Title - High Price of Freedom
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG to PG-13 (for some violence)
Category - JMPR, Pretender/Profiler Crossover
Summary - The ramifications of a past mistake come back to haunt Jarod and could be the key to the freedom Miss Parker's searching for. But is the high price worth it in the end?
Disclaimer - Most of these characters don't belong to me. Just using them for a bit. No harm intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 5
* * * * * * * * * *
Rachel fumes, watching the whole scene from the upstairs window.
She races downstairs, anxious to put a stop to the whole thing.
She's got to admit. That *woman* moves quickly. She had Jarod
all hot and panting for her in about 5 minutes flat. She was
going to be more trouble than Rachel initially thought.
Just as she gets downstairs, a slight ringing noise tingles in
her ears. She hunts around until she finds Miss Parker's cell
phone in her jacket pocket.
"Hello?" she answers.
"Parker?" the deep voice on the other end asks.
"No, she's busy right now," Rachel says with a smile. She
wonders if the man on the other end could be a boyfriend of Miss
Parker's. She's sure he'd want to know about her current
activities. "She's got a hot date out on the back porch."
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I hear my sister would sleep
with anything in pants," Lyle laughs.
"Sister?" Rachel's disappointed. She thought this would be a
jealous boyfriend who'd race over here and put a stop to the
awful display on the back porch. So much for that plan.
"Listen, could you tell her to let the poor sap get some air? I
need to talk to her about work," Lyle says.
"You work with her at the Centre?" Rachel asks. Her mind starts
churning again with another plan. Who says Jarod's the only
genius around there? "It must be nice working with family. I
bet you two share all kinds of secrets. Like her secret plan to
run off with Jarod instead of bringing him in."
"Jarod? What do you know about Jarod?"
"He's the guy she's making out with," Rachel tells him, feigining
innocense. "You did know those two were an item, didn't you?"
"Of course I knew about them," Lyle sputters, his voice betraying
his excitement. Rachel knows she has him right where she wants
him. "Listen, just forget about that message. I think I'm going
to come by and surprise my sister instead. You'll keep this our
little secret, right?"
"Our little secret," she says with an evil grin before hanging
the phone up. This may work out just yet to her favor. If she
guessed right about these people, this brother of Miss Parker's
wouldn't be very happy about Jarod being here. And the idea of
Miss Parker betraying the Centre was probably an act of treason
punishable by extreme measures. All Rachel had to do now was get
Jarod, herself and the twins out the house before those people
came, guns blazing. The only person caught in the crossfire will
be dear Miss Parker. She shifts Madison to her hip and heads to
the back of the house to begin the next phase of her plan.
She peeks through the window and is sickened by the display of
adolescent hormonal behavior going on out there. She had to put
a stop to it and get Jarod out of the house. She'll worry about
herself and the kids later.
"Sorry, Princess. But I gotta do this," she whispers to Madison
before pinching the girl smartly on the stomach. Rachel's heart
breaks at the cry of pain from her daughter, but it's a price
she's willing to pay.
"Jarod," she says, sticking her head out of the back door. "I
need you."
"What is it now, Rachel?" Miss Parker groans. She releases Jarod
from her embrace and takes Ryan from his arms.
"Can't you hear Maddie? She's in pain," Rachel almost screams,
trying to add to the hysteria.
"Is she okay?" Jarod panics, grabbing Madison and giving her a
quick once over.
"She's fine," Rachel assures him. "Just a little gas, I think.
She's been switching back and forth between the formula and the
breast milk during this little escapade. I'm sure her stomach's
just a little upset. I was looking through the stuff and I don't
think you have any gas drops. I'll just run to the store for
some real quick."
"I don't think so," Miss Parker interrupts. "You're not going
anywhere." She glances over at Jarod with pleading eyes and
misses the quick smirk cross Rachel's lips.
"I'll go," Jarod offers, answering Miss Parker's unasked
question. Little did they know, it was just what Rachel was
counting on. "And I'll take Maddie. Maybe the drive to the
store will calm her down a bit. I think the CVS 2 blocks over on
Elmwood is open late."
They walk into the house and Jarod goes to get the keys to the
car. A knocking at the door stops them all in their tracks.
Miss Parker puts her fingers to her lips to quiet them all,
reaching behind her for her gun.
"Who is it?" she calls out.
"Sydney," the voice responds through the door. Miss Parker
visibly relaxes and puts her gun back. She runs over to the door
to let the older man inside.
"Sydney," she says, flinging the door open. "What are you doing .
. . "
Her words get caught in her throat when she notices something
move at Sydney's side.
