Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1 for details.
The Center
Blue Cove, DE
The air outside the Centre was bitingly frigid while inside a deceptive atmosphere of calm permeated everything and everyone. The employees continued on with business as usual, unaware of the unusual controversy swirling within the executive suites. Word had leaked from an inside source at the State Department that Mr. Lyle was now a resident of the federal penal system with every indication this arrangement was at the least long term, the worst--permanent. This unforeseen event caught his counterparts within the monolithic corporation by surprise but failed to dredge up sympathy in anyone. It was mid-morning when the rumor of Miss Parker's abduction began its widespread circulation throughout all levels of the imposing corporation. Therefore her sudden appearance had a shock value that was able to get through the hardest and most cynical of employees. When Miss Parker made her dramatic entrance in the main mezzanine of the Centre she was resplendent in a long brown leather coat, matching short skirt and brilliant dark green silk shirt. Those standing nearby stared with open admiration and followed her with their eyes as she immediately proceeded towards the Tower where the daily executive meetings were held. Trailing behind her were Moriyama and Doyle, both busy scanning the crowd around them as they followed their boss through to the Tower. Parker's guards finally left her side once she entered the boardroom. Her executive-level counterparts were assembled around the table and turned to watch the newcomer.
The Director looked at Miss Parker and stood to greet her. The dark-complexioned, elegantly authoritative woman was the same Director whom 7 years ago had ordered Parker to take on Mr. Broots as a technical advisor. The tables had been turned and Parker was now the Director's immediate supervisor. Given the younger woman's lineage and proven abilities, the leap in responsibility wasn't surprising. "Miss Parker, there was an unsubstantiated rumor that you had been kidnapped by the renegade pretender, Jarod. On behalf of the entire board, I would like to express our relief that the rumors have been proven false."
"Madam, Director," Parker acknowledged with a faint nod towards her subordinate. "It's good to be here again," she lied smoothly. "It has come to my attention that a conspiracy against me has been hatched. Let me be clear; I have squelched it and dealt with the culprits. One of whom just happened to be your assistant," she stated grimly to the Director allowing a distinct expression of condescending disdain to touch her features. "Apparently he felt assured that his influence over not only you but other members of this board was sufficient to gather enough votes to have me replaced. I don't give a damn what any of you think of me. What I do care about are the steps you might take to express those opinions. Rest assured that I am capable of as ruthless as necessary to discourage dissent. Mr. Lyle could attest to this, but unfortunately he's otherwise occupied. It is vitally important that this board stay independent from the pressures and corruption of the Chairman and his staff. To that end, I will focus my attention to insure nothing like this conspiracy ever occurs again. Naturally this development indicates that a fundamental flaw exists, not just within the Director's staff but within all of our supporting staff. Ladies and gentlemen it's about time we cleaned house," Parker continued coldly allowing her gaze to settle on each of the twelve executives sitting at the massive table. "Let's get down to business."
It had been an incredibly long day. After heading up the meeting in the Tower and explaining to the Director that she would be assigned a new assistant since her previous one would be thrown to the wolves in Colorado, Parker had to confront Raines. She walked purposefully into the Chairman's office, much in the same way she was used to doing when her 'father' had been alive. Raines was seated behind his battleship-sized desk and looked up as Parker approached. The old man's eyes glittered evilly like a cat staring at an unoffending mouse. She noticed his expression but outwardly ignored it. Parker stopped short of his desk and returned the Chairman's stare with a half smirk on her lips.
"'The plans of mice and vile old men often go astray.' If you want to rescue your little pet, I suggest you get on the phone with the Secretary and try to pull in a favor. Last I heard, Igor was on his way to Leavenworth and that definitely ain't club Fed but it could've been worse, I hear Gitmo is positively miserable. Apparently Lyle's being held on suspicion of engaging in terrorist acts against the government and its people."
"Your attempt at humor is irritating, Miss Parker. According to the tape of your capture, you were working with Jarod and failed to apprehend him. This is a serious breach in protocol," breathed the angry Chairman.
