Legal disclaimer: The recognizable characters of the TV-show 'The Pretender' don't belong to me but to MTM, NBC Television, TNT and 20th Century Fox. I just borrowed them. Every other character does belong to me. This story was only written and published for my pleasure and that of other fans. I don't pursue any financial interests whatsoever. No copyright infringement is intended.

Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: 3. season
Summary: Miss Parker is forced to reconsider her priorities...
Author's note: All given times are UTC - Coordinated Universal Time.

Kudos to my wonderful editors, Mel and Dianne!

~~~



Precious Moments
Part IV
By Miss Bit



"What are you going to do now?" Miss Parker asked pensively, after watching the sun rising in silence for a while. When after a minute Jarod still hadn't said anything she turned to the right, only to realize that he was gone.

The fact that she hadn't noticed his disappearance irritated her but part of her was glad he had left. She'd have some time on her own now, time to think about everything.

"Pain in the neck," she murmured with a slight smile on her lips, casting a last look at the golden waters of the lake. Then she returned to the house, intending to catch a few hours of undisturbed sleep.

~~~

At about lunchtime Miss Parker was roused from her sleep by a faint noise. Disgruntled, she opened her eyes and listened. The noises she heard seemed to come from quite a distance - the ground level, probably. At first she heard a brief rumbling sound, then a bang followed by an angered voice. Although she couldn't understand the actual words, she was pretty sure she was listening to someone voicing their anger.

After a short moment of hesitation she decided to go downstairs and find out who the intruder was. Part of her refused to believe that any burglar would be so clumsy, but another part reminded her that she had promised to keep an eye on Ben's house.

She put on her dressing gown, picked up her weapon from the bottom of her bag and got on her way downstairs. Aware of the potential danger she moved stealthily, stopping dead in her tracks when she heard the voice again. Miss Parker smiled - she knew the voice. It only took her a minute to return to her room and put away her gun; then she went downstairs and into the kitchen. Silent, with her arms crossed in front of her chest, she stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

The kitchen looked like a very untidy battlefield. One of the chairs had been knocked over; next to it there was a small suitcase, the contents of which were covering quite a lot of the floor. Some of the pans that were usually fastened to the wall next to the back door had fallen down and lay scattered all over the kitchen. Right in the middle of this chaos stood Ben, his back to Miss Parker. She suppressed an amused smile.

"Welcome home, Ben," she said warmly. He spun around - surprisingly fast for a man his age - and the expression on his face changed from annoyed to pleasantly surprised at seeing her. "Need some help with this mess?"

"Miss Parker!"

He walked over to her, gave her a somewhat indecisive look and then hugged her, holding her close for the briefest of moments before he let go again and took a step back. It was only now that he seemed to notice the way she was dressed.

"I woke you, didn't I? I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said immediately. "I would have gotten up soon anyway. What happened in here?"

Ben gave her a mischievous grin. "Been a bit... clumsy."

He fell silent for a moment, his eyes searching her face, and she thought she saw concern flash in his gaze.

"Are you hungry? I could prepare something for us," he then offered, nothing but warmth and compassion in his eyes. Miss Parker tilted her head as she pondered his offer.

"That'd be great," she accepted. "Let me just take a shower and change first."

"All right. You just take your time. I'll have to clear my workspace first anyway," he said with a good-natured wink. She smiled warmly at him before she left the kitchen for the bathroom, briefly stopping by her room first.

Half an hour later, they were sitting in Ben's comfortable little kitchen. Miss Parker had quite enjoyed their quiet meal, mostly because of Ben's unobtrusive company. When he was around, she felt at ease and managed to forget the Centre long enough to be able to relax. Her injured shoulder was a good indication of how good this was for her: this was the first time in days that it didn't hurt although she'd stopped taking her medication.

"Are you all right?"

Ben was leaning towards her, giving her a questioning look. She frowned with surprise, then she reminded herself how well he'd known her mother. He could probably guess that there was something weighing on her mind. Miss Parker sighed softly. There were quite a few things she'd like to talk to Ben about, but did she have the right to burden him with her worries?

"Yes. Yes... I..." Her answer sounded phony even to herself. She shook her head, a drawn-out sigh escaping her.

