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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: All the Pretender characters are the sole property of “The Pretender” creators Steve Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle. All other characters are created by the author of this work with no correlation to anyone living or diseased. This written work is produced solely for recreational purposes, to honor “The Pretender” series and to entertain its fans.
Strategy
A complicated game to predict, even more complicated to live.
Life
Has actions and consequences
Both must be balanced in the universal games that our players are about to play.
*************************
Angels Hope
Act 1 Scene 2
Parker picked up on where Jarod was going. “Because if Raines has his attention distracted, then he wouldn’t be going after Debbie anymore.”
“He’d be going after…”Jarod started.
“Me.” Lily finished.
“Do you realize what you have done?” Jarod asked with fear in his eyes. “Raines will do everything in his power to catch you.”
Lily moved away from Jarod and looked at the group. “Let the Game begin.”
“This isn’t a game!” Jarod said as he came back in front of Lily. “I have been running from this man for six years.”
“And you have always kept one step in front of him.” Lily vollied back.
“Not always if you remember. I’ve spent time with Mr. Lyle’ s jumper cables. These people aren’t going to play fair.”
“Neither am I. I’m going to give them a taste of their own medicine.” Lily walked to a projector and turned it on. “I have a plan. So you can either help me or get out of my way.” Lily looked into Jarod’s eyes giving the ultimatium, but hoping she would have an ally.
“No one is doing anything unless I approve it.” Joan stated as she came between the two siblings. “I should keep you all locked away until you come to your senses.”
“If you do that, then you might as well walk up and hand Debbie and Angel’s Hope to Raines.” Parker chimed in. “He knows that Lily exists and is a threat. And that she has Jarod. He will stop at nothing to track her down.”
Joan looked at the group. The looks on their faces said it all. Jarod – determined, concerned. Parker – she had her sparkle again. The one she got when she was on a mission. And Lily – filled with a rage that could either consume her or bring her victory.
It was the time in her life that she knew was eventually coming. One she had dreaded. Life at Angel’s Hope had become surreal. They had performed their tasks in obscurity, helping but risking little. Now it was time to confront the evil that had been a part of her life since she was a young woman. “If I allow you to proceed Lily, it’s under strict direction of Mark.”
Lily looked at Mark. “I don’t need a babysitter.” Mark turned his head so that she would not see the hurt on his face.
“He’s there to handle the overall. You will be in charge of the mission. So show me what you have planned.”
Lily hit the laptop computer button and the first screen appeared. “First. Jarod we have to get you established into the FBI.”
Jarod got that devilish smile on his face. “No problem.”
Lily saw the smile and knew that everything would go as planned. “OK. We have to attack them from different positions……….”
*************************
Lyle was sitting at his desk, pushing the papers around. He had been playing the video of the transmission that had come in. He had watched intently for any clue as to who this woman might be. She moved as if agile and well trained, not in music or dance necessarily, but in body mechanics. Raines might be brushing her off, but Lyle knew better.
They had not been able to brush off Alex. They had created a time bomb that exploded at every chance it had gotten. But the bottom line was down to one thing. Alex had no soul. The Centre and the Triumverate had burned it out of him. A killer without a conscious – the perfect sociopath.
Lyle looked at the freezed frame on his monitor. That point when she had looked into the camera and it was as if she was burrowing her eyes into Raines. He knew that look. He had seen it before. This alone might have convinced him that they were in trouble. That they had another Alex on their hands. But there was something else he saw. He had played the message at least twenty times. She not only had the coldness, but she had the soul. There was a look in her eyes as if this was personal. And she wasn’t going to stop until she succeeded in whatever she was trying to accomplish.
Lyle traced her face on the screen with his finger tip. There was something about her that intrigue him and something that was familiar. She was unlike the other woman he had tried to possess. Since being sent to Asia by the Triumverate years ago, he had always fancied Asian women. He had embraced their sociological views of the roles of men and women.
Something about this woman touched him, but he didn’t know why. She was strong, forceful, and he assumed strong willed. Not his type at all. It was her eyes. The eyes were the windows to the soul and he saw ……pain, misery, anger. He could relate to that. When they caught her, she would be his personal project.
