Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer in part 1
Okay, boys and girls, here is part 3 of our little epic. We have decided that for posting at Nic's we needed a group name, so for this story Trish, Paula, Nicolette, Shannon and me (Niceole) will hereafter be known as Renewal Wing. Hope you enjoy
This little piece is dedicated to Lois for her utter devotion to "The Pretender" overall, and to Mr. Lyle in particular.
The Road Taken
part 3
by Renewal Wing
She tried to put pressure on the left ankle only to grimace in pain. Unbelievable, she thought. I manage to escape incineration at the hands of the Centre in a subway tunnel only to be trapped like a wounded animal with my demented brother. Safety -- Parker reflected upon the concept. Almost everything she did involved risk, except, she thought, protecting her baby brother -- until now. So perhaps the concept of safety was self-delusional to a degree, or at least relative. A soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Let me help."
She looked up into blue eyes that reminded her so much of her mother that she had to force herself to remember to whom they belonged.
"I don't want to leave Thane alone in the cabin, Parker. Please, let me help."
There it was again, that softness that she never saw in his eyes or heard in his voice in all the time she had known him. What was going on? What prompted him to take their baby brother away? Surely he had reasons...
She nodded her head in acceptance of his help and felt her skin tingle in revulsion as he placed strong yet tender hands around her and helped her up. Parker sighed resignedly as she let Lyle guide her into what she could only consider to be her prison. For how long, she had no clue, and with her ankle swelling as well as throbbing, she was at his mercy. Oh, well, at least she could keep an eye on the baby.
As she entered the cabin a small gasp escaped her lips, for just inside the front door was a sitting room filled with antiques including two upholstered chairs located in front of a massive stone fireplace with a gleaming, dark mantel. A beautiful clock chimed softly from its perch on the mantel. The baby was strapped in his infant seat, which rested on top of the coffee table between the chairs. He was still sleeping, oblivious to his surroundings, his tiny lips curling in a small smile -- the result of some sweet dream. On the other side of the table sat a comfortable looking sofa.
Lyle eased his sister onto the sofa then pulled the footstool from the corner over, gently placing her injured foot upon it. After rotating it as tenderly as possible, he stood and moved to leave the room. After a few steps, he stopped and turned to move the baby so he sat on the sofa beside Parker. Then he left her alone in the room. Leaning her head back in the chair, eyes closed, she replayed the events that had transpired since her phone call from Jarod. What the hell was going on was the thought going through her head when the pressure from something cold on her ankle startled her. Looking up she found Lyle standing over her with their baby brother in his arms, the small boy contented to be sucking on his tiny fist. An ice pack was resting on her ankle.
"It's not broken, but badly sprained," stated Lyle as he eased himself into one of the chairs that sat opposite the sofa.
"So now what?" she snapped, irritated. "How long do you think you can keep me here before Daddy starts to worry?"
"Since when has he cared about anything but himself and his precious position?" Lyle replied. His voice was low, but menace laced the words.
****
Biting his lip in response to Jarod's revelation, Sydney stared out the gray-glassed windows. The rain had begun to spatter against them, but the movement of someone in front of him caused his head to jerk back with a start and sent his mind off in a different direction. If Jarod didn't know where she was, what did they do next?
"Sydney?" Jarod asked.
"Sorry, there was a problem at the Centre early this morning and..."
"Miss Parker," the panic rising to the surface of Jarod's normally cool voice, "did she access her computer?"
"Apparently so, but when the fire alarm went off, it triggered the sprinkler system. Broots is working on recovering whatever was on her computer." Sydney lowered his voice, speaking in hushed tones. "This mysterious little fire drill isn't our only problem...she's missing, Jarod, along with the baby."
With a big gulp, Jarod leaned against the hard, cold vinyl of the chair that was situated next to Ethan's bed. He had sent her some rather sordid information regarding Lyle. That she acted upon it so quickly showed that she believed him. He was so deep in thought, Jarod missed what Sydney had said next.
"Jarod, did you hear me?"
"Sorry, Sydney, what was that?"
"I said that Mr. Parker and Cox seem to think that you are responsible for this. Seems that one of the sweeper's found her gun in the nursery, and her car is still in the parking lot. Obviously they are wrong, but..."
A feeling of uneasiness began to build in the pit of Jarod's stomach at this latest development.
"Jarod, was there something in that email that would cause Miss Parker to take her baby brother and leave?"
"A warning, nothing more. I'll start searching for her on my end. I have an idea. I'll start there, first."
"What kind of warning?" Sydney asked as he stood slightly behind Broots, who was attempting to restore the computer with notable difficulty. Sydney watched as the technician's fingers played the keyboard like a piano. Surprisingly, despite the ghastly appearance of the garbled information on the computer screen, it didn't take him long to establish a link. Broots began to read the ghost images left from the mail that had been previously deleted. There was only one that had been opened and from the timestamp, she would have barely had time to read any of it when the computer fritzed out due to the sprinkler system.
"Syd," he said, his voice low, "I found it, but it's badly damaged. I'll restore as much of it as I can, but she never got to read it. Tell him she never got to read any of it."
Broots returned his attention to the keyboard, his magic restoring the damaged text message. Thanks to his slow and painstaking work, bits and pieces began to appear along with scattered sentences that formed mini-paragraphs.
"Jarod," Sydney began, "Broots says that she never got to read it. The computer suffered water damage from the sprinkler system. It's been destroyed in parts, but he's trying to restore it."
"If she never got to read it, then --" His response was interrupted by a high groan.
"Ohmygod! Ohmygod! I'm going to be sick," Broots moaned and paled.
"Jarod, she's in danger, isn't she?" Sydney asked as his eyes scanned the restored segments of email text. It was the lack of verbal response that made him realize that Jarod had already hung up the phone.
***
Parker looked at Lyle, inwardly agreeing with his assessment of their father.
"Anyway I can handle him," he gave her a surprised, mock-hurt look, and then chuckled as he handed her the baby and pulled out a cell phone from his jacket pocket.
Parker was drawing a blank, what the hell was happening here. After Thomas had died, Parker vowed to never again make the mistake of not paying attention. Now she was in a spot where something definitely felt odd, and she couldn't even figure out where her attention should be focused. Meanwhile Lyle's fingers flew across the phone's number pad.
"Dad."
"Lyle! Where are you?" the chairman's growled, his voice cracking.
"I'm following up on the investigation with DC Metro just like you asked? Why, what's happened?"
"Apparently Jarod was in Blue Cove again. Your sister and the baby are
missing." There was a moment's silence, and then Parker saw Lyle's grin return 3-fold.
"Really! You're sure, just like that? He had to have a good reason to come to Blue Cove. I can understand taking my sister, but the baby. It doesn't make sense. Why saddle himself with an infant?"
"Who knows with Jarod. I have Mr. Cox working on it. When you've finished up there, head back. We need that baby back."
"And Parker?"
"Whatever." After that Lyle heard nothing but dial tone. He didn't have to look into a mirror to know that his expression was tart as an unripened grapefruit. So many paths, he thought, as he snapped the phone closed. His father was offering one, but there was only one path that he wanted for the future, one single path that he wanted to follow. This was the first step in preparing for that goal.
"I hope you understand what could be at stake here," Parker said, her face grim, her blue eyes large and deadly serious.
Lyle looked over at his sister, digested her statement and then he leaned his head back, rubbing his throbbing temple with his ungloved hand. He was exhausted, and it cut deep. Granted, fatigue was nothing new to him, and insomnia had plagued him since his first meeting with Raines, but this was different, alien. He would have to do something about it, and quickly.
"Do I understand what's at stake?" he said with a smirk. "Could cost us our lives if this doesn't play out right."
