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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
I borrowed heavily again. This time I took some of my favourites (by Bruce, who else?) and melted them together into one little speech, or plea by our pretender. I hope it works for you too.
*********************
She didn’t reply to his last question. ‘What she wanted,’ Miss Parker thought. ‘When did I ever get what I wanted?’
Yes, most of the time she got what she wanted, but rarely did she get what she really needed. She got all the material things in life. She got the people in her life to do as she demanded. And most of the time, all it took from her was a look.
But the most important things always seemed to elude her when they weren’t forcefully taken away. Like the ability to choose, like answers, like the truth, like her dreams, like love.
Those were the things she wanted, she needed. But how to express those needs, she didn’t know. Her upbringing didn’t include teaching her how to do that.
After a few more moments in silence, Jarod realized she would not answer him. Not now anyway. He’d have to give her time and they had to move.
He had called Sydney earlier. The pretender had made up a story of how Lyle had found him. He had told his former mentor that Lyle had killed Ethan and there was nothing left for him to do but shoot Lyle in return.
Sydney had been shocked at the news. The psychiatrist had given his condolences to Jarod for his loss and had been worried about how he managed the fact that he had killed a man again.
Jarod had been evasive, telling Sydney that it had happened and there was nothing to be done about it.
"Parker, we have to leave. The Centre will be up here soon to get Lyle’s corpse. Let’s just get away from here for now. We can discuss everything else later."
"You’re not saying that we should leave together, are you?" Seeing his serious expression Miss Parker scowled at him. "In about ten minutes I’ll be up and ready again, genius. Then I might be tempted to shoot you!"
"We’ll deal with your temptation when we cross that bridge. For now I’d say: let’s get the hell outta here. You’ll need to change the car anyway. You’ll get a new one somewhere down the road."
She relented, but more out of exhaustion than out of willingness. The day must have clearly clouded her mind and her judgement.
Both of them said their last goodbyes to their brother. Jarod knelt down. "Sleep well little brother," he mumbled with a choked voice and got up again.
Miss Parker ran her finger over the make-shift cross on which Jarod had carved simply Ethan’s first name one last time, looked up in the now almost dark sky and whispered into the air: "You would’ve deserved better too. I hope you find some silence now."
***************************
Sydney and Broots stood in the sim lab. Angelo was crouched in a corner, whimpering all the while. Broots was just about to ask his colleague what would happen next, when a screeching sound was unmistakably announcing the arrival of Raines.
The oxygen-tank-dragging man positioned himself in front of them. "Lyle’s body has been dealt with. With the consent of the Triumvirate I’ve put Mr. Cox in charge of the hunt. Jarod must be found. Sydney, you will tell us when he contacts you again. Mr. Broots, your post is in the tech room. You will follow the orders, or else…"
Sydney raised an eyebrow at this. "Or else?"
"People are disappearing or dying here at an unexpected rate lately. Just keep that in mind." With that, Raines turned around and left.
"Sydney, this is serious. What should we do?" Broots looked more than a little concerned.
"It’s simple. You’ll do as you are told," came from the back of the room. Cox.
The former confidant of Mr. Parker stood above the staircase leaning on the railing. With slow, deliberate steps he came down. "I have sent two sweeper teams to Arizona. I have the hunch that Jarod will take his half brother to be buried somewhere that has a connection to his family. Since he lost his other brother there, Jarod could very well show up in Arizona. What do you think Sydney?"
"It is a possibility. Jarod would not want Ethan to be alone."
"That’s what I thought. Mr. Broots, I have an additional assignment for you."
"W..w..what?"
"Parkers have been dying here a little too much lately. Mr. Raines has lost his son and his brother. He wants his daughter to be found before anything could happen to her. So, Mr. Broots you will create a search program designed to find Miss Parker."
"What do you mean?"
"Miss Parker has some very exceptional traits and habits. I don’t think she broke with them. If you come up with a search program that can filter say, for example, shopping habits, life-style traits, it will give us a chance of finding her."
"Life-style traits? What’s that supposed to mean?" Broots asked, not liking where this could go.
"Miss Parker’s penchant for exclusive clothing for example. Expensive perfume, luxurious surroundings. Things like that. You’ll be granted access to all the data base information of the American Consumer Association and all the major Credit Card Companies, as well as the newly founded Department for Homeland Security. They keep extensive information on consumer habits lately. This will be helpful. You’ll find an assistant with all further necessary information awaiting you in the tech room,"
Cox elaborated. The last comment was clearly meant as a not too subtle hint for Broots to get moving.
