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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 26
Ashe, New York
Helen watched as the three men settled themselves around the table and, with a grin, nodded. In less than a minute, she saw a technician burst into the room.
"Well?" Her brother's voice was cold and made the intruder stop short. "What do you want?"
"P... please sir, I'm sorry to interrupt but..."
"But what?"
"We've got a call."
The second Triumvirate member jumped to his feet, staring at the man. "What do you mean by that? Is the blockade lifted?"
"N... no, sir, not as far as we've been able to tell, but somehow a call's got through and the person asked to speak to you." The technician trembled as he turned back to his boss, who also stood up, turning to glare at the camera that was mounted on the wall before he turned back to the man.
"Put it through to this room. We'll watch it on the screen."
"And… the phone...?"
"I wouldn't worry," the man sneered. "I've no doubt that she can hear everything we say."
"Sh… she? No, sir, it was a man."
"Do you know this man?"
"Y…yes, sir. It was Mr. B… Broots."
"Fine. Bring in the receiver and put it through."
He resumed his seat and watched as the screen was revealed behind the panels of the wall. After a moment, the figure appeared on the screen, and Helen was able to hear him curse.
"Really, big brother." She spoke laughingly. "You should set your little sister a far better example."
"It's good to see you up and about," he snarled. "Who helped you with that?"
"A large number of people," she replied, lips twitching. "But you saw me last night and didn't say anything about it then."
He narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, Helen."
"Oh, really? I'm glad to hear it. It means my gas is as effective as Eddie and I had thought it was when we made it. But we had a lovely discussion last night, or rather early this morning, before you got that horribly painful-looking black eye. Does it hurt?"
Her tones were politely mocking, and his were sneering in response.
"Only as much as yours."
"Oh, mine's a lot better, but then I didn't fall face-down on my keyboard." Able to hear the choked laughter, she glanced over at Jarod, who was red-faced, silently writhing in his chair.
"What do you want?" he snarled.
"You mean I’m not allowed to call up to find out how my big brother is? What a disappointment." Helen leaned back against the sofa. "Actually, I have somebody who's rather keen to talk to you."
"It wouldn't be Louise, would it?" the man snapped.
"No. Your daughter never wants to see you again. I'd show her to you, but, if I did, she might go into hysterics from fear, and although that’d probably give you as much pleasure as seeing her cowering in the corner of SL-2518 probably did every morning, I wouldn't enjoy it, and nor would anyone else here."
She caught the glances that were passing between the other men and raised one eyebrow. "You did mention to the others in that distinguished band of the fact that you've been keeping your own daughter down on SL-25 since she was born, four years ago, after which event you had Louise's mother killed when she spurned you and then you tried to 'manufacture' a pretender out of a child who never had even the genetic predisposition for it, and when it failed, you planned to wipe her mind, like you did with Angelo, and were readying her for it by feeding her on only one meal a day and standing guard while she ate it, so she wouldn't even be able to enjoy it." Helen inhaled and continued. "You had mentioned those facts to the men sitting on either side of you, hadn't you? If I've revealed any big secret I do most humbly apologize," she sneered, sounding so eerily like her brother that Sydney shot a sharp glance in her direction.
"So who is this mysterious person?" her brother demanded, ignoring all this.
Michelle sat down on the sofa beside Helen so she was visible on the screen in the boardroom, and the doctor watched the man freeze.
"I'm certain you know who this is. You certainly mentioned her a number of times during that nice conversation I talked about earlier, and you even named your daughter in honor of the aunt who was thrown out of the Centre, and whose life was put in danger, just because she fell in love with one of the other employees."
Nicholas also moved into camera shot, sitting on Helen's other side.
"And you'll know this person, too,” the doctor continued. “Our cousin whom you ordered abducted by a band in the Appalachians, and all of whom were then massacred by the group of sweepers headed by the late Mr. Lyle, simply to get Jarod back. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, Jarod is here. He was one of several people, including Steven, who were able to undo the drug treatment that you mentioned earlier."