"Play out? Lyle, what the hell is going on?" she asked curtly as her blue eyes narrowed.
"It's very simple," Lyle replied. "You listen to what I have to tell you..." she began to speak, but he held up a gloved hand to prevent her from interrupting. "...with an open mind, and then once you've considered all the information, all I ask in return, is your help."
"My help! You want my help! Why would I want to help you? What could you possibly tell me that would make me want to help you," she sneered, her voice even, for the sake of the baby in her lap.
"You're my sister," he said, looking at her, a flicker of hope in his eyes.
"Don't remind me!"
"Parker, please." There it was again, a plea for help coming not only from his lips, but his eyes - she couldn't miss the hopeful look in them. Still, when she did not respond immediately, he spoke again. "Then do it for Thane, please. All I ask is that you listen. Seventy-two hours. Give me that at least."
She couldn't trust anyone right now, yet with her options limited by the situation and her injury, she decided flexibility was essential. "For the baby, I'll listen, but if I don't like what I hear, then I go back, and I'll take him with me, even if I have to kill you, Lyle, understand?"
He nodded, and a tired smile returned to his face.
***
The shrill of the phone on the desk interrupted the meeting with her secretary, who withdrew from the office the moment that she saw Corinna's features darken. Corinna watched her go, wishing she, too, could escape the conversation.
"Corinna," Cyrus said, "We have a problem in Blue Cove. Seems that Jarod absconded with Miss Parker and the baby. This is not good. If Lyle finds out about this, I don't want to think about what could happen." Corinna listened in silence then scowled. This was going to be bad. She could feel it.
"What do you want me to do, Cyrus?"
"He's suppose to be in DC today. Find him."
"And tell him, what? 'Oh, in case you didn't know the pretender that irks you so much just made off with your sister as well as your son?' Please, don't insult his intelligence or overestimate my power over him. He'll go off."
"Just find him, Corinna. Call me when you do." The line went dead and Corinna stared at it, stunned.
"Damn," she murmured as she picked up the phone and dialed the emergency code for him to meet on her turf.
As she waited, Corinna picked up a pen and began tapping it, creating the only noise in the room. She glanced at her watch. It had been over an hour since she paged Lyle and no response. Reaching for the telephone, she punched in the three numbers again. Leaning back in her chair, she turned to look out the window. This would be hell on earth, telling him what had happened. Hell on earth, Corinna mused. She always thought it was of your own making, but if you were of a mind to turn the abstract into the physical, then hell on earth was Lyle's life as defined by the Centre and the Agency. Now the question was could she pull him back from the flames or would she lose him for good this time to the all-consuming fire.
****
After Mr. Parker hung up the telephone, he turned his attention to the DSA viewer that was situated on the left side of his desk. He'd watched the video of the events that had occurred in the past fourteen hours. He saw his daughter leave her office the moment that the sprinkler system had engaged itself and head in the direction of the baby's nursery. After that, the video feed no longer worked; the water from the sprinklers had short-circuited the system. So when the sweepers finally realized that the fire alarm was a false one, they immediately fanned out, looking for what they believed to be the obvious -- Jarod. It was Willie that had found his daughter's gun in the nursery, also discovering the air vent pried off its hinges and the baby gone. He checked only to find her car still in its assigned space.
Mr. Parker had now turned the task of discovering what had happened over to his second in command, Mr. Cox. Someone damn well better get that baby back to him, he thought. His future depended on it. If it turned out his daughter came back safely too, well, then so much the better, but it was not his primary concern. It was the boy who was important to the Centre. After everything he'd done to create him, the chairman would be damned if he'd lose him now.
***
Jarod sat by his brother's bedside, his eyes closed, trying to calm himself. He refused to accept what he knew had happened. If Lyle had Parker and the baby, he had to get to them. He couldn't let Lyle get away with this. Sighing heavily, the pretender wondered what the hell had even been going through Lyle's mind when he did this. Even a psychotic like him should know by now that endangering the people Jarod loved only brought retribution. Either Lyle was extremely confident in himself or immensely stupid. The muscles in Jarod's jaw tightened. He opted for the second choice as he opened his eyes.
It meant leaving Ethan with the good sisters that had helped his father and him recently with Emily. He nervously tapped his cellular phone. This new model was sleek and thin, with programming so sophisticated that he could perform any kind of communications wizardry on it. He urged himself to think, to plan. He picked up the phone and dialed.
"Good morning, Sister. I hate to impose but I am in need of your assistance again. My brother needs someplace quiet to recuperate. I want to stay with him, but a friend of mine is in serious trouble."
*****
"She's in trouble, isn't she, Syd?" The computer tech's voice was low, or lower than usual Sydney realized.
"Yes," came the reply. "If Lyle has any suspicions that Parker knows about this," his hand waved toward the computer screen, "then she's in serious trouble."
"This is really scary," Broots said, feeling Sydney squeeze his shoulder in an attempt to rally him from the fog the revelations in the email had induced. "The more I learn about Mr. Lyle the less I like him."
"It seems that we are not alone in that, Broots. Obviously, Jarod feels the same way or he wouldn't have sent this to Miss Parker. He didn't play his little mind games with her this time."
"Syd, we can't let them know about this."
As Sydney nodded, Broots reached inside the desk drawer and withdrew a disc, which he slipped into the slot on the computer. With a few swift strokes on the keyboard, the information that was on the screen was now stored safely on the disc. Sydney watched as Broots then proceeded to erase any further traces of the email. When he was finished, he removed the disk and handed it to Sydney.
"We have to find her, Syd."
"I think Jarod is planning on doing that."
"We have to make sure she's all right. I'm going to start searching for more information on Lyle. There's got to be something to help us figure out where he would take her."
"Good idea. While you're at it, see if you can find anything else about Mr. Lyle. We have to know as much as we can about this latest horror."
Broots nodded and stood to head back to his own computer. His stomach felt like he'd swallowed a rock. He wasn't certain if it was from worry about his friend or disgust at having to read even one more word about Lyle and his "habits." Either way, he would face it. He had to help get Miss Parker back before Lyle did anything to hurt her.
****
"I know that you distrust me, Parker," Lyle said gently, "not that I blame you."
She gave him a veiled look that held no small amount of anger. Yet she realized that in her present situation listening was her only option -- and she had to listen carefully. She continued to stare directly into Lyle's eyes. There. She caught a glimpse of another person in those eyes. As she tried to make sense of just what was happening, Lyle smiled inside as he watched her looking at him. There it was, the defiance that made him respect her. It was far from over. She was considering her options, deciding the safest path to take with him. That meant he at least had a chance.
He got up from his chair, and paced the room. Parker could feel the energy and anxiety emanating from him. Reassurance entered him, his shoulders loosened up. Given the same circumstances, he'd do it all over again, kidnapping and all. This was the one shot he had at getting the truth in front of her eyes before Jarod filled her head with rumors and lies, and he was going to take it. No hiding from her, no half-truths. He would show her who he really was. Standing next to her, he looked her in the eyes. Parker noticed that he suddenly had an air of confidence that only comes from absolute power. What she didn't realize was that he felt he finally had power over himself.
"You keep the secrets buried, but eventually they become whispers, loud whispers," Lyle said softly, and for a few seconds his mind went completely blank as he stared at his sister. Then he saw her smile, and that made it better, or worse. He wasn't quite sure. He sounded so tough, then surprisingly he choked, and tears rolled down his face. Parker reached up impulsively with her hand, only stopping when she became conscious of the move she had made. She promptly drew her hand through her hair, trying to cover what she had almost done, but a truth was beginning to take root inside of Parker. At present, it was just a seed, but it was there, and she couldn't shake it. They were alike, her and Lyle, in all their deepest, darkest places.
