Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
This is a fanfic written purely for entertainment and promotion of my favorite show, The Pretender. I am merely borrowing the characters from the TV show owned by Pretender Productions, Fox, and maybe NBC, for my story. All the characters not appearing on the Pretender are mine. Please don’t sue me, as I have no money.
As you may recall, this story takes place in the first days and following weeks immediately after the 3rd season final, Donoterase. This story is very different from the real 4th season of the Pretender, as it was started in the summer before the fall season began, and has taken on a life of its own. I have, however, borrowed Mr. Cox from the 4th season, for my story.
Intense interrogations in the Tower are continuing, as the Centre tries to discover the location of Gemini. As Miss Parker and Broots wait for their turn in the hot seat, the board ruthlessly tries to coerce Major Charles into revealing the location of Gemini, using his own son as leverage. Behind the scenes, Joe is working with the FBI on a sting operation to free his comrades and see that justice is done to avenge the deaths of his Chief, police partner, and all those killed at the plane crash by the Centre. 7/05/00
In Pursuit Of Happiness
Part 18
by jojarod50
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Tower Interrogation room A
6:21AM
Major Charles frantically looked from the man questioning him to his son, noticing the look of shocked horror on Jarod’s face, similar to his reaction, at Donoterase, when he had come face to face with his clone. What a cruel way for him to remember, he thought, unable to contain himself, as he saw his son yanked out of his chair and led by a sweeper to a small room in the back, staggering slightly seemingly in pain.
“God forgive me. Ok, ok. Look, I’ll work with your men to help locate Gemini. Surely your people have someone who can track him down, even with the limited amount of information I have. Just don’t hurt my son anymore!”
“Major Charles. You’ve placed us in a very difficult situation here, by your actions to protect our property from being found. The Centre does not take kindly to theft of our projects. Take him back to his cell,” the speaker said motioning to Mr. Johnson and another sweeper in the back.
“What about my son? What are you going to do to him?” the Major pressed refusing to leave his seat.
“What we do with our property is up to us. Get him out of here, and bring in Miss Parker,” he said to the sweepers, as one of them quickly drew his gun convincing the Major to stand down and follow them.
Centre Tower
Small room off of Interrogation room A
6:23 AM Eastern time
Mr. Cox motioned for Jarod to sit down, as Willie waited to strap him in the chair.
Still dazed from the flashbacks and the abrupt return of his memory concerning his clone, Jarod stood there staring at Mr. Cox and Willie, barely registering on what was going on.
“Jarod, cooperation is key here. If you cooperate with me, your father may avoid, shall we say, a rather horrible ordeal. Now, sit down,” Mr. Cox said eyeing the pretender curiously, trying to decide if he was faking it or not playing with a full deck.
Fighting to clear his mind, the pretender closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, purposely pushing the new revelations aside. Willie gave the distracted pretender a shove toward the chair, throwing him off balance and nearly sending him to the floor, straight jacket and all. Recovering quickly, Jarod took a seat, as the realization that his father was in danger came crashing though his troubled thoughts. He wondered if he would have to blow his pretend and play it straight, to save him, knowing that that might be disastrous to his overall plans.
“All right, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Mr. Cox began, after the pretender had been ensconced in his chair.
“You care very deeply for your father, don’t you, Jarod?” the predator asked pulling on a pair of surgical gloves, and snapping each one as he circled the pretender. “You can save us all a lot of time and trouble, if you just tell us what he did with Gemini.”
Jarod’s mind was racing as he quickly simmed all possible outcomes to answering his question honestly and decided against it, feeling sweat suddenly trickle down his forehead.
“Cat got your tongue?” Cox offered, leaning in till he was in his face, wondering what it would take to keep him from drifting off again. “You know, I’ve been told that you have spent your entire life dreaming about finding your family and it’s taken you 3 years outside the Centre to finally locate Major Charles. You better start talking or he’ll be dragged back to his cell and tortured until we find out what we need to know. From the looks of him, I’m not sure how much more physical abuse he can take.”
Jarod broke into an easy smile and shook his head, his eyes riveted on the other man’s, perfectly masking his feelings of overwhelming fear for his dad.
“You people are so predictable. You build your whole lives around causing pain and sorrow, as you systematically destroy lives. You said you wanted me to save you some time. Ok, I will for a price. You don’t need to bother yourselves with my dad. I’m the only one that can possibly know where Gemini is, so deal with me.”
“Do I look like a fool to you? Let me see if I’m getting this right. You want me to believe that the man who left the Iversonville airport with Gemini in his plane knows nothing about his whereabouts? But you, on the other hand, the one who was taken back to the Centre and spent the rest of the time in a mental hospital knows where he is? This is very disappointing. I was told you are an absolute genius, but you’re talking like an idiot.”