"Momma home!" Tyler screams, pulling himself from Sydney and
running to Miss Parker.
"Tyler," she cries, holding her arms out for the boy. Like a
pro, she shifts Ryan to one hip and scoops up Tyler in one
flawless motion. She places little kisses all over his face,
trying hard to hold back her tears.
"Oh, I missed you so much Baby Boy." She looks over at Jarod and
gives him an appreciating smile. *Thank you* she mouths to him
before turning her attention back to the two babies in her arms.
"We'll talk when I get back from the store," Jarod whispers into
her ear. "With Tyler here, I'd say we just got ourselves a
couple more options. None of us may have to end up in the Centre
after all." He kisses her quickly on the lips, then places a
kiss on Ryan's head and ruffles Tyler's hair.
"Close your mouth, Syd," Miss Parker teases, amused at the man's
obvious confusion. "Go with Jarod. He'll explain it all to
you."
Sydney just nods and follows Jarod out the door.
With the men gone, Rachel reaches out for Ryan. Miss Parker
gives up the child, no longer thinking of using the boy as
leverage. She was just happy to have Tyler again.
"So who's this little handsome fellow? Your son?" Rachel asks,
reaching out to stroke Tyler's cheek. Out of reflex, Miss Parker
pulls away, not letting the woman touch the child.
"This is Tyler. My little brother. But I've practically raised
him. His mother died during childbirth," Miss Parker explains.
Rachel glances nervously around the room, catching the time. She
didn't know how far away Miss Parker's brother would be. But she
was sure he'd be there any minute. She had to figure out a way
to get out before it was too late. She has to hold back a grin
when an idea comes to her.
"He's your brother? I thought he called you 'Momma'. Must be
strange for you. Having this little one depend on you. But you
not really being what he needs. You weren't the one who carried
him for nine months inside of you. And you aren't the one who
can nourish him with your body. You're not a *true* mother."
Rachel pulls up a corner of her shirt and allows Ryan to reach up
and find her breast. She sighs with overexaggerated contentment
to further annoy Miss Parker as the baby nurses. Just as she
suspected, Miss Parker gets nervous and stands up with her
brother.
"I'll be in the kitchen getting a snack for Tyler," Miss Parker
grumbles, allowing Rachel's words to make her feel inadequate.
She's in the kitchen for a few minutes, cutting up an apple for
the boy when she hears the front door open. She immmediately
realizes her mistake in leaving Rachel alone with Ryan, allowing
her the chance to escape.
"That little sneak," she growls. She leaves Tyler at the table
with his snack and runs out of the kitchen, pulling out her gun
in the process. She didn't want to hold the gun on Rachel with
the baby, but she had no choice.
"Rach - " she starts just as she runs into a scene she didn't
expect.
"Ah, there you are, Sis," Lyle grins. He had his own gun trained
on Rachel and a gleam in his eyes that says he's not afraid to
use it. Slowly Miss Parker lowers her weapon, placing it back in
her pants waistband. "Your little friend here says you had a hot
date with our favorite lab rat. Where is he?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Miss Parker lies
easily. She glares at Rachel, trying to figure out what was
going on with the woman. "Why would Jarod be here? What would
even give you that idea?"
"Parker, I think you better pick your friends better," Lyle
laughs. "She's got a pretty big mouth.
"She's *not* my friend," Miss Parker emphasizes, glaring at
Rachel again.
"Well, whatever the case may be. Your houseguest has a big
mouth. I called about an hour ago. And she was more than eager
to tell me about a pressing activity you were engaged in."
Before she realizes it, Miss Parker feels a flush rising to her
cheeks. She has to force herself to think of anything other than
Jarod's lips all over her.
"The only activity I was engaged in an hour ago was an
interrogation of my witness. That's all this woman is. She told
me she knew where Jarod was and I brought her here to question
her."
"Question her," Lyle repeats incredulously. "Right."
"You can believe me or not, Lyle," Miss Parker sighs her
exasperation. "You can question this woman yourself and waste
time trying to get information that I already got. Or we can go
get Jarod now before it's too late and he disappears again."
"I guess that's a no brainer," Lyle says before releasing Rachel.
"Miss, you're free to go. I'm sorry about the inconvenience," he
apologizes insincerely.
"Yeah, thanks again for the information," Miss Parker says to
Rachel. "I parked your car in the garage. The keys are on the
counter. You can go through the kitchen to get to it." She
assumes Jarod took the X-Terra to the store, so the only vehicle
left for Rachel was her car.
"Sure, I'm glad I can help." Rachel looks to Miss Parker to make
sure it was okay to be leaving and she nods quickly in response.
