Teddy's Forest House
Prairie Point, CO
In an effort to flesh out the kernel of an idea that had been germinating in his mind for some time, Jarod left the kitchen and wandered out into the living room. He had left the disconcerted Moriyama alone to gather his thoughts and make some plans of his own. Jarod began to pace unconsciously, then stopping himself, he laid down on the roomy sleeper couch and submersed his thoughts and concentration inside himself. He was unaware of how long he had been lying there or what alerted him that someone was observing him but when he looked up he found Parker looking down at him curiously.
"I was about to ask, 'Penny for your thoughts?' but knowing the price a certain ghoul has placed on your head, I doubt I have the money for whatever your little gray cells can dream up. What was so engrossing?"
"My continued freedom from your homicidally, power-hungry family of co-workers," he replied harshly. "That and something else which will require my attention the minute we catch up to your murderous employee," he answered as he looked at her keenly. "You look tired, can you get to sleep?"
The sight of Jarod stretched out in slightly oversized sweatpants, long sleeved t-shirt, thick socks and looking supremely comfortable was temptingly enticing. Parker after slowly taking his measure, met his calmly inquisitive eyes and offered a barely perceptible shrug. Within the span of those few seconds, she recalled how just recently she had allowed her desires to supercede her common sense when she returned Jarod's kiss in the rental car. That one act had led to others and resulted in last night's erotic adventure. Now she was considering the option of either returning to bed alone to toss and turn without ever achieving anything more than a light dose or conquering her aversion to encouraging an emotionally fulfilling entanglement and curling up on top of Wonder-genius, who right now looked more inviting than the couch he was lying on. The choice wasn't a difficult one and curiously felt like another turning point as she smiled down at her childhood friend.
"No, but I have an idea on how. Would you mind helping?"
At Jarod's puzzled answering grin, Parker smiled gratefully. In semi-erotic increments she arranged herself around him. By the time she was done, her hip was wedged between his body and the couch, her head was cuddled next to his, and she had one arm resting on his chest. He felt good; firm yet comfortable, soft where she liked and unyielding where she needed--much like his personality. Moving one leg between his own, she felt his body react to her unintentional contact with his groin. She tensed thinking he would want a replay of the morning but when he remained still, Parker began to relax and quickly fell into a deepening slumber.
Jarod waited until she fully relaxed, felt her momentarily tense then settle into slumber. He remained motionless, waiting for the tell-tell signs of REM sleep. Her body eventually became heavier and her breathing steadied as Jarod shifted to become more comfortable. Having her in his arms like this was something he never thought she would ever allow. He returned with more determination to his earlier thoughts on how best to separate her from her masters, minimizing the pain it would cause her or those in her world she cared about. However, after only a few minutes, the soothing sound of her even breathing started to work on him. Jarod pulled a partially folded coverlet over Parker and himself then quickly joined her in slumber.
Several hours later, Moriyama received a call from the Centre for his boss. Placing the call on mute, the bodyguard walked into the living room and stared at her intently. Moriyama had been concerned about his boss for several months now. She was too isolated, too alone and too uptight for her own good; however, her budding relationship with this man, the Centre's crown jewel, a pretender who definitely had an agenda of his own that centralized on his boss, was disquieting to say the least. Every hour, Moriyama had returned to the room to check on her to find the lovers resting comfortably in each other's embrace. Remembering the oddly possessive expression on the pretender's face, Moriyama walked up to the couple on the couch and tapped Jarod's foot with the cell phone. The second attempt produced the results he had been looking for--Jarod opened his eyes.
"The Centre is on the phone. This is a call she must take," Moriyama said definitively. Jarod stared at Parker's bodyguard and slowly frowned wondering why the burly sweeper didn't just wake her on his own.
"Her rest is elusive, interrupting it leaves her in a foul mood. You want to be her boyfriend, then you get to share the heat of her temper," Moriyama replied in answer to Jarod's unspoken question.
Without changing expression, Jarod stared at the man. He realized in those few seconds that he had slightly underestimated the muscle-bound man. Slowly, with a great deal of gentleness, Jarod turned his head and lightly brushed the heavy tendrils of hair covering her face. Her lips were slightly parted and the expression on her face was peaceful. Reluctantly, Jarod leaned forward and moistening his own lips, he started kissing her. He kept kissing her cheek, nose and mouth until her eye lids began to flutter open. She tried to avert her face from his attention but was unable to fully avoid him.
