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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 2 – Adagio
Opening his eyes, Jarod found his arms wrapped around a warm figure that lay on the bed beside him. He drew back slightly in astonishment and felt her tense slightly before she relaxed against him once again, muttering slightly under her breath and wrapping her hand around his. He watched her silently for a moment, stunned that she had been able to come into the room and lie down beside him without waking him up.
He glanced up at the window and saw that the first rays of sunlight were entering the room. Without looking at a clock, he could tell that it was only around five a.m., but he was often awake earlier and, living here, had used the opportunity to practice his swimming. Jarod gently began to draw his arms away from her, smoothly lifting her head and freeing his second arm before rolling off the bed. He donned his swimming trunks and, going downstairs, opened the floor of the music room and dived into the water below.
It was only when he had drawn some distance away from the house that he remembered that no towel would be waiting for him when he got back. He cursed quietly under his breath but turned and pulled, with powerful strokes, away from the house. He really didn’t want to admit to himself that the fact she was there unnerved him, but it did. Shaking his head to clear the water from his ears, he looked back to the house, treading water for a few moments, before striking out for it. He was in two minds about what he should do now. People were relying on him to play a part in the show, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to perform in it now. That was fairly irrelevant anyway. There were plenty of other people who could take his place. She would need him now.
He stopped suddenly and, forgetful of where he was, sank quickly and breathed in a lungful of water before breaking the surface again, coughing violently until he saw stars. While he coughed, though, his brain continued to think. Had he really thought that? That she would need him? Jarod shook his head in astonishment. Certainly, she had found him the night before, and…
How had she found him?
He was tucked away in a very private corner of California, had left no sign of his whereabouts and had only been there for four days. Even for her, that was pretty fast. Still, she had found him the moment she needed him. And Sydney… Jarod froze and sank under the water again, only to resurface and resume his coughing. How had Sydney known where to call?
Had Broots…?
Jarod shook his head at his own stupidity. Broots was dead. He couldn’t have been running a search on him. Could he? Could he have done it before he was killed? Why was he killed? This morning, Jarod had no doubt that the Centre had been involved in the death and had possibly even organized the whole thing. But who had finally ordered it? And why? Had Broots got too close to finding out some secret? That was the usual reason for disposing of people, but Broots? From various things that Jarod had read, Broots was indispensable to the Centre. But obviously they had found a way to dispense with him, or they wouldn’t have had him killed.
Jarod turned back to the house and, with a few strong strokes, brought himself to the ladder. He pulled himself up the hand-carved wooden rungs and, without thinking, grabbed the towel that sat by the opening and began to rub his hair. A few seconds passed and then he stopped and stared at the item he held.
“Parker!”
He looked around and noticed that the rose petals, glasses and bottles from the previous night had been cleared away as well.
“Parker, where are you?”
He wrapped the towel around his waist and dripped his way through the lower storey of the house, suspecting that he wouldn’t find her down there. He left the room in which they had slept until last and finally found her curled up in a chair in the corner.
She was staring at the floor when he came in, but looked up as he appeared. Her face was expressionless but, looking into her eyes, Jarod could see the pain that was nestled there. He approached her softly and brushed the hair out of her face, kneeling in front of her and cupping her face in his hands.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Parker.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The tears appeared again and Jarod drew Miss Parker's head onto his shoulder and rocked her gently.
“It’s okay, Parker. It’s okay. I promise you, it’s all right.” He continued to sit silently for a few moments, listening to her sob. When it became more frequent and erratic, he shook her gently and pulled away. “Parker? Parker, you have to stop now. Parker, stop crying and listen to me.”
“I…I can’t…”
“You can.” Jarod placed one hand on either shoulder and looked down at her face. “Stop it now, Parker. Right now!”
His tones were sharp and shocked her into silence. She looked up at him, the sadness gone briefly and her old expression on her face. He grinned at her half-heartedly. “That’s better. Now, let’s go downstairs and have something for breakfast.”
“Eat?”
“No, Parker. Ingest through the skin. Of course eat.”
She rolled her eyes as she allowed him to help her up out of the chair. “And what wonderfully healthy and nutritious breakfast were you planning to cook for me?”
Jarod paused for a moment as a look of pain crossed his face. “Pop tarts.” The word was a painful whisper.
She winced as she turned to walk out the door but struggled to maintain the composure that she was now showing.
