Chapter 2: Looking for Miss Parker

October 2002:

Sydney sat at his desk at the newly revealed Isis Foundation – formerly the Centre. When the Centre was raided barely a year ago, he, Broots, and Sam had been following a supposed lead on Jarod in San Antonio. As soon as they had landed, the jet they were on had been called back to the Centre. That same day, the government had taken over the Centre and all its assets. And, while they were stranded in Texas, all they could do was watch the news about what was going on at the Centre. A few months later, Sydney had been contacted regarding his appointment as head of the Isis Foundation.

The Foundation had been anonymously funded several years ago and had acquired some of the less lucrative legitimate research projects of the Centre. Once the Centre operations were cleared by the government, the papers indicated that Sydney would take over as President of the Isis Foundation and should have the funds necessary to acquire what was left of the legitimate research of the Centre. Sydney realized, although had no evidence to support his theory, that this was all Miss Parker's doing.

The shrill ring of the telephone interrupted his thoughts. He had a suspicion on who was going to be on the other end of the line, so he took a deep breath to steady himself. "This is Sydney."

"Sydney, do you know why Miss Parker is still running?" Jarod's voice though deceptively calm, projected urgency over his inability to contact his oldest and dearest friend. Sydney sighed. Almost as soon as news of the Centre's demise came to light, Jarod had been trying to contact Miss Parker. He was able to contact Sydney easily enough, but Miss Parker was another matter.

"I honestly don't know Jarod. I haven't spoken to her directly in almost a year. Not since before the Centre was taken over by the government. If I do hear from her, it's usually a voice mail telling me she's fine, that she's just checking in so I don't worry. But she never indicates where she is."

"Sydney, I just can't accept that she's gone." Never had Sydney heard Jarod's voice so confused, at a loss.

"I'm sorry Jarod. I don't know what to say. Maybe when she feels the time is right, she will contact someone. I promise, if I talk to her directly, you'll be the first to know."

"Sydney, do you know why she did what she did? I know nothing has come out about her involvement but I just know she was the reason the Centre and Triumvirate are no longer around."

"I wish I could tell you more, Jarod. When she came back from Scotland, she was more distant than she ever was, and she was devastated when she found out her little brother passed away. I wasn't privy to any of her thoughts or plans at the time. And I have the same suspicion as you, that she did have a hand in the events here, but I don't know the how and the why. Only she can answer that and right now, I don't think she wants to be answering any questions."

"I need to see her Sydney. If only to see that she's okay."

"Do what you feel you need to Jarod. But I feel that she is staying away for a reason. You know better than to push the issue. She'll just run the other way." Sydney reminded Jarod.

"Sydney, I just want to know if she's okay . . . " Jarod said.

"Jarod, I know that she will contact us when she is damn good and ready. She has given up so much for everyone she cares about. All these years, she traded her freedom for yours and mine and Broots. Give her time to take in what she has done. She betrayed the one thing she had always been taught to protect and hold above all else. "

He stared at the picture of Miss Parker as a baby with Catherine holding her and smiling at her. Keep her safe Catherine.

Hundreds of miles away in the mountains of Colorado, Jarod was sitting at the kitchen table of the large two story house that served as his family home, staring at the phone in his hand. The house was surrounded by acres of nature reserves in the mountains of Colorado. If you didn't know where to look, you wouldn't even know the house existed. This place was one of several that Jarod had acquired to serve as his and his family's safe haven once they were all together.

Thanks to his brother Ethan, he and his family had been reunited with his mother a month after his return from Scotland. Within a month after that, the Centre had fallen, then the Triumvirate.

Jarod never saw it coming, at least not by anyone else's hand but his own. After the debacle in Scotland, Jarod had had enough of the Centre and had decided to disappear for awhile to focus his attentions on finding his mother and bringing his family together. Her disappearance right before the fall of the Centre left no doubt in his mind that she was responsible. While he buried his head in the sand, to lick his wounds, his best friend had done the one thing he had planned and simmed but never got around to doing. The girl that everyone underestimated, including himself, accomplished the one thing he never thought possible. She took down the Centre and Triumvirate single handedly.

He hadn't seen Parker since their time together on the Island of Carthis. But for that one phone call, he hadn't spoken to her either. When he was talking about turning points in Scotland, he had wished that Parker would have taken the one he had offered, not realizing that at some point before Scotland, she had already found her turning point and it wasn't towards him.

He wanted to forget the feelings that been brought to the surface at Ocee's cottage. The feelings he thought he had long buried deep within. But what was imprinted in his mind was the closeness they shared in front of the fire. That for once they were baring their souls and confiding in each other as man and woman and not as adversaries.

Missing Pieces. . . Miss Parker. . . Missing Pieces. . . He remembered saying those words to her the night he found her at that bar after Thomas' murder.

For months he had forced himself to not look for her; to stay away, to give her time and space. Little did he know that the missing piece he was looking to complete his life had been right in front of him from the beginning. It was Parker, Centre Ice Queen, the little girl who had given him his first kiss; the woman who sacrificed her freedom for his. It was a revelation to Jarod that he not only wanted her in his life, but he needed her in his life.

Didn't they deserve a different ending?