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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Part 4
by N.R. Levy
Jarod stared at his laptop, his eyes beginning to blur from a combination of lack of sleep and frustration. He had found out the history of the knife Stephanie remembered from her attack, he had even had the Detective Hanson, the man in charge of the investigation, re-interview some of the other victims, all of whom remembered something resembling the weapon Stephanie had described.
It had been made by a specialty manufacturer in North Carolina, 1 of only 10 made with that particular handle. Unfortunately, there were only records of where the knives had been shipped for sale, not of the buyers, and none had been purchased in San Diego. That made for a lot of ground for Jarod to cover, and all the while the clock ticked. How long did they have before the Silk Scarf Stalker selected another victim?
Thankfully, Stephanie continued to improve, which meant that he would be able to keep his date with Miss Parker in Maine. That thought made Jarod smile. "A date" with Miss Parker? Then the smile faded. It was a thought that conjured up too many images, and Jarod decided he better distract himself, and quickly.
With a heavy heart, he checked his email, hopeful as always that there would be word from his father and the boy. But still, there was nothing. He knew his father was probably worried that the Refuge mailbox was being monitored, and in truth, it probably was. He just wanted to find them again so badly. Them, Emily, his mother, God, it seemed that he'd never be finished searching for his family.
Feeling anxious, Jarod decided to pick up the phone and instinctively, he dialed Miss Parker's number. After 10 rings, he knew she wasn't going to answer, and he hung up. Then he dialed Sydney.
"This is Sydney."
"Sydney, how's life in the bowels of hell?"
"A little dangerous right now, Jarod. I can't talk long."
Jarod felt his body tense at Sydney's words. He thought about Miss Parker not answering her phone, and his worry increased 10-fold.
"Sydney, what's going on?"
"There was a failure in the search for you, today. One that could cost Mr. Lyle a great deal, which means, he's looking for a scapegoat."
"Where's Miss Parker?"
"She's in front of a T-Board, Jarod." Sydney sensed the tension emanating from his protégé from the other end of the phone. It made him shake his head, as he again marveled at the large amounts of energy Miss Parker and Jarod wasted in pretending not to care for one another.
"She'll be fine, Jarod. She always is."
"I don't understand. I haven't sent you any leads, so..."
"It was indirectly about you, Jarod. I really can't say more than that now."
Sydney hung up the phone then, and Jarod knew it was because the older man was trying to protect both himself and Miss Parker. Still, he had to know what had happened.
Anxiously, he returned to his laptop, carefully navigating the established corridor that Mr. Broots had set up for him inside the Centre's mainframe. He knew the man had only done so because at the time, he had been desperately worried about Miss Parker, and wanted Jarod's help, but it was a useful tool, and one that Broots had never bothered to take away.
As he waited for the files to download, Jarod thought about those days. It seemed a lifetime ago since Thomas' murder, since Broots had emailed him asking him to find out what happened. Not that he hadn't already been searching, but it had still touched Jarod deeply to see the concern Miss Parker's friend had for her. If only he had been able to find those answers.
The file opened, and Jarod's eyes widened in disbelief.
Mr. White had located his sister, and Mr. Lyle had gone to New Orleans to capture her...
and Miss Parker had gone to help him.
****
The questions came at her again and again, but Miss Parker remained stoic. She would not let them get to her. Certainly, this T-Board was different from the last. Her father wasn't there to save her, for one, though she still harbored some doubt as to whether he would have stopped the board from taking action against her the last time. There was, however, a new danger now. Her brother was in charge. He was furious, and he was looking to blame someone for Emily's escape.
Five hours after she walked into the room, Miss Parker walked out. Her nerves were still visibly steely and she strode out of the interrogation as if she'd spent the day at the salon. 'Thank God they can't see inside me,' she thought to herself. 'Then they'd know just how right they'd been.'
She knew that Broots and Sydney were worried about her, and so she forced herself to stop by Sydney's office before leaving the Centre for the day. Briefly, she recounted the T-Board to them, then excused herself with some treacherous barb and left. She couldn't bear to be close to them right now. They knew what she had done, even if they weren't saying so, and the urge to confide in them was too overwhelming. 'Overwhelming and dangerous,' she reminded herself. The risks she was taking were her own, and she would not involve them anymore than they already were.
Exhausted, she drove to the hospital, stopping briefly at the gift shop on her way to Angelo's room. He was improving steadily, at least, that's what the doctor's had told her last night when she'd returned from New Orleans. That was good and bad news. He was going to be all right, but he would also soon be well enough to return to the Centre.
She pushed open the door and found her brother sound asleep. Smiling, Parker pulled up a chair beside him, and reached out to take his hand, placing her package on the table beside her, and her briefcase on the floor. Angelo's eyes sprung open at her touch, and he smiled happily.
"Sister home."
"Yes, I'm home, Angelo. But remember, that's our secret."
"Only you here."
She laughed at that for some reason, and reached over to pick up the package she had bought. It was still inside the blue plastic bag from the gift shop. She saw his eyes light up when she lifted it and shook it, revealing a strong rattling sound.
