DISCLAIMER: The Pretender and all its characters (Broots, Sydney, Miss Parker, Jarod, Brigitte etc.) and places are the property of MTM Entertainment and NBC Productions and are used without permission for the purposes of free entertainment only. I was asked for a sequel to "The Search for Truth" so here it is. (1997)

Summary: Mr. Parker assigns Miss Parker a new "Guesstimator" to assist the hunt and Jarod prods her to keep up her end of the Deal.

Timeline: This story takes place after the episode, "Exposed."

FLASHES OF TRUTH

"Daddy, I don't need any help," Miss Parker retorted, weakly.

"Listen, Angel," the man with a white mustache and balding head replied. "I'm not asking much of you. You know what we have to do so just don't worry about it. My asking that another be brought in to assist you, besides Brigitte, was approved by the Tower."

"But, Daddy..."

"Father knows best," Mr. Parker stated. "It wouldn't look good now for us to back down on my decision. It would seem we have something to hide," Mr. Parker explained, kindly--but in the way that left Miss Parker powerless to question his decision. All the walls of her objections were torn down and she was left speechless.

How could she tell this man whom she had trusted and thought of as father the doubts now surfacing in her mind? Something to hide. That last remark cut into her, breaking through the facade of Ice Queen and made her want to shout. Something to hide? Don't you know, don't you suspect that I may not be who you think I am? She did have something to hide. She had everything that was important to hide. Half of her wanted to tell her father that she had spoken to Jarod, face to face, made a deal with him. The other half screamed a warning that if she did so everything would be lost. She feared shattering Mr. Parker's image of her as his perfect little girl. He had acted as her father and it didn't matter what the message Jarod had sent in the music box meant.

The music box...Ben Miller...Maine...Mother...These thoughts haunted her mind as her father, calmly unaware of her inner torment, continued, "Our hired man is coming in this afternoon. Make him welcome."

Miss Parker nodded and Mr. Parker left her to attend to some arrangements he had in progress since his return to the Centre.

Jarod, she thought. The cause of all her problems but also the solution to them. Where could he be now?

"Hey, Chef. Hurry up with that spaghetti! I got two tables waiting," Sylvia, manager of the Divine Dines called into the kitchen.

"No problem, coming right up," a good-natured voice called back.

The kitchen was filled with food preparers and steamy vapors wafted from boiling pots. The chef of the kitchen seemed to have it all under control, as if it were an exact science. He pulled bread from the oven, seasoned the salad with olive oil dressing and sent it out, and at last came over to the steaming pot of spaghetti noodles. He lifted a few out with a large spatula, flipped them into the air and the activity of the bustling workers around seemed to stop for a moment as they watched him. Splat! The noodles adhered to the wall.

In less than two minutes, he had the spaghetti noodles rinsed, five plates filled complete with spaghetti sauce and meatballs, and each plate was garnished with two leaves of oregano.

"All done!" Jarod grinned. The chef's hat bobbed on his head as he spoke.

A cheer went up from his fellow workers, and the bustling began again. Jarod alone did not continue in his work. He removed his chef's hat and apron and slipped out of the kitchen into the restaurant lobby.

"What?"

"Still looking for me, Miss Parker?"

"No, Jarod. I was waiting for a call from Grandma," she snapped, every syllable edged with sarcasm. "For a genius, you certainly have a knack for stating the obvious."

"Well, I'm cooking up a few surprises for you, Miss Parker."

"How nice, Jarod, and am I supposed to thank you for this?"

"I hardly would expect that. Just thought you needed to taste a bit of humble pie."

"The music box, Jarod. The photograph? What does it all mean?"

"You know what it means," Jarod replied, steadily. Miss Parker moved in her chair and then stood up, clutching the phone to her ear. She turned to peer out the window. Yes, she knew what it meant, but she had somehow hoped Jarod would deny the meaning, tell her it was some cruel trick, while her wits told her there was no denying the knowledge Jarod had given her.

"And now you tell me something," Jarod's voice cut in. "About my family."

"Your family? Well, things have been a bit hectic around here, Jarod. Daddy's back and Princess Eyes thinks she owns Mr. Lyle--" she cut herself off, remembering Jarod was the escaped and she was his pursuer. "Wait a minute," and her voice rose, sharply. "Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because I need to know the truth," Jarod responded, not missing a beat. "Our deal stands." The dial tone came on and Miss Parker slowly lowered the phone from her ear and snapped it shut. Yes, she thought, resignedly. Our deal stands. To think of it now she couldn't imagine what on earth had possessed to make such a promise. Jarod would give her information on her mother, while she--at her own risk--would find out information about Jarod's family when the opportunity presented itself. Why? Because he wanted to know the truth.

Flashes of truth. That's the way it always was with Jarod. He was never content to impart information in the normal way. No, he always, gave you a piece here, a bit there. A jigsaw puzzle of information until flash! All the pieces would drop into place and some vital truth would be revealed.

Her phone rang again. "What is it?" she snapped. She hated being interrupted, even from her own thoughts.

"Um...it's...it's," Broots' voice stuttered. "He's here, Miss P."

Miss Parker held back the anger in her voice to ask, "Who?"

"The Guesstimator."