She broke their eye contact, her hand reaching over toward the baby who was sleeping happily in his seat on the couch beside her. One of his tiny fists was stuffed into his mouth. She reached over and stroked his other hand with her finger, and he promptly wrapped his little fingers around her single one, holding to her as if for life. This did not go unnoticed by Lyle. It wasn't that he didn't fully understand the connection between his sister and his son, it was that it awed him. She had hated Brigitte so much, yet she had never let that hatred impede on her feelings for Thane. That more than anything was proof that she was definitely their mother's daughter. He only hoped that spirit would help him now.
"Thane loves you very much." As he spoke, her eyes moved back toward him. He watched as her brow scrunched slightly, a question forming on her face.
"Why? Answer that question first, Lyle. Why do you care at all about this baby? He's a threat to you, to your position, and you know it. I'm really supposed to believe that after the, what, half dozen times you've tried to kill me, that you only want what's best for him?"
Lyle swallowed hard and looked at his son and then back at his sister. There was no better time to jump off the cliff than now.
"I care, Parker, because he isn't my brother. Thane is my son."
The words were out there now, hanging between them, and Lyle had already predicted the two likely reactions his sister would have. She would either call him a liar and jump up, bad ankle and all, and try to kill him or she would rail at him for betraying their father. The killing part still an option.
"He's your what?"
"He's my son, Parker."
The words tore into heart again, this time more deeply. She had known it was a possibility of course. After what Broots had seen and heard, it had been even money that Lyle was the baby's father, but she had convinced herself that the boy belonged to her father; it was easier that way. Less danger somehow to herself and to the child she had come to love so much. Now that illusion of security was gone. Lyle had taken it away. Instinctively, she reached over and pulled the baby from his seat into her arms. As she did so, she leveled her eyes at her brother, her voice coming out far more full of fear than she would have liked.
"Get away from him."
"Parker..."
"I said get away!"
Lyle could see that she was genuinely panicked right now and so to try and prove that he was not a threat he did as she asked. He stood, crossing the room to stand by the fireplace as she gingerly moved herself and the baby to the farthest end of the couch. Once she settled, she began to rock gently back and forth, soothing Thane, who was growing a tiny bit upset at having been woken up.
"I would never hurt you, either one of you."
"Of course not, Lyle. Of course you wouldn't. That's why you locked me up in a nut house while I had a bullet in my back? Why you sent me into a building that was supposed to blow up? The list goes on, you want me to continue?"
He didn't. He didn't want to be reminded of all the things he'd had to do to push Parker away. He was about to say so when her voice stopped him.
"So you slept with your stepmother. Nice, Lyle. Is this little piece of information supposed to change how I feel about you? Because all it does is tell me that you're as soulless and vile as I thought you were. And if you think for one second that I'm going to let this baby end up in your hands, you have lost your mind."
"Yes, I slept with Brigitte, Parker, but that isn't the beginning and end of the story. What you need to know is why."
"Why? I don't want to know why." Parker looked around, desperate for an escape, but her bad ankle had her trapped. Even if she could hobble away to another room on her own, she couldn't do it and manage the baby and she was not about to leave him alone with Lyle. "I don't need to know any details about what happened in your little Oedipal scene, brother dearest."
"Not even if it's about our father?"
That got her attention. For the moment she stopped plotting her escape and turned her eyes back to her brother. He took advantage of that by continuing.
"You see, dear old Dad wanted to secure his position at the Centre, and he knew that only a new pretender, one raised under the strictest control could do that. Problem was, to get that kind of authority, you'd have to create the child at the Centre, and it had to be a child not connected to Jarod or else we ran the same risks as we had with the clone, Jarod's emotional involvement."
"What are you saying, Lyle?"
"Dad wanted a pretender he could control. He knew that he'd missed out on his opportunities with us, but if the child were his...Parker, he ordered me to sleep with Brigitte. He ordered me to get her pregnant. So I convinced her that we would use the baby to take control of the Centre away from Dad and she went for it."
"He wanted you to...but I don't understand, why didn't he just do it him-" Parker didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to. Words Jarod had spoken to her years earlier echoed in her mind. Ben, the visits her mother made to "Aunt Dorothy" in April - if her father needed Lyle to father the baby then -- no, even though those thoughts terrified her right now, she had to push them aside. What was happening with Lyle was confusing enough. She could see genuine disgust on his face, and it was disgust with himself. She had never seen him remorseful before, and it unnerved her. Tears she could not control sprang from her eyes and ran down her face as she held the sleeping infant closer to her.
"Lyle, who the hell are you?"
Carefully, Lyle began to move back toward the two people on the couch. He stepped slowly, waiting for Parker to order him away again, but she did not. He reached the couch, then lowered himself down on the point farthest away from his sister and son.
"Will you let me tell you now, Parker? I want to. I want to tell you all of it."
And though he never would have believed that she'd agree, her silent nod told him that it was time to lift the veil off of Lyle Parker and Bobby Bowman.
"Well, I had no reason to think I was anyone but Bobby Bowman for a long time, and my life was good until the day Raines showed up."
******
Jarod arrived in Delaware with clean clothes, a portable telecomputer with a built in satellite interface and a dossier full of ammunition against Lyle. He settled into an abandoned warehouse just outside of downtown Blue Cove. It had been difficult to come here, his concern for both Ethan and Miss Parker warring with each other, but ironically it had been Ethan who'd made it possible for him to leave.
"Jarod, I talked to mother." Ethan smiled and reached out to touch his brother's shoulder. "She said to go and do what you have to do. I'll be fine."
Jarod looked into his brother's dark chocolate eyes and gave Ethan a pained smile. He wished he could talk to Catherine Parker so that she could tell him just how Lyle had turned out the way he had. Despite everything Parker had done that he disapproved of, it still amazed him that she could be the twin of that monster.
Ethan's words had made his decision for him, and now here he was back "home" so to speak. He settled into his hideout and then set out to put the plan he'd been formulating in motion, which started with a call.
"This is Sydney."
"Any news?"
"Jarod! Nothing other than the fact that Mr. Parker ordered Mr. Cox to find the baby and Miss Parker."
It was at the moment that Broots entered the office, his breathing labored and the expression on his face one of puzzlement, his hands frantically moving in front of his chest.
"Syd, I was digging around in the archives on sub-level 12, and Mr. Parker and Mr. Cox passed by as I was about to leave. Seems that Mr. Lyle called Mr. Parker from DC. According to Mr. Parker, Lyle agreed with the theory that Jarod was behind the kidnapping. Mr. Parker also told Mr. Cox that finding the baby takes precedent over everything else and that Miss Parker's return is of no importance."
"I presume that you heard," Sydney asked of the person on the other end of the phone.
"I heard. Cold-hearted bastard," Jarod replied. "Has Broots been surfing the web, lately? There's a wonderful site on snakes, you really should check it out." With that said, Jarod terminated the phone call.
"What's his plan, Syd?" Broots asked in a quiet voice.
"Seems there's a wonderful website about snakes he wants us to check out." Syd looked at his companion and smiled. Broots, taking the hint, pulled the chair out from in front of the computer and immediately accessed his personal email.
Later that afternoon, Sydney and Broots pulled their Centre issue car into the parking lot of the Blue Cove railroad station, where they parked the car. Next to them was a midnight blue Jeep Cherokee, left by Jarod from them to continue on journey to meet him.
He heard the honk of a horn, glanced quickly at the video camera, then reached over and picked up a palm-sized remote, which he pushed, raising the large garage door, so that Sydney and Broots could drive into the building with the Jeep. They found him sitting in a swivel chair behind a desk, a yellow legal-sized pad in his left hand and a pen in his right, the portable telecomputer on a small table located next to the desk. Looking up at the sound of footsteps on the concrete floor, he half-smiled at his friends and silently extended them an invitation to sit down.
