Miss Parker's sedan bumped along the uneven road and she cursed Jarod again. Why couldn't he just stay in the city. She didn't mind chasing him in the city. What was it with all this nature stuff? The rain was still pouring down and Parker could barley see, her head light illuminating the trees that were just in front of her and not much else. The last bolt of lightning and been close, the thunder loud even in her car. Either she was headed toward the storm or the storm was headed toward her. Probably both. And they would meet at Jarod's cabin.

Parker unsnapped her gun and pulled it loose, carefully ejecting the clip. It was full so she snapped it back into place and tucker her gun back into its holder. She grabbed the handcuffs and stuck them in her jacket pocket. Daddy would be so happy if she could catch Jarod at this cabin. It was the middle of nowhere; there was no one to help Jarod, no one to interfere.

Speaking of the cabin, Parker suddenly couldn't remember if Broots had said how for into this God forsaken forest she had to go. If she didn't find this cabin soon, she might just turn around. But she had only been driving for maybe twenty minutes. Forests in the middle of nowhere were bigger than twenty minute. Besides, Sydney had said there were other ways out of the woods. If she made it out the other side, she would call Broots and find out how far into the trees she needed to go. But even if she knew how far to go, there was no guarantee she would see the place. If it wasn't sitting in the middle of the road, or lit up like Christmas, she was likely to drive right past it. She may have already. Damn.

Parker glanced over her shoulder at the backseat. Her phone had stopped on the front edge of the seat. Broots had said there would be a dead zone, but maybe she hadn't reached it yet. Or maybe she had driven right through it. Either way, it was worth a try. Parker looked at the road, then turned in her seat, reaching back for the phone. Her finger brushed it and she looked back at the road, then turned and reached further, wrapping her hand around the small black, probably useless piece of plastic. She turned back in her seat and flipped the phone open as she looked up. She opened her mouth as the sedan slammed into a tree and Parker felt her head smash into the steering wheel.

. . .

Jarod had on clean blue jeans and he stood drying his hair in the bedroom as he heard the crash. He dropped the towel and stepped into the living room, looking out the front window. Through the darkness and the rain, Jarod could see the car. He dashed back into the bedroom and grabbed the blue t-shirt off the bed, struggling into it as he headed out the door. He raced barefoot down the muddy driveway.

The hood was buckled and steam billowed up into the darkness as Jarod came up next to the tinted driver side window. He could see the driver was the only person in the car and she sat slumped forward. Jarod gabbed the car door handle and lifted, but it was locked. He slapped his hand against the glass.

"Hey. Hey, there," Jarod called. "Can you hear me? Hey." She didn't move. Jarod turned away and wiped rain water from his eyes as he searched the ground. He finally found a rock the size of a softball and turned back to the car." "Hey, there," he yelled again. "I'm going to bust the window. Just hold on." He turned his head away and slammed the rock into the window.

The glass shattered, most of the little square pieces flying into the car and a handful bouncing out into the mud. Jarod threw the rock aside and reached through the broken window, flipping the switch to unlock the doors before lifting the handle from the inside. The door popped open and Jarod pushed it out of the way, kneeling down. He could feel the mud soaking threw his already wet jeans, but he didn't care as he swept her hair back. She had blood smeared down the side of her face.

"Don't worry," he said. "Everything will be alright." Something pressed Jarod's wet shirt against his stomach and he looked down. "What the┘"

"Thing's will be alright when I get you back to the Centre," Miss Parker said, and she brought the hammer back on the gun, finally turning to Jarod. Jarod started to pull away but Miss Parker brought her other hand out and the cuffs clicked into place, leaving Parker's right hand linked to Jarod's left.

"Miss Parker," Jarod whispered, but she shook her head.

"Don't," she told him, blinking slowly. "You're not getting away from me this time, Jarod."

"Miss Parker, please," Jarod said again and reached up to brush her hair back from her face. "You're bleeding." She pulled back from him.

"I'm fine," she said and Jarod stared at her as the rain ran down his face. He took a deep breath, then reached toward her again. "Do you want me to shoot you?" she asked, but Jarod didn't answer as he pushed her hair back. The colorful bruise that was starting on her forehead was bleeding, the dark blood running down her cheek and along the side of her nose. Thunder and lightning at the same time made both Miss Parker and Jarod jump.

"We need to get inside," Jarod said, turning back to her.

"The only place we're going is back to the Centre," Parker told him.

"You totaled you car, Miss Parker. You're lucky to be alive." She glared at him.

"Luck had nothing to do with," she said. She started to turn in her seat, but she cried out, her free hard clutching the steering wheel.

"What?" Jarod asked, reaching for her. She pressed her gun into his shoulder as gritted her teeth.

"Don't touch me," she whispered. Jarod looked down at the gun, then glanced up at her.

"Are you planning on shooting me, Miss Parker?"