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Chapter or Story 
Chapter or Story
Disclaimer: The Pretender nor any of it’s characters is not mine.
AN: I am again apologizing for any bad grammar/spelling! My native language is German not English! The most difficult thing for me is the time in which to write. I am sure I have quite some incontinuities along the line. Past tense, past perfect you know, it’s hard for me to tell when to use what! I hope it does not make reading unbearable for all you English-speaking people out there!
To all Canadians: no offense intended! I’ve been there and I loved it! (you read it, you’ll know what I mean)
Souls of the Departed 3
‘All or Nothing at All’
Jarod saw the “Welcome to Delaware” sign in his review mirror becoming smaller and finally disappearing. It was almost 11 o’clock and he figured, for once, he could call her a little earlier.
“What” Parker yelled in her usual manner.
“So, how was Montreal?”
“Too French!”
“You do speak French, Miss Parker!”
“So?, I do a lot of things I don’t enjoy, Jarod. Just like I hate to be late for the party or running on empty.”
Jarod looked a bit puzzled at his phone, not sure what he actually had missed. A party? Was she invited someplace? Was he responsible for her missing a social setting that could actually be nice and do her some good?
Miss Parker realized the pause, actually she had expected it. Her answer was just that kind of reply that he would not get. He would ponder about it for minutes, no, hours if given the time. Something she had no intent to give.
“Anything specific up there in Mule-Country I missed?”
“It is a beautiful city with much to offer, Miss Parker.”
“Yeah, sure. Just turn on the 10 O’clock news, and it’s a hoot: `Mule loose, more snow, mule caught, good night´ Thank you but no thank you! So, if there isn’t any point in this Jarod….”
“Miss Parker,…”
He wanted to know if she was all right, why she had been standing out there in the cold. What had been on her mind?
Asking her was out of the question, a minute ago he’d been sure that by simply talking to her on the phone, he would figure it out. He usually did. Her tone, her slight hints usually told him what was going on. But not tonight. All he felt was her wariness; she was tired, and a little pissed. At him, as usual, but in a different way. It was not about him getting away, he knew that. Was it…? Could it…?
“If you have anything else to say to stomp on my frayed nerves Monkey-Boy, so spill it and get it over with, or hell, just take a hike, will ya! I just came back from out of nowhere. I am having a meeting with my thumbless psychopathic brother in the morning, and quite frankly, I’m not in the mood to chat about the great wide open of the north.”
*klick*
******************************
Hanging up on HIM felt really good for a change, but she was still pissed.
The truth was, that Montreal in fact WAS nice. She liked the continental feeling there. Liked the French bakeries and the coffee; so much different than what you get in those little places here in Blue Cove, places which sell you a black-water-something most of the times, added with some artificial flavor to conceal any other off-taste.
Or the ever-present Starbucks, the place that sells coffee in a paper-cup. Not that she did not enjoy a coffee-to-go once in a while, but it had nothing to do with real `coffee-feeling´, the one she enjoyed back then in school in Europe.
How could he even think, that she’d enjoy the trip? On a vacation she would, yes, but as usual, she was there for the hunt. How could she enjoy anything, while on the hunt?
For a time, she actually HAD enjoyed it. The hunt had been challenging.
The first year or two, she had liked the adrenaline-rush she had every time she got close. The match had not been even, he was the genius after all. But the contest, that’s what it had been to her, had been a thrilling challenge.
But not anymore. When did it change? She didn’t know exactly when and why it stopped. And she didn’t want to think about it, not now, anyway.
******************************
He didn’t understand.
Just one moment was all he wanted, all he needed. One moment at her expense, and he was sure, all his misery would’ve been well spent.
Back then in that damn limousine, he had told her in not so subtle ways what he felt. Now he needed something in return. If she could show just a little something… But that was apparently not going to happen.
He glanced at his cell phone again.
She hung up on me! Just like that. That’s my job! What the hell is going on with her?
A meeting with Lyle? He was with her in Montreal, so it wasn’t about to give him a report. What did that bastard want from her?
He had to check the Centre mainframe, better yet, contact Angelo to find out what this was about. Damn, he hated it when he didn’t know what was happening!
Only her. She was the only one that could get to him this way. Secrets and lies, yes the Centre had patented rights on secrets and lies. They had all the answers he so desperately wanted and they went to any length to hide it from him. But why her now too? What was she hiding, and hiding something she did.
Jarod decided not to drive any further. He took the next exit, and intended to get in a motel for the night. Something was up, maybe he needed to stay close.
****************************
The Center the next morning
“So, sis, what do you want?” Lyle approached her from behind. They were on the little walkway just above the sandy shore, about five hundred yards down from the main building.
