A Life Worth Saving
Chapter Five
In Deep
By Rainfall
[Author's Note] Hey, sorry it's taken me so long to post… I've been sick, and…well… yeah, I don't really have an excuse *grins sheepishly*. Enjoy, and please review!
"Well, Lyle, I hear you've got your hands full," Miss Parker said to her brother's back.
He winced at her voice and turned around to face her. "What, jealous?"
"Hardly," she replied flatly. "I want to know what you're doing with her."
He laughed shortly. "Sorry, Sis. Can't help you there. I've got specific orders from the Triumvirate."
She raised an eyebrow. "Trying to brag?" she asked. "I know I wouldn't want them breathing down my neck."
Lyle sighed and avoided her gaze. "Shouldn't you be busy looking for Jarod?"
Miss Parker gave him a hard look. "Well, I would have had him last night if somebody hadn't screwed up."
"Don't try to blame that on me, Parker," he said incredulously.
"They were your men, Lyle. You should have been more prepared," she growled.
"You're impossible," he muttered, and stalked away.
She sighed and watched him go. "So no help from Nine Fingers," she mumbled to herself. Seeing Broots down the hall, she barked, "Hey Broots! Get over here!"
He jumped at the sound of her voice and hurried over. "You don't have to shout, Miss Parker," he told her in a hushed tone.
"Listen, I want you to find out where they're keeping the girl. I want to know why this whole thing's being kept so damn quiet," she demanded.
He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Fine."
_____
The words on the screen began to blur together as Jarod continued to look at it. Rubbing his tired eyes, he closed the laptop and stared around the room, thinking.
Kyle had long since gone back to bed, his wounds keeping him short of energy, while Jarod had been up for the rest of the night. He had been poring over every file he could find pertaining to Ty and the Mercenary Project. There was no updated information, but from what he could gather, he had a feeling Ty was headed back to her old program.
Sighing, he picked up his cell phone and dialed Sydney's number.
"Yes?"
"I spend every waking moment searching for who I am and my family, and when I finally do find Kyle again, it's the Centre that brings us together." He paused for a moment and his face turned sour. "The irony sickens me."
"At least you found him, though," Sydney replied. When Jarod didn't speak further, he continued. "Well, you've managed to come in right under our noses, and leave again. Miss Parker is beside herself."
Jarod smiled a little and glanced over at his sleeping brother. "Yes but, it did not go the way I had planned," he murmured. "Ty gave herself up to get us out, and I find out after the fact that that's the last place she should be."
"You didn't know?" There was surprise in Sydney's voice.
"No, she never said anything," he replied in exasperation. "Sydney, I need to know what they're going to do with her."
He sighed into the phone. "I suppose they're going to simply break her back into her old program. She was highly valued, you know. Just like you – though to a smaller degree."
Jarod was silent a moment before he spoke. "What do you know about her project? Did you ever work with her?"
"Well…" His voice suddenly sounded uneasy. "My primary efforts were with you, but there were some… moments where my opinion was wanted."
"What do you mean?"
"When it comes to pretender ideology, you are perfect, right? Well, Ty is the perfect mercenary when it comes to that. Sometimes she was even a bit over zealous. They actually wanted me to… tone her down because they feared she might realize how powerful she was, and how the Centre's hold on her wasn't really as great as they made it out to be." He sighed. "She was a monster, Jarod. How she ever survived out in the real world without every major federal agency after her is beyond me. You saw what happened to Kyle."
"That's… amazing," he whispered. "I would never have known… I mean, she seemed like a perfectly normal human being – without any relation to the Centre whatsoever!"
"I know. I myself would like to ask her a few questions, but it seems the Triumvirate is dealing with her personally," Sydney said.
"Hmmm, thank you Sydney," Jarod told him, and hung up.
Staring into the darkness, his brows furrowed as he processed the information he had just heard. A monster? he thought. Friend or no, a project like that cannot be put back into motion.
_____
Dead bodies. Destroyed buildings. Assassin. Fire. Thief. Murderer. Blood. It all flashed before her on the screen. It had been easy to ignore in the beginning, but now the drugs were in full effect and she was having a hard time focusing.
Won't let… I want… free. Carnage… wrong. The fragmented thoughts continued to run through her mind until she thought them so much she wasn't sure if they were her own, or part of Dr. Gilmer's process. She was beginning to forget why she was protesting at all. Everything was slipping away. Flinching and clenching her jaw tightly, she knew she was fighting a losing battle. Their tactics in the brainwashing game never failed. Or was that just another thought to get her to give in? She wasn't sure of anything anymore.
Blood. Death. Kill. Dead bodies. Burning buildings. You. Plane crash. Bomb explosion. Are. Destroy. Blood. Vengeance. Ours.
_____
"I want you to deal with this personally, do you understand?"
Mr. Lyle clenched the phone tighter in his hand to keep the unease from showing in his voice. "Absolutely, sir. I'll get right on it." Slamming the phone down in its cradle, he sighed.
"Something wrong, Lyle?"
He whirled around at the sound of his sister's voice and glowered at her. "Would you mind not doing that?" he demanded through clenched teeth.
"Well we're a bit jumpy today, aren't we?" she continued, giving him a satisfied smile. "The Triumvirate getting a little too close for comfort?"
"Parker, you could find yourself in some serious trouble if you keep asking about Ty. It seems that someone has accessed the Triumvirate's private files, and if I find out that it was you…" He trailed off and grinned at her. "Let's just say plenty of people will be pleased."
She raised an eyebrow and came towards him menacingly. "Well good luck, Macho Boy. And happy hunting." With that she whirled on her heel and left his office.
Mr. Lyle watched her go and shook his head. "She's getting in deep," he muttered. "And she knows it."
_____
Broots walked into Miss Parker's office and found her at her desk. "Um, you wanted to see me?" His voice echoed with nervousness.
Looking up at him, she sighed. "We've got trouble – well, you do anyway."
He stopped breathing and waited for her to continue. Trouble in the Centre meant something extremely serious was going on.
"Lyle's investigating a possible leakage from the Triumvirate's private files. It seems you didn't cover your tracks, Broots." She was looking at him accusingly.
He started shaking. "Miss Parker! It's impossible to 'cover my tracks' in this place. And don't look at me like that!" he replied in a hushed, hurried tone. "What are we going to do?"
"You are going to pretend nothing happened and get back to work on finding Jarod – that's what we're here for, right?" As he began to walk slowly towards the door, she added in a softer tone, "I'll watch your back, Broots."
He only nodded slightly and left the room in a daze. Walking down the hall, he clasped his hands tightly together to keep them from noticeably shaking. Oh God, he thought. I'm gonna die!