Jarod eased the SUV out onto the highway and accelerated to just five miles below the speed limit and then set the cruise control. He estimated that it would take around two hours to reach Dover to meet up with Ethan, provided the weather didn't get any worse.

The rain made visibility difficult in the darkness of early evening, the windshield wipers making heavy work of clearing the screen. Considering it was Saturday night, there was very little traffic on the road to hold them up and they should make good time, he thought.

Jarod looked across at Sydney in the gloom, catching his worried expression in the passing lights of the cars, and thought back to their conversation before leaving the Motel.

"Are you sure that it's Lyle behind this, Jarod?" he'd asked tentatively.

"Yes, I'm sure," he'd told Sydney.

Sydney had fallen silent, his worry for Parker obvious from his strained expression.

It had only taken a few minutes to put together their belongings and wash up the dishes from their hasty snack. Originally, they had taken a week's rental on the cabin and Jarod had reminded Sydney that they might still need it once they had found Parker. They had no way of knowing if Parker would need time to recuperate or if they would all need a place of refuge to sort themselves out.

"Sydney, I have to ask you this, do you know how to use a gun?"

"Do you think I need one?"

"You might - when was the last time you were on a range?"

"Jarod, I've never fired a gun in my life, I'm a doctor, for God's sake; why would I need to?" Sydney looked down at his hands as if to imagine himself holding a gun.

"It's true, the Centre issued me with one thirty years ago, but I've never even held it, just locked it away in the bottom of the filing cabinet - do you really expect us to shoot somebody?" he asked nervously.

"Not unless we really have to."

"Sydney, we might need to defend ourselves - I'm just looking at the worst case scenario here - you know how I feel about guns but it's Parker's life we're talking about - I'm just thinking about Rosa."

"Do you think, if it came to it, you could point a .38 at someone?"

"I don't know, Jarod, but I guess if it comes to it, there will be no choice!"

They had both fallen silent at the reminder of how dangerous a situation they were going into. In truth, Sydney was terrified of guns but he wasn't about to admit it! God, he hoped it would never come to that.

"Jarod, tell me honestly, do you think Parker is still alive?"

"Yes, I think she's still alive but for how long, I can't answer that."

Jarod felt a shiver down the back of his neck as he thought about Lyle and all the evil that could be laid at his door. There was no way he would ever understand the depths of depravity that man would sink to nor how many people had died as a result - he was a man that had sold his very soul to the devil and he felt afraid for all of them. If ever there was a definition of a psychopath he needed to look no further than Lyle.

"If you want the truth, Sydney, I'm certain that Lyle has ‘gone over the edge' - we know that he's a murderer and I think the time has come when he has to be stopped. Parker may well be finding this out."

They had closed up the cabin without any more talk and within fifteen minutes, they were on their way in the direction of Dover.

Jarod sighed as he strained his eyes to see the road ahead. He thought of Parker - and he felt his neck muscles tense. Was she still alive? God, he had been so close and yet so far away, he couldn't lose her now!

"You OK, Sydney?" Jarod asked, glancing across at him.

"I think so"

"Tell me what's worrying you?"

Sydney turned to face Jarod in the gloom of the SUV. In the feint light from the dash, he could see Jarod's profile, his face set in concentration on the road ahead. The rain fell steadily and with windshield wipers at full speed - it was a reflection of their mood. The hiss of the tires on the wet road and the continuous thump of the wipers created a soporific rhythm that was almost hypnotic.

"I know we intend to meet up with Ethan but, I need to know, Jarod ... do you have a plan of any sort or are we just going in blind?" he asked tentatively, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm working on it, Sydney, don't worry, I'm working on it."

Sydney stared ahead and wondered, not for the first time, where and how this night would end.

* * * * *

Ethan closed his cell phone ending his call to Jarod. Putting it back in his coat pocket, he turned up his collar and walked back to his small SUV parked at the end of the road leading to Parker's cottage. He climbed in, brushing the rain from his hair, and started up the engine, glad to feel the warmth of the heater.

