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Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: "The Pretender" and all it’s characters don’t belong to me, but to some wonderful people at NBC, who deserve promotions. Please don’t sue me, I am making no money from this. I just really enjoy the show. Also, the songs are owned by their respective artist, I don’t take credit for them..
Note: This is the continuation of "To Honor" (you should start with part one). I have chosen to turn it into a six part series, so look for more stories. THANK YOU to all the people who encouraged me to turn my original story into a series and thanks again for all the positive feedback.
To Honor
part 3
"To Cherish: The Perfect Combination"
By Dede
Jarod rubbed his eyes. He spent wait too many hours at this monitor, but no rest for the Insomniac. Besides, he was making headway on this project. It had been two months since he had found his family and the excitement had relaxed enough to allow his mind to wander to his work, but the feeling had not diminished. ‘I just need a minute,’ he thought and stood to stretch. He roamed down the corridor past his mother’s room. She was out working as a nurse tonight and wouldn’t be back until late. He sighed at his own happiness in those facts. Continuing on, Jarod was just about to Emily’s bedroom when he heard a sob from inside.
The sound was so desperate and disturbing, he became concerned. Was she watching another one of her sad romance movies, or perhaps having a nightmare?
"Emily?" he spoke through the closed door while knocking calmly.
"Emily Derora Faith Riter… you all right?" Despite his slight distress, Jarod did enjoy saying her full name. Like his own, their parents had chosen hers with careful purpose. Emily was of course decided on because it was Margaret’s middle name, however, she seemed to live up to its meanings of industrious and flatterer. Derora had a bit of a sixties influence in that it was Hebrew for running streams, but the only name more appropriate was her second middle name: Faith. He found fulfillment in every one of his parents’ predictions for their children.
Again silence came from the room, which worried Jarod enough to open the door cautiously. There she was collapsed on the floor, hugging her knees. He dashed to her side and took her into his arms as gently as possible.
"Emily? What’s wrong?" he whispered into her ear. She was in a trance like state with a psychotic presence in her eyes.
"Jarod, I…. I… Oh, God, I’m just so stupid… I thought… Oh, what am I going to do?" she talked first to him, then seemed to lose memory of his existence and began speaking out loud to herself.
"About what?" Jarod asked. He stared into her face, but confusion draped its curtain over her eyes.
"I just don’t know…I… Oh, what will I say?" Emily appeared to direct the question toward Jarod. She finally relaxed against him and let the tears fall wet upon his shirt.
"Emily?" he whispered sweetly, not sure he wanted a response now, "Shh… It’ll be okay." He held her as only a big brother can, comforting her and trying to make all the pain go away.
---------
As night began slowly to creep about lengthening shadows and shading in colors, he walked several feet beneath the earth’s surface, where the sun had never been. Lyle was developing a custom of this recently. He would search for nothing a few hours each day.
Suddenly, while starting down a hall on SL3, one of the infirmary level, Lyle heard someone yell from behind him.
"Emily!" He involuntarily whipped around just in time to see a mass of hair brush past him before stopping.
"Emily, come back here!" a nurse called after the five year old. The child stood near him, but when he gazed at her, she dropped her head in fear. Lyle felt something that almost crushed him inside. He had never bothered to worry if anyone liked him, unless he could use them, yet seeing this girl reject his very presence hurt him.
"Sweety, you shouldn’t run like that. I know you’re bored, but we have to go back to your room now," the nurse instructed as she caught up. Tending to her ward, she didn’t look up at him. The little girl nodded apologetically and began to march back. Lyle stopped the nurse from following her with a rough tap on the shoulder.
"Excuse me?" he began.
"Yes." The woman inspected him carefully.
"What is she here for?" Lyle gestured toward the child walking down the hall.
"She has a rare form of cancer. Her parents brought her to the Centre for treatment. They are very important clients, so we’re doing everything we can," she explained. With all her activity, he never would have guessed she was dying. The woman seemed to sense his thoughts and added,
"Sometimes even when the body is dying, a person’s spirit stays very much alive." He turned to her with a bitter expression in his features.
"Yes. Some spirits are impossible to extinguish despite adversity," he replied. Finally, the nurse felt comfortable with him, however, her ward had reached the room.
"Good day, sir," she said warmly. Lyle was amazed by her reaction, but couldn’t shake his mind from the short brown curls that had disappeared into a doorway.
"Good day, indeed." His heart ached and he had to force himself to find the way up to his office.
---------
She had stopped crying now and sat on the bed with her hands rubbing together. He was across from her on the desk chair. He watched as she leaned her forehead against her hands.
"Are you sure?" Jarod asked half-lost in his own mind still.
"No…. I’m basically sure. The first month I figured I was just paranoid. Kidding myself, you know, but now… I’m know something’s wrong. I haven’t been to a doctor, yet." Emily wanted to let him down gently. This wasn’t going to be easy; it was going to be painful and not just the birth.
"Would you like me to run some tests?" he inquired slowly. Jarod didn’t want to annoy her, but he wouldn’t believe it until his tests came back.
"If you want to. I’m seeing my doctor in the morning." She looked down at the floor. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. She had a simple plan, a plan to save him and because of that plan she had a baby from Lyle. Jarod knew it wasn’t his fault, but Emily knew he felt guilty and angry. Cruel irony and cursed luck! The gods were against him along with his kin and he didn’t understand why.
"What now?" he whispered. Emily peered at him through her fingers and grabbed one of the pillows from the headboard to hug.
"Well, I know what I have to do. I have to call him," she answered tossing the pillow back in place. Jarod wasn’t sure he had heard her right.
"What?" he particularly yelled. Coming to sit with her on the bed, he started to elaborate, but she hushed him before a single word was coherent.
"I know, I know…." she assured Jarod, while taking his hands in hers tight.
"But…" Jarod pleaded for her to listen.
"I know," she responded loudly. Emily looked him straight in the eye, their faces inches apart.
"I’m still calling him," she said defiantly.
"At least wait until mom gets home," he begged her. Maybe, she could talk some sense into her daughter.
"No. I’d rather do this when I’m only fighting one of you," Emily informed him of his defeat. She felt a heavy weight tug on her heart.
"You said you weren’t sure," Jarod remembered. He was trying everything he could think of, though, the situation was making it hard to think clearly.
"I’m sure. And I’m calling. I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow and run all the tests you like, but I’m calling him." It was stressful fighting Jarod, but she had to win his support.
"Why does he even need to know?"
"It wouldn’t make a difference. If he ever catch sight of me in a few months, he’d know. At least this way, the news might slow him down," she explained. He knew she was right. It just didn’t seem fair.
"Emily…" he began.
"Jarod…" Emily squeezed his hands.
"What do you need?" he gave in. Jarod trusted her. Emily’s face brightened with a bittersweet smile.
"Could you get me some tea?" she asked softly.
"Sure," he said.
"Okay." Jarod stood to leave, but had only reached the door, when he looked back at her. She was searching for her cell-phone.
"Emily?" he called to her.
"Yeah?" Emily turned away from her quest to face him.
"I love you," he stated strongly. She nodded.
"I know."
---------
Why… why, why me? He fidgeted with the papers on his desk, shuffling and re-shuffling them. Then he stood and came to the window. He didn’t want to feel like this. He never wanted to care about anything or anyone, yet he cared about her. And worse he never wanted to hear that name echoing down the halls. It seemed wrong, but Lyle couldn’t figure out why. She had lied to him, hurt him, manipulated him and through it all, mixed in with all the anger and pain was an incredible respect stemming from unwavering affection. What was wrong with him? It had been two months for heaven’s sake.
