Chapter 4 – And Then There Was One
The Broots house was completely dark when Miss Parker pulled her black Boxster into the driveway and jumped out. There was only a full moon to augment the distant street lamp to help her see where she was going and not trip over a raised section of sidewalk directly in front of the house. She sprinted up the sidewalk and onto the front porch, and then rang the doorbell and pounded. "Debbie, open up. It's me."
There was only a small pause before Miss Parker could hear the sound of the security chain on the front door being unhooked, and then the door was open and Debbie was leaning into her. "I was really starting to get scared," the girl admitted, grateful to feel Miss Parker's arms go around her after a brief moment of shocked hesitation. "Nothing like this has ever happened."
"I know," Miss Parker soothed the girl, her mind spinning while trying to figure out what her next step would be. Obviously the first thing was to get Debbie to a secure location before the Centre goon squad closed in on her – for if Broots had been taken, no doubt the Centre would be going to great lengths to make sure that his daughter didn't bring his disappearance too much publicity. "Did you pack an overnight bag, like I asked you to?"
Debbie disengaged herself from Miss Parker and leaned down just inside the door to draw forth an athletic bag that looked fairly well stuffed.
"That looks like there's more than enough than for just overnight…"
"I wasn't sure how long I'd need to prepare for," Debbie responded with a sick look on her face. "The last time Daddy got in trouble, it was almost three days before I saw him again."
"OK," Miss Parker said, grabbing the bag from Debbie's grasp, "lock the place up so we can get going…"
"Where ARE we going?" the girl asked, slipping her key into the lock and into the deadbolt in order to secure her family's belongings.
"I'm not sure yet," Miss Parker said, putting a hand to the small of Debbie's back and hurrying her down the sidewalk toward the Boxster in the driveway. "Get in and get down," she directed, starting to get nervous. Something told her the Centre wasn't all that far away anymore, and she caught the glimmer of two sets of headlights turn onto the street at the other end – nearly a half mile away. She threw the bag in the back seat from the driver's side, slipped behind the wheel and sped backwards out of the driveway without turning on her headlights. "Stay down!" she directed, continuing to back down the street for about three houses and then pulling to the curb and shutting off the engine. She leaned toward Debbie on the passenger side of the car so that she wouldn't be noticed sitting behind the wheel either – giving her car an abandoned look.
Sure enough, the headlights that she'd seen sped down the street toward her and then pulled up noisily into Broots' drive. Five men poured from various car doors and swarmed over the property, testing locks on the front door, rattling window jambs and scouting around the back of the house. Miss Parker watched the activity very carefully over the top of the dashboard.
"What's going on?" Debbie asked.
"Stay down!" Miss Parker barked in a stage whisper. "We got you out of there just in time – there are men crawling all over your place…"
"What would they want with ME?" Debbie whispered softly, obviously even more frightened than before now.
"I don't know, sweetheart," Miss Parker whispered back, "but until these guys take off, you need to stay down and out of sight." She thought for a moment. "We'll go to my place for a while, while I try to think this through…"
The sound of her cell phone filled the car's interior. "Who the hell…" she grumbled as she contorted herself so she could reach into her pocket for the little device without straightening up enough that the Centre men down the street could see her. Finally she had it in hand, flipped it open, yanked on the antenna with her teeth and then put it to her ear. "What?" she asked with her customary surliness.
"I should be asking you the same question," Jarod's smug voice sounded in her ear. "I've left some pretty blatant clues for your team lately – and I know for sure that Broots' latest incarnation of a search engine should have picked up at least two or three of them – and yet not a single sign of movement…"
"We've been a bit busy," Miss Parker hissed at him in a stage whisper.
"Why are you talking so softly, Miss Parker?" Jarod teased. "Are you somewhere you really aren't supposed to be?"
"If you must know, I'm sitting crouched down in my car parked on the street just down from Broots' house, with Debbie hiding in the back seat, trying not to be seen by the two carloads of Centre sweepers crawling all over Broots' house…"
"What the hell is going on?" Jarod asked, all signs of teasing now gone.
"Broots vanished this evening after calling Debbie to let her know he was on his way to pick her up for a birthday dinner. That's been almost three hours ago," Miss Parker explained after glancing at the clock in her car.
"So that's why he didn't pick up on my clues," Jarod breathed thoughtfully.
