Welcome To Family Life Ch7
Hmwtwin01
They arrived sometime after to Sydney's private cabin. Jarod woke up Miss Parker and carried Cale inside. Parker leaned into Jarod as they walked over to the couch. "Parker, are you feeling okay?" Jarod asked as he felt her forehead. "I feel a little funny." She replied very tiredly. "You're burning up. Lie down." Jarod set Cale in the chair and turned to Sydney. "Do you have any Tylenol here?" Nodding, Sydney went to get some Tylenol and a glass of water. He gave them to Miss Parker who happily accepted them. She fell asleep rather quickly. "Jarod, do you know what happened to her?" Sydney asked with concern in his voice. Jarod looked at Parker sadly, "Lyle shocked her with a very high voltage." Nodding, Sydney added; "Is that why you're face is bruised and bloody?" Jarod nodded before checking on Cale.
"I appreciate your help Sydney, but it won't be long before Lyle or Raines figures out that you helped us. I don't want to put your life in danger…" Sydney cut Jarod off in mid sentence, "I've let the Centre get away with far too many unthinkable things. It's time I take a stand."
Sydney showed Jarod the spare bedroom that he could use. As carefully as he could, Jarod brought Cale in there and set him on the bed before covering him up.
They said goodnight and while Sydney went to his room; Jarod stayed in the living room by Parker's side. He dozed off for a few hours before waking up. Feeling Parker's forehead, he noticed her fever was down. She opened her eyes at his touch and looked up at him. "Hey," she said. "How are you feeling?" Jarod asked smiling. "Ugh…like I've been hit by a bus," she replied. "Thanks for getting me out of there," she added quietly. Kneeling down beside Parker, he whispered; "I just couldn't leave you…because Cale and I need you. And because I love you."
Parker took his hand and kissed it. "I love you too jarod," she replied with a warm smile as she looked him in the eyes. Just then, they heard a scream. Parker and Jarod leapt up and ran to Cale's room with Sydney following right behind them.
Cale was sitting up in the bed, shaking under the blanket with frightened wide eyes. "What is it buddy?" Jarod asked calmly as he went to sit on the bed. Cale jumped up and hugged Jarod with all his might and cried. Jarod sat there for a moment rubbing Cale's back trying to sooth him. After a moment he said through tears, "I thought you left me." Jarod hugged Cale back, "I could never do that. You're my son and I love you." Parker walked over beside Jarod and spoke to Cale. Kneeling down beside Cale she said, "Cale, we will never leave you and we'll always be around. You're like a son to me and I will always be there for you."
Sydney stood silently by the door and watched in awe as Jarod and Parker calmed down Cale before giving them some privacy.
Cale shook his head and wiped his tears after Parker spoke. "I'm scared those bad guys will come back," Cale responded. Parker sat down on beside Jarod and Cale. "Come here sweetheart. You've been through a lot with us and I know you're afraid right now that we'll leave you; but you have to be brave. Everything will be alright. Jarod and I will make sure nothing happens to you." Cale gave Parker a hug and whispered, "I love you mommy." Parker and Jarod glanced at each other for a moment, but both let it slide. Fact was; she was like a mother to Cale. She sat there rubbing his back until he fell asleep again and laid him back down.
They left the door open and went back to the living room. Sydney came out of his room, "Did you get him back to sleep?" "Yes, he's afraid the Centre is going to take him or us again," Jarod replied. Looking at the two of them; Sydney said, "I'll do everything I can to make sure that nothing happens to any of you."
Jarod was getting cleaned up when Parker saw his bruises. "Jesus Jarod," she said quietly without thinking. Turning to face he shrugged and said, "I'll live. I've had worse." Clenching her fists; she said, "I'm going to kill Lyle." Jarod smiled at her remark, "You and me both." Shortly after Jarod was cleaned up, they sat on the couch and talked for a while before falling asleep. Parker had her head on his shoulder, while Jarod had his head leaning against the back of the couch.
Back at the Centre, everyone was on full alert. Mr. Parker was getting called by the Triumvirate while Mr. Raines and Lyle were ordering all personnel that had contact with Jarod, Miss Parker, or the boy to be questioned. Lyle saw Broots pacing nervously in the hall. "Where the hell is Sydney?" Lyle demanded. "I…I uh…don't know," Broots finally got out. "Dammit!" Lyle said angrily as he walked off rubbing his hand over his hair. As he was walking away, he turned and shouted, "Don't go anywhere Broots."