"Wow!" Broots exclaimed as he took in the site of the computer to the left of Jarod, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Well, just don't gawk at it Mr. Broots. Work your magic." Jarod replied his eyes locking on to Sydney's.
"S-seriously?" Broots stammered as he took a seat in the chair located next to the table and watched as Jarod nodded his head in the affirmative. "Oh, this is so awesome. High-tech, state of the art. This must have set you back a pretty penny."
"Not me, Centre funds," Jarod replied. "Any trouble leaving?"
"No. Finding the baby has become top priority, so no one noticed us leaving, but to be safe I followed the instructions that you gave us. Curious snakes, those sidewinders," Sydney added, smiling half-heartedly. "So what happens next?"
"That's why you're here. It might take me too long to find her alone, and somehow I knew I could count on you two for help."
As silence fell in the room, Broots sat at the desk, hands poised above the keyboard, and he stared at the computer's screen for several seconds before turning his head toward the others with him. He was not smiling. On the screen was an open folder from the Centre's mainframe, its contents disgusting. He shook his head once before he brought his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and rubbed. Sydney said nothing and Jarod's expression was noncommittal. They sat there in silence as they all tried to think of what their next move should be.
***
The shrill of the phone startled Corinna from her thoughts, and she reached over she brought the phone to her ear, hopeful that it was Lyle.
"Corinna," the voice was low, but she recognized it as belonging to Melody, Cyrus' secretary. "He's on his way and he pissed."
"Thanks Mel, I owe you," she replaced the phone back in its cradle, and sat up a little straighter in the chair. She had paged Lyle four times in the last two hours and heard not a word from him. A call to one of her contacts inside the DC metro had yielded no new leads regarding the explosion, either. Corinna pulled her private cell phone from her briefcase and was about to call a very private number in the hopes that he had gone there, when the door to her office opened and in stormed Cyrus. She snapped the cell phone closed and slid it back into the briefcase, then turned her full attention to her rather irate boss.
"Where the hell is he?" Cyrus boomed, as he placed his hands palm side down on her desk, his eyes locking with Corinna's.
"I'm working on it. I understand that there's a serious time constraint here, Cyrus." She returned the stare only to be interrupted by the computer's 'You've got mail' announcement. Corinna quickly placed the cursor on the mailbox icon and pushed. The screen opened to reveal message from a source inside the Centre. Turning the screen for Cyrus to read, Corinna watched as his tan face paled.
"So he knows about the kidnapping. This is not good. Corinna, direct order from me is to find that son-of-a-bitch before he does anything stupid. Everything else can wait. I don't need a Lyle and Jarod confrontation at the moment. If he's gone off the deep end again because of this, he's finished. Do you understand?"
Corinna nodded. "I'll find him, Cy." Corinna picked up the phone and buzzed her secretary. "Shelly, cancel all of my appointments, tell them I had an emergency that couldn't wait and those that need to be handled immediately, call Tristan. She's filled in for me before."
"I'll talk to Tristan, myself," Cyrus said as he left the office. Once alone, Corinna leaned her head back in her chair, closed her eyes and said a prayer that finding Lyle would be easier this time around. It wasn't just that she had orders to find him; she needed to find him. Lyle had always been the target of Cyrus's anger in the past and bore it all. She on the other hand had always managed to escape it until now.
Cyrus's mandate, find Lyle at all costs, defied definition. It had been his tone that conveyed that there was more at stake. Quickly she gathered her things and headed out of the building. Forget the phone call. She'd head to the cabin and hope to God that he was there.
****
Parker sat in the same position on the couch, cursing her bad ankle yet again. What she wanted more than anything was to be able to pace. She needed to move, to do something to help her brain absorb everything that Lyle had told her. It was quite a story. Hell, if it had been a movie she would have said it was ridiculous and had too many twists and turns. The Bowmans, Raines, the murdered best friend, this Cyrus man and the CIA, it really was all too much to be believed. Wasn't it? She realized as she watched him rise up and go get a bottle for Thane that some part of her did want the yarn to be true. Because if it was true, then she wasn't alone anymore.
No, she told herself as she shook her head. You are dreaming. Lyle is Lyle, the same person who tried to kill you and Jarod, the man who gunned down Kyle, who killed those girls. You know that, Parker, you know that! The words ran through her brain at breakneck speed and no sooner had Lyle left than he'd returned. As he sank down onto the couch again, Parker involuntarily moved closer to the arm that blocked her from moving farther away from her twin. Lyle noticed this, but he chose to pretend he hadn't. He extended the warm bottle toward her, knowing she would not abide him feeding the baby. She settled Thane in her arms and then took the bottle, carefully avoiding eye contact with her brother.
"I know it's a lot to take in all at once. Believe me, I've lived it and sometimes I can't believe it. I just hope...I want you to know that I really did come back to try and find out about you, to get to know you. I could have asked for another assignment after the Yakuza mess, Parker, but I didn't. I wanted to know who my sister really was. I wanted to try and protect you."
"And that would be why you put me away in St. Catherine's?"
"Mutumbo was livid about what had happened. You weren't supposed to be at the airfield, Parker. He forbade it. I was afraid he would let you die just to teach everyone a lesson. Hiding you was my only choice."
She looked down at the baby's sweet, tiny face and startling eyes. They were Lyle's eyes. Now that she looked at him with that in mind, there was no doubting it. So that part was true. This child she loved so much was her nephew and not her brother. She was left with only two brothers now. One she didn't know and one she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"What about him, Lyle?" Her eyes swept down and indicated the baby. "Was sleeping with Brigitte your only choice? You could have said no."
"No, I couldn't. Not if I wanted to protect you."
"Again, you're protecting me. From what this time? Surely Daddy didn't expect me to make a baby with Brigitte."
"No, but he did expect you to make a baby."
Parker narrowed her eyes as she glared hard at Lyle.
"What are you talking about?"
"He wanted a pretender, Parker. And you and I were the only ones handy to use as donors. If it wasn't me, it was going to be you."
"He would nev..." but her voice trailed off. He would, and she knew it. Flashes of her mother pregnant with Ethan went through her mind. Oh, God, yes, he would have. He would have stolen her child as surely as the Centre had stolen Ethan.
She sat silently for a moment, fighting back the tears that threatened now. She couldn't weaken, not yet. There was too much to settle with Lyle, too much at stake for all of them, she now realized. So she decided to ask him the one question she could not find an answer to.
"Supposing I believe that, Lyle, that I believe you had no choice, please tell me why I should believe anything else you've said. How do I know it isn't all some fantasy you've concocted in order to...I don't know, to set me up yet again?"
Lyle sighed heavily, uncertain what he could say to make her believe him. He wanted her on his side so much. Now that he was this close, he wanted that more than anything. Perhaps the only way to achieve that goal was to reveal his final secret to her.
"Parker, if I took you to meet someone, someone who knows I'm not the monster I had to make you believe I was, would that help?"
"What are you going to do, Lyle, take me to your leader?"
"No, I want you to meet some friends of mine. That's actually where I wanted to take Thane. They'll take good care of him and keep him safe. You can meet them, and if you approve, then we'll leave him there until we've settled things with the Centre."
"If I approve? You'll abide by my decision?"
"Yes, I will. But I'm sure you'll like them, especially..."
Parker saw the now familiar flash as his voice trailed off. Something brilliant and light and almost happy flashed through Lyle's eyes as he thought of this mysterious person.
"Especially who, Lyle?"
