Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay in posting, but I'm afraid there might be some more delays in the future. Classes have started for me, so I will be busier than usual. I'm going to try and keep pace though, so don't give up on me yet.

Also, I'm think I'm one of the few people who don't think that Miss Parker's first name necessarily starts with an M.

Part 10

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.-

"Doug Murdoch, age 38, wanted for armed robbery and drug possession," Jarod read aloud as he and Parker reclined on the king sized bed. Her laptop was sitting in between them as they read through Montana's most wanted list and munched on room service.

"Worse," Parker said, taking a bite of a buttery croissant.

Jarod scrolled through the list until he came across a man named Jason Paine. "Age 29, wanted for rape, murder and kidnapping."

"That's our man," Parker said in a dangerous tone. All of these people were scum, but she liked to go after the nastiest ones she could find.

"He's really dangerous, Parker."

"I'd say I'm more used to danger than any one person should be," she said.

Jarod couldn't argue with that and he also knew that she could handle herself, but he felt much better about the whole situation now that he would be there to watch her back.

"When should we start?" he asked, looking at the clock hanging on the wall. It was just past noon.

"Later," Parker said. She moved to her bags at the foot of the bed and picked out the warmest clothing she could find. The further they moved north, the cooler it got. "I need to pick up a few things first, maybe at that shopping center we passed on the way here."

Jarod nodded absently as he watched her slip on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. "You take the car," he said referring to her sports car. They had ditched his jeep, deciding that her car was more practical.

"And you'll be…"

"Just gathering a few things we might need. If we're going to be bounty hunters then we need more than just a badge to be legit," he explained.

Parker just shrugged and went into the bathroom to fix her hair.

-----

A few hours later, Jarod looked up from the papers spread across the tabletop when he heard the door open. He immediately went to help when he saw Parker entering with what seemed like a thousand shopping bags.

"Is there anything left at the store?" he said as he sat the bags on the small couch the room offered.

"Very funny," Parker said monotonously. "My entire wardrobe consisted of clothing best suited for weather seventy degrees and above. It's not even fifty out there right now." She sighed as she plopped down onto the foot of the bed and looked to where he was sitting at the table. "What are you doing?"

"Falsifying documents," he said.

Parker nodded. "Oh." She moseyed over to her bags and began rifling through them. "And for your information, a couple of these bags are for you."

Jarod grinned as he kept on working, now typing something on his laptop. "How do you know my sizes?" he asked.

Parker huffed. "You're talking to a fashion aficionado here." She pulled out a long, dark, brown, suede skirt with a slit up the side and held it up to her waist. "Besides, I just looked at the tags in your clothes before I left."

Jarod laughed and shut down his laptop, standing to join her. "We're all set. New badges, pseudonyms, and we're even registered if someone tries to inquire about us."

Parker nodded her approval as she pulled a smoky, grey sweater out of one of the bags and held it up to his chest. If anyone was a stickler for the details it was Jarod. All she really cared about was catching the bastards. She'd do it without a badge if she had to. She guessed that was the difference between them. Jarod was a trained pretender and she was a not trained pretender.

Jarod dug through the bags as Parker continued to hold clothes up to him. She had gotten him a number of sweaters and shirts, underwear, pants, and even some earmuffs. "Parker, you didn't have to buy me anything," he said, though he somehow felt special that she'd thought of him.

"Well, you certainly needed some new things. I think it's safe to toss those raggedy, green boxer shorts in the trash now," she said, ignoring his embarrassed groan as she turned once again to her purchases.

"I'll be right back," Jarod said, moving toward the door. "I need to get a few things from the RV." He smiled as Parker nodded and continued going through the shopping bags. She would have had so much fun with him on his pretend as a fashion designer.

Once he had ridden the elevator down to the lobby, he smiled politely as he passed the receptionist and pulled out his cell phone. He knew that Parker just wanted to forget about the Centre, but he couldn't do that. Too many of the answers about his life were still wrapped up in that place, Parker's too, but he couldn't force her to keep searching for the truth. That didn't mean he couldn't do it for her. He also couldn't forget that someone tried to murder her. He had no doubt that whoever the culprit was was still looking for her. And what did that mean for Sydney and Broots? He had to know how they were fairing.

Dialing the familiar number, he listened to the ringing as he unlocked the RV and climbed inside.

"Sydney," said the tired voice.

Jarod smiled sadly before speaking. "Long time, no speak, Sydney."

"Jarod, it's been so long!" the older man said excitedly. "Too long."

"Yes, I know," Jarod said. "How have things been for you?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose. Things are very different now that Parker is gone."

Jarod winced as he detected the sadness in Sydney's voice. It pained him to have to keep the truth from him, but he couldn't betray Parker's wishes. He couldn't say he completely understood her reasons, but he would respect her decision.

"And what about you, Jarod?" the psychiatrist asked, breaking the silence.

"You know me, Sydney. I always manage somehow."

"Yes, you do," he said thoughtfully. "There has been more secrecy than normal as of late," he told. "Miss Parker's death seems to have been the cause of some kind of panic here at the Centre."

"Sydney, you forget that I was not the only one mentioned in the scrolls. Miss Parker was just as important to the so called prophecy as I was," he reminded.

"And Miss Parker's absence may determine that the scrolls are false."

Jarod sat quietly, thinking the exact opposite. He was even more sure that the Centre knew Parker was alive and they were probably only in an uproar because she wasn't there where they could control her. They would have to be more alert in the future.

"Jarod, there's something else you should know," Sydney said.

"What's that?"

