Disclaimer:  In first chapter.

Chapter 44

“Hey there,” said a distracted Jarod as he heard Parker walk into the kitchen.  Adding the finishing touches to dinner, he walked over to the table where Parker was sitting and placed the large bowl of spaghetti and meatballs down onto the table.  “Hope you’re hungry because Josh and I made enough to feed an army,” he joked, taking a seat by Parker.  Looking at her, he could clearly see her mind was elsewhere.  Smile quickly fading he asked, “Parker, what’s wrong?  Is it Brandon?”  When she still didn’t answer, Jarod reached out, grabbing her hand.  “Parker…”

Broken from her silent reverie, Miss Parker looked down at their hands before glancing up at Jarod.  Confused, she asked, “What…what did you say?”

Leaning closer, he asked once again, “Is there something wrong?”

“Yes there is,” she sighed, turning in her seat to face Jarod.

“What is it?” Jarod asked worriedly.

“I believe Brad was at the park earlier today visiting Sarah,” she answered back.

Silence ensued between the two as Jarod sat back in his seat.  Letting go of Parker’s hand, Jarod clenched his fist, slamming it down onto the table.  “Damn it!” he said angrily, getting up from his chair.  Pacing back and forth he wondered out loud, “Why is she seeing him behind our backs when we made it perfectly clear she was not to see him again.”  Abruptly stopping, he looked over at Parker and asked, “Where is she?”

Getting up from her chair, Miss Parker walked over to Jarod.  Grabbing his hand she said, “Jarod, this is different.  She has bruises on her neck.  She tried to cover them up by wearing a turtleneck, but I saw them.  I think Brad and her had an altercation.”

Anger coursed through Jarod’s veins as Parker’s words began to sink in.  How dare that little bastard lay a hand on his daughter, he fumed.  Letting go of Parker’s hand, Jarod stormed past her.  He didn’t get far as Parker grabbed his arm, twirling him back around.  Wild eyed, he demanded, “What are you doing?  I want to talk to Sarah and see what Brad did to her.”

“Jarod, that’s just it.  You can’t talk to her,” Miss Parker replied back firmly.  “She doesn’t want to talk about it.  If you go in there now and try to get her to open up, she’s just going to get angry and push us further away”

“Then what are we suppose to do, sit back and let her defend herself against that monster?” he snapped back.

Getting angry, she replied back, “Hey, don’t get angry with me.  I’m just trying to let you know that not everything is black and white.  Now calm down and listen to me.”

Pulling out a chair, he plopped down onto it.  Leaning back, he folded his arms across his chest and looked up at Parker, expecting her to continue.  “Jarod, I can understand where Sarah is coming from.  I think right now, she feels embarrassed, ashamed at what happened.  I think she realizes her mistakes and right now the last thing she wants is for anyone to tell her ‘I told you so’.  If we demand answers about Brad, she’s just going to put up another wall…”

“So, you’re suggesting we sit back and do nothing,” Jarod interjected annoyingly. 

“At least for tonight.  Tomorrow morning we’ll talk to her about what happened even if she doesn’t like it.”  Walking up behind him, she leaned down, wrapping her arms around his neck.  Resting her chin on top of his head she whispered out, “I know you want to help her, and so do I, but you have to trust me on this.”

Heaving a heavy sigh, he reached up, rubbing his hands over her arms.  “How can you be so sure about this?” he questioned his concern.

“Because, I know how she feels,” she told him, pulling him closer.  “I see so much of myself in her that sometimes it’s scary to know that we’re so much alike.”

“Like mother, like daughter,” commented Jarod, chuckling to himself.  Feeling her laughter reverberate through him was a mild comfort to ease his worries, but Sarah was still his daughter, and no matter how old she got, he would always worry about her.

Cocking his head to the side, he glanced up at Parker, flashing a crooked smile.  Mimicking his grin, Parker leaned down, kissing Jarod squarely on the mouth.  Reaching up, Jarod rested his hand against the back of Parker’s neck, bringing her closer so he could savor the taste of her lips upon his. 

Both let out sounds of protest when the phone started ringing.  Reluctantly pulling away, Jarod got up and answered the phone.  “Hello?”

“Jarod, its Sam.”

“Hey Sam, what’s going on?” asked a cheerful Jarod.

“Jarod, I just got off the phone with Det. Henderson from Winchester.  Well, he got the results back earlier than expected from the analysts at the crime lab.  The DNA they pulled from Debbie’s fingernails is a match for Brad,” answered Sam.

“That’s great news, Sam.”  However, when Sam didn’t respond back, Jarod knew the news was only going to get worse.  Turning away from Parker, Jarod asked, “What else is there, Sam?”

Clearing his throat, Sam replied back, “Well, Henderson and a few other officers went to Brad’s frat house earlier today to arrest him, but what they found instead was another crime scene.”