"I don't want to trouble you with my problems," she said, looking firmly at Ben. He returned her gaze and reached for her hand, his eyes full of compassion, a warm smile on his face.

"Miss Parker, I'm glad you're here. But I can see that your mind is miles away. You can tell me whatever you want to talk about if it makes you feel better. I'd be glad to help you."

"Thank you, Ben."

She squeezed his hand, his understanding reaction filling her with relief.

"A lot has happened since my last visit here..."

~~~

Three days later, Miss Parker was sitting on the porch, her gaze resting on the lake and the reflection of the setting sun in its quiet waters.

"And here I was thinking you were here to see me," Ben's voice suddenly said from behind her. It sounded amused. "How come you're always sitting out here, all on your own?"

Miss Parker half turned in Ben's direction and nodded towards the sun.

"It's so peaceful here. I couldn't imagine a better place for watching the sun set," she said. Ben smiled.

"Your mother used to sit here a lot. She'd watch the lake for hours on end." His face took on a thoughtful expression for a moment, then his attention was on the present again and a smile chased the worry from his eyes.

"You know, Miss Parker", he said pensively, "when your mother didn't return, I knew right away that something was wrong. I knew that I would never see her again. My life became dominated by my feelings of mourning and loss in the following years, and I used to brood a lot. If I learned one thing during this time it's that you should never think too much about anything. Sometimes it's better to just live."

Miss Parker returned his gaze, thinking about his words. She knew what he was trying to tell her. During these last days she had talked a lot about Tommy and the pain his death had caused. Ben had shared this experience - he could relate - and he wanted to share what he had learned from having to deal with her mother's loss. It had done her a world of good to talk to someone who really knew how she felt.

"Wise words, Ben," she eventually said softly. "Only I'm not sure I'm ready to live by them."

Ben put his hand on her shoulder, smiling gently.

"I see," he said simply. "I'll show you some more pictures of your mother, if you like. You know where to find me."

When he turned to go back into the house, Miss Parker reached for his hand and squeezed it gently.

"Thank you, Ben. I'd really like that. I'll be with you in a minute."

"All right, Miss Parker," Ben said warmly and returned to the house.

Miss Parker got up and stretched. She just stood on the porch for a long moment, then decided to walk down to the lake for a few minutes before returning to Ben.

She followed the narrow, winding path that led down to the lake and along its bank. Her mother must have walked it many times. Was it hard for Ben to see her here now instead of Catherine? She had never thought about that before, but after talking to him for hours on end, Miss Parker had realized how much Ben still missed her mother.

Unlike herself, he had managed to live with the pain, to continue his life and see the positive sides to it again. All of a sudden she remembered something Ben had said to her the day before, something that had impressed her a lot.

'The pain of losing your mother almost suffocated me. It took me much too long to realize that she wasn't really gone. Even if I never see her again, I'll always have the memory of the wonderful things we shared. It might sound trite or unbelievable to you, Miss Parker, but it was this realization that helped me get on with my life and give it a more positive direction again.'

Ben's words were still echoing in her mind when she took a seat on a small bench close to the lake. An image of Tommy appeared out of nowhere before her inner eye but unlike earlier she didn't try to chase it away. Instead, she held on to it enjoying the warmth it caused in her. She began to understand, to really see what Ben had been trying to tell her all the time. Tommy would always be a part of her no matter what, because he had given her a unique gift. He had helped her to get back that part of herself that she had lost so many years ago. The part she had kept hidden even from herself and that made her more like her mother than she had ever dared hope.

A smile formed on her lips, reflecting the warmth she felt inside. Miss Parker closed her eyes and focused on the image of Tommy that finally brought her some measure of comfort instead of ever more hurt.

"Thank you, Tommy," she whispered and let go of a great deal of her pain. It still hurt that he was no longer there with her but the pain no longer hindered her from remembering the good times they'd shared.

After a while, Miss Parker opened her eyes and stood up. She gazed out on the lake for a long time and then got on her way back to Ben's house.

She was only halfway there when suddenly her cell phone rang, startling her. Surprised, she pulled it out of her pocket, hit the speak button and lifted it to her ear. Her father had promised her that no one would interrupt her vacation, but then she had never been able to rely on his promises before, she thought bitterly.

"Yes?" she asked sharply, shaking her head, angry at herself. She hadn't even considered just letting the phone ring - not even for a second.

"Miss Parker?"

Broots's voice, and in a tone that filled Miss Parker with a sense of premonition.

"Well, who else did you expect?" she said curtly and frowned when Sydney's entered the conversation.

"We're sorry for intruding on you like this, Miss Parker, but it really is very important."

"What's up?"

"You must return to the Centre as soon as possible!" Broots whispered urgently. Sydney added in a louder but no less pressing voice: "It's about Major Charles. And, which is probably of even more interest to you, about the man who killed Thomas Gates."

The news left her speechless for a few seconds.

"What the hell is going on at the Centre?" she then asked, filled with a mixture of confusion and the instinct to hunt down Tommy's killer.

"We can't tell you more on the phone," Sydney said. "Raines has..."

He stopped in mid-sentence, and Miss Parker heard the sound of steps in the background, followed by Lyle's unmistakable voice.

"Got a new lead on Jarod? Who are you talking to?"

"Uh - no one," Broots lied, hanging up. Miss Parker stared at her cell phone. Even if she didn't have a lot of information to go by - she'd do as Broots and Sydney had asked and return to the Centre. The concern that phone call had caused in her was enough in itself to get on her way back immediately.

She jogged back to the house, thinking about what to tell Ben and how long it would take to pack her few belongings.