"Her name used to be Li Nam, and there's a lot about her you need to know."
Okay, boys and girls, here is part 3 of our little epic. We have decided that for posting at Nic's we needed a group name, so for this story Trish, Paula, Nicolette, Shannon and me (Niceole) will hereafter be known as Renewal Wing. Hope you enjoy
The Road Taken
part 3
by Renewal Wing
She tried to put pressure on the left ankle only to grimace in pain. Unbelievable, she thought. I manage to escape incineration at the hands of the Centre in a subway tunnel only to be trapped like a wounded animal with my demented brother. Safety -- Parker reflected upon the concept. Almost everything she did involved risk, except, she thought, protecting her baby brother -- until now. So perhaps the concept of safety was self-delusional to a degree, or at least relative. A soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Let me help."
She looked up into blue eyes that reminded her so much of her mother that she had to force herself to remember to whom they belonged.
"I don't want to leave Thane alone in the cabin, Parker. Please, let me help."
There it was again, that softness that she never saw in his eyes or heard in his voice in all the time she had known him. What was going on? What prompted him to take their baby brother away? Surely he had reasons...
She nodded her head in acceptance of his help and felt her skin tingle in revulsion as he placed strong yet tender hands around her and helped her up. Parker sighed resignedly as she let Lyle guide her into what she could only consider to be her prison. For how long, she had no clue, and with her ankle swelling as well as throbbing, she was at his mercy. Oh, well, at least she could keep an eye on the baby.
As she entered the cabin a small gasp escaped her lips, for just inside the front door was a sitting room filled with antiques including two upholstered chairs located in front of a massive stone fireplace with a gleaming, dark mantel. A beautiful clock chimed softly from its perch on the mantel. The baby was strapped in his infant seat, which rested on top of the coffee table between the chairs. He was still sleeping, oblivious to his surroundings, his tiny lips curling in a small smile -- the result of some sweet dream. On the other side of the table sat a comfortable looking sofa.
Lyle eased his sister onto the sofa then pulled the footstool from the corner over, gently placing her injured foot upon it. After rotating it as tenderly as possible, he stood and moved to leave the room. After a few steps, he stopped and turned to move the baby so he sat on the sofa beside Parker. Then he left her alone in the room. Leaning her head back in the chair, eyes closed, she replayed the events that had transpired since her phone call from Jarod. What the hell was going on was the thought going through her head when the pressure from something cold on her ankle startled her. Looking up she found Lyle standing over her with their baby brother in his arms, the small boy contented to be sucking on his tiny fist. An ice pack was resting on her ankle.
"It's not broken, but badly sprained," stated Lyle as he eased himself into one of the chairs that sat opposite the sofa.
"So now what?" she snapped, irritated. "How long do you think you can keep me here before Daddy starts to worry?"
"Since when has he cared about anything but himself and his precious position?" Lyle replied. His voice was low, but menace laced the words.
****
Biting his lip in response to Jarod's revelation, Sydney stared out the gray-glassed windows. The rain had begun to spatter against them, but the movement of someone in front of him caused his head to jerk back with a start and sent his mind off in a different direction. If Jarod didn't know where she was, what did they do next?
"Sydney?" Jarod asked.
"Sorry, there was a problem at the Centre early this morning and..."
"Miss Parker," the panic rising to the surface of Jarod's normally cool voice, "did she access her computer?"
"Apparently so, but when the fire alarm went off, it triggered the sprinkler system. Broots is working on recovering whatever was on her computer." Sydney lowered his voice, speaking in hushed tones. "This mysterious little fire drill isn't our only problem...she's missing, Jarod, along with the baby."
With a big gulp, Jarod leaned against the hard, cold vinyl of the chair that was situated next to Ethan's bed. He had sent her some rather sordid information regarding Lyle. That she acted upon it so quickly showed that she believed him. He was so deep in thought, Jarod missed what Sydney had said next.
"Jarod, did you hear me?"
"Sorry, Sydney, what was that?"
"I said that Mr. Parker and Cox seem to think that you are responsible for this. Seems that one of the sweeper's found her gun in the nursery, and her car is still in the parking lot. Obviously they are wrong, but..."
A feeling of uneasiness began to build in the pit of Jarod's stomach at this latest development.
"Jarod, was there something in that email that would cause Miss Parker to take her baby brother and leave?"
"A warning, nothing more. I'll start searching for her on my end. I have an idea. I'll start there, first."
"What kind of warning?" Sydney asked as he stood slightly behind Broots, who was attempting to restore the computer with notable difficulty. Sydney watched as the technician's fingers played the keyboard like a piano. Surprisingly, despite the ghastly appearance of the garbled information on the computer screen, it didn't take him long to establish a link. Broots began to read the ghost images left from the mail that had been previously deleted. There was only one that had been opened and from the timestamp, she would have barely had time to read any of it when the computer fritzed out due to the sprinkler system.
"Syd," he said, his voice low, "I found it, but it's badly damaged. I'll restore as much of it as I can, but she never got to read it. Tell him she never got to read any of it."
Broots returned his attention to the keyboard, his magic restoring the damaged text message. Thanks to his slow and painstaking work, bits and pieces began to appear along with scattered sentences that formed mini-paragraphs.
"Jarod," Sydney began, "Broots says that she never got to read it. The computer suffered water damage from the sprinkler system. It's been destroyed in parts, but he's trying to restore it."
"If she never got to read it, then --" His response was interrupted by a high groan.
"Ohmygod! Ohmygod! I'm going to be sick," Broots moaned and paled.
"Jarod, she's in danger, isn't she?" Sydney asked as his eyes scanned the restored segments of email text. It was the lack of verbal response that made him realize that Jarod had already hung up the phone.
***
Parker looked at Lyle, inwardly agreeing with his assessment of their father.
"Anyway I can handle him," he gave her a surprised, mock-hurt look, and then chuckled as he handed her the baby and pulled out a cell phone from his jacket pocket.
Parker was drawing a blank, what the hell was happening here. After Thomas had died, Parker vowed to never again make the mistake of not paying attention. Now she was in a spot where something definitely felt odd, and she couldn't even figure out where her attention should be focused. Meanwhile Lyle's fingers flew across the phone's number pad.
"Dad."
"Lyle! Where are you?" the chairman's growled, his voice cracking.
"I'm following up on the investigation with DC Metro just like you asked? Why, what's happened?"
"Apparently Jarod was in Blue Cove again. Your sister and the baby are
missing." There was a moment's silence, and then Parker saw Lyle's grin return 3-fold.
"Really! You're sure, just like that? He had to have a good reason to come to Blue Cove. I can understand taking my sister, but the baby. It doesn't make sense. Why saddle himself with an infant?"
"Who knows with Jarod. I have Mr. Cox working on it. When you've finished up there, head back. We need that baby back."
"And Parker?"
"Whatever." After that Lyle heard nothing but dial tone. He didn't have to look into a mirror to know that his expression was tart as an unripened grapefruit. So many paths, he thought, as he snapped the phone closed. His father was offering one, but there was only one path that he wanted for the future, one single path that he wanted to follow. This was the first step in preparing for that goal.
"I hope you understand what could be at stake here," Parker said, her face grim, her blue eyes large and deadly serious.
Lyle looked over at his sister, digested her statement and then he leaned his head back, rubbing his throbbing temple with his ungloved hand. He was exhausted, and it cut deep. Granted, fatigue was nothing new to him, and insomnia had plagued him since his first meeting with Raines, but this was different, alien. He would have to do something about it, and quickly.
"Do I understand what's at stake?" he said with a smirk. "Could cost us our lives if this doesn't play out right."
"Play out? Lyle, what the hell is going on?" she asked curtly as her blue eyes narrowed.
