Sam slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a chair with his arms handcuffed behind him and his legs duct taped to the chair. That, in itself, wasn’t unexpected – Jarod had clocked him good in that alley and Jarod wasn’t a killer. Sam wondered how long he had been out and whether Miss Parker was okay. When he glanced up, he saw a very angry Jarod pointing a gun at him. The gun had a silencer, and Sam was now rethinking whether Jarod would actually shoot him.

“I can’t say I’m happy to see you, Sam.”

It was dark out so Sam guessed he had been out at least a couple of hours. He looked around the room and saw his gun and cell phone on the bed. He recognized the suitcase next to the bed. They were in Miss P’s hotel room.

Jarod was across the room in three quick strides and his arm went up. Sam raised his chin, anticipating being hit with the gun and ready to roll his head with the hit, but Jarod stopped himself with a growl and walked back to the other end of the room. Of all the run-ins Sam had had with Jarod, Sam had never seen him so out of control.

Jarod aimed the gun at Sam again. “How did you know she was in New York?”

She? “I came with Miss Parker.”

Jarod re-sighted the gun on Sam’s left knee. “Not her. My mother. How did you know she was in New York?”

His mother? Sam wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but he had to try to calm Jarod down and buy time for Miss P to return. “We didn’t. We had a lead on you. One of Broots’ programs got a hit on someone doing a background check on Jarod Webster. Miss Parker and I left Blue Cove this morning.”

Sam knew Jarod valued honesty and was being straight with The Pretender. Sam hoped that would buy him the time he needed for Miss P’s return. And once she was here…

“Who ordered a cleaner team yesterday?”

“Who died?”

“I’m asking the questions! Now, who ordered a cleaner team yesterday?”

“I don’t know!” Sam thought frantically, trying to remember something, anything, that could buy him some time. “I overheard Willie say something to Mr. Raines about a cleaner team being sloppy. Something about the fire department getting there sooner than expected.”

Jarod cocked his head to the side. “You’re being awfully cooperative, Sam. That’s not like you.”

“You don’t know me.” Sam shrugged. “If I’m cooperative, I trust that you will set me free.”

Jarod’s eyes narrowed and the gun came back up to Sam’s chest. “Trust can also kill you.”

Sam looked at the gun and then back up to Jarod. “You gonna kill me?”

Jarod’s eyes were giving nothing away, but after a moment, he lowered the gun. Before Sam could say anything else, his cell phone began to ring. Jarod grabbed it and checked the caller ID. “It’s her. I’ll be listening.”

Sam understood the implied threat. Jarod held up the phone between their ears.

Sam said, “Sam, here.”

“How are you, Sam?”

“Just peachy, Miss Parker.” It was a code phrase – one of several Sam and Miss P had worked out years ago in case either of them was captured by Jarod. Now she knew Sam was handcuffed under Jarod’s care and at their hotel. That would make her come straightaway.

“And Jarod?” she asked

“He got away.” Sam glanced at Jarod who nodded.

“I’m headed back to the hotel now.”

“Yes, Miss Parker.” The phone beeped – she had ended the call.

Jarod closed the phone and tossed it back on the bed. He took a few deep breaths before walking over to the other side of the bed and grabbed something off the floor. As Jarod returned, Sam saw it was a roll of duct tape.

Jarod spun the roll around a finger. “If you promise to stay quiet, I won’t tape your mouth shut.”

Sam nodded and Jarod tossed the tape onto the bed. Sam watched as Jarod paced for a while then he walked over to the balcony.

~*~*~*~*~

Gabriel waved at Sara to join him by the computer. She walked over to his workstation and stood behind him. With a mouse click, a picture of an Egyptian hieroglyph filled the screen. The woman in the hieroglyph wore a bracelet that looked different than Sara’s, but from the sudden warmth on her right wrist, she was sure it was the Witchblade.

He said, “That’s Hatshepsut. Ever heard of her?”

Sara opened her mouth to speak and in that split second, a few random images flashed in her mind. They were not as strong as visions and had come and gone before she could make anything out. “Don’t think so.”

“She was a ruler in ancient Egypt. Technically, she became a regent for her husband’s young son after her husband died, but she eventually ruled as a Pharaoh. She lead a few military campaigns, but was better known for re-establishing trade and for her economic policies. During her reign, there was peace and lots of prosperity that let her initiate building projects like these…”

Gabriel clicked his mouse a bit to reveal a webpage that had pictures of several ancient Egyptian buildings. “The buildings she commissioned set a new standard for Egyptian architecture. It wouldn’t be rivaled by anyone for another thousand years.”

The Witchblade remained quiet on Sara’s wrist. That was not what she had come to expect from the Witchblade and she wondered wryly if it could be broken.

Gabriel scrolled down the page to a beautiful, colonnaded structure built into a cliff-face. “That was supposed to be her tomb. It was designed by the royal architect – a guy named Senemut. Rumor is that Senemut and Hatshepsut were involved. He came from a literate, lower class family but he was extremely bright. He ended up holding something like eighty different posts during her time from architect to general, and he did them all very well. This guy could be anything he wanted to be.”

Jarod’s voice saying, “I can become whoever I want to be.”

Sara looked at Gabriel for a moment, processing what she had just learned about the two Wielders. Were they a part of her past? Was she a Jamison? Both had used the Witchblade for peaceful purposes. Both had somehow managed to control its bloodlust.

Dominque Boucher’s voice, contemptuous, “Your bloodline never could control Digitabulum.”

Or were they a different bloodline altogether?

