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Chapter or Story
Part 13
Ashe, New York
"Mommy?"
At the sound of Debbie's voice, Helen looked down. "What's up, sweetheart?"
"I can't finish it." The girl handed the bowl to the doctor. "It was too big."
"Was it nice, though, baby?"
"Uh huh." Debbie smiled at Helen, resting her head against the woman's arm.
"Well, I think I know somebody who might like the rest. Actually, two people, but I'll be generous tonight." Helen grinned at Jarod. "How long would it take for you to finish this?"
"About thirty seconds." He seized the bowl with a laugh and scooped up the traces of candy and ice cream that it contained. "Or maybe less."
"A human vacuum cleaner."
The Pretender shook his head, laughing. "No, I'm more selective than that."
Helen snorted. "Not much." She looked at her watch and then at the girl who still rested against her, watching as she yawned. "I think it's bedtime, sweetie."
"For Jon, too?"
"Not just yet, baby. He hasn't been sick. But Jarod won't be staying up all that much longer than you." She waited until the girl hugged her father before picking her up and carrying her up the stairs.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Debbie?"
"We're leaving tomorrow, aren't we?"
"You might be, baby. We'll see what happens." Helen sat down on the bed, stroking the girl's hair as she rested against her. "I can't promise anything until I see how you are and how the weather is."
Debbie nodded before suddenly throwing her arms around the woman's neck. "I am going to see you again after we leave, aren't I?"
"Of course you are, Debbie. I promise you will, and I keep my promises." She reached down and kissed the girl's cheek. "I want to see you, too, you know, just as much as you want to see me."
"I'm glad you brought us here."
"I am, too, sweetheart."
Helen took the last plate out of the dishwasher and put it away, turning to see the psychiatrist in the doorway.
"Parker, Broots and I were just discussing the fact that..."
"...you need to get back to Blue Cove. I know."
"Will tomorrow morning be okay for you to drive us back?"
"I think we should wait until evening, or at least late afternoon. I'd rather not make a great fanfare of your arrival back home."
He leaned against the table. "I know Debbie probably asked this, but will we ever see you again, except on DSA footage?"
"Do you want to?" She smiled faintly. "A person who abducted you, drugged you, forced you to stay here against your will for weeks..."
"...kept us warm, well fed, doctored and entertained. Yes, I think we might."
"I promised Debbie she'd see me again. I'll do my best to extend that promise to the three of you."
"Can we contact you?"
Helen raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think it's wise, or has this vacation has made you forget how dangerous the Centre can be?"
"That could be true."
She laughed. "I'll give you all an emergency contact number where you'll at least be able to leave me a message. If my brother tracks it down, I'll change it and let you know."
"And you're really not going to let him know about you yet?"
"Like I said, Sydney, it would be a very useful card to pull out if they ever actually do manage to get hold of me."
Helen softly closed the cellar door and moved across to the doorway leading into the living room. Through the gap under the door, she could see a faint glow and glanced back over her shoulder, out of the window. Sunrise was still several hours away, and Helen knew the fire had been almost dead when she went downstairs. Quietly she eased open the door, eyes lighting on the dark head sitting on the sofa.
"You know," she commented, watching him jump, "I wouldn't expect a person still recovering from the measles to be up this early."
"Now I've got to recover from a heart attack too." Jarod placed the laptop on the sofa and turned to look at her. "What are you doing up?"
"That's the question I should be asking you." She nodded at the computer as she sat down in the chair opposite him. "What are you looking at?"
"Mainframe stuff. All the information your brother would love to get hold of and can't."
"How's your brother?"
"He was still asleep when I got up."
She glanced at her watch. "Jarod, it's only four o’clock. Couldn't you have satisfied your insatiable curiosity at a more seasonable hour?"
"So what are you doing up?" He drew up his legs and hugged them, resting his chin on his knees as he watched her.
"Working."
"Who's sick?"
Helen smiled. "I never said it was my legitimate work. After Debbie appeared in my lab, I thought it was better to do that kind of thing when she was asleep."
"You'll fall asleep at the wheel while you're driving them home."
