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Thank you to Imagine and Callisto for their hard work, without that help, the typo queen would have lost you after the first sentence. Thank you to Ginger for the encouragement.
I hope not to lose you with this chapter, for those shippers you do get a scene. Those who enjoy the Centre's intrigue, I'm working on it.
Thank you for the very kind reviews.
I hope not to lose you with this chapter, for those shippers you do get a scene. Those who enjoy the Centre's intrigue, I'm working on it.
Thank you for the very kind reviews.
THE HUMAN CONDITION
CHAPER 7
You’ve seen me at my weakest but you take me as I am
And when I fall you offer me a softer place to land
“Push” by Sarah McLachlan
A continued beeping slowly drew their attention away from each other and back to the computer. Jarod could hear her take a deep breath, and he glanced over to find she was watching him. At her nod he opened the inbox to find a new email from CJ. Jarod hesitated again, his finger suspended above the key.
“Just open it already.” Parker managed through clenched teeth.
He couldn’t help the smile, it was just so…her. They were close enough Jarod could feel her tension, or perhaps it was just knowing how well she never handled being made to wait.
They both stood looking at the one line spread across the page. It simply read, “Daughter stay safe. Daddy’s game to capture queen.”
Parker released the breath she was holding and looked at Jarod. He was standing beside her chair, sharing the same space in front of the monitor; he leaned even closer to the screen. She was very aware of his physical presence and the effect he was starting to have on her. If he had been Broots, she may have been tempted to snap her fingers to remind him that time was flying. Jarod was different; he rarely wasted time and usually paused only when there was something off or not right. She waited, wondering if he was lost in the e-mails wording and hunting for the meaning that eluded her.
“’Daughter stay safe… Daddy’s game to capture queen’.” Jarod repeated it like a mantra, after the third time he turned and looked at Parker.
“I think he means that you are safer here. Angelo always referred to you as daughter, didn’t he?”
“You are kidding. Your inside source is Angelo? And you understand his messages?” Then more to herself, she continued, “Of course you do, and that’s why always know what’s going on before we figure it out.”
Jarod turned to her and repeated more forcefully, “Angelo always refers to you as daughter, doesn’t he?”
Her eyebrows lifted, “Angelo calls me ‘daughter’, but with the way he talks he could be referring to anyone or no one at all.” Parker blamed the fatigue for the bout of sadness and surprise at the thought of Angelo keeping her safe, when all his life he sacrificed himself and his sanity by staying behind and giving up his chance for a life outside of that hell.
Jarod’s eyes returned to the monitor, mentally filing away her reaction to analyze later. “How many women do you think Angelo has even met? He refers to you as ‘daughter’ because he remembers it was your mother who tried to help him.” Jarod quickly glanced in her direction before continuing with his thought, “Okay, you are safe now, meaning you may not be if left or did something other than you are doing.”
She began to nod in agreement then stopped, “I don’t know, Jarod. We only received the one sentence. Deciphering Angelo’s missives tends to be more challenging than the obvious. I maybe more incline to agree. Keep going. What did he mean by ‘daddy’s game to capture the queen’?”
“Angelo uses familial titles whenever he’s referring to you. Daughter-because of your mother; Daddy obviously is your father. Sometimes the obvious is the answer.”
“Wait a minute Angelo and you have spoken of my father and he referred to him as ‘daddy’? Are you sure that is … Jarod.”
He laid his hand gently on her shoulder as she faltered as the pain emanating form her shoulder blade suddenly intensified then faded. For an instant, it was as if the blade of a knife had started separating her bone from flesh. Though she didn’t cry out, even she heard the tremor in her voice when she said his name.
“Parker, are you up to this tonight? Do you want to lie down for a bit? I’ll stay and see what I can figure out. We read the email, now we just need to de-Angelo it.”
She couldn’t escape the thoughtful way he was watching her. His closeness combining with her fatigue and pain was becoming a mind numbing mishmash and provided no help at all in dealing with Angelo speak. Parker found it difficult to remove her gaze from his. “Let me freshen up, I’ll think better.”
“Why not relax a bit and let your system regenerate?” Jarod could see the weariness in her speech and actions but he knew better than insist; however she did seem more ready to comply lately with his suggestions.
“First I’d like to stand under a nice hot shower and see how that works.” She couldn’t keep the yawn smothered no matter how hard she tried. She heard him snicker. “If I fall asleep, you’ll wake me if anything new comes up or if you figure out what the hell Angelo is talking about, won’t you? “
Jarod was already helping her out of the desk chair, “Come on. If I get another email I promise you I’ll get you up and we will read it together. Honestly, do you think whatever I figure out from this email can’t wait until later?”
Parker shrugged slightly, “I guess.” She watched faintly amused as he snagged the red nightgown off the bed and then paused not knowing how to ask about underwear. It was becoming quite a topic between them. One that she found delightfully amusing knowing Jarod was unsure how to approach the subject with her.
Parker pulled out a pair of red underwear from the drawer. They nearly matched the nightgown, and, again she wondered if that was on purpose or coincidence. The fact that her underwear now came in a rainbow of colors, red would be naturally be among the range of hues. With a flair she twirled the underwear on her finger and announced, “Okay, I think I can manage this one on my own, I just want to clean the sand out of my pores.”
“I’ll be here at the computer if you need any help.” She knew he was blushing without having to look at him. It was in the way he quickly turned away and mumbled his answer.
Just as she was about to close the bathroom door, he stopped her, “It may be a good idea to take something for pain now, so it has time to work. Do you think you’ll need anything else?”
“You mean your pharmacy mixture? No, dampening the pain should be enough. I am tired enough as it is, - unless you would be so kind as to make me a cup of tea, too?”
“Sure. I’ll have it by the time you’re done. And Parker . . .” He waited for her to look at him. “If you find you do need a hand,” he raised both of his, “I’m all yours.”