~~~

Ostvadt, Greenland
5:23 p.m.

The snow was crunching softly under Jarod's boots as he walked along the deserted main street of the small town, deep in thought. At this time of day most of the natives were already at home and the few that weren't were hurrying to get there. There was a storm in the air, and Jarod knew that they'd be cut off from the rest of the world for at least a day, probably two.

He walked a bit faster, heading towards the small house the company he was working for had rented for him. His fingers tightened around the notebook in his right hand. In spite of the thick gloves he was wearing he could hardly feel his fingertips.

When he had arrived here he hadn't minded that his house stood a bit away from the rest of the town, but now, fighting his way through clouds of dancing snowflakes, Jarod wished he were living a bit closer to his workplace. Eventually, he reached the house and tried to shake at least part of the snow off his clothes before getting in. He pulled back the fur lined hood of his thermal jacket and grudgingly pulled off one of his gloves to open the door.

After a few seconds of frantic fumbling the door opened and Jarod sprinted inside. The warmth of the hallway came as a relief to him and he enjoyed it for a moment before he pulled off the other glove, his jacket and the boots. Still carrying his notebook, he went into the kitchen to treat himself to a cup of hot chocolate while contemplating his next steps.

A few minutes later, he was sitting at the kitchen table, lost in thought. To date, he had neither found a trace of his father nor of the clone, even though he had been searching for them incessantly after escaping from the Centre. The fact that he hadn't been able to find them yet worried Jarod greatly. He was sure that his father must be searching for him as well, yet they hadn't heard anything from each other. Well, Major Charles probably thought that Jarod was still held captive at the Centre, and naturally it was impossible for his father to get anywhere near the Centre at the moment.

With a silent sigh Jarod shifted his attention to the notebook lying on the table. A few days ago, he had discovered something during his research that had caught his eye. In spite of his wish to be reunited with his father as soon as possible, he had decided to have a closer look on the matter.

He opened the book and skimmed through the articles he had pasted into it. A smile flashed over his face. It had been a while since he had last had such a notebook. A heartbeat later he became serious again, as he read through the last article. It was about the oil company he was working for and focused on the deaths of several workers who had lost their lives under mysterious circumstances. Jarod had come to Ostvadt to shed some light on the events that had eventually led to the loss of five workers.

It had been no problem at all to get a job as an environmental technician - there hadn't been any competition at all - and together with a survivor of one of the 'accidents' that seemed to happen at regular intervals Jarod had uncovered the truth. He grimaced as he thought about the company's security chief who had committed five murders in cold blood - and for nothing else but money. At some point, making profit had become more important to the man than maintaining a security level that would actually protect the workers. In spite of everything Jarod had seen since his first escape, and despite his special talents he simply couldn't understand how anyone could ever do something like that. He shook his head. At least there'd be no more deaths now.