She picked fitfully at the square as it sat in front of her and slowly went cold, looking up to find that the Pretender was doing a similar thing. He sat, still wrapped in a towel and naked from the waist up.
“Jarod?”
He glanced up at her.
“Yes, Miss Parker?”
“What are we going to do now?”
Jarod looked hard at the table for a moment and exhaled slowly. “I don’t really know. I’m not sure how safe we are here.”
“Why?” Miss Parker looked around the house that stood by itself on the tip of the headland. “Why wouldn’t we be safe here?”
He looked up at her out of the corner of his eye for a second before turning to look directly into her eyes.
“How did you find me?”
She stammered for a second before pulling a piece of paper out of the pocket of her pants. The page was still damp and, as Jarod gingerly unfolded it, he recalled her appearance from the night before. He was about to ask her about it when the paper fell apart in his hands and he looked down at the familiar signature.
“So he did find me.”
Miss Parker nodded, compressing her lips to stop the tears that were once again threatening. “He called and sent me that yesterday. Then, half an hour later…”
“He was dead.” Jarod looked away, his emotion obvious in his eyes. Then, just as quickly, he looked back.
“And Sydney? Does he…?”
He watched as she nodded slowly, comprehension dawning.
“And you’re never the only ones…”
The sound of breaking glass brought both to their feet and Jarod grabbed Miss Parker's hand and pulled her away as something whistled past their heads and smashed the window behind them. The two ran into the music room and Jarod opened the floor, pushing Miss Parker down into the water and, silently descending the ladder, pulling the floor almost closed above his head. Then the two slipped away under the house, clinging silently to the slippery wooden piles.
“Where is he?”
Jarod looked sharply over at Miss Parker when he heard the voice of her brother above his head. She shook her head and glanced upwards but was too far from the floor of the house to see inside.
“Mr Lyle, the coffee’s still warm. We can’t be that far behind them.”
Them? Jarod mouthed the word at Miss Parker, who shrugged.
“Then get out and start searching the streets – house to house, if you have to. I want them both found. We’ve finally got rid of one. When we destroy them and the old man, then maybe we can have some peace and quiet at the Centre.”
Jarod listened as the footsteps retreated above his head and he heard the front door of the house slam closed. He looked to see Miss Parker about to release her hold on the underwater pole when Jarod ran one finger across his throat and then placed in on his lips. As he did so, they could both hear the sound of gentle steps above him.
“You see?” Jarod's whisper was no louder than the waves that slapped against the wood around them.
Miss Parker nodded and spoke equally silently. “But why?”
“He thinks we’re hiding somewhere upstairs. He’s waiting for us to come down.”
“And then what?”
Jarod was about to respond when they heard first a mobile phone ringing and then loud footsteps pounding across the floor and out of the house. Miss Parker exhaled slowly and then looked at Jarod.
“Are we going?”
Jarod nodded in the direction of the boat that was tied under the house and gave her a wide grin. “We sure are.”
The boat skipped along the surface of the waves and Miss Parker allowed her hair to fly out behind her, forgetting her troubles for a moment in her enjoyment of the trip. Jarod glanced once over his shoulder at her and raised his voice to be heard over the sound of the motor.
“Any idea where Sydney might be?”
Miss Parker shrugged. “Home?”
Jarod shook his head. “Remember what Lyle said. If he had been at home, they wouldn’t be out looking for him now.”
She nodded. “So where are we going?”
Jarod thought for a moment as the boat slowly approached land. “There’s one last place he might want to go, just in case something happened.”
Miss Parker nodded. “His brother’s grave.”
Sydney got up from his knees and brushed the dirt from his pants. He reached out one hand and gently brushed the petal of the flowers he had put there, his eyes sad. Turning, his eyes travelled back one last time to the gravestone.
“Goodbye, Jacob.”
“Isn’t that a little premature, Syd?”
He spun around and stared as Miss Parker stepped out from behind a tree, her gun in her hand.
“Parker? What are you doing here?”
“We’re here to help you.”
“We?”
Jarod stepped out from behind another tree, also holding a gun and a cautious smile on his face. “Yes, Sydney.” He nodded. “We.”
The psychiatrist stepped warily towards the two people as Miss Parker climbed into the driver’s seat of a car waiting nearby and Jarod glanced around, slowly making his way towards the vehicle. Sydney looked at him once before walking in the same direction.
