Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Pretender or any of the major characters. I'm not making any money off this or any of the unauthorized quotes I've placed in this story. The quotes were used solely for the purpose of adding a certain texture to this story.
Author's Note: Music has been inspiring me lately. The lyrics quoted in this story belong to Linkin Park. The song they are taken from is 'In the end'. When I heard the words & the emotion in which they were sung, this chapter practically wrote itself. I would really love to have some feedback.
Memory Ronin
Part XVI
By Callisto
Law Offices of Proust & Latham
New York, NY
Dan Sawyer had been working most of the morning in blissful ignorance of the storm that was headed his way. As it was, he only became aware of the ruckus occurring outside of his office when his harassed Asian secretary burst into the room still trying to corral and control the irate visitors who were insisting on an audience with the lawyer.
Sawyer's head came up abruptly as Lyle and the two sweepers who accompanied him interrupted his peaceful day of drawing contracts. Slowly rising to his feet, the lawyer watched with growing anger as the one-thumbed man swept the woman aside but not without copping a feel before letting her go.
"Vera, please leave us. I will handle things from here," Sawyer said in a loudly stern voice.
Vera turned and showed him her irritated and angry expression. Knowing he was going to irk her even more he said, "That will be all for now and have Patricia relieve you. I believe Mr. Markum needs your translation skills."
The woman was shocked momentarily, then smoothed her face into a more neutral expression and without sparing Lyle another glance, left the room.
Watching his secretary leave, Dan Sawyer turned his attention to Lyle and the two bodyguards.
"There was no need to be so rude or to push my secretary around. If you wanted an appointment today I would have accommodated you," Sawyer said evenly.
"Look at it this way, I've saved you the trouble of squeezing me in between a probate meeting and your golf game. That's just the kind of guy I am," Lyle said with snide friendliness.
"What is it you want?" Sawyer asked forcing his anger aside.
"It would seem that you have located my little brother. I want to know where he is—now," Lyle commanded.
"I see. We have been experiencing some difficulties with computer security, now I know why. You do know it's against the law to hack into a business's computer network, don't you?"
"Who says I hacked into anything? All I want is my little brother and you won't be bothered with me again," Lyle said with a smile.
"Funny, the last time I read the file your 'little brother' as you call him wasn't interested in seeing you in the least. What do you want with him?" the lawyer asked intrepidly.
It was Lyle's turn to control his rising anger. Being in better practice, Lyle's expression didn't change in the slightest as he said, "That's for me to know and for him to find out. Where is he?"
"I'm afraid I am not privy to that information." Holding up his hand as the two goons who accompanied Lyle rose and started towards him, Sawyer continued, "Roughing me up for the answer won't do you any good. I don't know anything and as I'm sure you already know, going through my computer will be a waste of time. The answer isn't in there either."
"Then who has this elusive answer for me? I know for a fact that you have finished probating my sister's will, which means you have made contact with Ethan. So let's skip taking that particular turn around the bush," Lyle said tightly as the expression in his eyes hardened.
"Mr. Clauson met with one of my colleague's on the west coast, California to be exact. From what I understand he made contact with them, not the other way around. He also made it clear that he didn't want anyone to know where he was living or what he planned on doing with your sister's estate. Everything was turned over to him—legally," Sawyer said with a poker face. He was glad that although he was speaking the truth, it was thwarting this bully.
"What's your lawyer's name? The one who met with Ethan," Lyle asked with quiet menace. It was clear from his demeanor that he would broker no more stalling and force was his upcoming choice in persuasive methods.
The calm threat in Lyle's face convinced Sawyer to give him the name he had been instructed to hand over. "His name is Houseman, he works out of our Los Angeles branch but he doesn't know anything. Mr. Clauson made it clear that he doesn't want to have any unauthorized contact. You must know that he would suspect you would use these tactics? Precautions were taken on both sides so the client's safety would be insured," Sawyer stressed as vehemently as he could.
Lyle paused for a few moments still giving Sawyer a hard, unblinking stare. When he was satisfied, Lyle slowly came to his feet and took a few steps towards the door. Before reaching it he stopped and turned to the lawyer. "I hope for your sake you're telling me the truth. It would be a shame for you to see me at my worst." Lyle then took his leave.
Sawyer watched the men leave, once he was sure they had left the outer offices, he released a relieved sigh. The man was as dangerous as Miss Parker had told them; she had not exaggerated. The calculating look in Lyle's oddly hungry eyes told him that violence and evil were not unknown concepts or practices in the man's agenda. Sawyer pressed a button and Patricia's calm voice responded softly on the intercom reassuring him that the men had left and Vera was unharmed. Sawyer thanked her sincerely then reached over and pulled out a cell phone to make the required call.