*************************
Joan paced in the office hallway as she waited to escort Lily and Jarod to the landing strip. She was taking a big chance in letting Jarod go. But hoped that having his sister and Miss Parker here would be enough security to warrant his return. She looked up in time to see them and she smiled.
In a line they approached her. Leading in the middle were Lily and Jarod. Lily, wearing the same outfit she had donned for her little musical and had proclaimed was her new look. Jarod, all in black leather and carrying his bag which had his suit and identification to give him access into the FBI. Parker walked next to Jarod. She had changed back into the clothes that she had been brought in with, black mini skirt and white blouse. She had said that it made her feel more comfortable that way. Veronica, who Joan had found out was Lily’s second in charge for this phase, was next to Lily. Mark was next to Parker and Becky next to Veronica. They stopped in front of Joan.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Joan asked Lily knowing that there was no way of changing what fate had started.
“I’m sure. Raines has got to be made to pay. Stop playing mother, we’ll be fine.” Lily rolled her eyes.
“Don’t give me that cocky attitude young lady! You keep sharp and on your toes. Get cocky and you’ll be taking up space in the Centre’s Renewal Wing.” Joan retorted back.
“Noted and accepted. I’ll keep sharp. Has the rest of the team assembled?” Lily asked checking her weapon.
“Team A is already in place at Lairs, preparing it to your specifications. Your team is waiting for you at the landing strip.” Joan responded.
Jarod saw the gun in his sister’s hand and for a moment wished he wasn’t letting her go alone. That he would be there to help in case Raines pulled anything.
Lily, seeing Jarod’s look. “I can take care of myself. You don’t have to be there to hold my hand.”
“I can still worry. This is very dangerous playing games with Raines and Lyle.”
“I’m doing it to save Debbie and all the other children they want to hurt or corrupt. I’m doing this to repay them for what they did to you, Kyle, our family, and me. And I’m doing it for Bobby. Who let me escape and probably ended up like Angelo.” Lily holstered her gun under her jacket.
Parker looked at Jarod. “I’ve got to tell her.”
Jarod looked at Parker and shook his head no. “Don’t Parker.”
“She has the right to know Jarod.” Parker said as she looked into Jarod’s sweet brown eyes. “She has a right to know who she is up against.”
“What don’t you want me to know?” Lily asked perplexed that Jarod would want something kept from her. “And don’t lie to me, I’ll know.”
Parker saw the anger in Jarod’s face. “She has the right to know who she is fighting for.” She turned back to Lily. “You already know that Lyle is my brother.”
“If you want me to leave him out of this because he is your brother, then I can’t promise that. If he gets in my way, then…”
“Lily. Stop. I don’t want you to take it easy on him because he is my brother. If anything, he needs a swift kick in the ass.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Lily looked between Jarod and Parker. “Well? I don’t have time for this.”
“Lyle is Bobby Bowman.” Parker handed her a folder that she had quikly put together of everything she knew on Lyle.
Lily took the folder and opened it. “No. Bobby could never be Lyle.” She quickly closed it and was shaking her head as she started heading down the hallway to leave for the airstrip.
Parker ran after her and grabbed her by the arm to spin her around. “Listen to me.” Lily’s eyes were full of pain, but also with understanding. She knew that Parker wasn’t lying. She pulled her arm away from Parker.
“Parker.” Jarod yelled catching up to them. “Enough.”
“She’s got to know the truth if she‘s going to face him. He’s not Bobby Bowman any more. Between his tortuous adoptive parents and the Triumverate getting a hold of him, that person is gone. They sent him to Asia and taught him all kinds of ....things. How to torture people, how to work them into submission, and how not to care that you’re doing it. He’s a monster.” Parker concluded.
“I remember what he told me about his parents. They were the monsters, not Bobby. I have a plane to get on. Good luck Jarod.” Lily turned and proceeded down the hall.
“Watch your ass. Lyle would as soon burn it as help it. He framed his father for his own death. Don’t think you can trust the old Bobby Bowman. That person doesn’t exist - only Lyle.”
