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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1 for the usual statements.
Author’s note: I would like to acknowledge and thank all those who reviewed this story. Your suggestions and comments helped create this.
Hostile Environment
Epilogue
By Callisto
They had been driving together for over two days and established a comfortable rhythm of conversation. Ethan and his father had met the couple in Charleston, a location Jarod had finally agreed to after the Major threatened to follow them all the way to the Centre. The Major couldn’t help but feel nervous about the meeting; he still felt Jarod was taking an unnecessary risk returning to the Centre with his former huntress. However, once they arrived at the secluded location and walked up, the two men were greeted with a sight much different than what the Major had expected. Leaning against the old Pontiac they had used for their getaway, Jarod and Parker were deeply involved in a kiss that seemed to go on forever.
Smiling broadly, Ethan lightly touched his father’s arm to stop him. The Major glanced at Ethan who was grinning at his half siblings. Both men stood for several seconds watching when finally the Major lost patience before Parker ran out of breath. He approached them, stood several feet away and said quietly, “I’m probably going out on a limb here but I would guess from your behavior that everything went according to plan?”
Parker pulled away from Jarod and looked at Major without saying anything. Jarod leaned over and swiftly finished kissing his lover then turned to greet his father. “Pretty much, I learned a few things along the way as well. We should get going, it’s getting a little late and we need to return this car to Rodney’s before heading back,” he said casually, referring to his used car salesman friend who had loaned them the car.
The return trip had turned out to be very enjoyable which surprised the Major. He was starting to truly like Miss Parker; something he knew would irritate his daughter. From his behavior, the Major knew what Jarod had in mind for Parker. At first he was alarmed, worried that his son would be disappointed at least, hurt at most. Her attitude remained steady but from watching her more closely and looking for signs other than those of possible betrayal, the Major could detect subtle indications of her genuine affection for Jarod.
The group had taken a circuitous route back to the Wisconsin lair and was back on the interstate in Iowa after stopping awhile in Cedar Rapids for some shopping. The Major was listening to Ethan tell a rather amusing story of a joke Emil had pulled off on Emily when the lights of a cruiser began flashing in the rearview mirror. Glancing quickly down at his speedometer, he noticed that he had indeed allowed his speed to creep over 80mph. He pulled smoothly over to the side of the road and waited patiently for the lone trooper to approach with his ticket book out.
“Dad?” Jarod asked from the backseat.
“Yeah, I was speeding, sorry about this, it should only take a minute,” he said followed by a deep sigh of self-disgust. He completely misinterpreted the low groan that came out of Parker.
The trooper was being extremely cautious and ordered everyone out of the Range Rover. The Major was put out by this display of power and absently signed the ticket book offered. When he glanced up to hand the ticket back to the trooper, he found the man staring strangely at Jarod and Parker.
“Is there something wrong, officer?”
Retrieving his ticket book the trooper watched the group warily and ordered the Major to stand by the others. With his hand hovering nervously over his revolver, his vigilant eyes returned to Jarod and Parker once again. Moistening his lips, he frowned thoughtfully at the couple.
“Sir, would you mind saying something? And Ma’am remove your sunglasses,” he ordered firmly but politely. Silence enveloped the group as Jarod assessed the nervousness of the trooper.
“What would you like me to say?” he inquired while Parker slowly pulled her shades halfway down her nose, revealing her eyes.
“Well, I’ll be damned, I must be living right,” the trooper said with a disbelieving chuckle. “It’s you. You’re the couple on the video. There’s no use denying it, I’ve watched the dash-cam recording at least a thousand times. I would know your voices anywhere.”
“Trooper, what’s going on here? Is there a problem?” the Major asked trying to divert the officer’s attention.
“The trouble started at least 4 months ago,” he started as he relaxed his posture and took a few cautious steps towards the family. “That’s when these two saved the hides of two troopers. It’s the best luck in the world I ran into you but I thought you drove a Land Rover.”
Pausing for several seconds, the trooper smiled broadly, understanding the couple wasn’t going to admit to anything. His admiration grew in leaps and bounds as he realized that they must have been aware of the recording devices attached to the uniform.