She eyed him, her lips twitching in amusement. "Jarod, I'm a doctor. I'm used to working on little sleep."
"You're also a thief, so I suppose you're used to working at nights too."
"Exactly. These are almost normal hours for me." She crossed her legs, leaning back in the chair. "Besides, security at the Centre's more lax now than during the day."
"So why did you sneak into Mr. Parker's office in broad daylight?"
"He takes files home with him sometimes."
"He works at home?"
Helen snorted. "Hardly. No, I think he's nervous that Raines will try and sneak in to find out about his projects, so he takes the most important things home. But I know that you've been in his home at least once. Why didn't you notice that?"
"That wasn't what I was looking for then, assuming that you mean all his project information and not personal details."
"Yes, I did mean project information and that, of course, is the thing that I'm most interested in."
"Was."
"You're right. Was." She sighed in mock-frustration. "I don't know how I'm meant to fill my days now that there's nothing for me to steal from the Centre. I've been doing it for years."
"There's always the ongoing projects."
"It's no fun until they're nearly finished and ready to sell."
"So what will you do?"
"Probably concentrate on my legitimate work. Doctors are always needed. But I'll keep an eye on the Centre for any ramifications of the last two weeks."
"Do you expect any?"
"Some, but not very many. The small amount of information that the three of them can to tell the Triumvirate, added to the fact that Broots has no hope of getting access to the old mainframe, will mean that they'll want to focus even more on trying to get you back. After all, without either you or Jon, they can't get hold of a lot of the old simulation results."
"Was that always part of your plan?"
"Yes." She looked up from the last glowing embers to find him looking at her. "In the first few days of Eddie being here, we talked for hours about the way he felt about the results of his simulations. You, I'm sure, would have to feel the same. When I came up with the idea to crash the system, it also meant that none of the results of your work could ever be used to hurt people again."
"And…the DSAs?"
"Considering you're carrying around the only copies of them, I'd suggest that you find a good hiding place. They're even more valuable to the Triumvirate than you are because the camera never lies but you can."
"So it'll be back to the good old days again? Just the three of them against me?"
"Except that there's a few new ties of loyalty that might disrupt things a bit. Also, I guess you can add the fact that you don't need to get angry with Sydney, the way you did for the first couple of months, for seeming to hide bits of information about your life. If you want it, all you have to do is look it up."
"How will I get the mainframe codes for future months?"
Helen's gaze traveled back the fire as she smiled. "The list of codes will be delivered to your email address every week. All you've got to do is enter them on the first day - the system will give you two days' grace in case you have a lot on your plate - and then type in the correct one each day. Oh, you don't need to use it every day. Just be sure to use the relevant code on the correct day or you'll find yourself locked out as well."
Jarod stared at her for a moment before laughing. "And I suppose that was neatly organized by you as well?"
"Well, it was hardly going to happen on its own." She smiled. "Oh yes, and, just to stuff your box more, you'll also get the list of codes for the new mainframe. From what I've seen of the building process, they'll use the same system except that it will be my brother who'll be sending out the emails."
"Mommy?"
Helen turned to see Debbie halfway down the stairs, a blanket held tightly around her shoulders and the other hand rubbing her eyes. Jarod got off the sofa, going over to pick up the girl and bring her down to Helen.
"You shouldn't be up yet, baby." The doctor gently tucked the blanket around the girl, who leaned back against her. "It's too early."
"I woke up and you weren't there."
Helen gently began to stroke Debbie's hair. "You're going to have to get used to that, sweetie."
"I know." The girl's voice was a murmur as she nodded sleepily, closing her eyes.
Jarod waited in silence until the girl's head lay still against Helen's shoulder, her fingers wrapped loosely around the doctor's free hand, before he spoke.
"Did you ever have any of your other patients as attached to you as she is?"
"Not exactly. A few of them, particularly the motherless ones, tend to cling for the time that they're sick, but most don't continue."
"And you will see her again?"
"Of course." Helen gently kissed the top of the sleeping girl's head. "She’s not the only one who's become attached over the past week or so."
He smiled faintly. "I was always under the impression that doctors were meant to stop themselves from doing that."
