Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please do not sue because I have no money.

Just when you thought it was safe to let down your guard.


Safe
By: 24


Jarod had been off the Centre’s radar for about a year now and was living in the sleepy town of Jacksonville Heights. He had decided that he was tired of the cat and mouse game and quit. He had a job in town as a Dr and loved it. He wasn’t helping as many people as he was when he was on the run, but it was enough to help the people in town. He had a girlfriend and her name was Lesley Wilson. She was almost his height and had blonde hair with blue eyes. He had never told her about his life in the Centre, that he had escaped, that he had been on the run from the same people who had kidnapped him as a child, that he has a clone, nor had she seen his DSA’s. There wasn’t a day that went by that he thought about his hunters and wondered how they were doing. He wanted to call Sydney and Miss Parker to see if they were alright, but he knew that he couldn’t because it would lead them to him and he had a life now and it was time for him to live it. He had settled down and planted roots here and had somewhere where he didn’t have to be on the run all the time.

Jarod walked into the lobby to tell one of his patient’s parents that their daughter had pulled out of the surgery and would be going to a room soon. They thanked him and then went up to the elevator following him so he could show them her room. He didn’t see a man sitting in the lobby waiting for his father to finish his doctor’s visit and definitely did not see him take a double take in his direction. The man quickly got up as the elevator doors closed, went outside, pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed a number.

“What?”

“Miss Parker. This is Jason Miller and I’m a sweeper. I was on vacation caring for my father when I just saw Jarod. He’s a doctor in Jacksonville Heights, California. Don’t worry he didn’t see me. I’ll try to get more information to you.”

“Good. I’ll be down there soon. Thank you Jason.”

“You’re welcome Miss Parker.”


The Centre

Blue Cove, Delaware.

Miss Parker glided down the hallway and into the tech lab with a smile on her face. Sydney and Broots were already there waiting for her. They had been busy trying to find Jarod this last year, but with no clues to his wareabouts it was not easy.

“I have good news. One of the sweepers spotted Jarod at Jacksonville Heights, California. I’m getting some sweepers to take along with us and then were leaving to take the lost boy home.”

They boarded the plane and each in their own thoughts. Sydney was thinking I hope its not Jarod because he didn’t want him to get caught. Broots was thinking that too because Jarod had helped him gain custody of Debbie. Miss Parker was thinking finally this is the day that I will catch the wayward pretender and it will all be over.

They taxied to a stop, stepped off the plane and were about to step into the limo then Miss Parker’s phone went off.

“What?”

“I have more information. He lives on 7865 Winding Way and he has a girlfriend named Lesley Wilson. She lives on 2314 Davis Way.”

“Thank you Jason.”

She disconnected the line and barked at the limo driver.

“We are going to 2314 Davis Way.”

The limo took off and parked right in front of the house. It was a small one-story house with a flower garden in front. The trim was in yellow and the house color was white.

“Miss Parker, Sam and another sweeper stepped out of the car leaving Broots, Sydney and other sweepers in the car. They looked around the neighborhood and then knocked on the door.

Lesley was in the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. She put down her sandwich and walked to the door to open it.

“Can I help you?”

“Have you seen this man?” Miss Parker said as she held out a pursuit photo of Jarod.

“That’s my boyfriend Jarod.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s still at the hospital working. Why?”

“Do you have a key to his house?”

“Why?”

“I’m asking the questions here. Now tell me, or I’ll have to hurt you.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Get the key and come with us.”

They grabbed her as she took the key out of the drawers and led her to the limo shoving her inside.

“Who are you?”

“That is none of your business.”

“We are now going to 7865 Winding Way.”

They pulled up to another one story house this time it had blue trim and the house color was a pale blue. They pulled Lesley out and the sweepers, Broots, Sydney, Miss Parker got out of the car. Miss Parker talked to the remaining sweeper in the car who was driving. She had told him to hide the car, so Jarod wouldn’t see it when he came home and she would call him when they were ready.

Lesley unlocked the door and they all walked in. They shoved her into one of the living room chairs.

“I want you to call Jarod and tell him to come home. Tell him you want to make him lunch or something. Just get him here.” Miss Parker said as she handed her the portable phone.

“Why?”

“Just do what I say and you won’t get hurt.”

Lesley grabbed the phone and dialed a familiar number. The phone was picked up on two rings.

“This is Jarod Johnson.”

“Jarod.”

“Lesley.”

“What are you doing right now?”

“Just catching up on some papers and I’m almost done.”

“Can you come to your house for lunch. I thought that I would cook you something for lunch.”

“Sure, I haven’t eaten yet. I’ll be there in a couple of seconds.”

“Okay.”

“See you later Lesley.”

“Okay, Jarod.”

She hung up the phone and handed it to Miss Parker.

“That was very good, Lesley.”

