To Argyle’s Car

“ . . . and so I says to pop, you know, we just need a little cooling off time, you know? But, I don’t know.” Argyle looked back toward Miss Parker. “Something wrong, Miss P?”

“Argyle?” Safety. Emily was too damn close to Blue Cove. She hated to do this, but she needed the tactic. “I’m not fond of Jarod.”

“Oh. Yeah, sorry,” Argyle said. “J-dog’s a good guy though, give him a chance. Okay? Just a little chance.”

“The best I could manage, maybe, is okay acquaintance.” She looked toward Argyle. “He hates me just as much. I mean, has he ever mentioned me?”

“Uh. No, I don’t think so. But like, I haven’t seen him in years.”

“I’ve known him since he was a teenager,” Miss Parker said. “Has he mentioned me?”

“Uh, I don’t . . . think he ever did?” Argyle said.

“Exactly, we aren’t close.”

“Um. Okay?”

“That woman back there? Did you hear her?” Miss Parker asked. “She likes me less. She wants to take my unborn children away, and I’m not letting her.”

“What? Oh no.” Argyle whined. “That’s bad, that’s real bad. Kids should be with their parents. Whatever this issue is, man, it’s gotta be solved.”

“Yes. You can tell Jarod where I am, after I am out of here. And tell him that his dad, his sister, and his clone, are his business. I don’t want to know about them, and they better as hell not know a thing about me. Because if his sister steals my children after they are born.” She fixed the rear-view mirror slightly. “I’ll kill her. I will hunt her down to the ends of the Earth and I will stab her pretty face.”

“Um?” Argyle shifted uncomfortably. “Okay?”

“But he’s going to call sooner than I expected,” Miss Parker said. “When he does, don’t tell him where we are. Just say we’re safe. Don’t try and lie, he’ll see through that.”

“Wait, hang on.” Argyle. “Look, I was doing this as a-a favor for Jarod. I really, really owed him for everything he did, and-and, but this don’t sound like I’m doing it so much for him now.”

“You can still tell him. Later.”

“This don’t feel right.” Argyle shook his head. “J-dog was good to me, and now I can’t tell him where his girl and unborn kids are?”

“For the last time.” Easy. Eeeasy. “I’m not his girl.” Hmph. “Do this favor for me, and I’ll prove how much I appreciate it.”

“How much you appreciate it?” Argyle glanced at her, then back at the road. “W-what do you mean?”

“Let’s just say contrary to appearance right now, I’ve been a lot more around the block than you have.” She brought his arm closer so he leaned down. She whispered into his ear, and then let him go again. “Deal?”

“Uh. Uh.” Argyle looked back at her. “I, oh, whoah. I don’t know. I mean. This is a little freaky. Don’t get me wrong, even as you are, you’re more banging than any chick I’ve ever laid eyes on. But.  Jarod, he’s-“

“A daddy,” she said. “No control otherwise of me. Men don’t own women because of babies, do they? No one owns anyone. Relationships. Marriages. I have neither. So.” She looked out the window. “Your choice.”

Back to the getaway car . . .

How would this ever work? Emily was afraid Miss Parker would tell The Centre. She’d turn. She wanted Jarod to take his kids away after they were born.

Which was exactly what Miss Parker was afraid of. “Dad, I need your phone.”

“Who are you calling?” Emily was still so nervous. Gemini didn’t care. Dad, didn’t know what to think of the situation.

“I won’t let her know about you,” Jarod said, “If that’s what you want, fine, but you can’t know about her either.” He took his father’s phone.

As he did that though, sirens went off. He could hear them all the way out there, blaring from The Centre. “Damn.” If he was caught, his whole family was caught! “Dad, step on it faster!”

But up ahead, was a road block. Although that never stopped them, the person blocking the road with his trademark devilish smile meant the road block was just a nice little warning to what he really had.

“Dad, stop,” Jarod commanded.

“Are you crazy?! We need to go around it, Jarod.”

“Dad, stop! That man is the one who killed Kyle. Stop here, turn around, and get out.”

