The Unexpected Guest

Chapter 15

Rated: PG

Spoilers: Season 4

Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. You know the drill.

 

 

The Unexpected Guest

By Nicky

 

Chapter 15

 

 

 

Lyle nervously paces around his office, uneasy that he wasn't able to stop the plans he made just the night before.  Just a day ago, he was sitting in his father's office, making plans with him to lure Jarod back to the Centre.  Just hours ago, he was on the phone with a very shady and dangerous fellow, finalizing those very plans.  But just minutes ago, he spent what seemed like a lifetime with his sister and realized that he couldn't go through with the plot.  In those short instances, they formed a bond and he knew that he couldn't hurt her again.  He realized how much she was hurting already because of what he and the Centre had done to her before.  He could actually feel that pain.  It was a pain no one should live with.

 

"What am I going to do?" he asks himself.  How was he going to stop them?  Perhaps he didn't have to stop them.  Maybe he would be able to get to Miss Parker before they could get to her.  He races down the hall with some renewed hope, thinking that he might actually be able to do something good for a change. 

 

"Is my sister in?" he asks Miss Parker's assistant once he reaches her office.

 

"Actually, no.  She just left.  She said that she was going to take an early lunch.  Do you want me to leave her a message that you stopped by?" the assistant offers.

 

"No, that's alright.  I'll track her down," Lyle says worriedly.  He leaves and heads toward the parking garage, hoping that he might be able to catch her.  His heart sinks, however, when he sees that her car is still parked in the same spot it always is.  She never made it to her car.  They've already gotten her.

 

He continues on to his own car and starts it up, his hands shaking so badly he can hardly turn the key.  This was all his fault.  If anything happened to her, he'd never forgive himself.  He tells himself this over and over during his drive.  Forty-five minutes later, he pulls up in front of a deserted apartment building, the place he and his accomplice agreed to the day before.  However, he was going in there that day with different intentions. Not to hold his sister captive in an effort to trap Jarod.  But he was there to set her free, no longer wanting to continue with the plan.

 

He takes the long flight of creaky steps up to the apartment they were keeping her in.  Maybe she's not here, he silently prays to himself.  But all that's in him tells him that she is.  And that getting her out wasn't going to be easy.  He puts on his work face and pushes the door open.

 

"Mr. Lyle.  You're here early," says the kidnapper, known only as Bruce.

 

"I could say the same about you, Bruce.  I thought this wasn't supposed to go down until tonight?  How could you kidnap her in the middle of the day?  Too many witnesses around."  Lyle looks around the room and sees Miss Parker tied up to a chair in the corner.  Handcuffs bound her wrists tightly and she had bruises where they rubbed.  She was gagged, so she couldn't make any sound.  She was blindfolded, so she couldn't see Lyle when he entered, but could also see that she was conscious.  So she knew he was there.  And she knew that he was behind the whole thing.  He felt a pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach at having hurt her once again.

 

"Hey Bruce.  Why don't you go get us something to eat.  We might be here awhile," Lyle suggests, trying to get the other man out of there.

 

"Sure.  No problem.  Keep an eye on her?" Bruce asks him, eying him suspiciously.  He lingers for another moment before walking out the door. 

 

Lyle stands to the window and makes sure he sees Bruce leaving before he runs to the corner where Miss Parker was tied up.  He takes the blindfold off her eyes before removing the gag from her mouth. 

 

"You?  It's you.  You're behind this," she says, half of her wanting to spit at him, the other half wanting to cry at his betrayal. 

 

"It's not what you think," he claims.

 

"I was bound and gagged and taken against my will and you're telling me this is not what I think?  Cut the act, Lyle.  I can't believe I fell for it.  Hook, line and sinker.  So, was that the plan?  Get me feeling all sentimental to get me off guard so that your man could grab me?"  She stares at him wildly, trying to muster up all the hatred she could throw his way.  But for some reason, she couldn't hate him.  For some reason, she wanted to give him a chance to explain. She wanted to believe what he said.

 

"It started out that way.  We noticed that you seemed to be more of a hindrance to the search for Jarod.  But we also noticed that Jarod seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for you.  So we decided to use that.  To put you in a situation where he felt the need to rescue you . . ."

 

"And then you'd grab him," she finishes for him.  "I'm just the bait in a trap?  Is that all I am now?  All those years I gave my life to the Centre and I've been reduced to bait?"

 

"Please let me explain, Parker," Lyle begs.  "I know I don't deserve this, but just listen to me.  I never wanted to see you hurt."  He tenderly grabs her wrists and removes the cuffs from them.  He frowns at the bruises the cuffs left, but gently massages the skin in an effort to soothe the irritation.  Surprisingly, she allows it.  "If I didn't come up with this plan, then you might have been hurt.  Some of the others weren't so concerned about your safety."

 

"Like Daddy?  Is he one of the 'others' you're talking about?"  She asks softly.  But she didn't really need an answer from him.  She realized the truth about her father the day Kara was born.

