Ethan finished tying the second sweeper securely and pulled the roll of tape out from his pocket. Tearing off a length with his teeth, he plastered it across the mouth of the unconscious sweeper and hauled him into the bushes.

Grunting with the exertion of manhandling the heavy body, he sat back on his heels and wiped the sweat from his face. He pushed his sleeve back and looked at the time, and realised that Jarod had now been gone for over thirty minutes - more time than they had bargained on.

Standing up, he brushed the wet leaves from his black jeans and moved the branches aside to look for activity in the house. He would follow Jarod's orders to the letter - to immobilise the sweepers and to wait under cover, preferably as near to the SUV that Sydney had left ready on the driveway. Waiting was the hardest thing to do.

He tried not to think about Parker. God, if anything had happened to her ... ... well, he wouldn't let himself think that way. Not now he had come to know her so well, and to care for her so much.

Ethan tried to ignore the feint chatter of voices in his head. He pulled his wool jacket closer to his neck to keep out the chill of the night and reached into his pocket for a peppermint - anything to keep the cold out. He moved a few paces to his right, keeping cover under the trees, looking for the best vantage point but feeling reluctant to move too far from the SUV.

As he leaned into the tree, an idea struck him.

* * * * *

Parker took a deep breath and leaned into Jarod for support. She couldn't believe they had been so close to escaping this hell-hole only to be caught by Lyle at the last second. She felt tears of frustration stinging in her eyes, as she swayed with the pain of her arm, at being so close to escape.

The pain seemed to take on a life of its own, searing her whole body and she knew that she had the beginnings of a fever. Perspiration gathered on her brow and around her neck making her hair feel damp on the collar of her shirt. She could feel strands of hair sticking to her face. She let Jarod take most of her weight and she would have fallen down the stairs had he not been there to help negotiate each step. Given half a chance, she would have launched herself at Lyle out of pure anger, and risked the bullet that would have surely ended her life, but Jarod had kept a firm hold on her. Maybe he knew her better than she knew herself, realising that she would have risked everything against that one slight chance to catch Lyle on the back foot.

‘Can things get any worse?' she asked herself, trying to think about all the options open to them and finding none at all.

Sydney heard the heavy footsteps coming slowly down the stairs into the hallway and he watched as Willy suddenly reached into his shoulder holster and drew his gun. The door opened and his heart sank deeper as he watched Jarod and Parker emerge into the sitting room and he gave an involuntary gasp of shock at the state of Parker's battered face.

"Oh my God, Parker, what the hell have they done to you?" he said, almost shouting.

Sydney leapt to his feet and he would have rushed across to the doorway had Willy not grabbed his arm and thrust him forcibly back in the chair, swiping Sydney's face with the back of his hand.

"SIT DOWN!" he shouted at Sydney.

Sydney's head flew back against the headrest and his lip began to trickle with blood, the blow leaving him stunned. Shaking his head slightly, he took out his handkerchief and dabbed at the corner of his mouth.

Willy moved swiftly across the room and trained his gun on them as they entered the room.

Parker blinked hard as she came into the full light of the room, shoulders hunched, and her free hand still supporting the sling of her injured arm. She looked at Sydney, her eyes suddenly filling with unshed tears again as she moved towards him. She grasped his outstretched hand and gripped it tightly. Sydney raised her hand to his cheek in an intimate gesture of solidarity and from the sheer relief at seeing her alive. She felt the strength and warmth in his hand and then, smiling gently at him, she reluctantly let it go.

"Courage, ma cherie," whispered Sydney as she moved away with Jarod.

"Very touching, Sis!" crowed Lyle, nodding at them.

"Willy, search Jarod and make sure he's clean," he ordered.

Jarod turned slightly and stretched out his arms and Willy patted him down and then shook his head at Lyle.

"Sit down, both of you," he ordered, waving his gun towards the sofa, opposite Sydney's chair.

