Disclaimer:  In first chapter.

Chapter 24

Still sitting in his car pondering his thoughts, Jarod was broken from his reverie when Sydney knocked on his window.  Flashing a wry smile at the aging doctor, Jarod stepped out of the vehicle.  Digging his hands in his pockets, Jarod slowly meandered behind Sydney as they made their way to the house. 

When they reached the top of the steps, Sydney abruptly stopped and turned around.  “Do you want to talk?” Sydney asked, facing Jarod.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Jarod nodded yes as he walked over to one of the rocking chairs sitting on the porch.  Following his lead, Sydney sat down in the other vacant rocking chair.  Once both men were settled, Jarod began pouring his thoughts to Sydney.

Running a frustrated hand through his hair, Jarod asked, “Sydney, what should I do?  I feel any choice I make will be the wrong decision.”

Rocking slowly in his chair, Sydney looked out across the yard.  “Jarod,” he began as his eyes fell back on the troubled man beside him, “Only you know the answer to that question.”

Jarod let out a sardonic chuckle.  “Well Sydney, that was real insightful.”

Sydney smiled at the comment.  “Jarod, I’ve known you since you were ten years old.  I’ve watched you grow from a caring friend to a loving husband to Parker.  And, through all those years, you’ve never once turned your back on Parker or your family when they needed you the most, so what’s to say that you’ll start now.”  Getting up from the rocking chair, Sydney glanced down at Jarod.  “You’ve already made your choice, Jarod.”     Pointing his finger at the living room window he added, “You both need to talk things through before you make any rash decisions regarding your family’s future.  Ease your burden and let her help you.”

Getting up from his chair, Jarod stood beside Sydney.  Inside, Parker and Brandon were sitting on the couch watching the latest Harry Potter movie.  “I know you’re right, Sydney,” Jarod agreed, “But, I just don’t want to saddle her with more problems.”

Sydney shook his head in disagreement.  “Jarod, don’t shut her out of this.  Remember, these are her children too.”   With that, Sydney patted Jarod on the shoulder as he made his way inside the house.

Sighing, Jarod tried to rub the growing tension away from the back of his neck and shoulders.  He knew he should talk to Parker, but what if they got into another one of their fights?  Would he be able to sit there and take it?  Feeling a whole mix of emotions running through him, Jarod shoved his hands in his pockets, pacing back and forth on the porch.

Sydney’s words and his own thoughts were running amok in his mind.  He knew Sydney was right.  He had to voice his concerns to Parker, but the other part of his mind was saying she didn’t need the added stress that already existed in her life.  But, on the other hand, if he made a decision regarding their children without talking things through with her, she would be royally pissed to the say the least.  It could possibly be the final straw that makes their impending divorce a crushing reality for Jarod.  Stopping in mid thought, Jarod glanced back into the living room.  He knew what he had to do.  Sighing heavily, he made his way to the door.

XXXXXXX

Josh turned his Jeep onto Campus Avenue, the road where Brad’s fraternity lived.  Driving slowly down the street, both he and Eli scanned the house numbers.  Once they found the house, Josh turned his Jeep back around, hiding it among the shadow of trees.  Turning the ignition and headlights off, Josh glanced over at Eli.  “So, are you ready?” he asked.

Putting his baseball cap on, Eli replied back, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”  Glancing at the house he said, “Do you really think it’s that bad?  You know…with Sarah and Debbie.”

Josh hoped that it wasn’t, but he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was far worse than Debbie let on.  If Brad or any of his friends did anything to hurt Debbie or his sister there’ll be hell to pay.  Putting on his baseball cap, he lowered the bill, trying his best to cover his eyes.  Following Eli’s gaze he replied back, “E, I pray to God it isn’t, but from the way Debbie sounded on the phone, I have this awful feeling that something bad has already happened, as to what that is, I have no idea.”

Turning his eyes away from the house, Eli glanced back at Josh.  “Shit, I was hoping for something more positive coming from you,” said Eli nervously.  “Listen man; if push comes to shove you know I’ve got your back, right?’

