Chapter Five
Disclaimer: mumble mumble 'not mine' cough
Author's note (because I am incapable of not writing one): I'm not bagging secretaries. I think the world would collapse without them. Inevitably, the secretary in an organisation is the only one that actually knows what's going on.
Day 1
Lyle was in deep shit. Even by his standards, and he had been in a lot of bad situations.
Only the clenching and unclenching of his jaw betrayed his anxiety as his father ranted angrily, pacing backwards and forwards in front of him. Even more disconcerting was the otherwise silent, wheezing presence behind him.
'You fool. You DARED to try and have you sister terminated. You are lucky that Jarod saved her otherwise I would be opening up SL-27 again, just for you.'
He paused. Lyle drew breath to defend himself but was cut off. 'We will be lucky to keep her. It's probably too late. It's been two days since she was last seen. Jarod would have corrupted her with his lies by now! She was the best chance we had of catching him. Do You Know What You've Done?' Each word was punctuated by a hard slap to Mr. Parker's desk. The old man locked eyes with Lyle for a moment then continued his angry ranting and pacing. Lyle strongly restrained the urge to fidget. He would get through this. It was just a temporary lapse. He would be back at the top again soon. He repeated this to himself a few times and managed to relax.
'Worse that just losing our best hope of getting Jarod back, you have created a weapon that will destroy the Centre'
This time Lyle nearly got a word in but Raines got there first. 'We have been exploiting his weakness for her ever since he escaped to stop anything happening to us. We have just lost our leverage.'
Lyle swallowed hard. It was worse than just deep shit. This was mariner trench stuff. 'I'll find them. He'll be distracted. He'll get careless. Now is the perfect time.' Lyle's salesman skills came to the fore to save him, and as he continued his spiel the expression on his father's face lost most of his fire. He finally acquiesced and Lyle breathed a sigh of relief to get out of the office.
Once the footsteps faded down the hall Mr Parker turned to Raines. 'I never thought he would be so stupid.'
'He will not catch them' wheezed the doctor.
'I know, but he will make more trouble if he has nothing to do. Broots and Sydney are the best chance. When they come in tomorrow, hold them here. Keep them well, don't make him angry, but make sure they don't leave again.'
Raines nodded and left. If it were up to him he would have killed Lyle for his fatal mistake.
Day Two
'Hey what have we done, why...hey! What... where are we going?' Broots continued his protests as they were efficiently bundled away by a small team of sweepers to a medium sized cell on SL-13.
The door clanged shut with a heavy finality and the two men were left staring at the riveted steel in faint shock and sinking dread.
'What's going on Syd?' asked Broots, his anxiety reaching previously unscaled heights. 'I don't know Broots,' murmured the older man, strongly suspecting this had something to do with Parker and Jarod, as these things always did.
Day Four
All was silence on the Jarod front. Lyle worked frantically, Sydney and Broots worried in their cell, and Mr Parker was a brooding background presence. Even those underlings that had no idea what was going on picked up on the tangible feeling of tense waiting. The whole Centre had a darker mood than usual and the air vibrated with edginess.
Day Six
'Syd, it's been five days since they locked us in here. I taught Debbie that if I ever disappeared to go to my sister's house but they must be worried sick. I'm worried sick and I know where I am.'
'In this case Broots, I believe knowing where we are is no reassurance.'
'Something should have happened by now. Someone should have told us what's going on.'
'At least they're feeding us.'
'Yeah, but I really wish they'd throw in a change of clothes.'
###
TBC... (If I die from sleep exhaustion, just ignore me)
Disclaimer: mumble mumble 'not mine' cough
Author's note (because I am incapable of not writing one): I'm not bagging secretaries. I think the world would collapse without them. Inevitably, the secretary in an organisation is the only one that actually knows what's going on.
Day 1
Lyle was in deep shit. Even by his standards, and he had been in a lot of bad situations.
Only the clenching and unclenching of his jaw betrayed his anxiety as his father ranted angrily, pacing backwards and forwards in front of him. Even more disconcerting was the otherwise silent, wheezing presence behind him.
'You fool. You DARED to try and have you sister terminated. You are lucky that Jarod saved her otherwise I would be opening up SL-27 again, just for you.'
He paused. Lyle drew breath to defend himself but was cut off. 'We will be lucky to keep her. It's probably too late. It's been two days since she was last seen. Jarod would have corrupted her with his lies by now! She was the best chance we had of catching him. Do You Know What You've Done?' Each word was punctuated by a hard slap to Mr. Parker's desk. The old man locked eyes with Lyle for a moment then continued his angry ranting and pacing. Lyle strongly restrained the urge to fidget. He would get through this. It was just a temporary lapse. He would be back at the top again soon. He repeated this to himself a few times and managed to relax.
'Worse that just losing our best hope of getting Jarod back, you have created a weapon that will destroy the Centre'
This time Lyle nearly got a word in but Raines got there first. 'We have been exploiting his weakness for her ever since he escaped to stop anything happening to us. We have just lost our leverage.'
Lyle swallowed hard. It was worse than just deep shit. This was mariner trench stuff. 'I'll find them. He'll be distracted. He'll get careless. Now is the perfect time.' Lyle's salesman skills came to the fore to save him, and as he continued his spiel the expression on his father's face lost most of his fire. He finally acquiesced and Lyle breathed a sigh of relief to get out of the office.
Once the footsteps faded down the hall Mr Parker turned to Raines. 'I never thought he would be so stupid.'
'He will not catch them' wheezed the doctor.
'I know, but he will make more trouble if he has nothing to do. Broots and Sydney are the best chance. When they come in tomorrow, hold them here. Keep them well, don't make him angry, but make sure they don't leave again.'
Raines nodded and left. If it were up to him he would have killed Lyle for his fatal mistake.
Day Two
'Hey what have we done, why...hey! What... where are we going?' Broots continued his protests as they were efficiently bundled away by a small team of sweepers to a medium sized cell on SL-13.
The door clanged shut with a heavy finality and the two men were left staring at the riveted steel in faint shock and sinking dread.
'What's going on Syd?' asked Broots, his anxiety reaching previously unscaled heights. 'I don't know Broots,' murmured the older man, strongly suspecting this had something to do with Parker and Jarod, as these things always did.
Day Four
All was silence on the Jarod front. Lyle worked frantically, Sydney and Broots worried in their cell, and Mr Parker was a brooding background presence. Even those underlings that had no idea what was going on picked up on the tangible feeling of tense waiting. The whole Centre had a darker mood than usual and the air vibrated with edginess.
Day Six
'Syd, it's been five days since they locked us in here. I taught Debbie that if I ever disappeared to go to my sister's house but they must be worried sick. I'm worried sick and I know where I am.'
'In this case Broots, I believe knowing where we are is no reassurance.'
'Something should have happened by now. Someone should have told us what's going on.'
'At least they're feeding us.'
'Yeah, but I really wish they'd throw in a change of clothes.'
###
TBC... (If I die from sleep exhaustion, just ignore me)