She’d wanted something from him and he was rather curious. Usually his annoying sister would just rush into his office and announce her demand. Not that he cared much about those demands, but this was different, SHE was different.
On their flight back from Montreal she’d come to him, sat beside him and had kept silent for a moment. Parker never sat beside him on their journeys, so he’d shot her a questioning look.
All she’d said after watching him intensely for a minute, as if trying to read him was, that she needed to talk to him the next day. Alone, not in the office.
That was new.
Getting impatient at her continuing silence he turned to her. “Well?”
Still not saying anything, Parker kept her eyes on the water. If she needed one more proof of the horrible fact that Lyle indeed was her brother, it was that he ran out of patience just as quickly as she did.
“Parker, if this is about your eternal quest about our family history, I’ll just….”
“This is not about the past of our family Lyle, this is about the future. I am offering you a deal.”
“Deal?”
“I know what you want Lyle, and I’m going to offer you a big chunk of it.”
“You really think you know me?”
“As I’ve told you before, I know a little about a lot. You want power, control of this freak house. Living up to the legacy.” She said it very evenly, never raising her voice, her tone not colored with either the hate or disgust she actually felt.
“I’ll relieve you of the challenge Raines threw us into. The old oxygen sniffing piece of shit said ‘whoever of us wins the game, will get it all’. You can have it, I quit.”
Lyle looked at her incredulousely. What is this about? What game is SHE playing now?
As if reading his mind, Parker turned for the first time to face him right on.
“No game. Not anymore. I am finished with this. All I ever wanted here was Da…” She braced herself before actually telling him more than she was ready to. With more composure, she added: “There is nothing for me to gain here anymore, so I quit.”
“You said ‘deal’, so what do you get?”
“My freedom. I’m outa here. Tomorrow I leave, and what I need from you is, that you make sure I’ll do it still breathing.”
“Why telling me, why not just get out and get lost?”
“I know how this place works, there is nothing they would not do in order to get me back in line.”
Lyle knew instantly that with ‘they’, she also meant him. And he also knew in what direction her thoughts were going. In all honesty, he sure knew that she was right.
“Though gone, there are still people here I want to be safe. You keep them in your team, go for the hunt, do whatever it is you do. But the deal is: I’ll go and let you have it, and I also will keep the secrets about your little recreational ventures. In return you make sure Syd, Broots and even Angelo stay safe, stay alive.”
“You know” Lyle began, ignoring her remark about his free time activities, it didn’t matter anyway, “that’s two for one”
“What?”
“A deal is usually quid pro quo, Parker. I’ll get to take over the sole Parker inheritance – you get to leave. That’s one. But you want me also to watch out for the psycho-babbling candidate for geriatrics, the experimental idiot and this annoying computer geek. That’s two.”
“As I said, I could take the things I know about you to the authorities. I am sure there are quite a number of unresolved homicides they’d like to close.”
“Ah, come on. You and I both know, that this is as empty a threat as anything. One or two phone calls, one or two setups and I’d be clear – not that you HAVE actually anything tangible anyway.”
Knowing that he had a point there, she changed strategy.
“Sydney will still be helpful in the search for Jarod, and so is Angelo. You know that. And Broots is a lot more than just a geek.”
“He is not the only one who aces in technology, there might be better ones, people with more guts.”
This gave Parker the shivers. She knew Broots was the most vulnerable one. While the same goes not for Syd or Angelo, when it came to the hunt, Broots was expendable. She had to do something about it. But she never had the intention of saying what actually came out of her mouth.
“He has a daughter to take care of, a girl who needs her father.” The moment this was out, Parker became aware that now she had made a huge mistake. Bringing Debbie into the bargain, was the biggest mistake!
“Yeah, yeah, so I heard. Don’t you see Parker, this is actually one more reason for me to dump Broots? A man who’ll always spend more thoughts on his daughter than on the job! I really…”
Out of nowhere she grabbed him by his tie and pulled him closer, eyes blazing. Her look was absolutely lethal.
For just one second, a very familiar self-loathing expression appeared on his face. Where he would suck in air through closely pressed teeth, breathing out a silent ‘fuck’.
Parker wondered for a second how this trait, that was so ultimately her father, had apparently rubbed off. She had seen this expression a million times on Mr. Parker’s face. It had appeared every time he had realized he made a stupid comment. After he had said something that had gotten to her; when he actually had wanted to say something else. Seeing this, made her even angrier.