The man regained enough self-control to be able to speak and forced a note of arrogance into his voice. "So where's Angelo?"
"Right now, he's probably playing with Michael and some of the new toys that we bought for him after bringing him back here, or he might be down with David; I'm not all that sure. You see," she smirked, "I don't feel the need to know the location of those who seek shelter from the Centre in my house at all times."
"So you wouldn't know where Sam might be either?"
"Oh, no. That's a different circumstance. I like knowing where my fiancée is." She laughed. "You should have paid more attention to the things Peter was telling you about that list of people who were invited to s graduation dance in Minnesota, fifteen years ago. Of course, now he's dead, it's a little late to ask him for details. You know," Helen continued conversationally, "I really hope the people in the Tech Room aren't also watching this, because it’d be really awful if they were and I let slip about Peter's death, and, of course, that of the man you shot in the back, when he was in your office a couple of days ago… Oops." One hand covering her mouth, she hid a smile. "I think that was too much information, wasn't it?"
"So what else do you want?" her brother spat.
"Well, I thought you might like to see that conversation that I mentioned a while ago, so I'll ask the person who's making this conversation a possibility to run the tape."
Helen watched the lights in the boardroom dramatically lower and the layout of the screen alter, the image of the three people on the sofa shrinking to a small box and rising to the upper left-hand corner of the screen as the rest of the screen was filled with the security camera footage from earlier that morning. As she watched herself give the final direction, Helen looked at the man in time to see him flinch, one hand rising to his eye before he forced it down. The looks she shot at the other men showed them wearing expressions of bemusement.
"In case you were wondering, your assumption about me was correct. I do muck around with chemicals quite a bit. But you ought to have recognized that one. After all, it was one that Eddie was instructed to create. You do remember Eddie, don't you? He was a pretender, too, like Jarod, and escaped with him. Then, when you wanted to get him out of the way," Helen swallowed hard, refusing to look at other people in the room, "you organized for Alex's release from Africa and had him transported to America so he could kill Eddie and try to kill Jarod."
Helen could see Jarod staring at her in horror from his armchair, but continued.
"After all, you didn't feel that either Jarod or Eddie could be useful to you anymore. You had your clones, and it was always possible to make more, even if they were continually taken away from you. It's such a pity that people keep stealing all of your projects. But don't worry. I’ve made sure that those results due to be given to various organizations were handed over today. They're quite happy, needless to state, and happily paid the money into the bank accounts I gave them the details for. Naturally they aren't your accounts, but then neither are the results yours. Like those you found in both Mr. Parker and Mr. Raines' offices, the discrepancies, as you put it so nicely, big brother, are tiny, but big enough to cause major problems if you'd relied on them, as they will do."
"What are you trying to do, Helen? Destroy us?"
"Oh, I'm not trying." Her voice became cool and she leaned forward. "I'm succeeding. The Centre is now nothing. Thanks to all your help last night, I made a number of advantageous deals today and several groups are very pleased with their new purchases, including LaGrange airstrip, Angel Manor, Dragon House - need I go on?"
"We'll buy them back," muttered her brother and she smiled sweetly.
"Well, you could if there was any money left in any of the Centre's accounts, but I'm afraid that somebody cleared them out and shut them down today, spreading the funds around so that they can benefit people who have suffered at the hands of the Centre for so many years - people like Jarod and his family or Miss Parker and her real father. In fact the only thing that the Centre has is the building you're sitting in right now. Of course, that has quite a lot of value, but sell it and all you'll have left is the money. With no trust from any of your former partners as thanks to the many problems caused by my information, you won't get any aid to rebuild, and neither will anyone give you anything to do. Even if they did, there's nobody left to do it all for you."
She saw her brother's eyes brighten as he muttered the name of the fertility clinic in Atlanta under his breath and Helen laughed.