"It's very simple," Lyle replied. "You listen to what I have to tell you..." she began to speak, but he held up a gloved hand to prevent her from interrupting. "...with an open mind, and then once you've considered all the information, all I ask in return, is your help."
"My help! You want my help! Why would I want to help you? What could you possibly tell me that would make me want to help you," she sneered, her voice even, for the sake of the baby in her lap.
"You're my sister," he said, looking at her, a flicker of hope in his eyes.
"Don't remind me!"
"Parker, please." There it was again, a plea for help coming not only from his lips, but his eyes - she couldn't miss the hopeful look in them. Still, when she did not respond immediately, he spoke again. "Then do it for Thane, please. All I ask is that you listen. Seventy-two hours. Give me that at least."
She couldn't trust anyone right now, yet with her options limited by the situation and her injury, she decided flexibility was essential. "For the baby, I'll listen, but if I don't like what I hear, then I go back, and I'll take him with me, even if I have to kill you, Lyle, understand?"
He nodded, and a tired smile returned to his face.
***
The shrill of the phone on the desk interrupted the meeting with her secretary, who withdrew from the office the moment that she saw Corinna's features darken. Corinna watched her go, wishing she, too, could escape the conversation.
"Corinna," Cyrus said, "We have a problem in Blue Cove. Seems that Jarod absconded with Miss Parker and the baby. This is not good. If Lyle finds out about this, I don't want to think about what could happen." Corinna listened in silence then scowled. This was going to be bad. She could feel it.
"What do you want me to do, Cyrus?"
"He's suppose to be in DC today. Find him."
"And tell him, what? 'Oh, in case you didn't know the pretender that irks you so much just made off with your sister as well as your son?' Please, don't insult his intelligence or overestimate my power over him. He'll go off."
"Just find him, Corinna. Call me when you do." The line went dead and Corinna stared at it, stunned.
"Damn," she murmured as she picked up the phone and dialed the emergency code for him to meet on her turf.
As she waited, Corinna picked up a pen and began tapping it, creating the only noise in the room. She glanced at her watch. It had been over an hour since she paged Lyle and no response. Reaching for the telephone, she punched in the three numbers again. Leaning back in her chair, she turned to look out the window. This would be hell on earth, telling him what had happened. Hell on earth, Corinna mused. She always thought it was of your own making, but if you were of a mind to turn the abstract into the physical, then hell on earth was Lyle's life as defined by the Centre and the Agency. Now the question was could she pull him back from the flames or would she lose him for good this time to the all-consuming fire.
****
After Mr. Parker hung up the telephone, he turned his attention to the DSA viewer that was situated on the left side of his desk. He'd watched the video of the events that had occurred in the past fourteen hours. He saw his daughter leave her office the moment that the sprinkler system had engaged itself and head in the direction of the baby's nursery. After that, the video feed no longer worked; the water from the sprinklers had short-circuited the system. So when the sweepers finally realized that the fire alarm was a false one, they immediately fanned out, looking for what they believed to be the obvious -- Jarod. It was Willie that had found his daughter's gun in the nursery, also discovering the air vent pried off its hinges and the baby gone. He checked only to find her car still in its assigned space.
Mr. Parker had now turned the task of discovering what had happened over to his second in command, Mr. Cox. Someone damn well better get that baby back to him, he thought. His future depended on it. If it turned out his daughter came back safely too, well, then so much the better, but it was not his primary concern. It was the boy who was important to the Centre. After everything he'd done to create him, the chairman would be damned if he'd lose him now.
***
Jarod sat by his brother's bedside, his eyes closed, trying to calm himself. He refused to accept what he knew had happened. If Lyle had Parker and the baby, he had to get to them. He couldn't let Lyle get away with this. Sighing heavily, the pretender wondered what the hell had even been going through Lyle's mind when he did this. Even a psychotic like him should know by now that endangering the people Jarod loved only brought retribution. Either Lyle was extremely confident in himself or immensely stupid. The muscles in Jarod's jaw tightened. He opted for the second choice as he opened his eyes.
It meant leaving Ethan with the good sisters that had helped his father and him recently with Emily. He nervously tapped his cellular phone. This new model was sleek and thin, with programming so sophisticated that he could perform any kind of communications wizardry on it. He urged himself to think, to plan. He picked up the phone and dialed.
"Good morning, Sister. I hate to impose but I am in need of your assistance again. My brother needs someplace quiet to recuperate. I want to stay with him, but a friend of mine is in serious trouble."
*****
"She's in trouble, isn't she, Syd?" The computer tech's voice was low, or lower than usual Sydney realized.
"Yes," came the reply. "If Lyle has any suspicions that Parker knows about this," his hand waved toward the computer screen, "then she's in serious trouble."
"This is really scary," Broots said, feeling Sydney squeeze his shoulder in an attempt to rally him from the fog the revelations in the email had induced. "The more I learn about Mr. Lyle the less I like him."
"It seems that we are not alone in that, Broots. Obviously, Jarod feels the same way or he wouldn't have sent this to Miss Parker. He didn't play his little mind games with her this time."
"Syd, we can't let them know about this."
As Sydney nodded, Broots reached inside the desk drawer and withdrew a disc, which he slipped into the slot on the computer. With a few swift strokes on the keyboard, the information that was on the screen was now stored safely on the disc. Sydney watched as Broots then proceeded to erase any further traces of the email. When he was finished, he removed the disk and handed it to Sydney.
"We have to find her, Syd."
"I think Jarod is planning on doing that."
"We have to make sure she's all right. I'm going to start searching for more information on Lyle. There's got to be something to help us figure out where he would take her."
"Good idea. While you're at it, see if you can find anything else about Mr. Lyle. We have to know as much as we can about this latest horror."
Broots nodded and stood to head back to his own computer. His stomach felt like he'd swallowed a rock. He wasn't certain if it was from worry about his friend or disgust at having to read even one more word about Lyle and his "habits." Either way, he would face it. He had to help get Miss Parker back before Lyle did anything to hurt her.
****
"I know that you distrust me, Parker," Lyle said gently, "not that I blame you."
She gave him a veiled look that held no small amount of anger. Yet she realized that in her present situation listening was her only option -- and she had to listen carefully. She continued to stare directly into Lyle's eyes. There. She caught a glimpse of another person in those eyes. As she tried to make sense of just what was happening, Lyle smiled inside as he watched her looking at him. There it was, the defiance that made him respect her. It was far from over. She was considering her options, deciding the safest path to take with him. That meant he at least had a chance.
He got up from his chair, and paced the room. Parker could feel the energy and anxiety emanating from him. Reassurance entered him, his shoulders loosened up. Given the same circumstances, he'd do it all over again, kidnapping and all. This was the one shot he had at getting the truth in front of her eyes before Jarod filled her head with rumors and lies, and he was going to take it. No hiding from her, no half-truths. He would show her who he really was. Standing next to her, he looked her in the eyes. Parker noticed that he suddenly had an air of confidence that only comes from absolute power. What she didn't realize was that he felt he finally had power over himself.
"You keep the secrets buried, but eventually they become whispers, loud whispers," Lyle said softly, and for a few seconds his mind went completely blank as he stared at his sister. Then he saw her smile, and that made it better, or worse. He wasn't quite sure. He sounded so tough, then surprisingly he choked, and tears rolled down his face. Parker reached up impulsively with her hand, only stopping when she became conscious of the move she had made. She promptly drew her hand through her hair, trying to cover what she had almost done, but a truth was beginning to take root inside of Parker. At present, it was just a seed, but it was there, and she couldn't shake it. They were alike, her and Lyle, in all their deepest, darkest places.
