Chapter Four – First Night

That evening, when Miss Parker opened the door to Jarod's room, she saw that he had decided to take a nap sometime after completing the Taj Mahal to his right. She closed the door and Jarod, curled up on the floor under his blanket, stirred slightly.

In a little while, the doorbell rang and Miss Parker tipped the delivery man who had brought her the rice and teriyaki. She opened the door and found Jarod sitting alert and with half a grin on his face. "Hello, Miss Parker," he said.

She nodded by way of acknowledgement and watched him use the chopsticks in a comfortable manner. She continued watching and sure enough, delight spread on his face once more and he asked what it was.

"It's rice and teriyaki," Miss Parker answered. "'Teri' coming from the Japanese meaning 'glazed' and – "

"'Yaki' meaning 'broiled'" Jarod finished.

Miss Parker looked at him. "Did you know that or can you speak Japanese?"

Jarod gave her a mischievous grin. "Nihongo hanashieru. Demo, amari joozu." I can speak Japanese. But not very well.

There was a pause during which Miss Parker just sat there, staring at Jarod. Presently, she asked, "Doko de Nihongo narau?" Where did you learn Japanese?

He gave her another grin. "Toshokan de hon yomu." I read it in a book at the library.

The doorbell rang again and Miss Parker put her bowl down. Leaving Jarod to finish his teriyaki, she went to greet Sydney. He was laden with bags, none of which were heavy, but she relieved him of them nonetheless.

"What are these?" Miss Parker asked Sydney as she looked into a bag full of clothes.

"Those are for Jarod," he said as he chuckled. "He does need a change of clothes, doesn't he?"

She dug through another and ended up with an art set with one hand and a 5000-piece puzzle in the other. She looked at Sydney. "And these?"

"I wouldn't want him bored," he said as he took out the fingerprinting set and opened it. "Where's the letter?" he asked.

Miss Parker recovered it from under the coaster on the coffee table where it had been hiding. Touching it with only the nails of her forefinger and thumb, she placed it before Sydney, who dusted it on both the back and front. He took out a piece of tape, adhered it to one of the fingerprints still intact to the tape, and fixed the tape to a small card. He gave this to Miss Parker and started cleaning up. "There," he said. "Jarod should be able to get a good fix on that."

Miss Parker took it, but continued to stare at the handwriting on the note. She realized why it seemed so recognizable. "That's the same handwriting my address was written in on that note!" she murmured.

Sydney looked at her. "What are you suggesting, Miss Parker?"

"Nothing we didn't already know," she replied. "Jarod's captor was stalking him, cleaned out his lair, and then caught him."

"Ah."

"I'll go put this –" Miss Parker held up the fingerprint on the card. "– on a disk. You can bring Jarod his gifts." She gestured at his other bags and stalked out of the room.

When Sydney opened the door to Jarod's room, he was sitting with his arms resting on the knees of his legs, which were bent before him. His indifferent stare changed to a cheerful grin when he saw Sydney enter with his many presents. He stood up and, after helping his mentor with his bags, gave him an inadequate hug, crippled as he was with the handcuffs.

There was an awkward moment during which neither said anything. Breaking the silence, Sydney said, "How are you, Jarod?"

Jarod sat down and Sydney joined him. "Same as I always am," was the cryptic reply. "Occasionally annoyed, occasionally frustrated, but on the whole, I'm okay. What about you, Sydney?"

"I'm also doing well, thank you," Sydney answered. "How does staying at Miss Parker's suit you?"

"Oh, it's fine. The food's good and the floors are soft but my bed is kinda hard. And I get bored a lot."

Sydney chuckled. "How long did it take you to make the Taj Mahal?"

Jarod appeared to be doing mental calculations. "Two or three hours? I don't know. I couldn't decide what to make and when I did, it kept falling down. I was going to build the Empire State Building but the identification cards are unsteady." Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he asked. "What are in the bags?"

Sydney took the art set in one hand and the puzzle in the other and gave them to Jarod. "These are for you, so you don't get bored." Then he gave the other bag to Jarod. "And these are clothes. There are enough for quite some time. You wouldn't want to wear the same clothes for days on end, now wouldn't you?"

Jarod smiled. "No, I wouldn't." He gave him another crippled hug. "Thanks, Sydney."

"It was the least I could do," Sydney said modestly. "If you have to be somewhere against your will, I might as well make it worth your while." This statement had an apologetic tone.

"Very touching, Sydney."

Both Sydney and Jarod looked up at Miss Parker who brought with a disk. She set the Halliburton case up in front of Jarod and waved the disk very close to Jarod's face. "There's a fingerprint on a file on this disc," she said, "and I want you to find out who it belongs to." She inserted the disc into the laptop's floppy disc drive under the keyboard.

Jarod made no attempt to do what she said. "What is this, some kind of private Centre project?" he asked, enunciating the words carefully and making no effort to disguise his loathing for the place.

Miss Parker pulled a gun on Jarod, much to Sydney's dismay. "Do it, Jarod, or I will shoot you."

To her surprise, he laughed. "You wouldn't. You've already got me where you want me and I'm your ticket out of The Centre."

