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Chapter or Story
Part 27
"We say, not lightly but very literally, that the truth has made us free. They say that it makes us so free that it cannot be the truth. To them it is like believing in fairyland to believe in such freedom as we enjoy. It is like believing in men with wings to entertain the fancy of men with wills."
G. K. Chesterton, 'The Everlasting Man'
Succeeding
February 6, 2001
The woman rose from her chair and began to pace. "I can't stand it, Sydney. Something's going to happen today, I just know it."
"That's very perceptive, Miss Parker," a cool voice responded from the doorway. "I congratulate you."
"Cox!" She spun around and stared at him, as did the other occupants of the room. "What do you want?" Her eyes narrowed and her hand snaked towards her gun.
"Now, now, Miss Parker. Is that any way to treat a friend?"
The familiar voice made her jump and, as Mr Cox moved aside, her eyes widened with shock as Jarod appeared and grinned at her while he closed the door.
"What do you mean, Jarod?" she hissed, still glaring blackly at the Centre operative.
"Mr Cox is working for me. In fact, he always has been." Jarod threw back his head and roared with laughter at the look on the faces of the other occupants in the room. He sobered as Miss Parker took a threatening step towards him. "Really, I mean it."
"I wanted to apologize," Mr Cox stepped forward, "especially to you, Mr Broots, but I did have a persona to maintain and it would hardly have been plausible if I'd suddenly been nice to some and not so nice to others."
Sydney looked at Jarod, his face still registering his own shock.
"Jarod, are you serious?"
"Sydney, would I lie? Particularly now that you can read my mind, do you think I would? In fact, have I ever lied to you in the past?"
"No-o." Sydney spoke slowly and Mr Cox approached him with a hand outstretched.
"I know that the image I projected at the Centre was never one which would encourage you to believe me now, but I beg you to try. Jarod came to me in November, suggesting that I might be able to worm my way into a quite powerful position with the Centre and thereby be a great assistance to him. I agreed and, purporting to come from one of the Centre's associates," he turned to Miss Parker and smiled, "I joined up with your father and appeared at the Centre itself within the next few weeks. He used me to get him back into the Centre; your brother Lyle believed, until Mutumbo was murdered, that I was working with him; and Mr Raines thought that I was keeping him informed of everything that I was doing. Therefore I knew just about everything that was happening- "
"And that information was very useful for me." Jarod grinned again.
"But what about the taxidermy?" Miss Parker interposed.
"That’s a hobby of mine, but it's not so popular as it used to be, which is why you saw me with that animal on the road, Miss Parker. I have to get them from somewhere and I prefer animals that are already dead to those that are still alive."
"It's sick," Miss Parker sneered.
"So is working for the Centre," Cox replied, "and we're just about all guilty of that."
"Before we get involved in a raging debate," Jarod's voice quelled the discussion, "I have a couple more people who are also on our side."
"I've seen that expression on your face before," Sydney moved over beside Jarod as Cox walked into the room and sat himself down on a high stool and Broots rapidly moved over to the other side of the room. "What are you up to?"
Jarod tried to look innocent, failed, shrugged his shoulders and then opened the door to reveal the figure standing there.
"Sam!"
"Hello, Miss Parker." The man's stern face broke into a smile. "It's nice to see you looking so well."
"And you're not…well…?"
"No, I'm not. Thanks to a little help."
"And your own stubborn and determined nature." Jarod interjected.
"…I'm fine and looking forward to working with you in shutting down the Centre entirely."
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
As Sam shook hands with the other people in the room, a rarely seen smile on his face, Sydney looked at Jarod.
"You said other people. Who else have you got?"
"Someone who might be a bit of a surprise, even to you Sydney. Miss Parker!"
"What?"
"There's someone here who's been dying to see you!"
Jarod threw open the door again and, for a moment, there was silence. It was broken by one word, cried loudly and desperately.
"Momma!"
Sydney sat down on the sofa where Jarod and Cox were talking and examining the contents of a black case they had brought with them. Cox got up and, murmuring something under his breath, went into another room as Jarod shut the case and locked it.
"So, are you going to tell me where you've been?"
Jarod looked down and studied his hands for a moment. Before he could speak, Sydney continued. "Both Miss Parker and I realized that there was something wrong. You blocked us out at certain times and we were worried."
The younger man looked up sharply. "Did you think I can't take care of myself?"
"No. I think you were just too ashamed to tell us what had happened. Are you going to explain now?"
"It's complicated."
"Where you're concerned, it usually is."
"And it involves Steve and his family."
"Steve McCaffrey? How?"
Jarod half-smiled. "If you are going to keep asking questions, I won't tell you."
"Sorry. Force of habit."
"Okay. It began many years ago..."
