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Promote at your own risk
Chapter IV By Callisto
By the middle of the next week, things around the Centre had settled into a pervasive air of two armed camps. On Monday, the Triumvirate circulated an official email to Mr. Raines and all senior Tower staff announcing the appointment of Miss Parker to Sub-Chairman. It was her métier to handle the tedious day-to-day concerns of the Centre; Mr. Raines retained his position and was responsible for all other matters concerning the Centre. The rage this announcement left him in could only be guessed at since he demanded all his calls to be held and appointments for the day were rescheduled for a later date.
Parker received the news with all the unabashed cynicism it deserved. She recognized the spit she had just been tied to and had no illusions that the heat she felt came from any other source than the bonfire designed to cook her—alive.
Lyle too was philosophical about the bifurcation in leadership. It was obvious to him as well as everyone else that the Triumvirate had already chosen Raines' successor, it was up to Parker to decided when she wanted to assume the role for which Mr. Parker spent the better part of some 30 years grooming her. Lyle strolled nonchalantly into the sim lab outside Sydney's office convinced that a firm hand and creative mind were all that was needed to resolve the Jarod pursuit and started pestering the old man for information he didn't have. This gave Sydney ample reason to instantly regret the Triumvirate's decision.
Parker resuscitated the two deals that had been delayed. The expiration of the agreed upon deadline worked in her favor, both buyers thought she found more lucrative prospects and raised their offering price accordingly. Still she was at least 200 million dollars off the pace with few new prospects on the horizon to make up for the shortfall. Mountesi wasn't going to be happy and she didn't plan on hanging around long enough to feel the brunt force of his displeasure.
Her two pretenders resumed their clandestine walks around the outer grounds of the Centre, Parker wanted to keep this activity under Raines' radar. She knew that all she had to do was scream foul to get whatever she wanted but that was a card she hesitated to play.
It was early Wednesday when Lyle, passing by her office, heard sounds he rarely heard coming from his twin. He paused at her door and listened, she started laughing delightedly again. The sound of her merriment stirred a powerful feeling of jealousy within him and he barged into her office unannounced.
She was sitting at her desk but with her back to the door. Lyle walked quietly up to her desk and stood listening to her end of the conversation.
"You wish, I'm a strong believer in being fully dressed whenever I'm in public," she said with a laugh. She paused listening for a while and leaned back in her seat. "Darling, any time, any where I'll beat your pants off. You would look very nice with only…." Even though he was standing only a foot away, he couldn't understand the words she was murmuring so lasciviously. Her laughter this time was so lustful Lyle was almost on the verge of getting excited himself. Suddenly she stiffened and said into the cell phone, "Hold on, I have company."
She turned around and faced Lyle with an irritated expression. "Is there something specific you wanted or do you always hang around trying to eavesdrop on my private phone conversations?"
"What, everyone isn't invited to join in the happy prospect of you finding some bimboy to play around with?" he asked with a voice heavy in disgusted sarcasm. Placing both hands on the surface of her desk he added, "Raines is no fool, if he finds out that you have a new boy toy he'll use him against you."
"So kind of you to show such concern. Don't worry, big sister will stay out of trouble and out of Raines' hair just long enough for you to usurp the old, shriveled skin bag. Now close the door on your way out please," she said as saccharinely sweet as she could manage. He was just at the door when she called out to him.
"Lyle, go easy on Broots. He's a useful bundle of nerves and perfectly harmless. I'm the only one around here allowed to scare the crap out of him, okay? I'll consider it a personal favor while I'm still in a position to make that mean something."
Lyle halfway turned and gave her a curt nod before leaving her office. He didn't like the instinctual, protective feelings his twin was stirring up inside of him; it felt positively healthy and that very notion alone was beyond disgusting. If she kept up her current behavior he would find himself alone in the world again. Unfortunately he had just gotten used to having her around and pestering him.
A new status quo was slowly established at the Centre. Miss Parker's return as a controlling force in the higher stratosphere of the Centre's hierarchy partially propped up the sagging moral. Her life began to settle into a pattern. On the weekends, when she wasn't preoccupied with Jarod, at least one of those days was spent with Ian. She was still determined to take the child with her in her bid for freedom. The guards at the satellite facility were quickly becoming complacent with her taking the child from the grounds for a few hours and sometimes for most of the day—just as she planned.