Jarod shot her the impish grin she knew so well.
Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, “Yeah, I’ll let you know.”
He grinned at the closing door.
The kitchen was well lit against the dimming light from the outside; Jarod could hear his father and Jem’s voice drift amicably through the hallway. Approaching the kitchen he could clearly hear their conversation as the Major and Jem continued discussing the virtues of grilled chicken and the many marinades to use. Jarod noticed the marinade in question looked like it was made from the fruit they had eaten at lunch.
He watched as his father squeezed the juice from an orange and cut a lemon to use next. “Where are the spices Dad?”
The major pointed to the cabinet, Jarod gathered a variety spices and holding them aloft, asked if they minded his help. As he finished concocting his recipe for the marinade, the teakettle began whistling. Jarod handed the spoon to his father and began brewing the tea he had promised Parker.
“How is Miss Parker doing?” The Major asked while watching his son’s precise measurements of adding the ground herbal tea into the glass pot.
“She’s tired and in pain. Although she is usually too stubborn to admit it, so you know when she does, it must be bad.” Jarod looked up as the he allowed the tea to brew, “I think she really enjoyed herself today, it was good to see her relax. I don’t know when I have seen her smile as much as she did on the beach.” He was smiling at the memory and after pouring the tea into her cup he looked to see both Jem and the Major exchange similar grins.
As he mixed in a couple of pain tablets he told them about Angelo’s email to see if they had any thoughts as to its meaning. When the three of them had bounced off several thoughts regarding chess and the part of the queen, Jarod interrupted, “We’ll talk about it a bit more, later, I want to get this to Parker while it is still hot.”
“Will you two be joining us for some supper? It should be ready in about an hour or so.”
“If we aren’t out go ahead and eat, I can warm it up later. Parker needs to get some rest.”
Jarod entered Parker’s bedroom expecting to see her either in bed or at the desk, but there was no sign of her. He looked out the door to her side of the wrap around porch. She wasn’t outside. The tall man wasted no time in setting the tea down and knocking on the bathroom door.
“Parker, are you okay?” He slowly opened the door to see her wearing her red short nightgown and sitting on the rim of the bathtub contemplating her legs that were stretched out before her. When she didn’t immediately answer he sat on the toilet seat and waited, letting his gaze drift down her long legs, openly marveling at the sight until she cleared her throat. He quickly managed to make eye contact, knowing he was busted.
She was smiling at his flustered appearance. Despite his repeated comments that he had already seen her naked, he was still uncomfortable with the sight of her underwear, the panties in particular. And, now, the sight of her bare legs seemed to have affected him in ways he wasn’t prepared to admit.
Perhaps it was because of all those occasions he had embarrassed her; moments like when he set up a trap so that she and her team were glued to the floor of a roach infested hotel room, or the strip search in Vegas. Or, perhaps she just liked torturing him. Regardless of her motive, though, she couldn’t seem to help but take pleasure from his moments of awkwardness. So much so that Parker wasn’t sure she’d need the pain medicine after all. It might be the release of endorphins, whatever it was she was enjoying it far more than she knew she should.
“Is that offer to help still on the table?”
“You know it is. What do you need?”
“If we are going to be here for a while and on the beach, I have a problem.”
She looked over at him trying to keep a serious expression on her face, until she told him what she needed him to do. Then all bets were off.
“Yes. What’s the problem Parker?”
“Well I can’t be out around three men wearing shorts and a bathing suit with these legs.”
Jarod looked at her totally confused, “What do you mean with these legs, what’s wrong with them?”
“Jarod, I’m not a cave woman. Women now a days do not go out with legs like apes!” She watched noting the dime hadn’t dropped yet, although his gaze had. He was trying to figure out how her legs had suddenly developed into ape legs, and what he was supposed to do about it.
“I don’t understand. No body would mistake your legs for those belonging to a wild primate of any species.” He was scratching his unshaven face; he hadn’t shaved since his sunburn. Jarod continued using cologne as a matter of principal. After all from the advertisements he saw, women preferred to smell the perfumed toiletry. He was only trying to make Parker comfortable. It was during the scratching that his hand slowed and his eyebrows rose. He could just detect the beginning of hair growth on the shins of Miss Parker’s legs.
His head jerked up to look at her. “You want me to…”
Plop, she could see the dime finally dropped, and was spinning wildly.
“Yes. You said if I need help, and I can’t move my arm that far, without moving the shoulder blades.”
“But Parker you are right handed, it’s the left shoulder…”
“Jarod are you going to help me or not?”
“I said I would.” His sigh was so profound that Parker had to look down to conceal her smile.
Jarod gathered up the supplies he thought he would need from his room and took them into Parker’s bathroom. After much experimenting they decided that sitting on the floor would work best, with Jarod behind her, acting as though her leg was an extension of his own. Although he was quick to point out that he never shaved his legs,
Jarod, gently bent the left leg, then had Parker prop her heel on the side of the tub, putting her nearly in his lap. His shaving foam was thick on his hands ready to smear it on her left leg when he looked at her once more.
”Parker, are you sure you want to do this?”
She felt his nearness. He had her almost completely enfolded within his arms, her back comfortably cradled in his chest, and his soft breath on her neck. Suddenly it wasn’t as funny as before. “Maybe we should try it and if it doesn’t work out I’ll wear jeans.”
He leaned forward and began to run his shaving-foamed hand up her leg from the ankle to shin and up to her knee. Tiny bristles were just barely prickling against his palm. Her skin was silky smooth and to get to her ankle he had to lean further into her body, trying to be careful of where he leaned into her back. Jarod foamed his other hand and used both to gently encase her leg, evenly spreading the foam over calf and shin. Dipping the razor into the warmed water he carefully brought the blade from the ankle up to the knee leaving behind a clear smooth path of soft shinning skin. His arms around either side of her allowed him to feel each breath she took, and the scent of her hair mixed with the shaving foam would be a combination he would never forget.