"You mean like the way that Sydney stopped himself from getting attached to you?" She gave a soft laugh. "Of course, it's not advisable, but we are human and it's difficult not to, particularly in some cases." After a moment, Helen glanced up. "Tell me something, Jarod. The day before you officially came down with the measles, just how bad were you feeling?"
"Terrible." He grinned half-heartedly. "When you were telling Parker all the things you’d found out about the Centre, I went up to my room and tried to sleep for about two hours. It was weird. I kept dreaming that I'd gone downstairs, but every time I woke up, I was still lying on the bed."
"On? Not in?"
"I didn't want to look sick and I thought that, if anyone asked, I could just say that I was tired." He shrugged. "I also kept dreaming that I got up to get myself a drink but, every time I woke up, the glass on my table was empty. It eventually got so frustrating that I got up. When I came down, you were still talking to Parker, so I sat here and tried to take advantage of the fact that I had the mainframe code." Jarod laughed. "Would you be surprised if I said that it wasn't too productive?"
"No, not really." She paused. "By the time we went to get Parker I'd expect you to have had some fever as well."
He nodded. "I think that's why I slept for so long in the car, both going there and coming back. I'd been feeling hot all day, and there were a few times where I found myself either staring blankly at walls or nodding off, but I'd never been sick like that in my life before so I had no idea what it was. I thought I must have been over-tired, and planned to get a long night's sleep, but our kidnapping prevented it."
"Why on earth didn't you say something though?" She rolled her eyes. "I know for a fact that you were been a doctor on more than one occasion and you must know that if it feels like something’s wrong, particularly with someone as healthy as you usually are, there probably is."
"Well, I know now." He grinned. "Experience is a wonderful teacher. But I actually did think about mentioning it. I came upstairs to do so..."
"And I was watching Lyle's death throes, right?"
"Yes. After seeing your expression, I didn't want to bother you with some vague thing that I wasn't able to identify myself. And then you were stubborn about the whole kidnapping..."
"…so you felt like you had to intrude and knew that, if you'd admitted you weren't feeling too well, neither Sydney nor I would have let you come."
Grinning sheepishly, he nodded. "It might have been a good idea, huh?"
"Probably." She eyed him. "I did have options and it's just lucky we didn't leave it for another day or you wouldn't have been able to pick her up, let alone me."
"Shopping was interesting." He laughed. "I don't remember much about it, except Broots asking me about four times if I was okay."
"And did you say the same things to him that you said to me, when I was trying to convince you that you were sick?"
"I think it's likely, yes. The minute you said what Debbie had, I went into my room and pulled out my computer to hunt up signs and symptoms. It took me about half a minute to make an accurate diagnosis."
"And yet you still denied you were sick, you idiot!" She rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. "If you'd mentioned it, I could have begun looking after you right away, instead of having to wait until you fell asleep on my shoulder."
"Do you have any idea how nice that felt?" He smiled. "Especially the first time. I had a headache to beat anything I'd had before - including the one I developed after the train explosion - and also I was hot and aching all over, but I was cold as well, and I couldn't think straight. If I ever had that opportunity again, I don't think I'd knock it back, even if it meant you'd find out I was sick."
"Speaking of that train explosion, do you have any idea where Ethan is?"
"No." He stared at his hands. "Parker said that, after he rescued her from Alex's bomb and she came back from saving her father, he'd disappeared. Apparently he left an unfinished note on the table." Jarod glanced at her. "Do you think he could be in the Centre? Could Raines have found him?"
"As I told Sydney, I did a room-by-room search of the Centre for Alex after his fall and didn't find him. I also didn't find Ethan there, but I did see Raines. I think that if your brother had been there, I'd have found him. If not, Angelo would have told me that he was there."
Slowly Jarod nodded before getting up to begin pacing in front of the fireplace. "I just wish I knew where he is - and if he's okay. If those voices get to him the way they did on the train, he could be in all sorts of trouble."
"Worrying about him won't help, Jarod. Ethan's a grown man. I'm sure he's quite able to take care of himself, and Angelo, at least, will know about him. When I'm at the Centre next, I'll ask him."
