Disclaimer: In first chapter

 

Chapter 13

 

While Miss Parker took a shower, Jarod was downstairs drinking a cup of coffee.  Try as he might, he just couldn’t get those damn letters and pictures off his mind, and the last thing he wanted to do was worry Parker.  She didn’t need the added stress.

 

Heaving a heavy sigh, he got up to refill his coffee mug.  Finding the carafe empty, he set out to make a new pot.  While the coffee maker percolated, he reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet.  Before opening it, he peeked out of the kitchen to make sure no one was coming.  Satisfied that no one was, he opened the wallet and pulled out the black and white picture.

 

The picture added fuel to the fire that was burning within him.  Rage burned within his veins as he bore a hole through the black and white photograph.  How dare they threaten the life of his family?  The picture that was clutched in his hands was a picture of Brandon, his youngest child.  What made Jarod more furious was the fact that it was taken right in front of this house, as if the photographer was taunting him to let him know how close they could get without being detected.  Of course, Brandon had no clue a picture was being taken of him as he tossed a stick across the lawn for Buddy to fetch.  His innocent eyes were unaware of the potential danger that lurked nearby.

 

Even though Jarod was mad as hell, fear also made itself present whenever he looked at the glossy, black and white photograph.  Even though the picture was bad enough, it was the words and drawings that scared Jarod the most.  In red ink there was a bull’s-eye circle around Brandon’s head.  In the bottom right hand corner, scribbled in red ink was:

 

--Eenie meenie miney moe,

Which of your children will be the first to go?

 

Jarod, if you know what’s best, you shouldn’t go snooping around dead cases.  Drop the Catherine Parker investigation, or else…--

 

Then scrawled beneath the threatening words was a tombstone that read –R.I.P.  BRANDON--.

 

Jarod’s breathing became shallow an uneven as he sank down into one of the kitchen chairs.  Brandon.  How could they threaten such a sweet and lovable kid?  The previous letters and pictures he received before were just threats against him.  That he could handle, but about four months later he started receiving little snapshots of Josh, Sarah, Brandon, and Parker.  These people never made any threats about them, all they did was send pictures to Jarod, but he understood the underlying meaning ‘they’ were trying to send, but Jarod wouldn’t let them have the upper hand, so he had to be more discreet when it came to the Catherine Parker case.

 

When he called contacts he made sure to call from secure lines or payphones.  When he met a contact, he made sure to be there early so that someone suspicious didn’t follow both him and his contact.  He always made sure that he was careful, but ‘they’ noticed all of his precautions.

 

Two months later, they threatened Parker and his life.  They told him it would be a shame if his children happened to become orphans at an unfortunate time when they probably needed their parents the most.  So, he did what ‘they’ asked at first, but he couldn’t stop the curiosity that was building with each passing day.  He just couldn’t drop the Catherine Parker case.  Parker deserved the truth about her mother’s death.

 

Well, time passed, but he made little progress.  Everywhere he went, roadblocks were set in front of him, and he had a feeling as to who was putting up those obstacles.  Mr. Parker.  The old man was against Jarod’s investigation into Catherine’s death from the get go, which Jarod just couldn’t understand.  If, God forbid, Parker died under the same circumstances and then potential new evidence came up, he would move heaven and earth to find those answers.  Jarod wouldn’t rest until he found out the truth, but Mr. Parker was so adamantly against his investigation, he just couldn’t fathom why the old man didn’t want to know the truth.  Then it hit Jarod one day; maybe the reason why Mr. Parker was so against his snooping around was because maybe the elder Parker had something to hide.  But was it possible, could Mr. Parker be involved in Catherine’s death?

 

With this new revelation, he went to their, well, Parker’s house to tell her about this theory.  He thought Parker would believe him, but he was wrong.  Since their separation, Mr. Parker was becoming more and more of a presence in her life. 

 

XXXXXXX

 

Flashback

 

“You son of a bitch!” she spat out, smacking him in the face.  “How dare you come over here and tell me these lies.” Turning away from him, she crossed her arms, looking out the window.  “He loved her,” she said with a bit more calm.

 

Bringing a hand up to his face, Jarod tried to rub away the throbbing, stinging in his cheek.  Casting a solemn look towards her he replied, “But he did hurt her.  You can’t stand there and say he didn’t, because we both know he did.”

 

She turned on Jarod, anger radiating in her eyes.  “Stop it!  Just stop it with these lies.”  Taking a step towards him, she pointed a finger at him.  “Let me get this through that thick skull of yours.  My mother and father had a very loving relationship.  My mother was depressed and killed herself.  She wasn’t murdered; my father would do no such thing. So, drop this morbid hobby you got going with my mother’s death.”  Turning around, she walked back to the window.  “If you’re looking for a new hobby, may I suggest that perky, nauseating red head that you work with, what’s her name… Home Wrecker,” she bit out sarcastically.

