Another Graveyard
The wind was tossing at her hair, as Miss Parker
bent down to touch the cold grave stone.
"I miss you, Mom", she whispered. "If only you could be with me
now..."
She sighed and hesitantly stepped away from her mother's grave. During the last
two months she had spent far too much time at graveyards. Since Tommy's death
she had one more grave to visit. Miss Parker flinched at the thought. Tommy's
loss still hurt; it hurt more than she'd ever imagined possible.
So much had happened after he had died and she still tried to deal with most of
it. They had managed to bring Jarod back to the Centre, and he had managed to
escape once more. Raines was still upset, mostly because no one seemed to know
how Jarod had done it. Miss Parker didn't care - it was none of her business.
Her task had been to turn him in. Keeping him at the Centre definitely wasn't.
Now she was back to hunting him again. Although she had fulfilled her part of
the deal she had agreed to stay at the Centre until Jarod was caught. Only that
way she'd be able to hunt down Tommy's killer.
The wind blew stronger, causing Miss Parker to hurry to her car. It was getting
colder and soon there'd be rain. When she reached the car she glanced back at
the graveyard one more time, then she got in the car, heading back home.
***
It was dark when she reached her house. Dark and lonely. She parked her car and
went into the house, switching the lights on. There was no one there waiting for
her, no one she could talk to. Miss Parker briefly closed her eyes.
Sometimes she felt nothing but pain inside of her, making it almost impossible
to keep on breathing. But somehow she forced herself to go on - giving up would
have meant to let the Centre win.
She opened her eyes again and decided to go to sleep. With a little luck she'd
have no nightmares. Miss Parker walked over to her bedroom, trying hard not to
think of Tommy or how much she missed him...
Deep in thought she caught sight of herself in the big mirror when she changed
into her pajamas. She couldn't help but stare at the new scar, the one that had
been caused by the bullet meant for her father. It had been a close thing -
she'd almost died. But she had fought for her life, a bit to her own surprise.
There wasn't much left worth living for.
With a deliberate movement she put on the top of her pajamas, banning every
thought of death from her mind.
It took her a long time to fall asleep, but eventually her weariness won out.
***
A sharp noise entered the depths of her dreams, merciless dragging her back to
consciousness. Miss Parker woke up, feeling even more tired than she had before
going to bed. After a few seconds she heard the sound again, identifying it as
the ring of her cell phone.
She cursed under her breath while she tried to find the phone in the darkness.
Finally her fingers brushed over it and she took it in her hand. For a split
second she thought of simply throwing the damn thing against the wall but then
thought better of it.
"Yes?" she hissed, impatiently waiting for her caller to identify
himself.
"Hey, Sis, I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"Lyle." She spat his name. God, she could easily think of a million
things she'd rather hear in the middle of the night than the voice of her
brother. "What the hell do you want?"
"We've got a lead on Jarod. I thought maybe you'd like to accompany
us."
"I'll be right there."
***
Half an hour later Miss Parker leaned back in her seat on board the Centre jet.
Sydney had sat down next to her, a slightly worried expression on his face.
"You alright?" he asked, looking at her.
"Yeah, I'm just fine. There's nothing I love better than to get up in the
middle of the night", she snapped, shooting him her 'you'd better leave me
alone or this will get nasty' look. He frowned but gave in, turning his
attention to the files he'd brought.
Miss Parker waited and a few seconds later Sydney looked up again, just like
she'd known he would.
"You know, I don't think Jarod will keep on playing this cat and mouse game
any longer. He's had enough of that."
"I certainly hope so", Miss Parker answered. This was the first hint
to Jarod's whereabouts they'd had in more than six weeks and she wasn't going to
let him escape. Jarod simply wouldn't get another chance to play any games.
"You don't understand, Miss Parker. Jarod has changed. He is more dangerous
now, because of all the things he has seen and lived through, the things he's
been forced to do."
Miss Parker frowned. "Do you think he'll hurt us?"
Sydney considered the thought, eventually shaking his head.
"No, probably not. That is, as long as he sees another way to keep us at
distance."
"How reassuring, Syd." She paused for a moment before going on.
"What did Broots find out?"
They'd left Broots at the Centre, where he was more useful. But right now Miss
Parker wished he was here - instead of Lyle who was sleeping a few rows away
from her and Sydney.
"Not too much. Jarod's working for some computer firm - that's about all we
know", Sydney explained.
"Well, as usual", Miss Parker sighed. She closed her eyes, abruptly
ending their conversation.
...
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© 2001 by Miss Bit