Her Centre routine was much more complex. She heaved a sigh of relief when she found a couple of sims that would keep her two pretenders busy. The buyers were anxious for the sims and willing to pay top dollar, unfortunately for her top dollar was a drop in the bucket towards the amount she needed to appease Mountesi. Foraging for new clients and sims that wouldn't turn her stomach was becoming more difficult because the more mundane aspects of being Sub-chairman were increasingly time consuming. Her days passed at a hectic pace and though she often thought about her former pursuit colleagues, she couldn't spare even a half hour to visit.
An unexpected summons came from Raines' office early one morning. With gritty resolve and making certain that her 9mm was fully loaded and ready she reported as ordered to the Chairman's office, where she found Raines seated behind a massive desk, his face impassive.
"Miss Parker, your presence has been requested for my bi-monthly report to the Triumvirate, take a seat," he said breathlessly.
Wordlessly she complied and remained silent. The phone on his desk conveniently began to ring as though someone were spying on the activity in the office. Raines answered the phone and Parker hid her shocked disbelief at the authentically dutiful and subservient expression that settled in the old torturer's face. He pushed the speakerphone button and the room was at once filled with the silky, smooth voice of Mountesi. The meeting droned on for over an hour without any input from Parker and she wondered why her presence had been requested when Mountesi finally inquired if she were there.
"Yes sir, I am."
"Very good. My sources at the Centre, spies if you will, tell me that you have done well to reestablish morale and productivity since your promotion."
"I'm glad to hear that, sir. I have been trying to do my part. May I ask how are you feeling today?" she asked knowing he would understand her meaning.
A strange, strangled sound came from the speaker. His voice changed and took on a deeper but higher pitch. His laughter had none of the smooth, musical tones as before, now it sounded like it was coming from something not of this world, something she hoped would never get its hands on her. In a word, it was creepy. A quick, alarmed glance at Raines confirmed her suspicion that the noise was as frightening as it seemed when she caught him staring at her with a pale, apprehensive expression. It was the first time in their lives they actually shared a sentiment.
"Ah, the humor has returned, I see. But let me be rightly understood, despite the tone of our prior conversation, I thoroughly enjoyed your biting wit. I am feeling much better, Miss Parker I thank you." He paused and a deathly silence settled on the room, no one moved or made the slightest sound. "We have received the final tallies for this past month, all my uncomfortable feelings have been assuaged," he said but his voice was hard.
"I hope to keep the trend going, sir," she replied sounding calmer than she was feeling.
"Yes, it would be best for you to do so. Mr. Raines will continue to let you have a free hand during this trial. Please do not disappoint me, Miss Parker." The line was immediately disconnected leaving both chairman and sub-chairwoman disconcerted.
"What the hell was that?" she blurted, still thrown by the demonic laugh that came from Mountesi.
"His version of laughter. I fully understand what they have planned for you and Mountesi won't stop until he gets it. Do you realize what this means for you, Miss Parker?" Raines asked giving her a penetrating look and taking a deep drag of oxygen.
Rising she slipped back into her usual mask of impassivity stating, "You have nothing to worry about, your position is secure and I shouldn't buy any green bananas. It's been a scream, Raines, but I've got to dash." She left his office effecting an outward façade of calm and unconcern, inside she was worried but her instincts told her that she still had at the outside another month before time absolutely ran out.
When she entered her office an unforeseen surprise was waiting for her, Sydney decided to visit. She was indisputably happy to see him; it had been some time since she had the luxury of sitting down and having a comfortable chat with the psychiatrist. She smiled her welcome and sat across from him at her desk.
"So what brings you down into the lion's den?" she asked good-humoredly.
"Madame, chairwoman I was wondering if you could countenance spending your lunch hour with a couple of your old colleagues?" he countered in the same tone.
"Sorry, Syd, I'm lucky to spare even this much time with you as it is, this promotion has left me busier than bad luck at a casino. I should hang a sign over my door 'promote at your own risk' cause it ain't worth it."
"You look tired and an hour catching up with old friends is something the doctor just ordered," he said gently expecting her to turn him down flat as she often had in the past.
Looking up pensively she thought, 'I'll either be dead or vanished from the scene in a few weeks time any way. What can it hurt?' Giving him a rare, full grin she responded, "Okay, why the hell not? Being boss has to have at least one perk, just make sure that lunch doesn't last more than 5 hours, you remember what happened to the last person who tried that. We still haven't found him, either."
"Excellent, I will come by your office around noon to pick you up," Sydney said surprised by her acquiescence. He left before she could change her mind.