Lyle doesn't notice the silent communication between the two
women. She takes the keys off the counter and heads toward the
kitchen door.
"Oh, and Rachel? Take good care of those babies." She silently
pleads with Rachel and hopes she understands what she's trying
to say.
"I will," Rachel promises. "I'll guard them with my life. All
three of them."
Miss Parker closes her eyes to hold in the tears, sighing in
relief that Tyler will be safe. Now, all she had to do was give
Rachel enough time to get away and pray that she reaches the drug
store to find Jarod.
"Alright," Miss Parker finally says after hearing the car start
and drive away. "Let's go get Jarod."
"Not so fast," Lyle says. Miss Parker looks at him and notices
that he now has his gun on her.
"What are you doing, Lyle?"
"You don't think I believed that little act, did you?" he asks
with a laugh. "Like it or not, Parker, we're blood. And I know
how your mind works. I'm guessing is that you really do know
where Jarod is. But that there was no way you were actually
going to take me there."
"So why did you let Rachel go?"
"Come on, Parker. Like I said, we're blood. I'm sure you can
figure out how my mind works too."
"No thanks. I'd rather stay out of psycholand, if you don't
mind," she says sarcastically, drawing another laugh from him.
"Why is it that the first thing that comes to mind is 'Takes on
to know one'? But I won't go there. I can see you're not in the
mood to play." His laughter dies down and he gets a dangerous
gleam in his eyes. "When I was 8, my adopted father taught me
how to fish. He told me that the secret of a true fisherman was
to know which bait to use. Something told me that Rachel wasn't
the right bait for the type of fish I'm trying to catch."
"And what is the right bait?" she asks, true fear beginning to
settle in her heart.
"To catch a fish named Jarod? You, dear sister," Lyle says as if
it should have been totally clear. "I'm going to use you. I'm
sure that as we speak, your little friend is scurrying off to
tell Jarod about your little predicament. It's only a matter of
time before your knight in shining armor attempts to rescue his
damsel in distress."
"Unless he doesn't come," Miss Parker counters, praying
desperately that he doesn't come, while at the same time hoping
that he does. "Rachel wants Jarod for herself. Now that I'm out
of the picture, what makes you think she'll even tell him about
this?"
"He'll come," Lyle says confidently. "He'll always come for you.
And when he does, I'll be here waiting."
To be continued . . .
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG to PG-13 (for some violence)
Category - JMPR, Pretender/Profiler Crossover
Summary - The ramifications of a past mistake come back to haunt Jarod and could be the key to the freedom Miss Parker's searching for. But is the high price worth it in the end?
Disclaimer - Most of these characters don't belong to me. Just using them for a bit. No harm intended.
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 5
* * * * * * * * * *
Rachel fumes, watching the whole scene from the upstairs window.
She races downstairs, anxious to put a stop to the whole thing.
She's got to admit. That *woman* moves quickly. She had Jarod
all hot and panting for her in about 5 minutes flat. She was
going to be more trouble than Rachel initially thought.
Just as she gets downstairs, a slight ringing noise tingles in
her ears. She hunts around until she finds Miss Parker's cell
phone in her jacket pocket.
"Hello?" she answers.
"Parker?" the deep voice on the other end asks.
"No, she's busy right now," Rachel says with a smile. She
wonders if the man on the other end could be a boyfriend of Miss
Parker's. She's sure he'd want to know about her current
activities. "She's got a hot date out on the back porch."
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I hear my sister would sleep
with anything in pants," Lyle laughs.
"Sister?" Rachel's disappointed. She thought this would be a
jealous boyfriend who'd race over here and put a stop to the
awful display on the back porch. So much for that plan.
"Listen, could you tell her to let the poor sap get some air? I
need to talk to her about work," Lyle says.
"You work with her at the Centre?" Rachel asks. Her mind starts
churning again with another plan. Who says Jarod's the only
genius around there? "It must be nice working with family. I
bet you two share all kinds of secrets. Like her secret plan to
run off with Jarod instead of bringing him in."
"Jarod? What do you know about Jarod?"
"He's the guy she's making out with," Rachel tells him, feigining
innocense. "You did know those two were an item, didn't you?"
"Of course I knew about them," Lyle sputters, his voice betraying
his excitement. Rachel knows she has him right where she wants
him. "Listen, just forget about that message. I think I'm going
to come by and surprise my sister instead. You'll keep this our
little secret, right?"