There was no doubt in her determination. With an impossible low voice, a voice that suggested death in its wake, she uttered with cold fury: ”You leave Debbie out of this or I swear …”
Lyle saw the danger in her eyes, and he knew that look very well. She was a crazy bitch after all. Nevertheless, he was enjoying it immensely, he really had a beautiful sister. With a hint - just a hint - of respect for his formidable opponent, Lyle smirked.
He took her hands and slowly entangled them from around his tie. Still holding both hands at her wrists, he pushed her back a little and interrupted what was sure to be a long tirade.
“Don’t get worked up, OK? Contrary to popular believe, I do NOT harm little girls. Just like I won’t fall for the Parker family habit of robbing a child its single parent. So relax.”
To her absolute surprise, Parker could see the sincerity in her brother’s last words. She had never anticipated herself to think that he might have a small little piece of humanity left in this cold heart of his.
Letting her arms go, Lyle was now fully into this little deal-game of theirs. He just had the right idea how to find out how much she really wanted this.
“Nevertheless sis, quid pro quo. Two for one, remember?”
“What is it, you want?”
Without further ado, he simply said “The house.”
Her plan of staying cool, quiet and unemotional had been already blown to bits.
So she yelled out a simple “What!?”
The house? Hers? Her mother’s house?
Her sanctuary? No fucking way!
“I’d prefer the house to my apartment; more space. The location, the history, all that. Yeah I want the house.”
Again a cold shiver ran down her spine. The thought of how he could use the space was more than unsettling. No, she could not let him taint the memory of her mother with his cruel idea of ‘recreation’. Never!
Out of nowhere an image of a very dead Broots appeared in front of her eyes. A devastated Debbie stood at the grave of her father. God, she could not let this happen!
“Ok”, she simply said, “You can have it. But by God Lyle, don’t you dare to bring any of your little horrors into this house!”
“I simply want to live there, sis, only that.”
After a moment of silence, an agreement seemed to be reached. She could hardly believe it, but it was done. She could not put it in any coherent thought, but for some reason she just knew that Lyle would keep his part of the deal.
“So tell me, what’s your plan?”
“All you need to know is that tomorrow you, Broots and Syd will go to Oregon on a lead. Coming back, I’ll be gone. No doubt, Raines will order you to look for me. Do it, or not, you will not find me, I’ll make sure of that. I’ll be gone, no breadcrumbs, no traces. I’ve no intention of playing another version of the labrat-game.”
“And your questions?”
“Answers or a life. It was time to choose. I did.”
AN: I am again apologizing for any bad grammar/spelling! My native language is German not English! The most difficult thing for me is the time in which to write. I am sure I have quite some incontinuities along the line. Past tense, past perfect you know, it’s hard for me to tell when to use what! I hope it does not make reading unbearable for all you English-speaking people out there!
To all Canadians: no offense intended! I’ve been there and I loved it! (you read it, you’ll know what I mean)
Souls of the Departed 3
‘All or Nothing at All’
Jarod saw the “Welcome to Delaware” sign in his review mirror becoming smaller and finally disappearing. It was almost 11 o’clock and he figured, for once, he could call her a little earlier.
“What” Parker yelled in her usual manner.
“So, how was Montreal?”
“Too French!”
“You do speak French, Miss Parker!”
“So?, I do a lot of things I don’t enjoy, Jarod. Just like I hate to be late for the party or running on empty.”
Jarod looked a bit puzzled at his phone, not sure what he actually had missed. A party? Was she invited someplace? Was he responsible for her missing a social setting that could actually be nice and do her some good?
Miss Parker realized the pause, actually she had expected it. Her answer was just that kind of reply that he would not get. He would ponder about it for minutes, no, hours if given the time. Something she had no intent to give.
“Anything specific up there in Mule-Country I missed?”
“It is a beautiful city with much to offer, Miss Parker.”
“Yeah, sure. Just turn on the 10 O’clock news, and it’s a hoot: `Mule loose, more snow, mule caught, good night´ Thank you but no thank you! So, if there isn’t any point in this Jarod….”
“Miss Parker,…”
He wanted to know if she was all right, why she had been standing out there in the cold. What had been on her mind?
Asking her was out of the question, a minute ago he’d been sure that by simply talking to her on the phone, he would figure it out. He usually did. Her tone, her slight hints usually told him what was going on. But not tonight. All he felt was her wariness; she was tired, and a little pissed. At him, as usual, but in a different way. It was not about him getting away, he knew that. Was it…? Could it…?
“If you have anything else to say to stomp on my frayed nerves Monkey-Boy, so spill it and get it over with, or hell, just take a hike, will ya! I just came back from out of nowhere. I am having a meeting with my thumbless psychopathic brother in the morning, and quite frankly, I’m not in the mood to chat about the great wide open of the north.”