Lily just kept walking down the hallway and disappeared out the door.
“Why the hell do I even try? Like she is ever going to listen to me.” Parker threw her hands up in the air and started walking in the other direction.
Jarod caught up with her and stood in front blocking her way. “Trust her Parker. She just has to digest what you’ve told her and what she is remembering. She’s got alot to process and conflicting information.”
Parker was standing next to Jarod face to face. “Well she better process pretty damn quick or Lyle will eat her for dinner.”
“She’ll do what she has to do. Lyle better be the one who’s careful. Lily may chew him up and spit him out.” Parker was looking up at him and Jarod down at her. Their faces in a position that if they were a little closer, they could kiss.
“Ahem.” Came from behind them. The two parted from each other. “I believe you have a plane to catch Jarod.” Joan was standing behind the couple smiling.
“Ah. Yes. Dr. Stedman. I better get going.” He looked into Parker’s eyes. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
“I’ll be counting the Pez till then.” Parker quipped back.
Jarod smiled, turned to walk down the hall, and went through the same door Lily had. He boarded the Angel’s Hope private jet and buckled in. He was sitting and thinking about Parker as they took off heading for Washington, DC.
*************************
Lily sat on the plane looking out the window. Her team was sitting around a table getting the final plans solidified. The plane had taken off and they were on their way to Louisiana.
She had reviewed what Parker had put in the folder. Her soul troubled by the thought that because she had left him behind, Bobby had been made into Lyle.
“Lily. Earth to Lily.” Veronica called from the table. “Are you going to come over or do we pull this mission off ourselves?” She waited a few moments. “Lily!”
Lily, hearing her name finally, looked in Veronica’s direction. “What? I’m sorry. My mind was somewhere else.”
“Or with someone else. Honey. We really need you focused here right now.” Mark looked at her with love in his eyes.
But Lily returned the look with coldness. “I am focused. Now let’s get this mission set. I have one change in mind from the previous layout…..” Lily walked over to the table and finalized the groups’ plans.
************************
An old song once said…..
The games people play. You take it or you leave it.
Will the strategies of the players be - to take what they’re given and use it?
Or leave it in the middle of the night.
Strategy
A complicated game to predict, even more complicated to live.
Life
Has actions and consequences
Both must be balanced in the universal games that our players are about to play.
*************************
Act 1 Scene 2
Parker picked up on where Jarod was going. “Because if Raines has his attention distracted, then he wouldn’t be going after Debbie anymore.”
“He’d be going after…”Jarod started.
“Me.” Lily finished.
“Do you realize what you have done?” Jarod asked with fear in his eyes. “Raines will do everything in his power to catch you.”
Lily moved away from Jarod and looked at the group. “Let the Game begin.”
“This isn’t a game!” Jarod said as he came back in front of Lily. “I have been running from this man for six years.”
“And you have always kept one step in front of him.” Lily vollied back.
“Not always if you remember. I’ve spent time with Mr. Lyle’ s jumper cables. These people aren’t going to play fair.”
“Neither am I. I’m going to give them a taste of their own medicine.” Lily walked to a projector and turned it on. “I have a plan. So you can either help me or get out of my way.” Lily looked into Jarod’s eyes giving the ultimatium, but hoping she would have an ally.
“No one is doing anything unless I approve it.” Joan stated as she came between the two siblings. “I should keep you all locked away until you come to your senses.”
“If you do that, then you might as well walk up and hand Debbie and Angel’s Hope to Raines.” Parker chimed in. “He knows that Lily exists and is a threat. And that she has Jarod. He will stop at nothing to track her down.”
Joan looked at the group. The looks on their faces said it all. Jarod – determined, concerned. Parker – she had her sparkle again. The one she got when she was on a mission. And Lily – filled with a rage that could either consume her or bring her victory.
It was the time in her life that she knew was eventually coming. One she had dreaded. Life at Angel’s Hope had become surreal. They had performed their tasks in obscurity, helping but risking little. Now it was time to confront the evil that had been a part of her life since she was a young woman. “If I allow you to proceed Lily, it’s under strict direction of Mark.”
