Disclaimer and such: see prologue.

A/N: Wow. I'm very flattered by the responses this fic has encountered so far. Again, all thanks go to those who took time to review. ICD, Ginger6, mfkngst, ranma8962, michelle, imag1ne and leochick, thanks for your patience and confidence. This chapter is for all of you. Once again, I hope it meets expectations. Please, let me know what you think about it.

- Eva, the posting of this chapter is all your fault. Just figured the world should know that. You know, suing lawyers, concerned parents…the works.

And just to make it official, the last chapter went back in time to before Jarod's return to the Centre. Way back in time. You'll see.

Chapter two

Not a stay over party

 Patience. A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.- Ambrose Bierce

"Miss. Parker?"  The sound of her name made her eyes shoot up and focus on the face of one concerned computer geek. Raising her eyebrows in annoyance, she silently prodded Broots to elaborate.

"I said I've got the keys."  The techie's voice was tentative as he held up his hand showing the three hotel keys cards he'd just recently received.  Snatching one of them without looking, she stormed pass Broots and towards the hotel's exit. Broots didn't follow her: she was raging and probably not safe to be around at the moment. 

Once outside, the cold winter air slowed down her pace and lowered her adrenaline to usual levels. As she crossed the street, the shredded remains of her conscience told her she shouldn't have gone off at Broots like that; she'd probably just caused him yet another work related trauma. Besides, it wasn't the techie's fault that her mood was as dark as a cave lately. No, that was Lyle's fault. And Jarod's, definitely Jarod's.

Reaching her town car, she knocked on one of the rear windows and waited as it lowered enough to reveal Sydney's face.

"Come on, Freud. We're staying".

 "We?"

"Well, boy-wonder reserved two rooms for us. Unless Lyle wants to lodge with you and Broots, I'd say he's not invited"

The psychiatrist nodded slightly and his tinted window went up again. Parker stood back from the car to wait, unconsciously hugging herself as she moved. It was cold, even by New England standards. She was wearing high leather boots, a wool pantsuit with a cashmere turtleneck underneath the jacket, a heavy over coat and leather gloves, and still, she could feel the chilling weather taking hold of her bones. Gazing at the large construction rising in front of her, Parker couldn't help but wonder for the millionth time what game exactly was Jarod playing with her.  It was now the last week of January and she hadn't heard from the pretender since early December (he hadn't even phoned Sydney for the holidays, which had made the older man somewhat uneasy about his protégé).  But despite his disconnection, clues on Jarod's whereabouts kept popping up at the Centre; all of them bogus, much to Lyle's distress…and as Parker knew,  her team's secret entertainment.   

This lead in Massachusetts was the latest they'd received. Jarod had sent them a keycard to a hotel room in Cambridge, where they'd found the mandatory red notebook, a brand new pez dispenser and some sketches of the Boston skyline, of which the bedroom window offered a wonderful view. As soon as they'd entered the room, Parker had struggled to be discreet in her reaction towards their new findings, especially around Lyle:  although the scene was almost a copycat of all the others they'd encountered in the past month, it was obvious to her that the pretender had actually been there, this time. That knowledge had put her even more on edge, sending her wits on vacation. Because if he was back, why hadn't he contacted her? Why was the lab-rat holding out? What had he found? That is, assuming he'd found something….

A passing wind scattered her thoughts as it made her shiver. Holding herself a little tighter, she took a moment to absorb the landscape before her. Bare trees dominated the view, around her, in front of her, down the block flanking the street that ran beside the frozen river.  Far south, she could see a white slit of what would be water in another season along with the far river bank, and farther beyond that, a distorted glimpse of the neighboring city: wood, concrete, glass and smoke, all mingling under a sky that was different shades of gray and blue.  She would have found it all beautiful but the sight was filling her with utter desolation.

Hearing the thud of a car door being shut she pieced her mind together. No use drawing her perceptive colleague's attention, particularly now that Lyle was exiting the hotel and walking straight towards them. 

