Promote at your own risk
Chapter V
By Callisto
Monday signaled the start of yet another weary, nerve-wrecking week. Fortunately there were no more strange calls from the Triumvirate. Parker presumed they were monitoring her closely and knew she was on the verge of closing out the latest of two deals. Both sims were lucrative in their own way but would only help her limp her way past the 300 million dollar mark. Her latest tally showed she still needed under 200 million dollars to reach her ultimate goal and time was quickly running out. The fact that the Triumvirate hadn't yelled 'TIME' before now puzzled her; they were not known for their fair gamesmanship.
Parker was happy that she had the chance to spend another weekend day with Ian but she missed Jarod. She talked to him often on the cell phone but spent time with him only sporadically. Retaining the ability to irritate her on the phone despite their developing relationship, he remained steadfastly cagey and evasive about what he was doing and when she would actually see him again.
It was while she was ruminating on Jarod's latest evasion and trying to figure a way to get him to tell her what he was up to, without sounding like the nosey girlfriend she had morphed into, when Lyle decided to barge in her office and call in his marker. Broots was still unhappy with Lyle's leadership but was otherwise being mercifully left alone by the sociopath.
"Good morning Sis, don't you just love beautiful Mondays?" he asked in a fallaciously friendly manner.
"It's overcast and threatening to rain. What do you want, Lyle?" she replied brusquely.
"I have an idea on how to jumpstart the Jarod pursuit but I'm going to need your help to pull it off," he said as he sat down uninvited in the chair opposite.
Not bothering to conceal her irritation, she glared at him with open hostility waiting for him to continue so she could be rid of him.
"I want to use a pretender to conduct a sim on Jarod. We've had a blind man, three blind mice, an assassin and an idiot but no one has been successful yet. I think it's about time we fight fire with fire," he announced with a condescending smile.
"That was very self-depreciating to include yourself in the mix and I'm not talking about the assassin bit either. What exactly is this sim supposed to tell you that will be of any use? The pretender won't be able to do anything different than what Angelo or Broots have already tried and failed," she asked already becoming bored with his suggestion.
"I'm hoping the pretender will be able to predict his next move, maybe give me some insight on why Jarod has been so remiss in contacting us."
"Go ahead and try Angelo again but I doubt he'll help you. I get the impression that he doesn't like you too well."
"It's not Angelo I'm after. I want to use Bryan, from what I understand he isn't being used for anything specific. My little project will fill in the blank hours," he said with a smile that always turned her stomach.
"Wrong again, Lyle, I'm using him to finish a sim. You remember real Centre business, don't you?
"Sydney said you're done with him for the moment. A little change of pace would be good for him. I won't keep your pet any longer than necessary."
"Sorry, I have another sim waiting in the wings for Bryan. It'll have to be one of the others."
"Alright then give me Norah, from what I hear she's been branching out," he said knowingly. He had anticipated her resistance in allowing him to use Bryan.
Giving her twin a hard stare, she said quietly, "Alright, you're free to use Norah for now on your little scheme. Only be careful what you say to her, we wouldn't want to have another lab rat believing they were born free."
"Aw, gee thanks Sis. You're getting more generous in your old age."
"We're the same age, 30 watt. It just looks better on me than you," she retorted with steely eyes.
Once he arrived at sl-17, Lyle stopped abruptly in front of a non-descript door. Nodding curtly at the sweeper who was responsible for the inmates on this level, the man obediently unlocked the door and stepped aside for Lyle to enter. The room was bathed in ambient light. He expected to see the walls bare and the room to have an uninhabited air, but there were personal touches all around. Tasteful postures of seascapes and aquatic life had been taped to the walls, a filled plastic bookcase was nestled in a corner and a molded, clear plastic chaise was in the opposite corner.