Approaching Jarod slowly he said in a calming voice, “Relax, I just wanted to shake your hand and say ‘thanks’; Trooper Stubbs is my brother-in-law and was on his last week of training. My sister was 9 months pregnant when he was hijacked. His only excuse for being blindsided is that he was waiting for a call to run to the hospital. While he was in that trunk, he was sure he would never live to see his daughter.”
Jarod smiled quizzically and shook the man’s hand, offering his congratulations while the trooper insisted on shaking Parker’s hand as well. “I’m glad your brother-in-law is alright. What happened to the people who hijacked him?”
The smile suddenly faded from the trooper’s face, replaced by vengeful anger. “I did some research on those two clowns. There isn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that once they were done, raping and robbing motorists, they would have killed my brother and his partner. Right now they are being indicted with at least half a dozen charges, including the attempted sexual assault on you Ma’am.” The trooper replied. Noticing Parker’s slightly furrowed brow, he continued, “It doesn’t matter that you stopped Dicenzo from raping you by kicking his ass and breaking both his knee caps. The fact that he tried on you what he had done to at least 3 other women successfully, suffices. Terry is going to flip when I tell him that I met the good Samaritans who saved him, it’ll make his day.”
“And you think by just hearing our voices that we were involved?” Parker asked softly.
“Yeah, you also have the same coordinated timing as you did in the video. The second he started speaking; you pulled down your shades. While I watched the videotape of you two in action, I kept thinking perhaps you were working for either ‘Special Forces’ or one of those secret government organizations, which one is it?”
Parker removed her sunglasses completely and gave the trooper a cynically incredulous look causing him to laugh appreciatively. Abruptly, he turned to the Major and demanded the return of the ticket.
“You won’t be getting any tickets from me or anyone else while I’m out here. If you ever need anything, call me,” he said as he removed his business card from his uniform pocket and handed it over in exchange for the ticket. Shaking his head in disbelief he said with amusement, “Terry will never believe it when I tell him one of his saviors is a drop-dead gorgeous lady. Oh, wait a minute, what am I thinking? I should have let you keep that ticket. My niece now has the stupidest name—they call her ‘Spencer’ after your pseudonym. The two of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves,” he said with mock anger and received answering laughter from all four travelers as he walked back to his cruiser with a large, happy grin on his face.
Author’s note: I would like to acknowledge and thank all those who reviewed this story. Your suggestions and comments helped create this.
Hostile Environment
Epilogue
By Callisto
They had been driving together for over two days and established a comfortable rhythm of conversation. Ethan and his father had met the couple in Charleston, a location Jarod had finally agreed to after the Major threatened to follow them all the way to the Centre. The Major couldn’t help but feel nervous about the meeting; he still felt Jarod was taking an unnecessary risk returning to the Centre with his former huntress. However, once they arrived at the secluded location and walked up, the two men were greeted with a sight much different than what the Major had expected. Leaning against the old Pontiac they had used for their getaway, Jarod and Parker were deeply involved in a kiss that seemed to go on forever.
Smiling broadly, Ethan lightly touched his father’s arm to stop him. The Major glanced at Ethan who was grinning at his half siblings. Both men stood for several seconds watching when finally the Major lost patience before Parker ran out of breath. He approached them, stood several feet away and said quietly, “I’m probably going out on a limb here but I would guess from your behavior that everything went according to plan?”
Parker pulled away from Jarod and looked at Major without saying anything. Jarod leaned over and swiftly finished kissing his lover then turned to greet his father. “Pretty much, I learned a few things along the way as well. We should get going, it’s getting a little late and we need to return this car to Rodney’s before heading back,” he said casually, referring to his used car salesman friend who had loaned them the car.
The return trip had turned out to be very enjoyable which surprised the Major. He was starting to truly like Miss Parker; something he knew would irritate his daughter. From his behavior, the Major knew what Jarod had in mind for Parker. At first he was alarmed, worried that his son would be disappointed at least, hurt at most. Her attitude remained steady but from watching her more closely and looking for signs other than those of possible betrayal, the Major could detect subtle indications of her genuine affection for Jarod.
The group had taken a circuitous route back to the Wisconsin lair and was back on the interstate in Iowa after stopping awhile in Cedar Rapids for some shopping. The Major was listening to Ethan tell a rather amusing story of a joke Emil had pulled off on Emily when the lights of a cruiser began flashing in the rearview mirror. Glancing quickly down at his speedometer, he noticed that he had indeed allowed his speed to creep over 80mph. He pulled smoothly over to the side of the road and waited patiently for the lone trooper to approach with his ticket book out.