"I’ll be in Mr. Lyle’s former office." With that he left the two astonished colleagues alone.
"Sydney?"
"Relax Broots. I think Jarod is expecting them to show up in Arizona. This would be just too simple. And somehow I’m sure that any breadcrumbs or leads on him will come in a much less frequent manner, if at all. In the past, most of them were meant exclusively for Miss Parker. And when they weren’t, she still was the only one to read and decipher them.
But without breadcrumbs, it’s a different game. I always knew that if Jarod really wanted to, he could disappear for good."
"But what about Miss Parker? Sydney, if we have access to all this data, I think this really could work! I mean, she sure as hell wouldn’t start buying from the rack at Wal-Mart’s now. So it might work!"
"If you’re so sure about that Broots, then maybe you should do something about it."
"Huh?"
"Broots! Cox and Raines think they know Miss Parker. But I’m pretty sure that you know her a lot better. So if she usually buys Gucci, change it to D&G or the like. But change only what is not too obvious. And you could always build in a little hitch or bug into the program, one that no one but you could ever find. Know what I mean?"
"Ah, I guess I do."
"Jarod AND Miss Parker are exceptionally resourceful people. I’ve never made any predictions about what the Centre could do or not, but I am certain that now, with both of them on the other side, we will never find them."
****************************
Jarod and Miss Parker made their way back to the car and drove off.
Five hours later, around ten, they stopped at a Best Western motel and got two rooms.
None of them had said much during the ride. Both passengers were engulfed in thoughts about what had happened. Both were going through the moments after Lyle’s appearance over and over again. They pondered about what they could’ve done differently. Neither of them came to any satisfying conclusion. The past could not be changed.
Taking her keys, Miss Parker simply went ahead of Jarod and walked down the aisle to her room. At the door he stopped her.
"Are you going to be alright? I could order something for you, something to eat maybe. Or some tea."
"I’m not hungry. And the last thing I need right now is tea! But if you’re able to get me about a gallon of scotch, I’ll take it!"
"I won’t do that!"
"Yeah, that’s what I thought. Good night." She simply closed the door behind her, not looking at him anymore.
Jarod went to his own room thinking about taking a shower. He knew he would not get any sleep that night. The pain of loss was too deep. And there was also this fear lurking inside his heart. He feared she might not be there anymore in the morning. And he was not ready to let her go just like that. With new determination he delayed the shower and went to knock on her door.
"Now what?" she bellowed at him but left the door open behind her.
"It’ll just take a moment. I only want to ask you a favour, then I’ll let you rest"
"A favour. I was not aware that the two of us are at the stage of granting each other a favour!"
"Parker, what I’m asking you is that you just listen for a second and think about it. OK?"
The woman cocked her head slightly to the side, folded her hands in front of her chest and looked at him expectantly.
"You have five seconds before I come to my senses and give in to my temptation after all!"
"I want you to come with me tomorrow morning. Come with me to see Joshua, rest at our place for a few days. Give us a chance to become friends again."
He asked her once more to make a choice. Invited her once more to turn to him, to go with him. And he was scared to death of her answer.
"Listen to your heart, Miss Parker."
The woman smiled sadly. There he was, offering his hand once more.
"It’s pretty hard to listen to something that has been cold and deceiving for so long."
"It’s not that your heart has been deceiving, but the people around you have shadowed your soul, clouded your mind. It’s not your heart that has been cold but the world you grew up in and lived in for so long that has been cold."
Miss Parker had her eyes trained on the floor. She wouldn’t look at him. She couldn’t let him see how much she needed to hear those words.
During the moment of silence she went to the window and looked outside into the dark.
"You’ve asked me what I wanted."
"Yes." Jarod had walked up right behind her, his eyes focused on her.
"I want to be free; I want to make a clean break."
"I’ve tasted it. I could show you freedom."
"I want to be happy."
"I could make you smile."
"I don’t want to be alone anymore."
"Last time I checked, two people together are not alone."
"We would never be safe."
Jarod had no answer to this. He knew there was no guarantee of safety in their life as long as that dark place in Delaware had a say in it.