Norah was sitting upright on her small bed with her back to the wall and a book resting in her lap. She watched Lyle's reaction to the changes in her living space; it was obvious from his expression that he was unhappy with the attempts to make this dreary space more comfortable. Recalling her disastrous encounter with Sub-chair Parker, Norah lowered her head, forced the tension from her mind that Lyle's presence caused and opened her perceptions. Like using unseen antennae she began to feel barely discernible impressions of him. Despite the initial wave of revulsion that swept over her, she forced herself to be receptive to the input that radiated from him. At last satisfied, she opened her eyes and raised her head to look at him. He was good-looking, well proportioned and impeccably dressed; it was just too bad that he had been warped by his parasitic cravings, depraved desires and over-weaning ambition.
They stared at each other for a full minute without a word being exchanged. Finally Lyle graced the pretender with an easy smile and said, "My name is Mr. Lyle and I need your help on a project that I'm starting. It involves the return of a former employee."
"I had been told I was to be working exclusively for Sub-chairwoman Parker," Norah said quietly.
"Parker has reassigned you to me for the time being," he snapped, slightly annoyed. He wanted to avoid giving her a demonstration of who was in charge in this room. After Parker's diplomatic-managerial success, he didn't want to appear to be inflexible to new ideas.
"Very well, what is it that you want me to do?" The expression on his face clearly showed his propensity for sadism.
"Better. I have a file on a former pretender whom we need to return to the fold. He has been away for a while and is now refusing to return. Examine the file and make an evaluation on why we haven't heard from him in the past few months and judging from his past activities see if you can anticipate his next move." Lyle moved to the door and rapped his knuckles against it twice. The sweeper who responded to his knock handed Lyle a thick portfolio. He placed the heavy bundle on the edge of her bed. "If you need anything else pertaining to this project, have the sweeper contact me."
"Yes, Mr. Lyle, I will do my best."
"Then the rumors are true, you are a very smart young lady," he said with patronizing arrogance as he strode confidently from her room.
Norah remained still and made no movement to pick up the portfolio. She slowly relaxed her posture and replayed the encounter she just had with Lyle evaluating the input she received from him.
A couple days later as Sydney sat back in his chair after a long day, Parker walked into his office. Sydney was mildly surprised to see her there. It had been last week since he had seen her and several weeks before that.
"Parker, it's good to see you again. What brings you to my humble corner of the Centre?" he asked with a smile of welcome.
"It's been months since I've been able to catch up with you. My schedule is so hectic that I barely have time to breathe. Do you have a few moments, Syd?"
"Of course, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"
"That would be nice, thanks," she said as she made herself comfortable on his couch. Leaning back fully she relaxed her whole body and took the offered glass of scotch.
They sat in silence for several seconds, each enjoying the company of the other. Sydney hadn't realized how much he would miss having Parker around until she had been swept up into the Triumvirate's intrigues. He felt that this was her time and waited patiently for her to begin the conversation.
"You know, I never got the chance to thank you for that item you left me. It was very thoughtful of you," she said quietly her voice heavy with emotion.
"I worry about you. These past few months would have been trying on anyone but coming on the heels of certain recent revelations it must have been almost unbearable for you," he studied her profile with some surprise. Even with the strain she was obviously under, she still looked lovely and almost unaffected.
"Well, I don't mind admitting I've had a little help from a mutual friend," she said with a conscious smile as she glanced over at Sydney.
He was perplexed for a few seconds until realization dawned on him. With another sharp look at her face he nodded and sat back in his chair relaxed mirroring her posture.
"I'm glad, you needed someone to talk to freely who couldn't be turned into a liability. But Parker please tell me, what has been happening lately? You can't be oblivious to the charged atmosphere around here; now there's Lyle going around collecting everything we've done in the past few years to capture Jarod. I understand that you've given him permission to use Norah on this latest venture of his."
"What are you talking about? I told him he could use Norah in his hare-brained scheme, he didn't tell me anything about giving her any files on our activities," she asked with a frown.
"He had Broots gather everything we've done in the past five years to capture Jarod, including any contacts that we've had with him," he said with a touch of worry.