With an effort, he pushed these thoughts away, staring down at the notebook. What should he do with it? A year ago, the answer would have been easy. A year ago, he would have left it as a present for Miss Parker, a little reminder that the Centre was no longer controlling his actions and his life.

Miss Parker.

He still felt guilty about what he had done to her. He'd give everything if only he could take back the words that had hurt her so; the words he feared would stand between them for some time to come. And then there was the kiss. He didn't want to undo the kiss, at least not the second one - he wasn't so sure about the first one, though.

A low beeping startled him out of his thoughts. It took Jarod a few seconds to identify the sound, then he got up and walked over to his laptop.

~~~

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
6:07 p.m.

Even though she had just made the long trip from Maine, Miss Parker had decided against going home and went straight to the Centre. Her thoughts still remained in Maine, though, filling her with regret over not having spent more time with Ben.

With a firm movement of her head, Miss Parker tried to get rid of these thoughts, focusing instead on the here and now. There was a vague feeling of excitement vibrating in her as she realized that this was the first time she had a trace that might lead her to Tommy's killer. Slightly irritated, she noticed that she also felt concern for Major Charles, when he should actually be the furthest thing from her mind right now.

She hurried down the corridor that led to the tech room, anxious about the news Broots and Sydney had for her. When she entered the small room she was relieved to see both Broots and Sydney there. Both men turned when they heard her enter. The expression on Sydney's face was one of concern, whereas Broots looked like he might fall asleep any second now.

"It's good to see you back, Miss Parker," Sydney said, sounding glum rather than pleased. Miss Parker frowned. The downcast mood in the room was palpable.

"What gives?" she asked curtly, waving aside Sydney's greeting. Broots held up a DSA disc.

"Have a look at this," he said in a strange tone of voice.

Although the air of secrecy that Broots and Sydney were creating did nothing to ease the irritable mood Miss Parker was in, she sat down without so much as a word, her gaze directed expectantly at the monitor to Broots's left. The technician put the disc into the player and shortly afterwards the screen became brighter. Not quite knowing what to expect, Miss Parker leaned towards the screen, all but forgetting about Sydney and Broots.

Raines appeared on the screen. He was sitting at his desk, two thick manila folders lying in front of him. His gaze went off into space, until a few seconds later a knock on the door startled him out of his thoughts.

"Come," Raines said softly, his voice less raspy than usual. 'Just sitting there probably isn't so strenuous for him,' Miss Parker thought and grimaced. Hell, for all she cared, Raines might just stop breathing at all. She forced her attention back to the events on the screen.

Someone had entered the office and stopped just outside the area that was covered by the camera. The camera! It was only now that Miss Parker noticed what seemed so odd about this video. Raines's office was one of the few places at the Centre that weren't monitored - and even if it were, there was just no way that the surveillance tapes got into the wrong hands. Apart from that, the camera angle wasn't right. Miss Parker had worked for the Centre's security department long enough to notice that. Once again, she pushed these thoughts away to focus on the conversation between Raines and his visitor.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Raines?" Mr. X said. His voice sounded vaguely familiar to Miss Parker. Probably one of Raines's sweepers.

"I thought I had made myself clear when I instructed you on the details of your mission," Raines said sharply.

"There have been unexpected problems."

"I don't want to hear about any problems," Raines snapped, wheezing audibly. "If I don't hear about a success anytime soon, your problems will be solved for you, once and for all."

"I see," Raines's visitor replied with admirable calm. Raines was known to issue threats like that on a daily basis, but unlike most other people he tended to make them come true whenever possible. If you worked for Raines, that was one of the risks that came with the job.

"So I hope," Raines said grimly. "Now for the other matter I wanted to see you about. Now that the Thomas Gates problem has been solved" - Miss Parker winced and felt a flash of white-hot anger at the cold impassiveness in Raines's voice - "I want you to take these folders to a safe place. There would be unpleasant consequences should they end up in the wrong hands, but it might be unwise to destroy them before we fully explored their possible uses for us."

Raines pushed one of the folders a bit away from him and pointed at the other. "As for Major Charles - everything is set up for his little accident. 72 hours from now, we'll have our latest project back where it belongs."

The pleased tone of Raines's voice repulsed Miss Parker. It took her a few seconds to understand the full scope of his words. Apparently Jarod's father was in grave danger; in spite of herself, she felt a surge of concern for him. Angry with herself, she tried to suppress this emotion. After all, this was the opportunity she had been waiting for - the chance to finally catch Tommy's killer.

