Chapter Four

“How is he?”

“The same. He misses you, we all do. I can’t keep lying to him. It’s only been two weeks, and I’m running out of things to say.”

“I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

“It doesn’t. We can find another way, I promise.”

“We already tried, and failed. We are out of time. He’s given so much to us, it’s about time I did something for him.”

“Does that something have to be the one thing he’ll quantify as unforgivable?”

“If all goes according to my plan, he’ll never have to know.”

“How can you believe for a second that we can keep something this big a secret?”

“My entire childhood was based on secrets and lies. I guess along the way I became an expert.”

“Don’t hide behind them. Just because it was their way, doesn’t mean it is yours. It’s not. You are just making excuses.”

“Maybe.”

“Is this where we have to say goodbye? I don’t know if I can do this. What if I need you? What if he needs you? What if … ”

“It WILL be okay.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I’ll try my best, is that good enough for you?”

“Of course. But it’s not me you have to worry about. It’s him.”

SL-24 – UNCLASSIFIED AREA

Parker strode towards Jarod cell, concentrating on the sharp sound her stilettos made as she walked down the nearly deserted corridor in SL-24. Only the two sweepers posted outside the door alerted her to the fact that someone was even down here. The hallway had an eerie emptiness about it, which was saying something in the Centre.

It was Monday, her first day back in Corporate. She was finally free of Jarod, yet here she was, and why? Ever since Sam had slapped the handcuffs around the pretender’s wrists, Parker’s gut instinct at been screaming at the fact that something wasn’t right. Jarod’s submissive demeanour, the abandoned cabin in the woods that had been occupied by the Major and Gemini, something was not adding up. Hell, all of it wasn’t adding up. The pursuit of Jarod had fine tuned-her already excellent ability to pay attention to detail. There were missing pieces in this puzzle, and by the amount of sleepless tossing and turning she had enjoyed over the weekend, she wasn’t going to rest until this was resolved.

Parker had chased Jarod for six years and had enjoyed nothing but failure, a few hours in the Florida Keys and about 1 minute in an apartment building notwithstanding. Any residual guilt towards sentencing Jarod to further imprisonment aside, it was nice to think that she had for once been able to take control of her destiny. Her ‘Daddy’ was gone, she hadn’t brought the genius home for his approval. She had done this because it was her job, because she was a Parker, but mostly, because it was time for the game to end; Once and for all.

The nagging feeling that the past few days weren’t as they seemed, was taking away from Parker’s feelings of success. She needed answers, the kind only the lab-rat could provide. She had spent the last six years chasing answers that Jarod had dangled in front of her, it was about time that boy-wonder was forthcoming with her about something. No more games.

Parker suppressed a smile as the sweepers let her into Jarod’s room without question. She was partially surprised that she hadn’t made Raines’ list of forbidden visitors, a privilege that seemed reserved only for Sydney. The shrink had practically jumped her as she had made her way into the building this morning. It was obvious that Sydney had slept very little this weekend, his concern for Jarod overwhelming him. Sydney became less of scientist and more of a mommy with each passing day.

As Parker walked over to the barred cage, she stopped suddenly, as she caught sight of Jarod. Six long years of chasing, and she had barely spared a second thought to exactly what might happen when the pretender was returned. She knew Lyle had abused Jarod terribly that last time he had been here, but she had purposely ignored the implications of a few references to jumper cables that the pretender had made after escaping Centre custody. Whatever shreds of success she was still holding onto quickly turned to guilt. Parker pushed it aside, Sydney was worrying enough for the both of them.

The Centre was certainly a more dangerous place without her father running the show, and Jarod was far from immune.

Parker watched as Jarod lifted his head slightly as he became aware of her presence in the room. He was curled up on the floor on the left side of his cage, as if trying to hide in the dark. The lights barely lit up the room as it was, just breeding irritation as they flickered with a near strobe like intensity. It was as if Jarod hadn’t moved much from where the sweepers had likely dumped him when they had returned him here.

“Miss Parker.” Jarod whispered hoarsely, as he pulled himself to a sitting position, using the bars as support.