"Don't worry about it Syd. We've been cleared on everything that we've done to catch Wonder-boy, there's nothing else to find," she said with a dismissive wave. "Besides, if he finds anything we'll find out about it from Norah before he has a chance to do anything."
"I hope you're right," he replied with a heavy sigh. Then recalling his piqued curiosity he asked, "Any update on what the Triumvirate is up to?"
"I guess there's no harm in telling you now, it's almost over," she said and proceeded to tell him what it was she suspected the Triumvirate wanted from her.
Sydney listened attentively, his kindly interest quickly dissolved into a creeping horror. He had been afraid for his friend and colleague before but now his fear trebled itself within the few minutes it took for her to explain her suspicions and the reasons for them.
It was early Thursday night, the skies were clear and the windswept air smelled clean and crisp; it was a perfect night for driving with the top down. She was feeling good about successfully closing the latest deal with her new client. They were ecstatic about the sim which solved a long standing problem the CEO thought would elude his R&D division indefinitely. The revenue was better than she expected. She refused to dwell on the fact that unless she delved into the murky waters of military applications for her chosen sims, she would never reach the goal set for her. Time was just about to run out, there were still almost 2 months to go before the specified six month deadline but her inner sense told her the Triumvirate had no intentions of waiting that long.
She smiled to herself as she thought about picking up Ian and having him spend the night with her. There would be no difficulty with the guards since they were now used to her showing up unannounced to remove the child for a few hours from the facility. Once she woke up Ian and had gotten him all buckled and secure in his safety seat, she expertly turned the convertible in the direction of her house.
She was just about to accelerate into the lonely stretch of road ahead when she noticed a large packet resting on the passenger seat. It had gone unnoticed because her briefcase was laying partially on top of it. Curious about its contents she opened the envelope after pulling over to the side of the road. She recognized Jarod's handwriting immediately as she started to read. His note started out provocatively enough – 'If you want to have an weekend you'll never forget, follow these directions.' It directed her to a local restaurant, shrugging and darting a quick glance at Ian's sleeping form she decided to take Jarod's bait. She had some ideas of her own for their weekend. Grinning happily she shifted the small convertible into first gear, made a quick U-turn and headed for the small downtown area of Blue Cove.
The restaurant was one of the more popular spots for the exclusive enclave. The food was excellent here and she was tempted to grab a bite to eat for a few seconds but instead returned to the note. She had parked next to an innocuous looking, dark blue Honda Accord as instructed. Inside the bulky envelope, she found a key for the Accord. Familiar with and occasionally a victim of Jarod's careful planning she committed to going along with his plan; missing him had become increasingly irksome. Looking around, all was quiet in the parking lot. The usual crowds she noticed at the eatery were mainly there on the weekends. She quickly and efficiently transferred all her belongings and Ian from the small Porsche to the larger Accord, however leaving the key to her beloved convertible behind was unacceptable. Sitting in the Accord, she pried the Porsche's key fob open exposing the battery and with practiced ease, removed the tracking device that was nestled next to the tiny battery. Leaving her Centre issued cell phone locked in the glove compartment and unfolding the top she securely locked the tracking device inside the Porsche.
She occupied herself on the long drive by thinking about a cryptic comment Angelo made. With his monosyllabic assistance and using her 'father's' access codes, they were able to break into the almost impregnable high-level decryption matrix of the Centre's core computer and find other more active access and password code information. Namely the codes used by the member's of the Triumvirate to access the computer, decrypt classified data and to issue orders. Angelo advised her that she and Jarod would destroy the babies. She continued to ponder his statement, however driving in the unfamiliar vehicle for over an hour, her muscles had begun to cramp and fatigue was gnawing at her. Once she reached the turn off, she was instructed to make another turn which led her down a long rutted road. It was badly in need of repair and slowed her progress to a mere crawl when eventually she saw a clearing ahead. Pulling up to a stop in the clearing, she got out to stretch her legs. The night was even more magnificently serene because of the loud night music of the cicadas and the sharp scent of pine in the air. Looking around there didn't seem to be a house or soul in sight. It seemed as though she was the only person around for miles. 'Well the only one awake,' she thought about Ian sleeping contentedly in his car seat when suddenly she was enveloped from behind into an embrace by two strong arms. A sharp intake of breath, and an unintentional shout showed her surprise. Before she could start to fight, Jarod's voice was in her ear.