"Do you know something, Willy boy? Another couple of minutes and I would have been too late to catch them! Such a dammed shame I've spoilt your plans, Jarod!"

"Who says you've spoilt my plans, Lyle?" asked Jarod calmly, taking notice of Lyle's excited state.

Willy and Lyle grinned at each other as if sharing a private joke, and then Willy leaned back against the wall with the same half smile playing across his face, gun in hand, and aimed squarely at Parker and Jarod.

Jarod put his arm around Parker's waist and gently helped her to the sofa. She leaned into him, letting him take her full weight. He knew she was close to passing out with shock, hunger and dehydration, all coming together to make her light-headed and nauseous. Easing her into the cushions he sat down alongside her, keeping his arm around her waist, pulling her as close as he could without further injuring her arm.

Parker felt a huge rush of affection on seeing Sydney and she smiled gently at him to let him know she was still hanging in there. She could feel herself starting to tremble, from reaction, and it suddenly dawned on her that Sydney was here, because of her, and she was the reason he had put himself in danger. For her!

‘I'm in the middle of a nightmare with a raving lunatic!' she thought to herself, looking at her twin.

"Well, whatever plans you had, they are out the goddamned window now, wouldn't you say, Wonder boy?" jeered Lyle, glancing from one to the other.

Jarod sat back and looked at Lyle calmly. He could see that Lyle was becoming unravelled at the edges - his face flushed, eyes bloodshot and he was barely able to contain his excitement as he moved from one foot to another.

"So Lyle, here we are," said Jarod slowly. "I take it that we have time to ask a few questions before you put a bullet in our brains?"

"Sure, there's no rush - I've waited a very long time for this - but you're right, the only people leaving here tonight will be Willy and me and the team. I'm afraid you three are going to meet with an unfortunate accident. Sorry about that, Syd, but if you hadn't poked your nose in, you wouldn't be in this situation" he replied softly.

"My God man, you're talking about your sister here ... ... does she mean nothing to you?" cried Sydney passionately, half rising from the chair and then sitting back down again as Willy glared at him from across the room.

"You mean Parker?" Lyle laughed softly, moving to stand in front of her. "She means absolutely nothing to me, as I am absolutely nothing to her ... ... right, sister dearest?"

"Screw you! You make me sick, you moron!" muttered Parker.

"See what I mean, Sydney!" laughed Lyle.

He bent down and stroked Parker's face gently with his gloved hand, smoothing back her hair and gazing into her narrowed, tired eyes and pale face. His face was so close to hers that she could smell his alcohol-laden breath upon her and she turned her head away in disgust.

"Mind you, it's going to be a real hardship for me to lose this pretty face from around the Centre, although seeing you here Parker, you don't seem to be looking your best at the moment ... ... not the gorgeous gal we're used to seeing"

Parker felt the cold leather of his glove and she pushed it away violently feeling her stomach heave. Lyle gave a small laugh at her reaction. It was her indifference to him that drove him wild.

"You're a sick and perverted bastard! You can rot in hell for all I care, asshole!" hissed Parker through clenched teeth.

Jarod straightened up on the sofa and he looked at Lyle through narrowed eyes.

"So Lyle, tell us your plan - tell us what this has all been about; that's the least you can do before ... ... whatever."

"All in good time, Jarod!"

Lyle turned to Willy, suddenly angry:

"Where the hell is Pete and what's-his-name - they should have been back here by now? Call the sweeper team office and get me four more sweepers out here ten minutes ago!

"I suppose you're responsible for Pete and what's-his-name going missing?" he said turning back to face Jarod.

Jarod shrugged his shoulders and looked blankly at Lyle.

Willy moved to the doorway, gun still trained on them. He patted his pocket and found his cell phone and within a couple of seconds he was connected to the office. Willy identified himself and then just listened for a minute or so. He gave instructions to the controller and then disconnected the call. As he replaced the cell phone in his pocket, he came back into the room and whispered something to Lyle and then he walked away, the familiar half smile back on his face.