“Like you said, I’m a genius. Weren’t you paying attention to what my father said? He has no idea where Gemini is aside from some sketchy facts. Give me some time with that information, and I’ll locate him for you. That is what you want, isn’t it?”
“I’m not so sure he is telling the truth, and even more unsure you’d want to turn Gemini over to us. I’m curious, though, what did you expect in return?”
“I want you to let my father go.”
“My aren’t you the loyal son. I don’t know, Jarod. For some reason I don’t think I can trust you. Why don’t we have a little talk and see if I can figure out what you’re up to,” he said pulling a syringe out of his pocket, and holding it up to the light, as he tapped the bubbles out, making a real show of it.
One look at the syringe, and the pretender completely lost it, grabbing Cox’s ankles with his legs and causing him to loose his balance, as the chair he was strapped to flipped over sending him crashing to the floor.
“Willie, call another sweeper in here and get him out of the chair,” Cox said getting back on his feet. “We need to remove his straight jacket for a moment, while he gets a quick lesson in cooperation.”
“Jarod, that was a stupid thing to do. You must have some kind of a death wish, or do you just enjoy experiencing pain,” he said tightly, giving the broken syringe on the floor a little kick while glaring at the pretender.
Jarod lay motionless on his side, staring into the man’s eyes, betraying no signs of emotion.
The door swung open, as Willie returned with Sam, who immediately regretted his presence there, as he glanced at Jarod, the broken syringe and the angry look on Cox face.
“Go ahead and soften him up a bit, but avoid the cracked ribs on his left side. I’ll be back in a few minutes for his interrogation,” Cox said under his breath to the sweepers, returning his gaze to the pretender with a look of anticipation.
“Sam, after the pretender looses steam, why don’t you run down to the infirmary and get another loaded syringe for me,” he said, jotting down the name of the drug on a slip of paper and handing it to him, before quickly leaving.
* * *
Interrogation room A
6:55 AM
Mr. Cox felt strangely alive as he closed the door and crossed over to a chair in the main room to take in a little of Miss Parker’s questioning.
“This wasn’t about Jarod or his clone. Frankly, I could care less about what happens to them. It was about the Centre and the death of my mother. I was led to believe that my father took orders from the Triumvirate to have my mother killed and was going to have me eliminated as well.”
“That’s curious, Miss Parker. I was under the impression that you were very distraught about the torture and subsequent overdosing of the pretender. Isn’t that true?”
“Distraught? You must be joking. The only thing that had me upset, was the lack of information I was given to work from in order to track down that lab rat. The file was full of omissions and had only a few sketchy details concerning his condition and nothing on how he had escaped. Without Sydney to serve as an umbilical to Jarod, I knew that he would probably be impossible to catch, especially with only Broots to help in the pursuit.”
“An interesting answer, Miss Parker, but not exactly in keeping with what Mr. Broots told us last night.”
Muffled groans and sounds of fists connecting with flesh suddenly caught her attention, as she wondered who was in the room in the back, and realizing she hadn’t seen Jarod leave with Major Charles.
“Miss Parker, please try to pay attention. I don’t want to have to repeat myself again. When you located Dr. Green and Jarod, why didn’t you contact the Centre with your findings? Do you maintain that your fear for your life was your only motivation for keeping quiet or is there something more you’re not telling us?”
Mr. Cox stared at her curiously, noticing her change in color as Sam exited the small room and Jarod’s muffled cries became momentarily louder. Sam quickly crossed the room to the double doors and disappeared from sight, cueing the doctor to return to his prey.
* * *
“Ah, Jarod, good to see you’ve calmed down, substantially,” Mr. Cox said motioning for Willie to get the pretender off the floor and strapped back into the chair.
“As soon as Sam returns with another syringe, I’ll be asking you for information and this time I expect to get it without any more of your little tantrums.”
Aware of the gun Willie had trained on him, the discouraged young man sat limply in the chair, resigned to the fact that he would be questioned while drugged. Drawing on his pretender skills, he prepared to do whatever it’d take to sidestep their efforts to probe his mind. He felt the whole weight of the world crashing down on him as he realized he would have to move fast to get the others out of the Centre, before anyone died, and wondering if he could.
* * *
Two doors down from the Centre Infirmary
Dr. Meisser’s outer office
7:03 AM
Dr. Meisser glance at his watch again, wondering when Jarod would be returned to him and angry that he was not allowed to accompany him to the inquiry. Lost in thought, he wrestled with thoughts of the pretender being forced to remember traumatic things and how damaging it might be to his continuing progress toward normalcy. The doctor glance up in surprise at the burley sweeper who had stepped up to him unnoticed.
“Excuse me, Dr. Meisser. I was asked by Mr. Cox to pick this up for your patient’s interrogation,” Sam said, choosing to ask him over Dr. Grackle, in hopes that Jarod’s doctor would protest the use of the mind-altering drug.
