Disclaimer: Please see Part I for the usual statement
Author's note: Feedback is eagerly sought after.
Memory Ronin
Part V
By Callisto
Jarod's Family Residence
Franconia, NH
The days after the Major explained his motives to Parker were relatively peaceful. So far Parker made no moves or comments about leaving soon. After some consideration, Jarod, with Trent's help and the hearty approval of his father and Ethan made some significant modifications to the large open area above the garage and converted it into a comfortable apartment, complete with running water, a small microwave and the bare essentials of furniture. Parker was offered this accommodation and happily accepted it, she didn't like imposing on Ethan and Margaret was still having some trouble adjusting to her presence.
"It's nothing like your usual style of accommodations but I think you should be comfortable here and you're free to stay as long as you like," Jarod said sincerely.
"Thank you, Jarod. I still have difficulty getting used to the idea that we can actually be pleasant to one another again. After everything that's occurred between us, I'm a bit surprised you even bother," she answered with equal sincerity.
"I never forgot the friend I had who used to keep me company and would challenge me to go exploring with her—regardless of my objections," he replied with a laugh.
"God, it seems like centuries ago instead of decades," she said softly and as she turned to enter the apartment, Jarod touched her arm tentatively stopping her.
"If you ever need anything or just someone to talk to, I'm here," he said earnestly with an encouraging look in his eye.
With a wider smile she replied with wry humor, "I would say 'the same goes for me' but I doubt you would be interested in talking to monster of my caliber."
At the sight of Jarod's gentle, understanding smile, she impulsively reached up and brushed her lips against his stubbly cheek, surprising him. Before either were forced to respond to what she had done, she quickly ducked through the door and closed it shut softly.
Waking up after getting the best night's rest she had enjoyed in at least a couple of years, Parker stumbled sleepily to answer the incessant knocking at the door. Jarod entered with a wide smile and Ethan in tow.
"How was your night? Did you sleep well?" he asked as he breezed in full of energy and vigor.
"I was sleeping well until you woke me up. What time is it and why are you here?"
"We're here to take you shopping. Emily reminded us that you only have the clothes you arrived in, so we decided to take you into town to pick up a few essentials," Ethan replied with a smile.
"Oh, wonderful, what time is it? Are there any stores open now?" she asked wearily.
"Of course, it's almost 9 o'clock. I believe the mall opens in a few minutes. We wanted to get an early start on the day; there are a few other things we need to pick up for the others in town," Jarod said casually. He watched the quizzical look that passed briefly across Parker's face. It was obvious to him that it had been a long time since anyone had imposed themselves on her to go shopping.
With a small shrug, Parker mumbled, "okay, let me wash my face and put on my clothes."
It was 15 minutes before a freshly made-up Parker reemerged wearing Ethan's borrowed Pendleton and jeans. A wide grin brightened her face further when she smelled the welcome aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Immediately finding the source, she spotted a brand new coffee maker plugged in and looking lonely on the otherwise barren countertop.
"This will definitely make me one happy troll," she replied as she opened a mostly empty cabinet and retrieved its sole occupant, a clean mug. Pouring half a cup, Parker first sipped then tentatively took a larger pull of the liquid. Like an addict she felt her mind clear from the fog of sleep and wakefulness creep slowly through her body. Before rinsing out the mug, she drained the contents then turning to her two companions released a deep sigh and said, "Okay, now I'm ready to go shopping. Umm, what's my spending limit?" she asked looking from her brother to Jarod.
"Since everyone at the Centre believes you're dead, you can't go around withdrawing money from any of your accounts, so I did that for you—from Lyle's corporate account. You did say it was Lyle's idea to sic those sweepers on you right?" Jarod inquired with a mischievous lift of the eyebrows and his attractive smirk.
Returning his smile, Parker said with considerable amusement, "the sky's the limit."