“What happened?” came Parker’s voice over the phone.  Looking over to his right, Jarod found Parker walking towards him with the other cordless phone pressed to her ear.

“Henderson said the place looked very chaotic.  Books, papers, and other things were all over the floor, but the two main things they found were a bloody letter opener, and a couple of bullets lodged into one of the walls,” Sam replied back.  “The Winchester PD couldn’t find Brad anywhere so there’s now an APB out for him.”  Pausing momentarily Sam added, “You two should keep an eye on Sarah for Brad may try to see her.”

“Don’t worry, we will,” said Jarod as he locked eyes with Parker.  “Thanks for the heads up, Sam.”

“No problem.  You two take care now.”  With that, Sam hung up the phone.

XXXXXX

Later that night as Jarod and Miss Parker were getting ready for bed, their phone rang once again.  Picking up the phone, Jarod answered.  From the bathroom doorway, Miss Parker watched the conversation, wondering if the call was about Brad.  When Jarod hung up, Miss Parker asked, “Who was it?”

Putting on his shirt, he walked over to the dresser.  Grabbing his car keys and wallet, he went over to Parker and said, “That was Whispering Pines calling about Timmy.”

“Timmy…” Miss Parker whispered out, clearly taken aback by the name.  “What’s wrong?”

“They called to say he was missing.”  Seeing the confused look on her face, he rested his hands on her shoulders.  “You probably don’t remember, but after the car accident we became Timmy’s legal guardians since he has no other living relatives.  I’m going to go down to the facility and see what needs to be done.”  Kissing her on the cheek he said, “I shouldn’t be gone long.  I’ll call you when we find him.”  Giving her another quick peck, he said goodbye as he quickly headed out of the room.

XXXXXX

An hour had already passed and there was still no sign of Timmy.  Rubbing the weariness from his eyes, Jarod sat down on one of the vacant seats.  When Jarod got to the hospital, the nurses told him that Timmy was accounted for at 9:00 pm, when all the other residents went to bed.  When the security guards were doing they’re annual 11:00 pm checks, they found Timmy’s room to be vacant.  He was no where to be found.  Now an hour had passed, and still, no one knew the whereabouts of his friend.

Hearing someone coming down the hall, Jarod focused his eyes on the person walking towards him.  Getting up from his chair, Jarod walked up to the head security guard and asked, “Any luck?”

“Sorry Sir, but he’s still missing,” the man replied grimly.

Clasping his hands behind his head, Jarod looked around the large hallway and said with frustration, “Where the hell could he be?”

Picking up on Jarod’s agitation the security guard suggested, “Listen Sir, there’s nothing else you can do here.  Why don’t you go back home and rest.  Once we find him, you’ll be the first to know.”

Instead of arguing with the guard, Jarod reluctantly agreed.

Getting into his car, he turned on the vehicle.  Letting the car warm up, he rested his head against the headrest, closing his eyes.  Feeling a bit more rested, Jarod opened his eyes.  Glancing up into the rearview mirror, he let out a startled gasp at who he saw sitting in the back seat.  Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Jarod rested his hand over his heart and commented, “Sydney, you scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m not Sydney.”

Staring intently at the mirror, Jarod studied the older man in the backseat.  As he looked more closely, there was something off about the man.  He looked like Sydney, yet he said he wasn’t.  But how could that be?  And then, it dawned on Jarod.  Turning around in his seat, he stared at the man with stunned eyes.  “You…you’re…”

“I’m Jacob, Sydney’s twin brother.”

XXXXXX

Two hours had passed, and there was still no word from Jarod.  Clearly feeling restless, Miss Parker put on her robe and went downstairs.  When she reached the foyer, the doorbell rang.  Knowing it was late for anyone to be making social calls at this hour, Miss Parker ran into the living room, grabbing the fire poker.  Walking back to the door, she looked out the peephole, but couldn’t see anyone.  When the doorbell rang again, she instantly backed away from the door.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” came Brandon’s sleepy voice from atop the stairs.

“Brandon, go back to bed,” ordered Miss Parker as she eyed the doorknob warily.  Not waiting to see if Brandon followed her orders, she took a deep breath and reached out for the handle.  Gripping the poker tightly in her hand she hid it off to the side as she slowly opened the door.

Peering through the open doorway, she found the porch to be empty.  Feeling the hairs on the back of her neck rising, she went to close the door when suddenly out of nowhere a figure jumped out of the bushes and onto the porch.

“Shit!” Miss Parker exclaimed, clearly startled by the figure walking towards her.  She tried to get a good look at his face, but he was still hidden among the shadows.  Flipping on the porch light, she let out a startled gasp at who she saw.  “It…it’s you…”

XXXXXX

To Be Continued…