Josh smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder.  “I know you do, Bud, but can we can put this Hallmark moment aside and get to the task at hand,” joked Josh.

“Like kicking some college boys’ asses,” Eli grinned back mischievously, “Sure, besides I could use the exercise tonight.”  Rolling his shoulders, Eli cracked his knuckles.  “So, do you think we can trust this Chris guy?”

Josh shrugged his shoulders.  “We have too.  He’s our only link to Sarah and Debbie.”  Trying to gather up as much courage as possible, Josh opened the Jeep door.  He was about to get out when Eli grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Josh, maybe we should call my Dad to come here.  He is a police officer after all.” Eli suggested.

“Eli, you know we can’t do that.  If we told your father, then he’ll tell my parents and the last thing my mother needs is another fight with Sarah,” Josh told him.

“Shit,” Eli grumbled, “So, I guess this is it, huh?”

“I guess so,” Josh said with reluctance.  “Listen, if you want, you can stay out here and I’ll get them.”

Eli shook his head.  “Dude, you know I can’t sit back and let you do this all by yourself.”  He smiled crookedly at him.  “Besides, how can I miss an opportunity of teasing your sister for the rest of her life, knowing I was there to rescue her in her time of need.  Man, she’ll hate that.”

Josh chuckled.  “Yeah, she will.” Laughter subsiding, he commented, “Well, lets get this show on the road.”  Closing the door, Josh jogged across the street with Brad on his heels.  When they reached the door, Josh knocked a couple of times before the door was answered.  Smiling down at the petite red head, they were both quickly ushered inside.

XXXXXXX

Jarod was just about to let himself in when his cell phone began to ring.  Taking it out of his jacket he answered, “Hello?”

“It’s Sam.”

Turning, he quickly walked away from the door.  “What is it?” Jarod asked.

“Well, my men scoured the room, but the only thing they found was a tape recorder.  We played the tape, but the only thing on it was a barking dog.  Obviously, our guy used this as a decoy to lure Brandon into the room.”

Jarod clenched his jaw.  “Were you able to pull any prints off the recorder?” he asked.

There was a brief pause on the other end before Sam answered.  “No, we didn’t.  In fact the entire place was clean of prints except for yours, Brandon’s, and Parker’s.  Whoever is involved with this knows their way around crime scenes.”  Sam paused again as Jarod heard him shuffling through papers.  “We also checked the school’s surveillance system…”

“Let me guess, nothing, right?” Jarod asked evenly, already knowing the answer.

“Correct.  Out of the four securities cameras placed outside of the school, only one was working.  Unfortunately, the working one was tampered with, as a continuous loop was run repeatedly on the tape.”

“Damn!” Jarod muttered to himself angrily.  “Sam, I know Mr. Parker is behind this somehow.  Now, I just have to find out who’s working for him.”

“Jarod, be careful when you say things like that,” Sam warned.  “I don’t like Mr. Parker either, but don’t start rousing a sleeping lion when you have nothing to defend yourself with.” 

Shoulders slumped in defeat; Jarod leaned against the porch railing, staring through the living room window, watching Brandon animatedly talking to Sydney and Parker about the crazy world of Harry Potter.  “Sam, how can I stand by and do nothing?  It’s one thing to mess with me, but when he starts threatening my kids lives, he better pray that when I do kill him that it’s quick and painless instead of slow and torturous.”

“Jarod,” Sam whispered cautiously, “Be careful what you say around me.  If something bad should happen to Mr. Parker, you’ll be numero uno on the suspect list.  I know you’re venting right now, but if I’m asked of any threats made to Mr. Parker I’ll have to tell them about this discussion.”

A sly smile appeared on Jarod’s lips.  “Ah, but Sam, I’m a lawyer, remember?  If I wanted too, I could argue it as hearsay.”

“You damn lawyers are always a pain in the ass,” Sam chuckled into the phone.

“That’s why they pay us the big bucks,” Jarod joked back.