Walter's family hideout
Outside Providence, RI
She woke slowly to the welcoming sounds of birds singing. Disorientation both internal and external flooded her mind. The pervasive feeling of ease, satiety and contentment permeated her spirit. She lay still for a moment reveling in the rare emotion. Suddenly she remembered: the wedding, the honeymoon, and her new husband. Slowly she turned her head and was greeted by her husband's sleepy smile. She returned his smile and turning on her side she placed a hand on his face. She enjoyed the stubbly feel of his emerging beard and his appealingly mussed-up hair that left him looking extremely sexy. Propping herself on one elbow and ignoring the warnings her brain gave about morning halitosis, she leaned over and kissed him hungrily. Jarod was surprised but returned the kiss deeply, enjoying the feel of her soft wandering hands on his body. As he plunged his hand into her thick hair, he rolled over forcing her underneath his body and taking aggressive control of the kiss. Breaking the kiss she stared happily into his face and whispered huskily, "I could never adequately describe this beautiful sight to a certain genius I know." They slowly made love, each committed to the pleasure of the other and happily exceeding in their expectations.
A couple of hours later, after another round of lovemaking in the shower and just as Jarod was beginning to drift off to sleep, Maggie sat up and whispered, "I need a glass of water. Don't worry, Genius your days of waking up alone are over." She leaned towards him and stroked his body fondly, slowly passing her hands down the length of his body—through his tussled hair down to his genitals. As she did this, she felt her own desire begin to stir again and gave him a ridiculously happy grin as she slipped out of bed.
Walking into the kitchen, Maggie found Trent there getting the ingredients together to cook the family's breakfast. Effortlessly, she joined him and they began working together companionably. Trent paused briefly as Maggie's body unintentionally brushed against him. Never before had he felt any repercussions from being Jarod's clone. His parents treated him almost exactly as his friends' parents treated them but it was obvious almost from the start that he was attracted not only to the same type of women as Jarod but to the same woman.
Once she arrived in their family circle, he finally understood his friends' slang of being 'sprung'. That's exactly what she did to him, from the slight, shapely body to the intense, emotionally expressive gray eyes. He knew she would be a tough act to follow but he was determined to give it a try—finding someone to measure up to her or come close would be a goal worth achieving. Trent didn't resent Jarod in the least, the woman was at least 20 years his senior but the attraction he felt for her was strong. The only thing Trent was left to wonder was why Jarod hadn't knocked her over the head and dragged her off by the hair sooner. He resolved in his own mind that if he found someone for himself this perfect, he wouldn't hesitate.
Glancing quickly at her he was again surprised. 'Great, now this," Trent thought admiringly. She was mouthing the words of a song he loved as it played at a low volume on the stereo.
Parker caught Trent staring at her as his head bobbed in time to the music. It was then she realized she was silently singing along with the music. Trent went to the stereo and started the song again. This time they both bobbed and sang along as the lyrics started.
Emily walked in to find Maggie & Trent singing a hard rock song together. Trent had played that particular CD so often, she had begun to like the music also. She walked up to the other two and joined them in singing along with the CD and making breakfast.
Before the middle of the song Margaret had gotten up to investigate who was making all the noise in the kitchen. She stood unobserved in the doorway watching the singers; the tableau they made was interesting. Trent was singing along joyfully, leaning up against Maggie—apparently he was coming to terms with his attraction to her. Emily, meanwhile, was expressively playing air guitar to Maggie's performance. It was the change in Maggie's attitude that arrested Margaret's attention. Slowly the woman became still and sadly closed her eyes as though affected by the lyrics. Trent and Emily saw the change in her and exchanged looks. They scaled back their enjoyment and quietly went back to work around Maggie. Margaret listened to the words being sung with a new appreciation.
'…remembering all the times you fought with me,
I'm surprised it got so far,
Things aren't the way they were before,
You wouldn't even recognize me any more,
not that you knew me back then,
but it all comes back to me in the end,
I kept everything inside, and even though I tried it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be,
A memory of a time when I tried so hard…'
The words touched Margaret and finally after her husband's insistence and her eldest child's marriage, she slowly began to see the pernicious effect of the Centre on Maggie. She realized with heart-wrenching sadness that Ethan was right; Maggie was as much a victim of her own family's manipulations as the rest of them.
After breakfast the family reassembled to start finalizing their plans for their assault on Centre-Hamilton. The list of supplies needed was becoming lengthy and while they could order most of what they wanted on-line, there were some things which could be purchased locally and with a minimum of fuss. Emily volunteered for this assignment. She was beginning to feel cooped up, after being on the run for most of her life, settling down, while nice, did occasionally become tedious. Trent chimed in saying he would go with her as an unofficial bodyguard but the Major put a damper on his enthusiasm by stating he would accompany Emily. Maggie noticing her mother-in-law's eyes drop in disappointment decided she would help her out.
"Major, I'm sure there are a thousand things for you to do around here and since we all agree that Emily shouldn't go into town alone, why not let Naizen accompany her? He is more than capable of protecting her and once he returns he and I will have a chance to strategize. It also gives me an excuse to harass and fuss with my new husband for an hour or two," she said with smile.
Naizen, who had followed the family from Japan, looked up in surprise. Magdalena had volunteered him without even questioning if he would be amenable to the duty. His face was cleared of all emotion as his mind struggled to discover the deeper meaning of her actions.
Once Emily and Naizen left the rest of the family looked around the table at each other as if momentarily at a loss for words. Jarod spoke up and excused himself and Maggie quietly stating he had a few matters to discuss with her in private. Everyone else took this statement as his chance to steal some time alone with his new bride.
