked to the ceiling. She stared at it for a while and then returned her eyes back to the message. It read:

Dear Little Miss Catherine,

How are you? I heard about the little run in with Jarod. Shame huh? Maybe his next pursuer will get him. Since your job is coming to an end. Don’t worry it will be quick… like your mother’s. Remember… like mother, like daughter.

Yours truly

She bit her lip and then rubbed her eyes. Who could be doing this? And why hadn’t she heard from Jarod? Where is he? I thought the deal was, I let him go and he helps me…

Almost like magic the phone rang. She quickly picked it up.

"What?" she asked sharply.

"Send the messages to shadow@hotmail.com," was all she heard and then Jarod hung up. She quickly hung the phone up and copied the message and pasted in her e-mail to shadow@hotmail.com, and then clicked send. She let out a sigh as she leaned back in her leather chair and waited.


Orlando, Florida
Motel room
Same day, same moment

Jarod opened the message as soon as the e-mail icon blinked once. His eyes danced about the screen as he read. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the two messages. He was in deep in thought when he received another message. He couldn’t help but notice no return address. He opened that one as well.

Dear Lab Rat,

Naughty little Jarod. Now why would you help your worst enemy? You don’t know what you are dealing with! I will kill you as well if you even think of helping your Little Miss Catherine, you hear me?

Yours truly

Jarod stared at the message for a long time. How would he have known? Who is this?


Back at the Centre

Miss Parker waited for him to return with a message and was about to give up when her icon began to blink. She quickly opened it, noting it was from shadow@hotmail.com. She read it carefully, hoping he had something.

Parker-

I just received this a moment ago… read it.

Miss Parker’s eyes scanned down the screen and read the familiar message. Her eyes became wide with fear. Oh my… she thought. Now he was threatening Jarod. After the threatening message it read:

Parker-

Not safe to communicate by e-mail. I’ll contact you by another way.

J.

I hope you do Jarod, Miss Parker thought.


Back in Jarod’s Motel room

Jarod saw the icon flash again and opened it. No return address. Oh no…

Dear Lab Rat,

I warned you. You will receive an even more painful death than your lucky Little Miss Catherine will. I’ll make sure of it!

Yours truly

Jarod stared at the message for a long moment and then sighedas he rubbed his eyes. He had a problem, a real problem.


Blue Cove, Delaware
Miss Parker’s home
That night

She awoke to a loud crash. She flung upright in bed and looked around the dark room. She reached for her gun in instinct and realized it wasn’t there. She let out a gasp in shock. She reached into the darkness and turned on the lamp. It wouldn’t turn on. She flicked it again and again, same results. She gathered her courage and got out of bed. She tiptoed through the darkness. The cold wooden floor sent shivers up her spine. Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps coming from the kitchen and down the hall. She froze in fear. Her breathing became heavier as she listened. The footsteps stopped suddenly.

"Show yourself!" she yelled, unable to hide the fear from her voice. "I’m not afraid of you! You hear me? Show your freaken face!" She paused for any kind of response. She heard nothing. She had the eerie feeling that she was being watched and spun around to be staring into the face of a shadow. She let out a high pitched scream and swung out her fist. POW!

"Ouch!" went the intruder, followed by a thud as he hit the floor. The voice sounded familiar.

"Jarod?" Miss Parker whispered to the shadow that lay on the wooden floor at her feet.

"Is that your new greeting… hitting me all the time?" he said, his voice muffled.

"You scared the hell out of me! You know I’m being threatened!" she shouted into the darkness.

"Well yeah, but you aren’t the only one," he said, getting up from the floor.

"What? They are threatening you too?"

"After I sent you that message that I received, I got another one saying I was going to die also."

"Oh great!"

"What? You want to be the one to kill me?"

"No… you are the only one that can help me."

"Uh huh," he said, sarcasm in his tone.

"Well name another who can help me."

"Hmm… well…"

BANG!