Lyle turned back to them and the angry face had been replaced with a wide, beaming smile.

"Well, it appears that daddy dearest has finally done the decent thing and passed away! My God, I can hardly believe it! He's nearly ‘died' so many times before - I think I'll only believe it when I see him on the slab!"

Sydney looked across at Parker and Jarod to gauge their reaction. Parker's face remained passive, giving nothing away. Jarod looked - like he always looked - calm and slightly amused.

"Nothing to say, Jarod?" asked Lyle tauntingly.

"Nothing - except that I hope the old bastard rots in hell!"

"What about you Parker? Nothing to say about daddy dearest?"

"What can I say about the man who murdered Mama? Burning in hell would be too good for him and the same goes for you - you cretin!"

Jarod gave Parker a reassuring squeeze, as if to warn her to cool it, and then he turned his gaze on Lyle.

"So Lyle, you were going to fill us in on your plans. Don't keep us all waiting, now that you have our undivided attention!"

Lyle turned to Willy and said:

"Keep a close eye on them, Willy, I need another drink - call it my celebration drink, if you like!"

He moved across to the side table, put his gun down, and poured a generous measure of bourbon and topped it off with some ice. Turning around to face them, he smiled and then he raised his glass to them in mock salute.

"The winner takes all - cheers!"

Taking a large mouthful, he put the glass down on the side table and picked his gun up again, carefully training it on Jarod.

"So, where to begin?" said Lyle, his words becoming slightly slurred as he started to pace around the room, never losing sight of Jarod for an instant.

"Well, I guess the whole idea came to me when we got back from Carthis - with daddy Parker feeding the little fishes, and all that nonsense about the scrolls dead and buried, I knew it was time for me to take up the challenge. Old man Raines couldn't last much longer, the way his lungs were playing up. Most of the time, he was a dead man walking! God knows how he's lasted this long!"

Lyle paused for a moment as he thought about Raines and then he grinned at them, trying hard to focus on Parker's pale face, looking for her reaction and finding none.

"There was no way I would have let you, Parker, anywhere near the chairmanship of the Centre, despite your ambitions. You just don't have the killer instinct needed for this job! There have been too many times when you've let Wonder boy here, slip through your fingers - when he's outsmarted you."

"I got to wondering just how cosy you two were, and I can see I've missed something along the way, but I can't put my finger on it. I'm thinking that maybe you two got it together on that dammed Island - that's the only time it could have happened. It's pretty romantic, when you think about it, marooned together in that cottage during the storm!"

"Tell me something Parker, what was it like to be had by a genius? A trifle different to your usual bar pick-ups, wouldn't you say?"

Jarod felt all his muscles tightening and he clenched his hand that lay on the arm of the chair, knowing that Lyle was deliberately trying to goad him into taking a try at him. He felt Parker shift slightly next to him and he turned his head to look at her, relaxing a little as she gave him a small smile.

"I knew something had changed between you two - somehow, you'd managed to get closer together. When you came back, I noticed that you, Parker, had lost your edge - your enthusiasm to find Jarod had gone. Just by accident, I found out about the files! That changed everything - and you getting cosy with that half-wit brother of yours, Ethan. It should have been me - not him! By the way, I still want those files, Parker. You'd better tell me where you stashed them; otherwise, good old Jarod will be the first to go!"

Jarod turned to gaze at Parker with astonishment in his eyes and a small smile appeared around his mouth as he realised the implications of what Lyle had just said. His thoughts leapt ahead as he realised that Parker had already made her decision to leave the Centre and those files were her insurance policy.

He squeezed her waist again in a spontaneous reaction to the hope that he felt. Whichever way this evening ended, he would always have that thought in his heart. She'd made the decision of her own free will without any coercion from him!

Lyle walked over to the side table again and, nodding to Willy, he put his gun down and took another mouthful of the bourbon, the ice clinking against the glass as he downed the drink in one go.