"NuGenesis? No, I'm afraid they won't help you either, being just as broke as the Centre itself. As well as that, considering that Dr. DeWitt was just taken into custody by the police, who are wanting to question her about aiding and abetting in a number of abductions, I don't think they would want to help you even if they could."
"The police?" One of the other men turned pale, looking around with obvious nervousness. His fellow Triumvirate member reached out a hand to stop the man from jumping to his feet.
"They can't get in, don't worry. The blockade, remember?"
"You fool!" His boss glared at him. "Not only can they hear every word we say, but they're the ones who set the blockade up. They can tear it down when they want to."
"And we just did," Helen responded, smiling. "Actually, that's not quite true. From the moment that technician entered the room, the blockade was lifted but, as he shut the door, it was locked after him. The police have lists of those who'll be able to answer any questions for them and will let the many other poor, innocent people who have been trapped inside that building, with my murdering big brother, for the last few days, go home to their families. As for you three," she shrugged with a small smile on her face. "Tragically, in a moment or two, the door will open and you will be taken away to the nice, hard beds - like the one that your daughter's been sleeping on for four years - in the cold cells - like the rooms that Jarod, Kyle and Angelo had for decades - where you'll probably spend the rest of your miserable lives."
She leaned back against the sofa cushion. "Oh, and big brother, don't worry about all that money you've been hiding away at your house, and in all of your bank accounts in different countries all over the world. I’ve made sure your will was up to date and, the first day after your execution, I'll start putting it to good use. This house may be a little small to take care of all of your victims who need it but I'm sure all the sublevels of that building in Blue Cove will do just fine." Helen smiled. "Let them in, Broots."
The door slammed back against the wall and a group of ten men quickly entered, weapons at the ready. Two of the Triumvirate tentatively lifted their hands but the third glowered at the woman on the screen, his hands remaining flat on the table in front of him.
"Very clever, little sister. Maybe I do have reason to be jealous of you after all."
"You always have had, big brother,” Helen responded calmly. “I promise that, ‘though my childhood wasn't quite as perfect as you imagined it might have been, the life I've made for myself since then has given you plenty of reason to be jealous." She smiled. "And now, at least, I do still have a life to look forward to. With all of the DSA footage that the right people can view on the disks Jarod handed over to the police, as well as all the information on the old mainframe that can be accessed using the codes I gave to the man standing in front of you, I wouldn't bother making a Christmas list if I were you."
Helen's smile widened and the man she had mentioned moved up behind her brother.
"All right, let's get moving, shall we? We've got rights to be read and prison cells to be filled." He looked up at the screen with a smile. "Thank you, Helen."
"You're welcome, sir. Do come by in a day or two so I can give you all other relevant information, won't you?"
"I'll be looking forward to it, and then I can meet your fiancée and children."
She met Sam's eye and tried not to giggle at the astonished look on his face. "I'm sorry you have such a busy night ahead of you."
"Not at all. I've been looking forward to this. Have a good night, all of you."
With a nod to another of his men, the former Triumvirate were read their rights and had cuffs clipped onto their wrists. Helen nodded again and immediately the screen of the computer faded to black, replaced by the people in Vermont and Connecticut.
"Very good work, Broots. It went off without a hitch."
"It was a lot of fun," he smiled. "I've never seen such stunned faces."
"Theirs or those of my aunt and cousin?" She laughed. "Is everybody still alive or did you all die of shock?"
Sydney turned and stared at her. "Why didn't you...?"
"Tell us?" Michelle finished for him and Helen laughed again.
"I thought a surprise might be nice. Besides, I couldn't guarantee that it would go as well as it did and I didn't want to raise anybody's expectations needlessly. My own and Broots' were enough."
"It went very well," the technician commented. "And all with only a short afternoon of planning."
"Well, they've had their eye on the place for a while - since the anniversary of Thomas' murder, in fact."
"They have?" Helen could see Miss Parker straighten in her seat. "Why?"