His phone enticed him after the first two rings enough to cause him to hit the speaker button. The sweet voice on the other end nearly made him fall out of his chair as he tried to sit down.
"The weather’s nice in Florida. I wish I was there," Emily played nervously. She was close to being ill.
"Emily, how good to hear from you. Mind telling me what the weather’s like where you are. I’ll turn on the Weather Channel and take a guess," he offered, thinking he understood Parker’s games with Jarod much better now.
"It’s dark and cloudy. I want to meet with you." Her response confused him enough to generate a moment or so of pause.
"Really?! Well, let me call a sweeper team and we can have a regular reunion," he regained his sarcasm.
"Lyle, this isn’t about the Centre, this is about the ring you gave me," Emily fingered the ring on her gold chain as she spoke.
"And you want to meet with me?" he asked. Lyle couldn’t figure out what she was doing, however, the idea of seeing Emily kept him on the line.
"Yes, alone…" she answered with command in her voice, "Alone, Lyle, should I explain the word?" Emily was suspicious and Lyle knew it, but he also heard a fear in her that stopped him from taunting her.
"I agree. No sweepers…. Where?" he said while pulling out a pen and opening a notepad.
"There’s an abandon apartment building six blocks from your place. Loft on the third floor, ten o’clock tomorrow night," she instructed.
"Ten o’clock. I’ll be there." Lyle wondered what she had planned. Did she miss him?
"Don’t double cross me," Emily warned. In her room, she sipped her tea and tried to relax against the wall.
"Don’t bring Jarod," Lyle demanded.
"Deal…" she ended the call. Lyle rubbed his forehead and sighed. Calmly, he then hit a speed dial button on his phone.
"Parker…"
---------
Margaret walked through her front door around eleven. She had no sooner set her purse on the counter, than Jarod appeared on the top steps of the stairs. He gazed down at her with panic in his every motion and she knew something had happened to Emily.
---------
"And you’re going?" Parker accused. She was flabbergasted by the news that Miss Emily wanted to speak with Lyle. Didn’t she know what she was walking into and where was Jarod? He certainly would never approve of her intentions.
"Yes. She wouldn’t risk this sort of stunt unless something important was going on," Lyle explained. Standing in her office, he rested his back against the filing cabinet.
"So, you’re telling me… why?" Parker asked sarcastically.
"I want you listening, Agent 99," Lyle told her.
"What?" Parker put a hand up to her ear as if she couldn’t understand him.
"Please?" he said as pathetically as possible.
"Sorry, I think you’re in ‘the cone of silence’," Parker retorted and started to move around the desk toward her door.
"She could try to kill me," Lyle remarked. Parker still opened the door wide to suggest he should leave.
"Tragedy." Her response freezing ice icicles to his ears.
"Okay, but let it be in your nightmares, if I die," he stated while walking past her.
"I’m a pretty sound sleeper," she commented and held the door with her right hand.
"Maybe I’ll just go ask Sydney if he can…" Lyle replied. Miss Parker’s eyes grew two fold and she shut the door, nearly hitting him and stood in front of it.
"Sydney has enough on his mind, Mad Max. I’ll go, but only if Sam comes too," she declared. Sydney was testifying about Raines for the third time in a month and it was beginning to wear on him. Besides, Jarod hadn’t called and Sydney missed him.
"Thanks," Lyle said, even bowing to her slightly as he left.
--------
He stared up at the building to the third floor, where a single light hid behind the beat up blinds that whatever office used to be there had left behind. He glanced back at the van across the street where Sam and Parker were staying. Adjusting his cufflink, Lyle entered the main door.
As he proceeded up the stairs, he could hear the rain beginning to fall on the streets. Coming to the loft that he saw from the sidewalk, the door stood open. The interior of the room wasn’t much: a table with a radio, a couch, and a mattress with a blanket on the floor.
"You came…" Emily moved from her seat on the forgotten sofa to greet him.
"I promised," he replied coldly. He eyed the chain around her neck, but didn’t speak of it. She was dressed casually with jeans and a satin blouse that buttoned up.
"Where’s the cavalry?" she asked timidly. The more she had waited the more she had begun to believe the meeting was a mistake.
"I’m alone," he lied, "You?" Looking at him, she found him curious. He was wearing a tailored black suit with the designer tie she had bought him on their one-month anniversary.
"Just you and me," Emily confessed. "How’ve you been?"
"You mean after you humiliated me or after Jarod nearly blew my head off?" Icy words... yes that always worked, just cool down with icy words.
"Look, I’m sorry, Lyle, but you had it coming and as for Jarod, don’t…" she told him honestly. Emily didn’t want to discuss her brother, who at this very moment was probably halfway up the wall and still climbing. Lyle could sort of understand her hesitation. He hadn’t really wanted to talk about Jarod either.
"What was so important you couldn’t tell me over the phone?" he resorted to asking.
"You remember that night on the bench about three months ago?" Emily tried to lead him to the truth.
"Yeah… it was perfect." He nearly forgot himself with the thought.
"Well, so do I…" Emily took a deep breath before speaking, "Okay." Studying his face another minute, she paused, then almost choked on the words. "Lyle, you’re going to be a father." Shocked to his very core, Lyle’s conscious mind was at first confused by the meaning of her declaration.
"A father?" he chuckled strangely, "Why? Who’s…? No!" When the whole idea sunk into his brain, his legs buckled. Lyle had to grab hold of the wall to keep from falling down.
"Yes…" Emily confirmed, "Lyle, I’m pregnant." She touched her stomach with the palm of her hand while awaiting the full impact of his reaction.
"Oh, oh.. Are you positive?" Lyle inquired hopefully. He was still trying to process the discovery and couldn’t quite tell if he wasn’t dreaming. A chilly sweat made his skin clammy.
"I had a local doctor run some tests today… Jarod ran tests as well," she explained patiently, all the time watching for the first sign of strong emotion through the haze of his trauma.
"Jarod…?" he weakly questioned.
"He’s at home trying to live with this," Emily said as delicately as she could.
Searching for reality, Lyle remembered vaguely something about people listening to the conversation by way of one of his cufflinks. Noticing the radio, he slipped the bug off and found his out.
"Does that thing work?" He tried to sound casual, but failed.
"Yeah, I was listening to it before you came," Emily said helpfully. Lyle set the bug behind it as he turned the dial from station to station. Finding one he liked, he let it play.
("I Love You" sung by Celine Dion)
"I must be crazy now
Maybe I dream too much
But when I think of you
I long to feel your touch
To whisper in your ear
Words that are old as time
Words only you would hear
If only you were mine
I wish I could go back to the very first day I saw you
Should've made my move when you looked in my eyes
'Cause by now I know that you'd feel the way that I do
And I'd whisper these words as you'd lie here by my side
I love you, please say
You love me too, these three words
They could change our lives forever
And I promise you that we will always be together
Till the end of time…"
-----------
"What do we do, Miss Parker?" Sam asked, turning off the recorder. Parker sighed and glanced out at the building across the street.
"I think we go home."