He was rewarded by the look of outrage on the other man’s face, as the doctor read the paper and stormed into his office, slamming his door before lifting his phone.
“I guess that means no,” he breathed under his breath, relieved and totally pleased with himself.
* * *
Dr. Meisser’s office
Moments later
The doctor hit a button on his private phone and was greeted by a taped message from Frank’s Catering Service, instructing him to place his order after the beep.
“Frank, it’s Dr. Jerry Meisser. I’m expecting friends in for the weekend. Why don’t you come up with something really impressive for my guests and I’ll drop by after work to ok the menus. I’m going to be expecting 6 people including an old convalescent friend of mine, which will need a special diet. Thanks for your help, Frank, I’m glad I can always count on you.”
Hanging up the phone, he headed out the door in a huff and made a beeline for the elevator, fully intending to retrieve his patient from clutches of the ruthless thugs, motioning Sam to follow him.
* * *
The Operations Room
Atlanta Violent Crimes Task Force
Atlanta, Georgia
8:35 AM
“Things must have gone south. He wants us to make our move tomorrow night. We’ll know more when he sends us today’s condition report. George, any word on Gemini yet?” Bailey asked flipping open the top file again and zeroing in on the picture of the young pretender still struggling with the idea that he was supposed to be Jarod’s clone.
“I talked to Sam about an hour ago. They ought to be here any time now.”
“That’s a relief. Joe Clark was convinced that the boy would be the Centre’s next target.”
”We’re just lucky Major Charles told Clark what he knew about Gemini’s location before they were all captured or we probably wouldn’t have figured out where he was in time.”
“What about our inside men, John? They need to be brought up to speed before we go in. Get everything I need ready ASAP. The Bureau is still hot about D.C.’s surveillance fiasco and will have our heads if every thing isn’t neat and tidy this time with minimal loss of personnel.”
“That’s encouraging. I’m working on it. George just gave me the printout. Give me a couple of hours tops,” John said, glancing at the pictures of Jarod and the others also posted on the board. “This whole thing is so incredible. It’s hard to believe the Centre’s been operating all these years without detection, especially involving dirty Feds. And to think we actually worked with the genius they kept locked in there his entire life.”
“Yeah, well, Sam alerted me early on that there was something strange about him. He was so brilliant concerning his work, but didn’t seem to be really with it as far as the real world goes. I thought he was a spook, considering the way he operated.”
“Remember what Sam said about him after the Brice case was closed? Anyone who eats candy out of a Pez container, plays with Play Dough, and has a Mr. Potato Head on the desk in his apartment has to be kinda whacked.”
“Not crazy, George, just lost. This whole case is making me sick,” Bailey said looking up from the file he was studying on Jarod.
“I know what you mean. Just think, if the Centre had killed Joe Clark, no one would have probably ever found out about this,” John said trying to block out the worst of what Joe had told them about Jarod in their first meeting. Looking at the clock, he opened his working file and ran down the long list of ATF personnel and one criminal psychiatrist that the Bureau had managed to place inside the Centre over the last few weeks. “This is going to be one of the biggest sting operations to date,” he said relishing the thought of being there to help take the Centre down.
“I’m ordering a 24 hour presence around the Centre. It would be advantageous to arrest as many of the principles leaving the Centre for the night, before we penetrate the building.”
“Sweet. I’d like to see the looks on their faces when the cuffs go on and they’re put in the back seats of patrol cars. People like that think they’ll never get caught,” George said while looking at the pictures of Mr. Parker, Lyle, Raines, and Mutumbo.
* * *
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Doctor’s lounge
8:40 AM
“Jerry, what’s the matter with you. You look like someone just shot your mother?” Dr. Grackle asked studying the other man as he waited for a coffee refill.
“Oh, hi Nelson. I don’t feel like talking about it. You know, this place is really getting to me,” he said and left the room, leaving his bottle of aspirin and coffee behind.
* * *
Dr. Meisser’s office
Moments later
“Can I come in?” Nelson asked peeking in the door towing two coffees and aspirins.
“Leave it alone, Grackle,” Dr. Meisser said going to the medicine cabinet, and choosing a drug and hypo.
“Hmmm, an upset psychiatrist that doesn’t want to talk. Come on Jerry, you know better than that. What the hell’s going on?”
The doctor carefully put down the bottle and syringe and headed for the surveillance cubical tailed by Dr. Grackle.
“This is what’s the matter,” he said pointing to the screen. “How the hell am I going to help Jarod get well, when the Centre is bent on killing him.”
“That’s pretty strong, Jerry. What are you talking about?” he asked, eyeing the screen showing the pretender asleep on the bed.
“Would you give a patient this, when he’s been on this for 24 hours?” he asked tossing him the two different files on his desk and glancing at a toxicology report, before slamming it down and walking out of the room.
