For the rest of the evening, Jarod remained firmly at Miss Parker's side, even as his eyes tracked "scarface", whose real name was Antonio. As for Antonio's accomplice, Jamie, he had been absent since five minutes after Jarod and Miss Parker rejoined the party.
It was 1:30am before Jarod felt they could graciously bid Chase and his remaining late night guests goodnight and retire to their room. Fatigue settled upon Parker as she and Jarod climbed the stairs. They maintained the silence they had held between them ever since Parker had told Jarod all that she had overheard earlier that night. They were both equally disappointed and alarmed that they had been unable to hear Antonio's solution to his predicament.
Finally reaching their room, Jarod swung open the door and watched as Miss Parker tiredly walked to the bed and claimed a seat. Shutting the door, Jarod went to secure the lock but his hand froze. There was no lock to secure, not even in the doorknob mechanism. There would be no security to be had in this room.
Turning around to face Miss Parker, Jarod leaned against the door, wearing his trade mark smirk, "I'm curious, Miss Parker. Having Joey's killer think you know this address, what does it accomplish? Besides putting your life in danger."
Parker didn't miss Jarod's angry reprimand but icily retorted as if she were dealing with a slow child, "What it accomplished is that we now know that Scarface," as Jarod looked about to correct her, she amended, "Antonio, is our killer. He and his boy Friday, Jamie, were apparently leaking information to Delano."
Jarod's eyes lanced into Parker's, "And what proof can I take to Chase?! Your dead body," he bitterly shot back.
Parker surged from the bed and jabbed a finger at Jarod, "Hey, you're the con man here, Jarod. I set the bait. You set the trap."
Abandoning his unconcerned guise, Jarod stalked to Parker, "I usually design the trap first and then set myself up to be the bait!"
"Deal with it!" Parker snarled and then she grabbed her suitcase, stalked to the bathroom and slammed the door.
Jarod ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he hung his head. Risking his own life on a pretend was one thing, risking Miss Parker's life, that was something else entirely.
When Miss Parker exited the bathroom, wearing her silk pants pajamas and sporting wet hair, she found Jarod sitting on the couch, shirtless. Quickly diverting her eyes, she stalked to the bed. Jarod disappeared into the bathroom without a word.
Jarod had been surprised to find a stack of clothing in the room for him. Chase may be a mob boss who could end of killing him, but he was a very courteous host. Now dressed in pajama pants, Jarod emerged from the bathroom and flicked off the light, leaving the room only lit by moonlight that streamed through the windows.
Miss Parker's deadly voice cut through the darkness, "You try to stake your claim in here and I promise you, you won't 'prospect' again. Ever."
A smile pulled onto Jarod's face as he approached the bed, unable to see Parker but knowing she was huddled under the covers on the other side. "I promise, I'll be the perfect gentleman."
"My, you must be getting good at pretending," Parker sallied back, her back to him. But when the bed sank under Jarod's weight, she sprang up and snarled, "And what the hell do you think you're doing! You've got the floor!"
Jarod sat up in the bed and met her eyes in the moonlight, "Maybe you haven't noticed, but there aren't any locks on the door and I don't think we're the kind of "guests" they stand on knocking ceremony."
"Meaning?!" Parker prodded.
"Meaning, we don't know when someone will stroll in that door. And I think you know as well as I do that what's kept us alive so far is Chase's belief that we're not lying to him. About anything. We need to maintain this romance "lie" at all times, Miss Parker."
Begrudging agreement crept into Parker's eyes but she still protested, "Did that line ever work during any of your other pretends? I'm just curious how stupid you like your women."
Jarod smiled and flopped down onto the bed, jolting Parker side of the bed. "This isn't a line, Miss Parker. It's a plan to keep us alive." He watched her slowly accept the truth of his words and settle back onto the bed. Into the silence he softly said, "And I think you know I'm drawn to intelligent, stubborn women."
Parker snorted, "One kiss and you think I'm really "your girl"?! You've started to believe your own pretend, Jarod."
Jarod's reply was soft and full of yearning, "This one I want to."
Immediately Parker leaned over Jarod, her forearm pressing against his throat. "You touch me...at all," she threatened lowly, her eyes boring into his.
But Jarod cut her off, "I believe I've gotten that point, Miss Parker."
Reading his acceptance in his eyes, Parker fell back onto her side of the bed. She almost jumped when Jaord leaned over and whispered good night followed by her first name into her ear. He was back on his side of the bed before she could move.
"I rue the day I ever told you that secret," she grumbled and turned her back on Jarod. "You snore and I'll do a complimentary tonsillectomy."