Smiling at his quick exit, she absently thought, 'I'm really going to miss the old goat when I leave.' She then returned to the mountain of paperwork and prepared for an exhaustive round of morning meetings with Tower personnel.
Lunch was a subdued affair; Broots was extremely nervous and irritable from having to work with Lyle, Sydney was in the same shape but he was extremely curious to see what Parker would say about the sim he placed in her briefcase. He analyzed every quip and turn of phrase, but came away unsatisfied. She picked at her food and seemed intent on ignoring his expectant looks and subtle hints. While Broots, who offered to pay for the meal was busy signing the credit card receipt, Sydney took the time alone with her to ask what she intended to do.
"Parker, what did you think of the sim? Are you going to at least consider implementing a part of it?" he inquired anxiously.
"What are you talking about? Which sim are you referring to, you haven't handed in anything new, have you?" she asked bemused. When Sydney interrupted her afternoon Tower meeting by having her secretary deliver a note saying that now was a good time for a break, there was no mention that Bryan had completed the sim she handed him a couple days ago. If he had it would have been finished in record time.
"The one I left in your briefcase over a week ago," he replied in frustrated earnestness, her obfuscation was getting on his nerves.
"You left a sim in my briefcase?" she asked in complete confusion. "I lost something recently that I specifically put in there for safekeeping…" She started to say, thinking about the tiny cassette recording of her conversation with Mountesi. She stood beside the Lincoln Towncar they all drove up in and concentrated on the day she noticed the cassette missing. Then she remembered, it was the day after Jarod had cooked her dinner, she had only a couple hours sleep before he woke her up to give her a new cell phone and an intriguing promise.
"Sydney, what was this sim in reference to?" she asked, her curiosity now piqued.
Sydney didn't have a chance to answer her before Broots walked up chattering about some senseless search that Lyle wanted him to conduct. Their conversation was curtailed and they exchanged a brief glance that finally convinced Sydney that she still hadn't looked at the sim hidden in her briefcase.
By the time they returned to the Centre, Sydney had become unconditionally taciturn. He obviously didn't want to talk about the sim in front of Broots. Once they were inside the main building, Sydney abruptly excused himself and hurriedly stalked back to his office.
Looking after him, still intrigued, Parker grabbed Broots by the shoulder. "We need to have a little chat, let's go to the arboretum for some privacy.
Broots followed her silently as she led the way. Once they were inside the thickly verdant gardens, Parker strode over to a large, loudly burbling fountain and looked around to see if anyone were hanging around. Satisfied that they were indeed alone, after a few seconds of checking around, Parker turned to her tech friend.
"There is something that I need you to do for me, it's extremely important, but this has to stay strictly between us and no one else."
"Of course, Miss Parker I'll do whatever I can to help you, you know that," Broots replied with an expectant look on his face.
"Well, what I'm about to ask of you is something you're not going to be happy to hear," she said with a deep sigh.
He furrowed his brow and stared at her with mounting trepidation. "What is it?"
"I know how this is going to sound and I've been racking my brain to find a more diplomatic way to put this." She paused again and stared off in the middle distance deep in thought, frowning at herself she returned her gaze to Broots' face and began, "You're my Achilles heel, Broots. I can't make a move without having to worry about you and Debbie."
"Debbie?? What does she have to do with anything?" he asked anxiously.
"Nothing yet, but the minute I leave I'm almost sure they will use her against me. I promise you that I'm not being selfish; it's a matter of my survival at this point. Enough beating around the bush, here it is in a nutshell: I'm planning on getting out of here—permanently. The powers that be are going to be royally ticked off when they realize that I have no plans on sticking around for the fireworks. What that means for both of us is that I need for you to leave also." Her voice dropped to a soft whisper as she finished her statement. She watched his face with interest as his varying emotions flittered across.
As he listened to her explanation, his eyes grew wide with her information and he was shocked speechless with her finale. "I can't leave!! Where would I go? Are you crazy, I can't spend my life on the run with my little girl, that isn't any kind of life for her!"
Parker shushed him as the volume of his voice got louder. She kept all emotion out of her face and stared at him steadily. His reaction wasn't that great of a surprise to her, she was prepared for this.
"The minute they realize I'm gone, they will use you and Debbie as bait to lure me back. If we leave at the same time, then nothing should happen to either of you. It's me they want not you, as long as you follow my instructions, than the both of you will be fine."
"Look Miss Parker, I appreciate the thought, but I won't put my little girl through this, you're just going to have to leave without us," he replied stubbornly.