"The Triumvirate will surely be most pleased to hear that," Mr. X remarked. With some surprise, Miss Parker noticed Raines flinch almost imperceptibly at the mention of the Triumvirate. Interesting. They must have been rather unhappy when Jarod had escaped from the Centre - from Raines's care, really - a second time. Obviously, Raines wasn't quite as detached as he always pretended to be.

"Indeed," Raines said curtly, then he rose slowly from his chair and walked around his desk. He took both folders and gave them to his visitor. Miss Parker suppressed a sigh. She had hoped to at least get a glimpse of the mystery man's face.

"Get back to work," Raines ordered and his visitor seemed to leave the office. Raines returned behind his desk with painstakingly slow steps, and the screen faded to black.

Miss Parker quickly got up. The tension she had managed to get rid of during her short vacation was back with a vengeance, and that after only a few minutes of watching Raines. Her shoulder started to hurt again, but she ignored the pain. Unfortunately, she couldn't not ignore the emotional hurt Raines's words had caused.

"Miss Parker..," Sydney began she cut him off sharply.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

Broots looked at her with visible unease. "We're not sure."

Miss Parker's eyes narrowed but she forced herself not to take her anger out on Broots. He was only trying to help, after all.

"I want to know where this tape came from," she said in a quiet voice, watching as all color drained from Broots's face.

"Someone within in the Centre gave it to us," he said in a small voice, accepting his fate.

"'Someone' is not good enough. I need a name, Broots!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Parker. I did what I could to trace it back, but..."

"Miss Parker, listen," Sydney tried again. His quiet tone of voice caught her attention and she turned to look at him. Their eyes met and she realized that she would have to calm down if she wanted to get any results. She nodded silently, then turned and walked a few steps away from the two men.

With her eyes closed, she took a few deep breaths, trying to summon some of the calm she had found in Maine. Tommy wouldn't have wanted her to give in to her desire for vengeance. If she did, she might end up losing what he had given back to her. Two contrasting desires waged a silent war in her, until Miss Parker finally took her decision.

She opened her eyes and returned to Broots and Sydney.

"Okay, I know you didn't call me back so that I run off after Tommy's killer. You were hoping I would take care of Jarod's father instead. Oh no, don't even try to deny it," she said with a sideways glance at Sydney who had opened his mouth to interrupt her. A look into his eyes told her that she had hit home with her guess. He closed his mouth, the hint of a smile making his eyes twinkle. Miss Parker took a deep breath.

"It'd be the right thing to do," she continued, trying to ignore Broots as he gasped with surprise. "That's not to say that I no longer want to catch the man who killed Thomas. It'll just have to wait a little longer. Jarod's father is still alive, so it'd be sensible to try and keep him that way." She paused for a moment and turned to Broots. "Tell me what you know."

Broots hesitated only for the fraction of a second. "I'm afraid you already know everything there is to know - someone here at the Centre wanted us to have this disc."

"Great," Miss Parker sighed. "For all I know, this disc could be a trap, a diversion created by Raines to keep us away from whatever he's up to now. Or maybe he's just trying to get rid of us for good."

"Let's not get paranoid, Miss Parker," Sydney said, as usual the sweet voice of reason. "I don't believe that Raines works like that. Besides, it's not unprecedented that someone from the Centre forwarded information to other parties - namely Jarod. I think we all agree that this someone was none of us."

Miss Parker raised a brow and gave Sydney a knowing look. They all had worked together with Jarod at one point or another, but of the three of them Sydney had surely been Jarod's most useful source of information. Feeling generous, Miss Parker decided not to remind Sydney of that little fact.

"Let's forget about the 'who' for the moment. When was this conversation taped? Raines said something about 72 hours."

Broots handed her a small, flat plastic case.

"That's the case the disc came in," he said. Miss Parker turned it over in her hand. Someone had written Raines's name in caps on it; under that, there was a line with three numbers - a date.

"Last night," she said pensively. "That would leave us approximately two days."

"I could have the writing analyzed," Broots suggested, but Miss Parker shook her head.

"That'd take too much time. Besides, one word in caps and a few numbers will hardly give us any clues." She kept staring at the plastic case in her hand and almost dropped it, when suddenly she remembered something Jarod had told her a few days ago. After he'd been recaptured, Angelo had provided him with information. Of course! Not only was Angelo Jarod's friend, he also had both the knowledge and the equipment to access the Centre's database and forward information to people outside the Centre. But if this disc had been meant for Jarod, then why had they got a copy of it? Miss Parker was assaulted by doubts. If Jarod knew the contents of this disc, then he would take care of Major Charles - which left her free to hunt for Tommy's murderer.

"I have an idea where this disc might have come from. I'll just be a moment."

"Miss Parker, where are you going?"

She ignored Sydney's question as she hurried out of the tech room.

