Pretender Fanatic- Jaord getting grounded would be rather funny. And don't worry the action starts up a little in this cahpter.
Morgan- glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for reviewing.
CHAPTER 49
SNOOPING
January 12, 2004
11:26am
Blue Cove Delaware
Overlook Apartments
After bypassing Lyle's security system, Jarod entered the apartment. For the next two hours he meticulously searched Lyle's apartment but came up empty. As the pretender exited the building, he walked past Lyle's mailbox. Curiosity got the better of him so Jarod unlocked the box and went through Lyle's mail. Most of what he found were bills, but one piece of mail had been forwarded to Lyle's residence care of a real estate company. Jarod took the letter with him, closing the mailbox.
The pretender then went to his wife's former home to wait out the rest of the day. Luckily for Jarod Angelo had left some of Alley's things in Catherine's art studio. For the next seven hours Jarod munched on various junk foods as he kept an eye on the security feed from Lyle's office via the laptop Jarod had brought with him.
At a little past seven Jarod eased off the cover of the air vent and slowly made his way into Lyle's office. Jarod walked over to the security camera and as he did, he pulled out a digital camera. Jarod connected the digital camera to the security camera and took a picture of the room. Once done Jarod began to gently rap his knuckles against the wall checking for hollow spots. After twenty minutes of fruitless effort, Jarod began checking the various pieces of art Lyle had decorating the room. Once again finding nothing, Jarod went to the man's desk. He went through each of the drawers yet found no incriminating evidence.
Frustrated Jarod slammed his fist on the desk. A split second later a secret drawer popped open under the desk. Jarod got down on his knees and investigated. Inside the drawer were three folders. One was red with the emblem of a phoenix on it; another was all black with fourteen gold stars in a circle on the cover. The last was black as well but instead of a circle, the Cambodian symbol for cannibalism adorned it's cover.
Jarod went through the first two files first knowing that they dealt with his children. What he found inside infuriated him. There were many photographs of the children brutally beaten. Will's and Alley's were the worse but Jake and Rachael's placed a close second. Inside of the Black Files folder was also a DSA from 2002. Jarod pocketed the DSA.
Reluctantly Jarod opened the last file having a good idea of what he would find. He was not disappointed, just disgusted. Inside were twenty-seven sheets of paper. Each had two pictures of a woman of Asian decent. It was like looking at a before and after photographs of someone who had undergone a make over only in reverse. The photograph on the left showed a beautiful woman, the one on the left showed her mutilated corpse. Below the pictures was a small bio stating the women's names and where they lived. Not wanting to view any more and risk emptying his stomach of all the contents he had consumed earlier, Jarod closed the file.
Deciding that he had spent far too much time in the place that had kept him prisoner for thirty years, Jarod quickly got up from his spot on the floor. Jarod then grabbed his camera and made his way over to the air vent. Just as he was about to make his get away the door opened. Jarod groaned inwardly as his heart skipped a beat.
"Who's in here?" Came a commanding voice. Jarod hid himself in the shadows praying that who ever it was wouldn't turn on the lights. Either God didn't hear his prayer or he just had a sick sense of humor. The pretender almost collapsed when he saw who it was.
"Jarod, good you're still here. Morgan wants you to pick up some diapers and formula on your way home. Jarod are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Jon." Jarod crocked. "I'm just trying to get my heart beating regularly again."
"Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Jon said but the look on his face said otherwise. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Yes, yes I did." Jarod told the techie. "I'd, ah, better get going."
"Yeah, don't let me hold you up." Jon said turning the lights off and leaving the room.
Jarod then began to crawl his way through the vents all the while mumbling how he was getting to old for such things and how Spider-Man was never called by Mary Jane to pick up diaper's on his way home from battling Venom.
Twenty minutes later Jarod was carefully making his way across the field to his jeep. Just as he was about to cross the line of trees, Jarod head voices.
"Damn!" Jarod hissed under his breath. "I knew this was going too easy."
Around Jarod's Jeep stood three sweepers. Jarod turned around and stealthily made his way to the Centre parking garage. There he found Jon's car. The pretender thanked God that the techie hadn't left yet. Jarod reached under the front bumper and found the hidden key. He then unlocked the back door and got in.