"Yes sir, we think he escaped through the ventilation…Yes sir, I understand." Mr. Parker hung up the phone and sighed. "Well?" Raines wheezed out impatiently. "The Triumvirate wants Jarod and Miss Parker alive. Once we catch them, they are going to be shipped to Africa while the boy is disposed of." After a moment, Raines said, "Lyle believes Sydney helped them escape." Looking up quickly, Mr. Parker replied, "Do what you must to find them quickly." Grinning, Raines walked out the Mr. Parker's office pulling his squeaky oxygen tank with him.
Willie walked into Raines' office with Sam. "Sir, we've got all the vents secured or locked down." Raines thought for a moment, "Good, now bring Mr. Broots to me." They left to find Broots.
Morning came and Jarod woke up to Cale's light nudge. "Hey Cale." "I'm hungry," Cale replied. Jarod got up carefully without waking Parker and headed to the kitchen with Cale right on his heels. He found the pans and set about making scrambled eggs and sausage patties.
Parker and Sydney woke up the smell of sausage. "Good morning," Jarod said when saw both of them walking into the kitchen. "You're up early," Sydney responded as he made himself a cup of coffee. "Cale was hungry. Hope I didn't wake you." Jarod gave Cale a plate of food and started cooking more of everything. "That's quite alright," Sydney replied cheerfully. "I will happily take a plate of eggs and sausage." Parker ruffled Cale's hair as she walked by him over to Jarod. "Thanks for making breakfast," she said quietly as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Anytime." Sydney chuckled when he saw Jarod blushing. "What?" Jarod said to Sydney. "Nothing, I'm just glad the two of your followed your hearts." This time Jarod and Parker blushed.
When everyone started to eat; Jarod said, "I've been thinking about what we need to take down the Centre…" "And?" Sydney said. Sighing, Jarod said, "We'll need some help. I know a few people who owe me favors and we should see if we can get Broots' help." Parker and Sydney agreed. "How long do you think it will take to get this organized?" Parker asked Jarod. "I would say about a week; maybe a little more." Thinking it over for a moment, Sydney replied, "You should be alright here until then. I don't think the Centre will be able to find this place that soon."
Sydney spent some time talking to Cale, showing him new things. Cale was curious about everything and loved hearing stories. Jarod was pleased to see Cale becoming comfortable around Sydney. While they were outside, Parker asked Jarod what they were going to do with Cale when the time came. "I'm not quite sure yet. He's getting comfortable with Sydney; but I don't know what part Sydney will play yet." "You'll figure it out. You always do," Parker responded with a wink as she handed him a cup of coffee and sat beside him.
Jarod had been making calls to people who owed him favors. He even called up an old friend who was able to get him some hand guns and couple of rifles. Sydney wasn't able to reach Broots. "Jarod, I haven't been able to reach Broots on his cell phone." Looking up he said, "If they think he helped us, they will most likely question him and put him under surveillance."
Lyle found Sam in the hall by his office. "Sam, search every address that we have on record for Sydney immediately. And notify me if you have all the addresses." "Yes sir," Sam responded as he left.
Raines walked into Lyle's office, "We have a problem." Not even looking up; Lyle responded, "I know. We're searching all the properties we can find under Sydney's name." Nodding at the information, Mr. Raines added; "The Triumvirate wants results soon." Keeping a serious face, Lyle said, "Oh, I'll find them. You can be sure of that."
Broots was sitting nervously in an interrogation room when Mr. Raines and Lyle walked in. Lyle was the first to start talking. "We'll just cut to the chase Broots. I want to know where Sydney is." Steeling quick glances at Mr. Raines and Lyle, Broots stuttered out, "I uh…Like I said before…I don't know. One minute he was beside me and the next he was gone."
Lyle hadn't been able to get anything important out of Broots after a few hours so they let him go. Just to be cautious; Lyle assigned two sweepers to keep an eye on all of Broots' activities and phone calls.
Sydney had an old rope lying around and Jarod offered to help him make a rope swing for Cale to play on. They property have a nice large Oak Tree that would be perfect for it. After about an hour, they had managed to get the limb cleared and tried down so that it was suitable to swing on.