"No, that's not why," Miss Parker sighed. "He's been a little busy doing some looking in another direction. Sometimes you just aren't the center of everybody's world, Jarod…"
There was a pause on the other end of the line that told her that her little barb had probably hit its target. Then: "Where are you going to go with Debbie? She can't hide out at your place forever…"
"I hadn't managed to think that far ahead yet, Genius," she hissed at him.
"What about White Cloud? Nobody from the Centre would think of looking for her there…"
"That's about the most ridiculous…" Miss Parker shook her head in exasperation and then continued in a very forceful whisper: "Do you honestly think that I'm going to drive her all the way up to that remote cabin and then LEAVE her there, all by herself?"
"She wouldn't have to be alone, you know," he suggested next, "you could always have Sam stay with her…"
"No can do – Sam's gone too," she replied flatly.
That stopped him. "What do you mean, gone?"
"He's vanished, evaporated, vamoosed, skeedaddled, nowhere to be found in the general vicinity during normal work hours… Do any of those terms ring a bell?"
"Sam's gone too?" Debbie squeaked. Now she really WAS frightened, if her burly and teddy-bear-like sweeper friend could just up and vanish like her father had…
"When did this happen?" Jarod demanded.
"A couple of weeks ago."
"Damn." There was another pause. "You've got yourself a problem, Parker. First Sam, now Broots…"
"No shit, Sherlock."
She had to sit through yet another pause. "Get her to White Cloud, Parker – tonight. I'll meet you there."
"What??" Miss Parker's mouth dropped open. "Do you honestly think that I'd leave an innocent child with YOU? I'm supposed to be trying to CHASE you, remember?"
"In the first place, I took good care of her father once – and you know damned well that I'd never let anything happen to his little girl. In the second, this is an emergency – and I think we can suspend our 'I run, you chase' long enough to get a little girl's father back for her," Jarod retorted and then backed down his tone a bit. "Really, Parker – if you have any other bright ideas, now's the time… You KNOW you're going to have to go to work in the morning one way or the other – so you either leave Debbie all alone in your house, into which Lyle and Willy and Raines have broken more times than you really want to know about, or you trust me with her."
She sighed and ran her hand down the front of her face in frustration. "Damn you."
"No," he disagreed gently, "damn THEM. Can you get her to White Cloud tonight and still get back to Blue Cove in time to get to work in the morning?"
"I won't get much sleep tonight, but I can make it," she told him, surprised that she was even considering his offer. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this…"
"Call Sydney and get the keys to the place from him. I really don't feel much like breaking into one of his residences."
"Belated sense of propriety?" she asked caustically.
He snorted. "I suppose you could call it that. I'll see you in White Cloud in two hours," he told her and disconnected the call.
"Debbie, I'm going to take you up to Sydney's fishing cabin at White Cloud Lake – and I'm going to leave you with a friend of your father's…"
"Jarod?" Debbie asked in a small voice. "The man you were talking to?"
"You've met him?"
"No, but my father talked about him after the time he got in trouble… And you called him by name while you were talking to him…"
Miss Parker slowly moved her head and straightened just enough so that she could see over the top of dashboard again. Just down the street from her, the black-suited sweepers were huddled in a knot near the hood of the first sedan, and then they quickly dispersed into the two cars. Both cars pulled out of the driveway and sped away – heading back in the direction from which they came and, ultimately, the Centre.
She waited until the taillights had vanished around the corner before she finally sat up straight behind the steering wheel and started the engine again. "Stay down," she directed forcefully. "We don't know when we'll be seen by another set of men like that, and I don't want any sign of you visible anywhere until we get where we're going."
"Am I going to have to stay down like this all the way?" Debbie asked, pulling her arms close and hugging her body nervously.
"Probably not – but wait until we're past Dover before sitting up again," Miss Parker answered. "I'll tell you when…"
oOoOo
Sydney's face blanked for a moment as he peered out through the security peephole, and then unlocked his front door. "Parker? This is a surprise…"
"I'm sorry for barging in so late without any warning like this, Syd, but I need the keys to your cabin at White Cloud," she answered, moving only a step or two inside the threshold. When she turned to him, she had her hand out – palm up.
His mouth fell open, and then he frowned. "What on earth for?"