Jarod was surprised to find shopping with Parker was actually fun. She was extremely finicky but once she explained her methods and what it was she was searching for, both men fanned out and began to assist. Jarod had to laugh at himself when he realized that he was fussier than she.
The threesome were relaxing in one of the trendier restaurants in the mall after a few hours of moving from one shop to the next. Surprisingly the large wad of money Jarod withdrew from Lyle's account was significantly depleted but not alarmingly so. Ethan watched mildly fascinated as Jarod covertly counted the remains of their allowance. Glancing at his sister who was leaning back in her chair people watching he was again taken aback at how closely she resembled their mother. Ethan still often saw his mother's face and heard her voice, Miss Parker's voice, in his mind.
"You've been very conservative. I would have thought that you would want to buy more clothes than this and your apartment is still barren despite what we've gathered here," Ethan commented with a question in his face.
"I brought the essentials I know I'll need. When I decide on where to go from here, I'll buy a more extensive wardrobe. Besides, it will be best for me to avoid slipping back into my old buying habits," she answered.
"I was hoping you would decide to extend your stay," Ethan began hesitantly. "Any way, what are you going to do for money? If you stay with us, you at least won't have to worry about that."
"What I do for money is partially up to you. I added a codicil which specifies to my lawyers to hold off the reading of my will for at least two weeks. After that time they are instructed to contact the Centre and give Lyle and Raines the bad news—I never considered them as recipients of any of my belongings. You are my major beneficiary. I've already contacted my lawyers and they know my situation; they will continue the fiction of my death and will inform both Lyle and Raines I chose the law firm as the executors of my estate. Whenever you decide to reappear, they will hand over everything I own to you—including Momma's summer house in Delaware."
"If you've already contacted them, then what do I have to do with your money?" Ethan asked, his confusion deepening.
"My lawyer advised I should continue the fiction all the way. He told me the Centre has them under veiled scrutiny already. All e-mail traffic and bank requests are being carefully monitored," she said indifferently.
"But you said you've already contacted them, does that mean the Centre knows you're not dead?" Ethan asked in earnest sotto voce.
"No. Everything's fine, don't worry," she replied gently, her expression softening at the sight of Ethan's anxiety. "My lawyers aren't associated with the Centre, not even Daddy was aware of who I dealt with or what their loyalty was to me."
"All that has already changed. You said yourself the Centre currently has them under scrutiny. It could only be a matter of time before the Centre finds a record or log of your phone call to the lawyer," Jarod replied. He had been paying close attention to Parker and Ethan's conversation.
"I phoned my attorney at home when I knew he would be asleep. A trick I believe I picked up from some genius who used to do that to me," she said with a small smile. "He's a personal friend, one who would rather harm himself than betray me. He has the actual title to Momma's house, something I had to practically sell my soul for in order to wrangle it from Daddy. The price was working for the Centre straight out of college."
"The Centre has been known to corrupt even the best of friendships," Jarod said quietly as he stared at her meaningfully.
Parker returned his stare for a few seconds before breaking the stalemate and resuming her people watching. She had no answer for him. The tension between his half brother and sister was almost palpable. What surprised Ethan was the tension also contained a sexual element which he had been previously unaware. He wondered anew about the depths of their relationship. It was obvious there were aspects between the two that both occasionally acted upon but neither discussed.
Clearing his throat noisily, Ethan decided to get a bit more clarification on what his sister expected from him. "What am I supposed to do? If your lawyer contacts me then the Centre will probably know how to find me."
"I've already contacted them. They won't bother looking for you; instead they will wait until doomsday for you to contact them. They will continue to maintain my estate, your inheritance in the same manner as I have. When you feel up to it, then I will put you in contact with them—anonymously. I don't want anyone to get hurt, either you or them."
"How many lawyer's do you have?" Ethan asked suddenly curious about his sister and the way she handled her affairs.