"Our little secret," she says with an evil grin before hanging
the phone up. This may work out just yet to her favor. If she
guessed right about these people, this brother of Miss Parker's
wouldn't be very happy about Jarod being here. And the idea of
Miss Parker betraying the Centre was probably an act of treason
punishable by extreme measures. All Rachel had to do now was get
Jarod, herself and the twins out the house before those people
came, guns blazing. The only person caught in the crossfire will
be dear Miss Parker. She shifts Madison to her hip and heads to
the back of the house to begin the next phase of her plan.
She peeks through the window and is sickened by the display of
adolescent hormonal behavior going on out there. She had to put
a stop to it and get Jarod out of the house. She'll worry about
herself and the kids later.
"Sorry, Princess. But I gotta do this," she whispers to Madison
before pinching the girl smartly on the stomach. Rachel's heart
breaks at the cry of pain from her daughter, but it's a price
she's willing to pay.
"Jarod," she says, sticking her head out of the back door. "I
need you."
"What is it now, Rachel?" Miss Parker groans. She releases Jarod
from her embrace and takes Ryan from his arms.
"Can't you hear Maddie? She's in pain," Rachel almost screams,
trying to add to the hysteria.
"Is she okay?" Jarod panics, grabbing Madison and giving her a
quick once over.
"She's fine," Rachel assures him. "Just a little gas, I think.
She's been switching back and forth between the formula and the
breast milk during this little escapade. I'm sure her stomach's
just a little upset. I was looking through the stuff and I don't
think you have any gas drops. I'll just run to the store for
some real quick."
"I don't think so," Miss Parker interrupts. "You're not going
anywhere." She glances over at Jarod with pleading eyes and
misses the quick smirk cross Rachel's lips.
"I'll go," Jarod offers, answering Miss Parker's unasked
question. Little did they know, it was just what Rachel was
counting on. "And I'll take Maddie. Maybe the drive to the
store will calm her down a bit. I think the CVS 2 blocks over on
Elmwood is open late."
They walk into the house and Jarod goes to get the keys to the
car. A knocking at the door stops them all in their tracks.
Miss Parker puts her fingers to her lips to quiet them all,
reaching behind her for her gun.
"Who is it?" she calls out.
"Sydney," the voice responds through the door. Miss Parker
visibly relaxes and puts her gun back. She runs over to the door
to let the older man inside.
"Sydney," she says, flinging the door open. "What are you doing .
. . "
Her words get caught in her throat when she notices something
move at Sydney's side.
"Momma home!" Tyler screams, pulling himself from Sydney and
running to Miss Parker.
"Tyler," she cries, holding her arms out for the boy. Like a
pro, she shifts Ryan to one hip and scoops up Tyler in one
flawless motion. She places little kisses all over his face,
trying hard to hold back her tears.
"Oh, I missed you so much Baby Boy." She looks over at Jarod and
gives him an appreciating smile. *Thank you* she mouths to him
before turning her attention back to the two babies in her arms.
"We'll talk when I get back from the store," Jarod whispers into
her ear. "With Tyler here, I'd say we just got ourselves a
couple more options. None of us may have to end up in the Centre
after all." He kisses her quickly on the lips, then places a
kiss on Ryan's head and ruffles Tyler's hair.
"Close your mouth, Syd," Miss Parker teases, amused at the man's
obvious confusion. "Go with Jarod. He'll explain it all to
you."
Sydney just nods and follows Jarod out the door.
With the men gone, Rachel reaches out for Ryan. Miss Parker
gives up the child, no longer thinking of using the boy as
leverage. She was just happy to have Tyler again.
"So who's this little handsome fellow? Your son?" Rachel asks,
reaching out to stroke Tyler's cheek. Out of reflex, Miss Parker
pulls away, not letting the woman touch the child.
"This is Tyler. My little brother. But I've practically raised
him. His mother died during childbirth," Miss Parker explains.
Rachel glances nervously around the room, catching the time. She
didn't know how far away Miss Parker's brother would be. But she
was sure he'd be there any minute. She had to figure out a way
to get out before it was too late. She has to hold back a grin
when an idea comes to her.
"He's your brother? I thought he called you 'Momma'. Must be
strange for you. Having this little one depend on you. But you
not really being what he needs. You weren't the one who carried
him for nine months inside of you. And you aren't the one who
can nourish him with your body. You're not a *true* mother."
Rachel pulls up a corner of her shirt and allows Ryan to reach up
and find her breast. She sighs with overexaggerated contentment
to further annoy Miss Parker as the baby nurses. Just as she
suspected, Miss Parker gets nervous and stands up with her
brother.
"I'll be in the kitchen getting a snack for Tyler," Miss Parker
grumbles, allowing Rachel's words to make her feel inadequate.