"You don't need to bother,” a new voice stated quietly. “I'm fine."
The two people jumped and turned to stare at the young man who was standing in the doorway before Jarod sprang over, hugging him.
"Where on earth have you been?"
"Around. Busy." He returned the man's embrace before going over to Helen. "I'm Ethan."
"I know who you are." She smiled. "I've even got your file upstairs. Did Catherine tell you about me?"
"She said I could trust you. That's all I need to know. He smiled awkwardly. "You don't have any food here, do you? I haven't eaten for a few days."
As Jarod hurried into the kitchen, the doctor eyed Ethan as he sank onto the sofa with a sigh.
"Yes, it looks like you haven't eaten."
Gently Helen moved Debbie so that the girl was lying against the arm of the chair and then stood up, going over to take the young man's wrist, timing his pulse and eyeing the shadows under his eyes.
"When did you last sleep, Ethan?"
"A few days ago." He stifled a yawn. "I was trying to get here before everyone left, and she said they were going tonight."
"You could have called." The doctor sat next to him. "We would have waited for a couple of days."
"You don't have a few days,” he retorted. “They'll send out the sweepers the day after tomorrow to find them."
"Only if they haven't heard," she chided gently. "And I would have had your sister or Sydney call them." Turning, she raised her voice slightly. "Jarod, make a warm drink. Your brother's freezing."
"I'll bet." Jarod came into the room with a plate, which he put in front of Ethan, turning back to the kitchen. "Just a sec and I'll make something for all of us."
"That sounds good." Helen got up and relit the fire as Ethan hungrily began to eat the food in front of him. The doctor eyed the man as the kindling ignited. "Did she tell you that Jarod was sick? Is that why you weren't here earlier?"
"Uh huh."
"Why didn't you call them, Ethan?" She sat on the coffee table opposite him. "Do you know how worried they've been about you?"
"How do you know?"
"I know from what Jarod just said and from a discussion I had with your sister the other night." She smiled and took the empty plate. "I'm going to go down and tell her you're here."
"It's too early."
"It's nearly seven. Besides, she'll want to see you as soon as possible." As Jarod came back into the room with a jug and several mugs, she rose, eyeing the older man. "Don't make your brother talk very much yet. You can hear it all when Emily and Miss Parker do, impatient or not, okay?"
He nodded, looking at his brother. "Don't worry, Helen. I'm not that selfish."
"I know." She put a gentle hand on Jarod's shoulder. "Actually, if you take Debbie back to bed, you can wake your sister at the same time."
"Good idea." He stood, picking up the little girl as Helen left the room, and looked at his brother. "I'll be right back. Don't run off on me."
Ethan grinned weakly. "I promise."
"Miss Parker?"
Helen gently shook the woman, who rolled over and looked up.
"Don't tell me I missed breakfast."
"No." She smiled. "But we've got another visitor for that meal, and I think it's one that you'll want to see."
The woman sat up and took the silk bathrobe that Helen gave her. "Clarify that mystery, please."
"Your brother's upstairs."
"Ethan?!"
"Well, I sure don't mean Lyle."
The woman threw back the blanket and stood up quickly but the doctor put out a restraining hand. "Just a sec, Miss Parker. Your brother's hungry, tired and he can't deal with being swamped. Go easy with him. You can talk to him later all you want, but be gentle for now."
Nodding, the woman pulled on the bathrobe and raced up the stairs, through the kitchen and into the living room. Sitting down on the sofa next to him, she hugged her brother.
"Where have you been?"
"Around." The young man dreamily watched Helen put more wood on the fire, before she went into the kitchen and brought out more mugs. A slight sound drew Ethan's attention to the staircase as Jarod and Emily came into the room. With a weary sigh, he took the mug that the doctor put in his hands before looking up as Jarod introduced his sister.
"I don't know if Catherine told you about her. This is Emily. She's your half-sister and my full one."
Smiling faintly, Ethan watched as the two people sat down and Helen returned to her armchair.
"I think we'll restrict questions to just a few. Your brother needs a few solid hours' sleep, and he'll talk better afterwards anyway."
Jarod nodded before looking at Ethan. "Why did you leave?"