"Simple." She smiled slightly bitterly. "I told them. As soon as I'd left the rumor file on your mantel, I went and reported to them."
"You...?"
"Yes, Miss Parker." Helen smiled. "Angelo gave it to me and we felt it was the most appropriate time, considering that you were trying to find out who it was."
"And this was another thing you just happened not to mention before now," Jarod remarked in heavily sarcastic tones.
"If Miss Parker had been unwilling to trust me when she woke up after we got her from her house, I would have told her then. She did trust me, so I didn't bother, because I thought it might be more appropriate later." She smiled. "I think it was."
"So was that all part of your plan?"
"To a certain extent, yes."
Miss Parker narrowed her eyes. "What did you mean about 'my real father'?"
"You already know, Miss Parker. Jarod provided you with that piece of information as soon as he escaped, or almost."
"You mean...Ben..."
"If he wasn't, I wouldn't have arranged for him to be standing behind your chair at this moment, would I?"
As Miss Parker turned in surprise, Sydney fixed his gaze on the woman. "Just how long have you known that for?"
"Ever since Angelo dropped the first hint about it to Jarod. He also told me." She smiled. "As you once said to me, Sydney, I know an awful lot."
"And you said it wasn't hard."
"With Angelo telling me so much, it certainly isn't." She turned to Jarod. "Although you were right with what you said in the car, I've also been trying to make the life of Miss Parker better as well."
"Because of her connection to my mother?"
"Yes." She smiled, reaching out for her coffee. "But in addition to all that, I was also trying to find a way that, the moment the blockade was lifted, our lives wouldn't be in danger. The one thing I could come up with was to get those responsible arrested. I’d had the thought before, but without knowing everything it seemed too premature. This worked well."
"And what about us?"
"There was enough information, even in just the few files I showed to the police, to convince them that all of you are victims just as much as the children. It might happen that they could call on you for evidence in the trials but there's no need for any of you to give it, if you don't want to. Besides, all of this new information, when added to the DSAs and mainframe, will be more than enough."
"And your brother...?"
"If he escapes the death penalty, he'll definitely spend a very long time in jail. As I understand it, a number of other states also want to get their legal claws into him so I don't think he's going to see too much of the outside world between now and whenever his life ends."
Sydney looked over as the children came into the room, David scrambling up into Sam's lap and Louise snuggling into her aunt's arms.
"Thus his punishment is of the same order that had Broots and I locked in underground rooms."
"Well, it's certainly appropriate, isn't it?" She caught Jarod's eye. "I've always had a fond affection for the old 'an eye for an eye' motto; making the punishment fit the crime, you know."
"So now what?" Margaret asked.
Helen shrugged. "Whatever you want. Those people who have been hunting for us are now either dead or in custody, so..."
"Cox?"
"Broots, can you play that footage please?"
"It's...um..." the technician began awkwardly, but Helen jumped in.
"Oh, right." She looked down at the girl in her lap. "Sweetie, I want you and David to go into the kitchen and put some of the fruit from the bowl onto a plate. Bring it in here when you've done that, with a few knives and the peeler from the drawer, okay?"
"Yup." The girl climbed down and, joined by the boy, went into the other room. As soon as they were gone, Broots started up the footage, and the people in all three houses watched as Helen's brother walked into Cox’s office and shot the man in the head from behind.
"That’s the way my brother took out his anger at finding out that Louise and all of his files were gone. As I said, they're all either dead or in custody. We are now the only people who know what Jarod, Steve and the others are capable of, what was done to Angelo and about the fact that Jon and Michael are the very things the scientific community is debating so heatedly. If any of those men try to tell anyone, they'll either be laughed to scorn or considered insane." Helen paused, a small smile curling her lips. "Or possibly both."
"And what was that you said to your brother about money?"
