Title - Saying The Words (3/?)
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG
Category - JMPR
Summary - Jarod tries to say good bye, but ends up coming back to 
rescue Miss Parker and finds her in a surprising predicament.
Disclaimer - The characters aren't mine.  I'm just using them for 
my own entertainment purposes.

* * * * * * * * * *

Mr. Parker is a bit shocked to see his son pacing around his 
office when he returns from a late lunch.  From the look on his 
face, it appeared that he had underestimated Miss Parker once 
again.  Mr. Parker almost had to laugh.  He warned Lyle about 
her.  And although he had high hopes for his son, he knew that 
his daughter got the lion's share of the brains.

"There's a problem, Dad," Lyle starts.  

"Let me guess.  Your sister.  What has she done now?"  Mr. Parker 
says with a chuckle.

"Oh believe me.  It's not a laughing matter.  She found out about 
the secret cryo lab.    She ruined the backup samples.  Luckily 
the main genetic material was being stored in the lab, which she 
didn't find, so those are safe.  Also, I found this on her desk."  
Lyle gives his father the file Broots had shown Miss Parker.  And 
as Lyle guessed, his father suddenly lost his sense of humor.

"How much more does she know?" his father asks nervously.

"Not more than what's in that file. But if she digs deeper, she 
may be able to find out the rest.  It's impossible to keep 
something of this magnitude completely underwraps.   She can't 
find out anymore.  She's an integral part of this.  We have to do 
something about her now, before it's too late," Lyle warns him.

"You're right," Mr. Parker agrees.  "I'll take care of your 
sister.  You tell the doctors to get ready."

With a wave of his hand, he dismisses his son and picks up his 
phone, calling his assistant.

"Justine, I need you to get my daughter up here immediately.  
Tell her it's very important I speak with her now."

Hanging up the phone, he breathes a sigh of relief.  Things were 
moving sooner than he would like, but there was no turning back 
now.  They needed his daughter.  And the less she knew the 
better.  They had to get her now before she found out any thing 
else about a project she was bound to hate.  One that would shake 
the Centre to it's very core.

* * * * * * * * * *

"So, he's just gone?" Broots asks again, unable to believe what 
Miss Parker was saying about Jarod.  "What are we going to do 
now?  Still search for him?  Pretend to just search for him?  
Without any leads, I don't know how we'd ever find him."

"I don't know," she sighs.  "Right now, I don't think we should 
say anything about Jarod, especially considering what we just 
did."

"I, for one, feel relieved," Sydney chimes in.  "I feel that he's 
finally safe.  I've always known he's had the means to disappear 
completely.  But he's always been so connected to this place for 
some reason."  He glances knowingly at Miss Parker.  "Maybe now, 
he can lead a normal life.  Get married.  Have a few kids."

"Well, whatever," Miss Parker says, rolling her eyes.  Sydney and 
Broots share a secret smile, seeing how bothered she was with the 
idea of Jarod moving on without her.  "He just better stay out of 
my way.  Because if I run into him then . . ."

"Then what, Miss Parker?" Sydney laughs.  "You know as well as I 
do that you wouldn't do anything.  Except maybe run away with 
him."

"What?  You think me?  And him?  Together?"  She rolls her eyes 
again at the sounds of laughter coming from the two men.  But she 
can't deny what he's saying.  A flush rises to her cheeks when 
she remembers that it took everything in her last night to stop 
herself from begging Jarod to take her with him.

"Miss Parker, are you blushing?" Broots teases.  He doesn't know 
where this bravado is coming from.  He would never consider 
teasing his boss on a normal day.

"Will you two just shut up," she says through clenched teeth, her 
arms crossed angrily across her chest.  Luckily, the ringing 
phone saves her from any further pestering.  She picks it up, 
answering it with her classic "What!"

Broots and Sydney notice her mood change very quickly.  She 
listens to the person on the other end, nodding a few times 
before finally hanging up the phone.  When she lifts a hand to 
run it through her hair, they see that it's shaking.

"That was my father's assistant," she tells them, answering the 
unasked question.  "He wants to see me right away.  There's 
something important he wants to talk about."

They watch as she walks across the room and walks out the door, 
both noticing the sudden ominous feel to the air. But neither 
realizing this would be the last time seeing their friend.