-----------
(song continued)
"…So today, I finally find the courage deep inside
Just to walk right up to your door
But my body can't move when I finally get to it
Just like a thousand times before
Then without a word he handed me this letter
Read I hope this finds the way into your heart, it said
I love you, please say
You love me too, these three words
They could change our lives forever
And I promise you that we will always be together
Till the end of time…"
"I can’t believe this! How could you… ahhh!" Lyle slammed his fist into the closest wall.
"You gonna hit me now? Huh, Lyle?" Emily had seen that look in his eyes only once when they were dating. It was on their fourth date, when she said something about the Centre that offended him or hurt his pride anyway. She knew he thought about striking her then, but didn’t… he just yelled a bit and she had to play up how sorry she was the rest of the evening.
"No." He quietly sighed. "I can’t." The answer didn’t satisfy Emily though, in fact, without comprehending why, she was angry.
"Oh, come on! I’ve heard the stories… the truth about what you did. Or is it possible you care about the baby?" she growled, making him face her.
"I hit those girls… tortured them, because they reminded me of my late wife," Lyle whispered.
"So, you beat her to death!" Emily exclaimed.
"No! I didn’t!" Lyle was tired of this lie.
"Then who did?" she asked, walking dangerously close to him.
"Mr. Parker!" he yelled in her face.
"You’re father?" She was shocked. He was reliving it with all those women… recreating her death. God, the crazy mixed-up kid had never been taught any better.
"Then why haven’t you ever knocked me around?" Emily’s tone was soft now and warm.
"I can’t hit you," he explained. Lyle’s voice was raw.
"Why?" she implored him to make her understand. He gazed in those elegant eyes.
"Because I loved you!" he managed to say.
"Lyle…" She wanted to say more, but couldn’t.
"I loved you from the moment I saw you… so strong, so powerful. Not even Parker amazed me like that. Besides you were kind. You cared about my suffering, my… nightmares, or at least you pretended to. Everyone around me, they think I’m the devil because of all I’ve done and maybe they’re right, but you didn’t care about any of it. And God help me, after I found out who you were, I loved you more. You’re always so in control and ready to do anything for your cause." He let all the words he had kept inside for months pour out of his heart.
"And you do anything for yours. What is your purpose Lyle?" Emily asked coming closer to him.
"Survival. Ever since my less than fairytale childhood, I survive. No matter what," he clarified.
"And no more who. So you’re saying you’ve changed… because of me?" She was confused, upset, and worried all in the same instant. He shook his head.
"No, I’m saying, I will to do what I can for a family I wish… I could have." Lyle used two fingers to lift her face to his.
"Is this the part where I fall into your arms and say I love you too?" Emily asked, a bit more harshly than she had wanted to. Lyle sighed.
"Would Emma?"
(song continued)
"…Well maybe I, I need a little love yeah
And maybe I, I need a little care
And maybe I, maybe you, maybe you, maybe you
Oh you need somebody just to hold you
If you do, just reach out and I'll be there
I love you, please say
You love me too
Please say you love me too
Till the end of time
These three words
They could change our lives forever
And I promise you that we will always be together
Oh, I love you
Please say you love me too
Please please
Say you love me…."
--------
Margaret was on the couch reading a novel to take her mind away from the situation, when Jarod paced passed her for the fifth time.
"I can’t stand this! Why is she meeting with him?" He was talking to himself, which he had been doing since she left. Margaret set her book down and addressed him.
"It’s something she has to do, that’s all."
"It could get her killed or captured or worse," Jarod expounded on his worries.
"Don’t do this, Jarod. Emily’s a clever girl. She’ll be fine." She came to rest a hand on his arm.
"I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m so angry," he confessed.
"And you won’t say anything," his mother said with authority.
"Maybe you could talk to her," he suggested.
"No, I most certainly will not. She is being pulled in too many directions as it is. I won’t add to it," Margaret explained.
"Mom…" Jarod didn’t want to be logical.
"This is her child. What decisions she makes you may never understand, but you must be supportive," she patiently told him.
"I intend to take care of her no matter what. I guess, I just needed to say something to someone," he whispered.
"How did you talk out your problems before you found us?" Margaret wondered aloud.
"I called… Sydney," Jarod remembered, but then something else entered his mind, that hadn’t occurred to him (or perhaps he wouldn’t let it occur to him) in the last few months.
---------
Looking at his clock, Sydney realized it was close to one in the morning. Who on earth would be calling him now? He sat up in bed, brushed a hand through his hair and took the phone off the receiver.
"This is Sydney," he answered in his usually way.
"Did I wake you?" Jarod’s voice timidly sounded across the line. Sydney suddenly was completely awake and alert.
"Yes, however, I’m glad. Is something wrong?" He was concerned that perhaps Jarod was calling because he was in trouble and needed his old teacher’s assistance.
"Yeah. I didn’t call to discuss it, though," he replied.
"Then why did you call, Jarod?" Sydney inquired in his professional manner.
"To ask how you were?" Jarod spoke truthfully. Sydney smiled at such a kind gesture and relaxed against the pillows piled in front of his headboard. This was going to be one of their philosophical conversations that would last long into the night.
---------
Emily woke to her cell-phone ringing. Lyle’s jacket was wrapped around her.
"Hello….I’m fine……No, the meeting just ran late………Yes, go ahead…..I know where it is……Okay, I’ll call you when I leave… In a few minutes……I love you too, bye."
Lyle stretched; that was the last time he was sleeping in a suit on a mattress meant for one. However, the nap had been wonderful, especially being so close to her again.
"Jarod’s worried about me," Emily said aloud while reminding herself never to sleep in blue jeans.
"He’s worried about me," Lyle corrected her and rubbed his hand across her stomach.
"I’m getting fat," she whined and stood up.
"You’re beautiful." Emily turned back in surprise and saw his statement was genuine. Lyle’s face was full of passion. She walked over him to the window, kicking slightly on the way.
"You’re lying…" She stared out the window not wanting to see him.
"Most of the time," he chuckled as he got to his feet.
"Are you lying about this?" Emily asked. She faced him and rested her hands behind her back on the night-chilled windowsill. He never ceded to marvel at her willingness to appear vulnerable, when he couldn’t show weakness. ‘I must really love her to tell her what I have,’ Lyle thought.
"No… I care about you both…" He offered his hand, which she took, fearlessly. "Besides I was taken from my mother when I was born. I don’t want my own child to have to go through that."
"I don’t know why, but I believe you, Robert," she told him. The incredible thing was how she cut through his layers. She wasn’t talking to Mr. Lyle, or Bobby Bowman, she was talking to Robert. To the man he would have been if he hadn’t been tortured as a child and hadn’t become a killer.
The bodies so close to each other started a flow of energy twisting between them like a hurricane ready to engulf both creatures with its power.
"I have to leave before anyone notices I’m gone…" Lyle reluctantly explained.
"And to pay off Parker and Sam," she added at his shocked expression, "Yes, I had a feeling we weren’t alone. Worry not, I don’t think less of you." Lyle couldn’t have received a more comforting response.
"Good-bye, Emily," he whispered, though his hand remained in hers.
"I’ll call you at home, when I can," she promised. He was ready to walk out the door; however, he wanted to seal their pact. Placing a hand on her hip and gazing into her eyes, she knew immediately what he needed. She brushed the hair away from her face and caressed his right cheek with the back of her hand before allowing the hands to intertwine behind his neck. Emily wanted nothing more than to have him hold her with his muscular arms enveloping her body and his hands resting on the small of her back. Closing their eyes, Lyle and Emily both lost themselves in the contact as if they weren’t in the loft anymore, but rather floating on some distant universal plane. The touch of lips against lips was truly secondary to the warm safety and comfort they felt.
