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| Or they wouldn�t. No, Lyle would keep her right here, with her influence and her incredible guilt, a silent gun to the head of anyone she cared about. He would love that, love it, to use her like a puppet. He�d be laughing and teasing the whole way through. �Let�s keep this in the family, shall we, Parker?� Click. She jumped, gasped, gulped for air. What the hell had that been? Okay, okay, Parker, just a dream. Just a waking nightmare. Your imagination running away from you. Your exhaustion getting the better of you. Just�take�it�easy. There. Her pounding pulse faded, and slowly, she caught her breath. Everyone�s still breathing, she whispered, so quietly that the sound didn�t even reach her ears. I haven�t killed Jarod or Broots or anyone. Her eyes settled on the photograph of the blue-scrubbed boy, her only picture of Jarod, in it�s hidden little cove on the other side of the office. His grin, strangely, calmed her heart, until her quiet office felt almost as real as her dream. Is this what its like for you all the time, Jarod, Pretender? Feeling other people�s feelings? Does it ever get away from you like my self-control gets away from me? Oh, the questions I wanted to ask you when I was a little girl. She waited until she was sure her voice would be steady, and then she spoke another name into the microphone. She needed to hear another human voice right now, and there was only one she wanted to hear. �Kara Depp, please.� For security reasons, the Depps number had never been programmed into Miss Parker�s business phone numbers. It had to be called up each time by the main Centre telephone operator, and it was wiped from the machine as quickly as it had been dialed. She was not stupid with the Depps the way she was stupid with her own life. The name could easily be found in the telephone books, of course, but their association with the Centre and the Parker family would never be noted, if she had influence anywhere. And, of course, when Lyle knew Kara, her name was not Depp. There were two, three rings. Then, �Hi, you�ve reached the Depps�� Parker cursed under her breath. �Oh God, is that you?� Kara�s tone was desperate. She sounded near tears. �Kara. What�s wrong?� �Miss Parker�oh, God�Miss Parker, the police are here�Nate�he didn�t come home from school yesterday. The police�for some reason they think I have something to do with this� I�m being investigated�oh, God�.oh, God!� She was crying now, low, terrified sobs. Parker felt dizzy, felt the blood drain from her face. She wrapped her fingers around the chair's armrests until her knuckles turned white. �Why didn�t you call me earlier?� her voice sounded tense, more snappish than she meant. �I didn�t�I didn�t know�� |
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