"Moriyama has your cell phone. He says Raines has an urgent need to speak with you," Jarod said in a creaky voice while nibbling on her ear. He had started to enjoy kissing her awake and stopped only when he could feel her irritation rise. Parker remained motionless with her face buried in his shoulder. Without looking up, she reached behind her and opened her hand in a mute command to give her the phone.
"What?" she asked in a sleep-filled voice into the phone.
"Parker? Have we caught you sleeping on the job? No wonder you never had any success capturing Jarod," Lyle's smarmy voice answered sarcastically on speaker.
"Lyle. Don't you have something better to do or did your Asian secretary file another harassment suit?"
"Your current assignment should be far easier to catch than the last one. Yet we are being met with the same results. I, on the other hand, am on the brink of bringing Jarod in where all you've done is fail. Poor Sis, perhaps you're no more up to this job than you were for the Jarod pursuit," Lyle stated with sly insinuation.
"You're like a puppet whose lost his master's voice--all sound and no substance," Parker replied with drowsy disdain. "Have the results come in, Mr. Raines?"
"Yes. Hemmings is currently in the second to last phase. The analysis of the material you had delivered is conclusive. We must apprehend Hemmings before he is able to complete this phase. The results of any live, uncontrolled testing would be devastating," Raines said breathily.
"Not to mention the media-attracting death toll scaring off our ultra-cautious buyers. Nothing like letting a good secret out to ruin the element of surprise," Parker muttered sarcastically. Before either man could snap back a rejoinder, she continued, "Raines, what I need are details. What does this creep need, what special tools or location would he require to finish development? The more I know, the quicker I'll find this human garbage."
Raines began to tersely describe what the researcher would need and where he would most likely set up his workshop. Lyle stepped back and listened to his new 'father' as he supplied the details Parker requested. The interaction between the two was surprisingly cooperative. Parker listened without interruption and responded only with a few pointed and relevant follow-up questions--sans disdain. This unexpected collaboration alarmed Lyle to the point that he fell completely silent, his eyes rarely leaving Raines' face in an effort to catch every emotion the old man displayed. The effort, while earnest, netted him little since Raines' opinion and regard for Parker had changed little over the past couple years. Raines had always thought Parker's role within the Centre had been grossly miscast--an oversight he was determined should be rectified permanently. Under properly controlled conditions, Parker was an asset Raines was determined to use correctly and without the undue emotionalism in which his brother indulged.
By the end of the conversation, Raines asked, "The timeframe is tightening, Miss Parker. How much longer will this search take?"
"I anticipate having the little worm in custody before the end of the coming week. Using your information, it should take a day or two to reposition my teams," she said tiredly.
"Be sure that you do, Miss Parker," Raines stated ominously. Without giving Lyle a chance to say good-bye to his twin, Raines disconnected the line.
"You two seem to be a lot chummier than I last remember. Are you having second thoughts?" Lyle asked blandly, effectively masking his growing anger.
Cold, blue eyes bore a scorching hole in Lyle's head as Raines stared at the younger man. "Your jealousy will one day be your undoing. I have given your plan my blessings, nothing has changed except the level of your petty insecurities."
Lyle watched Mr. Raines as the old man folded himself heavily into his large chair. Of course, Raines was correct in his assessment of Lyle but the sociopath was loath to admit to it. Instead, Lyle nodded and said, "Everything is in place. All we're waiting for is Sis to clean up this mess and come back to the old homestead. This will probably mark the first time she will be completely under control and doing what we want so that we can return to what we do best."
****
In Colorado, Parker exhaled heavily and snapped the cell phone shut. Shifting her weight to her other arm, she looked towards her trusted bodyguard. Moriyama moved closer so his boss wouldn't have to completely alter her position to see him and waited impassively for her instructions.
"Contact Sam, I need two from his team to sweep the sites we've already identified. Make sure he understands that I want them to use stealth and discretion. Use Team 3 to check the Delta site and have Team two canvass the area around here, alert me when he's located before moving in. One false move on our part will cause Hemmings to go to ground. Right now he thinks he's being clever avoiding capture, I don't want to disillusion him yet." During her speech, Parker carefully moved off of Jarod and stood facing Moriyama.