-----------
Miss Parker found herself once again on the way to Lyle’s office, however, this time she was smug. He had fallen for a pretender.. Jarod’s sister even.. oh, it was time to watch the little snake squirm. Of course, she’d never tell; her feelings for Jarod had halted any thoughts of that. Parker could play, though and she intended to.
Just as she turned the corner, Miss Parker ran right into Sam.
"Sorry, Miss Parker," he apologized. When both had steadied themselves, she noticed his strange expression.
"That’s okay," she replied.
"He’s waiting for you," Sam added as he continued toward his post.
"Lyle?" she asked bewildered by his comment.
"Yes," he answered over his shoulder.
Parker peered in the office slowly, even reached inside her jacket to unbutton her gun’s holster. Unexpectedly, Lyle called to her in an excited tone, maybe a bit too excited…. maybe frightened.
"Come on in, Parker."
"Sam said you were waiting," she asked as much as stated.
"Yes, he’s a very fair man," Lyle said, "How much?" He rested his hands on the front of his desk.
"How much what?" Parker moved further into the room and shut the door.
"Money, Parker. How much to keep quiet about Emily?" He didn’t want to listen to her tease him longer than necessary.
"I don’t want any money Lyle, just answer me a few things," Parker changed tracks.
"What do you want to know?" he opened himself up for her attack.
"Do you intend to take care of her and the baby? Keep them safe?" Sadly it was no fun to tear at him with her barbs when he was like this.
"Yes."
"Would you stop the Centre from kidnapping them?" she questioned him carefully, watching for signs of deception.
"I would die before I’d let Raines near my family." Well, at least they both agreed Raines was dangerous.
"Your family? Where will they live?" Miss Parker could hardly believe him. Was this really the fearsome killer Mr. Lyle?
"I don’t know. Emily will call and tell me how everything is. Her mother…. and Jarod will be there to help tend to them," he explained and lowered his eyes. Parker walked up to Lyle and whispered,
"That’s not a very fatherly role on your part."
"Well, what choice do I have?" he asked with the remnant of anger rising in his voice. He rubbed his eyes in weariness and looked attentively up at her.
"The right one," she proclaimed. Parker walked out, leaving Lyle with his thoughts.
------------
The house was barely recognized to be in a town, it was so far out of the way on a quiet dirt road. This was good though, because the argument that was ablaze inside the home continued to be quite loud.
"You told him to come here!?" Jarod yelled at Emily, his rage building. Last time, she told him about any of her relationships.
"Yes… I can trust him," she remarked. When she had called him, Lyle sounded so irresistible. She couldn’t help thinking about how close he had held her and how long they had spent talking. All her self-training about how manipulative and deadly Centre operatives were had gone by the wayside.
"You’re playing Russian Roulette with him," Jarod scoffed.
"That’s my business," Emily informed him curtly, "However, Mother, I don’t want you to be here." Margaret nodded. Jarod was doing enough worrying for all three of them and should something go awry, she would have to be ready to save them.
"Finally you make some sense," Jarod responded to the comment with exhaustion.
"I don’t want you here either," Emily told him matter-of-factly. This nearly sent Jarod into a tornado of emotion, but he managed to avoid the storm.
"No, I’m not going anywhere…Not without you," he declared.
"Stay then, but not in the room," she ordered, collapsing on the couch.
"I’ll leave, after I answer the door," Jarod agreed and entered the kitchen. Margaret and Emily exchanged glances of understanding.
-------------
Lyle stopped the car at the edge of the trees that cleared to show the lawn. He decided to walk the rest of the way. The night was warm and the breeze whispered its gentle song into his ears. The house was a modest two-story, but it was better than the places Jarod and his kin normally stayed in. Opening the rickety unlocked gate, Lyle entered the unkempt lawn.
Climbing the wooden porch steps badly in need of a fresh coat of paint, he stood a moment before the door. The soft shine of lamps peeked out from between its bed of curtains. Raising his hand and choosing his mark, Lyle knocked twice.
There was the muffled sound of floorboards creaking and then the slow unlatching of the lock. As the door was pulled inward, it exposed its occupant. Jarod scrutinized Lyle for a few agonizing moments and then rested his gaze on his face. Lyle reached carefully under his jacket and took out his gun in silence. The shock of seeing Jarod had altered his tact. Jarod didn’t step away when Lyle retrieved his weapon, but he tensed. Lyle took care not to lose Jarod’s eyes as he held the barrel and offered it to him.
"Let me see her," Lyle more asked than demanded. Jarod was a statue momentarily, considering all things equally. He reached cautiously out and took the gun strongly into his hand. With his other hand he pushed the door open wide and, without a word to Lyle, stepped aside. Once the man was in, Jarod shut the door and locked it. Standing in the hall, Lyle wasn’t sure if Jarod intended to execute him right there or not. It was made clear a minute later when Jarod walked down to the first doorway and regarded someone in the room.
"He’s here… and alone. I’ll be upstairs when you need me." With that Jarod turned to give a hard last look at Lyle, then continued down to the end of the hall and up the stairs.
Lyle moved quickly to the specified doorway, eager to catch sight of her. She relaxed on the couch in a long navy blue skirt with slits up both sides and a short sleeved blouse to match.
"Nice place," he began with small talk, while sitting next to her. Emily looked about the scarcely decorated room a moment.
"When you’re traveling with family it better to have more stable, spacious places then motels or abandon lofts," she said. Emily wasn’t concerned with time right now, so if he wanted to chat for a while then…
"Oh… Listen, I think we came find a solution to this problem, if you work with me…" Lyle spoke directly.
"I’m not giving up the baby, Lyle," she remarked sharply.
"No… no I don’t mean that," he recoiled and inched closer to her.
"Then what?" Emily struggled to understand.
"I want to be part of his life. I want my child…." Lyle urgently explained.
"Which you assume is a boy…" she joked to break the tension that had started to grip her throat, tightening slowly.
"To know its father." Lyle was amazed he had been able to say it, yet with her, he could do anything.
"That’s going to be hard," she said. Her heart was relieved though, even happy. He wanted to be with her. He loved her. However this turned out, Emily was ready to take it to the end now. She just hoped he was ready.
Lyle couldn’t imagine anything being more difficult. With all the moving and the secrets, not to mention Jarod… there was an in-law, he could have done without, but most of all he had to open up and trust her… trust Parker too. Lyle had to trust someone and that was what he wasn’t sure he could do.
"I know," Lyle whispered. Truthfully, however, neither knew the chain of events that soon would test their commitment.
("I Don’t Know" sung by Celine Dion)
"A mountain of stone, a door of steel
Can't stand in my way, I'd go on
Brutal machines, unbending laws
Can't slow me down, I'd go on
I've learned how to deal and when to fight
I know what's real, I know what's right
I'm not afraid, a wounded dove
I can be tender in a world so tough
I'm sure I could face the bitter cold
But life without you, I don't know
The winds of the heart can blow me down
But I get right up and I stand my ground
I've tasted fear, my share of pain
The wasted tears of love in vain
I've held you tight, pushed you away
Now with all my might I beg you to stay
I'm sure I could face the bitter cold
But life without you, I don't know
I know what I want, I know what I need
But there's just one thing I must believe
Deep in the night by a dying flame
You will be there when I call your name
I'm sure I could face the bitter cold
But life without you, I don't know
I don't know…."