A couple of seconds later the door unlocked and Jarod walked in. He didn’t smell anything cooking and so he called out. The sweepers were hiding so Jarod wouldn’t see them.

“Lesley where are you?”

“In the living room.”

He walked into the living room and stopped as he saw Lesley handcuffed to one of the kitchen chairs in the middle of the room with Miss Parker standing in back of her with Sam. Sydney and Broots were also there sitting on the couch.

“Hello Jarod. Sydney and I haven’t heard from you in a year.”

Jarod glared at Sam and Miss Parker. He turned his head as he saw more sweepers come out behind him.

“How did you find me Miss Parker?”

“An accident really. One of the sweepers was in the lobby of the hospital waiting for his father to get out of his appointment when he saw you. He called us and the rest is history. Now where are the DSA’s Jarod?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Are you sure?”

“You are taking me back you don’t need the DSA’s.”

“Of course we do.” She nodded to Sam and Sam fished his knife out.

“Now Jarod this is just a pocket knife, but it is sharp and it will hurt.”

“Leave her alone Sam.”

“Tell us where the DSA’s are and she won’t get hurt.”

“They are in the cardboard box in back of the downstairs closet.”

“You better not be lying Jarod.” Sam nodded to one of the sweepers who went to the closet and dragged the box out. Opening it he grabbed the silver briefcase and opened it.

“He was telling the truth.”

“Good.”

“Hands behind your back Jarod.”

“Miss Parker, you have me and the DSA’s please let her go. She doesn’t know anything.”

“Miss Parker it will go a long way if you let her go.” Sydney spoke up.

Miss Parker glanced at the woman in the chair and back at Jarod. His hands were restrained in back of him and his eyes were pleading with hers.

“Let her go. We have lab rat and the DSA’s that’s enough.” She told Sam and then faced the woman. “If you breathe a word about this I won’t hurt you, but I’ll kill you. Got it.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry Lesley that I got you involved with this. I thought that I was safe.”

“Who are they Jarod?”

“I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

She watched as they carted the strange silver case and Jarod away. Miss Parker had called the sweeper and the limo was waiting in front of the house for them. She watched as they shoved Jarod into the car and they took off.

TBC

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.


Safe
By: 24


Lesley stood there staring out the window with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t believe that he was gone and it wasn’t even his fault that he had left. Some unknown people had gone and taken her Jarod away from her. Why would they do that? She thought to herself. She thought back to the fun times that they had and hoped that she would see him again. Maybe he would tell her what this was about. She went to his room and stood there looking around then went to the his shirt drawer and opened it. She took one of his shirts out and then found an envelope with her name on it.

Lesley,


If you are reading this then that means that they have caught me. I am in no way a criminal. For that you must believe me. The only thing that I can tell you was that I was separated from my family when I was a child and locked up for a very long time. I have been spending most of my life trying to put my family back together since I escaped, but that has been impossible even now that I am not on the run. The first time that I saw you working at the hospital I knew then that my running days were over. I have never wanted to settle down before in my life, but one look at you changed that. I am so sorry that I had to leave and I hope that one day I will escape and make it back there, but that may take sometime and hard work. When you look at the stars at night just remember that I will be thinking of you. I love you Lesley and I always will.


Love,

Jarod.


Tears started running down her face again as she read the letter. He’s gone and there was no way for him to come back. Wait a minute there was a way. She remembered a name they had said. The Centre. They thought that she couldn’t hear through the glass, but the window was open. She had heard Jarod say he was never doing sims. Whatever those were and then Miss Parker said the Centre owns you Jarod it always had. She quickly wiped the tears from her face put the letter back into the envelope and took it with her. She had called one of her friends to come and get her and she walked into her house. She picked up the phone and dialed a number.

“Hello.”

“Dad, I need to talk to you.”

“What is it honey?”

“Please can you come over.”

“Sure baby.”

She walked to the door when she heard her father drive up and park the car.

“What is it honey?”

“Jarod’s gone.”

“Jarod left you?”

“Not really. I have to talk to you.” She said as they made their way towards the living room. When they sat down she spoke up again. “Dad, I know that you were in the military. Have you ever heard of a place called the Centre?”

“The Centre. Yes, I do remember that name. We had simulations done from that place.”

“You know about sims?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Someone took Jarod away and they were from the Centre. They didn’t know that the window was open and I heard the older man I think his name is Sydney say that Jarod was going to do sims again. Jarod said that he wasn’t going to do them anymore because he knew what they really did with them. The woman named Miss Parker say that the Centre owns you Jarod and it always did.”

“You know I still have friends inside the military to help me. I’ll give them a call and have them help me. I’ll get back to you soon.”

“Thank you dad. I knew that I could count on you.” She hugged her father and then he left.

A week later she was in the living room watching T.V. when the phone rang.