"Raines turned up as I was writing that note and I only just got away. I was going to call to let you know I was okay but I thought he might still have been there."
"He wouldn't have been for long," Miss Parker commented drily. "Where did you go after that?"
"Philadelphia." He looked at Emily. "I wanted to see you, but you'd already left."
"And after that?"
"I've been trying to find Jarod, but every time I'd get somewhere, he'd already have left." Ethan looked up at his brother. "I was in Louisiana when she told me you were sick. I wanted to come right away, but I had to wait until I wouldn't get it from you and I also had to get here."
"How did you get here?"
"Train and walked." He stifled another yawn and Helen got up, gently touching Ethan on the arm. At once he rose from his seat.
"That's enough for now." She looked at Miss Parker. "I'll put him into your bed. You won't need it again."
She took the mug and gently squeezed his hand. "Sleep well, Ethan."
He smiled before letting Helen guide him out of the room and down the stairs into the cellar.
"You won't be scared of the dark?"
"Not considering I've been walking through the night." Ethan smiled faintly, following her into the bedroom. "It seemed safer somehow."
"Well, you're safe here too, Ethan." She bent down to take off his shoes as he sat wearily on the bed. "Nobody will find you here and you can stay here for as long you want."
He looked up at her and the trust in his eyes was like that of a child. "She told me that as well." Shyly he reached out for her hand. "Will you stay with me now?"
"If you want me to." She sat down on the bed next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders, and he rested against her.
"Helen?"
"What is it?"
"Do you believe in getting messages from the dead?"
She smiled. "I believe that you hear your mother's voice, Ethan, if that's what you want to know."
"But from other people?"
"Like who?"
He looked up, examining her with his eyes. "On the way here, she kept telling me about a person called Eddie. She said you'd know who he was."
Helen froze, feeling the blood drain away from her face, and she had to swallow hard before she could speak. "And… what did she say?"
"She said he loved you, too."
She nodded, speaking softly. "I know he did." Recovering her composure, Helen started to gently stroke his hair. "Don't worry about it, Ethan. You can tell me about it later if you want to. Just try to sleep for now."
Nodding, he closed his eyes and relaxed against her, a small smile on his face.
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
"They're still missing?"
"Yes, sir." The sweeper stood, ill at ease, in front of the desk. "Should I instigate a search, or...?"
"No." The man examined the tabletop for a moment before looking up. "If they're not back at work tomorrow morning, then I'll order teams out, but only after none of them sign in tomorrow at their usual time."
The sweeper nodded and left the room before the man in the corner looked up.
"And if they're not back, what then?"
"Then I'll assume that they're not only being held by Jarod but also helping him, as I've suspected them of doing for some time now." He leaned forward. "Personally, I’ve got a feeling that they will be back at work tomorrow. When they are, I want you to lead a T-Board."
"Tomorrow?"
"No, in a few days. First we need to finish with Mr. Parker and that'd going to take until at least the day after tomorrow. We'll also need to debrief them a little about the mainframe."
"Broots may be able to get access to the old one."
The red-haired man shrugged. "I doubt it, but it's possible." He looked up. "During the T-Board, we will use every possible method to ensure that we hear every last detail." He met the man's eye. "Am I understood?"
"Completely." His associate stood. "I'll go and find out what supplies we've got for that purpose, down in the laboratory."
"Yes," responded his boss in firm tones. "You do that."
Ashe, New York
"He can stay here for as long as he likes. You all know where he'll be and how to get in touch with him here. He's going to need several days to fully recover from the exhaustion anyway and he'll do that more easily if he knows that none of you are worrying about him."
Jarod nodded slowly. "Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Not at all. It'll be nice to have someone around the place again." Helen turned to Miss Parker. "I know you'd like to stay, now he's here, but we can't afford for you to. Unless all of you turn up at work tomorrow, we're going to have sweepers all over the place."
"Your brother's a pain in the neck."
Helen grinned. "I know, I know. Family failing."
"So what now?"
Helen turned to Emily as she spoke. "I’d suggest your family stay here tonight while I drive Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots and Debbie back to Blue Cove. We'll keep an eye on the Centre for few days, just to make sure everything's all right, but you don't have to be here for it if your parents want to get going, as I think they do."