“Looks like Raines threw you one hell of a homecoming party.” Parker stated with forced indifference, noticing Jarod’s wince as he leaned against the bars.

Jarod just looked at her tiredly, his brown eyes dull. “Did you enjoy California?” He asked, his tone falling flat.

Parker gave him a false smile. “Which trip Jarod, the one that led me to you, or the one in which we supposedly missed your family unit shacking up in the woods?”

“I can see the California sun did nothing to improve your mood.” Jarod stated sarcastically.

She ignored his remark. Parker and Jarod could banter for hours. She didn’t come here to make idle chitchat with the great pretender. She needed answers and he owed her more than one.

“So Jarod, tell me, where are we going to find your twisted little family next? Lyle is on his way to Oregon, only a few miles north from allowing me to classify it as the third trip to California in as many days.” Parker baited.

Jarod narrowed his eyes, still clutching the bars of his cell. “If I knew that, I’d be there with them, instead of being in here.” He replied bitterly.

“Cut the crap Jarod. You are up to something.” Parker stated boldly.

“The jet-lag must be getting to you then. What kind of game do you think I play, that would involve me being in here? I'd rather be dead than perform another simulation for the Centre.” Jarod informed her cynically.

“Tell me this Jarod. Lyle’s been hunting your family for almost a year. I could count the number of times he got close with one finger. I’m supposed to believe that the very day you fall into my lap that coincidentally your little family starts leading my brother on a zig-zag race across the country? Three hits in as many days?”

“Life is filled with coincidences Miss Parker.” Jarod replied neutrally, looking up at her.

“As far as Centre business is concerned, there is no such thing as coincidence. I’m not buying your ignorant act Jarod. It may work for Captain Wheezy and my idiot brother, but it’s not cutting it for me.” Parker sneered. She was so tired of his damn games.

“Why do you even care Miss Parker?” Jarod asked with a heavy sigh. “You’ve won, you caught me. I’m back where you’ve wanted to put me for over six years. I thought this is the last place you would be coming to on your first day of freedom. Did Daddy Raines not agree for your transfer to Corporate?” Jarod taunted weakly.

Parker inhaled sharply, surprised at the bluntness of Jarod’s words. “I’m doing my job Jarod, protecting what belongs to the Centre.” She snapped.

Jarod looked away from her briefly, mostly likely due to her reference to him as Centre property.

“Continuing your mother’s work, how proud she would have been.” Jarod retorted bitterly. Parker refused to be baited by his remark. It was expected. The second he ran out of ammunition, he lashed out with some remark about her mother. It wasn’t going to work – not today. It was an old game, one Parker knew how to win.

“As proud as yours will be, to find out she has a son who has to be kept in a zoo-cage.” Parker almost smiled as the last traces of confidence fell from Jarod’s face, not wasting a breath she continued on. “Just because I’m back in Corporate doesn’t mean I’m not watching you Jarod. As long as your ass is behind these bars, I can get on with my life. I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep it that way. You are up to something. I know it.” She stated with conviction.

“Don’t you feel at least a little bit guilty that your new found freedom comes at the price of mine?” Jarod questioned, his eyes now downcast on the floor. “There was a time when we would have done almost anything for each other.”

“We do what we need to do to survive, Jarod. Our fate is just this, whatever one does, condemns the other.” She replied, her tone softening slightly, despite her efforts to remain strong. She could hear the door behind her opening, Parker turning her head behind her to find Willie and Sam standing in the door frame, a pair of handcuffs waiting in the latter’s hands.

“I’ll be watching you Jarod.” Parker warned again as Sam entered the pretender’s cell.

“Get up.” The sweeper commanded.

Jarod clenched the bars in front of him, swaying slightly, as if dizzy, as he reached a standing position after a moderate effort.

“I’m counting on it.” The pretender replied to her, with conviction, not resisting as Sam pulled him away from the bars and restrained him.

Parker frowned as Jarod sagged between the two sweepers as they dragged him out of his cell, almost as if the pretender couldn’t support his own weight.

Logically Parker suspected that Jarod could just be pretending, knowing if he appeared vulnerable and at risk, it could force Raines to back off slightly. As much as the wheezing chairman had it out for the pretender, he wouldn’t dare destroy him beyond repair, Jarod was simply too valuable.