He continued rinsing the razor in the water and using it to clear the foam with careful, steady strokes. When her lower leg was scraped clean from the knee down. Jarod pulled the second pan of clean water to his side. Taking the bath sponge from the water, he lightly, almost sensuously glided it along her limb and over the now shimmering smooth skin until there was no trace of the white lather.
As he began to pat her leg dry with a towel, Jarod let his hand glide from the ankle to the knee, lingering slightly over the shin and calf, searching for any residual stubble. Jarod could feel his senses going into overload and fought to contain his thoughts to the task at hand.
Parker handed him the body lotion and told him it was to protect her skin from drying out. Nodding, he massaged the leg with the cream, again moving his hands over her skin in long even strokes. As enjoyable as it was to be allowed this task, Jarod was beginning to feel the consequences, in ways that were beginning to be hard to disguise.
By the time he finished shaving and moisturizing her right leg, nervous perspiration was running down his back, dampening the tee shirt he wore. He again let both his hands glide up both her legs, to make sure he not missed any stray bristles of hair. The feeling the satiny soft legs in his hands, the weight of his body against hers, and her soft scent that invaded his senses with each breath left him worried about getting out of the room without Parker seeing the state he was in. Suddenly he moved from behind her in a near panic, nearly toppling her.
“Okay, I think you … you can manage to get from the knee up. I’ll get you some fresh water.” He took the pan of foamy water to the sink and rinsed it and refilled it.
Parker was sitting on the floor in her very short nightgown looking up at him, blinking as he cleaned the pan and refilled it. She did not move to begin finishing what he had started. She knew why he moved. She had felt the changes in his touch, his breathing, the way he held her and the difference in how he held her. What started out as a payback was now more than either of them knew how to handle. Her heart was racing, she felt suddenly deprived of his presence.
“Can you finish what you want done? If you can, I’ll go heat up your tea.”
She nodded.
A few minutes later Jarod returned with her reheated tea, curious to see how things were progressing. Jarod peeked in to see Parker running the razor lightly along the length of her inner thigh and ducked out, and released a shaky breath, grateful that he went unnoticed. Seeing that Parker had things well in hand he made a hasty retreat.
Twenty minutes later Parker threw the towel into the sink and the sponge and razor into the pan. She rolled to her knees and used the strength in her legs to pull her up. It was harder than she imagined it would be. She was always in good physical shape, now everything seemed to take more effort. She stood looking down at the mess on the floor, reached for the robe on the door before opening it.
Jarod was sitting at the desk, his head raised at the door opening. He quickly got to his feet and met her at the door. “I’ll clean up in there. Do you need anything else?”
“No, I can get that if you give me a few minutes, I think the pain medicine is kicking in. Jarod, I hate not being able to do things for myself.”
“I know,” he wrapped his supportive arm around her, “where to?”
“Let’s go sit in the room with your family for a bit. The chairs in the living room are comfortable. I’ll get that stuff later.”
“Tell you what, you sit here for a minute and I’ll grab those pans off the floor and take care of them so they’re out of the way.”
He helped her into the desk chair and, when she was settled, rose to his full height and murmured, “It is interesting that you hate not doing things for yourself, and yet, I got the feeling you enjoyed having me help you shave.”
Jarod looked over to see Parker with her head back against the chair with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.
“I have to admit, I did enjoy it. Women pay to be pampered like that.”
He was leaning against the desk with his arms folded watching her when she opened her eyes. “What?”
Jarod shook his head, “Never thought I’d hear you say I pampered you.”
“Well up until this trip… you never shaved my legs.” She smirked at him, but the smirk was unlike those he was used to getting from her. This was a gentler, more thoughtful fun grin than a smirk.
“Are you hungry? You haven’t had much to eat. I happen to know that there is some grilled chicken in the kitchen. We can put a salad together and whatever you’d like to have with it.”
She gazed thoughtfully at him, “I’ll say this, you are being very accommodating. If you help me up I’ll help with the salad.”
He gently wrapped an arm around her waist and effortlessly lifted her from the chair.
“Thanks Jarod. I need to start getting strength back to do things on my own.”
“As soon as the incision is healed we’ll start on some physical therapy. If we try too soon we may end up opening that again.” He held her close to him as they found the kitchen deserted and tidied up.
“I’m getting a whole new perspective of what it is like living with men. Where do you think they went?” She walked over to the glass patio doors looking out past the porch to see the Major and Jem sitting on the stonewall watching the moon over the water.
Jarod was standing behind her, “Dad is used to living on his own and cleaning up after himself.”
Parker couldn’t keep the teasing out of her voice when she reminded him that she had been to his old lairs and they were not the clean, in fact some of them were to the point of hog pens.
He smirked and turned her to look at him. “They were the places I wanted you to know I had been. You never knew the places I used as true safe houses.”
“Yes, I know, we had to dig through all that to find your clues. It was all part of the game. I knew that. Syd knew that. The only people that seemed to clueless were the ones sending us on all the goose chases. I do hope you continue to send Lyle on the more exciting ones to the armpits of the world.”
Jarod turned to get the salad makings together, “You and I knew it was a game the whole time, and yet we both managed to do some ugly things to each other. Do you think that was part of the game too?” His voice held a velvety quality, wrapped in a childlike hope.
She took the vegetables he gathered over to the sink to clean them and began pulling them apart and into the bowl, as he cut up the chicken and added other ingredients. “I don’t know Jarod. I think sometimes we both acted out of the frustration of having been put into the situations we were in. I know I never wanted to hurt you. Trying to get the better of you before you got me, or after you topped me seemed to be the game.”
