CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Nov 27, 2001

The taller boy of the Packrat reminded Jarod of someone deep in his past. The eyes were similar as was the hair coloring, but this boy was at least four years older than his friend was at that age. He like the other children, a boy and a girl, were Dominants and low down on their social scale.

All three were barefoot and their clothes either throwaways from another Dominant wardrobe or had been scrounged from the town dump. The girl's skirt was thin through excess washing and one could see her skin through it. Lambourni had returned and then called Cox's house, and asked for Gino, but Cox's servant was out hunting down those who harmed his daughter. The Grim Reaper filled Lambourni in on the details already known.

"I thought you had a meeting with Raines," said Jarod when Lambourni put away his cell phone.

"I do, but first I'd better check the house first."

When they got there, Jarod turned on Miss Parker's houselights and reset the burglar alarm, while Lambourni walked around the grounds, and checked everywhere for bugs using a device that resembled a penlight.

Gino's mate, Marcia was there playing Clue with the children on the floor and told the others, "they are good representative of our species," which appeared to be a 1.6r complement, much like our normal "they're such good little angels." After Miss Parker gave her a five-dollar bill; she left.

"She won't be able to keep that money," said Lambourni who was speaking on his cell phone to someone else, while pacing along from one end of the porch to another and probably keeping guard at the same time. Once he stopped as if contemplating something. His eyes started to show a certain amount of sadness and Jarod thought he saw a beginning of a tear in the lawyer's eyes, but of course, he must have been wrong. Lambourni was a Pretender free from the Neogenesis and he would not cry. The lawyer then shut off his cell phone, checked the batteries, and after entering the house, sat down on the couch. :"I'll call Lewison." He turned on his cell phone and finally got hold of the Principal.

"Raines is behind it," said Jarod while Lambourni talked to the Mentor about finding clothes for the Packrats, which was rather surprising since the lawyer had such a tribe of children, that he could clothe a whole school.

"Look Liza has been protected since Cox obtained her. Why would The Centre have shot her now?" asked Miss Parker.

"Because Gino's my son and. Raines hates me. You do realize that the only reason Frederick, Margaret, and our children are alive is because of the Parker blood in them, and is also that other son or daughter who has our intelligence and craftiness. Go ahead and giggle, Miss Parker. Raines cannot touch or harm any of them. They are protected, but Raines can kill any other child I produced with impunity."

"I doubt that they'll have much success, said Lambourni, "not with the new one working at Security and Records. I heard from Lewison that Raines got another boy from the Inner Sanctum and he had no idea who he was related to. Care to guess?" He snickered as he showed them the Centre document listing the above chattel.

In a fit of stupidity or shortsightedness, the Centre gave Michael, Giuseppe's twin brother, the job of Security and Records , and the boy would notice any increase of cash, bullets, and other weapons given to certain staff, correction, Centre killers, after a certain deed had been done. He also knew their addresses, the members of their families, and told his father. Gino would not hesitate to kill the whole family.

Jarod knew right away, who the Packrats were, recognizing Kyle's eyes in the boys, the same shade of red in the girls' hair, the girls' hair had the shade of red, and the taller boy's hair had that certain wave in his hair that Kyle could not control while he was alive. None of them had dark hair, which meant that the mother probably was either a blonde or redhead and none of the children were particularly handsome. . .

"The Centre is going to have to hire some more goons to replace the ones Gino kills," said Jarod,.

"Yes I figure," Miss Parker took the half-empty bottle of wine that they had reserved from the Merging. "You carry the wine. There's still a bit left if Lambourni doesn't want to take it back."

"You can keep it," the lawyer said, morosely. "I was planning to give it away. Won't have anyone to drink it with."

"Why not?"

"I finally got actual proof that my wife and one of my daughter-in-laws died in the Twin Towers."

No one said anything. They dared not to.