Flipping open the files, Dr. Grackle breath several expletives under his breath before setting them down on the counter and heading out to see where the psychiatrist went
* * *
Jarod’s old room
8:50 AM
“I thought this was where you were going. How is he?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said giving him an injection and then monitoring his vitals.
“How did he get all those bruises, Jerry? I don’t remember noticing them when I examined him last night. Sweepers?”
“Yeah, when he was interrogated this morning,” Dr. Meisser said distractedly still monitoring Jarod’s vitals and praying he hadn’t slipped into a permanent comma.
Jarod moved his head slightly and his eyes fluttered a few times before opening.
Confused, he focused on his psychiatrist and Dr. Grackle, before starting to drift off again.
“No, Jarod. You need to stay awake. Come on now, open your eyes,” the doctor urged giving him a little nudge.
Slowly, Jarod opened his eyes again and looked around seemingly becoming more lucid.
“I’m sorry, I seem to be having trouble waking up,” Jarod said rubbing a hand over his face and trying to sit up.
“Jarod, do you remember what happened to you this morning? About the interrogations, etc.?”
The pretender’s face darkened as he swung his legs stiffly over the side of the bed, clutching his side and experiencing a throbbing headache.
“Cox threatened to torture my father if I didn’t tell them where Gemini was.”
“I’m sorry you were forced to face that right now. Jarod, I don’t want you getting up. Mr. Cox injected you with a drug that wasn’t very compatible with your treatments. I believe it’s out of your system now, but I’d rather keep you down for a while. If I hadn’t just given you your morning dose, you probably wouldn’t have suffered such a serious reaction.”
“I don’t remember answering any questions. Do you know what I said?”
“Nothing as far as I know. You passed out immediately after you were given the injection and just now regained consciousness. I’m sorry, Jarod. I couldn’t stop Cox. Mr. Parker went ahead and authorized it over my objections. They must be really desperate to do such a reckless thing.”
“What happened to my father?”
“I heard that they took him back to his cell. They’re concentrating their efforts on Mr. Broots and Angelo right now.”
“Did they question Miss Parker, too?”
“Interesting question, Jarod. Isn’t she the one who spent the last three years trying to recapture you?” he asked studying him carefully and seeing deep concern in his eyes. "Yes, I believe they did. I’ll be seeing her in my office this afternoon for some testing.”
“And what about Sydney? Will I be able to see him soon?”
“This is a real, who’s who of the Centre, isn’t it? Does your patient always ask this many questions?” Dr. Grackle asked, intrigued by the pretender’s selflessness.
“Jarod, Dr. Green is mending nicely, if you must know, and is anxious to see you too, but regrettably, Mr. Parker won’t allow that. Well, Dr. Meisser, things seem in order here, and I believe my coffee break is over now,” the doctor said nodding to the psychiatrist and leaving the room while mumbling something about “show and tell” being over.
“Jarod, we need to have a talk if you’re up to it.”
* * *
Mr. Parker’s office
9:05AM
“Lyle, you look a hell of a lot better than when I last saw you,” Mr. Parker mused setting an open file down in front of his son and going to the wet bar for a drink. “I want you to take Willie, and whoever else you want, and go pick up Gemini for me. The computer techs have pieced together what Major Charles told us and we’re positive we’ve pinned down his location. We’ll be able to keep this under wraps and get some of your covert projects underway as early as tomorrow. Then I can get Mutumbo off my back. Oh, and I need you to keep any eye on your wayward sister.”
“So, you’ve changed your mind? I thought you had arranged to have me taken back with him to Africa, because of my uncontrollable sadistic behavior,” he said in a menacing tone, noticing that his dad had started making a habit of drinking too much.
Mr. Parker gave one of his mutating smiles, wondering how he got his hands on that information. “No, no. That’s what Mutumbo wanted. That’s part of the reason I had the doctor exaggerate your near death experience. I need you here working behind the scenes. I must say, having Jarod think he almost killed you sure worked wonders toward breaking his spirit. With any luck, he’ll be more easily rehabilitated for our purposes, since he thinks he’s a danger to society. You just better keep away from him, if you know what’s good for you, or I’ll personally drag you down to SL 27, lock you up, and throw away the proverbial key,” he said sternly locking eyes with his son.
Lyle sat there watching his dad while lost in thought, working his gloved hand and visualizing his next encounter with Jarod, vowing to get revenge.
* * *
Tower Interrogation room A
9:30 AM
“Thank you Mr. Broots for your cooperation. Mr. Johnson, would you please escort him to the infirmary and have Dr. Grackle take a look at him. After that you can return to your regular duties. Willie, bring Angelo up here now.”
Willie took the empath’s arm and herded him to his chair while the man child mumbled something about enjoys giving pain; wants to hurt people over and over to no one in particular.