"Where was I? ... ... oh yeah! The Triumverate were getting kind of heavy about all my ‘extra activities' but I managed to convince them that I had a foolproof plan. They think I'm returning Jarod to the Centre and then to Africa but hey ... ... what the eye doesn't see and all that ... ... let's call it a coup d'Etat at the Centre. We have to ensure that a Parker remains at the top, mustn't we Sis! Think of it as MY inheritance, if you like."

Parker looked up at him, eyes narrowed, and said nothing - she just stared at him blankly.

"So, this is all about taking the power of the chairmanship, am I right?" asked Jarod smoothly.

"Sure it is ... ... you see, Jarod, we don't need YOU any more. You've been gone for over five years and you've been corrupted by all those outside influences; we've moved on from the Pretender projects and we've got a lot of ...... shall we say ... ... more ‘interesting' projects in the pipeline".

"Having said that, as the new Chairman of the Centre, I can't afford to have YOU running around with all the Centre secrets - to put it bluntly, you would always be cramping my style! As for you, Sis, I'd always be looking over my shoulder, watching my back, so you have to go too!"

Lyle sighed in what he regarded as genuine regret at the difficult decisions he'd had to make.

He moved over to stand in front of Parker and he stroked her head with his gloved hand, cupping the back of her head upwards so that she was forced to look up at him.

"It's a great pity; we could have been good together. Now, we'll never know! Tell me Jarod," he said, not taking his eyes from Parkers' ... ... "Is she as good in bed as I think she is? I bet she's really something!"

Jarod felt the blood drain from his face and the bile rising into his throat as he half rose from the chair only to be roughly pushed back by Lyle.

"For God's sake, Lyle, how far down the food chain, are you?" he hissed at him, anger threatening to boil over.

Sydney moved uncomfortably in his chair, shifting his position to try and distract Lyle's attention from Jarod. Lyle looked across at Sydney and laughed.

"Oh my God, Syd ... ... you're always so boringly old fashioned and so moral ... ... you can't really bring yourself to believe that a brother would lust after his sister, can you!"

Sydney shook his head and stared at Lyle in disbelief.

"Don't worry Syd, it's been going on all through the centuries!"

"I think I'm going to vomit!" said Parker, looking at him in horror.

"So Lyle, why kidnap Parker? I'm assuming it was purely to flush me out?" asked Jarod quietly.

"Of course," replied "I knew you couldn't ignore Parker being in danger and as predicted, you came to her rescue like the knight in shining armour and all that crap! I have to admit, you were on the scene much more quickly than I'd anticipated. I thought it would take you at least one day longer to get here and I hadn't banked on you finding poor old Rosa like that. That wasn't on the agenda but, unfortunately, she proved to be very difficult. A pity, but there you go!"

Jarod and Sydney turned their heads at Parker's sudden intake of breath and her gasp of horror at the mention of Rosa. She struggled with Jarod to let her go - to find the strength to get off the sofa to face up to Lyle. Jarod pulled her gently back and she fell back against the sofa and closed her eyes in agony, the tears spilling down her face. Jarod pulled her close and felt her shaking body against his side.

"No, please don't tell me he's killed Rosa! Please don't ... ... no, please don't say the words. Oh God, you bastard, Lyle," she whimpered, turning her face into Jarod's shoulder.

Jarod moved his arm upwards and his hand cupped the back of her head into his shoulder. He could feel her body shuddering with heart-rending sobs. He tried to murmur some words of comfort to her but the words stuck in his throat.

‘Oh my God, I could have broken this news to her gently, not like this' he thought, closing his eyes and shaking his head with sadness.

"Oh Sis! ... ... I forgot how close you were to Rosa - how many years has she been with you, now? Mind you, she never liked me! Still, housekeepers can always be replaced! I've always got mine off the Internet," he said smiling broadly at his own joke.