The gunshot made both of them jump in surprise. Jarod tackled Miss Parker to the floor.

"Ouch! You mangy little…"

"Shhh!" he hushed her. They both listened to the silence.

"Where did it come from?" Miss Parker asked.

"I don’t know."

Silence.

"Get off me!" she whispered angrily all of a sudden. He quickly climbed off her, being as quiet as he possibly can.

Suddenly they heard a window being crashed open. Miss Parker was about to leap to her feet but Jarod reached through the darkness and pulled her back to the floor. He felt her slap him on the hand. He jerked away quickly.

"What did you do with my gun?" she whispered to him angrily.

"I didn’t do anything with your little pet," he whispered back.

Suddenly, she heard Jarod let out a gasp of pain, followed by a moan.

"What? What’s wrong?" she asked through the darkness. Silence. "Jarod?" Nothing. "Jarod, what’s wrong?" Then she saw him, standing over her.

"You!" she shouted as she kicked out with her leg. She hit him right in the thigh hard. He doubled over and held his sore leg.

"Big mistake Miss P.," the deep voice called down to her. She was expecting him to hit her or shoot her, but she watched him disappear into the darkness, silence following him.

"Jarod?" she asked through the darkness. She turned on her side and reached into the darkness in search for him. She finally came in contact. She ran her hand down his chest. She quickly jerked her hand back in surprise then returned it to his side. There she felt cold metal sticking up from his left side and blood surrounding it. "Oh my god, Jarod."

She quickly scrambled to her feet and ran her hand on the wall for the light switch. She let out a sigh of relief when it flicked on. She spun around to see Jarod lying on his back, eyes closed, with a knife sticking out of his left side. She noticed the huge bruise that claimed the flesh on his left side of his face of where she had hit him the other day. She swallowed hard and collapsed to her knees and searched for breathing. His breaths were very short.

"Oh thank you," she whispered as she lifted his head off the cold floor. He moaned in pain and slowly opened his eyes half way, and looked up at her through his eyelashes weakly. She stared at him in shock for a long moment, and then glanced at the knife that stood out form his leather jacket. There on the handle read:

Just tying up lose ends, or shall we say, cutting up lose ends?
Yours truly

She shook her head in disgust. She glanced at Jarod and saw that his eyes were closed again.

"Jarod!" she yelled, gently putting his head down on the floor again. He opened his eyes in surprise. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Don’t do that to me!" she shouted nervously at him.

"What did I do?" he asked weakly. Miss Parker shook her head sadly.

"Look, I’m going to pull out the knife, okay?"

"Knife?"

"Yes. You have been stabbed."

"He stabbed me?" His tone was surprised and sad at the same time.

"Yes," she replied softly. She wrapped her fingers around the handle. "Okay, on three. One… two… three."

He let out a painful scream as she yanked the metal from his body. She felt his whole body tense. His breathing was short and rapid. She glanced at the knife in her hand realizing that it was longer than it looked. She then leaned over him and studied his deep wound on his side. She grit her teeth together.

"It’s really deep. But I don’t think it’s going to kill ya."

"So when did you become the doctor?" he said with a weak grin. She grinned wickedly back down at him.

"Funny. Remind me to laugh later," she said with a wider smirk. She quickly got up and left the room and then returned again with a first aid kit.

She knelt down beside him and opened the kit. She glanced at his side and than at his face, which he had his eyes closed again. She bit her lip and returned her attention to his side again. Not thinking about it again, she quickly reached for his jacket and pushed it off as much as she needed it to be and then lifted his shirt up. As soon as Jarod felt the cold air hit his wound he hissed in pain. Very gently, she began to clean the stab wound. He bit his lower lip, keeping himself not to scream and swipe her hand away. The whole time, she watched his face for his reaction.

"Sorry," she whispered when he winced in pain. He shook his head, still keeping his eyes shut tight. "I’m going to need you to sit up now." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Come sit on the bed so I can wrap you up."