"I have a surprise for you."
Angelo reached out and touched her hand, and his smile widened.
"Toy surprise for Angelo."
That made her laugh, and she let him take the package, which he opened to find a king-sized box of Cracker Jacks. It was probably not something on his approved diet, but she figured it couldn't really hurt him. He ripped open the package, and immediately began crunching the treat as he searched for the small toy inside.
Parker watched him for a moment, then reached down for her briefcase. She opened it, pulling out the photo album that Jarod had sent to her days earlier. She still wasn't certain why he had sent it, or for that matter, where he had gotten it, and it was driving her insane. She turned the pages, trying to get a handle on the answers to her questions when Angelo reached over and touched her hand.
"Sister need answers."
"Yes, Angelo. I do need answers."
Angelo motioned for her to hand him the book, and he took it in his lap, carefully turning the pages. He stopped when he found a photo of their mother as a little girl.
"Mother?"
Miss Parker moved to sit beside him on the bed, her hand raising to brush his hair back from his face.
"Yes, that's our mother when she was a little girl."
Angelo smiled, his hand running over the picture several times.
"Elizabeth loves mother very much."
The words shocked Parker, and she turned to look Angelo in the eyes.
"Who is Elizabeth, Angelo?" She watched as her twin tried to find the answer to her question, and she saw the furrow that appeared in his forehead.
"Don't know. Loved mother very much."
Parker smiled up at him, letting him know it was okay that he didn't know the answer. He had given her something to work with. Now all she had to do was find out who Elizabeth was.
She sat back in her chair, watching as Angelo continued looking through the book. God, she wanted so much to tell someone that this strange, sweet man was her brother, not that horrible creature Lyle. No, she reminded herself, she wanted to tell Jarod. Somehow, he was the one person she knew could handle her secret.
She would have had the chance in Maine, but now it was too dangerous for her to go. She couldn't let anyone follow her, not after everything she'd done to get Emily to safety there at Ben's inn.
She only hoped that she could keep her own brother as safe as she had managed to keep Jarod's baby sister.
Just then she felt something touch her hand, and she looked up to see Angelo reaching for her. She moved closer so that he could have access to her hand, and then felt him push something onto her finger.
She looked down to see a small plastic ring on her left pinky. It was a red heart.
"Toy surprise."
And then she laughed, happy just to be so close to another part of her mother left in the world.
****
Jarod drove up the road to Ben's at dangerous speeds, his anger increasing with every mile he covered. He had told himself he wouldn't be this angry, that he'd give her a chance to explain. It was possible she hadn't known, wasn't it? Possible that Parker had been ordered on the plane to New Orleans, and that she had not willingly gone to capture his sister?
The more he thought about it, though, the less that seemed likely. Parker wasn't the type to follow anyone blindly, even on orders. She routinely asked Broots to find more information on situations even her father had asked her to handle, which meant...which meant she had known. She had gone to New Orleans to take away his sister.
He parked in front of the inn, questioning whether or not he should even go inside. He had almost not come at all. Stephanie was well enough to move to a rehabilitation hospital, which meant he'd had more time to devote to his search for her attacker. Leaving now had been risky - the man's timetable was close to expiring, and Jarod needed to try and stop him. But he had promised her he would be here.
Now it seemed amazing to him that that piece of information had swayed him. A promise to Parker? What was that worth, really? If she could do this, if she could plot to steal his family, to use them against him?
His anger again raging at full force, Jarod threw open the car door and headed to the front door of the inn. His angry gaze fell on Ben as he opened the door, ushering the younger man inside.
"She's out back, Jarod. She's been waiting for you."
Ben was taken aback by the intensity of the glare he received from Jarod, and he wondered what on earth had made his friend so angry.
He watched Jarod head toward the kitchen, and heard the back door open and close.
Jarod stormed down the path, his rational side warring with the rage inside of him. He saw her standing near the lake, and he was about to call out to her when it hit him.
The woman standing in front of him wasn't Parker.
She was shorter, several inches shorter, and her dark hair was longer.
And then she turned around, and Jarod thought his heart was going to stop.
The woman in front of him was Emily.
Her eyes brightened as she realized who he was, and she ran toward him, her arms open to embrace him. Jarod was unsure how to respond, his mind whirling with confusion, but somehow her voice found it's way through the haze in his brain.
"It's okay, Jarod. It's real. And I'm here alone, it's safe."
Only then did Jarod begin to realize what was happening, and he wrapped his arms around the woman he had been searching for for so long.
"Emily, is it really you?"
"It's me, Jarod. It's us, here together."
Finally, he pulled back from her, his eyes scanning her the way a child would a wonderful surprise gift on Christmas morning. God, she was real.
"But, Emily, how? How on earth did you know about this place?"
"Your friend sent me."
"Friend?"
"Miss Parker, Jarod. She helped me get away from the sweepers in New Orleans. She sent me here to find you."