His thoughts were chaotic and he was struggling to block out and filter the voice that he now recognised as his mother's voice. He no longer felt afraid to listen to that inner voice. He had learned to respect it.

Since escaping the evil of that madman, Mr Raines, he had finally taken control of the demons that had tormented his mind for most of his life. He had managed to establish an almost normal life far from the madness of the Centre, coming and going as he pleased, sometimes sharing Jarod's family life for a few days, but mostly preferring his solitary existence. He doubted if he would ever live a normal life by the accepted standards ‘normal' but what he had now, he cherished above all else - his freedom.

He had spent a little time, separately, with both Jarod and Parker and they had gradually filled in the blanks of his life. There had been stolen afternoons when Parker had met with him, away from the Centre, and she had talked to him lovingly of their mother and proudly shown him the photographs she had of Catherine, in an effort to give him some sense of identity and belonging. Out of the chaos that was his life had come peace of mind.

They shared a rare gift and he loved her for it.

He remembered that last afternoon when he had asked her why she stayed at the Centre, maintaining this façade of searching for Jarod.

She had looked away from him, not answering straight away, as if trying to reach a decision. In the end, there had been an uncharacteristic flush to her cheeks and she had turned to him, not quite able to meet his eyes and said simply ... "When you reach a turning point in your life, you have to be sure of who you are turning to ... ... besides, when you are working, you don't have too much time to look at your empty life."

Now she was missing and in danger - and he could not bear it.

* * * * *

Parker poured some of the water from the plastic bottle on to the edge of the sheet and gently held it against her mouth, trying to ease the pain of the cuts and bruises. Already, large bruises were beginning to appear along both jaw lines and her mouth had bled profusely where her teeth had cut into her tongue. God, but it hurt like hell! She winced as she gently wiped the blood from her mouth. Her head ached from the blows and she longed for the soothing balm of a glass of Jack Daniels, preferably with a little ice!

Instead, she would make do with some of the coffee left by that laughing hyena, Willy. ‘It's probably cold by now, anyway,' she thought to herself.

As she carefully sipped the tepid brew, feeling the reviving effects of the caffeine, she tried to make sense of what had happened.

‘What the hell did Lyle mean - a tethered goat?' she asked herself.

‘The son of a bitch can go screw himself; I think the moron's finally found the grim reaper'.

Parker tried to think back on the conversation but she kept coming back to that one last statement - a tethered goat? A trap of some kind? She wished her head didn't feel quite so fuzzy.

‘God, I must be in hell,' she muttered, finishing up the coffee.

She pushed the package of donuts onto the floor in disgust and lay back down on the bed. She thought about the last three months since coming back from Carthis and the death of her father ... ... the man who had masqueraded as her father. Did anyone really die at the Centre? Was anyone who they were supposed to be? Was Raines really on his deathbed? It was true that she hadn't seen him for weeks.

Suddenly, she sat bolt upright as she realised the awful truth.

‘Somehow,' she told herself facing up to the reality, ‘Lyle has cottoned on to what I've been doing, I'm sure of it'.

That thought struck terror into her heart.

* * * * *

Lyle sat in the den of old man Raines' forest house. Through the open doorway, he watched the two sweepers' playing cards. Willy stood over them watching the play, arms folded across his chest, ready to move in an instant. They had just finished their meal of Chinese take-out and they were now well into a game. He could hear their low murmurs; no one made much noise around Lyle or Willy. Every ten minutes, one of them would get up, don the wet weather gear and take a turn around the garden, checking and rechecking the garden and outhouses. His orders were followed to the letter.

He had spent the afternoon going through Raines' filing cabinets; searching for anything that might be useful but the old man had beaten him to it.

‘You had to give credit to dear old Dad, he knew how to cover his tracks,' he thought to himself.

The only documents worth looking at were old Government contracts that appeared to be strictly legitimate. There was nothing on the Pretender project or Gemini, nothing relating to the Parkers. He wondered if he had missed something, somewhere, but then, there would be plenty of time to look later.

He felt no remorse or shame at searching - hell, he was going to inherit any day now, so where was the harm?