With her help, he got to his feet. He slowly limped to the bed and sat down with a moan. "Okay, the shirt goes." He gave her an odd look and then painfully slid off his jacket and then his shirt. She patted the wound gently before putting the gauze on it and then wrapping it up. She felt his eyes on her the whole time as she wrapped the cloth around his waist and making sure it will stay in place. She took a risk and looked up into his dark baby browns. She had to admit she loved his eyes the most.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked softly. She stared into his eyes, getting lost into their gorgeous glare. She quickly blinked away finally.

"What do you mean?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

"Doing this. You said yourself that you wanted to shoot me. Why not just let me bleed to death? I would think you would finish me off once you got the chance."

"You wouldn’t understand."

"What wouldn’t I understand?"

"Everything!" she snapped. She took a deep breath and then finished in a lower and calmer voice. "Look, we need to get somewhere safe. Like the Centre."

"No way!" he said, getting up. He groaned in pain as she pulled him back down to the bed.

"You can’t get away from him like this," she said, gesturing her head towards his side.

"I will if I’m desperate!"

"Stop being silly. You are coming back to the Centre."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes."

"No, no, no!"

"Yes, you bathetic moron!"

He was silent for a moment. "If you want me to go back to that hell hole, then you will bring me back as a carcass!" he shouted angrily. He quickly got to his feet, gritting his teeth from the pain.

"Fine!" she shouted, as she leaped to her feet and punched him in the gut. The combination of the blow and the pain from his wound shooting down his body was enough to make him scream in pain and fall back on the bed. "Is that what you want?" she asked angrily.

He just laid there, eyes closed and breathing heavily, desperately trying to recover. She watched him lying there and became a little worried.

"Get up, you baby," she snapped. It took all her might to say that to him.

He squeezed his eyes tighter closed and she could hear him grinding his teeth. After a long moment he slowly opened his eyelids and looked up at her. She glared down at him like a cat looking at its prey. Just her glare made his heart beat faster.

"I’m not going back," he whispered to her. She barely heard him. She shook her head.

"I’m not letting you go again."

He stared at her. She could have sworn he was giving her puppy eyes, if not it was working anyway.

"He is going to kill you," she replied softly.

"So? What do you care?"

She stared at him in silence again.

"I hate you," she whispered to him. He gave her a boyish grin.


Blue Cove, Delaware
Miss Parker’s car
August 24, 1998

"Are you sure?" she asked, with the phone to her ear.

"Yes I am sure. That is a different phone. No one can track it," Jarod assured her over the phone. She glanced around the road that zipped underneath her tires. "Have you gotten more threats?"

"Yes, everyday," she said with a shiver going down her spine. "I think he thinks that you are dead."

"Well he is in for a surprise."

"How are you doing?" she asked, a hint of censer.

"I’m fine," he replied. She could hear the smile in his voice. That made her smile as well. "I’m healing nicely, from the bruises on my face and stomach and the stab wound on my side."

"I’m sorry for hitting you," she said softly.

"Yeah well, don’t be. It’s in your…"

"Job description. I know, I know," she finished for him.

"Well I have work to do," he said. She was surprised he had even said that. Usually he would just say something smart and hung up on her. There was a long pause. "Look on the phone. My number is on the speed dial." And with that there was a click on the other line. She stared off on the road in shock and then glanced at the little black cell phone. There it was, on speed dial. Just like he said. He had never gave his number of where she could reach him. That surprised her the most. She could so easily could track the signal and then catch him. That was proof that he trusted her. She finally hung it up and then set it on the passenger’s seat.


Somewhere in Kentucky
Same day, same moment
Motel room

Jarod slowly pushed the antenna of his cell phone in while staring off into space, deep in thought. Had he done the right thing? He hoped he could trust her. He was putting his own life in danger for his enemy. Why? Why would he ever do that? Maybe it was the way that she was leaning on him for safety. The way she was depending on him to help her. Or was it that he was desperately trying to win her friendship again? So many questions… and very little answers.