~~~

Ostvadt, Greenland
6:17 p.m.

"Damn it!"

Jarod stared at the screen, feeling utterly frustrated. He had been trying to establish a stable connection to the Centre for almost an hour now, with very little success. The storm had intensified and was interfering with the signals. It was only a matter of time until a connection with the outside world would become completely impossible.

"Come on," Jarod whispered imploringly. "Just a few more minutes, that's all I need."

He tried to save at least parts of the file Angelo was trying to transfer to him. If he didn't get it now he'd have to wait for it until after the storm - and right now it looked like the bad weather wasn't going to subside anytime soon.

A quarter of an hour later it was all over. The satellite was unreachable; the file was lost. Great. Whatever it was that Angelo had wanted him to see would have to wait.

~~~

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
6:49 p.m.

Angelo's room was dark except for the dim light coming from several computer screens. Miss Parker stopped in the doorway and, after a moment's hesitation, knocked lightly on the frame. She didn't want to intrude on him.

He turned to her and the eerie light contorted his features into a fearsome mask for a moment. Then he turned back to one of the screens and typed a string of commands on a keyboard in front of him. Miss Parker walked over to him, stopping right behind him.

"Hey, Angelo," she said softly.

Angelo kept on typing, then he stopped abruptly and half turned to face her.

"Daughter must help," he said firmly.

"Did you give that disc to Broots and Sydney?" she asked him gently, ignoring his request.

"Friend cannot help," Angelo said sadly. "Daughter must help."

She sighed. "You know I want to find the man who killed Tommy, no matter the cost."

A smile flashed across Angelo's waxen features.

"Cost does matter to Daughter."

Miss Parker stared at him in surprise. Could he read her feelings without actually touching her? Was it enough for her to be close to him? She pushed back an errand strand of her hair.

"Why can't Jarod help?" she asked.

Angelo looked at his computers with concern.

"No connection," he moaned.

"So that leaves saving Jarod's father to me," Miss Parker murmured, more to herself. "Do you know where the files are, Angelo? The ones from the tape? Are there back-ups?" she demanded in a louder voice.

He remained motionless for a while, his head tilted slightly as if he were listening to something that only he could hear. Then he got up so suddenly that he almost bumped into her and went to a corner of the small room. There he rummaged through a huge heap of papers, finally producing a crumpled folder. He returned to Miss Parker and handed her the creased file.

Miss Parker held her breath as she opened the file and read the first words. She exhaled with disappointment and looked back at Angelo.

"What about the other file? The one about Tommy's killer?"

Angelo shook his head with regret.

"Damn!" Miss Parker swore. She wondered for a moment if Angelo really didn't have the file or if he just didn't want her to have it because he feared that it would keep her from helping Jarod's father. After a look at the open expression on Angelo's face, she discarded the thought. He simply wouldn't do that kind of thing.

"Daughter must help," Angelo insisted.

"I will help," she sighed and dropped onto a nearby chair to skim through the file. "I will help."

~~~

Ostvadt, Greenland
7:25 p.m.

Even though he knew that it was no use, Jarod reached for his cell phone. Whatever was going on at the Centre had to be very important if it had made Angelo want to contact him.

He dialed Sydney's number and waited tensely. It was only two seconds until he heard the inevitable.

"A connection to the requested subscriber is not possible at this moment. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please try again later."