Then silence fell in the moonlit room as the two occupants remained frozen in place, struggling to remain impartial, unaffected, emotionless.
As soon as deep sleep claimed Miss Parker, the reoccurring nightmare began it's reign. Parker stood watching her mother as she lay on the birthing table, exhausted from giving birth to Ethan and so very vulnerable. Parker saw Mr. Raines...... her father...... raise the gun and Parker began to run, hoping to take the bullet meant for her mother. But before she could get there, Raines' gun fired that fatal shot, killing her mother instantly. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Miss Parker's scream rent the air. Before the scream's echo could die, Jarod was leaning over Miss Parker, his hands cupping her face as her terrified eyes flew open to meet his.
"It was just a nightmare," Jarod soothed as he ran his hand through her hair like a caress.
But Parker scrambled from the bed and stalked to the window. Jarod was wrong. It wasn't a nightmare. It was a family home video. Wiping at the tears that slipped from her eyes as a light illuminated the room, she heard Jarod's approach. He stopped right behind her, his breath rippling against her hair.
"Are you alight?" Jarod's voice was gentle and sincere.
Parker's clipped response was "Peachy," but she made no move to turn around to face Jarod.
Jarod's hand hovered above Miss Parker's shoulder. He wanted to touch her, to comfort her, but he was uncertain if his touch would be welcomed. At the rigid set of her stance, he dropped his hand to his side but ventured softly, "I'll listen if you want to talk about it."
But Parker's response was blanketed in bitterness. "Why?! So you can use it against me, as some part of a game you'll play, or just to gloat."
Jarod flinched at her words, that she thought he would intentionally hurt her. "Gloat?" he questioned with confused pain.
Parker's voice was cold as she bit out, "You will soon have everything you want in this life...your family. While my family..."she clenched her jaw shut, unwilling to let Jarod hear more of the anguished tone that had slipped past her defenses.
Something twisted in Jarod's gut at hearing her voice crack on the word "family". He leaned closer and spoke gently by her ear. "I'm sorry about your father... Mr. Parker. I know you miss him."
Parker closed her eyes as his words of comfort only added to her pain. Her father...the only father she had known until a few months ago, was presumed dead. But Jarod didn't quite know the depths of Miss Parker's sorrow. For all of Jarod's sleuthing, he had never uncovered Catherine Parker's true fate.
'I need a cigarette,' screamed through Parker's head and she suddenly stalked across the room to the table where her cigarette case and lighter lay beckoningly. She lit a cigarette and was beginning to inhale deeply when Jarod snatched it from her mouth. "Give me that!" she demanded, making a grab for the cigarette but Jarod held it behind his back.
"Talk to me," Jarod half demanded, half pleaded as his eyes met Parker's. "Don't shut me out like you do everyone else. I know you Parker, I know your pain."
"Know me?!" she spat. "You know that pathetic little girl that gave you your first kiss. The girl that thought she'd grow up and be a ballerina and make her mother proud. That girl died, Jarod!" She advanced on Jarod, her breath hitting his face. "She died when I "thought" my mother died."
A bitter smile crept onto Parker's features and she laughed hollowly, "That's funny isn't it. My mother's "pretend" killed me more than it killed her. Thanks mom."
Jarod's heart constricted painfully as he watched Parker's anguish consume her. "Miss Parker.."he began gently and he touched her shoulder.
But she jerked away from his touch, and poured herself a drink from the bar. "Technically I'm Miss Raines, right?" and she swallowed the full glass.
Crushing the cigarette into an ashtray, Jarod stalked over to Parker. "You are not like him!"
"Nature versus nurture, Jarod?" A sad smile grew on her face, "Hell, I'm cursed either way."
Jarod could take no more and he seized unto her arms, "You're your mother's daughter, Parker."
But Parker looked to Jarod with the same hurt little girl eyes that he remembered as a boy. With a voice so soft, so broken she countered, "She left me, Jarod. She lied to me...let me think she was dead and she left me."
Jarod met Parker's pained eyes. "She did it to protect you, Parker."
But instead of having the desired effect, Parker's sorrow turned to rage and she shoved Jarod backward. "She killed me, Jarod! Killed my dreams, killed my happiness! She sacrificed me to save you, to have Ethan, to try and destroy the Centre."
"Your mother loved you more than any thing in this life!" Jarod shot back.
"I guess all us Parkers have a funny way of showing love," she bitterly replied. "Well, I'm bait for a killer tomorrow so I think I better get my beauty sleep." And without another word she crossed to the bed, crawled under the covers and turned off the light.