Back at Blue Cove
The Centre

Miss Parker pulled to a stop in the Centre’s parking lot and quickly looked around before getting out. She was just thinking about how unusually dark it was for daytime, probably a storm on its way, when suddenly someone behind her wrapped their arm around her neck and put a cloth with a strong liquid on it. She desperately tried to scramble out of the death trap but it was too late. The liquid took its toll on her and she slowly lost her consciousness.


Where?
Who the hell knows

Miss Parker slowly opened her eyes. As her eyes focused on the dark little room, she realized that she was tightly tied down to a chair. She wiggled with all her might, but it was no use. Then she saw him. He stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed over his chest and watching her with an evil fascination. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was rather tall and looked like no one to mess with even though he looked at the age of Sydney.

"You! Are the one who has been threatening me?" she asked angrily. He just stood there, staring at her. She suddenly became uncomfortable from his endless glare. "Are you going to answer me? Who are you? What do you want?"

He finally stood up straighter and began to walk slowly towards her. He had an evil grin on his face. He slowly bent down as that his eyes were level with hers and spoke low and evil…

"Hello Little Miss Catherine. And how are we doing today?" he asked in a deep voice, the same she had heard four nights ago.

"Shut-up!" Miss Parker snapped.

"Oh, well I guess I will. Bummer, I was just about to tell you who I was and what I wanted," he said in a mocking voice. She glared up at him. His smile grew wider when she was silent for a long while. "That’s better. Now do you want to know?" Miss Parker slowly nodded her head in response. "You really want to know?"

"Yes!" she snapped.

"Are you sure?"

"Tell me you bafoon!"

He let out a low and dangerous laugh before saying, "But it might come as a shock to you? Can you handle it?"

"If you don’t tell me now, I will rip out every single organ in that body of yours until there is nothing left but your stupid little grin!"

"Tisk, tisk, Miss P. You should be nice to me if you want some answers."

When she was silent, he gave her another grin. "That’s better. Now, where was I? Oh yes, your answers. Well you could say that I have come to finish what I started."

"What?"

"I killed your mother, so now I’m killing her daughter," he simply said, as if it was another day in the office, in which it probably was.

"What?" she whispered shockingly.

"You heard me."

"You are working for the Centre, aren’t you?"

There was no response.

"You are! You got orders from Raines to have me killed and…"

"Who said anything about Raines?"

She stared at him in complete shock.

"My-my father?" she asked, more to herself then to him. He nodded with a grin on his face. She stared down at the floor for a long moment, not believing what she was told. "Why would my father…" she thought out loud but stopped her self, thinking of all the answers that she could give herself. She then looked up at him and gave a cruel face.

"So that means… you are Jarod’s father."

He stared at her with no expression. "Was," he simply stated.

"You tried to kill your own son?"

"Tried?"

She opened her mouth to respond but he cut her off.

"He didn’t die?"

Miss Parker stared him. "Yes he did and…"

"No, you are lying. Jarod is still alive. But he won’t be for long."

"How can you kill your own son?"

As soon as she said it, he slapped her hard across her face. She let out a gasp of shock and pain.

"Shut-up!" he yelled right in her ear, so loud it startled her. He quickly spun around and left the room. She sat there in the darkness for what seemed to be forever when she heard it…

Ring… ring… ring… ring… ring… She glanced over to the far wall and saw a cell phone on a black table. It was the one Jarod had given her. Why would they have left it here? She didn’t think about it anymore. She glanced around the room, checking if she was alone, and then began to scoot her way towards the table. Every inch she moved, the chair would make a horrible squeak sound. She bit her lip, hoping no one would barge in at the moment. Finally she reached it. All she had to do was flip it open. That’s not so hard is it? With your hands no it isn’t, but without them… well it boggles the mind. She glanced around one last time and then leaned as far as the ropes would allow and used her chin and the surface of the table to pop it open. She let out a sigh of relief when it did.