Lily looked at Mark. “I don’t need a babysitter.” Mark turned his head so that she would not see the hurt on his face.
“He’s there to handle the overall. You will be in charge of the mission. So show me what you have planned.”
Lily hit the laptop computer button and the first screen appeared. “First. Jarod we have to get you established into the FBI.”
Jarod got that devilish smile on his face. “No problem.”
Lily saw the smile and knew that everything would go as planned. “OK. We have to attack them from different positions……….”
*************************
Lyle was sitting at his desk, pushing the papers around. He had been playing the video of the transmission that had come in. He had watched intently for any clue as to who this woman might be. She moved as if agile and well trained, not in music or dance necessarily, but in body mechanics. Raines might be brushing her off, but Lyle knew better.
They had not been able to brush off Alex. They had created a time bomb that exploded at every chance it had gotten. But the bottom line was down to one thing. Alex had no soul. The Centre and the Triumverate had burned it out of him. A killer without a conscious – the perfect sociopath.
Lyle looked at the freezed frame on his monitor. That point when she had looked into the camera and it was as if she was burrowing her eyes into Raines. He knew that look. He had seen it before. This alone might have convinced him that they were in trouble. That they had another Alex on their hands. But there was something else he saw. He had played the message at least twenty times. She not only had the coldness, but she had the soul. There was a look in her eyes as if this was personal. And she wasn’t going to stop until she succeeded in whatever she was trying to accomplish.
Lyle traced her face on the screen with his finger tip. There was something about her that intrigue him and something that was familiar. She was unlike the other woman he had tried to possess. Since being sent to Asia by the Triumverate years ago, he had always fancied Asian women. He had embraced their sociological views of the roles of men and women.
Something about this woman touched him, but he didn’t know why. She was strong, forceful, and he assumed strong willed. Not his type at all. It was her eyes. The eyes were the windows to the soul and he saw ……pain, misery, anger. He could relate to that. When they caught her, she would be his personal project.
*************************
Joan paced in the office hallway as she waited to escort Lily and Jarod to the landing strip. She was taking a big chance in letting Jarod go. But hoped that having his sister and Miss Parker here would be enough security to warrant his return. She looked up in time to see them and she smiled.
In a line they approached her. Leading in the middle were Lily and Jarod. Lily, wearing the same outfit she had donned for her little musical and had proclaimed was her new look. Jarod, all in black leather and carrying his bag which had his suit and identification to give him access into the FBI. Parker walked next to Jarod. She had changed back into the clothes that she had been brought in with, black mini skirt and white blouse. She had said that it made her feel more comfortable that way. Veronica, who Joan had found out was Lily’s second in charge for this phase, was next to Lily. Mark was next to Parker and Becky next to Veronica. They stopped in front of Joan.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Joan asked Lily knowing that there was no way of changing what fate had started.
“I’m sure. Raines has got to be made to pay. Stop playing mother, we’ll be fine.” Lily rolled her eyes.
“Don’t give me that cocky attitude young lady! You keep sharp and on your toes. Get cocky and you’ll be taking up space in the Centre’s Renewal Wing.” Joan retorted back.
“Noted and accepted. I’ll keep sharp. Has the rest of the team assembled?” Lily asked checking her weapon.
“Team A is already in place at Lairs, preparing it to your specifications. Your team is waiting for you at the landing strip.” Joan responded.
Jarod saw the gun in his sister’s hand and for a moment wished he wasn’t letting her go alone. That he would be there to help in case Raines pulled anything.
Lily, seeing Jarod’s look. “I can take care of myself. You don’t have to be there to hold my hand.”
“I can still worry. This is very dangerous playing games with Raines and Lyle.”
“I’m doing it to save Debbie and all the other children they want to hurt or corrupt. I’m doing this to repay them for what they did to you, Kyle, our family, and me. And I’m doing it for Bobby. Who let me escape and probably ended up like Angelo.” Lily holstered her gun under her jacket.
Parker looked at Jarod. “I’ve got to tell her.”
Jarod looked at Parker and shook his head no. “Don’t Parker.”