“Angelo, because of your apparent inability to carry out the things your were accused of, we feel it’s no longer necessary to keep you in lock down. You’re free to go. Willie, take him downstairs. With no further witnesses to be interrogated, I call this exercise adjourned. You’re all dismissed.”
As you may recall, this story takes place in the first days and following weeks immediately after the 3rd season final, Donoterase. This story is very different from the real 4th season of the Pretender, as it was started in the summer before the fall season began, and has taken on a life of its own. I have, however, borrowed Mr. Cox from the 4th season, for my story.
Intense interrogations in the Tower are continuing, as the Centre tries to discover the location of Gemini. As Miss Parker and Broots wait for their turn in the hot seat, the board ruthlessly tries to coerce Major Charles into revealing the location of Gemini, using his own son as leverage. Behind the scenes, Joe is working with the FBI on a sting operation to free his comrades and see that justice is done to avenge the deaths of his Chief, police partner, and all those killed at the plane crash by the Centre. 7/05/00
Part 18
by jojarod50
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Tower Interrogation room A
6:21AM
Major Charles frantically looked from the man questioning him to his son, noticing the look of shocked horror on Jarod’s face, similar to his reaction, at Donoterase, when he had come face to face with his clone. What a cruel way for him to remember, he thought, unable to contain himself, as he saw his son yanked out of his chair and led by a sweeper to a small room in the back, staggering slightly seemingly in pain.
“God forgive me. Ok, ok. Look, I’ll work with your men to help locate Gemini. Surely your people have someone who can track him down, even with the limited amount of information I have. Just don’t hurt my son anymore!”
“Major Charles. You’ve placed us in a very difficult situation here, by your actions to protect our property from being found. The Centre does not take kindly to theft of our projects. Take him back to his cell,” the speaker said motioning to Mr. Johnson and another sweeper in the back.
“What about my son? What are you going to do to him?” the Major pressed refusing to leave his seat.
“What we do with our property is up to us. Get him out of here, and bring in Miss Parker,” he said to the sweepers, as one of them quickly drew his gun convincing the Major to stand down and follow them.
Centre Tower
Small room off of Interrogation room A
6:23 AM Eastern time
Mr. Cox motioned for Jarod to sit down, as Willie waited to strap him in the chair.
Still dazed from the flashbacks and the abrupt return of his memory concerning his clone, Jarod stood there staring at Mr. Cox and Willie, barely registering on what was going on.
“Jarod, cooperation is key here. If you cooperate with me, your father may avoid, shall we say, a rather horrible ordeal. Now, sit down,” Mr. Cox said eyeing the pretender curiously, trying to decide if he was faking it or not playing with a full deck.
Fighting to clear his mind, the pretender closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, purposely pushing the new revelations aside. Willie gave the distracted pretender a shove toward the chair, throwing him off balance and nearly sending him to the floor, straight jacket and all. Recovering quickly, Jarod took a seat, as the realization that his father was in danger came crashing though his troubled thoughts. He wondered if he would have to blow his pretend and play it straight, to save him, knowing that that might be disastrous to his overall plans.
“All right, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Mr. Cox began, after the pretender had been ensconced in his chair.
“You care very deeply for your father, don’t you, Jarod?” the predator asked pulling on a pair of surgical gloves, and snapping each one as he circled the pretender. “You can save us all a lot of time and trouble, if you just tell us what he did with Gemini.”
Jarod’s mind was racing as he quickly simmed all possible outcomes to answering his question honestly and decided against it, feeling sweat suddenly trickle down his forehead.
“Cat got your tongue?” Cox offered, leaning in till he was in his face, wondering what it would take to keep him from drifting off again. “You know, I’ve been told that you have spent your entire life dreaming about finding your family and it’s taken you 3 years outside the Centre to finally locate Major Charles. You better start talking or he’ll be dragged back to his cell and tortured until we find out what we need to know. From the looks of him, I’m not sure how much more physical abuse he can take.”
Jarod broke into an easy smile and shook his head, his eyes riveted on the other man’s, perfectly masking his feelings of overwhelming fear for his dad.
“You people are so predictable. You build your whole lives around causing pain and sorrow, as you systematically destroy lives. You said you wanted me to save you some time. Ok, I will for a price. You don’t need to bother yourselves with my dad. I’m the only one that can possibly know where Gemini is, so deal with me.”
“Do I look like a fool to you? Let me see if I’m getting this right. You want me to believe that the man who left the Iversonville airport with Gemini in his plane knows nothing about his whereabouts? But you, on the other hand, the one who was taken back to the Centre and spent the rest of the time in a mental hospital knows where he is? This is very disappointing. I was told you are an absolute genius, but you’re talking like an idiot.”
“Like you said, I’m a genius. Weren’t you paying attention to what my father said? He has no idea where Gemini is aside from some sketchy facts. Give me some time with that information, and I’ll locate him for you. That is what you want, isn’t it?”