"Hello? Jarod?" she asked into the phone, desperation in her voice.


Back in Kentucky

Jarod became more worried at every ring. He waited and waited. Where could she be? He just talked to her. Suddenly he heard scraping sounds and then a huge sigh from the other end. He waited for a voice.

"Hello? Jarod?" her tone made it clear to him that she was in trouble.

"Miss Parker? Are you okay?" he asked, all full of worry.

"No, they got me. It is my mother’s murder, and he is planning to kill me as well. It’s-it’s your father Jarod."

He stared off into space in shock. Finally closing his eyes to hold back the tears that screamed to flow, he softly said, "Stay with me as long as you can. I’m going to track the signal. Okay?"

"No Jarod! He is going to kill you! Just stay away!"

"No, stay with me!"

"Jarod…" there was no response. She heard him set the phone down and began to fiddle with something in the background. "Jarod!" Just then a hand reached down and picked up the phone from under her nose.

She looked up to see him smirking down at her. He lifted the phone to his ear and listened.

"Okay, I know where you are," Jarod paused for a response.

"Miss Parker?"

Click. "Miss Parker?"

Miss Parker watched as he slapped the phone shut.

"Thanks Miss P. Now that Jarod is on his way, we can have a killer party!" he said with a smirk.

"You planned this, didn’t you?" Miss Parker asked. His smirk
grew wider.

"Well, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were the genius."

"So you knew he was alive?"

He nodded slowly.

"Why you little..."

"You know Miss P., if you don’t finish that sentence I might give you a painless death."

"If you are going to kill me, then why not do it a long time ago by putting a bullet through my head as I got out of my car or something?"

"Because of the added bonus."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"Jarod."


Assembly morning

She sat in the darkness of the room, thinking of what could possibly happen and all the odds. It didn’t look good at all. Suddenly, she heard the door’s lock being picked. She sat up straighter and watched as it quietly flung open. There was Jarod. He quietly tiptoed towards her.

"Why didn’t you stay away?" Miss Parker whispered.

"I’m stuborn," he replied with a boyish grin. He began to untie her.

"How did you get in here with out being noticed?"

"First thing, I’m a pretender and the second; it’s an abandoned warehouse. No body is in sight."

Finally she was untied and they quietly tiptoed out the room and down the hall. He was right; it was an abandoned warehouse. It was very old, dust and cobwebs everywhere, and looked as if it hadn’t seen a paintbrush in years.

"This way," he whispered over his shoulder to her. She nodded in response. They made their way down a flight of stairs and out a couple doors before reaching the real exit. They picked up there pace as they came nearer and nearer to the exit, when suddenly there he was. Jarod’s father stepped out from a corner and stood right in front of the exit. Jarod and Miss Parker froze in their tracks. There in his father’s fist was a gun pointed right at them. Jarod stepped in front of Miss Parker, acting as a shield.

"Oh, how sweet. He’s a genius and loyal," Jarod’s father sneered. Jarod just stared at him with no expression at all. But his father just stared back at him in the same manner. "Well? Aren’t you happy to see your old man after all those… lost years?" Jarod shook his head in disgust. "Tisk, tisk. Wrong answer!"

And with that his father aimed the gun up and at a ceiling fan, in which he shot the base right from the wall. It came crashing down on top of Jarod, hitting him hard on the head and knocking him to the floor.

"Jarod!" Miss Parker screamed, as she fell to her knees beside him. She heard his father laughing, and she took advantage of the moment and leaped at his chest, knocking him into the door behind him. She slammed his hand onto the door, knocking the gun from his grip. Suddenly the doors swung open and they both tumbled out and on to the pavement outside. He kicked her off him and quickly leaped to his feet. "You are so much going to pay for that!"

"Come get me!" she dared, waving both of her hands in front of her as she rocked back and forth her feet. He suddenly leaped at her, giving her only a second to get out of the way. He almost tumbled to the pavement, but kept his footing. "You can do better than that!" she said with an evil laugh.