"They've taken Broots," she explained with a worried expression. "I'm taking Debbie to White Cloud so they don't get to her too. I need your keys because I'd rather not break into the cabin."
"You've got to be kidding – the Centre would never come after…"
"They've already tried," she told him flatly. "I barely got her out of her own house in time before there were two cars-full of sweepers all over the place."
Sydney didn't hesitate, but headed to a small stand just outside the archway leading to his living room and pulled a drawer open to retrieve a single key on a ring. He walked back to her and dropped it into her waiting hand. "This fits both the knob and the deadbolt – and I always lock them both before I leave." He suddenly frowned. "But surely you're not intending to leave that child up there all by herself, are you? There's no phone in case of emergency… Hang on - I can be ready…"
"No, down boy," she put her hand on his arm to keep him from darting up the stairs. "She won't be alone, Syd. Jarod will be there – he'll watch her while you and I go to work in the morning and try to find her father." She looked down at the floor, and then back up into his face, her expression wary and guarded. "I just hope that he hasn't suffered the same fate Sam did."
Now Sydney stared at her with mouth fully agape for a long moment. "Jarod will be there?! How…? Why...? When did he…?"
"I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, after I get to work," she patted the arm and shoved the solitary key into a pocket. "Right now, I'm kinda in a hurry. I want to make it up and back and still give myself at least a couple hours of sleep before having to be at work in the morning."
He caught at her arm this time. "Be careful, Parker. The road from White Cloud to the lake drive is in bad condition from the last winter storms – and there have been a couple of accidents."
"I'll be careful, don't worry." She stepped back across the threshold and hesitated only long enough to say, "See you tomorrow," before she was trotting back down his sidewalk toward her black sedan. Sydney squinted but could see nobody else in the car – but noticed Miss Parker turn and speak to the back seat area before putting the car in gear and pulling away from the curb.
He was rubbing his jaw as he slowly closed his front door and turned off the porch light. This was NOT good. This was NOT good at all!
oOoOo
Sydney had been right, Miss Parker decided as she pulled at last to a stop in front of the darkened cabin. The unpaved road between the tiny hamlet of White Cloud and the scattered ring of cabins and summer homes at the lake itself had been incredibly rutted and hard to navigate without breaking an axle. A little closer in to the cabin itself sat a light-colored mini SUV – Jarod had gotten there ahead of her. Somehow, she wasn't surprised.
"Wake up," she shook Debbie's shoulder to rouse the girl. "We're here."
Broots daughter roused quickly – and Miss Parker knew that her rest had been an uneasy one. "Already?"
Miss Parker smiled at the simple normalcy such a question posed. "You slept most of the way. C'mon – I'll introduce you to Jarod and get you two into the cabin."
Debbie took her time getting unbuckled, while Miss Parker had the back door open and was pulling out the athletic bag by the time she was finally out of the car. Together the two began walking toward the cabin. "I got the key from Syd," Miss Parker called out to the tall man who emerged from the mini SUV as they drew near.
"Good – it's better that he knows what's going on where," Jarod replied, and then held out his hand to Debbie. "Hi. I'm Jarod – I'm a friend of your dad's."
"I know you are," Debbie took his hand without hesitation. "He talked about you a lot when you helped him get out of trouble the last time."
Jarod's eyes met Miss Parker's in the moonlight, each cringing at the thought that Debbie would field the thought of her dad being "in trouble" again with such ease. "Let's get inside," Miss Parker gave Debbie's shoulder a push. "It's chilly out here, and you don't need to come down with a bug."
"I'll take that," Jarod reached for the athletic bag and took it from her. His own backpack was draped over one shoulder.
The cabin was just as Miss Parker remembered it from her brief stay with Sydney many years earlier, just before his twin, Jacob, had died. The cabin smelled a little dusty, as it normally would when shut up for too long without an airing, but was otherwise clean. "Debbie, why don't you take your bag upstairs? There's a bedroom up there that you should be comfortable in," Miss Parker suggested, retrieving the bag from Jarod and handing it to the girl.
"Where will Jarod be?" Debbie asked, unwilling to leave the adults with her as yet.
"There's a bedroom right by the staircase," Miss Parker answered with a reassuring smile, "right through the curtains. He'll be fine." She shot Jarod a pointed look.