He nodded thoughtfully as they continued to work on their meal.
The Major and Jem entered the kitchen as the two were cleaning up.
“Ah, so you did get something to eat. I thought you’d be asleep by now.” The Major watched as Jarod cleaned the table and Parker cleaned up the counter top they had been preparing their meal on. He noted that Parker held the left arm down and stiffly across her abdomen as she worked with her right hand.
She smiled up at him and rather formally thanked him for tasteful lunch then added, “I want to thank you for including me in the shopping I do appreciate the effort and expense you went to. I’ll see to it that you are paid back, but mostly I have to thank you for your tasteful choices.”
“Miss Parker, while you are here I hope you don’t mind that we just include you as a member of the family. I want you to be comfortable as long as you choose to stay with us.” The Major’s tone was serious; there was no reason to doubt his sincerity.
Parker could feel all eyes on her awaiting her response. Jarod was close enough that she had the impression that he was holding his breath waiting. “I don’t know what I’ve done to be worthy of your kindness but I’m grateful.”
Parker turned toward the hallway back to her bedroom. “I hate to eat and run, but I’m exhausted. Good night Major, Jem. I’ll see you in the morning. Jarod, could I trouble you to …”
“Of course, I’ll walk you back and help you get settled in. I’ll be there in a minute.”
He waited until she was out of earshot before explaining that she hadn’t rested yet and true to her word was exhausted. Jarod said his good nights and followed her back. He found her sitting at the desk her right hand holding her head as she stared at the computer.
“I thought you were exhausted?”
“I am, but there is something about this that is driving me crazy. I don’t understand the part about daddy’s game to capturing the queen. It’s a game? Chess? Daddy never played games. Okay once we played Monopoly, but he didn’t’ have time to play games. I’m not sure he ever played chess.”
Jarod’s hand soothed her shoulder, “It may not be that kind of a game. Perhaps Angelo was referring to the type of games the Centre plays with people.”
He stood behind her; snaking his arms around either side of her, Jarod effortlessly typed in the search ‘capture the queen’. An entire screen came up listing fifty-six examples of the term ‘capture the queen. They scanned down the list. Although most referred to a chess move, or the chess game of exchanging a pawn for a queen, there were entries from the queen in a deck of cards to the value of a queen size bed.
“The most valuable piece in chess. In Medieval Europe, the queen was the weakest piece on the board, and her sudden change in powers in the sixteenth century quickened the pace of the game” she read out loud. “Yeah, I’ll bet Elizabeth Tudor had something to do with that.”
Jarod typed in “define queen”.
Again the screen filled with entries.
“Notice how many of these have to do with breeding, ‘A female cat used for breeding - A female bee that lays all the eggs in the colony – Among social insects such as ants and some bees, the actively reproducing female. – A female used for breeding; the word “dam” is found on pedigree forms.’” Jarod was grinning at Parker’s face as he read down through the entries.
“I think I like the chess references better, “The Queen is equivalent to nine pawns.” She smiled back at him, but noticed he was reading something that had wiped the smile off his face and replaced it with a frown.
“Parker, listen to this: ’Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialization found in some animals. It generally involves the breeding of sterile members of the species, which carry out specialized tasks, effectively caring the reproductive members.’” Jarod clicked on the site and continued reading.
“Jarod, do you think that is the meaning Angelo is trying to get out to us? Isn’t that just a little deep and weird for Angelo to know?”
She had gently placed her hand on top of the one he had beside the computer. He looked at their hands and slid his thumb up over her hand holding it in place. “Angelo knows more than the Centre ever gave him credit for. Remember he knew enough for Raines to have him help in the hunt for me, didn’t he?”
She nodded. “I’m getting a sick feeling about this.”
“Me, too. We both know how the Centre uses people and how they focus on power. We know how much the red files mean to them. So breeding more red files to have a core of red files would be like having an entire hive of worker bees doing their bidding, stocking their accounts with untold billions.”
He had continued reading that article as they talked, he suddenly stopped and leaned his chin on her good shoulder, “God, Parker, I think this is it.” He softly kissed her cheek and read the last part out loud, “A broader definition allows for any temporary division of labor or non-random distribution of reproductive success to constitute eusociality, and some have accordingly argued that even humans may be considered eusocial.’”
She turned her hand over palm up as he gripped it firmly in his. Parker whispered, “So who is the breeding machine. Bridgette? Or…”
“Not you. Angelo said you are safe. We will keep you safe.”
“But we both know that doesn’t mean that the damage hasn’t already been done, that the genetic material hasn’t been swiped from …” She didn’t finish her thought, she didn’t need to, they were only too aware of some of the Centre’s work.
“So help me God, Jarod, if this is what they are up to, I’ll show them a queen they won’t forget.”
She felt his arms wrap around her as he lifted her from the seat and turned her into him. She tried to hold herself intact, but her resolve was slowing giving away.
“Sssh. Do you know how formidable we are as a team? It will be checkmate before they get their pawns lined up.” Jarod led her toward the bed.
“No. I don’t want to go to bed, I really don’t want to lie there alone with my thoughts.”
He sat on the well cushioned chair still pushed beside the bed and tugged her hand toward him. Parker arched her brows but allowed him to pull her down to him so she sat across his lap, then gently he held her closer until her head came to rest against his chest. He grabbed the cotton bedspread and pulled it from across the bed until he covered her.
“Get some rest, Cario. It will all be clearer in the morning.” His one arm was around her back while the other rested on her legs. Legs he noticed that weren’t entirely covered by the bed spread, he gathered it around her long legs and whispered into her hair, “Someone did a good job, they have to be the smoothest legs I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
Parker smiled, “See I was just telling Jem how important tactile learning was.”
Jarod couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. “Get some rest Cario.”