Lyle sat back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling, his hand going automatically to his knee where she had kicked him. Hell, it had stopped him in his tracks for a moment there - you had to hand it to her, the little bitch! She'd really caught him that time.

As he rubbed and stretched the leg out in front of him, he couldn't help reliving the frisson of pleasure and excitement as he had watched Willy deliver those two stinging blows to Parker's face. She had been totally unprepared for it - the shock and surprise evident from the way she had bounced back against the wall, her head crashing against the plaster, her eyes wide with shock. Hell, she'd deserved it and more. He'd taken enough from her over the years to last a lifetime. It was one of those moments in his life when he'd savoured the feeling of complete control - some days he hated her, most days he just wanted her.

Raines had taught him well.

Soon, he would have it all.

He swung round in the chair and opened the file in front of him. He started to look through the photographs of Parker at various locations with that half-wit Ethan. ‘Now there was a weird kid if ever there was one', he thought to himself. Slowly, he traced his finger over Parker's face on each photograph and he felt the anger slowly rising in him as he looked at them. It was clear that she had no idea she'd been followed to each meeting; the way she looked at Ethan with love in her eyes - she'd never looked at him like that!

Suddenly, he stood up and gathered the photographs together and, picking them up, he walked into the other room. He nodded to Willy, who bent down and whispered something to the sweeper in front of him and then he followed Lyle out and up the stairs.

* * * * *

The bright lights of the gas station shone out like beacons in the night and Jarod eased the SUV alongside the pumps, glad of the respite from the rain. Switching off the engine, he looked across at Sydney and said:

"I need to fill up - do you want anything, coffee maybe or the rest room?"

"Both, I think, Jarod. When you get to my age, you need both at frequent intervals!" replied Sydney with a small laugh, glad of the chance to get out and stretch his legs.

"Just how old are you, Syd?" Jarod asked cheekily.

"When you get to my age, discretion is definitely a virtue!" he replied with mock outrage.

As Sydney headed towards the rest rooms for his much needed comfort break, Jarod filled the tank, staring out at the blackness of the night and the driving rain. Somehow, despite the banter with Sydney, his heart felt heavy and all he could think about was what lay ahead of them.

Soon, they were on their way again, the caffeine lifting their spirits, so much so that even the rain seemed to be easing up. With little over an hour to go until they reached the outskirts of Dover, Jarod said lightly:

"Have you given any thought, Syd, when this is all over, what you will do? I don't think the Centre will be hanging out any welcome signs."

"I don't know, Jarod. I haven't really had a second to think about it - everything seems to have happened in the blink of an eye - I feel as though I have lived a lifetime in these last twenty-four hours and I can't think beyond tonight other than ...will we still be alive tomorrow?"

"It will be OK, you'll see, Syd".

"Easy for you to say, Jarod, but I'm so worried about Parker - I know she always gives everyone the impression she can take care of herself ... and she can, no doubt about it ...but, even so, deep down, I still see that little girl, vulnerable and scared ... and it makes me scared too".

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared too ... ...but we have to get Parker back and remember; we're the good guys ... ... the good guys always win!" he said in an effort to lighten the sombre mood.

"There's something else bothering me, Jarod - about Parker; what if she doesn't fall in with your plans, what then? What will you do," asked Sydney gently.

Jarod glanced briefly across at Sydney and smiled and then continued to study the road ahead.

"Well Sydney, all I know is that you raised me ... ... which makes you more of a father to me than you realise or maybe want to realise ... ... I won't let you go now ... ... whatever you say! As for Parker, well, I'll take my chances with her - I think that's going to be one helluva battle!"

Jarod laughed to himself, thinking of all the times they had fought like cat and dog, neither of them ever really winning the round. ‘Maybe the time is coming when we'll stop hurting each other,' he thought silently to himself. ‘It's now or never as far as she's concerned.'

Soon, they were on the outskirts of Dover and looking for the Comfort Inn - the same one that Jarod had stayed in just twenty-four hours previously. Heading into the car park at the rear, Jarod quickly spied Ethan's small dark SUV, parked at the end of the row, facing outwards, in readiness for a quick departure. Just in case.