"What took you so long? I've been waiting for an hour." Giving her a light bite on the ear he loosened his grip to allow her to turn and face him.
"I was almost home by the time I found your little packet. That was quite an invite, I hope you're feeling frisky enough to live up to it," she replied as she reached up and kissed him ardently. His hands moved sensuously along her sides and settled on her back as he pulled her fully into his body.
They continued to hold each other closely as though reluctant to break the connection. When they finally separated, he said with longing in his voice, "I want to stop missing you."
She held his gaze for several long seconds, wordlessly echoing his statement. Squeezing his hand firmly she changed the subject. "So where are we? I think I drove at least a mile from the main highway."
"Somewhere the Centre would never think to look. You didn't leave your keys in the Porsche as I instructed." His voice held the slightest note of remonstrance.
"That's my favorite car, I am not going to just leave the keys laying around for anyone to come around and steal it," she stated defensively.
"I had arranged for someone at the restaurant to drive it back to your house. That way the tracking device in the key fob would show that you were at home," he replied wearily with obvious patience.
"I removed the tracking device and left it with the car, I wasn't born yesterday you know."
"You weren't this materialistic when we were kids," he grumbled unhappily.
"I didn't own a Porsche back then either. So where do we go from here?"
"There's a house nestled on the other side of those trees. We can stay there for as long as we like, I helped the owner relocate to Atlanta a week ago."
She gave a rueful half chuckle at his reference to time and retorted wistfully, "Well at least a long weekend, that will be nice. I wish I didn't have to go back," she whispered to herself.
"You don't. Stay here with me, I have enough supplies to last us for about a week. All your accounts have been liquidated and untraceably relocated under a new identity I created for you. I brought clothing and everything you need to make a clean break," he said earnestly. "This is my escape plan, there is no need for you to return to the Centre…ever."
Turning she stared at him in disbelief. "I should have guessed that you would do something like this without saying anything. I have my own exit plan you know, but I didn't plan on implementing it until next week." Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and said in a wearily overwhelmed voice, "Oh no, what about my Porsche? When they find it in the restaurant parking lot, all kinds of flags will start going up. They will be all over us in a hot minute," she said mordantly as she slumped dejectedly against the side of the car.
"Well, not to beat a dead horse, but I thought of that also. I knew you wouldn't be able to leave the keys to your convertible behind, so I had a copy of them made and gave them to my contact at the restaurant. He called me about 30 minutes ago to let me know that he was on the way to your house and that you hadn't left the keys behind. Give me credit, I know the love of my life better than you think," he replied cheerfully.
Turning she gave him a half smile and the look in her eyes reflected the sentiment and emotion behind his last statement. The reality of not having to return to the Centre still hadn't hit her fully. She was thinking about what he had said when she suddenly remembered.
"There's just one problem, my exit plan. All the preparations were in that backpack. Plus I've got to get to Broots. I have a package with his ID's and bank accounts hidden in my house, once he receives it, he'll understand that as his cue to leave. If I don't show up for work on Monday, they may think of doing something to Broots or Debbie to force my return," she said staring at Jarod who had started unpacking the front passenger seat of the Accord.
Looking at her over the roof of the car he said, "You said this package is at your house? Where is it exactly?"
"It's behind one of the panels at the back of my closet, where I hid the backpack. Actually the backpack is sitting on top of it," she said as the memory of Ian's carefully selected wardrobe drifted into her mind.
"You never did explain to me what was going on with those clothes you were stuffing in it," he said absently as he pulled his cell phone out of a pocket and began dialing a number. He put the phone to his ear and waited a few seconds before talking.