Smiling at the timid way he asked her this last question, she turned to look at him saying, "There are 5 who handle my estate. After Daddy's death, I increased their workload 10 fold by liquidating my inheritance. Somehow, I believe the fat commission check they each receive at the end of the year takes the sting out of most anything. The way it works is this: they have a shill attorney who works for a branch of the same law firm in this country. That attorney is the one who has excited all the scrutiny but he has several layers of other lawyers shielding him from my actual attorneys. It's the shill who will have the dubious honor of informing Lyle of exactly what I think of him."
Ethan looked at his sister nodding his head in disbelief. He was impressed with the meticulousness of her planning. Glancing briefly at Jarod, Ethan noticed his brother smiling slightly obviously he too was impressed.
"You're lawyers are overseas?" he asked as his curiosity sharpened.
"Yes, in Japan. Most of my holdings are in offshore accounts and foreign concerns. I live off the interest of our mother's stock holdings. My Centre paychecks were usually deposited in the local bank for about a year before being diverted to my offshore holdings. Now Momma's holdings are beginning to accumulate in the local bank and to make sure the excess would be immediately drained off and diverted with the rest of my holdings, I added a codicil allowing a two week delay before my will could be read. I have never trusted Lyle and it's just like him to do whatever he could to get his grubby hands on Momma's money."
"He's her son too. It wasn't his fault that he ended up the way he did," Ethan said probingly. He knew from the conversations with his family that she was known to be vengeful but he wanted to see it for himself.
Ethan's comment made her cautious. She had a feeling that he was asking more than his naive comment implied. Controlling the timbre of her voice she said, "Lyle receives dividends from half of Momma's holdings. I handed them over shortly after I received proof he was my twin. Any more questions?"
"No, I know a few things about Jarod but all I know about you is what I hear from others. I'm sorry if I upset you," Ethan apologized half-sincerely.
Smiling at her brother's insincerity she knew he was only being curious. "Well, you better ask those questions now, it'll be a little difficult once I'm gone."
"Well, as long as I hold the purse strings, I think I'll exercise my new brotherly rights and hang on to you for a while longer," Ethan said with a self-satisfied smile.
No longer able to hold in his amusement, Jarod started to laugh at the mixture of emotions that were plastered on Parker's face: from surprise, disbelief to disgruntled irritation. It took Jarod a bit of effort to elicit this kind of reaction from her and usually he was more than a little irritated when he achieved success. Here Ethan achieved the goal with little effort and much satisfaction.
After lunch Ethan decided to conduct a small experiment and left them alone to browse through some furniture stores to pick out a small sofa and chair while he scouted out the electronics store for a television and other necessities. When he caught up with them they were looking in the window of a shop, talking and laughing with each other; it was as Ethan thought. It was obvious to him that once left alone they became more comfortable and considerate around each other. He suspected that given enough time alone they would begin to act on the unconscious sexual tension that buzzed around them.
By the time they returned home several hours later, Jarod's wad of cash had disappeared. Tired and hungry they entered the main house and were greeted by the delicious smell of dinner cooking. Margaret and Emily were busy in the kitchen and rebuffed Jarod's offer to assist. Amazingly they enlisted Parker's assistance instead, informing him that only the women would be allowed to prepare this meal. Wary and puzzled Parker graciously assented and putting her things down wandered into the kitchen and was immediately put to work.
As Parker entered her apartment later that night, loaded down with the purchases of the morning, she reflected on the entire day. From the abrupt awakening of Jarod's knocking, Ethan's probing questions and his threat of trying to force her to stay, to Margaret taking pains to get to know her better. Jarod was indeed blessed with a wonderful family. She felt the muted sting of jealousy and longing. She had wished that her father had been a better parent and had always longed to be treasured and wanted as Jarod obviously was by his family. Sighing sadly she deposited the bags Jarod handed her in the roomy bedroom and after hunting around for a few seconds found a large t-shirt to sleep in. It came from a smaller bag Jarod had placed in one of her larger bags. She laughed aloud when turning it around she saw a blue cartoon character on the front with the words 'Monsters Inc.' written underneath.