She felt herself relaxing in his gentle hold. It had been so long since anyone called her by that name. But then only two people had used it before. One was with her now. The thought hung in her memory as she slowly drifted off.
CHAPER 7
You’ve seen me at my weakest but you take me as I am
And when I fall you offer me a softer place to land
“Push” by Sarah McLachlan
A continued beeping slowly drew their attention away from each other and back to the computer. Jarod could hear her take a deep breath, and he glanced over to find she was watching him. At her nod he opened the inbox to find a new email from CJ. Jarod hesitated again, his finger suspended above the key.
“Just open it already.” Parker managed through clenched teeth.
He couldn’t help the smile, it was just so…her. They were close enough Jarod could feel her tension, or perhaps it was just knowing how well she never handled being made to wait.
They both stood looking at the one line spread across the page. It simply read, “Daughter stay safe. Daddy’s game to capture queen.”
Parker released the breath she was holding and looked at Jarod. He was standing beside her chair, sharing the same space in front of the monitor; he leaned even closer to the screen. She was very aware of his physical presence and the effect he was starting to have on her. If he had been Broots, she may have been tempted to snap her fingers to remind him that time was flying. Jarod was different; he rarely wasted time and usually paused only when there was something off or not right. She waited, wondering if he was lost in the e-mails wording and hunting for the meaning that eluded her.
“’Daughter stay safe… Daddy’s game to capture queen’.” Jarod repeated it like a mantra, after the third time he turned and looked at Parker.
“I think he means that you are safer here. Angelo always referred to you as daughter, didn’t he?”
“You are kidding. Your inside source is Angelo? And you understand his messages?” Then more to herself, she continued, “Of course you do, and that’s why always know what’s going on before we figure it out.”
Jarod turned to her and repeated more forcefully, “Angelo always refers to you as daughter, doesn’t he?”
Her eyebrows lifted, “Angelo calls me ‘daughter’, but with the way he talks he could be referring to anyone or no one at all.” Parker blamed the fatigue for the bout of sadness and surprise at the thought of Angelo keeping her safe, when all his life he sacrificed himself and his sanity by staying behind and giving up his chance for a life outside of that hell.
Jarod’s eyes returned to the monitor, mentally filing away her reaction to analyze later. “How many women do you think Angelo has even met? He refers to you as ‘daughter’ because he remembers it was your mother who tried to help him.” Jarod quickly glanced in her direction before continuing with his thought, “Okay, you are safe now, meaning you may not be if left or did something other than you are doing.”
She began to nod in agreement then stopped, “I don’t know, Jarod. We only received the one sentence. Deciphering Angelo’s missives tends to be more challenging than the obvious. I maybe more incline to agree. Keep going. What did he mean by ‘daddy’s game to capture the queen’?”
“Angelo uses familial titles whenever he’s referring to you. Daughter-because of your mother; Daddy obviously is your father. Sometimes the obvious is the answer.”
“Wait a minute Angelo and you have spoken of my father and he referred to him as ‘daddy’? Are you sure that is … Jarod.”
He laid his hand gently on her shoulder as she faltered as the pain emanating form her shoulder blade suddenly intensified then faded. For an instant, it was as if the blade of a knife had started separating her bone from flesh. Though she didn’t cry out, even she heard the tremor in her voice when she said his name.
“Parker, are you up to this tonight? Do you want to lie down for a bit? I’ll stay and see what I can figure out. We read the email, now we just need to de-Angelo it.”
She couldn’t escape the thoughtful way he was watching her. His closeness combining with her fatigue and pain was becoming a mind numbing mishmash and provided no help at all in dealing with Angelo speak. Parker found it difficult to remove her gaze from his. “Let me freshen up, I’ll think better.”
“Why not relax a bit and let your system regenerate?” Jarod could see the weariness in her speech and actions but he knew better than insist; however she did seem more ready to comply lately with his suggestions.
“First I’d like to stand under a nice hot shower and see how that works.” She couldn’t keep the yawn smothered no matter how hard she tried. She heard him snicker. “If I fall asleep, you’ll wake me if anything new comes up or if you figure out what the hell Angelo is talking about, won’t you? “
Jarod was already helping her out of the desk chair, “Come on. If I get another email I promise you I’ll get you up and we will read it together. Honestly, do you think whatever I figure out from this email can’t wait until later?”
Parker shrugged slightly, “I guess.” She watched faintly amused as he snagged the red nightgown off the bed and then paused not knowing how to ask about underwear. It was becoming quite a topic between them. One that she found delightfully amusing knowing Jarod was unsure how to approach the subject with her.
Parker pulled out a pair of red underwear from the drawer. They nearly matched the nightgown, and, again she wondered if that was on purpose or coincidence. The fact that her underwear now came in a rainbow of colors, red would be naturally be among the range of hues. With a flair she twirled the underwear on her finger and announced, “Okay, I think I can manage this one on my own, I just want to clean the sand out of my pores.”
“I’ll be here at the computer if you need any help.” She knew he was blushing without having to look at him. It was in the way he quickly turned away and mumbled his answer.
Just as she was about to close the bathroom door, he stopped her, “It may be a good idea to take something for pain now, so it has time to work. Do you think you’ll need anything else?”
“You mean your pharmacy mixture? No, dampening the pain should be enough. I am tired enough as it is, - unless you would be so kind as to make me a cup of tea, too?”
“Sure. I’ll have it by the time you’re done. And Parker . . .” He waited for her to look at him. “If you find you do need a hand,” he raised both of his, “I’m all yours.”
Jarod shot her the impish grin she knew so well.
Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline, “Yeah, I’ll let you know.”
He grinned at the closing door.