"Morris, yeah it's me. Are you still near the house?" he paused for a few moments. "That's perfect, I need another big favor from you. Look in the closet of the master bedroom near the rear of the house. There's a bottom panel at the back that comes loose if you push on it. There should be a package hidden there, take it and deliver it to this address." Jarod finished giving his friend instructions and ended the call.
While he was speaking on the phone, Parker walked to his side of the car and opened the rear door. She unbuckled Ian from his car seat and gently lifted him into her arms without waking him. When Jarod finally ended the call, he turned around and was startled to see what she was holding so tenderly.
"Actually, your timing is perfect as usual. I needed to take this little guy with me when I left for good; his name is Ian," she whispered so she wouldn't easily wake him.
"Where did he come from?" he asked perplexed.
"Ian is the baby I helped Brigitte bring into the world. Daddy had him shipped off to the satellite facility in Dover. Poor fellow, I woke him up to take home with me, now neither one of us will be returning to our old lives. It's going to be quite a shock for him when he wakes up."
Smiling wistfully, Jarod commented, "So the clothing is for him, I was in a hurry when I grabbed your backpack and stuffed some of your things in it. Well I guess this development will be changing our plans for spending the weekend in bed."
"He's no trouble. The good news is that he goes to bed fairly early and with a little warm milk he's dead to the world. You're not getting out of showing me exactly what you meant by a 'weekend I would never forget'," she said with a happily wicked grin.
Broots Residence Blue Cove, DE Friday morningBroots woke up at his usual time on Friday morning. He was preparing breakfast for Debbie when the phone rang. Looking around he saw the cordless handset sitting on the back of the sofa where Debbie left it the night before. Answering the phone he listened as Mr. Lyle dictated a distressingly long and time consuming list of assignments he expected Broots to complete by the end of the day. Broots listened dispiritedly as Lyle droned on; turning he noticed a thick clasp envelope sticking out of his mailbox. When Lyle finally rang off, Broots tugged at the tightly wedged envelope; he had to work a bit to dislodge it.
Broots turned the large envelope over in his hands but saw no address or post mark. Hearing Debbie stirring in her room, he sat the package down and finished making her breakfast. After Debbie had eaten and left for school, Broots sat down on the sofa and opened the tightly sealed envelope with a pair of scissors. He was shocked at it's contents: Passports, two driver's licenses in names he never heard before but with his picture affixed to them, two credit cards in each name, two computerized bank receipts reflecting robust balances from two of the country's largest financial institutions and an impressive wad of cash bound with a thick rubber band. A note was included with the ID.
'Broots: if you're reading this, it will probably be a long time before I have a chance to see you again. This envelope contains most of the things you will need to get started on your new life; I think Houston might be a good place for you to start. Use the cash and one of the ID's to purchase any airline tickets or rental cars, I'll leave it to you to make up a new birth certificate for Debbie. Be careful, use your head and remember the lessons we learned when hunting for Jarod—don't make any stupid mistakes. Take care of yourself and Debbie; if you ever believe they have found you, contact me on the enclosed cell phone. I'm sorry about all of this, Parker.'
When he finished reading, Broots sat still for several minutes. He was surprised at his own calmness. He had been toying with the notion of leaving for several years now the only thing stopping him was the fear that he would either be hunted down and possibly killed because of the things he had discovered while on the pursuit for Jarod or that some other retaliatory actions would be done to him that would affect his daughter.
The soft chiming of the clock on the mantle place spurred him into action reminding him that time was running out. He snatched up the phone again and once connected started barking orders to his subordinates. They would conduct the searches and complete the reports Lyle wanted. His tone brokered no dissent and he marveled at how much like Miss Parker he sounded. Once finished with pushing his subordinates around, Broots hung up the phone and hurried into his bedroom to start packing.