Parking alongside him, Jarod brought the SUV to a stop, pulling on the handbrake and quickly reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. Using the quick dial, he connected to Ethan in seconds.

"Hi Ethan, we're outside, where are you, little brother,"

"Hi Jarod, you made good time in this god awful weather ... ...I've taken a family room which should do us OK for a while and I've registered you both so you don't need to go to reception. Come straight up - first floor, room 12 at the end, next to the stairwell."

Ethan closed the connection abruptly and went to the door and opened it very slightly in readiness. He felt a flutter of excitement at being reunited with Jarod again, and within a minute they had arrived, and he felt himself enveloped in a huge hug. Ethan barely reached Jarod's shoulder in height and his slight frame always felt crushed every time Jarod greeted him!

"Hey man, you do this every time ... ... I'm only a little guy, remember!" he said, laughing at Jarod, trying to come up for air and pushing him away.

"Yeah, but you're my brother and I haven't seen you for at least three weeks!" replied Jarod looking down at Ethan's face.

Sydney and Ethan shook hands cautiously, eyeing each other warily, and then, as Sydney turned to take his coat off and hang it up in the closet, Ethan turned to Jarod and whispered:

"Hey Jarod, this is really weird - I thought Sydney was part of the search team hunting for you; what's he doing here?"

"It's a long story Ethan and I'll tell you later but for now, trust me, he's on our side!" he whispered, and then more loudly, he asked, "Now tell me, have you got any food in this place? I'm starved!"

Jarod rubbed his hands together in anticipation, having already sniffed the air and was sure he could smell something good, somewhere.

"Same old Jarod, always thinking of his stomach!" laughed Ethan moving into the small kitchenette. "Yeah, I picked up some take-out about half an hour ago, it should be OK still and there's some coffee too."

* * * * *

Parker heard the door open, waking instantly, screwing her eyes up in a frown against the harshness of the light. The room was instantly bathed in bright light from the lamp in the ceiling. She scrabbled up quickly against the wall and gathered up the chain that secured her wrist and glared at Lyle and Willy as they came in and closed the door behind them.

As usual, Willy stood just behind Lyle, to his left, arms folded and with the same half smile on his face as he looked at Parker.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Popeye and Sweetpea ... ... what stone did you two crawl out from?" she jeered, trying to ignore the feelings of anxiety that were creeping down her spine.

"How are you, Sis? said Lyle softly, ignoring the jibe.

"How do you think I am, you cretin, chained up like this. How's the knee?" she asked acidly.

Lyle didn't answer; he just stood staring at her.

Pushing her free hand through her hair, she glared at them and said:

"What the hell do you want now?"

"I want to know what's been going on with you and that half-wit Ethan," snarled Lyle, his smooth tone now gone, his face a mask of fury.

He threw the file of photographs down and they spilled out on to the bed cover. For a brief second, there was a flash of complete astonishment on Parker's face as she glanced down at them, realising that the photographs were of her and Ethan and that she had had no idea that they had been followed or photographed. How could that have happened? They'd been so careful at every meeting place.

Her first thought was for Ethan, praying that he was still safe and out of reach of the Centre radar.

"I take it you're both still chasing the ghost of Mommy dearest?" he said scathingly, now moving to pick up one of the photographs to look at it again, as if to refresh his memory.

"You tell me, brother dearest, you're the one doing the chasing!" she sneered.

Lyle bent and picked up all the photographs and returned them to the file.

He paused and with a slow assessment of her face and body, he smiled at her, taking in the bruises on her face and cut lip. Speaking to her in a voice laced with innocence, he asked slowly:

"What I really want to know, Sis, is what you've done with all the files you've taken from the Centre - spare me the denials," he said holding up his gloved hand, "I know you've been taking them out of the Centre for the past two weeks at least. Where are they?"

Parker felt her shoulders slump and she suppressed a shudder, knowing that he now knew for certain. She'd gambled on the fact that taking out certain files, incriminating the Centre, would be a kind of insurance policy for when she left the Centre - just a few more days would have seen her disappear for good; the files were her ticket to freedom.