He led her by the hand through the back door and into the large open area behind the rental house. The view had a charm of its own with the green lawn stretching on for what seemed like miles, dotted with several heavily leafed trees scattered generously throughout the white rail-fenced enclosure. Jarod came to a stop under the nearest tree. He was immediately caught up in an embrace and kissed eagerly by Maggie.
She pulled her lips from his slowly, relishing the sensation and smiled happily in his eyes. The look of deep sadness stopped her cold and she knew that whatever he had to say, she doubted she would like it.
"Okay, Genius. Out with it, what's going on that has you so down?" she asked lightly trying to stir him from his black mood.
"What I have to say, isn't going to be easy but I would like to get the hardest part out first. I want to apologize for concealing something from you. I was hurt and angry when you did the same thing to me so anything I say in my own defense will probably sound flimsy. I was reluctant to reveal what I know because I wanted to enjoy our new found intimacy without having the Centre spoil these last few incredible months we've shared," he answered solemnly.
While he was speaking she slowly pulled away from him, the brilliant, happy smile faltering. He watched her coping mechanisms immediately spring up in her eyes as she prepared herself for whatever he was going to reveal. Her wary silence urged him to continue, "When I broke into the Centre's bio-tech facility in Pennsylvania, I was looking for my genetic material but I was also looking for the files they had on me. I found what I was looking for, the genome mapping sequences that had been worked out for my DNA. On a hunch I decided to check if there was any evidence of the same work being done on two other people—yours was one of them. Unfortunately, I found those too. I suspected Raines and company were attempting to do the same with your DNA because of your red-file status and the emergence of your mother's gift.
"In your file, I found evidence that Raines had plans on somehow incapacitating you but leaving your mind intact. Your brain was one of the things he was after, he wanted to experiment on you, using a cocktail of drugs to influence and possibly expand your inner-sense." Jarod stopped; he needed to take a break from what he was saying. He could never adequately explain the sense of horror he felt in reading her biotech file, every detail had revealed Raines' ultimate plans for her.
Raking his hand through his hair he turned and took a few steps away from her. He stifled the sudden need to move around and turned to face her again. "There were other plans in the making but the file was unclear about them. We both know the probability of the Centre using you as a human incubator for my sperm was also on the agenda."
"Whose file was the third? I'm getting the impression my file isn't the one which has you so wound up. I knew the second my father was out of the way permanently Raines would bring forward any plans Daddy had been thwarting. What's the rest of it?" she asked with steely eyes.
"The third file belongs to Angelo. It would seem that Raines wanted a controlled study done on the effects of grafting and removing key chromosomes on a live human embryo. Instead of using what was left of my precious DNA and since Trent was no longer around to harvest more, they decided another red-file in hand was best to use in their experiments. By now, you know that your 'baby brother' isn't really your sibling?" Jarod said with disgusted bitterness.
"Master Parker?" she asked slowly, her mouth suddenly drying with the thought of the defenseless toddler. "What did they do?"
"Master Parker is Angelo's son. He is supposed to engender Angelo's DNA and the monkeying around that Raines' scientists were doing to isolate and graft a copy of my particular pretender genome into someone else's DNA strand. The ovum used belonged to one of the children your mother rescued just before her death—Darra Landers. Darra's reproductive eggs were harvested while she lay dying on the operating table after a simple appendectomy. She was one of the red files they executed to cover their tracks. They are decades ahead of the world's scientists and had just started implementing their findings. There is no proof whatsoever that this process they used in the gestation of Master Parker will work but they have made strides other scientists in the throws of moral consciousness have avoided."
"You want to kidnap Angelo's son from the Centre. That's an idea I have been toying with for the last few years. Since I've been declared 'dead' I guess now is as good a time as any. He's almost 3 years old now," she stated with a flat voice.
"If we are able to get our hands on him after destroying the Hamilton facility, I'm almost sure we will set their research back several years. They won't have any more raw genetic material to use and tinker with except for those still imprisoned at the Blue Cove site." He paused for a few seconds then continued, "I'm asking for your help in kidnapping the boy, I don't know where they are keeping him or what his code name is in the Centre's mainframe. Perhaps once we have liberated him from the clutches of the Centre, he may have a chance to lead a normal life."
"I once heard Raines refer to him as Isaac, at first I thought that was strange, I couldn't imagine Daddy naming his son that. But then I recalled the story from the bible about Abraham being commanded by God to kill his own son. I was surprised Raines would know anything from that book, I didn't know 'crib notes for hypocritical dummies' existed. I vowed from then on to keep surreptitious tabs on baby brother. Your choice of hideouts is very good; Isaac is no more than 20 miles north of here. I know the exact address because I had to bully Wade, one of Broots' subordinates, into finding it for me; so when do we go and get him, before or after we level Hamilton?"
Giving her a relived grin Jarod said, "Before. If everything goes to plan, several hours will pass before his caretakers are even aware the boy is missing and by the time they do, we'll be long gone too."
"Sounds good. Now we can discuss the small matter of you concealing this information from me…." She stated in a firm voice as she stared at her new husband unhappily.