 

“And as I said before, Zoe is a friend and co-worker.  Nothing more,” he answered back.

 

She scoffed.  “Yeah, I just bet she is.  I bet she can’t wait till our divorce is final and have you all to herself.”  Turning around she commented, “My, won’t you two make a lovely couple.”

 

Jarod was becoming annoyed with her little jabs.  “Damn it, I’m sick of this!” he hissed out.  Throwing his findings down on the table he said more calmly, “I was doing this all for you.  I know you loved your mother very much.  I just wish you wouldn’t let your father do all your thinking for you.”

 

With her back to him, she replied evenly, “Get out.”

 

But Jarod didn’t.  Instead he took another step closer to her.  “No, I won’t.  It’s time you start facing the truth, and here it is.  Your mother was murdered.  There is nothing going on between Zoe and me.  As for us, I will never stop loving you, no matter how infuriating you can be sometimes, but remember this; I would never lie to you.”

 

She let out a sarcastic chuckle and turned around.  “Jarod, you are such a hypocrite.  Don’t stand there and lie to me.  I’ve seen the pictures.”

 

Jarod gave her a confused look.  “What pictures?”

 

Parker ran a hand through her hair an answered, “Don’t stand there and play dumb.  My father showed me them.”

 

Jarod clenched his fists at his side.  “Oh, I’m sure he did,” he bit out caustically.  “After everything he’s done, you believe him over me.”  He paused a moment then added, “You know what, I feel sorry for you.  My, my, my, he’s really created a fantasyland for you to live in, hasn’t he?”

 

“Just get out, you bastard!” she cried out.  “My father was right about you.  He said you would one day break my heart, and I didn’t believe him, but now I know he was right.  Just get out, and stay out of my life.”  With that, she pushed him out of the front door, into the cold, hard driving rain. 

 

The last thing he remembered before being pushed out of the door was seeing Sarah standing on the stairs with tears streaming down her eyes, as she must’ve heard their fight with each other.  Holding Sarah’s gaze, Jarod mouthed out, “I love you.”  He was then greeted with a slamming door.

 

XXXXXXX

 

Running his hands over his face and through his hair, Jarod tried to erase the bad memory from his mind, but he never could.  He could still remember that fight like it was yesterday.  After that heated argument, Jarod rarely saw Parker.  The only time he did was when she came to pick the kids up from his place after their weekend visits, or when he dropped them off at her place, and only then it was a brief glimpse when she opened the front door to let them in.

 

He cut back on his endless quest to find the truth, but he would never stop.  Catherine deserved justice for her death, and that was what he was going to do.  Another month passed with no new clues when he received an anonymous phone call from someone.  He was at his office late one night working on other cases when the call came through.  The caller sounded very distraught and scared for his life.  He told Jarod he had the evidence to prove that Catherine’s suicide was a murder.  If Jarod wanted the evidence, he had to meet him at pier 4.  When the line went dead, Jarod grabbed his keys and flew out the door.

 

Parking the car, so it was hidden among the shadows and trees, Jarod made his way to the pier.  From the distance he could see a man pacing nervously back and forth, clutching something to his chest.  For some reason, Jarod decided to wait a couple of minutes and observe the man.  The action proved to be a lifesaver for Jarod, because a minute later four guys showed up, cornering the distraught man. 

 

Two of the men, held the distraught man over the railing, dangling him over the angry, Atlantic Ocean.  The man screamed and pleaded for his life.  After a few more seconds, the men brought the distraught man back over the railing, throwing him onto the rough, wooden surface.  Jarod wanted to go out and help his contact, but fear paralyzed his body. 

 

After a few more moments, the distraught man opened up his jacket, pulling out some paperwork.  The leader of the four men, a slim African American man, ripped the files out of the other man’s hands.  Once the leader was satisfied with the paperwork, he reached into his jacket, pulling out a gun.  The distraught man put his hands up in defense and screamed, “Please, don’t kill me.  I have a family to look after!”  The leader shrugged his shoulders, and then fired three shots into the distraught man.

 

The leader signaled for his men to gather up the body.  Just when the men were walking off the pier, the sky opened up, releasing a heavy, torrent of rain.  With intent eyes, Jarod watched helplessly as they dragged the dead man to their car.  Popping open the trunk, they threw the body into the car like it was garbage.  Overhead, Jarod could hear and see thunder and lightening rumble above him.  As the other three men piled into the car, the leader stood outside of the car, gazing off into the distance to where Jarod was hiding. 