A deep-seated anger rose inside her, it was all she could do to refrain from venting it at him. She could understand his reluctance and knew that she would have to spell it out for the over-protective father.
"Broots, I know for a fact and I'm sure it's dawned on you too; if I stay here, I might as well start pricing headstones. On the outside, I have maybe six weeks, possibly eight if I'm lucky. The minute I take off, they will first start looking for me, than they will use anyone I even remotely care about against me. They are aware of how I feel about Debbie and if anything happened to you…" She stopped suddenly and gritted her teeth in angry frustration.
"There is no guarantee that they will come after me and Debbie if you leave," he said faintly not believing it himself. "Okay, say I leave, what about Sydney? Is he going to leave along with us?"
"Sydney's too important for them to kill, besides he won't leave without Angelo. I don't care what anyone says about Raines and Lyle but one thing they're not are dummies. It wouldn't escape them that 3 Centre employees and their pet savant all decided to do a runner. We wouldn't get past the parking lot."
"I'm sorry, Miss Parker. I won't leave Sydney behind, I can't." He replied looking at her determinedly.
"This is a courtesy notice; I leave, than you sure as hell are going to leave too! I'm not ready to die and I sure as hell won't leave exposing Debbie to that kind of danger because you're too squeamish to change schools and ID's for her sake. This isn't a debate, it has already been planned." She saw the conflicting emotions on his face as he began to see the logic of her arguments. His non-verbal surrender gave way to the astonishment that she had already planned this out.
"I have fresh sets of ID packets complete with all the necessities already prepared for both of you. I'll let you know when to move so I suggest that you start packing while you can, unfortunately you won't be able to take everything—it's got to look like you are still living there at least from the outside."
"Okay, you've convinced me but what am I supposed to do for money and where are we supposed to go?"
"I just told you I've already thought of that, just get that deer in headlights glare out of your eyes. Calm down, I don't want Lyle suspecting anything. Don't make any obvious moves, leave your bank accounts alone and it would probably be better to tell Debbie as little as possible. We don't want her telling her friends and teachers that you're planning on moving away."
He nodded solemnly as she placed a sympathetic hand on his arm. "I'm sorry about this Broots, if there was any other way I would take it."
"I understand, believe me I really do. I was just telling Sydney a few weeks ago that I was afraid for you. Rumors are running rampant that the Triumvirate has picked you as Mr. Raines' successor."
"Humm, typical the rumors are wrong yet again. That's not what the Triumvirate has in mind for me. It's far worse believe me," she said quietly. She gave him an intense stare as she slowly averted her gaze and left him alone among the plants.
She was making her way to her office when a thought stopped her. 'In for a penny, in for a pound, no time like the present to find out what Sydney meant about a sim he slipped into my briefcase.' She abruptly changed directions and headed for Sydney's lair. She found Sydney in his office obviously waiting for her. He stared at her mutely as she came to a stop in front of his desk and stood above him. Turning she closed his office door and leaning her back against it, she returned his stare.
"How did dinner go the other night?" she asked tilting her head to one side.
"It went very well. There were a few awkward moments, but we went over everything prior to leaving. It was a unique experience to watch as someone is exposed to fresh ideas and situations. It was quite the treat," he answered with a brightened visage. They were speaking of Bryan's first dining experience at a restaurant.
"I'm happy for him. I hope this experiment of mine works out for the best. I was anticipating renewed cooperation and eager interest for the next few days. I was also thinking that I should talk with both of them, things will probably be changing in the coming months."
"I had anticipated that, it was the reason why I wanted you to look at what I had given you. I believe a fresh perspective would be helpful."
"Okay, by now you realize that I haven't seen this item we were talking about earlier. What was it about?"
"It was a project I gave to Bryan alone. At the last minute I decided not to inform him as to its eventual application or to involve Norah but I suspect he figured it out anyway," Sydney replied quietly.
"One more time, Sydney, what was it for and what did it entail?" Parker asked with growing exasperation.
"It obliquely involved your current situation, I felt you needed an objective viewpoint on what would be the best course of action to take due to recent developments," he said not daring to broach the subject more fully knowing his office and their conversation was probably being monitored.
She quickly caught his reference and understood his caution. Nodding her head she regarded him silently for a few seconds.
"I'm touched, I didn't realize you would care. I think you should reexamine the sim a bit more carefully. You never know when it might come in handy," she replied cryptically. She smiled faintly before opening the door, "I'll take the time and read it in any case and tell you what I think, Okay? Later, Freud," she said offhandedly as she left his office.