Helen smiled, raising Louise back onto her lap once the child had put the bowl down on the table and people had begun helping themselves. "I had Broots look for all his finances earlier. As well as finding his bank details, we were also able to find out the name of his lawyer. It happens to be somebody that I know quite well and he let me 'accidentally' see my brother's will and I 'liberated' it." She caught Emily's eye and smiled. "Several hours later, I went back to pick up the purse that I'd left by accident in his office, and, with the help of an expert forger," Helen met Jarod's knowing look with a grin, "I 'accidentally' replaced the will with a new one, that leaves his substantial funds in four equal share to his surviving relatives after his death."
"And the Centre?"
"It’s now mine. I purchased it today, and the same forger who helped me with my brother's new will also created a nice, new property deed."
"So you're the next head of the Triumvirate?" Charles laughed. "Will you begin to threaten us all right away, or wait for a few days until we adjust?"
"Well, first I have to select the other members of my Triumvirate," she laughed. "I think it could be a few days before I'm able to sink - sorry, rise - to the levels that my predecessors reached."
"And will you use it for what you said?"
Helen shrugged. "It's a large, well-built structure that could be useful. I'm tempted to hire out the levels of it to different groups and to publish the accurate material that has been uncovered over the years. After all, as I said to Jarod before this whole thing took off, some of the projects have the ability to do things like cure some cancers. It would be good if the world could be told about them."
"And that, of course, would mean that nobody could claim money for them."
"Precisely. It might be better not to reveal some of it - like those that might have ethicists coming down on our heads - but other things would certainly be good."
"Oh, so we've finally found a stage that you haven't planned for," teased Ethan.
"I only plan for the immediate future," Helen told him laughingly, "not the future that depends on other people and is so far away."
"Well, we have something in the immediate future to show you," Jarod put in with a smile, cutting the connection and closing the computer. "I think it's time for these children to see their rooms."
"Oh, please!" David began to bounce on Sam's knee and the sweeper laughed.
"Are you a bit excited, baby?"
"Yup." He hugged the man around the neck. "I like surprises."
"Like your train?" Helen smiled. "Okay, but you have to shut your eyes until Sam tells you to open them."
"Is Louise coming, too?"
"Of course." Helen stood up and looked down at the little girl. "Close your eyes, sweetie, so it's a surprise for you, too."
As the girl obediently shut her eyes, holding tightly around her aunt's neck, the group went up the stairs. Helen moved to the old door and Sam stood in front of the new one. Both people opened the doors at the same moment and Helen smiled as she glanced around before looking down at her niece.
"Go ahead, sweetheart. You can look now."
The girl opened her eyes and looked around, a gasp coming from her mouth as she stared at the room. In one corner stood a large wardrobe that had formerly been in the attic, now painted white, with fairies peeping around the sides and up from beneath it, painted in silver and gold. A large, white box stood in the other corner, the lid open and toys overflowing onto the floor. The girl's bed from the night before occupied the other corner and it, too, had a number of dolls lying on it. The wall had a frieze of fairies, the same as those on the wardrobe, and as the ones that Helen could also see peeping around the sides of the toy chest. A bookcase stood against the wall between the chest and cupboard, and one shelf contained a number of books that Helen could recognize from her childhood and which had been in the attic for many years. Finally she looked back at the girl in her arms.
"What do you think, baby?"
The child’s eyes were wide as she looked up. "Who's it for, Auntie?"
"It's your new room, sweetie, all for you. I promised you a room, remember?" She glanced at Jarod. "Although I wasn't quite expecting this."
Gently she lowered the child to the floor, watching as she hesitated for a moment before running over to the toy-box and beginning to pull out some of the toys in it.
"Are you complaining about our decoration?"
"Complaining?" Helen looked up at him in mock-indignation. "Do I sound as if I'm complaining?" She glanced around the room. "I love it, Jarod. Thank you. I know she loves it, too."
"You're welcome." He smiled. "Are you going to go in and see David's as well?"
"If the change is as dramatic as here, I'm not sure I can cope."