 

"That's not important," he starts.

 

"Oh, I think it is," she quickly interjects.  "It's taken me all my life to be able to see Daddy for what he really is.  He's cold, cruel, heartless and cares nothing for me.  Using me to trap Jarod was all his idea, wasn't it?"

 

"Yes," he admits.  "But I'm not blameless in this, either."  He wasn't letting himself off the hook for her predicament.  He didn't think she should, either.

 

"He didn't give you much of a choice, though, did he?  He desperately wants Jarod back and is willing to sacrifice anything.  Including me.  And you too, if you didn't go along with his plans."

 

He's amazed at how well she could read into the situation. And into his mind.  It was like a light had suddenly been turned on in his brain, allowing her access to his innermost thoughts and feelings.  But he didn't mind.  It was finally time he had someone to share his life with.  A life he never dreamed about having before, but now seemed possible.  He would definitely have to make a change.  They both would in order to adjust to the new relationship.  But from looking in her eyes, he could tell that he could draw courage from her when his own failed him.  With her help, he was sure that he could do it.  He could become a man his mother would have loved.  A person she would have been proud of.

 

"Let's get you out of here, sis," he says with a smile.  Enjoying saying the word as well as feeling like she truly was his sister.  He grabs her hand and helps her out the chair.  They head towards the door when they're stopped by Bruce's sudden return.

 

"Not so fast," Bruce says, holding a gun on the two of them.  "I don't think the boss would approve."

 

"What are you talking about?  I'm the boss," Lyle spouts.  "I started this whole thing.  And right now, I'm ending it.  Now put your gun away and let us go," he demands.

 

"You heard the man, Lyle."  Mr. Parker causes them both to gasp in surprise at his unexpected appearance.  He had a gun as well and kept it trained on his children.

 

"Daddy?" they both say at the same time, still in shock at the realization of his deep involvement in this situation.

 

"Lyle, my boy. I must say that I'm disappointed.  This attack of a guilty conscious is not something I expected from you.  I was sure you didn't inherit any of your mother's goodness.  I had given up on your sister long ago, but you.  You were my last hope.  I guess you're both useless to me now," he says with an evil cackle, getting ready to shoot one of them.

 

"Wait," Lyle yells, stepping in front of Miss Parker.  "You still need her to get Jarod.  You can't kill us."

 

"You're so right, Lyle.  I guess your sister is safe.  For now.  Why don't you come over here with us, Angel.  I'd hate to see your brother's brains splatter all over you."

 

She doesn't move, so Mr. Parker sends Bruce over to get her.  Bruce grabs her roughly by the arms and leads her to where her father is standing.  Mr. Parker grabs her by her neck and holds her with one arm, while aiming the gun back at Lyle with the other and squeezing the trigger.

 

But at the same time, Miss Parker elbows him in the ribs, sending the bullet away from it's intended target of Lyle's head.  Instead, it hits him in the shoulder, knocking him back against the wall.  They all watch in silence as he hits his head on impact, sliding to the floor in an unconscious state.  Looking much like Tommy did when Miss Parker found him dead outside her house.  She's frozen in shock at the sight, giving her father and Bruce just enough time to slip a rag filled with chloroform over her face, sending her into a world of darkness.

 

 

Jarod looks out the window of Miss Parker's house one more time, getting more and more worried about her.  It had gotten dark hours ago, and she still hadn't arrived home.  Some days she had to work late at the Centre, but she usually called when that was the case.  And some days she had car problems that kept her late.  But again, she usually called when that happened. 

 

"Maybe she got so busy trying to keep Lyle off my tail that time just got away from her," he rationalizes.  But he has a feeling in his heart that it was something more than that holding her up.  Something was wrong.  But he didn't want to admit it to himself.  Instead, he picks up the phone to call someone who might know where she was.

 

"This is Sydney," the voice answers.

 

"It's Jarod," he says into the phone.  He tried to disguise the fear hidden behind his words, but he couldn't fool Sydney.

 

"Jarod, are you okay?  You sound kind of funny," Sydney asks.

 

"Have you seen Allie?  She hasn't gotten home yet.  I'm getting worried," Jarod says softly.

 

"I'm sorry, Jarod.  I haven't seen her since earlier today.  I assumed she was still at the Centre.  When I left, her car was still there."

 

"Her car was still there?" Jarod asks, puzzled.  "But you didn't see her anywhere at the Centre?"  He pauses briefly when he hears a bump against the front door.  He breathes a sigh of relief, assuming it's Miss Parker.  "Nevermind, Syd.  I think I hear her coming now.  Sorry to have worried you.  Good night."

 

Jarod hangs up the phone and runs to the door to let Miss Parker in.  But the sight he sees is not what he expects.  Instead of his wife, he sees her twin, curled up in a little ball and passed out on the porch, lying in a pool of blood.  Suddenly, all his fears and worries come back with a vengeance.  Something was wrong.  Something was very, very wrong.

 

 

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