"Go figure. Your wayward researcher has been returned ahead of schedule. The compound he was working on has been recovered, minus a vial or two. I've signed a voucher for the two vials I borrowed," Parker responded. At the slight widening of his eyes, which she took as an indication that he thought she had made a mistake, Parker continued, "Not to worry. The two vials in police custody are from Hemmings' earlier trials, the rest of the stuff I brought back has been duly destroyed by order of the Triumvirate. The Colorado authorities were happy to get some evidence and deeply appreciate the useless bone thrown to them."
"They should never have known what was going on. Your handling of this operation was unnecessarily sloppy and has left us dangerously exposed. Our agreement will have to be modified. Effective immediately, you are back on the Jarod pursuit," Raines answered with a note of triumph. "Since you were able to find him so easily once, for your sake, you had better find him quickly a second time."
Rage sparked raw and fresh in her face. "Our original agreement is still in play, Hemmings was brought back and under the timeline I was given. There was never any mention of limitations on my methods," Parker protested with controlled wrath.
"We'll see how the Triumvirate views your streak of independence once they watch the tape your teams brought back. I suspect they will be less than understanding of you allowing Jarod to slip through your fingers. With Jarod on the scene, Hemmings immediately became a secondary issue," Raines replied smugly.
Hatred shined brightly in her eyes as she answered the man who tried to instill fear in her as he once had at the start of the Jarod pursuit. Parker was determined that he should understand that period had long since passed. "I used the methods necessary to keep the Centre from becoming front page news. That tape should also reveal that Hemmings had in his possession all the supporting documentation of not only Centre involvement but Triumvirate complicity as well. Names, dates and signatures were all included. And any commentary from you will be accompanied by an audio tape from me of our original conversation in which you informed me of what the target was and what to look for. Funny how you skipped the part about what Hemmings was up to in attempting to weaponize the toxin and that he had also cleaned out his own files. If I hadn't told my teams to box up everything that monster possessed we would be arguing about this through gray bars. Jarod was a means to an end, nothing more, nothing less."
Raines sat back in his seat and watched the control Parker exercised over herself. Objectively he knew that without this restraint, he would now be dead. Raines allowed several seconds to pass before answering, secretly a slimy tendril of fear crawled lazily up his spine. Though chagrined at her effective countermeasures, her maneuvering would keep him at bay---for the time being. "Normally you would be right; however, since you got rid of your brother who was heading up the pursuit, you will have to replace him."
"Sydney will continue alone on the pursuit until you figure out a way to spring Igor from the pokey. It's just too damn bad for Lyle that you don't have the same contacts as our previous father but then that's the way the psycho drools. I'm going back to my other duties and there will be no more pursuits for me," Parker answered definitively. She turned and started for the door. After a few steps, she gracefully pivoted around in her 3" heels and said, "Oh, and that's by order of the Tower." Parker then resumed her trek to the door.
Raines watched her leave the room with none of the admiration her father would have felt. If it were within his power, he would have her undergoing the primary phases of reprogramming within the hour. As it was, she now enjoyed the protection of the Tower who oversaw the commanded structure of the Centre and reported directly to the Triumvirate. The old Oppressor sat back in his large desk chair and plotted his revenge. He was determined that by the time he was done, Miss Parker would be more used than a communal lavatory and no more beautiful than a scarred broken shell she should long been made into. His macabre thoughts of revenge slowly turned to the compound Hemmings had finally developed. With the raw data Parker had recovered and some help from one of the remaining pretenders, Raines was certain he could develop something far superior and deadly to the evil Hemmings so haphazardly concocted.
Several hours later and after a stiff drink from her private stash, Parker found herself rubbing her aching temples and staring through the window of her office distractedly. She heard a timid sounding knock at her door and with out turning around she called out for the visitor to enter. Moriyama was in the anteroom and would have warned her if it were someone who posed even the slightest threat.
"H-hello? Miss Parker?" Broots' nervous voice asked uncertainly. To Parker's ears his voice was a welcome sound and she swiveled her seat around to get a look at her anxious friend. "Broots, what are you doing here? It's after hours, don't you have a daughter to go home to?"