Major Charles stopped. “Jarod, no!” Emily cried. “You see? This is because of that woman. It’s all a setup, Jarod!”

“Get Emily and Gemini out of here.” Jarod picked up Debbie and closed the door behind him, watching Lyle as the wheels sped away in the opposite direction. If he knew he was breaking out, he could have caught them all a long time ago. He started to walk forward, but heard a slightly different step next to him.

Gemini?! “You were supposed to go with dad!” Jarod yelled at him.

Gemini glanced back at him. “I couldn’t leave you alone. There’s no telling what he has planned.”

Damn it. Too late now. He trudged to the road block with Lyle, holding Debbie, with Gemini by his side.

“Good, good,” Lyle said as Jarod came closer. “I was hoping you’d come to your senses. Did you see my friends? They have a lot more style than The Centre.” Lyle walked along the ground. “The thing is, Raines didn’t want to get his hands dirty. Or, too bad of health to rough me up. Boy, this plan had some tough spots. Getting beaten down pretty bad by sweepers, that wasn’t fun at all.”

“Just get to the point,” Jarod said holding onto Debbie. “Do you have a cure for her?”

“The word is treatment. She’ll be fine with a shot of what’s in this little red vial.” He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a red vial. “She takes it once a month, like clockwork, for the rest of her life.” He pocketed it again. “Don’t feel bad, Jarod. I had to make sure it was something you didn’t detect. It works slowly on the body, real slow. Hardly any change. Then one day, she’s out riding her bike, and bam! She’s dead.” He chuckled. “You had no chance. Even Broots had to know that when I told him what it had been.”

Broots. Everything was a setup.

“It’s fine, you know? The only problem was, Raines brought you in. And, Raines wasn’t supposed to do that,” Lyle complained. “So I had to let you escape, so that I technically caught you. With my deal complete.” He fixed his tie straight. “Mister Lyle Parker now owns The Centre, according to The Triumvirate.”

Jarod watched sweepers come from the sides.

“The one on your left, you might want to let him give her that shot? And, of course, down on the ground and hands behind your back. Or, we could shoot out your kneecaps. Either works for me.”

Jarod had no choice. He let the sweeper take Debbie, got to his knees, placed his hands behind his back, and could feel the handcuffs being put on.

“Good boy,” Lyle smiled.

“If you own The Centre,” Jarod growled, “what’d you do to it?”

“Oh. The sirens? I had to clear out a couple of old levels of the building. You know? Make room for the new.” He winked at him. “Fire alarm was probably by Broots. Not like I said he couldn’t pull it.” He moved to the left, just grinning. “Everything was perfect. Except, that those geniuses did mess up on something. They all assumed you’d be so taken with Miss Parker there in the cell, and having to Pretend to be the one thing you despised so much, nobody planned on you finding the lab and destroying everything.” He shrugged. “Still. I’ve got some new names to try for Pretenders thanks to Nugenesis, and hell, Angelo’s still here. That makes it easy.”

Jarod tried to struggle, but was knocked down further to kiss the ground.

“Take it easy, Jarod. Broots had to. You couldn’t do anything, and he was going to do what it took to save his daughter’s precious life.” He chuckled. “And as a bonus, I have myself a personal slave for the rest of Debbie’s life.” He put his hand in his pocket and leaned slightly to the right. “I’ve always kind of wanted one of those. A lifetime slave. Now, last thing.” Lyle dialed a number on his cell phone. “Baby Jarod has a starring role with The Triumvirate. And thanks for bringing the Gemini project back too. Guys, could you, go ahead and cuff that little clone too? Thanks.”

“If you think, you are really getting away with this,” Jarod started to warn him.

“Shh. On the phone,” Lyle said. Then, his expression faded. “Who is this?”

Jarod watched him. Whoever it was, it wasn’t making Lyle happy.

“Listen you little bug, unless you want killed, you better bring her back,” Lyle demanded. “I need her back here! Now!” He held his finger up to the lovely people in colorful head clothing. “How much do you want, huh? Fifty thousand. Hundred thousand.” He smiled to his ‘new friends’ amiably. “Million. Two million.”

