Part Seven

“Wh…what?!” Broots exclaimed, standing in a puddle of hot coffee.

Ben grabbed his arm, “Don’t move, Mr. Broots. We should clean up this glass first.”

“Glass?” he frowned down at his feet. “Oh, the mug! I’m sorry.”

Parker sighed, “Relax Broots, it was only a coffee mug. We wanted to wait and discuss this later, but it is probably better that Debbie not hear it yet anyway.” Major Charles drew his seat back under the table as Ethan walked behind him, taking the seat on his sister’s other side.

“Dr. Raines wanted to create a Pretender that had the Inner Sense,” Ethan explained, “But I’m not a Pretender, not really.”

“Not what Raines would call a success, anyway,” Parker nodded to her brother. “He did to Ethan what he did to Timmy,” she wrapped her hands around the cold teacup. “Raines… he wants a hybrid. A Pretender who can hear the voices, but trying to amplify Ethan’s Inner Sense destroyed his ability to be a Pretender the likes of Jarod.”

“Or you,” Sydney inserted. Her mouth snapped closed. “You were a Red File, Miss Parker. Your mother refused to allow them to train you, but that does not mean the abilities are not there. It runs much deeper than your Inner Sense.”

Major Charles’ gaze drifted to the younger woman sitting beside him. Like the other men, he was unsure what to say or do. With no obvious acknowledgement of Sydney’s words, she continued. “They want a Pretender as powerful as Jarod but with my Inner Sense, my mother’s Inner Sense. Genetically, the best way for them to achieve this would be through uniting the father of a Pretender and a woman who has the Inner Sense. A Pretender would not pass along the necessary genes.”

“There is also the possibility that another man with similar genetics’ semen was used. Or that the Centre used Jarod’s in an attempt to trap him,” the Major added. “Right now, anything is possible.”

“Though some are more likely than others,” Ethan nodded, slipping his arm around his sister.

“When will you know?” Ben asked, emptying the dustpan of glass into the wastebasket. Brushing his hands against each other, he smiled softly at Miss Parker.

“Three to six weeks,” she answered. “Jim, Ethan and I did some research yesterday. A CVS test can be run then to potentially determine paternity. Or at least exclude potential matches.”

“Is it dangerous?” Broots asked, hands still too shaky to try for another mug of coffee.

“Less than methods the Centre would employ,” the Major replied.

“What then, Miss Parker?” Ben asked, treading cautiously.

Before she could reply, Major Charles interrupted. “First, we have to move to a more secure location. We’ll be taking two cargo vans to an airfield in Georgia, where we will board a second plane. From there, I will fly us to our new location. If anyone has any objections or does not wish to join us, you must decide before tomorrow. Anyone who is uncertain will not be taken against their wishes. However, if you choose to stay, you will not be informed of where we are until such time as it is feasible.” Looking to the woman on his left, he caught her eye. “You will drive one van, and I will drive the other. We’ll be the only ones who know where we are going until we arrive. The fewer of us who know, the safer it is.”

“In case we’re separated,” Broots read between the lines, then pushed back his chair, heading again for the coffee machine. “Debbie…” he began.

“Will never be safe if you go back to Blue Cove,” Miss Parker interrupted. “This is it, Broots. This is the only chance we get.”

Sydney stood, walking to stand behind the younger man, dropping his voice to a lower octave. “Broots, they wrested the little control we had on our lives from our hands when they made Parker their new experiment. We are her friends and we know too much. If we go back there, we will die.”

Sighing, Broots nodded, eyes flickering from Parker to Sydney and back again. “Yeah. Yeah.” After a pause, he continued, “She loves you, Miss Parker. You… you’re like a second mother or… or maybe an older sister.” He winced at his own words, afraid she would think he was calling her old.

Arching an eyebrow, Parker just stared at him for a few moments before smiling. “I know, Broots. We’ll be okay.”

“I would feel better if we had a plan,” the Major commented, causing the other two men to move back toward the kitchen table. “I think we should work out a few details.”

“Yes,” Parker agreed after taking a deep breath. “First, Ben… you have a life outside of this, and if you want to go, there’s no reason to expect that the Centre would cause you harm.”