"I'm here to see how're you doing. We were worried, Sydney and me, about your safety. Being your associates for so long, we were forced to view the tape several times before Mr. Raines was satisfied."
"I'm fine Broots. Never better," was the bitter reply.
"We saw what happened. I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now. I would've never guessed that Jarod would turn on you the way he did. Are you hurt, is there anything I can get for you?"
"Jarod would never hurt me physically, Broots. If you have a salve for bruised pride, bring it on. As it is, you had better leave this caged animal alone, I feel like biting."
Broots stared at her silently for several seconds. When his eyes met hers, she could see the concern and caring he felt for her. Parker gave him a weak smile. The computer genius nodded seriously, then left her alone in peace.
A few days later she received a visit from the other member of her former pursuit team. Sydney came into her office and studied her for several seconds without saying a word. Parker looked up from her work and stared back at him. Finally his silence began to irritate her, prompting her to ask, "You have something on your mind, Freud. Spit it out, I don't have all day. Having you stand there staring through me is working my nerves."
"Miss Parker, I realize you're extremely busy however as a psychiatrist and your friend, I believe you need to take a break. Call it a mental health break. The last few days have been trying at best and there are a few things I would like to discuss with you in private," the psychiatrist said in his softly melodic Flemish accent.
Parker was about to refuse outright, when she suddenly thought better of it. The pressure of the past few days had worn her down severely and the last time she got a good night's sleep had been in Jarod's arms. She pushed herself away from the paper-strewn desk, determined to indeed take a break and avoid the usual mental masturbation Sydney often attempted to get her to try. Nodding she got up and approached Sydney who reached out and took her overcoat off the rack. She was surprised at this but assumed whatever the old guy had to say, he didn't want any uninvited ears listening.
Romi's Café
Blue Cove, DE
Sydney drove them to the café in silence. Neither spoke a word as he left the looming shadow of the corporation they had dedicated most of their lives to willingly if not unhappily. Once they ordered and sat in a corner booth, the psychiatrist seemed ready to talk. Before he uttered his first words, Parker held up a gloved hand and retrieved a small device from her coat pocket and sat it on the seat between them and out of casual view. "I don't know about you, but I hate it when others eavesdrop. What's on your mind, Syd?"
"I received a call from Jarod while you were away on assignment. The details of the conversation aren't important except in retrospect and after viewing the tape of your kidnapping, there are several questions that spring readily to mind."
"Really? And what makes you think I have the answers to these questions or will even feel like sharing if I had them? First off, I have no idea what was going through Genius' mind when he tried to kidnap me. He was out of his mind thinking he could get away with it."
"Ah, but he did get away with it, didn't he? You didn't bring him back with you. Raines must have been beside himself with rage when he spoke with you about it. No, what's confusing me is that Jarod indicated that he had found something that had been eluding him ever since he escaped the Centre."
"Too bad. I would've preferred he keep searching for whatever he's looking for just as we've been searching for his sorry ass," Parker interrupted caustically.
Undeterred, Sydney continued, "He was very positive and upbeat when we spoke."
"Bully for him. Look, Freud, I realize Wonder-Genius is your main focus in life, but he isn't mine…" Parker began.
Before she could continue, Sydney interrupted with, "Perhaps he should be. You have so few people in your life. You're a beautiful, vibrant woman with so much to give. It's time you found someone to share your life with." Holding up his hand to stem the onslaught of sarcastic come backs and clever repartee, Sydney continued, "The fact he kidnapped you suggests you were the find that he wanted. I had hoped that afterwards we would never see you at the Centre again."
"It's more complicated than you know, Syd," Parker answered solemnly.
"It's only complicated if you allow it to be. You have a chance to leave this place, this life--take it while you still can. Before it's too late for you as it is for me. I'm hoping not to see what happened to your mother, happen to you," Sydney stated earnestly.
His reference to her mother made Parker pause. There was no need to explain her changing relationship with Jarod. Instead she considered her friend's words carefully and spent the rest of the time sipping her hot coffee and enjoying some non-confrontational time with an old friend.