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Gabriel rolled his chair across the room and pulled out a very old looking book from a shelf. “I was researching something for another client…

Jarod shaking Gabriel’s hand, “I’m Jarod.”

Sara willed the vision away, trying to concentrate on what Gabriel was saying.

“…so anyway, I know it’s something like five times removed from the original source, and the original source was supposed to have been delirious with fever, but I still thought you should know.” He rolled back over to his desk, narrowly missing banging into Sara.

“This guy supposedly was a Knight Templar. He was injured in battle, and in his fever-induced delirium claimed that he and his brother were part of an ancient warrior bloodline whose destiny was to serve a great warrior goddess with a magical gauntlet. Sounds like the Witchblade to me.”

Gabriel handed her the book, Tales of Templar Rule and Punishment. Sara turned the book in her hands, afraid to open the delicate volume.

Two knights, both wearing a white mantle with a red cross, both with long dark hair and warm dark eyes…

“For that,” Gabriel was saying, “he was tried for violating the Templar Rule of Order. He was forgiven for his crime of heresy, but he left the order after that. And remember that Alençon guy who fought with Joan of Arc? Him and the knight and Senemut…I just thought…you know...” He shrugged. “Maybe you aren’t alone in this.”

Sara scoffed. “Are you saying I’ve got a knight in shining armor out there somewhere?”

Gabriel only shrugged again, not meeting her eyes and possibly a little uncomfortable with the topic.

As much as her pride found the idea ridiculous, another part of her – the part of her that felt she had no connection to anyone – wondered if it was true. She was tempted by the idea that someone out there could just…understand. Was this why the Witchblade had introduced Jarod into her life?

She leaned a little closer to Gabriel and in a teasing voice said, “Maybe it’s you.”

He gave her a cheeky grin. “Nah. I’m a squire, at best.”

Sara laughed, placing the book on his desk. “Thanks for the info.”

~*~*~*~*~

Sam knew the view was spectacular – the Empire State Building could clearly be seen as the centerpiece of the view – but he was surprised to see that it was snowing again. Jarod stood there, looking out the glass doors for what seemed to Sam to be hours, but was probably less than one. Sam closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain in his jaw and ribs which seemed to be getting worse.

Sam heard a phone ring. He opened his eyes as Jarod answered the room’s phone. “Yes?” He listened, glanced at his watch then said, “Thank you, Trish.” Jarod smiled briefly. “Yes, she is.”

He turned to Sam. “I’m sure my wife will love her surprise. Thank you for your help.”

Jarod hung up the phone. “Do you know Trish? Patricia? She’s working the front desk. Nice lady. She’s been married for almost forty years.” With each word Jarod spoke, he got closer to Sam and his voice turned darker. “She just became a grandmother. It must be nice to watch your kids grow and have them have children of their own.”

Jarod loomed menacingly over Sam, the anger and despair plain on Jarod’s face. For the first time in his life, Sam was truly afraid of Jarod.

“That’s something,” Jarod snarled, “that my mother will never know. Because of you people.”

Jarod glanced at his watch, then went over near the door.

~*~*~*~*~

Parker knew Jarod was on the other side of her hotel room door. She knew Jarod wanted to talk to her face-to-face and doubted it had anything to do with her birthday. What she did not understand was why he had Sam in the room. It would have been easy enough for Jarod to corner her sans Sam. It was just as well. She wanted to talk to Jarod, too.

She debated whether to go in with her weapon drawn. Sam would be expecting her to, and if she didn’t, Sam might report that back to the Powers That Be. She unlocked her hotel room door with her left hand while getting her gun from her holster with her right. She used her foot to push the door open. She took a few steps into the room, letting her Smith & Wesson lead the way. She could see Sam farther in, but no Jarod. As she thought that, someone grabbed her right arm, twisting it up painfully behind her. She felt them take her gun, then push her over to where Sam was.

She turned to find Jarod standing near the bed, aiming a gun at her and Sam. She held up her hands in surrender. She was sure Jarod would never kill her, but he did have a gun aimed at her chest and accidents did happen. “Jarod…”

“Did you know?!” he demanded.

Parker took a good look at him. He was furious, but he was hurting – she could see it in his eyes. What the Hell…

“Did you know?!” he repeated, the gun shaking in his hand. “Did you know they sent someone to kill my mother?!”

“What?”

“She’s dead, Parker.” With that, Jarod collapsed onto the bed, tossing the gun aside and then held his head in his hands.

“I’m sorry,” Parker said softly. He looked up at her, and she was startled at the raw emotion on his face. She had seen pain in his eyes before, but never anything like that. And in that instant, she knew the source of all his pain. He would never know his mother, never know what it was like to be hugged by a mother that loves you…his quest to put his family back together was one that would forever be left unfinished. His one dream, the one that fueled him the last five years, was now shattered. She thought of all the things he had endured throughout his life and wondered if this was just too much.

She also knew, guiltily, that a small part of him was angry that he had failed Parker; he had tried so hard to find answers for both of them, but now all they were left with were the questions. He looked down, wiping the tears from his eyes.

She knew there was nothing she could say – she knew his pain. She, at least, had memories of her mother and Parker wondered if that had made her grief easier or harder. But she knew there was something she could do. Something she should have done all those years ago when she had first seen his hurt. She approached him carefully, trying to be non-threatening and unsure of how he would react. She sat next to him, pulling him close and tucking his head under her chin.

“I’m so sorry,” she said softly. I won’t let them hurt you anymore. She felt a strange sense of déjà vu at the silent promise – the same promise she had made to Gemini in Donoterase. He began to shake in her embrace, and Parker shut her eyes against her own tears.

~*~*~*~*~

To be continued...