“I’m not so sure he is telling the truth, and even more unsure you’d want to turn Gemini over to us. I’m curious, though, what did you expect in return?”
“I want you to let my father go.”
“My aren’t you the loyal son. I don’t know, Jarod. For some reason I don’t think I can trust you. Why don’t we have a little talk and see if I can figure out what you’re up to,” he said pulling a syringe out of his pocket, and holding it up to the light, as he tapped the bubbles out, making a real show of it.
One look at the syringe, and the pretender completely lost it, grabbing Cox’s ankles with his legs and causing him to loose his balance, as the chair he was strapped to flipped over sending him crashing to the floor.
“Willie, call another sweeper in here and get him out of the chair,” Cox said getting back on his feet. “We need to remove his straight jacket for a moment, while he gets a quick lesson in cooperation.”
“Jarod, that was a stupid thing to do. You must have some kind of a death wish, or do you just enjoy experiencing pain,” he said tightly, giving the broken syringe on the floor a little kick while glaring at the pretender.
Jarod lay motionless on his side, staring into the man’s eyes, betraying no signs of emotion.
The door swung open, as Willie returned with Sam, who immediately regretted his presence there, as he glanced at Jarod, the broken syringe and the angry look on Cox face.
“Go ahead and soften him up a bit, but avoid the cracked ribs on his left side. I’ll be back in a few minutes for his interrogation,” Cox said under his breath to the sweepers, returning his gaze to the pretender with a look of anticipation.
“Sam, after the pretender looses steam, why don’t you run down to the infirmary and get another loaded syringe for me,” he said, jotting down the name of the drug on a slip of paper and handing it to him, before quickly leaving.
* * *
Interrogation room A
6:55 AM
Mr. Cox felt strangely alive as he closed the door and crossed over to a chair in the main room to take in a little of Miss Parker’s questioning.
“This wasn’t about Jarod or his clone. Frankly, I could care less about what happens to them. It was about the Centre and the death of my mother. I was led to believe that my father took orders from the Triumvirate to have my mother killed and was going to have me eliminated as well.”
“That’s curious, Miss Parker. I was under the impression that you were very distraught about the torture and subsequent overdosing of the pretender. Isn’t that true?”
“Distraught? You must be joking. The only thing that had me upset, was the lack of information I was given to work from in order to track down that lab rat. The file was full of omissions and had only a few sketchy details concerning his condition and nothing on how he had escaped. Without Sydney to serve as an umbilical to Jarod, I knew that he would probably be impossible to catch, especially with only Broots to help in the pursuit.”
“An interesting answer, Miss Parker, but not exactly in keeping with what Mr. Broots told us last night.”
Muffled groans and sounds of fists connecting with flesh suddenly caught her attention, as she wondered who was in the room in the back, and realizing she hadn’t seen Jarod leave with Major Charles.
“Miss Parker, please try to pay attention. I don’t want to have to repeat myself again. When you located Dr. Green and Jarod, why didn’t you contact the Centre with your findings? Do you maintain that your fear for your life was your only motivation for keeping quiet or is there something more you’re not telling us?”
Mr. Cox stared at her curiously, noticing her change in color as Sam exited the small room and Jarod’s muffled cries became momentarily louder. Sam quickly crossed the room to the double doors and disappeared from sight, cueing the doctor to return to his prey.
* * *
“Ah, Jarod, good to see you’ve calmed down, substantially,” Mr. Cox said motioning for Willie to get the pretender off the floor and strapped back into the chair.
“As soon as Sam returns with another syringe, I’ll be asking you for information and this time I expect to get it without any more of your little tantrums.”
Aware of the gun Willie had trained on him, the discouraged young man sat limply in the chair, resigned to the fact that he would be questioned while drugged. Drawing on his pretender skills, he prepared to do whatever it’d take to sidestep their efforts to probe his mind. He felt the whole weight of the world crashing down on him as he realized he would have to move fast to get the others out of the Centre, before anyone died, and wondering if he could.
* * *
Two doors down from the Centre Infirmary
Dr. Meisser’s outer office
7:03 AM
Dr. Meisser glance at his watch again, wondering when Jarod would be returned to him and angry that he was not allowed to accompany him to the inquiry. Lost in thought, he wrestled with thoughts of the pretender being forced to remember traumatic things and how damaging it might be to his continuing progress toward normalcy. The doctor glance up in surprise at the burley sweeper who had stepped up to him unnoticed.
“Excuse me, Dr. Meisser. I was asked by Mr. Cox to pick this up for your patient’s interrogation,” Sam said, choosing to ask him over Dr. Grackle, in hopes that Jarod’s doctor would protest the use of the mind-altering drug.
He was rewarded by the look of outrage on the other man’s face, as the doctor read the paper and stormed into his office, slamming his door before lifting his phone.
“I guess that means no,” he breathed under his breath, relieved and totally pleased with himself.