"You go on and get yourself moved in," he added his urging to Miss Parker's. "I'll be fine. Staying downstairs makes it easier for me to guard your safety."
Debbie hefted the bag to get a better grip on it and headed up the stairs. Jarod pulled the curtains back and tossed his backpack on the bed and then turned back to Miss Parker. "Let me make you some coffee to help you stay awake for your return trip," he declared, moving toward the back of the cabin and the kitchen. "You're sure the sweepers didn't see you?" he asked as he began to open and close cupboard doors to take stock of what Sydney had left there.
"They never got close to us," she reassured him. "We were at the curb and parked and looking dark before they got anywhere near us."
Jarod had finally located the sealed bag of coffee grounds, the flat filters and the old-fashioned coffee pot to sit on the electric stove. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked, beginning to assemble the pot after filling it with water.
"I'm going to make noise – lots of it," Miss Parker declared defiantly as she seated herself at the table. "Broots is a valuable member of my team – I need him to keep up the pace of the search for you as much if not more than I need Syd." She smiled in chagrin. "Just don't ever tell Sydney or Broots I said that."
"How's Sydney doing anyway?"
She looked at the tall and dark-haired Pretender sharply. "You haven't called him lately – and I think he misses that." She looked away when he swung his head to look at her and busied herself with examining her fingernails. "You haven't called me very often either – and we're having a helluva time finding you more than three or four times a year. You've been changing the rules of our game."
"No," Jarod shook his head and moved the coffeepot to the stove. "I've just been getting tired of the game. I'm giving you enough to keep Raines and Lyle off your back, and enough times of near-misses to keep the chase valid – but that's about it. It's the best I can do, Parker."
It was as if the lights had just been turned on. "You've found them." He'd found his family – it had to be that!
Jarod kept his back turned to her. "Perhaps…" he allowed.
"I'm glad." It was a simple statement made in utterly sincere tones. "It's about time."
The idea that she approved of his actions brought him around again, wide-eyed. "Thanks, Parker."
"So…" She rose and walked with the ease of familiarity to another set of cupboards and retrieved two coffee mugs that she carried to the sink to rinse. "Do they know what you're up to?"
"No," he admitted. "But they know that there are times that I have to deal with the Centre so that we can have our short span of relative calm – it's just that this particular time is taking a little longer than normal."
"Then I don't want you any closer to this than you are right now," Miss Parker put the mugs down on the counter near the stove and turned to face him toe to toe. "This is MY fight – MY business. They're messing with ME – you stay out of it. Understand?"
"I'm here…" Jarod smirked at her. "I'm already in it."
"No, you're just helping out by keeping someone else who needs to be kept out of it safe for me," she stuck a finger in his chest for emphasis. "I can't concentrate on finding Sam and Broots if I have to worry about Debbie's safety, OR yours. You're doing me a favor – and that's as far in as you're going to get."
"For now," Jarod agreed. "I'll compromise with you to that extent. Fair?" He stuck his hand out toward her.
"Fair," she replied, shaking the hand and finding his grasp warm and firm in hers. "Now, how long is it going to take that coffeepot to make some decent sludge?"
oOoOo
"This isn't a good idea, Parker," Sydney complained yet again while he had the illusion of privacy in the elevator. All too soon, he knew they'd be stepping out into the lobby of Raines' Tower office, and he'd lose his opportunity to once more preach the futility of her plan.
"They gotta know that I'm not going to take this sitting down," Miss Parker hissed at him. "Broots is key to the hunt for Jarod – whatever it is they think he's done, it was done to try to locate Jarod. Surely…"
The elevator door slid silently to the left, and the two of the walked down the short hallway toward the huge secretary's desk that sat protectively in front of the etched glass doors of the Chairman's office. The efficient young woman behind the desk looked up at the pair that were approaching and shook her head slightly. "He doesn't want to be disturbed…"
"Too bad," Miss Parker growled and moved right on past the desk and pulled the glass doors open with a flourish.
At Raines' desk, Lyle straightened in surprise, and the wizened old man to whom he'd been speaking pulled noisily on the oxygen tank hidden somewhere behind the massive wood desk. "Miss Parker," the voice grated eerily, and then gasped again. "I am very busy at the moment."