“I found some information. The Centre is a corporation based in Blue Cove, Delaware. They do experiments and simulations there. I got to go and see one of the DSA’s that they had and a young boy named Jarod helped out. He was your Jarod. He seems to be really smart.”

“The letter that I got said that he was separated from his parents when he was a child and he was looking for them. He didn’t tell me anymore. Do you think that they stole him when he was a child and locked him up there to do simulations?”

“I think that you are right baby.”

“My gosh how could they do that to a child.”

“Didn’t you say that the Parker woman say the Centre owns him. Maybe they never thought of him as a child. Miss Parker is the chairman’s daughter. There was a younger man named Sydney on the disk too, so the older man was the Sydney that was on the disk.”

“That must have been his mentor. Please dad can you get him out?”

“I’ll try.”

“Please dad. Get him out. I don’t know what they will do to him in there since he won’t work for them again.”

She hung up the phone and grabbed the shirt that she took from Jarod’s house. It was her favorite shirt that he had. She had brought it for him as a gift. She smelled it drinking up his scent and thinking back when they had first met. She had seen him in his white coat and suddenly fell in love with him and she knew that he did too when she read the letter.

She reached for the letter again and reread it. She hoped against the impossible that her father could somehow get some people together and get him out. She loved him and he loved her. They needed the chance to be together.

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and do not belong to me. They are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.


Safe
By: 24


Jarod laid in a huddled mass on the concrete floor. He had been here for a while. They had beaten him when he arrived and shoved him into the cell locking the door behind them. He looked up at the cell door wondering if he would ever escape this time. The drainage ditch that he had escaped before was still welded shut, so there was no out for him this time. He looked up and stared at the unblinking eye of the camera. He hated the cameras. Everyday of his life had been recorded. The only time that he didn’t have the cameras on him was when he was in his tiny cell.

He closed his eyes and turned away from the camera. He would have to bide his time and one day they would mess up and then he would make his escape. Then he would make his way back towards Lesley. His lovely Lesley. It would take some time between getting out and then making his way there. He would have to do some pretends to throw the Centre away from checking back to Lesley and then when he got there he would have to do surveillance to make sure that there were no sweepers around. Simming it in his mind he smiled as he thought about being reunited with her again.

The door to the room opened and he quickly got up and faced whoever would be coming through the door. He stepped back as he saw who it was.

“Hello Jarod.”

“Lyle, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I am in charge of you now.” He smiled at him.

“No.”

“Yes, Jarod. We can’t let Sydney near you, or my twit of a sister.”

“She’s the one that caught me not you.”

“I know. She was allowed to leave anyways. She’s gone already. Don’t know where she’s at though.”

Pain filled days and weeks went by for Jarod who had refused time and time again to work for them.

“Jarod, Jarod, when are you going to get it that the Centre owns you. Isn’t that what Damon said after he shot and killed Kenny? The Centre owns you, so get used to it.”

One of the sweepers unlocked the cuffs holding his hands above his head and he fell in a huddle on the floor. He looked as the sweepers and Lyle walked out of the cell and out the door leading to the room. He closed his eyes as they left him alone.

He opened them again when he heard a noise. He looked up at that camera, but the red light was off. He watched as people made his way towards him. He focused on the man who was in the lead. He recognized this man. It was Lesley’s father, Mr. Wilson.

He walked towards the cell, unlocked it and opened the door. The men walked in behind him.

“Jarod, are you alright?”

“I am now.”

He tried to get up, but he was a little weak. Mr. Wilson glanced around and saw his black shirt that they had taken off of him. He put the shirt on after looking at his back and one of the other men picked him up. They dragged him to the vent, but not before Angelo peeked out.

“Angelo. What are you doing here?”

“Goodbye my friend. Safe now. Safe from them. Will have your freedom now.”

He smiled at his friend. “Why don’t you come with us?”

“Can’t.”

Jarod nodded and then reached out for his friend. “I will miss you Angelo. Thank you for helping Kyle and me. Thank you for what you did.”

Angelo smiled a beautiful smile “Your Welcome, Jarod. Go now. Be happy.”

“I will. If you need me you know how to contact me.”

Angelo nodded and went back into the vents disappearing from their sight. Then they to left and sped off in the van that they drove here in. Jarod leaned his head back and sighed. He was free again and that’s what mattered. He watched as the scenery went by and turned his head towards Mr. Wilson who was driving.

“Thank you for getting me out, Mr. Wilson.”

“You’re Welcome Jarod.”

They drove through the day and almost through the night. They finally stopped at a house that was already lit up. They got out of the van and someone helped Jarod out. The door was unlocked and there was a wonderful smell as they walked in. The door to the kitchen opened and a woman stood there with a smile on her face.

“Jarod. Jarod, you’re finally here. They did it.” She saw a bruise on his face, but she didn’t care as she rushed towards him and hugged him.