"Does he know he's not invited?" Parker didn't answer the psychiatrist standing next to her. She was waiting for the sharks to close in. 

"So?" The approaching man started as he crossed the street. "Do we have anything?"

"Same you did." 

"Except I didn't get a room booked to my name in a rather expensive hotel. He was even thoughtful enough to leave instructions regarding the distribution of the rooms, along with the order that the keys were delivered to Mr. Broots, and Mr. Broots alone".

"We already checked the rooms, Lyle. Make your point."

"Well, a paid overnight stay in a pretty hotel. Almost sounds like a Christmas present".

Parker tilted her head slightly to regard her brother under raised eyebrows, as if deciding on which side of his brain was less operational at the moment. "In case you failed to notice, WE paid for this. He took money from one the Centre's account's to amplify his budget". 

Lyle shrugged like that didn't change anything. "Maybe he just thought you'd like it". 

"I'd like it better if he was sitting on that room, being a good little lab-rat for once".

"Yeah. Yes, of course. Besides, it's not like you have talked to him lately. Right, sis?"

"You're the bug guy, Lyle. Why don't you tell us?"

Her growing hostility must have been showing because Sydney chose that moment to butt-in on the conversation. "Jarod hasn't made contact with any of us in the past 5 weeks" He waited a second before continuing. "I do believe we should stay, perhaps we'll find something else in the morning. Jarod's trying to say something, his actions are never random".  

Lyle shook his head unconvinced. "That's your problem Syd. You try too hard to find method in his madness, when, as far as I know, there's just…madness in his method" Parker was about to interrupt but Lyle held up a hand. "Look, if you want to stay here and monkey around trying to unlock the secrets of Jarod's troubled mind, be my guests. I'm going home".

"You are?" Parker was unable to hide her surprise. Her brother seemed…hurried? She looked around and saw his men were already gathering to leave.

"Yeah, this cold is killing my skin"

Glancing at the old man standing beside her, Parker found her thoughts mirrored in his stance: something was definitely up at the Centre, something Lyle was privy to and they weren't. However, knowing with some certainty that it couldn't be related to the missing pretender, she didn't mind shrugging it off. She didn't want to be directly involved in any of Lyle's and Raines's private dealings.  She'd make Broots snoop around the mainframe for her later on, just in case there was something she needed to know. 

"Enjoy your right, then", she finally told her fleeing twin with evident cynicism. "Say hi to daddy".

"Will do", he responded without turning. By the time Sydney and Parker had reached the hotel's entrance, he was already on his way to the airport.

…

The afternoon slipped quietly by the three stranded Centre employees. Right after settling in, Parker had set Broots on the task of finding out what was her family up to. It hadn't taken the techie long to figure out that, Lyle's retreat had had more to do with his inherent ability to piss people off, than with the subject of their hunt. At least so it seemed at first glance: apparently, some missing money from a Triumvirate member's account had magically placed itself in one of Lyle's personal accounts. After being tipped off by an "anonymous source", the Triumvirate had demanded a rational explanation.  Or just threatened the Centre's president outright, it was only a matter of semantics.

The news had amused the trio, who almost immediately reached a consensus on how the money had switched pockets: Jarod. Even Lyle wasn't that stupid. What Sydney and Broots were still pondering after dinner and over dessert was, how had the pretender taken hold of the triumvirate's money in the first place. And what had he done it for.  Parker didn't know, and basically didn't care that much. She had her own set of questions she wanted to ask, and none of them included missing money.

Now, standing in front of her window, watching the twinkling lights of the buildings afar, she didn't have to turn around to know her answers were here.

"Don't you ever knock?"

Jarod didn't respond. He came to stand beside her and gazed out the window for a second before he spoke.

"We need to talk".

Bad news. If her inner sense hadn't been screaming at her, she would have heard the quiet warning in his voice giving him away.