“I loved your mother, Miss Parker,” the man replied, choosing his words carefully. “You are her child, through and through. I would not be here if I didn’t want to be.”

Blinking, she smiled back at the inn owner, “Thank you, Ben.” Turning to Sydney, she began to speak only to have him shake his head.

“You have been there when I needed you, Parker, and when I haven’t,” he chuckled. “This was your mother’s plan, you realize? Freeing the children – her children – from the Centre, showing that place, those people, that what they were doing was not something that could be done. We may never find the DSA with those answers you seek, but,” he reached across the table and clasped her hands in his own, squeezing them as he spoke, “we will make our own. We will show the Centre what we are made of.”

“What about Jarod?” Ethan asked, eyes focus on their joined hands.

“He’ll realize I’m not in Portland by tomorrow or the day after. He’ll try to contact us by phone, first. We will leave all of our cell phones in South Carolina, before we cross the border into Georgia. When no one answers, he’ll attempt to reach us by e-mail. We’ll need to feed him some bread crumbs to keep him busy until we have some idea of what we are trying to do,” Miss Parker answered, still holding tightly to Sydney’s fingertips.

Major Charles and Sydney exchanged glances, the first man turning to Parker. “When he realizes he’s being left in the dark, he is going to feel betrayed.”

She nodded, “But he will be alive and outside of the Centre. Being betrayed by each other, and everyone else, is something Jarod and I are used to.” Releasing Sydney’s hands, she rubbed them on her thighs then pushed her chair back from the table. “If there were another way to do this…” Parker began, then shook her head. “This is the only way I know to keep everyone safe, and it may not work. Involving Jarod… complicates things. He complicates things.”

The Major couldn’t help the chuckle that rose in his throat, “That’s my son.” He watched a ghost of a smile flit over the standing woman’s face. The weight of Jarod’s emotions tugged at his mind. Jarod may not be so forgiving if this is his child. He may not be so forgiving if it isn’t. “He wants what is best for his friends and family, Parker.”

“That may be,” she replied after a moment’s thought. “But the fact of the matter is, Raines issued a challenge when we found out about Ethan. And another when we returned from Carthis. Only one of us can win this, Major Charles. The difference between Jarod and I is that, right now, I have more at stake. That, and I want to move carefully enough to keep us both alive.”

“And free,” Ethan added.

“And free,” she confirmed, clutching the robe tighter around herself. “I’m going to go get dressed and wake Debbie and Jim. We have a lot of packing and planning to do before tomorrow.”

With a last glance over the faces of the men in the room, she turned on her bare heel and headed up the stairs, her pace a little slower than it had been just weeks before.

Major Charles looked to Sydney, locking eyes with the psychiatrist. “Jarod may never forgive me for this.”

“Jarod will understand, Major, once the facts are in front of him.”

“Once we know the facts,” the Major filled in, his words tinged with bitterness. “My son is impetuous and fueled by emotion; he is my son. He cares for Miss Parker, he always has.”

Sydney nodded. “I worry that he will not forgive me this, not because we didn’t tell him, but because it’s her.” Again, Sydney nodded, expression grim. Major Charles didn’t continue. He didn’t have to.

--

Parker had crept back through the bedroom, grabbing a set of clothing, before shutting herself in the bathroom. She set the water just hot enough to create steam and stripped from her nightgown and robe, stepping beneath the hot spray. With the water pounding, sluicing over her shoulders, back, and breasts, she allowed the tears to slip down her face. She held the back of her hand over her mouth before the power of her sobs crumpled her to the floor of the tub. An image of her mother flitted through her mind, flowered dress draped over her bulging abdomen, hand reaching out for Jarod. Her mother, sweating, crying for her son as Raines chose to end her life.

I don’t know how to do this, she cried, hands shifting to cover her face. I don’t know how to keep you safe. I don’t know how to be your mother. I don’t know anything. The steam billowed around her, body folded into the corner of the tub. After a few minutes, Parker bent her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them into her chest. Rocking her face forward, she sighed, letting the tears go. The release was nice, but the brunette knew she couldn’t afford to bury herself in her sorrows for long.

Tommy, she thought. If only she were yours.