Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. Well, some of them are. But the important ones are all property of MTM and NBC Productions and used without permission. I'm not making any money out of this . . . . Blah, blah, blah. You know the drill.

 

 

Final Countdown

By Nicky

 

Chapter 1

 

 

Light.  That's all I see.  Brightness all around.  Almost blinding.  But not quite.  I can still see little things.  Shadows.  Blurry images.  And I can hear faint sounds.  It sounds like laughter.  I look over and see my daughter and I now understand where the happy giggles were coming from.  I smile the proud father's smile and start towards her.  Only, I can't reach her.  I'm being pulled and pulled and pulled until my daughter is no longer in view.  Instead, I see two lakes of crystal blue quickly approaching.  I soon see that the lakes are attached to the face of an angel.  Her sparkling blue eyes smiling down on me.  Ever so slowly, she leans over and presses two soft lips against my own and I can taste her sweet breath.  It makes me feel alive.

 

I close my eyes and accept the air she offers.  It fills my chest and I feel my heart quicken.  The breath shoots through my entire body like a bolt of lightening, forcing my eyes open with a start.  I look up and still see the blue lakes staring at me.  The angel is still there smiling down on me.  Her lips touch mine one more time and she gently strokes my face.  I must be dead.  And this must be Heaven.

 

"Welcome back," the angel says in a familiar voice.  I blink a couple of times and the face becomes clearer.  Slowly, I lift my head from her lap and look around at my surroundings.  The events leading up to this moment suddenly come crashing back to my mind, bringing with them an excruciating headache.  I realize that I'm not dead.  And this is definitely not Heaven.  My eyes close again and I begin to remember exactly how I ended up in this nightmare.

 

7 hours earlier

 

The halls are kind of active and frenzied.  Odd, seeing as how it's not even seven yet.  Usually things don't get busy around here until about eight.  I like to come in early while things are nice and quiet, but it seems like something big is going on.  I walk by Miss Parker's office to see if she could tell me what's happening.  But strangely enough, she isn't there.  Her brother is.

 

"Mr. Lyle," I stutter in shock.  I always seem to do that around them both.  What was he doing here so early?  And why was he rattling around Miss Parker's desk like that?

 

"Broots," he says with a little jump.  I think I surprised him.

 

"Mr. Broots," another voice growls.  The voice belonged to the chairman.  I see him standing on the other side of the office.  "It's good that you're here.  I have some changes to tell you about. Due to circumstances beyond her control, my daughter will no longer be in charge of the search for Jarod.   You and Sydney will be working with Lyle.  Effective immediately."

 

I look over to Lyle and shudder.  Miss Parker was scary.  But I knew she was harmless.  She'd never dream of leaving my poor Debbie a fatherless orphan.  But Lyle.  Well, I don't know what to say about him.  I've heard the rumors about some of the horrible things he's done.  And I've been with Miss Parker when she's discovered some of his extra curricular activities.  But lately, she's been spending a lot of time with Lyle.  So maybe he's not so bad.

 

"I'll leave you two so you can get down to business.  Maybe now with my daughter out of the way, we'll see some real results in this search," Mr. Parker says heartlessly.  He gives them both a stern glance before turning to leave the office.

 

Lyle stares after his father, and for a second, I see a look of pure hate and repulsion dance in his eyes.  But he quickly covers it and turns to me with a blank, emotionless stare. 

 

"Lets walk, Broots," he says simply.  And I have no choice but to follow.

 

We walk for several minutes saying nothing.  He looks up a lot, almost as if he were expecting to see something in the vents.  Finally we make it to our destination.  The computer room that's like a second home for me.  Or, more like a first home since this is where I spend most of my waking hours.

 

"After you," he says.   And I nervously enter the room.  I don't know what to expect from Mr. Lyle.  And I find myself glancing furtively about, hoping to thwart any unexpected surprises.  Instead, I only see a red-eyed Sydney sitting quietly in morbid silence.   Just by looking at him I could see that something was wrong.  And I was terrified to find out what it was.

 

"What's going on, Sydney?" I ask.  I can hear my voice crack in fear.  And I can feel my knees begin to wobble.