"Of course, I promise you that!" he said, as he took off for her. She then stepped out of the way, but was too soon. He saw it coming and grabbed a hold of her arm and swung her to the ground. She laid there for a second or too, trying to recover and then quickly got to her feet, proving she can take it. "Oh? You want more, eh?" he said as he threw a punch. She ducked and returned with a kick to the gut. He doubled over and quickly caught his breath.

Suddenly he pulled out a knife. She stared at it in shock as it reflected the sun’s light and almost blinded her. He then took off towards her with full force and knocked her to the ground. She laid there and watched as he lifted the knife in the air and was about to…

"Hey!" they heard a shout come from behind them. They both glanced back. There was Jarod with the gun in his hand, aiming right at his father. His father stared at him for a long moment.

"You wouldn’t shoot your own father, would you? You are a part of me! You have my genes boy!"

Jarod stared at him, as if staring right through him. "Yeah… isn’t genetics a bitch?" and with that Jarod pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Jarod watched in horror as the bullet escaped the gun and blew his father right off of Miss Parker. Miss Parker scrambled on the pavement, getting away form the still figure on the ground. She then glanced at Jarod in shock. He just stared down at his father with no expression and gun still aimed out. His eyes were as blank as a white piece of paper. Shock, she thought. Suddenly, Jarod dropped to his knees and closed his eyes, as a single tear ran down his cheek. Miss Parker slowly got up and walked to him and also got to her knees. She gently wrapped her arms around him as he put his head on her shoulder and began to cry. She felt a tear flow down her cheek as she felt him against her shaking with emotions.

"It’s okay," she whispered to him in convert, her own voice cracking from tears. "Shhh… it’s okay."


Orlando, Florida
Motel Room
August 30, 1998

"Yes I am having a good time, I will admit it," Miss Parker said into the cell phone, as she lay on the bed and stared at the white ceiling.

"See? I told you," Jarod replied. She smiled. She loved the sound of his voice. She could listen to him forever. "Are you going back to the Centre?"

"Never!" she replied, a little shocked of her answer.

"Good." He said softly.

"Jarod?" she began.

"Yes?"

"How did you do it? I mean, I didn’t think you had it in you," she said softly, considering it was a very sensitive subject, but she had to know. There was a long pause.

"I pretended to be him. He would have shot me, so that made me able to shoot him," he replied softly. She caught the emotion in his voice and so much wanted to be there with him, wherever that might be.

"I’m sorry Jarod."

"Yeah… me too." There was a pause. "Oh, you better answer that."

"Answer what?" Miss Parker asked. Just then, there was a knock on the door. She sat up in shock. "Jarod?" she asked into the phone.

"Go answer it," he said. She just sat there. "Well? I can’t wait forever."

She then quickly got up and walked to the door. She looked through the peek hole and was surprised to see nothing. She stepped back and thought about not opening it, but if it was from Jarod, what is she afraid of?

"Well?" she heard him say over the phone in her hand. "You know I hate call waiting!" She smiled at his joke and quickly unlocked the door and swung it open.

There stood Jarod with his phone still to his ear with a huge smile on his face. He waved to her in a boyish manner. Still talking into the phone, he said, "And I also hate long distant calls as well."

She smiled at him and hung up her phone, as he did as also.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, as she leaned on the door frame.

"Well, I just couldn’t let you have all the fun at Disney World now can I?"

She smiled even wider. "Well, of course not!"

"Grab your coat."

"Why?" she asked with one brow lifted.

"Well, I don’t want to wait in line to see Mickey Mouse, do you?"

She let out a giggle and then quickly grabbed her coat.

As they walked down the hall of the motel, to Jarod’s surprise, Miss Parker reached down and grabbed a hold of his hand and linked their fingers together. He smiled down at her as they stepped in to the elevator.

The End


This story archived at http://www.pretendercentre.com/missingpieces/viewstory.php?sid=264