Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story

- Text Size +

Lord, Grant Me The Freedom…
Part 5


“Self-reliance is the only road to true freedom, and being one’s own person is its ultimate reward.”
Patricia Sampson


Stumbling

May 18, 2000
Jarod reached the end of the room and turned, a few paces carrying him to the opposite wall, where he turned again. This had been the pattern of several days and Jarod was beginning to look less like a man and more like a trapped animal with every day that passed. He didn’t notice the constant movement. Instead, before his eyes came images of people, countless people, with whom he had had contact over his brief period of freedom. A steady stream of faces, many of whom showed grateful expressions which had warmed his heart at the time and continued to do so now, even when he felt as though he had no chance of ever seeing them again.

The weeks and months stretched out in a seemingly endless stream and he shuddered inwardly at the thought that he would have to spend the time cooped up in a small room.

As he turned to complete another length, a different face floated into his mind’s eye. This one had no connection with any of the other faces and didn’t belong to those who were and would remain grateful to his memory for the things he had done for them. This face fell into a different category and had its own special place in his heart. The face was soon accompanied by others - all of whom had colored his life at the Centre, in one way or another, either for the good or the bad, starting with Raines, Kyle and Angelo and ending, finally with Kenny and Damon. A long procession of people, many of whom had been in his life for a short time and vanished, never to be seen by him again. The thought was disturbing, that he hadn’t managed to keep in contact with people who had, for a time, brought light and interest into his life.

But still there was the one face that stood out so strongly against all the others and meant more to him than all the rest together. The face was not young, as he could first remember it, but had aged gracefully over the years and the hair was swept back over the top of the head, a style that the man had worn for so many years. Now creases dignified the face that Jarod loved to contemplate, especially in difficult times like this. A shiver ran through the convicted man and he moved over to the bed, curling up on it and letting the memories flow over him in waves.

May 29, 2000
Miss Parker watched as the door closed behind the departing figure. Her father was leaving, to take up a position at one of the other Centre offices that had recently lost its head of staff. It had taken him just over a week to finish up his affairs at the Centre and she had watched as he checked through the desks and cupboards in his office. It was almost unnerving to see it, as clean as if he had never been there especially after so long working in the same office. She thought back to the discussion they had had.

“But why do you have to leave, Daddy?”

“Because the Tower has instructed me to, Angel. It’s all right; we’ll still see each other. It’s not as if I was leaving the States. I’ll only be in Washington, and you can come and visit me on your time off.”

She had considered laughing at the statement but decided that this wasn’t a good time for an argument. “But why can’t Raines go?”

“Because he has other projects that the Tower feels can’t be left to anyone else.” He closed the case and, picking it up, walked over to her. “Keep me informed about everything,” he smiled. “Sometimes you look so like your mother.” Closing his mouth, he turned and walked away.


June 2, 2000
Broots scanned the document and quickly converted the handwriting into text. It was easier than typing up the report and it also meant that he didn’t have to read the report that Miss Parker had written to her father and requested that he send while she and Sydney were chasing another vague lead about Jarod.

It was always a quiet office now as neither Sydney nor Miss Parker had much to say. Broots, in his own way, was also worried about Jarod. It was natural, he had reasoned to himself, that the fate of the man who had once saved his life and had also given him custody of his daughter, should matter.

It was that same daughter, though, who took up many of his main concerns. If they continued to fail in their quest to find any sign of Jarod, that daughter could be left without a father, or be used as what Raines was wont to call an ‘encouragement’. The door slamming behind him brought him several inches out of his chair but Miss Parker took no notice and stormed past him into her office. Sydney lingered for a moment by the desk.

“Still no sign.” He sat on a nearby chair with a deep sigh.

“So that was...?”

“An old lead, from more than a year ago. One we must have missed.”

“Sydney, we’ll find him.”

The older man looked up, the beginnings of exasperation on his face. “That’s what you’ve been saying for three months. One signal, in all that time, to let us know if he’s alive. And we don’t even know that he is!”

Broots, amazement dawning on his face, looked up. “You really do care about him. After all this time, denying it. He’s the most important thing in the world to you, isn’t he?”

Sydney got up from the chair, shot one look of anger combined with something that Broots could not understand at the technician, and slammed the door behind him as he left.









You must login (register) to review.