She's in the kitchen for a few minutes, cutting up an apple for
the boy when she hears the front door open. She immmediately
realizes her mistake in leaving Rachel alone with Ryan, allowing
her the chance to escape.
"That little sneak," she growls. She leaves Tyler at the table
with his snack and runs out of the kitchen, pulling out her gun
in the process. She didn't want to hold the gun on Rachel with
the baby, but she had no choice.
"Rach - " she starts just as she runs into a scene she didn't
expect.
"Ah, there you are, Sis," Lyle grins. He had his own gun trained
on Rachel and a gleam in his eyes that says he's not afraid to
use it. Slowly Miss Parker lowers her weapon, placing it back in
her pants waistband. "Your little friend here says you had a hot
date with our favorite lab rat. Where is he?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Miss Parker lies
easily. She glares at Rachel, trying to figure out what was
going on with the woman. "Why would Jarod be here? What would
even give you that idea?"
"Parker, I think you better pick your friends better," Lyle
laughs. "She's got a pretty big mouth.
"She's *not* my friend," Miss Parker emphasizes, glaring at
Rachel again.
"Well, whatever the case may be. Your houseguest has a big
mouth. I called about an hour ago. And she was more than eager
to tell me about a pressing activity you were engaged in."
Before she realizes it, Miss Parker feels a flush rising to her
cheeks. She has to force herself to think of anything other than
Jarod's lips all over her.
"The only activity I was engaged in an hour ago was an
interrogation of my witness. That's all this woman is. She told
me she knew where Jarod was and I brought her here to question
her."
"Question her," Lyle repeats incredulously. "Right."
"You can believe me or not, Lyle," Miss Parker sighs her
exasperation. "You can question this woman yourself and waste
time trying to get information that I already got. Or we can go
get Jarod now before it's too late and he disappears again."
"I guess that's a no brainer," Lyle says before releasing Rachel.
"Miss, you're free to go. I'm sorry about the inconvenience," he
apologizes insincerely.
"Yeah, thanks again for the information," Miss Parker says to
Rachel. "I parked your car in the garage. The keys are on the
counter. You can go through the kitchen to get to it." She
assumes Jarod took the X-Terra to the store, so the only vehicle
left for Rachel was her car.
"Sure, I'm glad I can help." Rachel looks to Miss Parker to make
sure it was okay to be leaving and she nods quickly in response.
Lyle doesn't notice the silent communication between the two
women. She takes the keys off the counter and heads toward the
kitchen door.
"Oh, and Rachel? Take good care of those babies." She silently
pleads with Rachel and hopes she understands what she's trying
to say.
"I will," Rachel promises. "I'll guard them with my life. All
three of them."
Miss Parker closes her eyes to hold in the tears, sighing in
relief that Tyler will be safe. Now, all she had to do was give
Rachel enough time to get away and pray that she reaches the drug
store to find Jarod.
"Alright," Miss Parker finally says after hearing the car start
and drive away. "Let's go get Jarod."
"Not so fast," Lyle says. Miss Parker looks at him and notices
that he now has his gun on her.
"What are you doing, Lyle?"
"You don't think I believed that little act, did you?" he asks
with a laugh. "Like it or not, Parker, we're blood. And I know
how your mind works. I'm guessing is that you really do know
where Jarod is. But that there was no way you were actually
going to take me there."
"So why did you let Rachel go?"
"Come on, Parker. Like I said, we're blood. I'm sure you can
figure out how my mind works too."
"No thanks. I'd rather stay out of psycholand, if you don't
mind," she says sarcastically, drawing another laugh from him.
"Why is it that the first thing that comes to mind is 'Takes on
to know one'? But I won't go there. I can see you're not in the
mood to play." His laughter dies down and he gets a dangerous
gleam in his eyes. "When I was 8, my adopted father taught me
how to fish. He told me that the secret of a true fisherman was
to know which bait to use. Something told me that Rachel wasn't
the right bait for the type of fish I'm trying to catch."
"And what is the right bait?" she asks, true fear beginning to
settle in her heart.
"To catch a fish named Jarod? You, dear sister," Lyle says as if
it should have been totally clear. "I'm going to use you. I'm
sure that as we speak, your little friend is scurrying off to
tell Jarod about your little predicament. It's only a matter of
time before your knight in shining armor attempts to rescue his
damsel in distress."
"Unless he doesn't come," Miss Parker counters, praying
desperately that he doesn't come, while at the same time hoping
that he does. "Rachel wants Jarod for herself. Now that I'm out
of the picture, what makes you think she'll even tell him about
this?"
"He'll come," Lyle says confidently. "He'll always come for you.
And when he does, I'll be here waiting."
To be continued . . .