"…Mr. Parker…he is alive."

-----

Jarod sat in the RV for over an hour after he and Sydney had hung up, trying to wrap his brain around the latest revelations of the Centre. Mr. Parker was alive. How was he going to tell Miss Parker and what would that mean for her? For them? He wanted to have faith in her rather than to think she would go back to the Centre because of the old man, but anytime they had gotten close in the past, it was always the Centre that pulled her away, her strong desire to please her father. He hated Parker's father, if he could be called that anymore, almost as much as he hated Dr. Raines.

The sound of the door opening brought him out of his head and he looked to see Parker.

"Jarod, what's going on? You've been out here for over and hour," she said.

"Sorry." He gave her a small smile. "I guess I just lost track of time." He watched her as she moved into the bedroom area. She looked vibrant, happier than he had seen her in years, and he was afraid that it would all disappear when he told her about her father.

"Hey, where did this come from?"

Jarod looked up to see her holding the book that he had taken from her house. "I took it. I went to your house after…you know. It seemed to have meant something to you." He went to join her where she sat on the edge of the bed.

"It does," she said. The autobiography couldn't have been any more different from her life story, an African American woman struggling with racism, rape, abuse, and so much more, but she found a connection in the struggle that the woman faced, the struggle to free herself from her cage. In her case, it was the Centre and all of its lies and deception.

"I've read the story," Jarod said interrupting her thoughts, and he could see why it would have meaning for her. "Did you know that the title of the book comes from a poem?"

Parker looked at him. "No, I didn't," she said softly. Turning back to the book, she took out the dried rose and held it up for Jarod to see. He smiled as he remembered all of the roses he had sent her that day.

"Why did you keep it?" he asked. He had an idea, but he wanted to hear it from her mouth.

Parker shrugged and sighed. "I don't know…maybe because it was the only beautiful thing in my life," she told him. She would have kept all of them if she could have. "There's been nothing beautiful about me or my life for quite sometime."

Jarod found her words ironic, considering she was one of the most beautiful people he had ever seen on the outside and more than even she knew on the inside. She often hid it with biting remarks and indifference, but he knew better.

"You know, I never forgot you, Jarod, or what we had as children. Not a day went by where I didn't think about it. But you were right," she said, laughing sardonically. "When things got too bad, I did nothing, pretended like it wasn't my problem. There are so many times where I regret doing nothing," she finished.

"Parker, don't you see? None of that matters anymore. What's important now is that you have a second chance and that you're doing something with it," he said taking her hand.

"What? This bounty hunter thing?" she chuffed. "That'll never be enough to make up for the things I've done."

"It doesn't matter how you start, Annabella. Its how you end up," Jarod told her softly.

Parker closed her eyes at the sound of her first name. It had been so long since anyone spoke it. The last person to do so was her mother. Daddy always called her Angel and to everyone else it was Miss Parker. "I haven't been Annabella for a long time, Jarod."

"She's still there," he said, kissing her hand. "You just have to give yourself a chance."

"Not an easy thing to do," she said, looking at him.

He smiled. "No worries, Parker. I remember her quite well. She's in my thoughts everyday and my dreams every night."

Parker shook her head and leaned over to kiss him softly. "You're crazy."

"Only when it comes to you," he said, returning the kiss.

-----

Later that night, Jarod lay in bed with his arm wrapped around Parker. They decided to get a jump on tracking down Paine first thing in the morning. He had yet to tell her about his conversation with Sydney. It seemed like every time he had some type of harmony in his life another bomb dropped. Sighing softly, he untangled himself from Parker and went into the bathroom.

When he returned a few minutes later, he found her wide awake. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked, crawling back into bed and scooting close to her.

"No. You either?" She saw him shake his head. "Why?"

"Just thinking," he responded vaguely. "Why can't you sleep?" She was quiet a few minutes before she answered him.

"I know I said that I didn't care about the Centre anymore, but the truth is I can't stop thinking about who tried to kill me," she confessed. "And I'm worried about Broots and Sydney."

Jarod knew how she felt. So many times he had thought about disappearing from the Centre altogether, but something always pulled him back. Taking a deep breath, he decided that now was as good a time as any to tell her about his conversation with Sydney. "Parker," he said, sitting up and reaching over to turn on the bedside lamp. He hesitated a few moments before continuing. "I called Sydney today." He could clearly see the surprise on her face as she sat up next to him. "Please, don't be angry. I didn't tell him about you…I just needed to know that he was alright," he explained hurriedly.

"And Broots?" Parker asked quietly.

"They're both fine…they miss you."

Sighing, she stood from the bed and moved to look out the window. "And how are things at the Centre these days?" she asked. There was no reason for her to be upset with Jarod. He could call Sydney if he wanted to.

"Strange, according to Sydney." Parker looked at him with an eyebrow quirked and he gave her a lopsided grin. "Okay, stranger than normal."

"How could things possibly get any stranger at that place?"

"We both know that there's not a level that the Centre isn't willing to stoop to," he said. "Sydney is also still in the dark about the details of your death. Whoever tried to kill you isn't going to stop looking. We have to be extra careful from now on."

Parker nodded as she continued looking out the window. "What else did Sydney say?" She studied the darkened courtyard below then finally looked up when she realized he wasn't answering her. "Jarod?"

He watched her standing there expectantly, trying to force his mouth to form the words. Standing up, he walked over and took her shoulders. "Parker…it's about your father…Mr. Parker," he began.

"Daddy? What about him?" she asked anxiously.

Jarod closed his eyes and sighed. "He's alive."

To be continued...