* * *
Dr. Meisser’s office
Moments later
The doctor hit a button on his private phone and was greeted by a taped message from Frank’s Catering Service, instructing him to place his order after the beep.
“Frank, it’s Dr. Jerry Meisser. I’m expecting friends in for the weekend. Why don’t you come up with something really impressive for my guests and I’ll drop by after work to ok the menus. I’m going to be expecting 6 people including an old convalescent friend of mine, which will need a special diet. Thanks for your help, Frank, I’m glad I can always count on you.”
Hanging up the phone, he headed out the door in a huff and made a beeline for the elevator, fully intending to retrieve his patient from clutches of the ruthless thugs, motioning Sam to follow him.
* * *
The Operations Room
Atlanta Violent Crimes Task Force
Atlanta, Georgia
8:35 AM
“Things must have gone south. He wants us to make our move tomorrow night. We’ll know more when he sends us today’s condition report. George, any word on Gemini yet?” Bailey asked flipping open the top file again and zeroing in on the picture of the young pretender still struggling with the idea that he was supposed to be Jarod’s clone.
“I talked to Sam about an hour ago. They ought to be here any time now.”
“That’s a relief. Joe Clark was convinced that the boy would be the Centre’s next target.”
”We’re just lucky Major Charles told Clark what he knew about Gemini’s location before they were all captured or we probably wouldn’t have figured out where he was in time.”
“What about our inside men, John? They need to be brought up to speed before we go in. Get everything I need ready ASAP. The Bureau is still hot about D.C.’s surveillance fiasco and will have our heads if every thing isn’t neat and tidy this time with minimal loss of personnel.”
“That’s encouraging. I’m working on it. George just gave me the printout. Give me a couple of hours tops,” John said, glancing at the pictures of Jarod and the others also posted on the board. “This whole thing is so incredible. It’s hard to believe the Centre’s been operating all these years without detection, especially involving dirty Feds. And to think we actually worked with the genius they kept locked in there his entire life.”
“Yeah, well, Sam alerted me early on that there was something strange about him. He was so brilliant concerning his work, but didn’t seem to be really with it as far as the real world goes. I thought he was a spook, considering the way he operated.”
“Remember what Sam said about him after the Brice case was closed? Anyone who eats candy out of a Pez container, plays with Play Dough, and has a Mr. Potato Head on the desk in his apartment has to be kinda whacked.”
“Not crazy, George, just lost. This whole case is making me sick,” Bailey said looking up from the file he was studying on Jarod.
“I know what you mean. Just think, if the Centre had killed Joe Clark, no one would have probably ever found out about this,” John said trying to block out the worst of what Joe had told them about Jarod in their first meeting. Looking at the clock, he opened his working file and ran down the long list of ATF personnel and one criminal psychiatrist that the Bureau had managed to place inside the Centre over the last few weeks. “This is going to be one of the biggest sting operations to date,” he said relishing the thought of being there to help take the Centre down.
“I’m ordering a 24 hour presence around the Centre. It would be advantageous to arrest as many of the principles leaving the Centre for the night, before we penetrate the building.”
“Sweet. I’d like to see the looks on their faces when the cuffs go on and they’re put in the back seats of patrol cars. People like that think they’ll never get caught,” George said while looking at the pictures of Mr. Parker, Lyle, Raines, and Mutumbo.
* * *
The Centre
Blue Cove, Delaware
Doctor’s lounge
8:40 AM
“Jerry, what’s the matter with you. You look like someone just shot your mother?” Dr. Grackle asked studying the other man as he waited for a coffee refill.
“Oh, hi Nelson. I don’t feel like talking about it. You know, this place is really getting to me,” he said and left the room, leaving his bottle of aspirin and coffee behind.
* * *
Dr. Meisser’s office
Moments later
“Can I come in?” Nelson asked peeking in the door towing two coffees and aspirins.
“Leave it alone, Grackle,” Dr. Meisser said going to the medicine cabinet, and choosing a drug and hypo.
“Hmmm, an upset psychiatrist that doesn’t want to talk. Come on Jerry, you know better than that. What the hell’s going on?”
The doctor carefully put down the bottle and syringe and headed for the surveillance cubical tailed by Dr. Grackle.
“This is what’s the matter,” he said pointing to the screen. “How the hell am I going to help Jarod get well, when the Centre is bent on killing him.”
“That’s pretty strong, Jerry. What are you talking about?” he asked, eyeing the screen showing the pretender asleep on the bed.
“Would you give a patient this, when he’s been on this for 24 hours?” he asked tossing him the two different files on his desk and glancing at a toxicology report, before slamming it down and walking out of the room.
Flipping open the files, Dr. Grackle breath several expletives under his breath before setting them down on the counter and heading out to see where the psychiatrist went
* * *
Jarod’s old room
8:50 AM
“I thought this was where you were going. How is he?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said giving him an injection and then monitoring his vitals.