"Parker, don’t tell me you’re scared. You are the strongest woman, no, the strongest person that I’ve ever seen. I’ve admired that strength all my life. Whenever I’ve been on a dangerous pretend I tried to think like you. I…"
She turned around, put one hand on his shoulder and pushed him slightly backwards. Her eyes were blazing. "Did you sim me?" she asked, in a voice that told him to be careful.
"No. Even if I could have I never would’ve done it! That’s what I’m saying Parker. Not even my supposedly superior ability had been helpful with that. Your strength had helped you to get through all of this. Use this asset now Parker. But for the opposite. You need to overcome that habit of closing out everyone. There is also strength in letting people into your life not only to fight them."
He was challenging her with that, and he knew it. That was his intention. Maybe she could resist everything else, but she could never ever resist a challenge.
Miss Parker had again turned her back to him. Jarod wanted her to see it from his angle, and for that he had to tell her. But before he could say anything else, she abruptly turned around yet again, almost crashing into him in the process.
"Jarod, do you think dreams that won’t come true are just lies?"
"Parker I know that there ain’t no storybook ending, that there is rarely a happily ever after. But I’ll put my faith in you, and I believe in us."
Encouraged by the continuing silence and the slightly curious look on her face, Jarod kept on.
"Somewhere back along the line you’ve lost your love and you lost your trust in everything good. You’ve been hurt. You’ve pushed people out of your way, out of your life.
Just a few days ago you finally packed your bags and left, all alone.
You might think that you don’t need anyone by your side, but you’re walking blind like that. You can’t break the ties that bind us. You just can’t. I know what I’m talking about. Being alone, being without you I feel …"
He searched for the right words to express what he felt. "Without you I’m like an ice cream truck on a deserted street."
Amused at this expression, Miss Parker raised her eyebrows. This could only come from Jarod.
He thought about her previous question. The pretender had one more thing to say.
"I’m not fooling myself. To say I’d make your dreams come true would be a lie, but maybe, if you’d only let me, I could help them along."
End Part 12.
Yes, the ice-cream truck thingy is a direct quote. It’s from one of the most recent songs written by my hero. I saw him perform that song live with a lot of openly expressed innuendo towards his wife who was on stage as well. That line had cracked me up the first time I heard it and still makes me think of our ice-cream addicted pretender everytime I hear it!
*********************
She didn’t reply to his last question. ‘What she wanted,’ Miss Parker thought. ‘When did I ever get what I wanted?’
Yes, most of the time she got what she wanted, but rarely did she get what she really needed. She got all the material things in life. She got the people in her life to do as she demanded. And most of the time, all it took from her was a look.
But the most important things always seemed to elude her when they weren’t forcefully taken away. Like the ability to choose, like answers, like the truth, like her dreams, like love.
Those were the things she wanted, she needed. But how to express those needs, she didn’t know. Her upbringing didn’t include teaching her how to do that.
After a few more moments in silence, Jarod realized she would not answer him. Not now anyway. He’d have to give her time and they had to move.
He had called Sydney earlier. The pretender had made up a story of how Lyle had found him. He had told his former mentor that Lyle had killed Ethan and there was nothing left for him to do but shoot Lyle in return.
Sydney had been shocked at the news. The psychiatrist had given his condolences to Jarod for his loss and had been worried about how he managed the fact that he had killed a man again.
Jarod had been evasive, telling Sydney that it had happened and there was nothing to be done about it.
"Parker, we have to leave. The Centre will be up here soon to get Lyle’s corpse. Let’s just get away from here for now. We can discuss everything else later."
"You’re not saying that we should leave together, are you?" Seeing his serious expression Miss Parker scowled at him. "In about ten minutes I’ll be up and ready again, genius. Then I might be tempted to shoot you!"
"We’ll deal with your temptation when we cross that bridge. For now I’d say: let’s get the hell outta here. You’ll need to change the car anyway. You’ll get a new one somewhere down the road."
She relented, but more out of exhaustion than out of willingness. The day must have clearly clouded her mind and her judgement.
Both of them said their last goodbyes to their brother. Jarod knelt down. "Sleep well little brother," he mumbled with a choked voice and got up again.
Miss Parker ran her finger over the make-shift cross on which Jarod had carved simply Ethan’s first name one last time, looked up in the now almost dark sky and whispered into the air: "You would’ve deserved better too. I hope you find some silence now."