E-mail: Please send me feedback, good or bad; just write a little note if you don’t want to write a
Note: This is the continuation of "To Honor" (you should start with part one). I have chosen to turn it into a six part series, so look for more stories. THANK YOU to all the people who encouraged me to turn my original story into a series and thanks again for all the positive feedback.
part 3
"To Cherish: The Perfect Combination"
By Dede
Jarod rubbed his eyes. He spent wait too many hours at this monitor, but no rest for the Insomniac. Besides, he was making headway on this project. It had been two months since he had found his family and the excitement had relaxed enough to allow his mind to wander to his work, but the feeling had not diminished. ‘I just need a minute,’ he thought and stood to stretch. He roamed down the corridor past his mother’s room. She was out working as a nurse tonight and wouldn’t be back until late. He sighed at his own happiness in those facts. Continuing on, Jarod was just about to Emily’s bedroom when he heard a sob from inside.
The sound was so desperate and disturbing, he became concerned. Was she watching another one of her sad romance movies, or perhaps having a nightmare?
"Emily?" he spoke through the closed door while knocking calmly.
"Emily Derora Faith Riter… you all right?" Despite his slight distress, Jarod did enjoy saying her full name. Like his own, their parents had chosen hers with careful purpose. Emily was of course decided on because it was Margaret’s middle name, however, she seemed to live up to its meanings of industrious and flatterer. Derora had a bit of a sixties influence in that it was Hebrew for running streams, but the only name more appropriate was her second middle name: Faith. He found fulfillment in every one of his parents’ predictions for their children.
Again silence came from the room, which worried Jarod enough to open the door cautiously. There she was collapsed on the floor, hugging her knees. He dashed to her side and took her into his arms as gently as possible.
"Emily? What’s wrong?" he whispered into her ear. She was in a trance like state with a psychotic presence in her eyes.
"Jarod, I…. I… Oh, God, I’m just so stupid… I thought… Oh, what am I going to do?" she talked first to him, then seemed to lose memory of his existence and began speaking out loud to herself.
"About what?" Jarod asked. He stared into her face, but confusion draped its curtain over her eyes.
"I just don’t know…I… Oh, what will I say?" Emily appeared to direct the question toward Jarod. She finally relaxed against him and let the tears fall wet upon his shirt.
"Emily?" he whispered sweetly, not sure he wanted a response now, "Shh… It’ll be okay." He held her as only a big brother can, comforting her and trying to make all the pain go away.
---------
As night began slowly to creep about lengthening shadows and shading in colors, he walked several feet beneath the earth’s surface, where the sun had never been. Lyle was developing a custom of this recently. He would search for nothing a few hours each day.
Suddenly, while starting down a hall on SL3, one of the infirmary level, Lyle heard someone yell from behind him.
"Emily!" He involuntarily whipped around just in time to see a mass of hair brush past him before stopping.
"Emily, come back here!" a nurse called after the five year old. The child stood near him, but when he gazed at her, she dropped her head in fear. Lyle felt something that almost crushed him inside. He had never bothered to worry if anyone liked him, unless he could use them, yet seeing this girl reject his very presence hurt him.
"Sweety, you shouldn’t run like that. I know you’re bored, but we have to go back to your room now," the nurse instructed as she caught up. Tending to her ward, she didn’t look up at him. The little girl nodded apologetically and began to march back. Lyle stopped the nurse from following her with a rough tap on the shoulder.
"Excuse me?" he began.
"Yes." The woman inspected him carefully.
"What is she here for?" Lyle gestured toward the child walking down the hall.
"She has a rare form of cancer. Her parents brought her to the Centre for treatment. They are very important clients, so we’re doing everything we can," she explained. With all her activity, he never would have guessed she was dying. The woman seemed to sense his thoughts and added,
"Sometimes even when the body is dying, a person’s spirit stays very much alive." He turned to her with a bitter expression in his features.
"Yes. Some spirits are impossible to extinguish despite adversity," he replied. Finally, the nurse felt comfortable with him, however, her ward had reached the room.
"Good day, sir," she said warmly. Lyle was amazed by her reaction, but couldn’t shake his mind from the short brown curls that had disappeared into a doorway.
"Good day, indeed." His heart ached and he had to force himself to find the way up to his office.
---------
She had stopped crying now and sat on the bed with her hands rubbing together. He was across from her on the desk chair. He watched as she leaned her forehead against her hands.
"Are you sure?" Jarod asked half-lost in his own mind still.
"No…. I’m basically sure. The first month I figured I was just paranoid. Kidding myself, you know, but now… I’m know something’s wrong. I haven’t been to a doctor, yet." Emily wanted to let him down gently. This wasn’t going to be easy; it was going to be painful and not just the birth.
"Would you like me to run some tests?" he inquired slowly. Jarod didn’t want to annoy her, but he wouldn’t believe it until his tests came back.
"If you want to. I’m seeing my doctor in the morning." She looked down at the floor. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. She had a simple plan, a plan to save him and because of that plan she had a baby from Lyle. Jarod knew it wasn’t his fault, but Emily knew he felt guilty and angry. Cruel irony and cursed luck! The gods were against him along with his kin and he didn’t understand why.
"What now?" he whispered. Emily peered at him through her fingers and grabbed one of the pillows from the headboard to hug.
"Well, I know what I have to do. I have to call him," she answered tossing the pillow back in place. Jarod wasn’t sure he had heard her right.
"What?" he particularly yelled. Coming to sit with her on the bed, he started to elaborate, but she hushed him before a single word was coherent.
"I know, I know…." she assured Jarod, while taking his hands in hers tight.
"But…" Jarod pleaded for her to listen.
"I know," she responded loudly. Emily looked him straight in the eye, their faces inches apart.
"I’m still calling him," she said defiantly.
"At least wait until mom gets home," he begged her. Maybe, she could talk some sense into her daughter.
"No. I’d rather do this when I’m only fighting one of you," Emily informed him of his defeat. She felt a heavy weight tug on her heart.
"You said you weren’t sure," Jarod remembered. He was trying everything he could think of, though, the situation was making it hard to think clearly.
"I’m sure. And I’m calling. I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow and run all the tests you like, but I’m calling him." It was stressful fighting Jarod, but she had to win his support.
"Why does he even need to know?"
"It wouldn’t make a difference. If he ever catch sight of me in a few months, he’d know. At least this way, the news might slow him down," she explained. He knew she was right. It just didn’t seem fair.
"Emily…" he began.
"Jarod…" Emily squeezed his hands.
"What do you need?" he gave in. Jarod trusted her. Emily’s face brightened with a bittersweet smile.
"Could you get me some tea?" she asked softly.
"Sure," he said.
"Okay." Jarod stood to leave, but had only reached the door, when he looked back at her. She was searching for her cell-phone.
"Emily?" he called to her.
"Yeah?" Emily turned away from her quest to face him.
"I love you," he stated strongly. She nodded.
"I know."
---------
Why… why, why me? He fidgeted with the papers on his desk, shuffling and re-shuffling them. Then he stood and came to the window. He didn’t want to feel like this. He never wanted to care about anything or anyone, yet he cared about her. And worse he never wanted to hear that name echoing down the halls. It seemed wrong, but Lyle couldn’t figure out why. She had lied to him, hurt him, manipulated him and through it all, mixed in with all the anger and pain was an incredible respect stemming from unwavering affection. What was wrong with him? It had been two months for heaven’s sake.