She caught Major Charles' eye and watched him nod. "So you don't mind if Ethan stays here?"
"He seems to want to, and they won't find him here, at least not without being able to get access to my details on the old mainframe." She smiled. "I never thought that this would be so useful."
"It certainly has been." Jarod grinned briefly before becoming serious. "And you'll let us know how he's going?"
"Of course I will." She smiled. "You're his family. I wouldn't dream of not doing it."
"You've become a part of our family too, Helen." Margaret spoke quietly from the other side of the room. "With everything you've done and are doing for us, I think you've definitely earned honorary membership of it."
Helen looked at the girl who was pressed against her, both arms around her waist, and smiled. "With an adoptive daughter, an adoptive family and a genuine older brother, I seem to be doing very well for myself."
"Can you cope with him?" Sydney looked up. "I know it sounds like a somewhat strange question, but if anything happens..."
"Well, he's better here than on his own and he seems to trust me so it's not a bad start. I can't do anything but see how he goes, and I can always call someone for help. You're within a few hours' drive, as is his sister."
"So you'll come back here after taking them home, see us off and then...?"
"Like I said, Jarod, keep an eye on the Centre. I'll eavesdrop on the orders my brother gives today, because that's most likely to give us ideas for what's coming next. If I think it’s necessary, I'll rush back to Blue Cove, to save you all from the T-Board's clutches." She laughed. "I can leave Ethan for a day or two on his own and bring people here to keep them safe."
"Would they be safe here?"
"Well, I'm hardly going to drive back here if I'm being tailed by a big black sedan, am I?" She sent a scornful look in Jarod's direction. "Do you see any sweepers hovering around?"
"I haven't been outside for a bit..."
"Gee, I wonder why!" Helen rolled her eyes and felt Debbie start to giggle. "Might it possibly have to do with the fact that you've been sick?"
"Oh, come on. Debbie was out of the house yesterday and she's been sick."
"She wasn't horrible to me. You didn't deserve to have the nice treat of coming shopping." Helen looked down to where Jonathon leaned against her other shoulder, grinning. "Nor do you deserve any candy, several pieces of which have mysteriously vanished from a certain person's stash, apparently."
"And are you accusing me of stealing it?"
"Well, now that you mention it..."
Ethan yawned, rolling over to see the door open and his sister approach the bed. Miss Parker sat down beside him and took his hand.
"How do you feel?"
"Better, sort of."
"Helen said it might take a couple of days before you're back to normal."
"What's normal?" He grinned feebly. "You're leaving tonight, right?"
"We have to, Ethan. If we don't..."
"I know. They'll send out the hounds. And the others?"
"Jarod and his family will probably leave after Helen gets back from Blue Cove."
"And I should stay here?"
"Nobody's forcing you if you don't want to, but you can't come with me to Blue Cove. It's too dangerous." She gently stroked his hair. "Not that I wouldn't love to have you."
"I'd like to visit you, too, but it's not safe, for either of us."
She nodded. "I'll call you a lot and you can always call me."
"That'd be nice." He yawned again and she smiled.
"Try and get some more sleep, Ethan. I'll come and see you before we leave."
Smiling faintly, he closed his eyes, feeling as she stood and bent down to give him a kiss, before he fell asleep.
"Are we ready?" Helen glanced back at the three people in the rear seat and then at the man sitting beside her.
"I think so. It didn't exactly take any of us long to pack."
Smiling at Sydney's tones, Helen put the car into gear and turned onto the street.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, Debbie?"
"When will you be in Blue Cove again?"
Helen glanced in the rearview mirror. "I'm not really sure, sweetheart."
"But you'll come and see me when you do, right?"
"Of course, baby. You've become my main reason for being there."
Nodding, Debbie leaned back against the arm that her father had put around her shoulders. For several moments, she stared out at the passing scenery before closing her eyes. Broots looked up in mock-horror.
"Helen, you didn't!"
Laughing softly, the woman shook her head. "No, I thought you'd all feel like enjoying the trip this time. Besides, it might look a bit obvious if I had to carry you into your houses."