***************************
Sydney and Broots stood in the sim lab. Angelo was crouched in a corner, whimpering all the while. Broots was just about to ask his colleague what would happen next, when a screeching sound was unmistakably announcing the arrival of Raines.
The oxygen-tank-dragging man positioned himself in front of them. "Lyle’s body has been dealt with. With the consent of the Triumvirate I’ve put Mr. Cox in charge of the hunt. Jarod must be found. Sydney, you will tell us when he contacts you again. Mr. Broots, your post is in the tech room. You will follow the orders, or else…"
Sydney raised an eyebrow at this. "Or else?"
"People are disappearing or dying here at an unexpected rate lately. Just keep that in mind." With that, Raines turned around and left.
"Sydney, this is serious. What should we do?" Broots looked more than a little concerned.
"It’s simple. You’ll do as you are told," came from the back of the room. Cox.
The former confidant of Mr. Parker stood above the staircase leaning on the railing. With slow, deliberate steps he came down. "I have sent two sweeper teams to Arizona. I have the hunch that Jarod will take his half brother to be buried somewhere that has a connection to his family. Since he lost his other brother there, Jarod could very well show up in Arizona. What do you think Sydney?"
"It is a possibility. Jarod would not want Ethan to be alone."
"That’s what I thought. Mr. Broots, I have an additional assignment for you."
"W..w..what?"
"Parkers have been dying here a little too much lately. Mr. Raines has lost his son and his brother. He wants his daughter to be found before anything could happen to her. So, Mr. Broots you will create a search program designed to find Miss Parker."
"What do you mean?"
"Miss Parker has some very exceptional traits and habits. I don’t think she broke with them. If you come up with a search program that can filter say, for example, shopping habits, life-style traits, it will give us a chance of finding her."
"Life-style traits? What’s that supposed to mean?" Broots asked, not liking where this could go.
"Miss Parker’s penchant for exclusive clothing for example. Expensive perfume, luxurious surroundings. Things like that. You’ll be granted access to all the data base information of the American Consumer Association and all the major Credit Card Companies, as well as the newly founded Department for Homeland Security. They keep extensive information on consumer habits lately. This will be helpful. You’ll find an assistant with all further necessary information awaiting you in the tech room,"
Cox elaborated. The last comment was clearly meant as a not too subtle hint for Broots to get moving.
"I’ll be in Mr. Lyle’s former office." With that he left the two astonished colleagues alone.
"Sydney?"
"Relax Broots. I think Jarod is expecting them to show up in Arizona. This would be just too simple. And somehow I’m sure that any breadcrumbs or leads on him will come in a much less frequent manner, if at all. In the past, most of them were meant exclusively for Miss Parker. And when they weren’t, she still was the only one to read and decipher them.
But without breadcrumbs, it’s a different game. I always knew that if Jarod really wanted to, he could disappear for good."
"But what about Miss Parker? Sydney, if we have access to all this data, I think this really could work! I mean, she sure as hell wouldn’t start buying from the rack at Wal-Mart’s now. So it might work!"
"If you’re so sure about that Broots, then maybe you should do something about it."
"Huh?"
"Broots! Cox and Raines think they know Miss Parker. But I’m pretty sure that you know her a lot better. So if she usually buys Gucci, change it to D&G or the like. But change only what is not too obvious. And you could always build in a little hitch or bug into the program, one that no one but you could ever find. Know what I mean?"
"Ah, I guess I do."
"Jarod AND Miss Parker are exceptionally resourceful people. I’ve never made any predictions about what the Centre could do or not, but I am certain that now, with both of them on the other side, we will never find them."
****************************
Jarod and Miss Parker made their way back to the car and drove off.
Five hours later, around ten, they stopped at a Best Western motel and got two rooms.
None of them had said much during the ride. Both passengers were engulfed in thoughts about what had happened. Both were going through the moments after Lyle’s appearance over and over again. They pondered about what they could’ve done differently. Neither of them came to any satisfying conclusion. The past could not be changed.
Taking her keys, Miss Parker simply went ahead of Jarod and walked down the aisle to her room. At the door he stopped her.
"Are you going to be alright? I could order something for you, something to eat maybe. Or some tea."
"I’m not hungry. And the last thing I need right now is tea! But if you’re able to get me about a gallon of scotch, I’ll take it!"
"I won’t do that!"