With a heavy sigh, Parker followed the sweepers out of the room, her eyes never leaving Jarod’s form. She had come here hoping for resolution to the questions that had tortured her for the past three days. However, Parker was leaving as confused as when she arrived, but more certain than ever that something was very wrong.

Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area, Oregon State

(~ 10 miles north of the California State Border)

Lyle grimaced as they pulled up to the entrance of the small state park. Jarod’s sordid family was taking the concept of rustic to whole new heights. He loved the forest as much as any small-town American would, but not like this. Three thousand dollar business suits didn’t belong trudging along the rugged coastline of Oregon.

Broots’ lead indicated that Major Charles and Gemini had been seen camping around this area. Local sweeper teams had been dispatched as Lyle had made the long five hour flight across the country, for the second time in as many days, but had turned up nothing. He was here only as a matter of formality, to question those around the campsite to see if anyone had seen something, anything that could lead them to finding their precious asset in the flesh.

He still had Gemini’s journal to go on. The whole thing was written in some indecipherable form of shorthand. Logically, Lyle knew that he should have handed it over to Parker when they had landed ever so briefly in Blue Cove, but he simply didn’t trust her. It would have to wait until he could personally hand it over to the tech department back at the Centre. She likely would have given it to Jarod for some comforting bedtime reading. While Parker had exhibited nothing but resolve to catch Jarod, except on occasions when her focus shifted towards her own family secrets, her motivation towards the reacquisition of Gemini was shaky at best. She had, however, brought home the prize, and now it was his turn to follow suit. Lyle patted his gun that was carefully hidden beneath his suit pocket, he would relish the moment when he would pump Major Charles full of lead. Only then would Jarod and Gemini truly belong to the Centre, to him.

“Here, Mr Lyle?” The sweeper driving the black town car asked politely as they pulled up beside the campsite registration cabin.

Lyle remained quiet, knowing the sweeper would interpret his silence as agreement.

The second the car pulled to a stop, Lyle exited the car, striding purposely into the small building. What had to be a middle-aged card carrying hippie was seated behind the desk.

“Ahh return of the suits. I don’t know who you are looking for, but they must have done something bad – real bad.” The man stated with disinterest, barely looking up from the crossword he was completing.

Lyle frowned with impatience; the man was obviously referring to local Oregon team that had combed the area while he was flying across the continent.

He threw two pictures in front of the hippie. “I assume you saw these two, they were apparently here until last night.”

The man barely glanced at them for two seconds, instead continuing with the puzzle in front of him. “Yup.” He stated simply.

Lyle had enough. Damn hippies and their lack of respect towards authority. Menacingly, he snatched the crossword puzzle from the man, crumpling it up in a small ball.

“Now tell me, have you seen these men?” He asked again threateningly, his eyes cold and his voice impatient.

The man sighed heavily. “I don’t believe I have seen your identification. What are you, FBI, CIA?”

Lyle scoffed. “You don’t get to. Answer my questions now.”

That grabbed the man’s attention. “The ever elusive secret government organization. What? Is Major Charles some ex-air force veteran gone crazy terrorist?”

Lyle sneered. “This is how this works. I’m not here to answer your questions; rather you are here to answer mine. Now start talking.”

With a heavy sigh the man studied the pictures again. “They checked in yesterday around 10am, set up camp and everything. That boy was wandering around here, eyes lit up like he had never seen a forest before. I figured them for big city folk. Something came up however, and around six in the evening they packed up in a big hurry, didn’t even ask for their deposit back.”

“Any idea where they were heading?” Lyle snapped.

“Nope,” The man smiled. “And for their sake, I hope it’s in the opposite direction of you and your band of merry little men.”

Lyle ignored him, instead storming out of the cabin in frustration as his cell phone started ringing.

“Lyle.”

“Uh.. Mr. Lyle, it’s Broots. We have another hit on Major Charles and Jay.”

Lyle frowned. “For your sake it better be in the North-west.” He was beginning to feel like he was being led on a wild goose chase by Major Charles and the boy. Still the leads seemed genuine, and he hadn’t been this close for months. He could almost taste the victory.