Sobering up, Sam spoke on the phone again.  “Jarod, all kidding aside, I’ll try my best to find this guy that duped Brandon.”

Nodding to himself, Jarod answered back, “I know you will.”

Trying to change the subject, Sam asked, “So, how’s Parker doing?”

Letting his gaze fall on the person in question he replied back, “She seems to be doing fine.  In fact, better than I thought she would.  I don’t know what it is, but she seems different after the accident.  As if anything I say about her father doesn’t surprise her anymore, at least not like it used too.”  Jarod stopped talking for a moment as the earlier conservation with Parker jumped into his mind.  “Sam, could you do me a huge favor?”

“Sure,” the gruff voice came over the line.

“Can you check into the whereabouts of William Raines?  From my earlier talk with Parker today, I have reason to believe that he might’ve had a hand in Catherine’s death,” said Jarod.

“Jarod, I don’t know about this,” Sam said warily.  “If the mayor ever found out I was snooping around his biggest contributors for his recent election, I could be out of a job just like that.”

“Sam, I know, but do this for Parker,” Jarod pleaded.  “I know you think of her as the younger sister you never had.”  Sighing, he added, “I just want her to have closure over her mother’s death.”

Jarod waited patiently for Sam’s answer.  “Oh, all right, I’ll do it.”

“Thanks Sam, I owe you big.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll just see how good you cover your promises when you have to defend me in court for abuse of power or some other crap they can charge me with,” Sam joked.

On the other end of the line, Jarod heard someone knocking.  “Chief?”

“Come in, Bailey,” replied Sam.

“We just received this fax from the Philadelphia police department.”  Jarod heard the sound of shuffling papers as he waited patiently for Sam.

“Son of a bitch!” Jarod heard Sam gasp.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jarod with concern.

Before Sam could speak, he asked his officer to leave the room.  “Jarod, you’re not going to believe this.”

“What?”

“You remember a couple of months ago when you told me about that guy you were suppose to meet at the pier?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, it looks like he was found near the Pennsylvania/Delaware state line.  Listen, I can’t talk right now.  I’ll come meet you.”  As Sam grabbed his keys he asked, “Where you at?”

“I’m at Parker’s house,” Jarod replied back.

“Listen, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”  With that, Sam hung up the phone.  Flipping his phone closed, Jarod wondered who the guy could be.

XXXXXX

As Josh and Eli walked into the house, they were instantly bombarded with the sound of blaring music.  Josh frantically looked around, hoping to quickly spot Debbie and Sarah and get the hell out of here; however, he was in no such luck.

“Who do you think this Chris guy is?” Eli whispered to him.

“I don’t know.  Debbie said he would recognize us, but until he does, let’s search for the girls,” Josh replied back.  Without a second thought, they stumbled through the first floor in hopes of finding Debbie and Sarah.

After roughly ten minutes of searching they found no signs of the girls or this Chris guy.  Seeing the back deck as the quietest and less populated area of the house, they quickly made their way outside.

“Where the hell is this guy?” Eli asked with annoyance.  “He should’ve already met up with us by now.”

“I’m right here,” they heard someone call out behind them.

Quickly turning around, they came face to face with Chris.  “Where are my sister and friend at?” Josh asked evenly.  “If you guys did something to…”

Chris put his hands up.  “Whoa there, cowboy, you need to calm down before you make a bigger ass of yourself.”

“Excuse me?  What the hell gives you the right to talk to me like that?” Josh asked angrily.

Still smiling, Chris whispered out to them, “Listen, a few of my brothers are inside the kitchen right now watching us.  They know you guys don’t belong here.  Just follow my lead and remain cool, got it?”

Josh plastered a fake smile on his face.  “Yeah, I got it?”

“Good, now follow me,” Chris ordered.

Casting each other nervous glances, Josh and Eli followed Chris into the house.  Once they were inside, one of the guys purposefully bumped into Josh.  “Oh sorry, didn’t see the little high schooler here.  So, what are you two doing here?  I don’t remember anyone inviting you guys here.”