"My God, you're a cruel bastard, Lyle!" said Jarod softly.

"Oh I learned about cruelty from the master -there's nothing you can teach me about that!" he replied cynically.

Sydney closed his eyes and he wished with all his heart he could go to Parker and simply put his arms around her and hold her tightly. His eyes glittered with unshed tears at her pain. She had lost so much during her time at the Centre; people taken from her that she'd cared about so much. He felt a shudder going through him when he thought how much more she was hurting now.

Opening them again, he looked at Jarod helplessly.

"What did you do with her body, Lyle?" asked Jarod simply.

"You know we always clean up afterwards ... ... I'm sure she's in the morgue somewhere ... ... what does it matter, anyway? Parker's not going to be around to attend the funeral!"

"Would it be too much to ask to give the lady a decent funeral, Lyle?" asked Jarod hopefully.

Lyle's face suddenly looked irritable, as if he had enough of all the talk and he'd stopped enjoying the game. He was becoming bored with it all and he really needed another drink.

He turned to Jarod and ignored the question, asking in turn:

"Tell me one thing Jarod, why send Sydney in here ... ... you knew that you were putting him in danger!"

Jarod looked across at Sydney before turning to look at Lyle:

"I don't think you would understand the concepts of love and loyalty. I didn't have to ‘send' Sydney anywhere ... ... his over-riding concern was for Parker and he wanted to help her in any way he could. He simply acted as my diversion and ... ... to keep you off balance."

"Well, I admit I was surprised to see him coming here out of the blue like that ... ... didn't know you had it in you, Syd!"

Sydney looked at him squarely knowing that Lyle was very close to the edge of total breakdown. If he had been asked at that moment for a professional opinion he would have said that Lyle was displaying all the long-accepted behaviours of schizophrenia; he knew his opinion was the last thing he would be asked to give this evening!

"Well, that's enough ... ... I think we've finished with all our confessions, don't you? Before we go any further ... ... I WANT THOSE FILES, PARKER!"

Parker raised her head from Jarod's shoulder, wiping her tear stained eyes on the sleeve of her jacket. She blinked and then she stared hard at Lyle, knowing that her anger would be the only way she could cope with him now.

"I don't give a monkey's cuss what you want, you son of a bitch, I'm not telling you where they are!" she shouted at him.

* * * * *

The two black town cars glided slowly to a stop outside of Raines' house and six sweepers got out and silently closed the doors and gathered around the man in the dark suit. They stood huddled together in the beam of the main lights of the lead car and the man whispered last-minute, hasty instructions to them. Once the discussion was finished, they followed him silently up the driveway. They kept close to the bushes, treading carefully on the grassy areas, avoiding the crunch of the gravel, their guns drawn ready. They moved silently behind each other towards the front of the house, keeping to the shadows, trying to avoid the blazing lights from the sitting room patio doors.

The man approached the entry door and silently pushed it open and he passed through into the hall like a ghost, accompanied by three of his team. Here, they stopped and listened.

Ethan watched the procession from his perch in the fir tree, gently pushing aside the branches to get a better view, happy that the moon had decided to break cover and give him some light. His heart started to race and he felt flutters of panic rising within him at this strange new development. Ethan was glad he'd taken the decision to get himself off the ground - at least he could see what was happening in the sitting room from up here.

His hands gripped the branch and he leaned his head against it as he tried to filter out the chattering of the voices in his head - he would follow Jarod's instructions to stay put, no matter what, but he had not expected this. Suddenly, he felt very frightened and he didn't know what to do.

* * * * *

"Aw Sis, you're not being very fair ... ... ... where you're going, you won't need those files, so, I'll ask you one more time, WHERE ARE THEY?"

Parker closed her eyes and she held her hand under the elbow to support it. She tried desperately to concentrate on what was happening in the room but things had started to get a little blurry and she knew that she was close to passing out. ‘It's so dammed hot in here,' she thought. Pain, so much pain. My arm's on fire. She looked at Lyle and he started to fade in and out and she knew that if she didn't get a glass of water soon, she'd be out of it altogether.