“She has the right to know Jarod.” Parker said as she looked into Jarod’s sweet brown eyes. “She has a right to know who she is up against.”
“What don’t you want me to know?” Lily asked perplexed that Jarod would want something kept from her. “And don’t lie to me, I’ll know.”
Parker saw the anger in Jarod’s face. “She has the right to know who she is fighting for.” She turned back to Lily. “You already know that Lyle is my brother.”
“If you want me to leave him out of this because he is your brother, then I can’t promise that. If he gets in my way, then…”
“Lily. Stop. I don’t want you to take it easy on him because he is my brother. If anything, he needs a swift kick in the ass.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Lily looked between Jarod and Parker. “Well? I don’t have time for this.”
“Lyle is Bobby Bowman.” Parker handed her a folder that she had quikly put together of everything she knew on Lyle.
Lily took the folder and opened it. “No. Bobby could never be Lyle.” She quickly closed it and was shaking her head as she started heading down the hallway to leave for the airstrip.
Parker ran after her and grabbed her by the arm to spin her around. “Listen to me.” Lily’s eyes were full of pain, but also with understanding. She knew that Parker wasn’t lying. She pulled her arm away from Parker.
“Parker.” Jarod yelled catching up to them. “Enough.”
“She’s got to know the truth if she‘s going to face him. He’s not Bobby Bowman any more. Between his tortuous adoptive parents and the Triumverate getting a hold of him, that person is gone. They sent him to Asia and taught him all kinds of ....things. How to torture people, how to work them into submission, and how not to care that you’re doing it. He’s a monster.” Parker concluded.
“I remember what he told me about his parents. They were the monsters, not Bobby. I have a plane to get on. Good luck Jarod.” Lily turned and proceeded down the hall.
“Watch your ass. Lyle would as soon burn it as help it. He framed his father for his own death. Don’t think you can trust the old Bobby Bowman. That person doesn’t exist - only Lyle.”
Lily just kept walking down the hallway and disappeared out the door.
“Why the hell do I even try? Like she is ever going to listen to me.” Parker threw her hands up in the air and started walking in the other direction.
Jarod caught up with her and stood in front blocking her way. “Trust her Parker. She just has to digest what you’ve told her and what she is remembering. She’s got alot to process and conflicting information.”
Parker was standing next to Jarod face to face. “Well she better process pretty damn quick or Lyle will eat her for dinner.”
“She’ll do what she has to do. Lyle better be the one who’s careful. Lily may chew him up and spit him out.” Parker was looking up at him and Jarod down at her. Their faces in a position that if they were a little closer, they could kiss.
“Ahem.” Came from behind them. The two parted from each other. “I believe you have a plane to catch Jarod.” Joan was standing behind the couple smiling.
“Ah. Yes. Dr. Stedman. I better get going.” He looked into Parker’s eyes. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
“I’ll be counting the Pez till then.” Parker quipped back.
Jarod smiled, turned to walk down the hall, and went through the same door Lily had. He boarded the Angel’s Hope private jet and buckled in. He was sitting and thinking about Parker as they took off heading for Washington, DC.
*************************
Lily sat on the plane looking out the window. Her team was sitting around a table getting the final plans solidified. The plane had taken off and they were on their way to Louisiana.
She had reviewed what Parker had put in the folder. Her soul troubled by the thought that because she had left him behind, Bobby had been made into Lyle.
“Lily. Earth to Lily.” Veronica called from the table. “Are you going to come over or do we pull this mission off ourselves?” She waited a few moments. “Lily!”
Lily, hearing her name finally, looked in Veronica’s direction. “What? I’m sorry. My mind was somewhere else.”
“Or with someone else. Honey. We really need you focused here right now.” Mark looked at her with love in his eyes.
But Lily returned the look with coldness. “I am focused. Now let’s get this mission set. I have one change in mind from the previous layout…..” Lily walked over to the table and finalized the groups’ plans.
************************
An old song once said…..
The games people play. You take it or you leave it.
Will the strategies of the players be - to take what they’re given and use it?
Or leave it in the middle of the night.
