Authors Note: Sorry about all the confusion in the last chapter. We hope that the way we have changed it will make it better. Thanks for all the great reviews!

Chapter Two: Chasing Shadows

March 7th 2002: Two Days Before...

Lyle stepped around a pile of luggage, which he thought was odd. Luggage out here in the middle of nowhere? This was supposed to be an abandoned airstrip. He stopped suddenly when he heard the voices cease, wondering if they had heard him coming. The two people started to raise their voices again and Lyle continued walking.

He stepped into the plane hanger to find Sam and Broots arguing. "What's going on here?"

They looked at him and stopped fighting. "H-hello, Mr. Lyle. Miss Parker told us to wait here for you." Broots said, with his all too familiar stutter.

"How did you..." Lyle didn't finish his question. He was beyond wondering how his twin sister knew the things she did. But her being here was a big problem. Lyle couldn't help but wonder what the two people in front of him were previously fighting about. "Where is my limo?"

Lyle watched Broots squirm under his gaze. He had had enough of these games. "Where is my limo?" He asked again, but this time a little more demanding.

"Miss Parker was in a hurry." Broots finally answered.

"A hurry!" Lyle looked at Sam. "Where did she go?"

"Mr. Lyle, all we know is that her phone rang, she answered, then went rushing into the limo and took off." Lyle could swear he saw Sam turn towards Broots and give him a glare, but he decided not to pursue it any further.

Lyle sighed, knowing full well that he was stuck here with these two dimwits until Parker returned. Just then, he saw a baggage car and slowly, yet purposefully, started walking towards it. He climbed into the seat and was somewhat relieved to find the keys resting in the ignition. Parker could be hours from returning and he didn't have that long to wait.

Lyle turned to see what Sam and Broots were doing and wasn't surprised to see them still standing where he had left them. "I'll see you around!" He yelled, laughing. He started the car and took off, hoping there was a town nearby.

~*~

Miss Parker wasn't too happy that she was given a false lead on Jarod. She had been sure she had been led to the right place. Something was amiss. Instantly she thought how silly that was. Of course something was wrong, Jarod wasn't there! "I can't believe he got away from me again!" She said, angrily.

The limo turned toward the airstrip and Miss Parker was stunned when she thought she saw Lyle driving by in a baggage car. She rolled down her window and stuck her head out to get a preferential look and sure enough, Lyle was driving in the opposite direction then where she was heading. She watched him turn the car around and couldn't help but laugh at his foolishness. "What a pampered weasel!"

~*~

Broots paced back and forth; he couldn't stand being stuck here with Sam much longer. He wasn't surprised that Miss Parker would leave him behind. She was famous for her grand exits. And this had to of been one of her best so far. Broots stopped pacing for a second when he thought he heard something, he saw Sam playing around with the luggage. "Where is she!?!" He both stated and asked at the same time.

"Don't worry, Miss Parker will be back soon and we'll be on our way to the next goose chase." Sam said, without a care in the world.

"How can you be so calm?"

"Easy, try doing my job for as long as I've done it."

"Look," Broots pointed his finger at Sam and took a step closer. "I would like to..." Suddenly Broots backed off and became shy. "The heat must be getting to me." Sam laughed and returned to what he was doing. Just then, they both turned to see the limo drive up.

~*~

The limo pulled up to the hanger and a door opened. Broots peaked his head inside to see Miss Parker sitting there, "Are you going to get in?"

"Without Mr. Lyle?"

"He's a big boy, let him take care of himself." Miss Parker opened her door and stepped out, "Sam!"

"Yes, Miss Parker?"

"Helps Broots get the luggage, lets get out of here before Lyle comes back."

~*~

Lyle sped for the airstrip, he wasn't going to let Parker get the best of him. Not this time. Suddenly, a realization hit him. How was he going to ditch Parker and her monkeys after he got his limo back? He didn't have to wait for an answer, seconds later his limo drove by, the window rolled down and he heard Parker's voice.

"Have fun getting to a town!"

He quickly turned his baggage car around and headed for where he thought the nearest town might be. He would have to deal with Parker later. Lyle examined his surroundings. This could be a nice spot for a relaxing vacation. Especially for the kind of vacations he liked to take.

It looked deserted and he knew he could get away with almost anything. He realized he was smiling and almost instantly started to frown. If anyone was going to the best of him, it wasn't going to be Jarod.

He didn't come out here to plan a vacation. He came out here to dispose of a problem. A problem that seemed to always lurk in the shadows. He would be glad when the hunt for Jarod finally ceased. Then he would at last be able to start a new life for himself in the Centre. What he wanted most was control of everything.

Lyle looked ahead to see a small town looming in the distance. Soon Jarod would have to face his defeat. "This is definitely a twist of fate, and this time you are not getting away, alive."

~*~

Lyle pulled into a gas station, he wasn't going to travel the whole way on this dinky little luggage car. But at the moment it looked like he really didn't have a choice. He finished paying for his gas and was about to take off when he saw a limo that looked much like the one he had rented for himself. He saw the license plate and knew or sure.

For a second he thought about following Parker, to find out where she was going and why she had come. But that thought left as quickly as it had come to mind. She was probably just on another worthless chase, and he had a pretty good idea where Jarod was. In fact, that was the reason he had come here in the first place.

Getting back into his luggage car he started it up and took off again. He pulled his cell phone out of his suit pocket and hit radial to the last number he had called. "Yeah, this is Lyle. I need that information we had arranged for... Yes, I have the money... Okay, I will meet you there, although I think I will be running a little behind schedule." Lyle snapped the cell phone shut and continued on his way.

~*~

"Miss Parker, I think we just passed Mr. Lyle." Sam said, from the passenger seat.

She turned to look but couldn't see anything. "Sam, are you sure?"

"Right there," Broots pointed out, "at the gas station."

"All right, we'll follow him." Parker stated.

"Don't you think that would be a little too obvious, Miss Parker? Besides, he might have seen us."

"Thank you, Sherlock." She said sarcastically. "But I've already thought of that. We're going to drop you off around the next corner and you are going to follow him."

"On foot?" Broots asked. Miss Parker only smiled.

TBC

~*~