“How did he get all those bruises, Jerry? I don’t remember noticing them when I examined him last night. Sweepers?”
“Yeah, when he was interrogated this morning,” Dr. Meisser said distractedly still monitoring Jarod’s vitals and praying he hadn’t slipped into a permanent comma.
Jarod moved his head slightly and his eyes fluttered a few times before opening.
Confused, he focused on his psychiatrist and Dr. Grackle, before starting to drift off again.
“No, Jarod. You need to stay awake. Come on now, open your eyes,” the doctor urged giving him a little nudge.
Slowly, Jarod opened his eyes again and looked around seemingly becoming more lucid.
“I’m sorry, I seem to be having trouble waking up,” Jarod said rubbing a hand over his face and trying to sit up.
“Jarod, do you remember what happened to you this morning? About the interrogations, etc.?”
The pretender’s face darkened as he swung his legs stiffly over the side of the bed, clutching his side and experiencing a throbbing headache.
“Cox threatened to torture my father if I didn’t tell them where Gemini was.”
“I’m sorry you were forced to face that right now. Jarod, I don’t want you getting up. Mr. Cox injected you with a drug that wasn’t very compatible with your treatments. I believe it’s out of your system now, but I’d rather keep you down for a while. If I hadn’t just given you your morning dose, you probably wouldn’t have suffered such a serious reaction.”
“I don’t remember answering any questions. Do you know what I said?”
“Nothing as far as I know. You passed out immediately after you were given the injection and just now regained consciousness. I’m sorry, Jarod. I couldn’t stop Cox. Mr. Parker went ahead and authorized it over my objections. They must be really desperate to do such a reckless thing.”
“What happened to my father?”
“I heard that they took him back to his cell. They’re concentrating their efforts on Mr. Broots and Angelo right now.”
“Did they question Miss Parker, too?”
“Interesting question, Jarod. Isn’t she the one who spent the last three years trying to recapture you?” he asked studying him carefully and seeing deep concern in his eyes. "Yes, I believe they did. I’ll be seeing her in my office this afternoon for some testing.”
“And what about Sydney? Will I be able to see him soon?”
“This is a real, who’s who of the Centre, isn’t it? Does your patient always ask this many questions?” Dr. Grackle asked, intrigued by the pretender’s selflessness.
“Jarod, Dr. Green is mending nicely, if you must know, and is anxious to see you too, but regrettably, Mr. Parker won’t allow that. Well, Dr. Meisser, things seem in order here, and I believe my coffee break is over now,” the doctor said nodding to the psychiatrist and leaving the room while mumbling something about “show and tell” being over.
“Jarod, we need to have a talk if you’re up to it.”
* * *
Mr. Parker’s office
9:05AM
“Lyle, you look a hell of a lot better than when I last saw you,” Mr. Parker mused setting an open file down in front of his son and going to the wet bar for a drink. “I want you to take Willie, and whoever else you want, and go pick up Gemini for me. The computer techs have pieced together what Major Charles told us and we’re positive we’ve pinned down his location. We’ll be able to keep this under wraps and get some of your covert projects underway as early as tomorrow. Then I can get Mutumbo off my back. Oh, and I need you to keep any eye on your wayward sister.”
“So, you’ve changed your mind? I thought you had arranged to have me taken back with him to Africa, because of my uncontrollable sadistic behavior,” he said in a menacing tone, noticing that his dad had started making a habit of drinking too much.
Mr. Parker gave one of his mutating smiles, wondering how he got his hands on that information. “No, no. That’s what Mutumbo wanted. That’s part of the reason I had the doctor exaggerate your near death experience. I need you here working behind the scenes. I must say, having Jarod think he almost killed you sure worked wonders toward breaking his spirit. With any luck, he’ll be more easily rehabilitated for our purposes, since he thinks he’s a danger to society. You just better keep away from him, if you know what’s good for you, or I’ll personally drag you down to SL 27, lock you up, and throw away the proverbial key,” he said sternly locking eyes with his son.
Lyle sat there watching his dad while lost in thought, working his gloved hand and visualizing his next encounter with Jarod, vowing to get revenge.
* * *
Tower Interrogation room A
9:30 AM
“Thank you Mr. Broots for your cooperation. Mr. Johnson, would you please escort him to the infirmary and have Dr. Grackle take a look at him. After that you can return to your regular duties. Willie, bring Angelo up here now.”
Willie took the empath’s arm and herded him to his chair while the man child mumbled something about enjoys giving pain; wants to hurt people over and over to no one in particular.
“Angelo, because of your apparent inability to carry out the things your were accused of, we feel it’s no longer necessary to keep you in lock down. You’re free to go. Willie, take him downstairs. With no further witnesses to be interrogated, I call this exercise adjourned. You’re all dismissed.”
