Chapter three

Author's note: sorry I didn't update until now. Fanfiction wouldn't let me log in, has anyone else had that problem?

Rev2004: you're welcome. Hope this chapter long enough to meet your standards. Have a nice week.

pretender fan: arg! Your review is excellent, thankyou, but arg! I can't tell you what's gonna happen just yet and it's killing me.

S.D.: you're review was very flattering, thankyou. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

mariel4000:simple and to the point, as always. :)

Parker came to gradually, becoming aware of the bouncing and jolting, then the quiet humming of the car engine, soon followed by the incredible dryness of her mouth, and finally, of what had just happened.

'Jarod?' she groaned, opening her eyes, but having to squint until they adjusted even to the darkness inside the car.

'Yes Miss Parker?'

'I am going to skin you alive then chop your balls off and feed them to you.' Her voice was fuzzy and thick, and she swallowed in an attempt to wet her throat.

'I am sorry Miss Parker, but this really is the only way.'

'What way is that?' she asked nastily, testing the handcuffs as a bolt of nervousness ran through her. She remembered now that he had asked her to keep away for a while- any way he could get her to do that involuntarily didn't seem like a pleasant idea. He was silent for a few moments, apparently considering her question.

'Jarod?' she asked again finally when he didn't reply. He kept silent one moment longer, then-

'Just going to make sure you don't come after me for a few weeks.'

Parker tried to swallow again, but failed. Just then, the car came to a stop, and the headlights were switched off. She tried to see where they were, but it was pitch black outside. Jarod opened his door, and she was briefly blinded by the dim car light, then he shut it and disappeared into the night.

Parker took a deep, shuddering breath. Bending down, she tried to see exactly what her hands were bound to, but it was as though she had her eyes shut. Feeling around as much as she could, she failed to find anything that would give. Nevertheless, she gave a hard yank on the chain and succeeded in hurting her wrists. Beginning to panic slightly, she began to saw back and forwards, but before she had time to go very far, she was blinded again, and then Jarod was standing over her, an amused expression on his face. 'Go to hell rat-boy.' She snapped, furious with him. Her breath steamed in the icy air.

'A bit of cooperation Miss Parker, and neither of us would be here.' As he said so, he squatted down and produced the key to the handcuffs. Parker fixed him with an icy glare, which provoked a mild smile from the pretender as he released her left hand, then reattached the cuff to his own left wrist. 'Can you stand?' he asked. Parker clenched her jaw. 'Go shove your thumb up your arse.'

'Has anyone ever told you that you are incredibly stubborn?'

'Famous for it.'

'Suit yourself,' replied Jarod, and before she could react, he slid one hand behind her lower back, one hand under her knees, and picked her up, holding her like a baby across his chest. He managed to take one step before she began to fight like a wildcat and he was forced to put her down, dropping her legs first so she could stand. Her free fist came flying towards his face, and he caught it, stopping it mid air. At that point, Parker realised that in fact, she couldn't stand, and Jarod caught her just as her knees buckled, propping her upright against the car.

Parker could just see his wary consideration of her from the car light, and she allowed herself a small amount of grim pride. Seeming to come to a decision, Jarod came up beside her and, putting a hand around her waist to steady her, he propelled her forwards. Parker considered digging her heels in for a moment, but thought better of it; she was having serious difficulty keeping her feet as it was. Jarod was on her left side, so their joined arms were pulled across in front of them.

Unable to see anything in the pitch darkness, and unable to even stand on her own, Parker felt trapped, and began to shiver in the cold night air. Jarod had never harmed her, but then, he had never kidnapped her before either, and there was something strange about him that she couldn't put her finger on. He set a slow pace, and at times, took her whole weight as she stumbled, but eventually they came to a stop, and he carefully released her to see if she could stand. Parker wavered a bit, but managed to stay upright.

She heard the clink of keys, then a door opened, and he led her inside by the handcuffs. The scrape of a match, and the soft light of a candle banished the darkness. Nothing to an electric light, to Parker's straining eyes it was now bright enough to make out a small log cabin, with a double mattress on the floor, a rickety wooden table, one curtained window, a stone fireplace and one other door, presumably to the bathroom.

'Where are we?' asked Parker, her voice for the first time lacking any animosity. They were far enough from anywhere that there was no electricity, which almost certainly meant there was no one close enough to hear her scream, thus making it a good idea not to make Jarod angry.

'Ranger's cabin' he replied simply, shutting and bolting the door then leading her over to the bed. He helped her sit on the mattress, then removed the cuff off his wrist and reattached it to a shackle that had been driven deep into one of the logs that made up the wall- evidence that this had all been well planned. Glad to be able to sit down, and grateful to have one hand free at last, Parker decided not to complain.

Having secured her, Jarod set about laying and lighting a fire, and once it was catching, he disappeared into the other door, carrying another lit candle. A moment later, he reappeared, setting down the candle and holding a mug of something. Parker's parched mouth came sharply to her attention and she looked longingly at the drink, not caring if it was laced with arsenic, as long as she could have one sip.