She broke their eye contact, her hand reaching over toward the baby who was sleeping happily in his seat on the couch beside her. One of his tiny fists was stuffed into his mouth. She reached over and stroked his other hand with her finger, and he promptly wrapped his little fingers around her single one, holding to her as if for life. This did not go unnoticed by Lyle. It wasn't that he didn't fully understand the connection between his sister and his son, it was that it awed him. She had hated Brigitte so much, yet she had never let that hatred impede on her feelings for Thane. That more than anything was proof that she was definitely their mother's daughter. He only hoped that spirit would help him now.
"Thane loves you very much." As he spoke, her eyes moved back toward him. He watched as her brow scrunched slightly, a question forming on her face.
"Why? Answer that question first, Lyle. Why do you care at all about this baby? He's a threat to you, to your position, and you know it. I'm really supposed to believe that after the, what, half dozen times you've tried to kill me, that you only want what's best for him?"
Lyle swallowed hard and looked at his son and then back at his sister. There was no better time to jump off the cliff than now.
"I care, Parker, because he isn't my brother. Thane is my son."
The words were out there now, hanging between them, and Lyle had already predicted the two likely reactions his sister would have. She would either call him a liar and jump up, bad ankle and all, and try to kill him or she would rail at him for betraying their father. The killing part still an option.
"He's your what?"
"He's my son, Parker."
The words tore into heart again, this time more deeply. She had known it was a possibility of course. After what Broots had seen and heard, it had been even money that Lyle was the baby's father, but she had convinced herself that the boy belonged to her father; it was easier that way. Less danger somehow to herself and to the child she had come to love so much. Now that illusion of security was gone. Lyle had taken it away. Instinctively, she reached over and pulled the baby from his seat into her arms. As she did so, she leveled her eyes at her brother, her voice coming out far more full of fear than she would have liked.
"Get away from him."
"Parker..."
"I said get away!"
Lyle could see that she was genuinely panicked right now and so to try and prove that he was not a threat he did as she asked. He stood, crossing the room to stand by the fireplace as she gingerly moved herself and the baby to the farthest end of the couch. Once she settled, she began to rock gently back and forth, soothing Thane, who was growing a tiny bit upset at having been woken up.
"I would never hurt you, either one of you."
"Of course not, Lyle. Of course you wouldn't. That's why you locked me up in a nut house while I had a bullet in my back? Why you sent me into a building that was supposed to blow up? The list goes on, you want me to continue?"
He didn't. He didn't want to be reminded of all the things he'd had to do to push Parker away. He was about to say so when her voice stopped him.
"So you slept with your stepmother. Nice, Lyle. Is this little piece of information supposed to change how I feel about you? Because all it does is tell me that you're as soulless and vile as I thought you were. And if you think for one second that I'm going to let this baby end up in your hands, you have lost your mind."
"Yes, I slept with Brigitte, Parker, but that isn't the beginning and end of the story. What you need to know is why."
"Why? I don't want to know why." Parker looked around, desperate for an escape, but her bad ankle had her trapped. Even if she could hobble away to another room on her own, she couldn't do it and manage the baby and she was not about to leave him alone with Lyle. "I don't need to know any details about what happened in your little Oedipal scene, brother dearest."
"Not even if it's about our father?"
That got her attention. For the moment she stopped plotting her escape and turned her eyes back to her brother. He took advantage of that by continuing.
"You see, dear old Dad wanted to secure his position at the Centre, and he knew that only a new pretender, one raised under the strictest control could do that. Problem was, to get that kind of authority, you'd have to create the child at the Centre, and it had to be a child not connected to Jarod or else we ran the same risks as we had with the clone, Jarod's emotional involvement."
"What are you saying, Lyle?"
"Dad wanted a pretender he could control. He knew that he'd missed out on his opportunities with us, but if the child were his...Parker, he ordered me to sleep with Brigitte. He ordered me to get her pregnant. So I convinced her that we would use the baby to take control of the Centre away from Dad and she went for it."
"He wanted you to...but I don't understand, why didn't he just do it him-" Parker didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to. Words Jarod had spoken to her years earlier echoed in her mind. Ben, the visits her mother made to "Aunt Dorothy" in April - if her father needed Lyle to father the baby then -- no, even though those thoughts terrified her right now, she had to push them aside. What was happening with Lyle was confusing enough. She could see genuine disgust on his face, and it was disgust with himself. She had never seen him remorseful before, and it unnerved her. Tears she could not control sprang from her eyes and ran down her face as she held the sleeping infant closer to her.
"Lyle, who the hell are you?"
Carefully, Lyle began to move back toward the two people on the couch. He stepped slowly, waiting for Parker to order him away again, but she did not. He reached the couch, then lowered himself down on the point farthest away from his sister and son.
"Will you let me tell you now, Parker? I want to. I want to tell you all of it."
And though he never would have believed that she'd agree, her silent nod told him that it was time to lift the veil off of Lyle Parker and Bobby Bowman.
"Well, I had no reason to think I was anyone but Bobby Bowman for a long time, and my life was good until the day Raines showed up."
******
Jarod arrived in Delaware with clean clothes, a portable telecomputer with a built in satellite interface and a dossier full of ammunition against Lyle. He settled into an abandoned warehouse just outside of downtown Blue Cove. It had been difficult to come here, his concern for both Ethan and Miss Parker warring with each other, but ironically it had been Ethan who'd made it possible for him to leave.
"Jarod, I talked to mother." Ethan smiled and reached out to touch his brother's shoulder. "She said to go and do what you have to do. I'll be fine."
Jarod looked into his brother's dark chocolate eyes and gave Ethan a pained smile. He wished he could talk to Catherine Parker so that she could tell him just how Lyle had turned out the way he had. Despite everything Parker had done that he disapproved of, it still amazed him that she could be the twin of that monster.
Ethan's words had made his decision for him, and now here he was back "home" so to speak. He settled into his hideout and then set out to put the plan he'd been formulating in motion, which started with a call.
"This is Sydney."
"Any news?"
"Jarod! Nothing other than the fact that Mr. Parker ordered Mr. Cox to find the baby and Miss Parker."
It was at the moment that Broots entered the office, his breathing labored and the expression on his face one of puzzlement, his hands frantically moving in front of his chest.
"Syd, I was digging around in the archives on sub-level 12, and Mr. Parker and Mr. Cox passed by as I was about to leave. Seems that Mr. Lyle called Mr. Parker from DC. According to Mr. Parker, Lyle agreed with the theory that Jarod was behind the kidnapping. Mr. Parker also told Mr. Cox that finding the baby takes precedent over everything else and that Miss Parker's return is of no importance."
"I presume that you heard," Sydney asked of the person on the other end of the phone.
"I heard. Cold-hearted bastard," Jarod replied. "Has Broots been surfing the web, lately? There's a wonderful site on snakes, you really should check it out." With that said, Jarod terminated the phone call.
"What's his plan, Syd?" Broots asked in a quiet voice.
"Seems there's a wonderful website about snakes he wants us to check out." Syd looked at his companion and smiled. Broots, taking the hint, pulled the chair out from in front of the computer and immediately accessed his personal email.
Later that afternoon, Sydney and Broots pulled their Centre issue car into the parking lot of the Blue Cove railroad station, where they parked the car. Next to them was a midnight blue Jeep Cherokee, left by Jarod from them to continue on journey to meet him.
He heard the honk of a horn, glanced quickly at the video camera, then reached over and picked up a palm-sized remote, which he pushed, raising the large garage door, so that Sydney and Broots could drive into the building with the Jeep. They found him sitting in a swivel chair behind a desk, a yellow legal-sized pad in his left hand and a pen in his right, the portable telecomputer on a small table located next to the desk. Looking up at the sound of footsteps on the concrete floor, he half-smiled at his friends and silently extended them an invitation to sit down.