 

Jarod surely thought he was a dead man.  He waited for the leader to come storming over, putting a bullet in his head.  The seconds slowly ticked by as Jarod waited for the inevitable.  The leader took a couple of steps to where Jarod was hiding, letting his eyes roam the area.  Jarod took a step back and winced when he heard a twig snap under his foot.  Looking up from the ground, Jarod glanced over at the African American man.  The leader took a few more steps towards Jarod as he reached into his pocket, bringing out his gun.  Getting in a defensive posture, the leader slowly made his way into the woods.

 

Jarod’s mind was screaming for him to run and get to safety, but he was too scared to move.  The only thoughts bubbling into his mind were that of Parker and the kids.  He had to remain alive for Josh, Sarah, and Brandon.  As for Parker, he couldn’t die before making things right with her.  He didn’t want his last memory of her to be the fight they had with each other a couple of weeks ago.  So, Jarod did something he hadn’t done in awhile, he prayed.  Closing his eyes, he prayed to come out of this situation unscathed. 

 

He couldn’t remember how long he stood there, but it felt like forever.  He was broken from his thoughts when he heard one of the other men shout out to the leader.  “Hey Willie, let’s go!”

 

Opening up one of his eyes, Jarod watched Willie intently.  He watched as Willie straightened his stance, taking one final glance over his surroundings.  Shaking his head, Willie put the gun back in his jacket and ran out of the woods back to the car.  As the car sped away, Jarod took a few hesitant steps out of the woods into the clearing.  When the red taillights disappeared around the corner, Jarod ran back to his car and drove down the road like a bat out of hell.

 

When he found a deserted rest stop, he pulled off onto the side of the road, making an anonymous call to the state police.  When the next day rolled around, Jarod found out that the police couldn’t find any evidence of foul play on the pier, so they called off their investigation, chalking up the phone call as a prank by some bored teenagers.  Jarod figured they wouldn’t find anything since last night’s soaking rain washed away any clues, but Jarod vowed to work more diligently on Catherine’s case.  He wanted to find the murderers and bring them to justice.

 

Two weeks had passed since then and he was still getting nowhere, but he knew he was ruffling feathers with his inquiries.  When he got home from dropping the kids off at their mother’s house yesterday, he found a small, brown package on his doorstep.  Picking it up, he went inside and opened it.  The only item that occupied the box was an envelope.  When he pulled out the contents and his gaze fell on the picture, his world came crashing down around him.  This was the first time they actually came out and threatened one of his children.  Dropping everything he had in his hands, except the picture, he ran to the phone.

 

As if on cue, when he placed his hand on the phone it started to ring.  Swallowing down the lump in his throat, he picked up the receiver with a trembling hand.  “Hello?” he choked out.  No answer, but he could hear someone in the background wheezing for breath.

 

When the person spoke, their voice was distorted, sounding machine like.  “Jarod?”

 

“Who is this?” Jarod demanded.

 

There was a long pause before the other person spoke.  “I’ve heard you’ve taken an interest in Catherine Parker’s death?”

 

Jarod felt all the air in his lungs escape.  Gripping the phone more tightly Jarod whispered out, “You can’t hide the truth from the public.”

 

He could hear the caller chuckling on the other end.  “Ah, but Jarod, you can if you have the right people around you to distort that truth.”  There was another pause before the caller continued.  “Let this be a warning Jarod, don’t play with fire, you’ll only get burned in the end.”  Then the line went dead.  Dropping the phone, Jarod folded the picture and put it in his pocket while running over to the counter, grabbing Brandon’s history book.  He needed to get to Parker’s place to see with his own eyes that Brandon and rest of the family were all right. 

 

So, here he was now, standing in what used to be their kitchen, deciding on whether or not to tell her about the picture and the threats.  How would she react?  Would she believe him or would she call him a liar?  He didn’t have much time to ponder his thoughts when he heard her coming down the stairs.  Folding up the photograph, Jarod put the item back in his pocket.  Taking a couple of deep, calming breaths, he stepped out of the kitchen, meeting Parker halfway.

 

Plastering a smile on his face he commented, “Hey.  I thought I heard you coming down the stairs.”

 

Parker didn’t say anything, just stared at him intently.  “What’s wrong, Jarod?”

 

“Nothing’s wrong,” he answered off handedly. 

 

She continued to stare him down before speaking again.  “You’re lying, Jarod.  You’re frightened of something.  I can see it in your eyes.”

 

“Parker, I’m fine,” he grumbled as he tried to walk away from her, but she reached out grabbing his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

 

“Jarod, look at me.  I know something is on your mind, so spill it.  Don’t play these little mind games with me because I’m sick of them.  Just tell me what’s wrong.”

 

Looking down at her hand then back up to her face, he let out a sigh.  “Fine, if you most know, then I think you should sit down,” he suggested.  Once they were in the kitchen and settled, Jarod started his little tale.

 

XXXXXXX

 

To Be Continued…