She took the safety off and cocked her gun. In the moment of tense waiting that followed, Sydney intervened, getting up and putting his hand on Miss Parker's forearm and lowering her gun. "Jarod," he implored, "I promise this is not some innocent person we are searching for. And I assure you, I would not be asking you to help us if it were not an urgent matter."

Jarod looked up at Sydney and his demeanor softened. Still reluctant to help, he asked, "Couldn't you get someone at The Centre lab to do this?"

Putting the gun away, Miss Parker relaxed. "You might be able to provide us some insight that those idiots can't."

"Fine," Jarod said with a sigh. "But don't expect any miracles. Out of five million people, there'll be a couple hits." Sydney sat next to him and watched. Miss Parker picked up her bowl and finished the remainder of her rice and teriyaki, pacing the room. Sydney indicated the empty bowl next to Jarod. "I can assume that was Jarod's dinner?"

Jarod had started a game of FreeCell to occupy himself while the search engine ran. "It was very good," he said, distracted by the game.

Sydney chuckled. "Was it your first taste of Oriental food?"

The computer displayed a small message to indicate it was done at the same time Jarod finished the game. He closed the FreeCell window and displayed the list of names. "I don't suppose processed ramen counts," he said to Sydney as he displayed the list to Miss Parker.

She put her now empty bowl of teriyaki down and crouched next to the laptop. "Show me the people."

A small picture of the person as well as vital info showed up in a side bar to the right of the list. Jarod read the names aloud, clicking on them when he said them. "Leslie McPherson – " click ... "Patrick Manatius – " click ... "Rodney Porter – " click ...

The list went on. Just as he was getting quite bored, Jarod clicked on "Andrew Stuard" and gave a small gasp. Although the man in the picture was a blonde sporting a dark mustache, Jarod had no trouble recognizing him. The distinctive Roman nose and the mole above it between the brows could only belong to one person. In his mind, Jarod recalled the man who injected him with the sedative and gave him a name: Andrew Stuard.

Miss Parker had heard the discreet gasp and looked over at Jarod. His eyes were penetrating the air just before the laptop screen in the manner of someone who has recognized a face and has just figured out who it belongs to. She made a mental note to remember Stuard.

Sydney looked at Jarod's surprised face, and then at Stuard's, and postulated Stuard was a polite intellectual who could be bought at the right price. Someone who could be used by The Centre. Sydney kept this supposition to himself.

Jarod quickly regained his bearings and clicked on the last couple of names. "There," he said to Miss Parker, "did you get the insight you wanted?"

"Hmmm?" Miss Parker murmured inattentively, contemplating her next couple of moves. "Yes, thank you, Jarod," she continued distractedly.

"Can I go now?" Jarod said, picking up the bag of clothes and indicated the bathroom.

"And do what?" Miss Parker started and looked at Jarod.

"You want me to stay here, don't you?" He moved his handcuffs slightly.

Miss Parker widened her eyes as she realized what Jarod was asking for and gave an amused smile. She left and returned a second later with a key and let Jarod go to the bathroom unfettered. He gave her an appreciative smile and closed the door. Miss Parker watched him and appeared to be contemplating something when she added as an afterthought, "Jarod, if you're not back in ten minutes, I will look for you."

There was a sort of heavy sigh as the water turned on. "Alright," he said from behind the door.

Sydney turned away from the computer screen and faced Miss Parker. "There is no window in the bathroom?"

"Nope," she replied, also grinning as she took the two empty bowls and laptop away.

"How long do you intend to keep Jarod here?" Sydney asked Miss Parker in a hushed tone when she returned.

"Until Lyle comes out from under whatever rock he's been hiding and goes for that power grab."

"Beware the silent dog and still water," Sydney recited.

"Hmm."

In time, Sydney looked at the analog watch on his left wrist and said, "Miss Parker? The ten minutes are up."

Miss Parker started and looked at Sydney, then rapped on the bathroom door. When there was no response, she turned the knob and entered.

Jarod was still in the bathroom. He had not escaped. The reason he had not answered was because the neckline of the shirt he was putting on fit rather snugly around his head. Miss Parker watched him turn and take the shirt off, transfixed. Sydney watched her make an abrupt turn and walk out of the bathroom as Jarod opened the medicine cabinet and give the shirt a y-neckline with a razor. The physician smiled at her and she replied with an irritated, "What?"

This time, Jarod was able to put the shirt on and came out of the bathroom and wondered for a second at the open door. Miss Parker came with the handcuffs, so after he closed the door, he held out his wrists and she re-shackled them.

Sydney got up and, out of habit, dusted the seat of his pants wit his left hand although the floor was carpet. "I should be going, Miss Parker," he said. To Jarod, he bid goodbye.

"Goodbye, Sydney," Jarod said with a sad smile.

"Don't cry, Jarod," Miss Parker snapped. "You'll see him soon."

Sydney nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Parker," he said and left.

Miss Parker followed him out and locked the door. "Lights out," she said when she returned, and turned off the light before closing the door. She heard a muffled "goodnight" sneak out of the room at the list minute and a rustling of chains that continued for quite some time. When it stopped, Miss Parker attended her own needs.