She could see the concern on Jarod's face as he turned to her and the way his eyes softened when their eyes met.

"Water, Jarod," she murmured to him.

Jarod turned back to Lyle and said:

"Come on, Lyle, do one decent thing this evening and get Parker a glass of water; you can see the pain she's in, thanks to Willy boy!"

Lyle stood looking at Parker thoughtfully and then turned to Sydney, waving his gun in her direction.

"Sydney, be a good fellow and get my sister dearest a glass of water; over there on the side table. It might loosen her tongue! No tricks now, otherwise she will be the first one to feel a bullet."

Sydney eased his frame out of the chair, glad to be able to stretch his legs again, suddenly conscious of how tense his muscles had become. He walked slowly over to the side table and poured some iced water into a large glass and walked back over to Jarod. Handing it to him, he smiled a silent message of encouragement to them both and then he walked back to his chair. Jarod lifted the glass up to Parker's lips and let her slowly drink.

Picking up his coat again, he felt the reassuring weight of Jarod's gun hidden in the lining - a deep inside pocket that the sweeper's cursory check had failed to spot. He pushed his right hand into the coat and found the pocket, his fingers moving over the barrel, finding the handle.

‘Oh God, please don't let me have to fire this,' he prayed, pulling the coat further up his lap, easing the gun from the pocket so that it rested just under the sleeve. He fitted his forefinger around the trigger gently, testing the weight of the gun carefully in his hand.

Sydney looked across at Jarod and then down at his coat and Jarod acknowledged the look with a slight nod of his head.

Parker drank the glass of water slowly and then Jarod put the glass down on the small side table. She closed her eyes. Her mouth was still dry. Her tongue felt thick inside. She tried to speak but nothing came out. Lyle's voice floated around her, disembodied. She tried to open her eyes but the effort was too much. She leant against Jarod's shoulder and gave in to the feeling of ...nothing.

"Now, where were we? Oh yes, you were about to tell me where you stashed those Centre files, weren't you, Sis. You see, I have an inventory of the files you've taken and, to be honest sweetheart, they will be extremely damaging to me, as Chairman of the Centre, if they fall into the wrong hands."

Lyle stepped in front of Jarod, suddenly pushing the barrel of the gun into his face, with his finger on the trigger. Slowly, he pushed the barrel into his cheek so that his head was forced backwards against the headrest.

"So, Parker, can you hear me Parker ... for the last time ... WHERE ARE THE FILES?"

Sydney took a deep breath and moved his hand, ready to fire when ...

Suddenly ...

The door coming from the hall opened sharply, and a man dressed in a black overcoat, accompanied by three black-suited sweepers, guns drawn, burst into the room with a confusion of noise, stamping feet and loud shouting.

Lyle turned around abruptly, and within a split second, there was the sound of a gun shot, the acrid smell of burning powder and then Lyle fell to the floor, his body falling close to Parker's feet, sending the small table flying and the empty glass crashing down into a thousand pieces. Lyle's gun flew out of his hand and across the room. He suddenly grasped his shoulder in a squeal of pain. He fell to the floor moaning, calling desperately for Willy to help him; his shirt and jacket rapidly turning crimson with blood.

Willy turned and with his arm outstretched, he took aim. There was the sound of a second gun shot, and suddenly Willy's gun was flying across the room. He bent down trying to stem the blood pouring from his hand. In seconds, he was spread-eagled on the floor by two sweepers who handcuffed him in one smooth, practised action.

The man in the black overcoat stood still with his back against the door. He spoke quietly to the senior sweeper who walked over to where Lyle lay groaning on the floor. In seconds, Lyle was handcuffed securely, despite the bad shoulder wound.

The whole operation had taken less than thirty seconds.

"Good evening Mr Cox, it's about time you arrived!" said Jarod.