Chapter 3
The Centre
Miss Parker was upset. It wasn't an uncommon condition for the young woman, and everyone at The Centre knew it. She wasn't one to get hysterical, her rage was the kind that seethed inside her until it oozed out of every pore. Her rage appeared to be cold and icy because of the check she put on outward displays of emotion. Inside, however, her rage was hot and roiling - contained within her austere demeanor.
Miss Parker was used to getting results and the hunt for Jarod was proving to be failure after failure. He managed to elude them every time. What was worse, Miss Parker thought, he was constantly mocking them for their efforts… Mocking her. It played hell with her nerves. She grimaced and took a swig from the antacid bottle that was practically a fixture on her desk. She stubbed out her cigarette brutally and immediately lit another with a clean, quick motion.
Dressed in an expensive black suit with a severe cut, Miss Parker sat at her desk going over reports that did their best to illustrate her many failures in the Jarod case. Damn! she thought. This pattern has got to come to an end.
A knock on the door to her office annoyed the beautiful but dangerous woman. She called out a curt command to enter, not looking up from her work. A tall man in a dark suit entered, handed her a package, and left without saying a word. Very smart of him given my current mood, she thought, examining the envelope curiously. Her heart began to beat faster as she realized it was from Jarod! She felt like she had received a shot of adrenalin.
Miss Parker ripped through the padded envelop quickly and tipped it's contents onto her desk. A thick paperback book fell out. On top of it there was a yellow sticky note emblazoned with Jarod's handwriting. Miss Parker immediately headed to Sydney's office with both the package and it's contents.
At the table in Sydney's office, Broots sat at his customary spot, typing away at a computer. Sydney was perusing some files at his desk. Both men looked up as Miss Parker strode through the door. She wasn't one to knock.
High heels clicking quietly on the floor, a short skirt revealing a good deal of her legs, Miss Parker was a sight to behold. Broots, in particular, studied her as she entered, noting her perfect figure, a deep v-necked blouse and severely styled smooth dark hair.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Miss Parker spat at Broots as she passed him, tossed the padded envelope on Syndey's desk, and sat. Broots flinched and looked quickly back to his computer screen. Sydney picked up the envelope delicately, holding it carefully. His eyes widened. Signaling Broots, Sydney set the envelope down and looked at the book. Broots, left his computer and came to stand over Sydney's shoulder. They both peered at the book and the yellow note which read,
I thought you could use a laugh.
Jarod
Sydney flipped through the book, noticing it was entitled, Just The Words. "It seems to be humorous anecdotes written in play form."
Broots, from over Sydney's shoulder looked at him in surprise. "It's Monty Python. Haven't you ever seen it? The TV show? Movies?" He looked from Sydney to Miss Parker. Both wore disdainful expressions, although Sydney looked a bit curious. Broots doubted if either one had ever watched so much as Sesame Street on television. Maybe that was why they were both so odd, he thought, no exposure to actual human culture.
"It was a British comedy group, from the seventies I think. Funny skits… Very irreverent… Search for the Holy Grail? Life of Brian? The Parrot Sketch…" His voice faded. Broots didn't know exactly how to describe Monty Python to the serious people standing in front of them. He shrugged and grinned.
Miss Parker rolled her eyes at his goofy grin. "There's a message in here, I'm certain." She took the book from Sydney and flipped through it. "You don't think it means he's in England someplace?"
Broots took the envelope and looked closely at the postmark. It was postmarked Los Angeles. Much of Jarod's mail was postmarked from the downtown LA post office. He had someone there routing his mail, Broots was almost certain of it. The Centre had never succeeded in finding this person or tracing Jarod through this route.
On the title page of the book in faint pencil Miss Parker noticed a word. Strangely, it said HAH and there was a numeral three like the symbol cubed. "Sydney, have a look at this."
Sydney and Broots peered at the penciled marks. It made no sense to any of the three investigators.
"Is he laughing at us?" Miss Parker asked with a tone in her voice that would make anyone's blood run cold. "Does it mean Ha as in ha ha ha, I'm laughing my ass off at you? Bastard."
"Or is it something else?" Sydney asked in his quiet voice.
"It could be a coincidence. Maybe someone at the bookstore wrote it for some kind of inventory or something." Broots speculated.
"Nonsense. Its Jarod. I can feel it. That bastard is trying to drive me crazy." Miss Parker said coldly.
"Broots check all the databases for any references to the initials HAH. Check for file names or extensions. Code words. Whatever else you can think of. Check the Internet, too." Sydney said, obviously thinking the letters referred to an acronym or something. "Run it through the decoder as well to see if anything turns up."
Broots began his computer work, pulling any matches from The Center's numerous databases. He started a search on the Internet as well. He doubted the decoder would provide anything relevant. Not with only three letters to work with, but he ran it through anyway,
Miss Parker came to stand over his shoulder, observing his progress. Her slim figure seemed to loom over him and he became clumsy on the keyboard. That woman just does something to me, Broots thought, a mixture of fear, loathing, and admiration for Miss Parker coursing through his brain.
