Title - Saying the Words Author - Nicky Rating - PG Category - JMPR Summary - Jarod and Miss Parker are finally together in a new town with new names and making new friends. So how come they keep on finding the same old trouble? Disclaimer - The characters aren't mine. I'm just using them for my own entertainment purposes. * * * * * * * * * * Chapter 25 * * * * * * * * * * The sheriff paces nervously outside of Jarod's room. He was very unnerved by his earlier confrontation with the man. Jarod may be the prisoner, but he's the one who had the sheriff quaking with fear. The sheriff is shaken from his thoughts by the sounds of footsteps coming towards him. He looks up and sees Lynn approaching him. She gets worried when she notices the scowl on his face. "What happened?" she asks. "It's this Jarod guy. He kind of scares me," the sheriff admits. "What exactly do you know about him?" "What do you mean?" Lynn is confused. "He's a teacher. That's what I hired him for." "Yeah, right," the sheriff deadpans. "I've seen the way you look at him, Lynn. I'm sure you were hoping to get into something . . . extracurricular with him." "Jealous?" She lifts an eyebrow and flashes a coy smile at him. "You're not exactly faithful to your wife. What makes you think I'd be faithful to you, Buck? That's the nature of adulterous affairs." "Whatever," he grumbles. "My question is this. How much did you check out his background? Did you check his references? What's his resume look like?" "Like it was out of a textbook, actually. It was perfect. Flawless, really." "Flawless? Lynn, that didn't set off any signals?" he yells, running his hands angrily through his hair. "This guy could be anybody. He could be undercover or something, did you think of that? He's in there spouting off like he's some kind of lawyer or something. This guy is much more than just a high school teacher." "Baby, calm down," Lynn says throatily. The sexy tremble in her voice causes the sheriff to instantly take notice. She saunters up to him and leans into his suddenly aching groin. He smiles at her, knowing how this game was played. "And what if I don't?" he practically groans, especially when she rubs a bare foot up the back of his calf. "Then I guess I'll just have to come up with a way to help you . . . relieve some tension," she purrs, working his ear lobe into her mouth and biting it lightly. She moves down to his neck and is well on her way to leaving her mark on him when a cry rings out from down the hall. "That was from Kylie's room," he says, pushing Lynn away. He grabs his pants, which he discovers had been mysteriously unbuttoned and unzipped, and refastens them, before moving quickly to the girl's room. He pulls out his keys and unlocks the door, rushing inside. He may have a lot of girlfriends, but that didn't mean he didn't care about each of them. "What's wrong with her?" Lynn asks impatiently. "I don't know." He furrows his brow and looks back at the girl, gently sweeping her hair out of her face to reveal the tears streaming down. "Kylie. Can you hear me? What's wrong, sweet heart?" "It hurts," she gasps. "I think it's the baby." The sheriff lifts his panic stricken face to Lynn to see what he should do. He didn't have any idea what was happening. "Don't look at me," Lynn snaps. "You're the one who got her pregnant and brought her here. This is your mess to deal with." They both look around when they hear a banging on the wall. It sounded like it was coming from the room next door. From Jarod. "Is everything alright in there?" his muffled voice calls. "Please, let me help. I've had some medical training." "Oh, so he's a doctor now," the sheriff says sarcastically. "Tell him thanks, but no thanks. I'm not going to risk setting him loose. I'll just take her to the hospital." "Talk about risk," Lynn says nervously. "Are you sure that's what you're going to do? What if she talks?" "I'll make sure she doesn't," the sheriff promises. He lifts the girl into his arms and carries her out of the room. Lynn watches them disappear down the hall. She was getting a bad feeling about this whole thing. It was time to cut her losses and get out of town. All she needed was enough money to get her somewhere warm and tropical with lots of muscle bound cabana boys. The pounding on the wall startles her. She forgotten all about Jarod. "Hello? Hello? Is anyone there? Does someone need help?" Lynn walks patiently down the hall to Jarod's room. She slides open the tiny slit and peeks inside. "She'll be fine, Jarod. The sheriff took her to the hospital." "Good," he sighs. "If her accomodations are anything like mine, then they're less than adequate for a healthy pregnancy. She needs to get out of here. Has she been taking any prenatal vitamins? How about her meals? Have they been properly balanced?" "You seem to know an awful lot about this," Lynn says. "My wife is pregnant. You know that," he says. "And like I said before, I've had some medical training." "Medical training?" Lynn sound suspicious. "You've had legal training as well? Buck says you were dispensing lawyerly advice to him earlier. Tell me something, Jarod. When, in between being a doctor and a lawyer, have you had the time to become a teacher?" "You'd be surprised at what I could do," he tells her cautiously. He didn't know what she was thinking. But he didn't like the tone of her voice. "I was actually more surprised at what you *wouldn't* do. Namely me," she purrs, trying again to seduce him. "Miss Stokes. I love only my wife. I've loved her my whole life. I wouldn't risk that by having an affair. Besides," he adds with a grin. "She'd kill me if I did. And I mean that literally. She'd take out her gun and . . . well, you get the picture. She's a good shot, my wife." Lynn looks into the room and can see a look of pride on Jarod's face. He truly believed his wife would kill him. And that made him proud. She doesn't know what kind of sick relationship he had with his wife, but it wasn't one she wanted to get in the middle of any longer. No, she's decided Jarod should have a more lucrative use to her. She would use him as her meal ticket out of that town. * * * * * * * * * * After a quiet start, Broots and