The kitchen was well lit against the dimming light from the outside; Jarod could hear his father and Jem’s voice drift amicably through the hallway. Approaching the kitchen he could clearly hear their conversation as the Major and Jem continued discussing the virtues of grilled chicken and the many marinades to use. Jarod noticed the marinade in question looked like it was made from the fruit they had eaten at lunch.
He watched as his father squeezed the juice from an orange and cut a lemon to use next. “Where are the spices Dad?”
The major pointed to the cabinet, Jarod gathered a variety spices and holding them aloft, asked if they minded his help. As he finished concocting his recipe for the marinade, the teakettle began whistling. Jarod handed the spoon to his father and began brewing the tea he had promised Parker.
“How is Miss Parker doing?” The Major asked while watching his son’s precise measurements of adding the ground herbal tea into the glass pot.
“She’s tired and in pain. Although she is usually too stubborn to admit it, so you know when she does, it must be bad.” Jarod looked up as the he allowed the tea to brew, “I think she really enjoyed herself today, it was good to see her relax. I don’t know when I have seen her smile as much as she did on the beach.” He was smiling at the memory and after pouring the tea into her cup he looked to see both Jem and the Major exchange similar grins.
As he mixed in a couple of pain tablets he told them about Angelo’s email to see if they had any thoughts as to its meaning. When the three of them had bounced off several thoughts regarding chess and the part of the queen, Jarod interrupted, “We’ll talk about it a bit more, later, I want to get this to Parker while it is still hot.”
“Will you two be joining us for some supper? It should be ready in about an hour or so.”
“If we aren’t out go ahead and eat, I can warm it up later. Parker needs to get some rest.”
Jarod entered Parker’s bedroom expecting to see her either in bed or at the desk, but there was no sign of her. He looked out the door to her side of the wrap around porch. She wasn’t outside. The tall man wasted no time in setting the tea down and knocking on the bathroom door.
“Parker, are you okay?” He slowly opened the door to see her wearing her red short nightgown and sitting on the rim of the bathtub contemplating her legs that were stretched out before her. When she didn’t immediately answer he sat on the toilet seat and waited, letting his gaze drift down her long legs, openly marveling at the sight until she cleared her throat. He quickly managed to make eye contact, knowing he was busted.
She was smiling at his flustered appearance. Despite his repeated comments that he had already seen her naked, he was still uncomfortable with the sight of her underwear, the panties in particular. And, now, the sight of her bare legs seemed to have affected him in ways he wasn’t prepared to admit.
Perhaps it was because of all those occasions he had embarrassed her; moments like when he set up a trap so that she and her team were glued to the floor of a roach infested hotel room, or the strip search in Vegas. Or, perhaps she just liked torturing him. Regardless of her motive, though, she couldn’t seem to help but take pleasure from his moments of awkwardness. So much so that Parker wasn’t sure she’d need the pain medicine after all. It might be the release of endorphins, whatever it was she was enjoying it far more than she knew she should.
“Is that offer to help still on the table?”
“You know it is. What do you need?”
“If we are going to be here for a while and on the beach, I have a problem.”
She looked over at him trying to keep a serious expression on her face, until she told him what she needed him to do. Then all bets were off.
“Yes. What’s the problem Parker?”
“Well I can’t be out around three men wearing shorts and a bathing suit with these legs.”
Jarod looked at her totally confused, “What do you mean with these legs, what’s wrong with them?”
“Jarod, I’m not a cave woman. Women now a days do not go out with legs like apes!” She watched noting the dime hadn’t dropped yet, although his gaze had. He was trying to figure out how her legs had suddenly developed into ape legs, and what he was supposed to do about it.
“I don’t understand. No body would mistake your legs for those belonging to a wild primate of any species.” He was scratching his unshaven face; he hadn’t shaved since his sunburn. Jarod continued using cologne as a matter of principal. After all from the advertisements he saw, women preferred to smell the perfumed toiletry. He was only trying to make Parker comfortable. It was during the scratching that his hand slowed and his eyebrows rose. He could just detect the beginning of hair growth on the shins of Miss Parker’s legs.
His head jerked up to look at her. “You want me to…”
Plop, she could see the dime finally dropped, and was spinning wildly.
“Yes. You said if I need help, and I can’t move my arm that far, without moving the shoulder blades.”
“But Parker you are right handed, it’s the left shoulder…”
“Jarod are you going to help me or not?”
“I said I would.” His sigh was so profound that Parker had to look down to conceal her smile.
Jarod gathered up the supplies he thought he would need from his room and took them into Parker’s bathroom. After much experimenting they decided that sitting on the floor would work best, with Jarod behind her, acting as though her leg was an extension of his own. Although he was quick to point out that he never shaved his legs,
Jarod, gently bent the left leg, then had Parker prop her heel on the side of the tub, putting her nearly in his lap. His shaving foam was thick on his hands ready to smear it on her left leg when he looked at her once more.
”Parker, are you sure you want to do this?”
She felt his nearness. He had her almost completely enfolded within his arms, her back comfortably cradled in his chest, and his soft breath on her neck. Suddenly it wasn’t as funny as before. “Maybe we should try it and if it doesn’t work out I’ll wear jeans.”
He leaned forward and began to run his shaving-foamed hand up her leg from the ankle to shin and up to her knee. Tiny bristles were just barely prickling against his palm. Her skin was silky smooth and to get to her ankle he had to lean further into her body, trying to be careful of where he leaned into her back. Jarod foamed his other hand and used both to gently encase her leg, evenly spreading the foam over calf and shin. Dipping the razor into the warmed water he carefully brought the blade from the ankle up to the knee leaving behind a clear smooth path of soft shinning skin. His arms around either side of her allowed him to feel each breath she took, and the scent of her hair mixed with the shaving foam would be a combination he would never forget.