The man was clad in a white suit complete with black tie and white polished leather shoes. His build was thin and tall. His hair was blond and his eyes were a soft gray. There was a perpetual smile that never left his face and, as Sydney, Broots, and Miss Parker stood on the above level looking down at this visitor, he quietly walked about the room. In his hand, he held a report that he had just finished reading. Stacked neatly in rows of two were file folders, ones which he evidently had finished reading before their arrival. Now, he simply paced around the room in a circle as if deep in thought.

"Who is this neat freak?" Miss Parker whispered, picking her way across the floor gratings in her heels, as they prepared to go down the stairs. "Is he a Pretender?"

Sydney smiled to himself. He felt Miss Parker always had Pretenders on the brain. "No," he replied in his soft Belgium accent as the trio started down. "Guesstimators, unlike Pretenders, do not have the ability to become anyone they want to be. But their powers of perception and understanding motivating factors behind why people do what they do are remarkable."

"Like Angelo, then?" Broots asked, trying not to break into a sweat. How come he had to be dragged into this thing? He would much rather have been back safely behind his computer where it was safe. But Miss Parker had directed him to come, so he was coming. Besides what if Brigitte should choose to pay a visit while his teammates were out? He shuddered and moved to catch up with them.

Sydney shook his head. "These beings do have personalities of their own...they are at times unruly, unpredictable, and egotistical. This comes from the fact their minds are continually active and if not constantly fed a puzzle to figure out, they become bored."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem, should it, Syd?" Miss Parker said flashing a set of white teeth as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Everything about Jarod is a puzzle."

Miss Parker moved into the room first, followed by Broots and Sydney.

"Hi, I'm Jonathan Bink," the Guesstimator greeted them at their appearance. His smile seemed to grow wider. Jonathan Bink, thought Miss Parker. How ridiculous! JB would be more like it. She followed her father's direction however, and said, "Well, Mr. Bink. You've been briefed. Let me know when you get something."

She was about to turn away when the Guesstimator's laugh halted her. He came up and walked in a circle around her, speaking at the same time. "JB, that's what you'd rather call me, I guess." He promptly pulled a small notebook from his pocket and a pencil from the other, and began scribbling notes in it. He tore off a sheet and handed it to her. On it was written in calligraphy: A Guessitimate, Why don't you like me?

Miss Parker didn't like the way this man was studying her, even though she was fully decked out as the Ice Queen, despite the absent smokes. "The first thing you are going to learn about me, JB," Miss Parker replied. "Is that I ask the questions and you give me the answers."

The restaurant had closed and Jarod was sitting, studying the plaques on the wall that were displayed above the cash register.

"Looking at the competition?" Sylvia asked, peeking over Jarod's shoulder.

Jarod smiled. "Well." He began pointing at a gold plaque. "Actually this kind of interested me. Sands Springer? He's not working around here anymore, is he?"

"No," answered Sylvia, slowly. She turned to the cash register to check the money. "That was last year...Sands was quite an amazing guy."

"Manager as well," Jarod prodded. He took off his chef's apron and folded it up. "Employee of the year. Nice title, that."

"Oh," Sylvia said with a smile. "There was a customer in here one night, must of had some type of allergic reaction. Sands was running a minimum staff that night. I guess I was one of the few there. Anyways, he was the only one to notice this man who was having trouble. He runs over there shouting, "Call 911!" But there was this rainstorm going on outside, see, and the wind broke the phone line. So he gets the man in his truck, drives him to the hospital in the pouring rain. If that isn't customer service, I don't know what it is!" She was finished with sorting the bills and went to put them in the safe.

"Why did he leave?" Jarod asked, helping her check the doors and switch off the lights.

"Oh, turns out after he became regular hero around here, we come to find out that he's just been working at Divine Dines to make a little extra cash. He really had been studying medicine quite a bit and was taking a little break. But being back at the hospital scene, made him want to get back there. He quit two weeks after that." Sylvia sighed. "Just when you think you're really starting to know someone..."

"They do something totally unexpected," Jarod said with a knowing look.

The Centre

Sub-Level Five, Tech Room

A promise is a promise, this thought ran through Miss Parker's head as she entered the room and hovered uneasily for a moment over Broots' computer. It was too early in the morning even for the tech head to be there, but glancing at her watch she was sure he would arrive at any moment. She was dressed in her dark brown pants suit, and it reflected somewhat her dark frame of mind.

"Miss Parker!" Broots exclaimed in a startled fashion, nearly tipping his coffee cup. "Did you forget something?"

Miss Parker turned and gave him a calm, cool stare. "No. But I want you to."

She handed him a note to read, and on it was instructions on what she wanted him to do. After he read it, Broots' mouth dropped open in amazement. He shook his head. There was no way. Not with his daughter just home. He wouldn't stick out his neck like that, not for anybody. What if it led them to finding out how he had broken into Mr. Lyle's office?

"I'm sorry," Broots finally managed to say.

Miss Parker looked at him. Broots took a step back as if to wield off blows. She stared at him. Broots shook his head and tried to hand the note of instructions back to her. And then, the chairman's daughter did something worse than anything else imaginable for Broots.

"Pleeease!"

Broots could not refuse. His hand closed over the note of her request. He nodded and Miss Parker left swiftly, pausing only once to give a look of caution. She turned her head to the left and to the right, her eyes scanning the area to see if they had been watched. Then, she strolled out of sight.

A/N: There are reviewers among us, geniuses with the ability to comment and critque. Thank you for reading.:)