His phone enticed him after the first two rings enough to cause him to hit the speaker button. The sweet voice on the other end nearly made him fall out of his chair as he tried to sit down.
"The weather’s nice in Florida. I wish I was there," Emily played nervously. She was close to being ill.
"Emily, how good to hear from you. Mind telling me what the weather’s like where you are. I’ll turn on the Weather Channel and take a guess," he offered, thinking he understood Parker’s games with Jarod much better now.
"It’s dark and cloudy. I want to meet with you." Her response confused him enough to generate a moment or so of pause.
"Really?! Well, let me call a sweeper team and we can have a regular reunion," he regained his sarcasm.
"Lyle, this isn’t about the Centre, this is about the ring you gave me," Emily fingered the ring on her gold chain as she spoke.
"And you want to meet with me?" he asked. Lyle couldn’t figure out what she was doing, however, the idea of seeing Emily kept him on the line.
"Yes, alone…" she answered with command in her voice, "Alone, Lyle, should I explain the word?" Emily was suspicious and Lyle knew it, but he also heard a fear in her that stopped him from taunting her.
"I agree. No sweepers…. Where?" he said while pulling out a pen and opening a notepad.
"There’s an abandon apartment building six blocks from your place. Loft on the third floor, ten o’clock tomorrow night," she instructed.
"Ten o’clock. I’ll be there." Lyle wondered what she had planned. Did she miss him?
"Don’t double cross me," Emily warned. In her room, she sipped her tea and tried to relax against the wall.
"Don’t bring Jarod," Lyle demanded.
"Deal…" she ended the call. Lyle rubbed his forehead and sighed. Calmly, he then hit a speed dial button on his phone.
"Parker…"
---------
Margaret walked through her front door around eleven. She had no sooner set her purse on the counter, than Jarod appeared on the top steps of the stairs. He gazed down at her with panic in his every motion and she knew something had happened to Emily.
---------
"And you’re going?" Parker accused. She was flabbergasted by the news that Miss Emily wanted to speak with Lyle. Didn’t she know what she was walking into and where was Jarod? He certainly would never approve of her intentions.
"Yes. She wouldn’t risk this sort of stunt unless something important was going on," Lyle explained. Standing in her office, he rested his back against the filing cabinet.
"So, you’re telling me… why?" Parker asked sarcastically.
"I want you listening, Agent 99," Lyle told her.
"What?" Parker put a hand up to her ear as if she couldn’t understand him.
"Please?" he said as pathetically as possible.
"Sorry, I think you’re in ‘the cone of silence’," Parker retorted and started to move around the desk toward her door.
"She could try to kill me," Lyle remarked. Parker still opened the door wide to suggest he should leave.
"Tragedy." Her response freezing ice icicles to his ears.
"Okay, but let it be in your nightmares, if I die," he stated while walking past her.
"I’m a pretty sound sleeper," she commented and held the door with her right hand.
"Maybe I’ll just go ask Sydney if he can…" Lyle replied. Miss Parker’s eyes grew two fold and she shut the door, nearly hitting him and stood in front of it.
"Sydney has enough on his mind, Mad Max. I’ll go, but only if Sam comes too," she declared. Sydney was testifying about Raines for the third time in a month and it was beginning to wear on him. Besides, Jarod hadn’t called and Sydney missed him.
"Thanks," Lyle said, even bowing to her slightly as he left.
--------
He stared up at the building to the third floor, where a single light hid behind the beat up blinds that whatever office used to be there had left behind. He glanced back at the van across the street where Sam and Parker were staying. Adjusting his cufflink, Lyle entered the main door.
As he proceeded up the stairs, he could hear the rain beginning to fall on the streets. Coming to the loft that he saw from the sidewalk, the door stood open. The interior of the room wasn’t much: a table with a radio, a couch, and a mattress with a blanket on the floor.
"You came…" Emily moved from her seat on the forgotten sofa to greet him.
"I promised," he replied coldly. He eyed the chain around her neck, but didn’t speak of it. She was dressed casually with jeans and a satin blouse that buttoned up.
"Where’s the cavalry?" she asked timidly. The more she had waited the more she had begun to believe the meeting was a mistake.
"I’m alone," he lied, "You?" Looking at him, she found him curious. He was wearing a tailored black suit with the designer tie she had bought him on their one-month anniversary.
"Just you and me," Emily confessed. "How’ve you been?"
"You mean after you humiliated me or after Jarod nearly blew my head off?" Icy words... yes that always worked, just cool down with icy words.
"Look, I’m sorry, Lyle, but you had it coming and as for Jarod, don’t…" she told him honestly. Emily didn’t want to discuss her brother, who at this very moment was probably halfway up the wall and still climbing. Lyle could sort of understand her hesitation. He hadn’t really wanted to talk about Jarod either.
"What was so important you couldn’t tell me over the phone?" he resorted to asking.
"You remember that night on the bench about three months ago?" Emily tried to lead him to the truth.
"Yeah… it was perfect." He nearly forgot himself with the thought.
"Well, so do I…" Emily took a deep breath before speaking, "Okay." Studying his face another minute, she paused, then almost choked on the words. "Lyle, you’re going to be a father." Shocked to his very core, Lyle’s conscious mind was at first confused by the meaning of her declaration.
"A father?" he chuckled strangely, "Why? Who’s…? No!" When the whole idea sunk into his brain, his legs buckled. Lyle had to grab hold of the wall to keep from falling down.
"Yes…" Emily confirmed, "Lyle, I’m pregnant." She touched her stomach with the palm of her hand while awaiting the full impact of his reaction.
"Oh, oh.. Are you positive?" Lyle inquired hopefully. He was still trying to process the discovery and couldn’t quite tell if he wasn’t dreaming. A chilly sweat made his skin clammy.
"I had a local doctor run some tests today… Jarod ran tests as well," she explained patiently, all the time watching for the first sign of strong emotion through the haze of his trauma.
"Jarod…?" he weakly questioned.
"He’s at home trying to live with this," Emily said as delicately as she could.
Searching for reality, Lyle remembered vaguely something about people listening to the conversation by way of one of his cufflinks. Noticing the radio, he slipped the bug off and found his out.
"Does that thing work?" He tried to sound casual, but failed.
"Yeah, I was listening to it before you came," Emily said helpfully. Lyle set the bug behind it as he turned the dial from station to station. Finding one he liked, he let it play.
("I Love You" sung by Celine Dion)
"I must be crazy now
Maybe I dream too much
But when I think of you
I long to feel your touch
To whisper in your ear
Words that are old as time
Words only you would hear
If only you were mine
I wish I could go back to the very first day I saw you
Should've made my move when you looked in my eyes
'Cause by now I know that you'd feel the way that I do
And I'd whisper these words as you'd lie here by my side
I love you, please say
You love me too, these three words
They could change our lives forever
And I promise you that we will always be together
Till the end of time…"
-----------
"What do we do, Miss Parker?" Sam asked, turning off the recorder. Parker sighed and glanced out at the building across the street.
"I think we go home."
-----------
(song continued)
"…So today, I finally find the courage deep inside
Just to walk right up to your door
But my body can't move when I finally get to it
Just like a thousand times before
Then without a word he handed me this letter
Read I hope this finds the way into your heart, it said
I love you, please say
You love me too, these three words
They could change our lives forever
And I promise you that we will always be together
Till the end of time…"
"I can’t believe this! How could you… ahhh!" Lyle slammed his fist into the closest wall.