Before things escalated, Chris came to stand between them.  “David, they’re safe.  Josh here is my cousin.”  Pointing at Eli he said, “This is his friend that he brought along.”

Peeling his eyes from Josh, David turned to Chris.  “Who said you could invite anyone here?”

Before Chris could answer, Josh spoke up.  “Listen, don’t blame my cousin.  I just wanted to surprise him, plus I wanted to experience my first real college party and I heard that this frat house threw the best parties around.”

David remained silent, pondering Josh’s words.  After some time David said, “Fine,” looking back at Chris he said evenly, “Just keep them out of my way, got that?”

Chris let out a nervous chuckle.  “Yeah, of course.”  When David and the rest of the guys left, Chris looked over at Josh.  “Your sister and Debbie are upstairs waiting in the bathroom.  The two of you will have to split up.  One of you can use the staircase in the kitchen here, while the other will have to use the one in the living room.”

“Why all the 007 crap?” Eli asked curiously.

“Brad is here, and if he notices you guys aren’t legit, he’ll make sure to remind you that you guys don’t belong here.”  Chris looked around nervously.

“Okay,” Josh said, “I’ll take the kitchen, Eli, you take the living room.  Wait there for about five minutes before making your way up, got it?”

“Yeah,” Eli nodded nervously to him.

“The bathroom is the last door on the right.  It should have a ‘do not enter’ sign on it.  I’ll wait with your friend until the five minutes are up,” Chris told Josh.  “If something should happen, and you guys get caught I’ll deny having helped you.”

Before Eli and Chris left, Josh grabbed Chris’ arm.  “Wait, won’t Brad know something is up if he sees you walking around downstairs?   I mean, aren’t you suppose to be keeping watch over Debbie and Sarah?”

Chris pushed his hand off.  “Don’t worry about Brad.  Now go,” he urged.

Taking one last fleeting glance at the two, Josh ran up the stairs.

XXXXXXXX

Hearing a knock at the door, Jarod bolted from his chair.  Walking quickly to the door, he answered it to find Sam on the other side with a file wrapped securely in his hand.  Ushering Sam in, they walked into the living room.

Brandon was upstairs playing his video games while Parker and Sydney were in the kitchen making coffee.  Sitting down, Sam laid the file on the table and opened it.  Turning it around so Jarod could see, Sam said, “My friend at the Philadelphia PD said this guy was found by a couple of hikers near a lake.  Obviously, his murderers pushed his body into the lake, using cement blocks to hopefully keep him in place. But, as you can see, that didn’t happen.”

Jarod picked up a few of the pictures looking at them in disgust.  “It looks like decomposition had a part in loosening his bonds to the lakebed.”

Sam cleared his throat.  “As you can see, there are three bullet holes.  One to the forehead and two to the chest.  His clothing even matches the description you gave to the state police.  But, the clincher that I know this is your guy is the splinters of wood they found in his hands.  My friend ran a test, saying the wood matches the type that was used for making the pier you were supposed to meet him at.”

Putting the pictures down, Jarod sat back in his chair with a million thoughts running through his head.  Glancing back at Sam he asked, “What’s the name of the victim?”

Just then, Parker and Sydney came walking in with their cups of coffee.   As Sam looked through his reports, Parker walked up to the table, looking down at the pictures.  Jarod looked up at her questionably as she gasped at the photos.  Bringing a trembling hand to her lips, she dropped her cup of coffee as she slowly backed away from the table, falling down onto the couch behind her. 

Instantly concerned, Jarod got up and sat beside her.  Grabbing her hand he asked, “Parker, what is it?”

“Is she alright?’ Sam asked worriedly.

“I…I don’t know.”  Looking down at Parker, Jarod could see the unshed tears glimmering in her eyes.  “Parker, please what is it?  What’s wrong?”

Glancing up at Jarod, she choked out, “It…it’s him.”

“Who?” Jarod asked.  When Parker didn’t answer, Jarod looked over at Sam.  “Who is he, Sam?”

“Thomas Gates,” Sam answered softly.

XXXXXXX

To Be Continued…