"Oh, I'll catch you as you faint, if Sam doesn't."
She laughed. "Alright, I suppose I can trust at least one of you."
"Are you going to specify which one?"
"No, because if I do then you might be insulted again." She walked over to the little girl. "What do you think, darling?"
"I love it." She hugged the woman around the neck.
"Well, when we buy you a nice, new bed tomorrow and some lovely clothes, it'll be just perfect." Helen kissed her niece. "Shall we go in and see David's room too?"
"I can come back to this one, right?"
"My baby, you can come to this room any time. You can sleep here every night, and play in here all day, if you want to."
The girl looked at the ceiling and giggled. "I think it's always night in here."
Helen looked up also and laughed. "It might be, you could be right."
Her eyes ran from the dark blue ceiling, dotted with silver stars, to where the blue began fading to a paler blue and then pink with which the walls were covered, making it seem as if a colorful sunrise was taking place in the room.
"Mommy!"
"All right, David. We're coming." She picked up Louise as the girl lifted her arms and then carried her into the other room, stopping in the doorway and letting the girl slip down to the floor. "I think," she remarked, trying to hide a smile, "that you picked the right theme for this room."
Sam came over and slipped his arms around her waist. "It wasn't all that hard."
"No, I'll bet." She eyed the mural of the train on the wall and the bed-head cut out in the shape of a train's engine. "You'd better hope that this isn't just a phase."
"We can always redo it. The mural isn't painted onto the wall," Jarod remarked. "It was done on a large piece of synthetic fabric and attached with static electricity, so it can be taken off very easily.
"What it is to be a genius!" Helen rolled her eyes and he laughed.
"Actually that was your fiancé's idea." He grinned. "And the bed-head isn't bolted on to the bed itself. It's just standing in place, in case you do buy a child's bed for him, as you suggested earlier that you might."
"I do want to. A bed as hard as that isn't good for a child's back." She glanced at the bookcase in the room, seeing the books that she had purchased for the boy and several others that she didn't recognize. "What are they?"
"They're some of mine. I went over to help Mom do some packing earlier and she handed them to me to give David." Sam lowered his voice to a whisper. "She gave me a certain rug, as well."
"And how does it look?"
"I haven't put it there yet, but we can see," Sam smiled, as David came over and grabbed Helen's hand, pulling her over to a chest of toys that stood in the corner, as one did in Louise's room, and in which Helen could see several toys from her childhood. Sitting down, and taking Louise on her lap, Helen glanced at her aunt.
"You know, it's funny but I'm sure these weren't being stored in this house."
Michelle smiled. "I think you're right. Nick went back to Albany briefly to pick them up and also to get some other things that we needed."
"It seems as if I'm not the only person who's been keeping secrets today."
Jarod walked into the living room to find Helen sitting on the sofa, reading one of the files, as the children played in the corner. Sitting in the armchair, he stared at the fire for a few minutes before turning to look at her.
"How did you find out?"
She looked up. "About Alex? It was in one of the files that I'd read a few minutes before we made the connection." Helen looked at him sympathetically. "I hadn't been going to mention it, but once I started, it was hard to stop."
"So that was all...under orders?"
"Yes, Jarod." Her tone was soft. "Alex cut a deal with my brother. If he’d done what he was meant to do and killed you, Mr. Parker and Lyle, he'd have been given a seat on the Triumvirate." Helen picked up a folder from the top of a pile, glanced through it and then handed it to him.
"So Eddie...?"
Helen nodded slowly, putting the file in her hand aside and resting her head against the sofa. "He wasn't supposed to survive his initial encounter with Alex and it was just by chance that he did. I'd guess that Alex was interrupted, but I don't know for sure. He got the helicopter from my brother, waited until you went to the hospital in your role as an NSA Agent and then tried to kill you both." Tears glistened in her eyes. "He partially succeeded."