*klick*
******************************
Hanging up on HIM felt really good for a change, but she was still pissed.
The truth was, that Montreal in fact WAS nice. She liked the continental feeling there. Liked the French bakeries and the coffee; so much different than what you get in those little places here in Blue Cove, places which sell you a black-water-something most of the times, added with some artificial flavor to conceal any other off-taste.
Or the ever-present Starbucks, the place that sells coffee in a paper-cup. Not that she did not enjoy a coffee-to-go once in a while, but it had nothing to do with real `coffee-feeling´, the one she enjoyed back then in school in Europe.
How could he even think, that she’d enjoy the trip? On a vacation she would, yes, but as usual, she was there for the hunt. How could she enjoy anything, while on the hunt?
For a time, she actually HAD enjoyed it. The hunt had been challenging.
The first year or two, she had liked the adrenaline-rush she had every time she got close. The match had not been even, he was the genius after all. But the contest, that’s what it had been to her, had been a thrilling challenge.
But not anymore. When did it change? She didn’t know exactly when and why it stopped. And she didn’t want to think about it, not now, anyway.
******************************
He didn’t understand.
Just one moment was all he wanted, all he needed. One moment at her expense, and he was sure, all his misery would’ve been well spent.
Back then in that damn limousine, he had told her in not so subtle ways what he felt. Now he needed something in return. If she could show just a little something… But that was apparently not going to happen.
He glanced at his cell phone again.
She hung up on me! Just like that. That’s my job! What the hell is going on with her?
A meeting with Lyle? He was with her in Montreal, so it wasn’t about to give him a report. What did that bastard want from her?
He had to check the Centre mainframe, better yet, contact Angelo to find out what this was about. Damn, he hated it when he didn’t know what was happening!
Only her. She was the only one that could get to him this way. Secrets and lies, yes the Centre had patented rights on secrets and lies. They had all the answers he so desperately wanted and they went to any length to hide it from him. But why her now too? What was she hiding, and hiding something she did.
Jarod decided not to drive any further. He took the next exit, and intended to get in a motel for the night. Something was up, maybe he needed to stay close.
****************************
The Center the next morning
“So, sis, what do you want?” Lyle approached her from behind. They were on the little walkway just above the sandy shore, about five hundred yards down from the main building.
She’d wanted something from him and he was rather curious. Usually his annoying sister would just rush into his office and announce her demand. Not that he cared much about those demands, but this was different, SHE was different.
On their flight back from Montreal she’d come to him, sat beside him and had kept silent for a moment. Parker never sat beside him on their journeys, so he’d shot her a questioning look.
All she’d said after watching him intensely for a minute, as if trying to read him was, that she needed to talk to him the next day. Alone, not in the office.
That was new.
Getting impatient at her continuing silence he turned to her. “Well?”
Still not saying anything, Parker kept her eyes on the water. If she needed one more proof of the horrible fact that Lyle indeed was her brother, it was that he ran out of patience just as quickly as she did.
“Parker, if this is about your eternal quest about our family history, I’ll just….”
“This is not about the past of our family Lyle, this is about the future. I am offering you a deal.”
“Deal?”
“I know what you want Lyle, and I’m going to offer you a big chunk of it.”
“You really think you know me?”
“As I’ve told you before, I know a little about a lot. You want power, control of this freak house. Living up to the legacy.” She said it very evenly, never raising her voice, her tone not colored with either the hate or disgust she actually felt.
“I’ll relieve you of the challenge Raines threw us into. The old oxygen sniffing piece of shit said ‘whoever of us wins the game, will get it all’. You can have it, I quit.”
Lyle looked at her incredulousely. What is this about? What game is SHE playing now?
As if reading his mind, Parker turned for the first time to face him right on.
“No game. Not anymore. I am finished with this. All I ever wanted here was Da…” She braced herself before actually telling him more than she was ready to. With more composure, she added: “There is nothing for me to gain here anymore, so I quit.”
“You said ‘deal’, so what do you get?”
“My freedom. I’m outa here. Tomorrow I leave, and what I need from you is, that you make sure I’ll do it still breathing.”
“Why telling me, why not just get out and get lost?”
“I know how this place works, there is nothing they would not do in order to get me back in line.”
Lyle knew instantly that with ‘they’, she also meant him. And he also knew in what direction her thoughts were going. In all honesty, he sure knew that she was right.
“Though gone, there are still people here I want to be safe. You keep them in your team, go for the hunt, do whatever it is you do. But the deal is: I’ll go and let you have it, and I also will keep the secrets about your little recreational ventures. In return you make sure Syd, Broots and even Angelo stay safe, stay alive.”