“Dad?” Jarod asked from the backseat.
“Yeah, I was speeding, sorry about this, it should only take a minute,” he said followed by a deep sigh of self-disgust. He completely misinterpreted the low groan that came out of Parker.
The trooper was being extremely cautious and ordered everyone out of the Range Rover. The Major was put out by this display of power and absently signed the ticket book offered. When he glanced up to hand the ticket back to the trooper, he found the man staring strangely at Jarod and Parker.
“Is there something wrong, officer?”
Retrieving his ticket book the trooper watched the group warily and ordered the Major to stand by the others. With his hand hovering nervously over his revolver, his vigilant eyes returned to Jarod and Parker once again. Moistening his lips, he frowned thoughtfully at the couple.
“Sir, would you mind saying something? And Ma’am remove your sunglasses,” he ordered firmly but politely. Silence enveloped the group as Jarod assessed the nervousness of the trooper.
“What would you like me to say?” he inquired while Parker slowly pulled her shades halfway down her nose, revealing her eyes.
“Well, I’ll be damned, I must be living right,” the trooper said with a disbelieving chuckle. “It’s you. You’re the couple on the video. There’s no use denying it, I’ve watched the dash-cam recording at least a thousand times. I would know your voices anywhere.”
“Trooper, what’s going on here? Is there a problem?” the Major asked trying to divert the officer’s attention.
“The trouble started at least 4 months ago,” he started as he relaxed his posture and took a few cautious steps towards the family. “That’s when these two saved the hides of two troopers. It’s the best luck in the world I ran into you but I thought you drove a Land Rover.”
Pausing for several seconds, the trooper smiled broadly, understanding the couple wasn’t going to admit to anything. His admiration grew in leaps and bounds as he realized that they must have been aware of the recording devices attached to the uniform.
Approaching Jarod slowly he said in a calming voice, “Relax, I just wanted to shake your hand and say ‘thanks’; Trooper Stubbs is my brother-in-law and was on his last week of training. My sister was 9 months pregnant when he was hijacked. His only excuse for being blindsided is that he was waiting for a call to run to the hospital. While he was in that trunk, he was sure he would never live to see his daughter.”
Jarod smiled quizzically and shook the man’s hand, offering his congratulations while the trooper insisted on shaking Parker’s hand as well. “I’m glad your brother-in-law is alright. What happened to the people who hijacked him?”
The smile suddenly faded from the trooper’s face, replaced by vengeful anger. “I did some research on those two clowns. There isn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that once they were done, raping and robbing motorists, they would have killed my brother and his partner. Right now they are being indicted with at least half a dozen charges, including the attempted sexual assault on you Ma’am.” The trooper replied. Noticing Parker’s slightly furrowed brow, he continued, “It doesn’t matter that you stopped Dicenzo from raping you by kicking his ass and breaking both his knee caps. The fact that he tried on you what he had done to at least 3 other women successfully, suffices. Terry is going to flip when I tell him that I met the good Samaritans who saved him, it’ll make his day.”
“And you think by just hearing our voices that we were involved?” Parker asked softly.
“Yeah, you also have the same coordinated timing as you did in the video. The second he started speaking; you pulled down your shades. While I watched the videotape of you two in action, I kept thinking perhaps you were working for either ‘Special Forces’ or one of those secret government organizations, which one is it?”
Parker removed her sunglasses completely and gave the trooper a cynically incredulous look causing him to laugh appreciatively. Abruptly, he turned to the Major and demanded the return of the ticket.
“You won’t be getting any tickets from me or anyone else while I’m out here. If you ever need anything, call me,” he said as he removed his business card from his uniform pocket and handed it over in exchange for the ticket. Shaking his head in disbelief he said with amusement, “Terry will never believe it when I tell him one of his saviors is a drop-dead gorgeous lady. Oh, wait a minute, what am I thinking? I should have let you keep that ticket. My niece now has the stupidest name—they call her ‘Spencer’ after your pseudonym. The two of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves,” he said with mock anger and received answering laughter from all four travelers as he walked back to his cruiser with a large, happy grin on his face.