"So," Jarod put his hand over the spot where a scar still reminded him of those days, "why didn't he kill me when he had the chance?"
"He had an order that everyone had to die in. He couldn't kill you until Mr. Parker was dead."
Jarod raised an eyebrow. "That seems a little extreme."
"Not at all. My brother didn't want Alex on the Triumvirate but he had to offer him something worth aiming for. By making it so difficult, he could hope that someone would kill him first."
The Pretender nodded slightly. "And is he...?"
"Yes, Jarod, he's dead. As I thought he would, he surfaced some distance away, where a boat was waiting. The person in that boat, acting on my brother's order, shot Alex dead as he tried to climb in. The body was pushed back into the water and it looked like you had shot him and he'd drowned."
"Would you...have told me?"
"Of course." Helen stared at the fire for a moment before looking back at him. "It's important to lay demons to rest, and knowing always makes it that much easier."
"For you too?"
She shrugged. "I thought it would. Now it doesn't seem to." Helen tried to swallow the tears that she could feel rising. "I guess it's just something else to get over."
"Something else?"
"Helen's grandfather was the one who ordered her parents' death," interrupted a quiet voice from the doorway and Sydney walked into the room. "We found out about half an hour ago."
"Why?" Jarod's tones carried the same incomprehension Sydney's had had when learning about the car accident. "Why would he do that?"
"My father protested to him about Prodigy," Helen responded quietly. "Because my grandfather came up with the idea in the first place, he didn't like the protest. The letter I got from my mother warned me never to go to him for help because he and my parents had never got along, but when he learned what would happen as a result of the project, my father clearly felt he had no choice. He protested. My grandfather didn't like it, but, because of the fact that he was family, hoped that threats would be enough of a deterrent. Then my mother started to steal from the Centre. My grandfather found out and gave a directive that they were to be killed."
"But your brother was working there. Why wasn't he...?" Jarod stopped abruptly, the pain on the face of the woman opposite him making the Pretender unable to finish the sentence.
"My brother was given tests to prove his loyalty. He passed them and was given a job at the Centre without ever being told about the connection to his new boss." Helen's lips twisted. "With wonderful irony, my brother was the person who spearheaded the coup that would have my grandfather killed."
"Did Michelle know?"
"No,” Sydney responded. “It was Helen's father's father and she had never met him or even knew his name. He knew, though, and his sense of family loyalty was the reason that Michelle was only threatened and not killed."
Jarod nodded slowly, glancing at the woman, unsurprised to see that silent tears were rolling down her cheeks and onto her hands. Her voice when at last she spoke, however, was calm.
"My grandfather was also the person who came up with the idea of Mirage and ordered Raines to kill Catherine. And he approved Gemini."
"Did he also approve Michael?"
"No. He was assassinated before that, a year before Jonathon was born. It was my brother who gave his approval for it, as well as Thomas' murder and - " she stopped suddenly, staring at the floor, before closing her eyes.
"And what?" Jarod prompted quietly.
"And Damon, both times," Sydney told the other man. "Helen's brother was angry at your refusal to complete the simulation and the way you constantly humiliated the Centre, particularly after that situation with the Yakuza. He decided you’d caused enough problems and ought to be eliminated."
Before Jarod could reply, the children came over. Louise climbed up into her aunt's lap and David scrambled up to sit on Jarod's knee, effectively finishing the conversation. The girl reached up to brush the teardrops away from her aunt's face, a look of concern on her own, and Helen made an effort to regain her self-control as she stood up. Turning, she saw Sam in the doorway and looked down at the girl in her arms.
"I think it's bedtime, sweetheart."
Helen carried the small girl into the bedroom and switched on the lamp, bathing the room in a soft pink glow. Turning back the bed, she put the child down on it, covering her warmly.
"If you want me, sweetie, all you have to do is call out and I'll come in, okay?"
"Uh huh." The girl put her arms around her aunt's neck and hugged her. "Will you leave the light on?"
