Title - Saying the Words (17/?)
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.

* * * * * * * * * *

Richmond Hill, GA

Miss Parker pulls up to the house just as darkness was falling.  It was 
just about dinner time and her stomach was starting to rumble despite 
the big lunch she ate a few hours ago.  This pregnancy had her 
constantly hungry.  She finds something to nibble on to tide her over.  
After finishing her snack, she wipes the crumbs from her face and 
carefully reapplies her lipstick, attempting to look perfect.  She 
takes one last look into the mirror before stepping out of the car.

She walks across the street, still wondering how she was going to 
explain her presence to these people.  A small sign a few houses away 
gives her the perfect cover.  She smiles a friendly grin and rings the 
doorbell.  

"Can I help you?" asks the man who opens the door.  He was a kind 
looking man and she was kind of surprised.  This house belonged to one 
of the couples in Dr. Jacobs' journal, one of his customers.  It was 
the closest address in the book.  If Dr. Jacobs was on the run and 
trying to cover his tracks, he'd probably start here.  But this man 
didn't look like the type of person who'd buy a baby.  Maybe she was 
wrong about them after all.  Maybe they were innocents in this scheme 
as well.

"Hi.  My name is Parker," she says with a smile.  "I was supposed to be 
meeting my husband to look at the house up the street.  We're thinking 
of buying out in this neighborhood.  Anyway, he's running late and when 
I tried calling him, I noticed my cell phone battery had run dead.  And 
silly me, I forgot the car recharger.  This is such a nice 
neighborhood, but it's getting dark and I figure I should call him to 
see what the hold up, so I was wondering . . . "

The man holds up his hand to stop her rambling.  He smiles in 
understanding, figuring she was harmless.

"Why don't you come in and use our phone to call him," he offers, 
standing aside to let her in.

"Thank you so much.  I really appreciate this."

"It's no problem, really.  Have a seat," he says, showing her into the 
living room.  "I'll go get the phone."

He leaves for a few minutes and returns with the phone and a short, 
blond woman.

"I'm Bill.  And this is Suzy, my wife," he introduces.  "Honey, this is 
Parker.  She's out here looking at the Weston Estate."

"My husband is running late.  I needed to call to see what's taking him 
so long," Miss Parker explains to the woman glaring at her.  It was 
obvious Suzy didn't appreciate her intruding in her home.  It might be 
harder getting information out of her than Miss Parker originally 
thought.  She gives the couple a nervous smile before walking into the 
foyer to place the phone call.

She decides to try the hospital to see if Jarod had returned.  She gets 
Denise again and learns that he was still gone.  So she gives Denise 
the address to where she is now, in case Jarod ever made it back.  She 
hangs up the phone and paces for a few minutes, trying to figure out a 
way to get these people talking.  Maybe she could get them to open up 
about Dr. Jacobs and his operation.  They were obviously desperate 
enough for a child to buy one, so she decides to use that to her 
advantage.  She opens her suit jacket to show off, rather than hide her 
expanding waistline.

"Bill, Suzy," she calls to them as she walks back into the living room.  
"Thank you so much for letting me use the phone.  My husband will be 
here soon.  He just had to finish up with a patient.  So I'll just wait 
out in the car for him.  Thanks again."  She gives them a phony smile 
and places her hand on her stomach, rubbing it gently to bring 
attention to it.  She waves good-bye with her other hand and turns to 
leave.

"Bill, we can't make her sit outside in the dark by herself," she hears 
Suzy say just as she gets to the door.  "Did you see her stomach?  I 
think she's pregnant."

"Parker," they both call out, stopping her in her tracks and bringing a 
satisfied grin to her face.  She promptly wipes it away and replaces it 
with her innocent look again before turning to face them.

"Yes?"

"Don't go out there all alone.  Why don't you wait in here," Suzy 
offers, her former icy facade now melting.  

"I couldn't intrude," Miss Parker objects.

"It's no bother.  Really," Suzy insists, pulling on Miss Parker's arm 
until she's back inside.  "I couldn't help noticing.  Are you 
pregnant?"

"I am," Miss Parker smiles, trying to fake a look of surprise.  "How 
can you tell?  I didn't even think I was showing yet."