* * * * * * * * * *

Miss Parker walks nervously to her father's office, her knees 
shaking the entire way.  It could just be a coincidence her 
father wanting to see her.  But she feared it had something to do 
with her sabotage earlier that day.

"Daddy, you wanted to see me?" she asks as she finally reaches 
his door.

"Oh, yes.  Come in, Angel."

He was calling her Angel.  That was a good sign.  And he didn't 
appear to be upset with her.  Although she never really knew what 
was going on in his head.  Nevertheless, she let her guard down, 
feeling confident that she wasn't there to be scolded.  He smiles 
at her and motions for her to follow him out the door.

"Where are we going?" she asks once they reach the elevator.

"Angel, the search for Jarod isn't going as well as we had 
expected.  Don't get me wrong.  This isn't about you.  You and 
your team have come closer to Jarod many times than any one else 
here.  But let's face it.  If Jarod doesn't want to get caught, 
then we won't catch him.  I realized that before you even got 
started."

"Then what have I been doing all these years?"  She's confused 
and a bit angry.

"Training for your true purpose here," he says cryptically.  The 
elevator doors open and they begin walking down another hallway.  
The hallway leading to the renewal wing as well as other medical 
labs.

"Daddy, what are we doing here?" She stops in her tracks, afraid 
that she's just walked into a trap.

"It's part of the new plan," he tells her honestly.  His 
deception comes when he explains what that plan would be.  
"You're going to be going to Africa for about a month of further 
training to prepare you for your new job.  You'll be leaving 
soon, so we need to get started on your vaccinations immediately.  
Wouldn't want you catching anything over there, now would we?"

"I'm getting shots?" She breathes a sigh of relief.  Although 
this wasn't something she really wanted to do, it seemed harmless 
enough.

"Mr. Parker.  Miss Parker," an older doctor calls out to them.  

"Dr. Osbourne.  My daughter will be going to Africa.  She's going 
to need the vaccinations," Mr. Parker explains for his daughter's 
sake.  But the doctor knows the real reason for her being there.

"Of course, Sir.  Right this way, Miss Parker."  The doctor 
motions for her to follow him and she complies.

"Angel, do you want me to come with you?  I remember when you 
were little, the only way you'd let them give you shots was if 
you were sitting on my lap."

Miss Parker smiles at one of the rare memories of her father 
actually being there for her.  The few good times between them 
were a reminder that he wasn't all bad.  He must have some love 
for her.

"I'll be fine, Daddy.  Besides, I think I'm too big to sit on 
your lap," she says with a laugh.

"Yeah, but you'll always be my Angel," he says seriously.  A 
flash of guilt crosses his face before he turns away, puzzling 
Miss Parker.  He walks away, calling out to the doctor from over 
his shoulder.  "Take good care of her, Doctor.  You don't know 
how important she is to me."

The door closes behind and he looks one last time through the 
window at his daughter. 

"Forgive me," he whispers.  "But there's no other way."

Releasing one last sigh, he continues down the hall to wait as 
his plan is finally put into action.

* * * * * * * * * *

Miss Parker flinches as one last needle pricks her arm.

"How many more, Doctor?"  She had already had four shots.  One 
more and she would wish her father had stayed.

"This is the last one," the doctor tells her.  "Now, I'm going to 
want you to stay here for a few minutes to make sure you don't 
have any adverse reactions to having this many vaccinations at 
one time."

"Okay," she says with a yawn, suddenly very sleepy.  She allows 
him to lead her to one of the cots and she eagerly lies down on 
it.  "What kinds of vaccinations did I get anyway?"

"Well, I'm holding off right now on the malaria, typhoid, and 
hepatitis vaccines.  You can get those in about a week.  You also 
might want to get one for meningitis at that time as well.  I'm 
sure it's been awhile since you've had your regular boosters.  So 
today I gave you the usual ones for tetanus, polio and MMR.  
That's the one for measles, mumps and rubella."

"I already had . . . the . . . mumps . . . " she slurs.  
Suddenly, she was feeling very tired.  And it was only a matter 
of seconds before she was completely asleep.  In her last moment 
of consciousness, she realizes that something was very, very 
wrong.  Something big was about to happen.  And whatever it was, 
her father was right in the middle of it.

To be continued . . .