“How do I know I can trust you?”
Jarod was about to respond when he heard a whispering sound. Sydney clutched at one shoulder and something whizzed into the tree behind him with a dull thud. Jarod grabbed Sydney, pushed him into the car and leapt in behind, firing his gun several times through the open window as the vehicle sped away.
“Parker, stop the car!”
“What?!” She turned around and stared at Jarod over her shoulder, her mouth open in shock. “Are you crazy?”
“No, but if you keep driving like that we’ll probably end up dead in a ditch. I need your help back here.”
She hesitated for a moment, her foot exerting less pressure on the accelerator.
“Today, Parker, if it’s at all possible.”
Jarod's voice was sharp and, in response to it, she pulled the car to the side of the road and sprang out, climbing into the back seat with him. Her first view of Sydney's white, almost grey, face and closed eyes was enough to make her gasp with horror.
“Is he…?”
“Put your hand here.” He pointed out a spot on Sydney's shoulder and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as she did it. “More.”
“More what?”
“Pressure.”
She leaned in a little more and noticed that the trickle of blood that had appeared between her fingers was slowly seeping away. She also found that her fingers were being wrapped up in the bandages that Jarod was applying to Sydney's shoulder. With a sound almost like a squawk, she pulled herself free.
“Now what?”
Jarod reached down to the floor of the car and pulled out a bottle, handing it to her, his face expressionless.
“What’s this?”
“You should know.” Jarod looked from Sydney's white face to hers. “You were the one who drank that stuff last.”
She looked down at the label on the bottle. “Isn’t that…?”
“Yes,” Jarod responded in a monotone. “It’s the same as the bottle you brought to my house last night. If Sydney wakes up, give him some. He’ll need it before we get to where we’re going.”
“And where are we going?”
“Ah!” A hint of a smile appeared on Jarod's face. “That’s my little secret.”
Jarod carefully drove through a narrow gateway and, getting out of the car, pulled a deceptively large log across the road. Climbing back into the driver’s seat, he looked over his shoulder to the other occupants of the car.
“How’s he doing?”
“He’s still losing blood.”
Jarod's mouth narrowed and he sent the car racing along the narrow roadway as fast as he could. Pulling up in front of the cabin, he tooted the horn twice before jumping out of the car and running around to the back seat.
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere safe, for the moment.”
Jarod gently slipped an arm under Sydney's shoulders and pulled the man towards him, looking, as he did so, down to the nearly empty bottle of vodka that Miss Parker still held.
“How much of that has he had?”
“Most of what’s gone.”
“Did I go over so many bumps that the rest of it spilt?”
She looked away for a moment, blushing and Jarod, despite the seriousness of the moment, had to grin. It faded, as he looked down at Sydney's unconscious face, still pale despite the alcohol.
“Son, what are you doing here?”
The voice from outside the car startled Miss Parker and she jumped out to look at the white-haired figure that stood beside the vehicle.
“Dad, I’m glad to see you.” Jarod smiled up at him. “Can you give me a hand, since Parker doesn’t seem like she’s going to?” He glanced over the top of the car at her with a faint grin.
The two men carried Sydney into the house and put him down on the sofa that sat in the living room. Jarod was kneeling down beside him when a familiar figure ran in from another room and threw himself on his double.
“Jarod! Where have you been?”
Despite his concern, Jarod couldn’t help grinning as he freed himself. “Around and about. Aren’t you going to say hello to an old friend, kiddo?”
The boy turned and looked around for a moment, spotting Miss Parker immediately but not willing to react in the same way. Going over, he primly held out one hand in a way that made both Major Charles and Jarod grin. Miss Parker watched him for several seconds before sweeping him into a hug. Jarod laughed before turning back to the figure on the sofa.
“How’s he doing?” the woman demanded.
“Not too well. And I still haven’t managed to remove the bullet yet.”
“Bullet? Jarod, that hit the tree beside your head.”
“That was one, Parker.” Jarod gently pulled back the bandage. “There are two entry holes, but only one exit wound. That means a bullet has to still be in there somewhere. That’s one of the reasons that I wanted him to drink that much. If he’s unconscious, he won’t feel it when I yank it out.”
“Can’t you give him something else?”
“I didn’t have anything with me, if you remember. We were lucky to have the things from the boat with us, although what my friend was doing with vodka on a boat is anyone’s guess.”