"This won't take long," Miss Parker said dryly and continued to move further into the room. Movement to her side, combined with an intake of surprise from her colleague to her right gave her the impetus to show off – especially since the easy mugging she'd received from Lyle and Willy a few days earlier. Without a sound and without warning, she whirled and swept an outstretched leg around – which had Willy knocked off-balance before he knew what was happening to him. A single blow with an extended knuckle to the back of his skull as he landed prone on the floor put out his lights. She straightened to her feet, brushed her hands down her jacket to smooth it, and continued to approach the desk.
"Impressive," Lyle stated with glowing eyes. His sister was more than impressive – she was magnificent when she got in this kind of mood. Not for the first time did he find himself looking at her and wishing that she WASN'T family…
"I want Broots back, NOW," Miss Parker demanded in a soft and dangerous tone of voice. "Taking Sam was one thing, but Broots is central to my ability to hunt down Jarod. I don't care what he's done…"
"We really haven't got the vaguest idea what you're talking about," Lyle schmoozed at her with oily confidence. "I personally haven't seen your Mr. Broots since…"
"Cut the act, Lyle, you simply aren't that good a liar." Miss Parker's gaze slid over him dismissively to the bald and wizened man in the Chairman's seat. "I want him back," she pronounced again, slowly and clearly.
"I don't have him," Raines wheezed at her, blue eyes glaring. "And I resent the implication that I do."
"You're behind every disappearance here at the Centre," Miss Parker told him coldly. "So you're behind this one – no matter what you say. I'm just here to serve notice that I'm going to turn over every stone, look in every corner – I'm going to visit the gym in the morning and spend a great deal of time looking into the sweeper training program – and I'm going to find the members of my team that you've stolen from me."
Raines' glittering blue eyes raised to look at Sydney, who merely stood next to his colleague and official superior with a deceptively calm and observant expression. "You need to help Miss Parker realize the precariousness of her position, Sydney," the old ghoul gasped next. "She's out of control – and I'm making it your job to get her back to work."
"She's my superior," Sydney stated quietly with a quintessentially European shrug. "Officially, I can tell her nothing. You know that – you helped set up the hierarchy for this team in the first place."
"Careful, Parker," Lyle warned from his position behind and to Raines' right. "Just because you can put Willy down like that doesn't mean that you can't be beaten if you get your nose in where it doesn't belong."
"Get in my way, and I'll do worse to you than I did to Willy," she hissed back at him and then raised her eyes to Raines. "I don't know what you two are up to, but I'm making it my business to find out." She turned and caught at Sydney's jacket sleeve. "C'mon, Syd. We have work to do."
Raines waited until the two intruders were back outside the etched glass before pushing the button on his intercom. "We need a medic team up here, immediately," he called in frustration, his eyes on his personal sweeper so easily laid low.
"It's getting to be almost time," Lyle remarked casually. "Things are going right on schedule."
"Of course they are," Raines replied after another noisy drag on the oxygen tank. "These people are completely predictable. But it isn't almost time – it's time. I want this moved to phase two by tonight."
Lyle's cold smile grew wide in expectation. "My pleasure."
oOoOo
A quick glance at the wall clock in his office told Sydney that it was five-thirty – time to knock off for another week and meet with Miss Parker to regroup. He picked up the telephone and dialed her office extension, as they had arranged, and waited. And waited. Finally he hit the voicemail – he thought.
"The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please make sure you have the correct extension number and try again."
Sydney blinked. He knew Miss Parker's extension by heart – having used it too many times to count over the past ten years of their collaboration. He hung up the receiver, picked it up again and dialed the same number – only to get the same message. Frowning he disconnected, picked up the receiver and dialed her cell phone number.
"The number you have reached is no longer in service. Please make sure…"
"Damn!" Sydney grabbed up his beret and briefcase and headed for the elevator. His fingers tapped a nervous tattoo on the faux wooden interior wall of the little cubicle as it moved upwards, and he moved as if to bolt from the car the moment the door opened – but hesitated. All around the outside of Miss Parker's office were sweepers – Willy among them – and Sydney pulled back into the elevator car and pushed the button for the main lobby to get the door to slide closed again as quickly as possible.
They'd done it – they'd taken HER now too!
Sydney's mind raced. First Sam, then Broots – and now Miss Parker! The indications were obvious – HE was next.