"Perhaps we can turn this into a joint venture?" Jarod offered tentatively. Parker's conversation had pricked his interest and now he saw an opportunity he had been waiting for since he joined the Task Force--a chance to bring in an indiscriminate murderer. Parker raised an eyebrow at her bodyguard, then without answering turned around to look at Jarod.
"Work with me on this. All it will take is a slight adjustment on your part and I'll be in your debt," he began earnestly.
"My debt? Since a few things have changed recently, this offer has taken on new dimensions," she replied with a mischievous smile, as she handed her cell phone to Moriyama with a slight nod indicating he was free to leave and carry out her instructions.
Watching the muscle-mountain of a man leave the room, Jarod said, "From the sound of your orders, you've already narrowed the search down to a handful of potential sites. You should have him within the next day or two," he responded, casually ignoring the lie she had told Raines. "Give the public the relief of knowing the suspect is in custody. People are in a panic and the situation will become worse before it gets any better if this guy just disappears. There will always be that tinge of uncertainty that he's still out there in their minds."
"It wouldn't hurt your Task Force's reputation either. The only problem here is that once my teams find him, I'm not letting him go. He's on the A-train to the Centre and there won't be any stops in between. He's caused enough misery as it is and I'm sure Raines has something suitably terminal in mind for this worm."
"What should happen is a public trial," he answered harshly bitter. Looking up he noticed Parker's face set into a mask of determined obstinacy. Holding up his hand to stop what he knew would be a terse and final rejection, he continued "Let the Task Force lead the guy out of whatever hole you find him and in full view of the media. Once he has been whisked away I'll arrange for him to land in your arms unharmed and ready for transport. It's a win-win situation for both of us."
Shaking her head slowly Parker realized what had been turning out to be a thoroughly enjoyable weekend was quickly ending. She knew from the tone in his voice that Jarod had his heart set on this plan however, she had not only her orders but an evil twin back home waiting for her to make a fatal mistake.
"I'm sorry, I can't help you. Like I said, the second my team gets their hands on this guy we take him and keep him. No chance for mistakes or for him to somehow slip through our fingers. Raines is fanatical about Centre exposure and I can't afford to ignore him," she stated firmly.
"Can't or won't?" he challenged. The couple stared at each other until Parker walked past him and towards the bedroom where she had left her street clothes. Realizing his error in reasoning with her, Jarod followed ready to offer an alternate suggestion. "Parker wait. Hear me out. Once you find him, surround the place with your men. Let me know when and where and the Task Force will show up. The local TV stations will see us loading the fugitive into a police van--a van driven by one of your people. That way he stays in your custody and the Task Force can say that they apprehended the bio-terrorist."
She stopped abruptly and turned around to stare at Jarod. His response was to lift his eyebrows and gave her a slight smile, careful to avoid the temptation of appearing smug. She studied his face then started nodding slowly. It was a plan she could agree to---with a few modifications.
"Alright, I think I can do that. Not bad, it's refreshing to know you haven't lost your touch," she said with a twist of her lips that resembled a smile as she reached over to a chair and grabbed her clothing. Jarod frowned thoughtfully, after last night he had hoped to entice her to stay the rest of the weekend.
"Now that we have that particular issue settled, why don't you relax and take it easy. Your sweepers are doing their part by searching, all that's left to do is to wait for the results. I doubt you've had much of an opportunity to enjoy this time away from the Centre and one night seems hardly enough," he said in a deep, softly, persuasive voice. As he spoke, he gently covered her hand with his own and deftly extracted the clothing she had from her grip. The fingers of his other hand, intimately brushed her heavy hair from the side of her face and trailed lazily down her side, eventually encircling her waist as he drew her closer. Their foreheads met as Jarod lightly kissed her cheeks and lips. He brought up his hand and combed his fingers upward from her neck into the denser thickness of hair. Then, he gently kissed her, steadily allowing his passion to reveal itself.
For the fourth time, she listened to her desires and returned the kiss. Their hands roamed each other unhurriedly and with slow deliberation, Jarod and Parker collapsed on the bed, both intent on creating an erotic memory neither would soon forget.