Sydney glanced over from the passenger seat. "Will you drop me home or...?"
"I can do that, or leave you at Broots' house to pick up your car." Helen looked at the woman in the rearview mirror. "Unless, of course, Miss Parker had it towed to the Centre to be dusted for fingerprints or something."
Smiling, the woman shook her head. "No, that idea never occurred to me."
Laughing, Helen opened the glove box of the car, extracting a key ring and giving it to Sydney, before, as he pocketed it, looking back at Miss Parker. "And can you cope in the hunt without your dear twin brother?"
"Hmm, it might be a struggle, but I think we'll all survive."
"Well, if not, I'm sure you could take a little of your disappointed frustration out on Cox. Being the Triumvirate's whipping boy, as well as that of Mr. Parker and also Raines, it should be a situation he's getting used to by now."
"So what do you think your brother will do?"
Helen laughed and glanced at Sydney. "You love saying that, don't you?"
"Trust me, I'm not going to say it to him!"
"I hope not." Helen remained quiet for a moment as she thought. "I think it's most likely that you'll get a short and not-at-all-informative briefing of what's happened over the last few weeks and then be left to it." She glanced at Sydney. "You might get called in for some information about the more important projects that Jarod was working on before his escape, but that is five years ago now, so I think you'd be excused if you couldn't really remember."
"And what about us?"
"Well, I think Broots will be sat down and begged to find some way back into the old mainframe. The construction of the new one's going very slowly and they desperately want to get hold of that information - particularly about me." She laughed softly. "After that, he'll probably be able to join Sydney on the pursuit again."
"And me?"
Helen grinned. "You're so valuable to them, Miss Parker. You've worked in Corporate, as head of Security, as a cleaner - I think they'll pump you for information for quite a while. The amount you tell them is up to you."
"I'm more worried about what they'll pump me full of to make sure I tell the truth."
"You mean the kind of thing they used on your father? It won't have any affect on you - not now, at least."
"And why not?" Miss Parker eyed Helen sharply and the doctor grinned.
"Remember how I knew about Ammon?"
"Yes, but I don't see what that..."
"Just let me explain, okay?"
Sydney half-smiled. "Go ahead, Helen."
"Thank you." The woman smiled before concentrating on the road. "After we both got back from kidnapping you, Jarod found me asleep in my room with my laptop under my hands. In addition to checking on Lyle's office, as I told him, I'd also examined the contents of the Centre's dispensary. The files that originally told me about Ammon also revealed similar things about the other drugs. The other night, while you were playing Scrabble and Monopoly - "
"And you were supposed to be looking after dinner," interposed Broots.
"I left dinner to look after of itself and created an antidote that blocks every one of drugs that they might use to 'persuade' you to tell the truth about everything that happened over the past weeks. As all of the drugs were related by their chemical compositions, only one antidote was needed for them all."
The psychiatrist eyed her. "I'm starting to think that Jarod's caution when you play with chemicals is well founded."
"Oh, come on, Sydney. I told you, my drugs don't leave side effects. All it means is that if they use any of the drugs that they have in stock on you, the effect will be one of heavy sedation - that's it."
"So we've been given this antidote already?"
"Yes. The three of you received it in your drinks last night. Only one of you had a reaction of any sort to it." She eyed Miss Parker in the rearview mirror. "That was why I wasn't overly concerned when you said that you weren't feeling too well. It was just the affect of the antidote and, as you know, that wore off pretty quickly."
"Do you expect them to use the drugs or not?"
"If they use them on anyone, I'd expect it to be Miss Parker. I think they'll feel that any information she can tell them will be more valuable than anything that either of you might know." She looked at Broots in the rearview mirror. "I'll keep an eye on the place and, if anything happens, I'll make sure Debbie's safe. If necessary, I'll take her back to Ashe again."
"That'd be good." Broots looked at the girl who was still asleep before glancing at Helen again. "I know I asked you this before, but you didn't give her anything, did you?"
"No, Broots." Helen looked sad. "She didn't sleep much last night. I think she was pretty sure that you'd be leaving today and that thought kept her awake for some time after I took her up to bed. It also woke her up early."