Oooh. “What’s wrong, Mister Lyle?” Jarod practically dripped the words out of his mouth. “Deal going a little sour?”

“No, quiet,” he said to Jarod. “I can find you, kill you, and . . . well, for your own protection, Sis.” Miss Parker clearly took over the phone. “Yeah, I sound great having regrown a tongue.” He licked his lips. “You were supposed to run with Jarod’s family, why the hell weren’t you there? Mm? Yep, I got her taken care of. Partly.” He was rubbing his ear. “This is stupid, we have GPS inside the cars, make it easy and just . . . you aren’t in a Centre car?” He held his finger gently back up to the others. “Get your ass back home, now.”

“Mister Lyle.” A strapping man came in front of him. “Did you just lose our greatest investment?!”

“I promised Jarod,” Lyle said. “I delivered. Five months early.” He gestured to him on the ground. “Not only that, but his clone too. We haven’t even found a lead on him, and there he is. Bonus.” His smile was fading. “She can’t be far. I can find-“

Then all the lights went out. Jarod closed his eyes as in the dead of night, intense flashers were seen.

Everyone sheltered their eyes, but Jarod felt someone pulling him away. Not knowing who it was, but knowing he had to trust them, he followed their lead. He found himself in some kind of car, still squinting his eyes. “Gemini?”

“I’m right here,” Gemini said. “Who did that?”

Jarod moved around, waiting for his vision to come back. “I don’t know. Who are you?” he called to the driver.

“Broots couldn’t help you, but, he didn’t want to hurt you either.”

What? “Ethan?!” Jarod almost shouted for joy.

“I had to wait, until they revealed the cure,” Ethan said. “My sister. I knew she would be alright. She was told to run. Oh, the girl is by your feet. She is still unconscious. Broots, he has a message for you for her. He said if she dies because of Lyle, bring her back, otherwise to take good care of her.”

With his eyesight returning better, Jarod could see Debbie by his feet. “The best care I can.” He could see Ethan driving now.

“He also said that if Sydney was wrong, Miss Parker was right, and something happens to Debbie that wasn’t Lyle’s fault, he’d hunt you down and kill you in cold blood.” Ethan shrugged. “He really loves his daughter.” He had some kind of goggles around his neck that had probably kept his eyesight clear.

Jarod already knew that. At least Broots was compassionate enough to see what needed to be done. Let Debbie go. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Whenever The Centre found a lead to our family, Broots tried to clear it. Knowing I was Miss Parker’s brother though, he kept the information.”

Jarod nodded. “Bad position. Good guy.” He sighed. “I need to contact Miss Parker.”

“You are having twins with her.”

“Yeah,” Jarod said.

“I can’t connect to her yet. The voice, it says she has to run with clowns. But, there’s someone you love that you will finally see soon.”

“Who?”

“Your mother.”

Diner . . .

Small diners. No possibilities. No one was ever found there. Nothing eventful happened. No miracles were made. Miss Parker held her fork in her hand, trying to twist some cold spaghetti on the fork.

No Centre for her. She knew that by Lyle’s voice. Son of a bitch. Of course he was still kicking, and bucking harder than ever. He even now had Jarod, which meant, her survival skills were up to her.

“This isn’t ketchup. You can’t taste the tomato at all.”

And an old war veteran, and that clown, Argyle. He didn’t want his dad to get as close to the danger and Blue Cove, so he dropped him several towns away. All he told his father was that he was getting Jarod’s ‘girl’ out of a bad situation. Bad situation alright, and with Jarod’s twins in her stomach, it was bound to get worse.

“Hey, hon, it’s not alright for a new mom-to-be lookin’ like her whole world is falling apart.” Miss Parker saw a pie slide next to the food. “Maybe that’ll help cheer ya up?”

Hm. Pie. “Thanks,” she said lazily. She used to never even touch a damn carb and now she was drowning in them thanks to her cravings. But her world was shitty. She wasn’t going to turn down pie.