The Centre
Blue Cove, DE
Friday evening
Sydney had spent an absorbing day conducting cognitive experiments on his voluntary subjects. He was passing by Broots' department and ducked in quickly to say hello to the overworked tech. His space was clear and it didn't appear as if Broots had even come in today. Shaking his head indulgently, Sydney left thinking that after so much prolonged exposure Broots was becoming more like Parker everyday. She had announced last week that she would be taking Friday off to enjoy a long weekend and by the looks of it, Broots decided at the last minute to mimic her.
Monday-late morning
The air around the Centre was charged, more so than usual and Lyle was singularly unhappy about it. Miss Parker had failed to show up and her sidekick Broots was nowhere to be found. Lyle stalked down to sl-17 in search of Norah; he had sent word that he wanted to have a meeting with her to discuss her findings on the special project he gave her. Entering the semi-lit sim room, his foul mood almost preceded him.
Norah glanced up to look at the unhappy man. She forced all expression from her face and waited patiently for him to start the conversation. He was again impeccably dressed, not a hair was out of place, but the angry scowl and the fierceness in his blue eyes was disconcerting to say the least.
Lyle frowned at Norah. He took a deep breath in an effort to control his mounting frustration with the way his morning was turning out. He glanced down at the table; it was empty except for a depressingly thin file. Unable to contain his urge to vent he pointed down at the file peevishly.
"What is that? I was informed that you had finished. I am expecting a full and complete report," he said nastily.
"A week was all I needed. The pursuit team's reports were thorough even if the file on Jarod was not. There wasn't much for me to say, if you want me to fatten my report with excess verbiage then I will."
"By the size of that report you should be able to reduce the context in a few short sentences. What were your findings?" he asked with disgusted exasperation.
"Jarod is very unique, he has an overwhelming propensity to help others…."she began.
"Yes, I am fully aware of Jarod's propensities. I'm not interested in that, I chose you for this assignment for a specific reason. Don't start convincing me I made a wrong choice," he interrupted menacingly.
"I understand, sir. What I am trying to tell you is there appears to have been an oversight in Jarod's evaluation," Norah said quietly. When she realized Lyle was waiting for her to continue she said, "As you say, his mostly successful exploits in helping the downtrodden and remedying the wrongs done to them has been extensively and exhaustively analyzed. What has been overlooked is his relationship with each member of the pursuit team."
"The pursuit team has been investigated, polygraphed and shadowed. If there were any indication they had assisted Jarod in any way it would have been uncovered by now. That is a dead issue, I hope for your sake, you've come up with something new," a cruel calm settled effortlessly over his features.
Undaunted, Norah continued, "For his former mentor, Sydney, Jarod appeared out of nowhere and assisted in the release of Sydney's kidnapped son, Nicholas. It is also believed Jarod introduced the young man to Sydney's attention since he had been unaware of Nicholas' existence. For Mr. Broots, Jarod made sure the courts were made aware of certain troubling indiscretions committed by his former spouse which facilitated in Mr. Broots gaining sole custody of his daughter." She paused watching Lyle's face. It was obvious that he was already aware of all these facts. "The only person he has done nothing for is Miss Parker. It's true he did play matchmaker with her and Thomas Gates but nothing of any significance was done prior to or after Mr. Gates' murder except Jarod pointed out to Miss Parker that at least one of the culprits was most likely a member of her immediate family. The break in pattern was obvious, I'm surprised no one has noticed it or taken advantage of its significance before now."
"What are you talking about? Miss Parker and Jarod are hardly friends they practically hate each other. She's been obsessed with capturing him for the past five years, why would he do anything for her?"
"Jarod is quoted to have said on a few occasions that he and Miss Parker had been friends when they were children. If he truly hated her, their past would mean little or nothing to him and if it did; knowing she hated him, he would do everything possible to hide his true feelings. That said this is my evaluation: Jarod is attempting to finish something he started as soon as he found out who the members of his pursuit team were. Jarod specializes in bringing families together; Sydney has his newly discovered son and Broots has full and sole custody of his child, Debbie. Both families were rendered necessary assistance in an effort to keep them intact. Before finding his son, Jarod visited Sydney's twin brother."