“Is there anything you need, son?”
Jarod looked up at his father with a smile. “I don’t suppose you have a fully fitted out first-aid kit?”
“Don’t you know?” Parker interrupted before Major Charles could answer.
“I haven’t been here before either, Parker,” Jarod responded as he watched his father leave the room in search of something like that which the pretender had requested. “I only knew about this place from an email that Dad sent when they settled here, a couple of months ago.”
“And are we safe?”
“For now.” Jarod's tone was full of meaning as he turned back to Sydney and Miss Parker glanced at him once before leaving the room.
“What’s his condition?”
“Respiration relatively steady. Pulse strong.”
Jarod looked over at the boy who stood at the head of the bed and his eyes gleamed as he held the forceps over the shoulder. “I think I’m working with the world’s youngest anesthetist.”
“And I know he’s working with the world’s most smart-ass surgeon.”
Jarod looked over his shoulder to see the woman standing with her arms crossed and leaning against the doorframe.
“Parker, I’m trying to keep this room clean.”
“Good luck.” She snorted. “I just wanted to know how it’s going.”
“Well, let us finish and then you can find out.”
An arm reached past Miss Parker and pulled the door shut. Jarod grinned as he saw her jump out of the way to avoid the wooden surface.
“Ready?”
Jarod watched as the boy nodded and then turned and began to slightly open the wound, mopping away blood as it began to flow over the protective cloths.
Jarod sighed and tore off his rubber gloves, wiping his forehead with one arm and eyeing the figure that lay on the bed, breathing lightly and evenly.
“Well?”
“Everything’s steady. He’s doing well.”
“Especially considering the amount of blood he lost.” Jarod shook his head and twisted his mouth into a smile. “The car will never be the same. Dry-cleaning the seats could send the Centre broke.”
The boy grinned as he looked over at the neat square of bandage on Sydney's shoulder. “I never saw an operation performed in that way, but I guess you read about it in a book, huh?”
Jarod reached over and ruffled his hair. “Smarty,” he teased. “Want to go down and get your big brother a drink?”
“Not really,” the boy grinned. “But I could…if it was made worth my while.”
“It will be,” Jarod promised. “I’ve been saving something nice for you…”
The boy looked at him closely for a moment before turning and running down the stairs. Jarod turned back to see that the man on the bed was slowly beginning to regain consciousness.
“Sydney?”
The man moaned and blinked once or twice, turning his face away from the bright light that hung over his head. Jarod moved it away and turned it off.
“Sorry. Is that better?”
Sydney licked his lips and opened his eyes again, glancing around the room before coming back to rest on the Pretender. He opened his mouth to speak but Jarod put a gentle finger against the dry lips.
“It’s okay. Don’t try to talk yet.” He picked up a piece of gauze that lay on a nearby table, dampened it in a bowl of water and wiped Sydney's mouth. “Just relax. Everything’s fine. Try to sleep again, okay?”
The man tried to nod but gave up and turned his head away slightly, relaxing into the pillow. Jarod pulled the blanket up over his arms, stopping just before it touched the area that had been operated on and then stepped back to find his clone standing beside him holding a glass of something that definitely wasn’t water. He raised an eyebrow as he looked from the glass to the face that stood at his shoulder.
“And what’s this?” His voice was quiet.
“Dr Pepper.”
Jarod grinned and emptied the glass in two large mouthfuls before handing it back. “Ask Miss Parker to come up here, will you?”
Reaching under the sheet, Jarod checked Sydney's vital signs and then stepped back from the bed.
“Is it over?”
“It is.” Jarod grinned, speaking as softly as he had done to the boy, as he turned to her. “You can look now.”
Miss Parker playfully tapped him on the arm. “What was it you wanted?”
“Can you stay here for a while? I think he’ll sleep for a few hours yet, but he might decide to wander off and that wouldn’t be the best thing.”
“Sure. Any other directions, doctor?” Her tone was soft but playful and Jarod grinned.
“Don’t give him anything to drink. If he seems thirsty, wipe his mouth with some damp gauze. And if he wakes up, call me.” Jarod was about to leave but turned back. “One of us will come up to check on his every now and then but call us if you need us.”
Miss Parker nodded, dropped into the chair beside the bed and watched as the door closed with a soft click.