“Umm … They’ve changed direction and gone south.. Well more like south east.”

“Where are they?” He growled, not in the mood for the tech’s rambling.

“The Military base in Pensacola, Florida reported an unauthorized landing at a small air field outside just outside the city limits. I did some checking, turns out the plane was meant to land in nearby Montgomery, Alabama. The original flightplan indicates the plane took off from…”

“Let me guess, Brookings, Oregon?” Lyle finished for Broots, naming the small city close the state park they were currently in.

“They landed forty minutes ago.”

Lyle swore under his breath. “I want sweeper teams on the ground from our local office, every man that is available. They won’t get away, not this time.” He barked, making a note to lecture the tech on the quality of his leads when he returned to the Centre.

“Back to the airstrip.” He commanded his sweeper team.

They were getting closer. Question is, was it going to be close enough?

THE CENTRE - SL-16 Isolation Wing

Sydney rushed down the hallway frantically, having received a call that Angelo was having a psychotic episode. He assumed he had been called down only because Raines was occupied with a seemingly more important matter in the form of Jarod. What he couldn’t figure out is why Angelo was currently being housed in the Isolation wing, and not in his normal space. The empath had obviously done something to earn a brief stay here. Angelo was very difficult to contain, but for whatever reason, he seemed incapable of leaving the isolation wing. Unfortunately the empath always emerged nearly cationic after more than a few days, and hence it was used only when absolutely necessary.

Sydney could see the relief on the sweeper’s face as he approached Angelo’s doorway.

“What happened?” Sydney asked with concern.

“He just started freaking out about two hours ago Doc.”

“Why is he here, and not in his normal wing?” Sydney asked, fishing for information.

“Mr. Raines orders sir.” The sweeper responded dutifully. “He just started screaming. We’ve restrained him, and with your permission he’ll be sedated.”

“Let me in.” Sydney commanded with authority, again questioning why Raines would order Angelo to be placed in such a high security area. He knew the answer likely had something to do with Jarod – few things in the Centre didn’t, one way or another.

Angelo was seated in the corner of the small cell, rocking madly back and forth. He had been placed in a straightjacket, and was fruitlessly jerking his shoulders, as if trying to free himself from his restraints. “DANGER. DANGER. DANGER. HELP FRIEND.” Angelo screamed, causing Sydney to flinch back.

He had only seen such furious emotions radiating from Angelo a handful of times before, the most recent being when Jarod had been threatened by a previous victim of one of his pretends.

Sydney cautiously knelt down in front of the screaming empath, placing his hand on Angelo’s shoulders, trying to bring him back to reality.

“DANGER. DANGER.” Angelo screeched, tears flowing freely down his face.

“What is it Angelo?” Sydney questioned with concern.”

“Jarod. Help Jarod!” Angelo screamed, ignoring Sydney and continuing on with his violent jerking back and forth.

“What is wrong?” Sydney asked, his stomach clenching at the mention of Jarod’s name. Angelo had never led them astray in the past, and he knew this time would be no different.

“Friend sick. DANGER.” Angelo moaned. “Help Jarod.”

“What is wrong with Jarod Angelo? Please tell me.” Sydney pleaded, again reaching out to comfort the empath.

Angelo shrank away from Sydney’s touch, as they both became aware of a squealing wheel behind them. “DANGER. DANGER. DANGER!!!” The empath continued to scream, his jerking become more violet with each passing second.

Sydney stood back up turning to face Raines, a nervous orderly cowering behind the man.

“Sedate him.” Raines ordered to the poor man behind him, his eyes boring into Sydney’s.

Sydney ignored the chairman momentarily, instead bending down and assisting the orderly in injecting Angelo with the strong sedative. He didn’t bother arguing with Raines, he knew Angelo couldn’t go on in this over-excited state for much longer. He rubbed the empath’s back in comfort as Angelo quickly succumbed to the drug.

“Angelo has never led us astray before Raines, if he says something is wrong with Jarod, there is or soon will be.” Sydney tried to reason with the man, as he turned to face him.

“Jarod is no longer your concern Sydney.” Raines wheezed back.