Jarod stood in the now dark room, his emotions raw and unsettled. He empathized with all the people he helped with his pretends but with Miss Parker it was so different. With Parker, her pain was his pain. And he couldn't do a damn thing to make her pain go away.
TBC
It was 1:30am before Jarod felt they could graciously bid Chase and his remaining late night guests goodnight and retire to their room. Fatigue settled upon Parker as she and Jarod climbed the stairs. They maintained the silence they had held between them ever since Parker had told Jarod all that she had overheard earlier that night. They were both equally disappointed and alarmed that they had been unable to hear Antonio's solution to his predicament.
Finally reaching their room, Jarod swung open the door and watched as Miss Parker tiredly walked to the bed and claimed a seat. Shutting the door, Jarod went to secure the lock but his hand froze. There was no lock to secure, not even in the doorknob mechanism. There would be no security to be had in this room.
Turning around to face Miss Parker, Jarod leaned against the door, wearing his trade mark smirk, "I'm curious, Miss Parker. Having Joey's killer think you know this address, what does it accomplish? Besides putting your life in danger."
Parker didn't miss Jarod's angry reprimand but icily retorted as if she were dealing with a slow child, "What it accomplished is that we now know that Scarface," as Jarod looked about to correct her, she amended, "Antonio, is our killer. He and his boy Friday, Jamie, were apparently leaking information to Delano."
Jarod's eyes lanced into Parker's, "And what proof can I take to Chase?! Your dead body," he bitterly shot back.
Parker surged from the bed and jabbed a finger at Jarod, "Hey, you're the con man here, Jarod. I set the bait. You set the trap."
Abandoning his unconcerned guise, Jarod stalked to Parker, "I usually design the trap first and then set myself up to be the bait!"
"Deal with it!" Parker snarled and then she grabbed her suitcase, stalked to the bathroom and slammed the door.
Jarod ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he hung his head. Risking his own life on a pretend was one thing, risking Miss Parker's life, that was something else entirely.
When Miss Parker exited the bathroom, wearing her silk pants pajamas and sporting wet hair, she found Jarod sitting on the couch, shirtless. Quickly diverting her eyes, she stalked to the bed. Jarod disappeared into the bathroom without a word.
Jarod had been surprised to find a stack of clothing in the room for him. Chase may be a mob boss who could end of killing him, but he was a very courteous host. Now dressed in pajama pants, Jarod emerged from the bathroom and flicked off the light, leaving the room only lit by moonlight that streamed through the windows.
Miss Parker's deadly voice cut through the darkness, "You try to stake your claim in here and I promise you, you won't 'prospect' again. Ever."
A smile pulled onto Jarod's face as he approached the bed, unable to see Parker but knowing she was huddled under the covers on the other side. "I promise, I'll be the perfect gentleman."
"My, you must be getting good at pretending," Parker sallied back, her back to him. But when the bed sank under Jarod's weight, she sprang up and snarled, "And what the hell do you think you're doing! You've got the floor!"
Jarod sat up in the bed and met her eyes in the moonlight, "Maybe you haven't noticed, but there aren't any locks on the door and I don't think we're the kind of "guests" they stand on knocking ceremony."
"Meaning?!" Parker prodded.
"Meaning, we don't know when someone will stroll in that door. And I think you know as well as I do that what's kept us alive so far is Chase's belief that we're not lying to him. About anything. We need to maintain this romance "lie" at all times, Miss Parker."
Begrudging agreement crept into Parker's eyes but she still protested, "Did that line ever work during any of your other pretends? I'm just curious how stupid you like your women."
Jarod smiled and flopped down onto the bed, jolting Parker side of the bed. "This isn't a line, Miss Parker. It's a plan to keep us alive." He watched her slowly accept the truth of his words and settle back onto the bed. Into the silence he softly said, "And I think you know I'm drawn to intelligent, stubborn women."
Parker snorted, "One kiss and you think I'm really "your girl"?! You've started to believe your own pretend, Jarod."
Jarod's reply was soft and full of yearning, "This one I want to."
Immediately Parker leaned over Jarod, her forearm pressing against his throat. "You touch me...at all," she threatened lowly, her eyes boring into his.
But Jarod cut her off, "I believe I've gotten that point, Miss Parker."
Reading his acceptance in his eyes, Parker fell back onto her side of the bed. She almost jumped when Jaord leaned over and whispered good night followed by her first name into her ear. He was back on his side of the bed before she could move.
"I rue the day I ever told you that secret," she grumbled and turned her back on Jarod. "You snore and I'll do a complimentary tonsillectomy."
Then silence fell in the moonlit room as the two occupants remained frozen in place, struggling to remain impartial, unaffected, emotionless.