"Yeah, that’s what I thought. Good night." She simply closed the door behind her, not looking at him anymore.
Jarod went to his own room thinking about taking a shower. He knew he would not get any sleep that night. The pain of loss was too deep. And there was also this fear lurking inside his heart. He feared she might not be there anymore in the morning. And he was not ready to let her go just like that. With new determination he delayed the shower and went to knock on her door.
"Now what?" she bellowed at him but left the door open behind her.
"It’ll just take a moment. I only want to ask you a favour, then I’ll let you rest"
"A favour. I was not aware that the two of us are at the stage of granting each other a favour!"
"Parker, what I’m asking you is that you just listen for a second and think about it. OK?"
The woman cocked her head slightly to the side, folded her hands in front of her chest and looked at him expectantly.
"You have five seconds before I come to my senses and give in to my temptation after all!"
"I want you to come with me tomorrow morning. Come with me to see Joshua, rest at our place for a few days. Give us a chance to become friends again."
He asked her once more to make a choice. Invited her once more to turn to him, to go with him. And he was scared to death of her answer.
"Listen to your heart, Miss Parker."
The woman smiled sadly. There he was, offering his hand once more.
"It’s pretty hard to listen to something that has been cold and deceiving for so long."
"It’s not that your heart has been deceiving, but the people around you have shadowed your soul, clouded your mind. It’s not your heart that has been cold but the world you grew up in and lived in for so long that has been cold."
Miss Parker had her eyes trained on the floor. She wouldn’t look at him. She couldn’t let him see how much she needed to hear those words.
During the moment of silence she went to the window and looked outside into the dark.
"You’ve asked me what I wanted."
"Yes." Jarod had walked up right behind her, his eyes focused on her.
"I want to be free; I want to make a clean break."
"I’ve tasted it. I could show you freedom."
"I want to be happy."
"I could make you smile."
"I don’t want to be alone anymore."
"Last time I checked, two people together are not alone."
"We would never be safe."
Jarod had no answer to this. He knew there was no guarantee of safety in their life as long as that dark place in Delaware had a say in it.
"Parker, don’t tell me you’re scared. You are the strongest woman, no, the strongest person that I’ve ever seen. I’ve admired that strength all my life. Whenever I’ve been on a dangerous pretend I tried to think like you. I…"
She turned around, put one hand on his shoulder and pushed him slightly backwards. Her eyes were blazing. "Did you sim me?" she asked, in a voice that told him to be careful.
"No. Even if I could have I never would’ve done it! That’s what I’m saying Parker. Not even my supposedly superior ability had been helpful with that. Your strength had helped you to get through all of this. Use this asset now Parker. But for the opposite. You need to overcome that habit of closing out everyone. There is also strength in letting people into your life not only to fight them."
He was challenging her with that, and he knew it. That was his intention. Maybe she could resist everything else, but she could never ever resist a challenge.
Miss Parker had again turned her back to him. Jarod wanted her to see it from his angle, and for that he had to tell her. But before he could say anything else, she abruptly turned around yet again, almost crashing into him in the process.
"Jarod, do you think dreams that won’t come true are just lies?"
"Parker I know that there ain’t no storybook ending, that there is rarely a happily ever after. But I’ll put my faith in you, and I believe in us."
Encouraged by the continuing silence and the slightly curious look on her face, Jarod kept on.
"Somewhere back along the line you’ve lost your love and you lost your trust in everything good. You’ve been hurt. You’ve pushed people out of your way, out of your life.
Just a few days ago you finally packed your bags and left, all alone.
You might think that you don’t need anyone by your side, but you’re walking blind like that. You can’t break the ties that bind us. You just can’t. I know what I’m talking about. Being alone, being without you I feel …"
He searched for the right words to express what he felt. "Without you I’m like an ice cream truck on a deserted street."
Amused at this expression, Miss Parker raised her eyebrows. This could only come from Jarod.
He thought about her previous question. The pretender had one more thing to say.
"I’m not fooling myself. To say I’d make your dreams come true would be a lie, but maybe, if you’d only let me, I could help them along."
End Part 12.
Yes, the ice-cream truck thingy is a direct quote. It’s from one of the most recent songs written by my hero. I saw him perform that song live with a lot of openly expressed innuendo towards his wife who was on stage as well. That line had cracked me up the first time I heard it and still makes me think of our ice-cream addicted pretender everytime I hear it!