“Lesley. Oh, my Lesley.” He said as he hugged her back. “I’m so glad to be here.”

“Jarod, tell me all about it. I mean not what happened, but what happened now. They need to know too because they put their lives on the line rescuing you.” She nodded to her father and the other men.

They sat in the living room. Jarod looked around and then back to Lesley and started his woeful tale.

“When I was a child I was stolen from my family and taken to the Centre where I did simulations. You see I am a pretender, a genius who can become anyone that I want to be. When I was younger Miss Parker came into my life. She was my childhood friend. I was introduced to her in an experiment. We were inseparable. She saw her mother supposedly killed right in front of her. It was later when I was on the outside that she was not dead, but gave birth to my and Miss Parker’s brother Ethan. Then she was sent to boarding school and I never saw her again until she was put on the pursuit. When I got older I found out that they were using my work to hurt and kill people and so I escaped. My handler, or mentor Sydney was put on the chase too. Then there’s Broots who’s a computer tech on the hunt. When I was on the outside I helped Miss Parker with the truth’s to her past, I helped Sydney know that he had a son and I’ve helped Broots gain custody of his daughter. I’ve also moved around a lot doing various pretends helping people. I was in isolation my whole life and found many discoveries. I found about ice cream, pez, Twinkies, donuts and other things. I was only fed wheat grass stewed with tomatoes. It was the first year that I escaped when I found out a child that I did a couple of Sims with whose name was Kyle was my brother. It was later that Miss Parker’s twin brother Mr. Lyle killed him. Mr. Lyle was aiming for me and Kyle got in front of me. I donated his heart to a dying child. When I was in the Centre I did a cloning simulation and it was a couple of years when I found my father we found a younger me. It was a surprise to see the boy who’s project name is Gemini. I rescued him, but my father was taken back to the Centre. I took the chairman Mr. Parker and traded him for my father. Miss Parker got shot and I stayed behind while the boy and my father took off in the plane. I have seen my mom, but haven’t yet met her. The first year out I found out that when my parents were in hiding my mom gave birth to a girl whose name is Emily. It was later that I found her when Mr. Lyle pushed her out the window. My father was at the hospital and then the sweepers came. We had to quickly get her out and went to another place.”

“My goodness Jarod. I’m so sorry that that happed to you. Who was that man Angelo?”

“He was also one of our friend. His name was Timmy until Mr. Raines who was Timmy’s handler electro shocked him and made him into Angelo. He’s now an empath. He showed up at a cabin I was staying at because I was trying to find the next child that the Centre was going to take. I concocted a treatment to help Angelo become Timmy. I made the same treatment to help Davy because they did the same thing to him as they did to Angelo. Miss Parker was there and fired her gun and when that happened the owner of the cabins came in knocking Miss Parker away and the vial smashed to the floor. Angelo still had one treatment left and he gave it to Davy. Angelo helped us escaped. I took Davy and placed him in a loving family.”

“Jarod, I think we should tend to your wounds.”

“I’ll do that later.”

“You must be hungry. Why don’t we eat first and then clean you up.”

Jarod ate a big helping of lasagna and then went with Mr. Wilson so he could help with the wounds on his back.

“Thank you Mr. Wilson for everything.”

“Like I said before. You’re Welcome.”

Disclaimer: “The Pretender” and its characters do not belong to me they belong to TNT and NBC and do not belong to me. They are being used without permission. Please don’t sue because I have no money.


Safe
By: 24


Jarod stood in the sun on the porch of their new house. Lesley and he had been married for four months now and he was very happy. Mr. Wilson had helped him in reuniting him with his family. His father, mother, clone who picked the name Jeremy and his sister Emily were living down the block from them. Mr. Wilson and his outfit were invaluable in shutting down the Centre. Miss Parker, Broots and Sydney were given a slap on the wrist then set free. The last he heard was that Miss Parker was engaged to a nice coworker named Mason. She was working for a law firm. Sydney was in psychiatry helping children and Broots was in charge of his own team in the computer business.

Jarod was still working at the same hospital that he had met his wife at and loved it there. He loved his life, loved his wife and loved his family. He only wished that Kyle was alive and allowed to join their family. He missed the brother that he only got to know.

He was very happy that he was given the chance to experience life without having to look over his shoulder. He was now allowed to put down roots and stay in one spot. Yesterday he had gotten the most joyous news. His wife was two weeks pregnant and he was ecstatic being a father. He was a little scared, but it would all be good in the end.

He went back inside the two-story house that they had bought together and started breakfast when he heard his lovely wife coming down the stairs. He smiled at her as she came into the kitchen and pour herself some coffee.

Yes, this is the life for him. He was very contented with his life. He turned to his wife and handed her a full plate and they made their way to the table. He finally had a happy ending and he was truly safe.

The End.