"Wow!" Broots exclaimed as he took in the site of the computer to the left of Jarod, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Well, just don't gawk at it Mr. Broots. Work your magic." Jarod replied his eyes locking on to Sydney's.
"S-seriously?" Broots stammered as he took a seat in the chair located next to the table and watched as Jarod nodded his head in the affirmative. "Oh, this is so awesome. High-tech, state of the art. This must have set you back a pretty penny."
"Not me, Centre funds," Jarod replied. "Any trouble leaving?"
"No. Finding the baby has become top priority, so no one noticed us leaving, but to be safe I followed the instructions that you gave us. Curious snakes, those sidewinders," Sydney added, smiling half-heartedly. "So what happens next?"
"That's why you're here. It might take me too long to find her alone, and somehow I knew I could count on you two for help."
As silence fell in the room, Broots sat at the desk, hands poised above the keyboard, and he stared at the computer's screen for several seconds before turning his head toward the others with him. He was not smiling. On the screen was an open folder from the Centre's mainframe, its contents disgusting. He shook his head once before he brought his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and rubbed. Sydney said nothing and Jarod's expression was noncommittal. They sat there in silence as they all tried to think of what their next move should be.
***
The shrill of the phone startled Corinna from her thoughts, and she reached over she brought the phone to her ear, hopeful that it was Lyle.
"Corinna," the voice was low, but she recognized it as belonging to Melody, Cyrus' secretary. "He's on his way and he pissed."
"Thanks Mel, I owe you," she replaced the phone back in its cradle, and sat up a little straighter in the chair. She had paged Lyle four times in the last two hours and heard not a word from him. A call to one of her contacts inside the DC metro had yielded no new leads regarding the explosion, either. Corinna pulled her private cell phone from her briefcase and was about to call a very private number in the hopes that he had gone there, when the door to her office opened and in stormed Cyrus. She snapped the cell phone closed and slid it back into the briefcase, then turned her full attention to her rather irate boss.
"Where the hell is he?" Cyrus boomed, as he placed his hands palm side down on her desk, his eyes locking with Corinna's.
"I'm working on it. I understand that there's a serious time constraint here, Cyrus." She returned the stare only to be interrupted by the computer's 'You've got mail' announcement. Corinna quickly placed the cursor on the mailbox icon and pushed. The screen opened to reveal message from a source inside the Centre. Turning the screen for Cyrus to read, Corinna watched as his tan face paled.
"So he knows about the kidnapping. This is not good. Corinna, direct order from me is to find that son-of-a-bitch before he does anything stupid. Everything else can wait. I don't need a Lyle and Jarod confrontation at the moment. If he's gone off the deep end again because of this, he's finished. Do you understand?"
Corinna nodded. "I'll find him, Cy." Corinna picked up the phone and buzzed her secretary. "Shelly, cancel all of my appointments, tell them I had an emergency that couldn't wait and those that need to be handled immediately, call Tristan. She's filled in for me before."
"I'll talk to Tristan, myself," Cyrus said as he left the office. Once alone, Corinna leaned her head back in her chair, closed her eyes and said a prayer that finding Lyle would be easier this time around. It wasn't just that she had orders to find him; she needed to find him. Lyle had always been the target of Cyrus's anger in the past and bore it all. She on the other hand had always managed to escape it until now.
Cyrus's mandate, find Lyle at all costs, defied definition. It had been his tone that conveyed that there was more at stake. Quickly she gathered her things and headed out of the building. Forget the phone call. She'd head to the cabin and hope to God that he was there.
****
Parker sat in the same position on the couch, cursing her bad ankle yet again. What she wanted more than anything was to be able to pace. She needed to move, to do something to help her brain absorb everything that Lyle had told her. It was quite a story. Hell, if it had been a movie she would have said it was ridiculous and had too many twists and turns. The Bowmans, Raines, the murdered best friend, this Cyrus man and the CIA, it really was all too much to be believed. Wasn't it? She realized as she watched him rise up and go get a bottle for Thane that some part of her did want the yarn to be true. Because if it was true, then she wasn't alone anymore.
No, she told herself as she shook her head. You are dreaming. Lyle is Lyle, the same person who tried to kill you and Jarod, the man who gunned down Kyle, who killed those girls. You know that, Parker, you know that! The words ran through her brain at breakneck speed and no sooner had Lyle left than he'd returned. As he sank down onto the couch again, Parker involuntarily moved closer to the arm that blocked her from moving farther away from her twin. Lyle noticed this, but he chose to pretend he hadn't. He extended the warm bottle toward her, knowing she would not abide him feeding the baby. She settled Thane in her arms and then took the bottle, carefully avoiding eye contact with her brother.
"I know it's a lot to take in all at once. Believe me, I've lived it and sometimes I can't believe it. I just hope...I want you to know that I really did come back to try and find out about you, to get to know you. I could have asked for another assignment after the Yakuza mess, Parker, but I didn't. I wanted to know who my sister really was. I wanted to try and protect you."
"And that would be why you put me away in St. Catherine's?"
"Mutumbo was livid about what had happened. You weren't supposed to be at the airfield, Parker. He forbade it. I was afraid he would let you die just to teach everyone a lesson. Hiding you was my only choice."
She looked down at the baby's sweet, tiny face and startling eyes. They were Lyle's eyes. Now that she looked at him with that in mind, there was no doubting it. So that part was true. This child she loved so much was her nephew and not her brother. She was left with only two brothers now. One she didn't know and one she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"What about him, Lyle?" Her eyes swept down and indicated the baby. "Was sleeping with Brigitte your only choice? You could have said no."
"No, I couldn't. Not if I wanted to protect you."
"Again, you're protecting me. From what this time? Surely Daddy didn't expect me to make a baby with Brigitte."
"No, but he did expect you to make a baby."
Parker narrowed her eyes as she glared hard at Lyle.
"What are you talking about?"
"He wanted a pretender, Parker. And you and I were the only ones handy to use as donors. If it wasn't me, it was going to be you."
"He would nev..." but her voice trailed off. He would, and she knew it. Flashes of her mother pregnant with Ethan went through her mind. Oh, God, yes, he would have. He would have stolen her child as surely as the Centre had stolen Ethan.
She sat silently for a moment, fighting back the tears that threatened now. She couldn't weaken, not yet. There was too much to settle with Lyle, too much at stake for all of them, she now realized. So she decided to ask him the one question she could not find an answer to.
"Supposing I believe that, Lyle, that I believe you had no choice, please tell me why I should believe anything else you've said. How do I know it isn't all some fantasy you've concocted in order to...I don't know, to set me up yet again?"
Lyle sighed heavily, uncertain what he could say to make her believe him. He wanted her on his side so much. Now that he was this close, he wanted that more than anything. Perhaps the only way to achieve that goal was to reveal his final secret to her.
"Parker, if I took you to meet someone, someone who knows I'm not the monster I had to make you believe I was, would that help?"
"What are you going to do, Lyle, take me to your leader?"
"No, I want you to meet some friends of mine. That's actually where I wanted to take Thane. They'll take good care of him and keep him safe. You can meet them, and if you approve, then we'll leave him there until we've settled things with the Centre."
"If I approve? You'll abide by my decision?"
"Yes, I will. But I'm sure you'll like them, especially..."
Parker saw the now familiar flash as his voice trailed off. Something brilliant and light and almost happy flashed through Lyle's eyes as he thought of this mysterious person.
"Especially who, Lyle?"
"Her name used to be Li Nam, and there's a lot about her you need to know."