Keeping carefully out of her reach, he silently handed her the mug, then went back to the fire to feed a few more twigs in. Parker peered at the liquid, then sniffed cautiously at it, and deduced that it was probably water. A sip confirmed this, and the slight mossy flavour told her that it wasn't mains- most likely out of a rainwater tank. She drained the mug in three gulps and set it down with a sigh. Jarod glanced over his shoulder at the sound. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he shook his head and returned to the fire. When he felt he had built it up enough, he grabbed a pot that sat next to the chimney and fossicked in a cupboard for a can of something, which he opened and emptied into the pot. That done, he suspended it over the fire and sat back, stirring it occasionally.

'So, you plan on leaving me stranded here until you've shaken your other pursuers?' Parker asked, trying to get some sort of information out of the pretender. She propped one of the pillows up against the wall and shuffled back to lean against it.

'Something like that.' Turning his back on her, he ladled the substance in the pot into two bowls then took the pot off the fire. Picking the first bowl up, he retrieved a spoon from the cupboard, stuck it into the soup, then handed it to her, taking his own bowl to the table and sitting on the lone chair there. He seemed disinclined towards speech, but Parker was determined that she would find out his plans one way or another.

The canned soup smelt good, and once Parker had seen Jarod swallow a spoonful, she tucked in herself, quickly finishing it. Jarod had already finished his, and was dragging blankets out of the cupboard to make a pallet on the floor. Retrieving one of the pillows from the mattress Parker lay on, Jarod kicked off his shoes and made to lie down.

'Not so fast labrat' Parker stopped him.

'What is it?' he asked, pausing.

'I gotta go.'

'oh.' This seemed to stump the genius for a moment. He disappeared into the bathroom, but quickly emerged holding a few items that could have conceivably been used to escape. Dumping them on the table, he returned and un-cuffed her. 'If you take too long, I'm coming in after you.' He warned her.

'Charming' replied Parker dryly, and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. The facilities were pretty basic, consisting of toilet and sink, but Parker made use of them, then considered the best way to escape. She checked the gun that was still tucked into her belt, just in case, but found it empty. There was no window, so she would simply have to go out the door and attempt to overpower the pretender.

She tucked her gun back into her belt, then turning the handle as silently as she could, she opened the door a crack and peered out into the room. Jarod was facing the fire, warming his hands. 'Perfect' thought Parker. Silently, she slipped through the door, and cast about for a sufficiently heavy weapon to knock him on the head with. Settling on an old hurricane lamp, she crept towards him.

Gritting her teeth, she raised the lamp. As though he heard the mere sound of her jaw muscles tightening, Jarod spun round in a blur of movement, grabbing her by the shoulders, forcing her arms down and shoving her back against the wall with a thump. The lamp clattered to the floor, loud in the silence. There was absolute stillness for a moment, then Jarod loosened the painful hold he had had on her shoulders, however he did not release her completely and she remained pinned to the wall, staring frozen into his suddenly unreadable eyes. 'Don't try that again' he finally said, coldly.

'Why not? You're clearly planning on disposing of me for a few weeks. What else could you possibly do?' Parker spat the words with force, fighting her fear of making him angry enough to hurt her.

'Don't test me Miss Parker.' The candlelight accentuated his icy expression, making him look like a stranger. Parker didn't back down though.

'Rat, you've kidnapped me, and dragged me out to the arsehole of Nowhere. Now you expect cooperation?'

'We can do it the hard way if you wish.'

'I thought the whole kidnapping thing was the hard way.'

Jarod shook his head slowly, not breaking her gaze. A tingle of fear trickled down Miss Parker's spine, but it was not in her nature to fold. Clenching her jaw, she fixed her coldest glare on the pretender, wordlessly spitting her defiance. Fleeting regret passed across his features; similar to the look he had given her right before knocking her out with the chloroform.

Releasing her shoulders, Jarod captured both wrists, then spun round behind her and transferred them to one hand. Parker swore at him and tried to jerk free, gasping as pain shot up her arms. His hold was such that it twisted painfully only should she try to move.

'I've been a prison guard, an army officer, an ex-con, a marine and a police officer Miss Parker. Which would you prefer?'

'You've never so much as squashed a spider Jarod' growled Parker, ignoring the pain in her arms as she was marched back to the bed. His reply was to trip her so she fell forward on to the bed, keeping her hands bound so she could not save herself. She grimaced into the sheets in humiliation and frustration as both wrists were cuffed behind her back with the chain running through the shackle. Thinking back to his old pretends, she remembered that squashing spiders wasn't Jarod's style- he set up the noose and let them hang themselves.

Trembling slightly with shock, Parker lay still on the bed as Jarod pulled the covers over her then retreated. She shifted closer to the shackle so she could roll onto her side, and watched the pretender as he fed another log on the fire, blew out both candles, and lay down himself.

Miss Parker closed her eyes, but she was still too surprised to sleep. Jarod's roughness was startling and scary; it was almost as though there was someone else under his skin. She found herself wondering if was using a pretend, or if he had just finally dropped one. Either way, it still seemed he was planning to get rid of her, which Parker would really rather didn't happen if she could possibly avoid it.

End chapter three; to be continued