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 6
I don't know
what's gotten into me. Why I feel so
compelled to help Jarod. Maybe it's the
way he just begged me to take care of Miss Parker. A woman who's hunted and chased him for years now. Yet, he's still able to love her enough to
put her safety before his own. Maybe it
was the way she looked at him when she realized he was sacrificing himself for
her and their children. Maybe it's the
way I've seen him take care of Miss Dee, a woman who's been the only mother
I've ever know. When even I turned my
back on her, he was there for her.
Maybe it's none of those things.
It's actually a feeling.
Somewhere in myself. I don't
really know where it's coming from. But
it's there. And it makes me desperate
to help him.
"So, what's
the plan, Jarod?" I ask him once we've gotten down the hall a little. He just looks at me kind of sheepishly. And at that moment I realize he has no idea
what to do. "You don't have a
plan, do you?"
"I was only
concerned with keeping her safe," he confeses. "I couldn't think of anything else. And now that she's out of immediate danger,
I can worry about myself."
"Well, you
better think fast," Lyle warns.
"I don't think we have much
time."
"Maybe I can
buy us some time," I tell them, suddenly coming up with an idea. "Lyle, do you have your
phone?" I reach my hand out and
take the phone from him. Dialing the
numbers, I wait patiently for someone to puck the other end up.
"Raines,"
the voice wheezes.
"It's
Willie," I say. "I found our
problem. It was actually a false
alarm. There's no security breach. When I got down here, I found Sydney
wandering around one of the labs."
"Very
well. Tell him the area is off limits
and escort him back to his office," Raines orders before hanging the phone
up. He wasn't one to carry on long
conversations.
"Done,"
I say, feeling pretty proud of myself.
"Good
thinking," Jarod comments.
"But we need to get out of here before the guards come down for
their hourly patrol." He turns and
starts back down the hall in the direction we just came from.
"Where are
you going?" Lyle asks him.
"You can't go back there.
Not now. Like you said, security
will be down there any minute. My
sister will be fine for a little longer.
After the next patrol, we'll send someone back here for her and
Broots."
"That makes
sense," Jarod relents. But I could
tell that he wasn't happy about it.
Until a little smile breaks across his face. "Poor Broots. I know
he's used to her . . . temperment, for lack of a better word. But her mood swings have been kind of
extreme this past month. I hope he can
handle her," he laughs.
" 'Poor
Broots' is right," Sydney laughs with him. "Miss Parker is a bit tempermental. I can only imagine how the pregnancy
exasperates that."
We all share a
good laugh for a few moments before the gravity of the situation began to sink
in again.
"We need to
get going," I remind them.
"Let's go
back to Broots' computer lab. It should
be pretty safe there for awhile. Until
we can come back for my sister," Lyle suggests.
I go first,
keeping an eye out on the hallway while Jarod comes behind me. We all split up at the entrance to the
airvents. Jarod climbs up and heads
through the tunnels. Lyle takes the
stairs up. And I escort Sydney up the
elevator, just in case Raines had someone meet us to check out our story.
We make it to the
computer lab in a matter of minutes. It
takes a little longer for Lyle. And
even longer for Jarod, having to come through the tunnels. But after about a half an hour, we're all
back there.
"Is it
safe?" Jarod whispers from the vents.
"Yeah, it's
all clear," Lyle tells him. Jarod
jumps down and we all gather together to plan the next step.
"Your father
is up to something, Lyle," I start.
"This morning I ran into him and Raines with their heads
together. They're plotting
something."
"You have any
idea what?" Sydney asks.
"They didn't
go into details. I think they did
something to the triumvirate. They're meeting
with the Director later this afternoon at four," I tell them.
"It's almost
two now. That doesn't leave us much
time to find out what's going on," Jarod surmises. "We're going to have to go straight to
the source."
"Meaning?" Lyle asks.
"Meaning, you
take me to Raines and your father. Say
that you caught up with me and that you're bringing me in. But before you hand me over, demand to find
out what they're up to."
"Jarod, that
sounds like a big risk you're taking," Sydney says. "Using yourself
as a bargaining chip."
"It won't
really matter after awhile," Jarod says cryptically. "They'll be taking me right where I
need to go . . . to the Director."
"So Lyle took
him to see Raines and your father before the meeting. And I came to come get you, Miss Parker," I say, concluding
my little tale. "I wouldn't be too
worried about him, though. He seemed
like he knew what he was doing. He was
trying to get to the Director for some reason.
It's like he isn't afraid anymore."
"He knows
what he's doing. I trust that,"
she sighs. "But I still
worry." Her hand goes to her
stomach again, but this time she just rests it on the slight swell.
"You should
be worried. Something big is going
on. Too many things are happening
today."
"Like?"
she asks, that eyebrow shooting up again.
"Like your
'death' for one. Your father wasn't
even the least bit concerned about it.
He wasn't even pretending like it phased him."
"Willie, I'd
long ago given up on my father. He
never cared for me," she says sadly.
"It's not
that," I start explaining. "I
know he didn't care. I mean, what kind
of father would order his own son to kill his twin sister? But, this seemed to be the first step in
some plan. Him and Raines are up to
something. And I think this recent
development with Jarod is the icing on the cake. Your father was extremely pleased that we'd found him."
"My
father? Extremely pleased? I don't
think I've ever seem him 'extremely pleased' about anything."
"He was
practically giddy, Miss Parker. And
kept on saying how perfect it all was.
Whatever they're planning, it's all going to be happening in Conference
Room C at four o'clock today. An
emergency meeting with the Director. It
seems like some . . . misfortune has come to the triumvirate."
"Mi - mi -
misfortune?" Broots stutters. That
guy really was spineless. I just hope
he won't be a problem later.
"They're
dead," I tell them, pausing momentarily to let them sound their shocked
gasps.
"They're
trying to take over," Miss Parker mumbles after a few silent minutes. "It all makes sense now." She runs over to the stack of papers we
brought up from her mother's office and starts to shuffle through them. Her eyes open wide in shock when she finds
what she's looking for. "With me
out of the way, and the triumvirate gone, the Director will have to appoint
someone else to run the place. I'm sure
they're thinking that whoever has Jarod is guaranteed to be chosen."
"But Lyle's
bringing him in technically," I remind her.
"Yes,
technically. And technically, he killed
me. So technically, my father has a
legitimate reason to get rid of him as well," she explains. She reorganizes the papers and places them
in an envelope before running over to her closet. She throws open the door and quickly peruses the many outfits
hanging in there.
"What are you
doing, Miss Parker?" Broots asks her.
"I'm looking
for something that won't make me look like a cow," she mutters, but paying
very little attention to either of us. She settles on a pantsuit with long jacket that had one high
button to close it over her growing stomach.
A pair of flat heeled boots finished off the ensemble. She takes it into the bathroom and emerges
15 minutes later, fully dressed. She
looked like Miss Parker again.
"How do I
look?" she asks us. "My belly
doesn't poke out too much does it?"
"You look
great," Broots stammers. "As
usual. Why would you stomach poke
out?"
"Broots! I'm pregnant, you moron," she says with
a laugh. Especially when his eyes open
so wide they look like they're about to pop out of the socket.
"Let's get
going," she says, still laughing.
She grabs the envelope of papers from her desk and walks to the door.
"Where? Jarod wanted me to keep you here. To keep you safe and out of danger," I
remind her.
"I'm going to
go get my husband. And then we're going
to take back what belongs to us. You
can stay here. Or you can come along. But you won't stop me," she glares,
daring me to even try.