Celia end up talking for hours. He checks the computer from time to time to make sure nothing has come up, but nothing out of the ordinary demands his attention. He eagerly turns it back to Celia. They don't even realize how long they've been talking until an excited Miss Parker bursts into the house. Broots looks at his watch and is surprised at the time. "Mara," Celia gasps. "Slow down. You're going to hurt yourself." "No time. We found something, Something that could possibly lead to Jarod," she says in a rushed jumble. Sydney has to translate for her. "We found the car Jarod was driving, abandoned a few miles from the school. When we searched it, we found this." He looks to Miss Parker and she holds out her hand for Broots and Celia to see what she held. "It's his tape recorder," she tells them before they have the chance to ask. "It's voice activated. Somehow, it ended up under the seat. And apparently the sheriff didn't know. Because the whole thing is on here. How the sheriff kidnapped him and everything. Jarod left as many clues as he could, but the tape cuts off before he can tell us where he was taken." She sits down and takes a deep breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. If she didn't settle down soon, the baby would start kicking up a storm again. But she couldn't help it. She was so close. "Maybe you can help us, Celia. On the tape, Jarod mentions leaving the school and heading west down highway 20," Sydney explains. "Is there anything out there? Houses? Farms? Anyplace like that the sheriff can hold two hostages without anyone noticing?" "West on Highway 20 pretty much leads nowhere," Celia says apologetically. "The highway has to end somewhere. And it ends there, about 30 miles outside of town." "30 miles? Why does it continue on for so long if there's nothing out there?" Miss Parker asks, desperate for any clue. "Wait a minute," Celia says, suddenly remembering something. "There used to be something out there. Just about where the highway ends. I thought they tore it down, but it's possible it's still out there." "What?" Broots asks. "Cedar Springs used to be out there. It's an old mental hospital," she clarifies for them when they all give her a confused look. "Most people don't even know about it since they added a psychiatric wing to the hospital in Edgemont years ago and shut down Cedar Springs. But I remember it because my older sister used to tell me stories about it being haunted when we were growing up." "We should get out there," Miss Parker insists, trying a few times before lifting herself off the couch. "You're kidding, right?" Broots asks her incredulously. "Miss Parker, you can barely get off the couch. What are you going to do out there?" He's never been so angry with her before. And he's never had the courage to express himself like that to her. But it was time she realized her limitations. "I'm going to get my husband," she growls at him, before waddling across the room to the closet. She reaches up on the top shelf and grabs a box. Inside the box was her gun. She lifts it up, the shining metal sparkling in the light. "And if anybody gets in my way, this should stop them." "Mara, that's a gun," Celia gasps in surprise. "Celia, there's a lot about me that you don't know. I had a dangerous job working for some dangerous people. Those people are after Jarod and I now. The gun is for protection." Actually, more like an extension of her arm, but she doesn't feel it necessary to tell Celia that. "I can see now why you were so sure Jarod would never cheat on you. With that thing around, you'd be tempted to kill him," Celia laughs nervously. "You have no idea how close I've gotten," Miss Parker says, laughing along with her. "I wouldn't hesitate if he even thought about touching another woman." "And he knows it," Sydney adds with a chuckle. "Jarod knows who's boss around here." "Yeah. He does," she sighs sadly, remembering him. Sometimes if she lets it, the sadness of him being gone could really overwhelm her. But she didn't have time for that now. She had to go find Jarod. Wiping a stray tear from her cheek, she goes back to her task of loading the gun. "Mara, I wish you'd reconsider, but I know you won't," Celia starts, interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She excuses herself and answers it, going into the kitchen for some privacy. "She's right, Miss Parker," Broots says. "Save it, Broots," she snaps at him. "I *am* going out there. And I *will* bring Jarod home. Now you can stand here and try to stop me, or you can come with me and help me." "You're not going to let this go, are you? I guess I'm going with you," he sighs, shaking his head. "Thank you," she whispers, barely able to contain her tears. "I have to do this. I have to find him," she says, trying to make them understand the risk she's taking. She looks down at her stomach and caresses it gently. "We need him." "Then let's go get him." Broots gives her and encouraging smile and steps up to her, placing his hand next to hers on her belly. "You hear that, little guy? We're going to go get your daddy." Miss Parker is getting the other gun out of the closet to give to Broots when Celia returns from the kitchen, visibly upset. "What's wrong, Celia?" Miss Parker asks, trying to keep herself from panicking. She could sense the woman's tension. Something tells her that phone call didn't bring good news. "That was Olivia MacArthur," Celia practically whispers. "They found Kylie." "Oh, no," Miss Parker gasps, putting a hand to her mouth. "She isn't . . . " "No, she's not dead," Celia answers quickly. She can see the other woman let out a relieved sigh. But Celia bites her lip, knowing that the rest of the news she had to share may be more that her friend could handle. "That's good to hear. How is she doing? Is there anyway she can help us find . . . " she pauses and stares at Celia, taking in her pained expression. "There's more you're not telling me. It's Jarod, isn't it?" "Mara, why don't you sit down," Celia gently suggests. She's shocked when the woman actually listens and lowers her bulky mass into a nearby chair. "Just tell me," Miss Parker pleads. "Is he okay?" To be continued . . .