"Alright Jarod, give it a try." Sydney said as he handed Jarod the rope to test out. Parker and Cale were standing near the tree. She saw how excited Cale was getting and couldn't miss Jarod's big grin. Jarod tied a knot high enough for him to sit on in the rope and ran in a circle a few times before jumping on. "Hey this is fun!" Jarod shouted as he spun in a circle. "I want to try!" Cale said jumping with excitement.
Jarod hopped off the rope and called Cale over. "Okay, make sure you sit on the knot with your legs out straight and hold on tight." Nodding, Cale did just as he was told. He was smiling broadly up at Jarod. "Ready?" Jarod asked. "Uh huh." Jarod pulled the rope backwards and got some momentum going by gently rocking Cale side to side before swinging him to the left.
Cale went spinning in a big circle and laughed the whole time until the rope stopped moving. "Again!" he shouted happily. Jarod continued to swing him for a while. Everyone was having a good time and laughing.
"You're up next Parker," Jarod said smirking. She looked at him surprised. "I think I'll pass." Laughing, he said, "Come on, give it a try; at least once." She looked at him with a skeptical face. "Don't you trust my fine handy work?" Jarod said it with just enough of a challenge in his remark to make Parker annoyed. "Fine," she snapped.
Going over to the rope swing, she gave Jarod a mock glare. Cale was standing by Sydney now waiting for his next turn. Miss Parker sat on the rope and put her legs out straight. Jarod began pulling her backward and up high. "Ready?" Gripping the rope a little tighter, she replied, "Yes." He started swaying her left and right to build up a momentum and right before he was about to swing her hard to the right, she lost her tight hold and her body shifted to the underside of the rope swing. "Jarod!" she yelled with an attitude. He couldn't hold back his laughter as he gently and slowly lowered her to the ground. "Stop laughing Jarod, it's not funny." She was embarrassed and angry; and it showed by her red face. Jarod reached down to help her up. "I'm sorry, I can't help it," he replied as he laughed again. "Oww. What was that for?" Jarod said pretending her slap to his arm hurt. "You deserved it." She replied smugly.
Sydney and Cale had seen everything and were both laughing at the scene.
Coming up empty handed for all the address on record for Sydney, Same tried looking up properties under Sydney's brother, Jacob, and found a cabin listed. Quickly writing down the address, he went straight to Lyle's office.
Knocking twice, he waited. "Come in!" Entering Lyle's office, he said, "Sir, I've found a possible location that they may be hiding." Lyle became overcome with excitement and curiosity. "And where would that be?" Handing Lyle the address, he said, "At Sydney's brother's secluded cabin about four hours north of here." Lyle leaned back and brought his hands together. "Excellent job, let's see if we can pay a surprise visit."
Lyle, Raines, Willie, and Sam drove to the cabin along with four other sweepers.
Nightfall came quick and Sydney and Jarod headed into town to pick up a few supplies. Parker had just tucked Cale in and said goodnight. She was flipping through the television channels when the door flew open.
Shocked at first, Parker immediately recognized Lyle coming through the door. "Lyle," she sneered. "Nice to see you again to. Search the place and grab the boy!" he ordered as he kept his gun trained on Miss Parker.
The sweepers surrounded the cabin. Parker saw Sam carrying Cale. "Leave him alone!" she yelled as she ran at Lyle and knocked the gun out of his hand before Raines and Willie appeared.
Willie jumped in front of Lyle and grabbed Parker. She was fighting and kicking with everything she had. Parker looked away for a split second upon hearing Cale's screams and Willie took his opportunity to punch her hard in the face. She landed hard against an end table and hit her head on it. "You idiot, we needed to bring her in alive!" Lyle shouted. Parker was unconscious and blood was staining the floor.
"There no time for this!" Raines said impatiently. "Let's go." Sam kept Cale's mouth covered with his hand and used his other to give him a shot that knocked him out.
The other sweepers gave the all clear, indicating that no one else was around the cabin.
"Jarod will see that we have the boy, he'll come." Raines said knowingly as he got in the sedan with Lyle, the boy, Sam, and Willie. The other sweepers got in the other sedan and they drove back to the Centre.