“Hey, look at that. See? Good things can happen. Good things,” Argyle said from the other side of her.

“I’m surprised someone like you didn’t fall for the money.” Miss Parker looked toward Argyle. She was stuck with him. He might as well spout off a little bit. “How did you meet our mutual acquaintance?”

“Ah. Oh. Who cares? You know, it wasn’t the best part. I’m just here. That’s good, right?” Argyle looked toward his dad. “Eat the potatoes too, pops.”

“Potatoes though, they ain’t got no flavor,” his father said.

Hm. Well, at least he didn’t crack when Lyle started throwing out cash. All he had to do was give away some kind of landmark and she’d be gone.

“You like the pie?”

Oh. The waitress again. One of those annoying voiced ones too, checking on you when you weren’t feeling so good. “Fine.”

“Looks like you could use more than pie though. What’s wrong, Little Missy? A new momma shouldn’t look kicked to the curb like that.”

Miss Parker sighed. “I’m not going to give my life story to a waitress.”

“Even the ketchup,” Argyle’s father complained. “The potatoes and the ketchup. It’s just, it’s awful.”

“Dad.”

“It’s just awful, Argyle, it’s awful.”

“Dad. Pope mom.”

“We should head on out of here.”

“Nah, you should stay for a spell. Especially you, Angel carrying Angels.”

Miss Parker stopped eating her pie. Why’d she say that? Miss Parker lifted her head to look at the waitress. “Oh. My. God.”

“No god, just a waitress. Lenny! I’m taking off for a break.” She took off her apron and came ‘round the other side. She smiled at Miss Parker brightly. “You look just like her. She knew you would. Come with me.” She gave a quick wiggle of her hands to Argyle and his dad. “We’ll be back in half an hour. Bide your time. Have some pie.”

She grabbed Miss Parker’s hand with her still in shock. “Uh?” Miss Parker followed her outside and into a beat up old red car.

“Hop on in. Don’t be shy.” Jarod’s mother started the car.

Miss Parker jumped into the passenger side and they took off. “You’re Jarod’s mother.”

“Margaret is more of the name I go by.” As they started to drive, she slammed Rag Doll by Aerosmith through the speakers. “Hang on, darlin’.”

Miss Parker held on as she took an off-beaten path through the woods, kicking up dust and dirt. “You knew my mother?”

“Yes, Miss Parker, I knew her.” Her accent had changed, and so did her movement. Opening her purse, she popped some kind of candy in her mouth as she drove. “But, me and Catherine aren’t really that big of a deal in the whole scheme of things.” She took another turn with accurate precision. “Talking in one place too long could be dangerous.”

“Yeah.” Miss Parker didn’t exactly know what to say. “Jarod’s been looking for you.”

“Uh huh, and you’ve been chasing him. I almost met him once. It was nice seeing him outside of pictures. I got so emotional.” She shook her head. “I wanted it to be, so when I got that message. Ugh.” She sighed. “I risked everything for us to see him. Now there isn’t even an us. Hang on tighter.”

She took a tighter turn. Miss Parker really held on. “How do you know so much?” Miss Parker asked.

“Your mom,” Margaret said. “She had a rare gift, an inner sense that she trusted. I wish I had it sometimes. She wrote down a lot of things though.” She reached into her glove compartment as ‘Rag Doll’ ended. “Here.”

Miss Parker took the papers. “You searched for the scrolls with her?”

“Mmhm. And I put them back again, and . . .” She shook her head. “So many people were hurt. I didn’t want anyone else to hurt, but it was time they were refound. I put the doll back, with the key inside to be discovered again.” She stared ahead of herself. “I lost so much, I didn’t want to lose anyone else. I’m very sorry, but the chain reaction had to happen at some point.”

“Chain reaction?” Miss Parker asked.

“The one you’ve seen. Your daddy, your biological father, your brother, and The Centre.” She sighed as Guns N’ Roses ‘Child of Mine’ started to play. “I saw the scrolls.”

“You saw them? You had them,” Miss Parker said.