He settled his beret on his head and again tapped his fingers nervously on the metal bar that ringed the elevator car until he reached the main floor and could make good his escape to the parking lot. It was the weekend – perhaps he could figure out where to go and what to do before the Centre Goon-Squad came looking in his direction. His steps through the parking lot to where he parked his Lincoln were faster than normal – and he had the car in gear and backing out of his posted space as quickly as possible.
Sydney's hands gripped the wheel tightly. What was he going to do – he didn't have the wherewithal to run, and his accent made him identifiable if the Centre got it in his mind to hunt him down. Briefly he allowed his mind to linger on Miss Parker – and what kind of shape she must be in to have been taken so completely out of action in this manner. Then he thought of Sam – and Broots – and he pulled the car into the parking lot of a convenience store with a screech of tires.
In an instant, he was out of the car and over to the phone booth, where he punched in a number he'd long since memorized but normally didn't have to think about.
"Hello?" Jarod's voice sounded wary, probably because the caller ID on the cell phone wasn't giving him any clues as to who was making this call.
"Jarod, it's me," he said quickly. "They got to Miss Parker."
"Shit!" Jarod spat and then was silent for a long time.
"Are you still there?"
"Yeah," the Pretender replied. "I'm still here. I'm just thinking…"
"I'm probably next," Sydney announced fatalistically. "I'm the only one left on the loose."
"Where are you?"
"At a pay phone outside of Blue Cove," the psychiatrist sighed. "I didn't want the call traced – or recorded."
Jarod's voice spoke of his approval. "That's using your brain, Sydney. Now – what I want you to do…
oOoOo
Lyle flashed his identification tag at the nurse, who then moved aside so that he could go down the hallway toward where Tim sat in a straight chair. "Anything?" he asked as he drew closer.
Tim stood. "No sir," he remarked neutrally. "She hasn't made a sound since I arrived."
"Good." Lyle began to smile. "Remember – the only four people allowed into this room are myself, Mr. Raines, Doctor Abrams and Doctor Chavez. If ANYBODY else tries to get in, I want them detained immediately and to be called immediately thereafter."
"Yes, sir. You can count on me, sir." Tim was grinning. Getting the job of keeping the Parker bitch on ice was a pleasure after all he'd put up with from her in the weeks beforehand. Mr. Lyle might not know it, but Miss Parker would have a fifth guest – IF he could get away with it, that is. Raines had ordered all kinds of security and surveillance equipment specifically to keep a very close eye on this woman, so whatever he'd want to do would have to be in a way those monitors and cameras couldn't detect.
Lyle gave Tim a sideways look as he punched in his code into the keypad next to the heavy metal door. This sweeper, while certainly brighter than many of the rest, hadn't been at all impressed by his sister during his tenure as 'personal sweeper.' In fact, if he didn't know better, he'd think the man might have a itch or two to get a little payback for what probably was a very uncomfortable two weeks with her. It would be something that he'd have to take up with Willy when he finished here. Willy was good at taking care of loose ends – loose ends like Tim.
The room was draped with many white and flowing curtains, something that shrinks back in the fifties had discovered hid the subterranean nature of the Centre medical facilities from the patients very effectively. The air in rooms like this was brought directly in from above through separate ventilation ducts only peripherally connected to the rest of the complex's vast system – all in favor of furthering the illusion of light and air and freshness and freedom that contributed substantially to the patient's frame of mind and then indirectly to the patient's recuperative powers.
In the center of the room, surrounded by yet more of the flowing curtains, was a hospital bed in which lay a tall, brunette woman in a hospital gown, tucked comfortably beneath a starched white sheet and a pale blue knit blanket. Her eyelids were closed, and her long lashes brushed tenderly against creamy cheeks. Lyle stood for a long moment, just admiring the view. Never before had he seen her so vulnerable – or so beautiful.
She roused, and then her grey eyes opened wide at the sight of the man in the dark suit hovering on the edge of her vision. She looked around and then back at him in some confusion. "Who are you?" she asked in a melodious voice, "and where am I?"
Lyle moved closer to the bed and smiled down at her lovingly. He'd seen the DSA – and he'd always wanted the chance to say something like it. He might as well take his chance – another like it probably wouldn't come his way again soon, if ever. "My name is Lyle, Parker," he intoned in much the same tones Sydney had used with Jarod all those years ago, "and I'm going to be taking care of you for a while."