Jarod then pulled out his cell phone and called home.
"Hello?"
"Will, just who I wanted to talk to."
"What's up, Dad?"
"Well, I'm in a bit of a situation. A team of sweepers found my Jeep and I need for you to change the registration."
"Gee, Dad, I'd like to but I'm still grounded." Will sighed theatrically.
"William..." Jarod warned
"You heard what Mom said, Dad. I'm still grounded till tomorrow."
"William, you get your ass on that computer now and hack into the DMV or else the Centre will have our address and I'll ground you. For life!" Jarod hissed.
"Geesh, Dad, chill. I'm already in their database." Will told his father. "TET-1999, right?"
"Yeah."
"So, Dad, here's a good question what in the world possessed you to take your Jeep to Blue Cove and keep the same license plates?" Will asked, typing away on the computer.
"William..."
"Yeah, Dad?"
"Shut up." Jarod commanded his son.
"Just wait until I tell Mom how you talked to me. Even worse, I'll tell Grams."
"Don't you dare."
"Fine, but you have to get me off punishment for the rest of the week."
"Fine, I'll talk to your Mother."
"Thank you. By the way your Jeep is now registered to one Roland Deschain of Gilead, Virginia."
"Have you been reading Stephen King again?" Jarod asked his son.
"Of course not, Dad." Will lied. "Now I have to go, diaper duty calls."
"Have fun."
"Ha, ha." Will said dryly and hung up.
Jarod then placed a call to Jon letting the techie know that he was in his car and needed a ride.
"Took you long enough" Jarod said half an hour later as Jon entered the car.
"Well, forgive me but I had to finish my work. Maybe if my pretender skills were as good as yours I would have been done an hour ago." Jon replied. Jarod chuckled at the techie. Jon had certainly changed over the year. A year ago the techie would have passed out at the thought of Jarod calling him and asking for a ride.
"So where to?" Jon asked. "You can crash at my place if you want. It's late as it is."
"Sounds good to me. Besides I'm staying in town a little later than I planned. I need to check out a small town out side of Blue Cove. Castle Rock, ever heard of it?"
"Yeah sure, it's a little tourist town about forty miles away. I usually take Deb in the summer."
"Well apparently Lyle has some property there."
"Speaking of Lyle, what did you find?" Jon asked.
"Three sets of files. One on Phoenix, one on the Black files, both of which contained photos of our children. Many of which make you want to throttle Lyle."
"How bad are Marc and Cassie's?" Jon asked.
"Not as bad as some of the other kids, but they still aren't pretty. Lyle broke Cass's arm when she was four. And took a lighter to Marc when he was three because he refused to do a sim." Jarod told Jon. Jon's knuckles went white from clenching the steering wheel."
"They won't tell us unless they're asked, will they?" Jon asked.
"No, they're ashamed of what they Lyle did to them. And they don't want us to blame ourselves for what happened to them." Jarod replied.
"In an attempt to get off of this depressing topic, what else did you find?" Jon asked.
"Lyle's twisted version of a scrapbook. It contained photos and information on Lyle's victims."
"Not that I really want to know but how many women?"
"Twenty seven." Jarod told him.
"My God." Jon gasped as he pulled into the driveway. "I don't understand how someone could do such a thing."
"Unfortunately, I do. I've had first hand experience inside Willard's mind and Lyle's. Believe me I don't want to go back there ever again." Jarod said disgusted.
"Once again I'm going to change the topic and ask you how you're getting home." Jon said unlocking the front door and leading Jarod in.
"You kept Morgan's car in running condition, right?"
"Yeah, I take it out every weekend. It's gassed up and ready to go." Jon told him. "It's in the garage. Which is why I didn't park there."
"Perfect." Jarod replied.
"So I have the guest room and the couch. Take your pick." Jon told Jarod. Jarod glanced at the couch and found it to be a foot and a half too short.
"As appealing as the couch looks, I think I'll try my luck with the guest room." Jarod said.
"Follow me." Jon said and led Jarod to the guestroom.
There you go boys and girls. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. If you did let me know, and if you didn't let me know.