He continued rinsing the razor in the water and using it to clear the foam with careful, steady strokes. When her lower leg was scraped clean from the knee down. Jarod pulled the second pan of clean water to his side. Taking the bath sponge from the water, he lightly, almost sensuously glided it along her limb and over the now shimmering smooth skin until there was no trace of the white lather.
As he began to pat her leg dry with a towel, Jarod let his hand glide from the ankle to the knee, lingering slightly over the shin and calf, searching for any residual stubble. Jarod could feel his senses going into overload and fought to contain his thoughts to the task at hand.
Parker handed him the body lotion and told him it was to protect her skin from drying out. Nodding, he massaged the leg with the cream, again moving his hands over her skin in long even strokes. As enjoyable as it was to be allowed this task, Jarod was beginning to feel the consequences, in ways that were beginning to be hard to disguise.
By the time he finished shaving and moisturizing her right leg, nervous perspiration was running down his back, dampening the tee shirt he wore. He again let both his hands glide up both her legs, to make sure he not missed any stray bristles of hair. The feeling the satiny soft legs in his hands, the weight of his body against hers, and her soft scent that invaded his senses with each breath left him worried about getting out of the room without Parker seeing the state he was in. Suddenly he moved from behind her in a near panic, nearly toppling her.
“Okay, I think you … you can manage to get from the knee up. I’ll get you some fresh water.” He took the pan of foamy water to the sink and rinsed it and refilled it.
Parker was sitting on the floor in her very short nightgown looking up at him, blinking as he cleaned the pan and refilled it. She did not move to begin finishing what he had started. She knew why he moved. She had felt the changes in his touch, his breathing, the way he held her and the difference in how he held her. What started out as a payback was now more than either of them knew how to handle. Her heart was racing, she felt suddenly deprived of his presence.
“Can you finish what you want done? If you can, I’ll go heat up your tea.”
She nodded.
A few minutes later Jarod returned with her reheated tea, curious to see how things were progressing. Jarod peeked in to see Parker running the razor lightly along the length of her inner thigh and ducked out, and released a shaky breath, grateful that he went unnoticed. Seeing that Parker had things well in hand he made a hasty retreat.
Twenty minutes later Parker threw the towel into the sink and the sponge and razor into the pan. She rolled to her knees and used the strength in her legs to pull her up. It was harder than she imagined it would be. She was always in good physical shape, now everything seemed to take more effort. She stood looking down at the mess on the floor, reached for the robe on the door before opening it.
Jarod was sitting at the desk, his head raised at the door opening. He quickly got to his feet and met her at the door. “I’ll clean up in there. Do you need anything else?”
“No, I can get that if you give me a few minutes, I think the pain medicine is kicking in. Jarod, I hate not being able to do things for myself.”
“I know,” he wrapped his supportive arm around her, “where to?”
“Let’s go sit in the room with your family for a bit. The chairs in the living room are comfortable. I’ll get that stuff later.”
“Tell you what, you sit here for a minute and I’ll grab those pans off the floor and take care of them so they’re out of the way.”
He helped her into the desk chair and, when she was settled, rose to his full height and murmured, “It is interesting that you hate not doing things for yourself, and yet, I got the feeling you enjoyed having me help you shave.”
Jarod looked over to see Parker with her head back against the chair with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.
“I have to admit, I did enjoy it. Women pay to be pampered like that.”
He was leaning against the desk with his arms folded watching her when she opened her eyes. “What?”
Jarod shook his head, “Never thought I’d hear you say I pampered you.”
“Well up until this trip… you never shaved my legs.” She smirked at him, but the smirk was unlike those he was used to getting from her. This was a gentler, more thoughtful fun grin than a smirk.
“Are you hungry? You haven’t had much to eat. I happen to know that there is some grilled chicken in the kitchen. We can put a salad together and whatever you’d like to have with it.”
She gazed thoughtfully at him, “I’ll say this, you are being very accommodating. If you help me up I’ll help with the salad.”
He gently wrapped an arm around her waist and effortlessly lifted her from the chair.
“Thanks Jarod. I need to start getting strength back to do things on my own.”
“As soon as the incision is healed we’ll start on some physical therapy. If we try too soon we may end up opening that again.” He held her close to him as they found the kitchen deserted and tidied up.
“I’m getting a whole new perspective of what it is like living with men. Where do you think they went?” She walked over to the glass patio doors looking out past the porch to see the Major and Jem sitting on the stonewall watching the moon over the water.
Jarod was standing behind her, “Dad is used to living on his own and cleaning up after himself.”
Parker couldn’t keep the teasing out of her voice when she reminded him that she had been to his old lairs and they were not the clean, in fact some of them were to the point of hog pens.
He smirked and turned her to look at him. “They were the places I wanted you to know I had been. You never knew the places I used as true safe houses.”
“Yes, I know, we had to dig through all that to find your clues. It was all part of the game. I knew that. Syd knew that. The only people that seemed to clueless were the ones sending us on all the goose chases. I do hope you continue to send Lyle on the more exciting ones to the armpits of the world.”
Jarod turned to get the salad makings together, “You and I knew it was a game the whole time, and yet we both managed to do some ugly things to each other. Do you think that was part of the game too?” His voice held a velvety quality, wrapped in a childlike hope.
She took the vegetables he gathered over to the sink to clean them and began pulling them apart and into the bowl, as he cut up the chicken and added other ingredients. “I don’t know Jarod. I think sometimes we both acted out of the frustration of having been put into the situations we were in. I know I never wanted to hurt you. Trying to get the better of you before you got me, or after you topped me seemed to be the game.”
He nodded thoughtfully as they continued to work on their meal.
The Major and Jem entered the kitchen as the two were cleaning up.
“Ah, so you did get something to eat. I thought you’d be asleep by now.” The Major watched as Jarod cleaned the table and Parker cleaned up the counter top they had been preparing their meal on. He noted that Parker held the left arm down and stiffly across her abdomen as she worked with her right hand.