“Jarod will always be my concern. If there is something wrong with him, I will find out about it. I won’t stand by while you destroy him.” Sydney replied angrily as he pushed past the former doctor.

Raines wasn’t going to give him answers, but there were two people left in this building who could still help.

With any luck, it wasn’t already too late.

Outside the confines of these walls, Sydney could at least fall back on the belief that Jarod could use his mind, the numerous resources available to him to survive. At the Centre, under Raines’s strict and oppressive control, Jarod was at their mercy. The pounding heart in his chest was betraying exactly how much fear he had for his protégé.

Raines wasn’t going to ruin another life, not this time. No matter what the cost.

THE CENTRE, TECH-ROOM, 48 hours later.

“Faster Broots.” Miss Parker commanded with irritation.

“I’m trying Miss Parker.” Broots snapped back. She raised her eyebrows at his unusual show of resolve, before turning to Sydney who was pacing nervously behind her.

“Stop the pacing Syd, it’s not helping.” She ordered with a heavy sigh. The shrink didn’t seem to even register her words.

“Think boys. Where would Raines have hidden them?” She growled, clearly frustrated.

“Maybe if we focus our efforts on finding Angelo? He’ll be able to find Jarod is no time.” Broots suggested.

Parker shook her head. Sydney had shown up in her office two days ago, pleading with her that they needed to help Jarod. She had been reluctant to help, until the psychiatrist had gotten Broots to bring her the DSA of what had transpired down in the Isolation ward with Angelo. She hadn’t seen the empath that worked up since Jarod had been supposedly cornered by Bartlett .

Without hesitation, she had immediately gone down to Jarod’s cell only to find it empty. The camera in the back corner had been deactivated making it glaringly obvious that the pretender had been moved. But to where?

Coincidentally, Sydney had returned to where he had left Angelo safely sedated only hours earlier on SL-16, only to find the empath himself had vanished.

Raines was hiding them, Parker knew it. The question was why?

Broots had been looking non-stop for nearly a day and a half, but Jarod was nowhere to be found.

“It’s a waste of time Broots. Even if we do find Cousin-It, Dr. Jekyll likely has him doped on some nice narcotics. He’ll be useless to us. Focus on the camera feeds. I have a gut feeling that is where our answer lies.” Parker took a step back from the tech, rubbing her temples with annoyance.

“After six damn years, your boy is finally back in the Centre Syd, and here I am still hunting his sorry ass down.” Parker commented dryly.

Sydney ignored her once again, continuing his distracted pacing behind the computer terminal where Broots was frantically typing away.

Parker had to admit her concern for the pretender was growing. The whole situation had stunk of foul play the moment she had caught up to Jarod. The plot was simply thickening, and Angelo’s episode had only confirmed her worse suspicions. Wrong didn’t even begin to explain what was going on here.

Walking over to Sydney, she placed her hand on the shrink’s shoulder in an attempt to get him to stop his pacing. It was only adding to her frustration.

“Don’t worry Syd, We’ll find him. If I have learned one thing about Jarod in the last six years, it is that he’s always at least four or five steps ahead of us. He’s stuck in one place now, it’s just a matter of catch up.” She offered sympathetically.

The psychiatrist’s haunted eyes met hers. “But will we be in time?”

Parker was spared from answering as Broots sprung up from his chair.

“I got something, I think anyways…” Broots announced excitedly.

“You think?” Parker questioned heavily. “We don’t have time for hunches Broots. You need to be damn sure.”

The tech stiffened slightly, but ignored her remark. “I compared the security digital data archive from the past three days. They are identical, except for two new feeds, coming from the same wing.”

“I don’t care how, I just want to know where Broots.” Parker snapped impatiently.

“SL-22, Corridor 8.” Broots replied neutrally.

“Pull up the feed.” She ordered.

“It’s downloading as we speak.” Broots informed her, as she and Sydney moved towards the computer bay where the tech was seated.

Parker placed a comforting hand on Sydney’s shoulder as the live feed starting playing on Broots’ computer.