 

"There was an accident," he whispers hoarsely.  "Early this morning.  Miss Parker.  She's . . . . she's gone."  He glares at Lyle with a look I've never seen in Sydney's eyes.  It takes me a minute to realize he's about to attack Lyle.  Well, maybe not a whole minute, but it seemed that long.  Everything was moving in slow motion.  Kind of like we were all underwater.

 

My ears pick up a sound that stops both men in their tracks.  It's only after they stare at me that I realize I'm making the sound.  An awful, gut wrenching cry coming from the pain of my heart breaking.  Miss Parker?  Gone?  How could that be?  How could something like that happen?

 

"Why don't you ask our new boss how something like that could happen," Sydney says angrily.  Wait.  Did I say something out loud?  I must have for him to be answering me.

 

"I left him at the hospital with her.  He was supposed to be taking her home.  I didn't realize he planned on wrapping her car around a telephone pole!"  Sydney casts another hate filled glare in Lyle's direction, and we both wait for his explanation.

 

Lyle takes a breath, like he's going to say something, but changes his mind.  He blinks once and when his eyes open, they appear to be two cold stones.

 

"We have work to do," he says calmly.  "Broots, pull yourself together."

 

I stare at him with my mouth wide open, ready to protest his order.  What did he expect me to do?  Just forget about her?  Just ignore the pain I was feeling?  He may be cold and unfeeling, bu I don't work that way.

 

"This has nothing to do with being cold and unfeeling, Broots," I hear Lyle say.  Did I do it again?  Say out loud what I was thinking to myself?  I must really be losing it.

 

"This has to do with a job getting done," Lyle continues.  "And little time to do it."

 

Like a zombie, I move mechanically to the seat in front of the computer.  I type in a couple of commands and my screen comes to life with the familiar scripts I see each day.

 

"No substantial leads on Jarod today," I hear myself say, although I don't know how I'm saying it.  Miss Parker.  Gone.  That's the only thought rattling around my mind.  What am I going to tell Debbie?

 

"That's fine, Broots.  We're not looking for Jarod today," Lyle says in a low voice.  He scans the room wildly with his eyes, much like he was doing in the hallway earlier.  What exactly was he looking for? 

 

And what did he mean that we wouldn't be looking for Jarod?  I get a strange feeling in my stomach.  I'm a little worried about what else Mr. Lyle might be having us do.  What other little sick, twisted projects he wants us to work on.

 

"What will we be doing?" Sydney asks him, voicing the concern I felt on the inside.

 

"Let's just call it a scavenger hunt."  Lyle looks at us both and I think he's amused slightly at our confusion.  "Sydney, is there a radio in here?  I think we'd work better with a little music."

 

Sydney gives him a strange look before switching on the stereo.  He adjusts the volume to a suitable level, but has to turn it up louder when Lyle gives him a signal.  Lyle takes one last look around the room before he leans down by my ear.

 

"What do you know about the security in this place?  I need to be in control of the cameras for the next few hours," Lyle says softly.

 

And suddenly it occurs to me.  Lyle really is up to something.  The loud music.  The constant checking over his shoulder.  Something was going on.  And if Lyle was involved, it couldn't be good.  The little voice in my head is telling me that I don't want to be a part of this.

 

"Mr. Lyle, I don't know what you're up to, but . . . " I start to say.  But he cuts me off.

 

"Broots.  I don't have time to explain right now.  Not with these cameras," he says through clenched teeth.  "At least do something about the ones in here.  Then I can tell you a little about what's going on."

 

I still don't like it, but I don't think I really had a choice.  I guess I could choose not to do it.  But then, he'd kill me.  Crossing Mr. Lyle is not at the top of my 'to do' list today.  It's way down there along with 'getting myself killed' and 'orphaning my child'.  And I don't really want to die today.  So I start typing, manipulating the cameras in the same way I've done before for Miss Parker.

 

"I can give us an hour.  Maybe two," I say before turning back to the computer.  A few more keystrokes and the job is done.  "What now?" I ask, although I'm not really sure I want to know the answer.

 

 

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