“Briefly. Catherine and I both saw them. We knew things because of it. It’s a small blessing, but a curse too,” she said. “Because of what I know, I can’t get close to Jarod, and every time I lost someone in my family, I was bound to never see them again. The Centre made sure of it. Until now. It’s almost over, ‘Angel’.”

“Jarod is at The Centre again,” Miss Parker said.

“No, he’s not. Don’t worry. He’s a big boy now. Even at nine, he was a real go-getter.” She slowed down the car as they came into traffic. “When we stop, grab the uniforms in the back.” She ruffled through a stack of ID’s in a holder next to her seat.

As they stopped, Miss Parker obeyed her and grabbed two sets of uniforms. She followed Jarod’s mother into a hospital.

“This way.” She showed her the changing area.

Miss Parker wore the nurse’s outfit the best she could, but Jarod’s mother stood up firm and straight, speaking with people medically about cases and charts as they walked. His mother was a Pretender?

“Keep coming this way.” She brought Miss Parker into a spare bedroom. “The Triumvirate makes itself into believing it’s a god because of its power, and its cures. When The Centre popped up with its scrolls, they immediately seized power over it, but could not control the one owning it. They wanted the scrolls. They knew The Centre had them, but it wasn’t giving them up, so they had this strange relationship.” She sighed and sat down on the empty bed, patting her hand next to her.

Miss Parker came toward her and sat on the bed.

“They’ve seen bits too. No one sees the whole thing,” Margaret revealed. “Not without being cursed, and forced to die soon after. But, I saw the best bit. Catherine and I.” She touched Miss Parker’s hair and bent it back over her ear. “The ending to The Centre and The Triumvirate.”

“The ending,” Miss Parker said in a hushed whisper. “How’s it end? Why is Jarod so important to The Centre?”

“Because, they caught his name on the scroll,” his mother said. “They know he has something to do with it all. But, they think his name, and holding the Jarod of the scrolls, gives them power. They do everything they can to hold a ‘Jarod’. They don’t even know what or which ‘Jarod’, but a boy was found with Pretender skills that matched. ‘Must be him’, they thought.” She sighed. “He’s not the power. He’ll be the destroyer. Good for him,” she smiled.

“No one can destroy The Triumvirate,” Miss Parker said. “The Centre, it’s just a tiny little part to it. The Triumvirate. It has three headquarters, three chiefs, each headquarter controls-“

“He’ll destroy it all,” Margaret said again. “When they go too far.”

“They’ve always gone too far,” Miss Parker said. “These babies.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t . . .”

“You had the enemies’ children,” Margaret said. “That can’t be easy. On you or Jarod.”

“How do you really know so much?” Miss Parker wished she had grabbed the papers now. Was it all in there? “You have abilities like Jarod.”

She laughed. “More like Jarod has abilities like me. I was born first.” She went over and picked up a chart, doing something with it. “A new patient should be coming in soon, so there isn’t much time, we need to get going. I still have to get you back to your traveling companions. If there’s anything you want to know, ask now.”

“How did . . .” Oh. “Why . . .” Shoot. She followed Margaret out of the room. “Why aren’t you mad at me?”

“For chasing him?” Margaret asked. “How do I speak so easily to the one who wanted to keep bringing Jarod in?”

“Yes,” Miss Parker asked.

“I know why you want to bring him in. If you show him, he’ll understand,” Margaret said. “But there’s no reason to worry. Catherine wrote ‘by a trick’. He’ll figure it out. The older he gets, the stronger he is. You’ll be fine, and so will the others.”

She talked to another person about a patient on a couple more floors before they reached the car.

“This Pretender business,” Miss Parker said. “Why are you doing it this boldly?”

Margaret moved back in the car. “I was born into a foster home. It wasn’t long before I realized how different I was from everyone else.” She started the car again and she started to drive away as Bon Jovi’s Blaze of Glory played.