Looking up at him standing a few feet away from her, she saw the narrowed glittering eyes and the flushed face, and with total clarity, Parker realised at last that Lyle had finally descended into the abyss of madness. She should have realised this was coming a long time ago instead of ignoring all the signs. Jarod had tried to tell her so many times that Lyle had to be stopped - now it was too late - far too late.

"If you're so clever, you moron, you find them!" she spat at him, pulling herself up again, suddenly finding her fire. She would go down fighting him all the way.

"Wrong answer, Sis!"

Lyle's face hardened as he continued to stare at Parker. He felt the slow burn of anger rising in him again and he could feel his face beginning to flush - here she was, chained up, looking like yesterday's leftover dinner and she was STILL getting under his skin.

Suddenly, he had had enough of the game.

"Try again, otherwise, Willy here will have to persuade you to find the right answer," he told her.

"Go to hell, you son of bitch, and take that asshole with you," she yelled at him, her face suddenly filled with the rage of defeat that threatened to overwhelm her.

She saw Lyle turn slightly and give a brief nod to Willy.

As if in slow motion, Parker watched Willy step forward and move to the bed. He raised his hand and in one smooth movement, he brought the side of his hand down and chopped it across Parker's forearm.

Parker screamed in agony.

* * * * *

Jarod bagged up the empty containers of their take-out food and then carried the coffee to the table, handing a cup to each of them.

"OK let's continue - as I said earlier, I believe that Parker is being held at Raines' old forest house. It makes sense if you think about; it's quiet, well camouflaged by trees, down a lane away from town, no one to see any of the comings and goings at strange times of the day or night. It's perfect for holding someone out of the way. From what I can recall, that house has a lot of poky little rooms and any one of them could be used to hold Parker," explained Jarod, sipping at his coffee thoughtfully.

"What about the approach to the house - is there some sort of driveway, hedge screening, anything like that?" asked Ethan.

"I remember a gravel driveway, with a fair amount of trees scattered around the garden - can't remember if there is any hedging around the property - didn't take much notice the last time I was there - I was pretty busy trying to find you, Ethan!" laughed Jarod at the irony.

"Ethan, do you have a gun of any sort? I'm hoping we won't need it, but I want to be sure we can defend ourselves, if we have to".

"No, but I do have this tucked away, which might prove useful in putting a sweeper to sleep for a while."

Ethan reached into his bag and came out with a small, black, ugly looking cosh that fitted snugly into his hand and, with a small laugh, he whacked his open palm with it as if to demonstrate its' efficiency.

"Right, I have a .38 weapon here, which is fully loaded. I'm going to give it to Sydney to keep. It's a last resort, Sydney, so don't worry about it, OK?"

Sydney nodded, afraid to speak. He cupped his hands around his coffee cup, looking into the depths of the liquid, swirling it gently around. He looked up at the two men, one on either side of him at the table and asked quietly:

"Am I the only one scared out of their wits?"

Ethan's face fell and he looked to Jarod for an answer, feeling the same sense of fear as Sydney at the task in front of them.

"No Sydney, trust me, it's going to be fine - we've a plan of sorts and we all know what we're doing. We'll get Parker out of there and then hightail it out as fast as possible. Just be sure to stick to the plan".

Jarod finished his coffee, got up from the table and went into the kitchenette to rinse out his cup. Turning to the others, he said:

"Right, are we ready to mount up then?"

Ethan laughed saying: "Oh my God, it's the OK Corral!"

Ethan reached for his coat out of the closet ... ... suddenly he dropped it on the floor and moaned to himself, grasping his head in pain. He moved across to slump in the chair, bent forward, holding his head in his hands, eyes shut tight and muttering unintelligible words to himself. His face shone with sweat and he swayed slightly in anguish ... ...

"Ethan, what is it?" yelled Jarod, dropping his own coat on the floor and rushing over to him.

"It's Parker, oh my God I can hear her voice, Jarod! Pain, so much pain, I can't bear it!"

* * * * *