"You gonna hit me now? Huh, Lyle?" Emily had seen that look in his eyes only once when they were dating. It was on their fourth date, when she said something about the Centre that offended him or hurt his pride anyway. She knew he thought about striking her then, but didn’t… he just yelled a bit and she had to play up how sorry she was the rest of the evening.
"No." He quietly sighed. "I can’t." The answer didn’t satisfy Emily though, in fact, without comprehending why, she was angry.
"Oh, come on! I’ve heard the stories… the truth about what you did. Or is it possible you care about the baby?" she growled, making him face her.
"I hit those girls… tortured them, because they reminded me of my late wife," Lyle whispered.
"So, you beat her to death!" Emily exclaimed.
"No! I didn’t!" Lyle was tired of this lie.
"Then who did?" she asked, walking dangerously close to him.
"Mr. Parker!" he yelled in her face.
"You’re father?" She was shocked. He was reliving it with all those women… recreating her death. God, the crazy mixed-up kid had never been taught any better.
"Then why haven’t you ever knocked me around?" Emily’s tone was soft now and warm.
"I can’t hit you," he explained. Lyle’s voice was raw.
"Why?" she implored him to make her understand. He gazed in those elegant eyes.
"Because I loved you!" he managed to say.
"Lyle…" She wanted to say more, but couldn’t.
"I loved you from the moment I saw you… so strong, so powerful. Not even Parker amazed me like that. Besides you were kind. You cared about my suffering, my… nightmares, or at least you pretended to. Everyone around me, they think I’m the devil because of all I’ve done and maybe they’re right, but you didn’t care about any of it. And God help me, after I found out who you were, I loved you more. You’re always so in control and ready to do anything for your cause." He let all the words he had kept inside for months pour out of his heart.
"And you do anything for yours. What is your purpose Lyle?" Emily asked coming closer to him.
"Survival. Ever since my less than fairytale childhood, I survive. No matter what," he clarified.
"And no more who. So you’re saying you’ve changed… because of me?" She was confused, upset, and worried all in the same instant. He shook his head.
"No, I’m saying, I will to do what I can for a family I wish… I could have." Lyle used two fingers to lift her face to his.
"Is this the part where I fall into your arms and say I love you too?" Emily asked, a bit more harshly than she had wanted to. Lyle sighed.
"Would Emma?"
(song continued)
"…Well maybe I, I need a little love yeah
And maybe I, I need a little care
And maybe I, maybe you, maybe you, maybe you
Oh you need somebody just to hold you
If you do, just reach out and I'll be there
I love you, please say
You love me too
Please say you love me too
Till the end of time
These three words
They could change our lives forever
And I promise you that we will always be together
Oh, I love you
Please say you love me too
Please please
Say you love me…."
--------
Margaret was on the couch reading a novel to take her mind away from the situation, when Jarod paced passed her for the fifth time.
"I can’t stand this! Why is she meeting with him?" He was talking to himself, which he had been doing since she left. Margaret set her book down and addressed him.
"It’s something she has to do, that’s all."
"It could get her killed or captured or worse," Jarod expounded on his worries.
"Don’t do this, Jarod. Emily’s a clever girl. She’ll be fine." She came to rest a hand on his arm.
"I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m so angry," he confessed.
"And you won’t say anything," his mother said with authority.
"Maybe you could talk to her," he suggested.
"No, I most certainly will not. She is being pulled in too many directions as it is. I won’t add to it," Margaret explained.
"Mom…" Jarod didn’t want to be logical.
"This is her child. What decisions she makes you may never understand, but you must be supportive," she patiently told him.
"I intend to take care of her no matter what. I guess, I just needed to say something to someone," he whispered.
"How did you talk out your problems before you found us?" Margaret wondered aloud.
"I called… Sydney," Jarod remembered, but then something else entered his mind, that hadn’t occurred to him (or perhaps he wouldn’t let it occur to him) in the last few months.
---------
Looking at his clock, Sydney realized it was close to one in the morning. Who on earth would be calling him now? He sat up in bed, brushed a hand through his hair and took the phone off the receiver.
"This is Sydney," he answered in his usually way.
"Did I wake you?" Jarod’s voice timidly sounded across the line. Sydney suddenly was completely awake and alert.
"Yes, however, I’m glad. Is something wrong?" He was concerned that perhaps Jarod was calling because he was in trouble and needed his old teacher’s assistance.
"Yeah. I didn’t call to discuss it, though," he replied.
"Then why did you call, Jarod?" Sydney inquired in his professional manner.
"To ask how you were?" Jarod spoke truthfully. Sydney smiled at such a kind gesture and relaxed against the pillows piled in front of his headboard. This was going to be one of their philosophical conversations that would last long into the night.
---------
Emily woke to her cell-phone ringing. Lyle’s jacket was wrapped around her.
"Hello….I’m fine……No, the meeting just ran late………Yes, go ahead…..I know where it is……Okay, I’ll call you when I leave… In a few minutes……I love you too, bye."
Lyle stretched; that was the last time he was sleeping in a suit on a mattress meant for one. However, the nap had been wonderful, especially being so close to her again.
"Jarod’s worried about me," Emily said aloud while reminding herself never to sleep in blue jeans.
"He’s worried about me," Lyle corrected her and rubbed his hand across her stomach.
"I’m getting fat," she whined and stood up.
"You’re beautiful." Emily turned back in surprise and saw his statement was genuine. Lyle’s face was full of passion. She walked over him to the window, kicking slightly on the way.
"You’re lying…" She stared out the window not wanting to see him.
"Most of the time," he chuckled as he got to his feet.
"Are you lying about this?" Emily asked. She faced him and rested her hands behind her back on the night-chilled windowsill. He never ceded to marvel at her willingness to appear vulnerable, when he couldn’t show weakness. ‘I must really love her to tell her what I have,’ Lyle thought.
"No… I care about you both…" He offered his hand, which she took, fearlessly. "Besides I was taken from my mother when I was born. I don’t want my own child to have to go through that."
"I don’t know why, but I believe you, Robert," she told him. The incredible thing was how she cut through his layers. She wasn’t talking to Mr. Lyle, or Bobby Bowman, she was talking to Robert. To the man he would have been if he hadn’t been tortured as a child and hadn’t become a killer.
The bodies so close to each other started a flow of energy twisting between them like a hurricane ready to engulf both creatures with its power.
"I have to leave before anyone notices I’m gone…" Lyle reluctantly explained.
"And to pay off Parker and Sam," she added at his shocked expression, "Yes, I had a feeling we weren’t alone. Worry not, I don’t think less of you." Lyle couldn’t have received a more comforting response.
"Good-bye, Emily," he whispered, though his hand remained in hers.
"I’ll call you at home, when I can," she promised. He was ready to walk out the door; however, he wanted to seal their pact. Placing a hand on her hip and gazing into her eyes, she knew immediately what he needed. She brushed the hair away from her face and caressed his right cheek with the back of her hand before allowing the hands to intertwine behind his neck. Emily wanted nothing more than to have him hold her with his muscular arms enveloping her body and his hands resting on the small of her back. Closing their eyes, Lyle and Emily both lost themselves in the contact as if they weren’t in the loft anymore, but rather floating on some distant universal plane. The touch of lips against lips was truly secondary to the warm safety and comfort they felt.