Jarod hung up. What if there was no later for him?

~~~

The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
7:37 p.m.

"What took you so long?"

Sydney's question didn't manage to upset the strange sense of calm Miss Parker felt when she returned to the tech room. She returned his gaze and shrugged. A few long strides brought her to Broots's side where she dropped the file onto the table he was sitting at.

"I visited our source," she said eventually.

"W-what is this?" Broots asked nervously.

"Read it - it won't bite you," Miss Parker replied impatiently. She took a seat and tried to order her thoughts.

"Miss Parker?"

When she looked up, she found Sydney standing next to her, a worried expression on his face.

"How come that Raines knows where Major Charles is while all we do is stumble around helplessly in search for the next meager clue?" she burst out. "Why does it feel like he's the puppeteer, orchestrating us, his puppets?"

"This isn't about Raines," Sydney said softly. "It's what you found out about Thomas's death that upsets you so."

"You're damn right about that," she said angrily, then she took a deep breath and went on a little calmer. "Why does Raines have to try and kill Major Charles now of all times? I could..."

"Miss Parker, you can follow only one lead at a time," Sydney interrupted her quietly. "I know how important it is to you to find the man who killed Thomas Gates. Broots and I can take care of Major Charles - if you want us to."

For a second, a short, sweet second, she considered accepting his offer, but then she shook her head, refusing it.

"Forget it, Syd. We won't get anywhere if we don't work together in this." She rose before he had the chance to reply anything.

"Locate Major Charles, Broots. Find out what exactly Raines is planning."

Broots looked up briefly from the file to nod at her.

"According to this file, we have less than 48 hours left to warn Jarod's father. I'll let you know first thing when I find out about the details."

Miss Parker simply nodded, then took a few steps away from the men. Not quite knowing what to do next she halted her steps. She sensed rather than heard Sydney stepping up behind her. Hesitating to face him, she took her time as she turned towards him.

"What's wrong with me, Syd?" she asked almost inaudibly. "I should be out there, hunting down the man who's responsible for Tommy's death. Instead, I'm standing here, concerned about a man I hardly know - a man who I used to think of as my mother's murderer."

Sydney put a comforting hand on her shoulder and patted her reassuringly.

"You're doing the right thing, Miss Parker," he reassured her. "I'm sure Thomas would have wanted it this way."

"Probably," she whispered. She needed his comforting touch more than she cared to admit and this realization was all that kept her from recoiling from it. "I don't know what to feel anymore."

She stepped away from Sydney and sank onto a nearby chair. He remained standing, watching her in silence. Miss Parker had the indistinct feeling that he was waiting for something.

"Everyone's acting so strangely all of a sudden," she went on, then she laughed bitterly. "And then there's this thing with Jarod. How could I ever let him kiss me? Twice?"

Broots straightened so abruptly on his chair that he almost fell over. He stared at Miss Parker, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open.

"He kissed... you let...," he stammered, oblivious to the dangerous grounds he'd just stumbled upon. Miss Parker's eyes narrowed.

"Don't tell me you haven't seen the surveillance tapes yet."

Sydney cleared his throat. "Ah, I'm pretty sure that I got hold of all existent copies," he said carefully, becoming the center of Miss Parker's attention. She focused her icy-blue glare on him.

"Don't you think that's something I would have liked to know... earlier?" she asked sweetly.

"You know now. And you didn't seem to care about the tape when we had that little talk in my office," Sydney said smoothly. Miss Parker nodded slowly, then turned to Broots who was still gaping at her. She snapped her fingers at him.

"Major Charles, Broots. Remember?"

It took him a few moments to react to her words.

"Did Jarod really...?" he began, snapping his mouth shut halfway through the question as if realizing only now whom he was talking to. He shook his head and started again. "Major Charles, yes. All right. Working on it."

The technician returned his attention to the screen in front of him, but a few seconds later Miss Parker heard him murmur something that sounded suspiciously like 'wow, and he's still alive'.

"Miss Parker?"

Her mind still on Broots, she turned to Sydney again.

"Hm?"

"Why don't you go home now and try to get some rest? We'll inform you as soon as we learn something new."

She held his gaze for a few seconds and then gave in. Sydney was right; she needed to relax a little.

"All right, I'll be back in the morning, unless you find something that needs my attention."

With a last, pensive look at Broots she left the room.