As soon as deep sleep claimed Miss Parker, the reoccurring nightmare began it's reign. Parker stood watching her mother as she lay on the birthing table, exhausted from giving birth to Ethan and so very vulnerable. Parker saw Mr. Raines...... her father...... raise the gun and Parker began to run, hoping to take the bullet meant for her mother. But before she could get there, Raines' gun fired that fatal shot, killing her mother instantly. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Miss Parker's scream rent the air. Before the scream's echo could die, Jarod was leaning over Miss Parker, his hands cupping her face as her terrified eyes flew open to meet his.
"It was just a nightmare," Jarod soothed as he ran his hand through her hair like a caress.
But Parker scrambled from the bed and stalked to the window. Jarod was wrong. It wasn't a nightmare. It was a family home video. Wiping at the tears that slipped from her eyes as a light illuminated the room, she heard Jarod's approach. He stopped right behind her, his breath rippling against her hair.
"Are you alight?" Jarod's voice was gentle and sincere.
Parker's clipped response was "Peachy," but she made no move to turn around to face Jarod.
Jarod's hand hovered above Miss Parker's shoulder. He wanted to touch her, to comfort her, but he was uncertain if his touch would be welcomed. At the rigid set of her stance, he dropped his hand to his side but ventured softly, "I'll listen if you want to talk about it."
But Parker's response was blanketed in bitterness. "Why?! So you can use it against me, as some part of a game you'll play, or just to gloat."
Jarod flinched at her words, that she thought he would intentionally hurt her. "Gloat?" he questioned with confused pain.
Parker's voice was cold as she bit out, "You will soon have everything you want in this life...your family. While my family..."she clenched her jaw shut, unwilling to let Jarod hear more of the anguished tone that had slipped past her defenses.
Something twisted in Jarod's gut at hearing her voice crack on the word "family". He leaned closer and spoke gently by her ear. "I'm sorry about your father... Mr. Parker. I know you miss him."
Parker closed her eyes as his words of comfort only added to her pain. Her father...the only father she had known until a few months ago, was presumed dead. But Jarod didn't quite know the depths of Miss Parker's sorrow. For all of Jarod's sleuthing, he had never uncovered Catherine Parker's true fate.
'I need a cigarette,' screamed through Parker's head and she suddenly stalked across the room to the table where her cigarette case and lighter lay beckoningly. She lit a cigarette and was beginning to inhale deeply when Jarod snatched it from her mouth. "Give me that!" she demanded, making a grab for the cigarette but Jarod held it behind his back.
"Talk to me," Jarod half demanded, half pleaded as his eyes met Parker's. "Don't shut me out like you do everyone else. I know you Parker, I know your pain."
"Know me?!" she spat. "You know that pathetic little girl that gave you your first kiss. The girl that thought she'd grow up and be a ballerina and make her mother proud. That girl died, Jarod!" She advanced on Jarod, her breath hitting his face. "She died when I "thought" my mother died."
A bitter smile crept onto Parker's features and she laughed hollowly, "That's funny isn't it. My mother's "pretend" killed me more than it killed her. Thanks mom."
Jarod's heart constricted painfully as he watched Parker's anguish consume her. "Miss Parker.."he began gently and he touched her shoulder.
But she jerked away from his touch, and poured herself a drink from the bar. "Technically I'm Miss Raines, right?" and she swallowed the full glass.
Crushing the cigarette into an ashtray, Jarod stalked over to Parker. "You are not like him!"
"Nature versus nurture, Jarod?" A sad smile grew on her face, "Hell, I'm cursed either way."
Jarod could take no more and he seized unto her arms, "You're your mother's daughter, Parker."
But Parker looked to Jarod with the same hurt little girl eyes that he remembered as a boy. With a voice so soft, so broken she countered, "She left me, Jarod. She lied to me...let me think she was dead and she left me."
Jarod met Parker's pained eyes. "She did it to protect you, Parker."
But instead of having the desired effect, Parker's sorrow turned to rage and she shoved Jarod backward. "She killed me, Jarod! Killed my dreams, killed my happiness! She sacrificed me to save you, to have Ethan, to try and destroy the Centre."
"Your mother loved you more than any thing in this life!" Jarod shot back.
"I guess all us Parkers have a funny way of showing love," she bitterly replied. "Well, I'm bait for a killer tomorrow so I think I better get my beauty sleep." And without another word she crossed to the bed, crawled under the covers and turned off the light.
Jarod stood in the now dark room, his emotions raw and unsettled. He empathized with all the people he helped with his pretends but with Miss Parker it was so different. With Parker, her pain was his pain. And he couldn't do a damn thing to make her pain go away.
TBC