-----------
Miss Parker found herself once again on the way to Lyle’s office, however, this time she was smug. He had fallen for a pretender.. Jarod’s sister even.. oh, it was time to watch the little snake squirm. Of course, she’d never tell; her feelings for Jarod had halted any thoughts of that. Parker could play, though and she intended to.
Just as she turned the corner, Miss Parker ran right into Sam.
"Sorry, Miss Parker," he apologized. When both had steadied themselves, she noticed his strange expression.
"That’s okay," she replied.
"He’s waiting for you," Sam added as he continued toward his post.
"Lyle?" she asked bewildered by his comment.
"Yes," he answered over his shoulder.
Parker peered in the office slowly, even reached inside her jacket to unbutton her gun’s holster. Unexpectedly, Lyle called to her in an excited tone, maybe a bit too excited…. maybe frightened.
"Come on in, Parker."
"Sam said you were waiting," she asked as much as stated.
"Yes, he’s a very fair man," Lyle said, "How much?" He rested his hands on the front of his desk.
"How much what?" Parker moved further into the room and shut the door.
"Money, Parker. How much to keep quiet about Emily?" He didn’t want to listen to her tease him longer than necessary.
"I don’t want any money Lyle, just answer me a few things," Parker changed tracks.
"What do you want to know?" he opened himself up for her attack.
"Do you intend to take care of her and the baby? Keep them safe?" Sadly it was no fun to tear at him with her barbs when he was like this.
"Yes."
"Would you stop the Centre from kidnapping them?" she questioned him carefully, watching for signs of deception.
"I would die before I’d let Raines near my family." Well, at least they both agreed Raines was dangerous.
"Your family? Where will they live?" Miss Parker could hardly believe him. Was this really the fearsome killer Mr. Lyle?
"I don’t know. Emily will call and tell me how everything is. Her mother…. and Jarod will be there to help tend to them," he explained and lowered his eyes. Parker walked up to Lyle and whispered,
"That’s not a very fatherly role on your part."
"Well, what choice do I have?" he asked with the remnant of anger rising in his voice. He rubbed his eyes in weariness and looked attentively up at her.
"The right one," she proclaimed. Parker walked out, leaving Lyle with his thoughts.
------------
The house was barely recognized to be in a town, it was so far out of the way on a quiet dirt road. This was good though, because the argument that was ablaze inside the home continued to be quite loud.
"You told him to come here!?" Jarod yelled at Emily, his rage building. Last time, she told him about any of her relationships.
"Yes… I can trust him," she remarked. When she had called him, Lyle sounded so irresistible. She couldn’t help thinking about how close he had held her and how long they had spent talking. All her self-training about how manipulative and deadly Centre operatives were had gone by the wayside.
"You’re playing Russian Roulette with him," Jarod scoffed.
"That’s my business," Emily informed him curtly, "However, Mother, I don’t want you to be here." Margaret nodded. Jarod was doing enough worrying for all three of them and should something go awry, she would have to be ready to save them.
"Finally you make some sense," Jarod responded to the comment with exhaustion.
"I don’t want you here either," Emily told him matter-of-factly. This nearly sent Jarod into a tornado of emotion, but he managed to avoid the storm.
"No, I’m not going anywhere…Not without you," he declared.
"Stay then, but not in the room," she ordered, collapsing on the couch.
"I’ll leave, after I answer the door," Jarod agreed and entered the kitchen. Margaret and Emily exchanged glances of understanding.
-------------
Lyle stopped the car at the edge of the trees that cleared to show the lawn. He decided to walk the rest of the way. The night was warm and the breeze whispered its gentle song into his ears. The house was a modest two-story, but it was better than the places Jarod and his kin normally stayed in. Opening the rickety unlocked gate, Lyle entered the unkempt lawn.
Climbing the wooden porch steps badly in need of a fresh coat of paint, he stood a moment before the door. The soft shine of lamps peeked out from between its bed of curtains. Raising his hand and choosing his mark, Lyle knocked twice.
There was the muffled sound of floorboards creaking and then the slow unlatching of the lock. As the door was pulled inward, it exposed its occupant. Jarod scrutinized Lyle for a few agonizing moments and then rested his gaze on his face. Lyle reached carefully under his jacket and took out his gun in silence. The shock of seeing Jarod had altered his tact. Jarod didn’t step away when Lyle retrieved his weapon, but he tensed. Lyle took care not to lose Jarod’s eyes as he held the barrel and offered it to him.
"Let me see her," Lyle more asked than demanded. Jarod was a statue momentarily, considering all things equally. He reached cautiously out and took the gun strongly into his hand. With his other hand he pushed the door open wide and, without a word to Lyle, stepped aside. Once the man was in, Jarod shut the door and locked it. Standing in the hall, Lyle wasn’t sure if Jarod intended to execute him right there or not. It was made clear a minute later when Jarod walked down to the first doorway and regarded someone in the room.
"He’s here… and alone. I’ll be upstairs when you need me." With that Jarod turned to give a hard last look at Lyle, then continued down to the end of the hall and up the stairs.
Lyle moved quickly to the specified doorway, eager to catch sight of her. She relaxed on the couch in a long navy blue skirt with slits up both sides and a short sleeved blouse to match.
"Nice place," he began with small talk, while sitting next to her. Emily looked about the scarcely decorated room a moment.
"When you’re traveling with family it better to have more stable, spacious places then motels or abandon lofts," she said. Emily wasn’t concerned with time right now, so if he wanted to chat for a while then…
"Oh… Listen, I think we came find a solution to this problem, if you work with me…" Lyle spoke directly.
"I’m not giving up the baby, Lyle," she remarked sharply.
"No… no I don’t mean that," he recoiled and inched closer to her.
"Then what?" Emily struggled to understand.
"I want to be part of his life. I want my child…." Lyle urgently explained.
"Which you assume is a boy…" she joked to break the tension that had started to grip her throat, tightening slowly.
"To know its father." Lyle was amazed he had been able to say it, yet with her, he could do anything.
"That’s going to be hard," she said. Her heart was relieved though, even happy. He wanted to be with her. He loved her. However this turned out, Emily was ready to take it to the end now. She just hoped he was ready.
Lyle couldn’t imagine anything being more difficult. With all the moving and the secrets, not to mention Jarod… there was an in-law, he could have done without, but most of all he had to open up and trust her… trust Parker too. Lyle had to trust someone and that was what he wasn’t sure he could do.
"I know," Lyle whispered. Truthfully, however, neither knew the chain of events that soon would test their commitment.
("I Don’t Know" sung by Celine Dion)
"A mountain of stone, a door of steel
Can't stand in my way, I'd go on
Brutal machines, unbending laws
Can't slow me down, I'd go on
I've learned how to deal and when to fight
I know what's real, I know what's right
I'm not afraid, a wounded dove
I can be tender in a world so tough
I'm sure I could face the bitter cold
But life without you, I don't know
The winds of the heart can blow me down
But I get right up and I stand my ground
I've tasted fear, my share of pain
The wasted tears of love in vain
I've held you tight, pushed you away
Now with all my might I beg you to stay
I'm sure I could face the bitter cold
But life without you, I don't know
I know what I want, I know what I need
But there's just one thing I must believe
Deep in the night by a dying flame
You will be there when I call your name
I'm sure I could face the bitter cold
But life without you, I don't know
I don't know…."
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