"Yes, honey, I will." She glanced down at the pajamas that Louise was wearing. "In the morning, we're going shopping and I'll buy some lovely clothes for you. Is that a good idea?"
"Mmm hmm," the girl murmured drowsily. "That'd be nice."
"Good, baby." Helen bent over to kiss the child on the forehead. "Pleasant dreams, my darling."
Going into the other room, she found the boy on Sam's lap as he read the child a story. When it was finished, she returned the boy's hug and kissed him on the top of the head before turning on the nightlight.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"If you go shopping tomorrow, can I come, too?"
"Of course, David. All my boys are coming with Louise and I."
"Goody." He lay down as Sam pulled up the blanket, looking up at the woman with a cheeky grin. "Angelo and Steve, too?"
"Not quite, David. They don't belong with my other boys."
"So we'll be family shopping?"
"That's right, David," Sam responded with a smile. "But you have to go to sleep now if you want to come."
"Okay." The boy quickly shut his eyes and, hiding their smiles, the adults left the room. Outside, Sam pulled Helen into his arms, using his thumb to brush away the last traces of her tears.
"We're your family now, Helen. You don't have to think about that anymore."
Nodding, she rested her head against his shoulder as, his arm around her, they descended the stairs.
"Which one do you like best, baby?"
Louise sat up on the bed and bounced. "This one."
"Okay, we'll get that one, then."
"Do I have these sheets, too?"
Helen hugged the girl, laughing. "No, sweetie. That's just for the display. We'll get much nicer sheets for you to have at home."
"Like the fairies on my toy-box?"
"If you want them, yes, honey."
"And what's David getting?"
"These." The boy pulled Louise over to where Sam was waiting at the counter, several parcels of bed linen beside him. "What do you think?"
Louise scrunched up her nose. "It's boys things."
The doctor laughed. "Why do you say that, sweetheart?"
"Well, 'cos all the toys David and Michael have are all trains and cars and things to build with, and all my things are dolls and teddies."
"You can have cars as well, if you want," remarked Sam, laughing, as the child's face contorted in disgust.
"I like Auntie's toys better."
"Who told you they were mine, Louise?" Helen asked in amusement.
"Michelle. She told me all their names and how much you used to like them."
"I'll have to have words with her if she's going to tell on me like that."
The girl giggled. "Will she be in trouble?"
"Lots of trouble," Helen laughed. "But we'll wait until we get home for that. Just now, I want you to choose what things you want on your bed." She escorted the girl over to the racks of sheets and pillowcases, letting the child choose between all of the colors and patterns that were on display.
"Now I know why I was dragged along," Sam commented as he steered the car out of the parking lot. "It was to carry all the bags."
"Why else?" She laughed. "I always take a strong man along when I shop. I dragged Jarod along for the same reason."
"Well, thank goodness for that,” Sam joked. “I was beginning to think I had competition."
"Mommy wouldn't do that, Daddy! She wants to marry you!"
"I know David." Sam glanced in the mirror with a smile. "She's going to."
"When?"
"We haven't talked about that yet, David,” the woman put in. “But it's not going to be for a while."
"First I've heard of it," the former sweeper remarked. "When was that decided?"
Helen waggled her left hand in front of his face. "I'm waiting for it to become fully official, and, for that to happen, I want to be blinded every time I look down at my ring finger in the light."
"Now that's just greedy."
"Greed is good."
"Only in you."
"Oh, so I will get one? I'm glad to hear it." She giggled. "And do I also get a massive ceremony to make everyone who goes to it jealous as well?"
"Hmm," he paused thoughtfully, "I'll see what finances I can scrape together on my meager salary and get back to you."
"What salary? You don't have a job anymore, remember?"
"So what hope do you have for a big wedding?"
"When you see the balance of the account for which you received the bank card today, then I'm sure you'll be able to satisfy my every wish and want."
Sam laughed. "What else would I need money for?"