"She's going to miss you."
Helen nodded, her expression of sadness deepening. "I'm going to miss her too."
Helen quietly shut and locked the kitchen door behind her before putting her bag on the hook and taking off her jacket. She quickly walked through the living room, where the fire was a mass of glowing embers, and went upstairs. A rapid glance into the first bedroom showed Emily asleep in bed and, a small smile on her face, Helen passed the second door without opening it. If her friend was still there, she had no doubt that Jarod would be as well, and that their parents were in their room downstairs. Helen was unable to repress a small sigh as she came into her room and saw the empty bed that had earlier contained the little girl she had started to love as if she were her real daughter. Shaking her head to remove that thought, Helen changed and quickly got between the sheets.
The door opened softly twenty minutes later and the figure slipped across the floor to stop beside the bed. He stood, looking at the woman, before putting out a hand and gently shaking her.
"Helen?"
"Eddie?" The name was murmured and his expression became sad when he saw the small smile on her face.
"No, Helen. It's me. Jarod."
She opened her eyes, looking up. "What's wrong?" Pulling herself into an upright position, Helen immediately reached out a hand for his forehead. "What is it, Jarod? Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." He sat down on the bed. "I just wanted to check that you were okay."
"Why wouldn't I be?" She handed him the blanket from the end of the bed. "Wrap that around yourself or you'll freeze."
"It's a long drive back from Blue Cove."
"You got out of bed on a freezing cold night to tell me that?"
Laughing, he flung the blanket around his shoulders. "No, I think that must be something you're already well aware of. Actually, I wanted to make sure that it all went okay."
"If it didn't, do you really think I'd be here, sleeping or trying to?" She looked up at him curiously. "What did you imagine might happen?"
"I thought maybe the Triumvirate might have ordered their houses to be watched, and it might have meant they saw you or your car."
"It's unlikely that they would have been able to. Besides, we stopped at my house in New Jersey - I'm sure you remember that one - and changed cars there. The old one will be found, abandoned, tomorrow morning, just in case."
He looked at her admiringly. "You really thought that through, didn't you?"
"You'd be amazed, the lengths I've gone to, to avoid Centre detection. That's the eighth car that I've 'lost'."
"Eight?" He leaned back, looking at her in astonishment. "How on earth have you paid for them all?"
"What kind of a stupid question is that? Do you think you're the only person ever to steal from the Centre or something?"
"You did?"
"Uh huh." She smiled. "Eddie did, too. We got a very good system going between us."
He put a hand on hers. "Were you dreaming about him?"
"What makes you think I'd do something like that?"
"The first thing you said to me when I walked in."
"Darn." She glared down at the bed before sheepishly looking up. "I should really try to break out of that habit."
"If you loved him that much, why didn't you marry him?"
"I told you, Jarod. He didn't love me."
"Are you so sure?"
"Absolutely." She met his eyes. "I could remember the way Margaret spoke about your dad and although I could see similarities between how she felt and the way I did, I could see that he didn't feel the same way." She smiled faintly. "It took a while before Eddie learned to hide his emotions." Helen paused. "Actually, that isn't strictly true. He could cover up things like fear or stress far too well, but he had no chance if he felt, say, really happy or excited. Emotions like that were too new or, if not completely new, then he was getting a chance to experience them when he hadn't done so for a long time."
Jarod nodded slowly. "Are you still in love with him?"
"I don't think so."
"You don't know?"
She smiled faintly. "I thought I wasn't anymore, that I'd got over the feelings, but you - the things you say or what you do - remind me a lot of what he was like."
"You're not in love with me, are you?"
"No, Jarod." Helen shook her head definitively. "But having another person of his intelligence but also his naiveté staying in the same room - it brings back a lot of memories that I thought were buried."
He smiled faintly. "How did you get over it last time?"
"I saw him with his wife. He and Marina loved each other so much..." Helen trailed off, one tear glistening in her eye for a moment before she blinked it away. "I should take you over there one day. I'm sure she'd love to hear everything you could tell her about him. And his kids probably would too."