"So you're saying that Jarod wants to establish a family for my sister? She already has a family," he remarked dismissively.
"He has done everything in his power to alienate Miss Parker from her family. At every opportunity he reminds her about the circumstances surrounding her mother's death. When it was discovered you were her twin, Jarod stepped in and revealed several unsavory facts about your past and went so far as to lock the two of you in a container trailer stocked with newspapers that reported your complicity in the missing person's case of two co-eds."
"He did that after I accidentally killed his brother. If anything your analysis only tells me Jarod can hold a grudge and that's something I experienced first hand."
"This goes far deeper, he has also done much to shake Miss Parker's trust and faith in her father. He has reminded her often of the continuous lies her father had foisted upon her throughout the years—the most devastating were the facts surrounding her mother's death," she stated simply. Seeing Lyle about to interrupt she held up her hand gently and said, "to continue my evaluation: It's Miss Parker he is interested in, he wants to finish what he has started with the rest of the team and create a family for her. As for any future actions my best guess would be that he would focus on the child your father had with his last wife as a target."
"How would Master Parker fit into Jarod's family scenario?" Lyle asked suddenly interested.
"The child would be the youngest in your family. He is still unspoiled and has the best potential of bringing out Miss Parker's maternal side."
Folding his arms against his chest, he stood back and stared at the pretender. He had a feeling she was right but he was still miffed at her method of presentation. Without saying a word, he picked up the thin report and left the room. The minute he was alone, he started dialing on his cell phone to check on Master Parker's status.
A small smile formed on Norah's lips. She had no way of thanking Parker for giving her some of the most happiest weeks of her life. The simple act of walking around outside and enjoying the nearby surf revived her battered spirit. She hoped in diverting Lyle's attention away from immediately searching for Parker, she had brought the Sub-Chairwoman a few precious hours to put more distance between herself and the Centre psychos.
The Chairman's Office Monday Early-AfternoonOver an hour later, around the same time Lyle was rushing into the lobby of the Dover satellite facility, Mr. Raines waited nervously for his guest to arrive. Monday had dive-bombed into one of the worst days of his Chairmanship. Mountesi was making a personal appearance and Miss Parker was nowhere to be found. The African was of medium height and slightly built. He was resplendent in an understated tailor-made suit. The cost of the suit alone would probably equal half a year's salary for most of the highly paid Centre employees. The Triumvirate member walked into Raines' office unannounced and accepted the man's obsequious greetings with apathetic aplomb.
"Where is Miss Parker? Why is she not here to greet me?" The question was asked without emotion but Raines knew Mountesi was unhappy.
"She has not shown up for work today. I have sent a team of sweepers to her house but so far they have yet to find her. Nothing at her home has been disturbed and there are no indications she has packed any of her belongings," wheezed Raines.
"You have not made the error of having her disappear in the same manner as Mr. Craigon?" The African's smooth, dark brown face creased slightly as he raised an eyebrow.
"No, sir. I had nothing to do with Mr. Craigon's disappearance. The surveillance tapes from Miss Parker's residence are being examined right now."
"This is troubling indeed and to think I came all this way to inform her that she has passed her simulation. What a shame, but perhaps knowing that she will live another day will enable her to endure the punishment that awaits her for trying to leave. What has been done to recover her?"
"We have barely ascertained she has in fact disappeared. I am hoping the surveillance tapes will give us a clue as to what happened. Her vehicle is still parked at her house; there have been no taxis or other vehicles seen in the vicinity that picked up a woman of her general description."
"We are both guilty of applying undue pressure on Miss Parker. Did you inform her of our intent at the conclusion of this latest test?" Mountesi asked as he settled himself in Raines' desk chair.
Still standing Raines took a deep breath and said, "No, but I believe she had her suspicions. She has become very taciturn lately."
"I don't doubt it, working with you must have been very trying for her knowing you were her mother's executioner."
Raines remained silent and stared at Mountesi, all expression and emotion was cleared from his face but inside a sick feeling was settling in on him.