“I can see Raines didn’t bother with the basic amenities.” Parker commented wryly as Jarod came into focus on the monitor. The wheezing bastard had apparently found an even more decrepit cell for the pretender. It was a small room, at least half the size of where he had been previously housed. The cell was completely barren, a large viewing window the only thing breaking the monotonous nature of the dark grey room. A small tray sat beside the door, the green mush that every Centre inmate was forced to choke down on a daily basis was untouched.

“Can you focus in on Jarod, Broots?” Sydney asked anxiously, concern evident in his tone.

A few simple keystrokes and Jarod filled up the entire screen. Deep bruising was visible on the parts of his body that weren’t covered by his grey clothing, and a thin layer of a sweat was evident on his face. As the streaming feed continued, Parker became aware that Jarod was trembling violently, clearly the victim of an intense fever.

“What do you think Syd?” Parker inquired, “Raging flu or after effects from one of Raines’ pharmaceutical concoctions?” She proposed softly.

Sydney shook his head. “I don’t know. I need to see him.”

Parker studied the psychiatrist carefully, knowing Raines had forbidden him to step foot anywhere remotely near to Jarod. Sydney was obviously not thinking clearly, and the last thing she wanted to do was allow him to put himself at unnecessary risk. She would never forgive herself if anything were to happen to him.

“Broots, how long will it take you to set up a camera loop – one that cannot be detected by the archives?” Parker questioned sharply.

“A few hours.” Broots answered honestly.

“I’ll go figure out what time Raines leaves for the night…” Parker stated, turning as if to leave the room.

“Nine-thirty, give or take ten minutes.” Broots interrupted without hesitation as both she and Sydney shot him a surprised look.

“How many times did you make me break into his office?” The tech replied sheepishly as even Sydney managed a contrived grin.

Three pairs of eyes darted nervously to the screen as the sound of an electronic lock disengaging was heard on the live feed.

Parker swore under her breath, it was Raines followed by his favourite puppy dog Willie.

“On your feet.” Raines commanded tersely as Jarod looked up from his spot on the floor.

The pretender closed his eyes slightly, but obeyed, rising slowly as if the simple act of rising to a standing position was almost impossible. Parker saw Sydney tense as Jarod immediately was assaulted by a violet coughing fit. The pretender swayed back and forth slightly as his coughs subsided, clearly dizzied by the physical exertion of standing.

“You don’t look so good Jarod.” Raines commented without concern.

Jarod looked at him with pure hatred. “Maybe I should go see one of your beloved doctors, could be something serious.”

Raines let out an amused chuckle. “Between the two of us I’m the only one with actual medical training. My diagnosis is that you’re pretending. If you think a few sniffles and contrived coughing sprees are going to spare you… then I must regretfully inform you that you are mistaken.” The man wheezed slowly.

“I’m sure the AMA revoked your license over a trivial matter.” Jarod replied sarcastically as Raines’ glare darkened.

“Willie.” Raines ordered angrily, his eyes not leaving the pretender.

Jarod’s eyes darted towards the sweeper nervously as the tall dark man approached him, handcuffs at the ready.

With the pretender carefully restrained, Raines walked over to him. “As a precaution to your supposed illness, I’ll be sure to keep you under strict isolation orders. Wouldn’t want you infecting your beloved Sydney now would we?”

Jarod huffed in amusement. “You’re concern is overwhelming. I guess the Hippocratic Oath is still in you– somewhere.” He replied, before falling victim to another violent coughing attack.

Raines stood back in disgust. “Quit with the act Jarod.” He wheezed, before turning around. Willie pushed Jarod forward harshly, causing the pretender to crash into the wall across from him with a heavy grunt.

Parker glanced over at Sydney as Jarod disappeared from view, sagging under Willie’s tight hold. It was obvious that the pretender was suffering from something, but as to what, and how serious it was, neither had any idea.

However Angelo’s frantic screaming was fresh on her mind. Angelo wouldn’t go postal over as something as trivial as the flu.

“10 pm Sydney. We’ll go down and see him.” Parker offered.

Sydney simply nodded. She recognized the far away look on the psychiatrist’s face, he was deep in thought and would likely stay that way until he could fret over his protégé in person.

Eight hours; How much could change?