 “As I grew older, I could get away with newer occupations. New things. I never had to want for anything anymore. Doctor, Lawyer, whatever I wanted. When I had money, I decided to get into more exciting things, really live. I didn’t just want to live my life in a big house with a pool and maids. It was boring. Then, when I started to discover the excitement of flying, I met Charles.” She sighed. “Love changes everything. I never had the heart to tell him about my old life. I just stayed still, stopped all the pretending, and decided to marry. But.” She took a deep breath. “I loved him but I was miserable. It wasn’t life. He took it more as a sign that we needed family. It wasn’t easy though. I eventually found a way. Nugenesis helped us.” She looked out the window. “I raised my boys, but I still missed my world, I was homesick for it. More than I wanted to admit.” She kicked the car faster. “But, I had my family. I thought I was fine.” She stopped. “What a fool I was.”

Miss Parker looked out her own window. “You’ve never gone . . .”

“Crazy? No. I’m not so in tune that I need that. I’ve got some skill, but my sons would outshine me any day,” she chuckled.  “I mean, my son,” she corrected herself.

“Ethan,” Miss Parker said. “Did you know about him?”

“Oh yes, yes. Um. That . . . was not easy,” Margaret confessed. “My Charles and your mother having a child. The nerve of The Centre! But, it wasn’t out of love. Just, The Centre. We decided, then and there, when it was all over we wouldn’t fuss over anything like custody. We’d all just be one big family.” She coughed slightly. “Your mom was stressed and stretched to her limit though. I shouldn’t have been surprised when she never came to see me again.”

Miss Parker fell silent for a moment. “They got nerve back.”

“With you and Jarod, I know. They never make it easy,” Margaret said. “Whether you are in there or running from it. It’s never easy.” She reached into her glove compartment again. “Give Jarod these. I don’t have a whole lot of pictures of us together left.” She smiled at her. “It’s alright. I know why you are the way you are. And it’s the same way that Jarod’s going to take it all down.” She smiled at Miss Parker, robustly. “Tell me something honest about Jarod. Don’t say he has abilities or waste time with that. Tell me something real.”

Oh. Real. Not about abilities or chasing him. “He was raised by a man named Sydney.”

“Yes, a darling. I know that. Tell me about you and him, when you were little. How did he make you feel?”

Damn. Memory capsule. She rubbed her eyebrow.

“Won’t tell him, promise,” she laughed. “Please?”

“He was like . . .” She licked her bottom tooth gently. “An odd superhero that was caught by the enemy, so he could never save the day.”

That brought a smile to Margaret’s face. “A caught superhero.”

“Who talked funny,” Miss Parker added. She looked back toward her. “Superhero does nothing from behind glass though. I had to become my own hero. Why do you want to know that?” There was only so long. Why waste time on something like that?

“Then believe in him, to be the superhero he is. He’s not trapped behind glass anymore.”

Miss Parker didn’t know what else to say as she got out of the car. She held the pictures, filled with confusion. “Did she . . . are these . . .” She looked down at her stomach.

“They were created to get the Parkers out of The Centre,” she revealed. “They would have the blood of the Parkers, by contract, but The Triumvirate would raise them. Which would be hell.” She almost took off, but stopped right away. “Do you know why your father called you Angel, Miss Parker?”

“Which one? I saved my father’s life when I was little, according to him. Or, tradition,” Miss Parker said. “Crypt keeper’s daughter. Same with Miss Parker.” She sighed. Most likely, she’d rag on her to change her little girl’s name too.

“The family was low in status,” she said. “Her mother wanted her to feel like someone, no matter what, so she was called Miss Parker. But, her daddy preferred Angel. She wasn’t low or high . . . she was sweet to the touch. That’s what he said, before he looked at the scrolls,” she said softly. “Don’t ever look at the scrolls. You know what you need to know, and that’s all you need to know. Now, Jarod will be waiting for you. Get going.”

Miss Parker watched as she took off. She tried to remember what she could about his mom.

“Miss P! You’re back!” Argyle said coming out. “Hey, Pope mom’s good. It’s almost exactly half an hour.”

“Yeah. She got skills.” Miss Parker rubbed her neck. “We better get going.”

-------------------