"Oh, don't get me wrong.  You look great.  I could hardly tell.  But 
you have a look about you," Suzy says.

"A look?"

"A glow pregnant women get.  Suzy looked that way when she was 
pregnant," Bill smiles adoringly at his wife.

"You have children?" Miss Parker asks, a bit surprised.  She knew they 
had a baby they bought from Dr. Jacobs.  But she didn't expect them to 
mention Suzy ever being pregnant.

"A little girl," Suzy nods.  "She's 6 weeks old.  So it wasn't so long 
ago that I was where you are now.  What are you, about 4 months along?"

"Just about," Miss Parker confirms for her.  "Thank goodness the 
morning sickness phase is over."

"Oh, you're lucky.  I was sick my entire pregnancy.  If it wasn't one 
problem, it was the next."  Suzy looks at her husband and grabs his 
hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.  He takes over the story from there.

"Gillian's our little miracle baby.  We didn't think she'd make it.  
But Dr. Jacobs is a miracle worker."

"Dr. Jacobs?" she asks innocently.  Now they were getting somewhere.  
Her gut was telling her that these people have no idea what kind of man 
Dr. Jacobs is.  And if she were to guess, she'd say that the baby 
upstairs that they call Gillian is not the same baby Suzy gave birth 
to.  So while it's probably true that they bought the baby, they didn't 
realize it.  They thought they were only buying a miracle cure for 
their sick child.  "Is he your doctor?"

"He wasn't at first.  Gillian was very sick when she was born.  She 
spent the first week of her life in the neonatal ICU.  Dr. Jacobs 
approached us at the end of that first week and told us about an 
experimental cure he had developed.  We agreed to let him try it on the 
baby since her other doctors told us there wasn't much else they could 
do for her," Suzy says.

"A week later, we were bringing home a healthy baby girl.  Gillian was 
completely cured," Bill exclaims, as if still amazed at such a 
recovery.  "It's like nothing ever happened to her.  We were truly 
blessed.  Blessed to have our baby home with us.  And blessed that we 
could afford to do something to help her.  They say money doesn't buy 
happiness, but . . . "

"But it was able to buy you something better - a miracle," Miss Parker 
smiles uneasily.  This was much worse than she thought.  This couple 
wanted nothing more than to raise a normal, healthy child.  But for 
some reason, it wasn't to be until Dr. Jacobs stepped in and decided to 
play God.  Now, she can only hope that when the truth comes out, Bill 
and Suzy will be able to deal with the heart break.

* * * * * * * * * * 

Dr. Jacobs circles the block one more time and it becomes certain to 
him that he's being followed.  He looks into the rearview mirror to try 
to see who it is.  He can't be sure, but from this distance, it looks 
like Jarod.  He swears outloud and hits the steering wheel, but doesn't 
let his anger get the better of him.  He had to be smarter than that.  
He's gotten this far by keeping his wits about him.  He wasn't going to 
let some nosy doctor rattle him.  It was bad enough the Alexander woman 
regained consciousness and involved the police.  Bad, but not hopeless.  
He just needed Jarod to mind his own business while he tied up loose 
ends.

Tired of leading him around the neighborhood, he pulls up to the curb 
and parks behind another car that's on the street.  About a half a 
block away, he notices a house for sale.  He realizes he could go 
there, sneak out the back and make it to his true destination without 
Jarod being the wiser.  Stepping out of the car, he pretends not to 
notice the car that came to a stop just around the corner.  He takes 
his time and patiently walks to the house for sale, making it look as 
if he has legitimate business there.  After some struggling, the doctor 
is able to get the door to the house open and he hurries inside.  He 
stands by the window in the darkness of the house, watching Jarod watch 
him.  A few minutes later, however, Jarod's actions surprise him.  Dr. 
Jacobs watches the man get out of the car and run up to the other car 
on the street, the one he parked behind.   Jarod seemed completely 
enthralled with the car.  He smiles at the sudden turn of events in his 
favor.  With Jarod distracted, he may be able to put an end to his 
meddling ways.

Dr. Jacobs manages to silently make his way out of the house without 
Jarod even noticing.  Whatever was in that car had his undivided 
attention.  Which worked out perfectly for Dr. Jacobs.  Jarod would 
never even know what hit him.

To be continued . . .