“You know” Lyle began, ignoring her remark about his free time activities, it didn’t matter anyway, “that’s two for one”
“What?”
“A deal is usually quid pro quo, Parker. I’ll get to take over the sole Parker inheritance – you get to leave. That’s one. But you want me also to watch out for the psycho-babbling candidate for geriatrics, the experimental idiot and this annoying computer geek. That’s two.”
“As I said, I could take the things I know about you to the authorities. I am sure there are quite a number of unresolved homicides they’d like to close.”
“Ah, come on. You and I both know, that this is as empty a threat as anything. One or two phone calls, one or two setups and I’d be clear – not that you HAVE actually anything tangible anyway.”
Knowing that he had a point there, she changed strategy.
“Sydney will still be helpful in the search for Jarod, and so is Angelo. You know that. And Broots is a lot more than just a geek.”
“He is not the only one who aces in technology, there might be better ones, people with more guts.”
This gave Parker the shivers. She knew Broots was the most vulnerable one. While the same goes not for Syd or Angelo, when it came to the hunt, Broots was expendable. She had to do something about it. But she never had the intention of saying what actually came out of her mouth.
“He has a daughter to take care of, a girl who needs her father.” The moment this was out, Parker became aware that now she had made a huge mistake. Bringing Debbie into the bargain, was the biggest mistake!
“Yeah, yeah, so I heard. Don’t you see Parker, this is actually one more reason for me to dump Broots? A man who’ll always spend more thoughts on his daughter than on the job! I really…”
Out of nowhere she grabbed him by his tie and pulled him closer, eyes blazing. Her look was absolutely lethal.
For just one second, a very familiar self-loathing expression appeared on his face. Where he would suck in air through closely pressed teeth, breathing out a silent ‘fuck’.
Parker wondered for a second how this trait, that was so ultimately her father, had apparently rubbed off. She had seen this expression a million times on Mr. Parker’s face. It had appeared every time he had realized he made a stupid comment. After he had said something that had gotten to her; when he actually had wanted to say something else. Seeing this, made her even angrier.
There was no doubt in her determination. With an impossible low voice, a voice that suggested death in its wake, she uttered with cold fury: ”You leave Debbie out of this or I swear …”
Lyle saw the danger in her eyes, and he knew that look very well. She was a crazy bitch after all. Nevertheless, he was enjoying it immensely, he really had a beautiful sister. With a hint - just a hint - of respect for his formidable opponent, Lyle smirked.
He took her hands and slowly entangled them from around his tie. Still holding both hands at her wrists, he pushed her back a little and interrupted what was sure to be a long tirade.
“Don’t get worked up, OK? Contrary to popular believe, I do NOT harm little girls. Just like I won’t fall for the Parker family habit of robbing a child its single parent. So relax.”
To her absolute surprise, Parker could see the sincerity in her brother’s last words. She had never anticipated herself to think that he might have a small little piece of humanity left in this cold heart of his.
Letting her arms go, Lyle was now fully into this little deal-game of theirs. He just had the right idea how to find out how much she really wanted this.
“Nevertheless sis, quid pro quo. Two for one, remember?”
“What is it, you want?”
Without further ado, he simply said “The house.”
Her plan of staying cool, quiet and unemotional had been already blown to bits.
So she yelled out a simple “What!?”
The house? Hers? Her mother’s house?
Her sanctuary? No fucking way!
“I’d prefer the house to my apartment; more space. The location, the history, all that. Yeah I want the house.”
Again a cold shiver ran down her spine. The thought of how he could use the space was more than unsettling. No, she could not let him taint the memory of her mother with his cruel idea of ‘recreation’. Never!
Out of nowhere an image of a very dead Broots appeared in front of her eyes. A devastated Debbie stood at the grave of her father. God, she could not let this happen!
“Ok”, she simply said, “You can have it. But by God Lyle, don’t you dare to bring any of your little horrors into this house!”
“I simply want to live there, sis, only that.”
After a moment of silence, an agreement seemed to be reached. She could hardly believe it, but it was done. She could not put it in any coherent thought, but for some reason she just knew that Lyle would keep his part of the deal.
“So tell me, what’s your plan?”
“All you need to know is that tomorrow you, Broots and Syd will go to Oregon on a lead. Coming back, I’ll be gone. No doubt, Raines will order you to look for me. Do it, or not, you will not find me, I’ll make sure of that. I’ll be gone, no breadcrumbs, no traces. I’ve no intention of playing another version of the labrat-game.”
“And your questions?”
“Answers or a life. It was time to choose. I did.”