She smiled up at him and rather formally thanked him for tasteful lunch then added, “I want to thank you for including me in the shopping I do appreciate the effort and expense you went to. I’ll see to it that you are paid back, but mostly I have to thank you for your tasteful choices.”
“Miss Parker, while you are here I hope you don’t mind that we just include you as a member of the family. I want you to be comfortable as long as you choose to stay with us.” The Major’s tone was serious; there was no reason to doubt his sincerity.
Parker could feel all eyes on her awaiting her response. Jarod was close enough that she had the impression that he was holding his breath waiting. “I don’t know what I’ve done to be worthy of your kindness but I’m grateful.”
Parker turned toward the hallway back to her bedroom. “I hate to eat and run, but I’m exhausted. Good night Major, Jem. I’ll see you in the morning. Jarod, could I trouble you to …”
“Of course, I’ll walk you back and help you get settled in. I’ll be there in a minute.”
He waited until she was out of earshot before explaining that she hadn’t rested yet and true to her word was exhausted. Jarod said his good nights and followed her back. He found her sitting at the desk her right hand holding her head as she stared at the computer.
“I thought you were exhausted?”
“I am, but there is something about this that is driving me crazy. I don’t understand the part about daddy’s game to capturing the queen. It’s a game? Chess? Daddy never played games. Okay once we played Monopoly, but he didn’t’ have time to play games. I’m not sure he ever played chess.”
Jarod’s hand soothed her shoulder, “It may not be that kind of a game. Perhaps Angelo was referring to the type of games the Centre plays with people.”
He stood behind her; snaking his arms around either side of her, Jarod effortlessly typed in the search ‘capture the queen’. An entire screen came up listing fifty-six examples of the term ‘capture the queen. They scanned down the list. Although most referred to a chess move, or the chess game of exchanging a pawn for a queen, there were entries from the queen in a deck of cards to the value of a queen size bed.
“The most valuable piece in chess. In Medieval Europe, the queen was the weakest piece on the board, and her sudden change in powers in the sixteenth century quickened the pace of the game” she read out loud. “Yeah, I’ll bet Elizabeth Tudor had something to do with that.”
Jarod typed in “define queen”.
Again the screen filled with entries.
“Notice how many of these have to do with breeding, ‘A female cat used for breeding - A female bee that lays all the eggs in the colony – Among social insects such as ants and some bees, the actively reproducing female. – A female used for breeding; the word “dam” is found on pedigree forms.’” Jarod was grinning at Parker’s face as he read down through the entries.
“I think I like the chess references better, “The Queen is equivalent to nine pawns.” She smiled back at him, but noticed he was reading something that had wiped the smile off his face and replaced it with a frown.
“Parker, listen to this: ’Eusociality is the phenomenon of reproductive specialization found in some animals. It generally involves the breeding of sterile members of the species, which carry out specialized tasks, effectively caring the reproductive members.’” Jarod clicked on the site and continued reading.
“Jarod, do you think that is the meaning Angelo is trying to get out to us? Isn’t that just a little deep and weird for Angelo to know?”
She had gently placed her hand on top of the one he had beside the computer. He looked at their hands and slid his thumb up over her hand holding it in place. “Angelo knows more than the Centre ever gave him credit for. Remember he knew enough for Raines to have him help in the hunt for me, didn’t he?”
She nodded. “I’m getting a sick feeling about this.”
“Me, too. We both know how the Centre uses people and how they focus on power. We know how much the red files mean to them. So breeding more red files to have a core of red files would be like having an entire hive of worker bees doing their bidding, stocking their accounts with untold billions.”
He had continued reading that article as they talked, he suddenly stopped and leaned his chin on her good shoulder, “God, Parker, I think this is it.” He softly kissed her cheek and read the last part out loud, “A broader definition allows for any temporary division of labor or non-random distribution of reproductive success to constitute eusociality, and some have accordingly argued that even humans may be considered eusocial.’”
She turned her hand over palm up as he gripped it firmly in his. Parker whispered, “So who is the breeding machine. Bridgette? Or…”
“Not you. Angelo said you are safe. We will keep you safe.”
“But we both know that doesn’t mean that the damage hasn’t already been done, that the genetic material hasn’t been swiped from …” She didn’t finish her thought, she didn’t need to, they were only too aware of some of the Centre’s work.
“So help me God, Jarod, if this is what they are up to, I’ll show them a queen they won’t forget.”
She felt his arms wrap around her as he lifted her from the seat and turned her into him. She tried to hold herself intact, but her resolve was slowing giving away.
“Sssh. Do you know how formidable we are as a team? It will be checkmate before they get their pawns lined up.” Jarod led her toward the bed.
“No. I don’t want to go to bed, I really don’t want to lie there alone with my thoughts.”
He sat on the well cushioned chair still pushed beside the bed and tugged her hand toward him. Parker arched her brows but allowed him to pull her down to him so she sat across his lap, then gently he held her closer until her head came to rest against his chest. He grabbed the cotton bedspread and pulled it from across the bed until he covered her.
“Get some rest, Cario. It will all be clearer in the morning.” His one arm was around her back while the other rested on her legs. Legs he noticed that weren’t entirely covered by the bed spread, he gathered it around her long legs and whispered into her hair, “Someone did a good job, they have to be the smoothest legs I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
Parker smiled, “See I was just telling Jem how important tactile learning was.”
Jarod couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. “Get some rest Cario.”
She felt herself relaxing in his gentle hold. It had been so long since anyone called her by that name. But then only two people had used it before. One was with her now. The thought hung in her memory as she slowly drifted off.
Chapter End Notes:
Are you lost yet? The typo queen thanks you for reading, and hopefully you were somewhat entertained.
