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.
"It's time to check the little mother one last
time." Miss Parker's doctor enters
the room, interrupting a quiet exchange between Lyle and his sister. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company."
"That's okay," Miss Parker says, looking
at Lyle as his mind begins to register what the doctor just said. "Let me introduce you. Dr. Phillips, this is my brother."
"Lyle," he says, holding his hand out to
shake the woman's hand. "Pleased
to meet you, Dr. Phillips. Little
mother?" he asks confused.
"Sis, are you . . . pregnant?"
"Congratulate me, Little Brother," she
smiles tentatively. He was shocked, she
could tell by the expression on his face.
And maybe a little betrayed that she didn't tell him about it.
"I . . . um . . . I'm going to wait outside
while you do . . . whatever . . . Congratulations," he manages to say
through his cluttered thoughts. He runs
out the door and jumps as it closes behind him. His legs don't stop once he's out the room. He keeps on running and running until he
finds that he's somehow made it up to the roof.
"What am I going to do now?" he asks
himself out loud. "What am I going
to do?"
A tear begins to fall down his face, but he doesn't
bother to wipe it away. Tears were the
least he owed his sister, after what his father sent him to do. He thinks back to the conversation he just
had with the man a few hours earlier.
The trip back from Idaho gave him plenty of time to
think. After the attack, he made the
conscious decision to do something about his sister's attachment to Jarod. It was making her weak. And making her make bad decisions. Something had to be done about Jarod. It didn't take long for him to come up with
a plan. Miss Parker never did what she
was told to do. Even if their father
ordered her to steer clear of Jarod, she wouldn't. The Centre was the only entity that garnered her utter
obedience. An order would have to come
from them.
His plan was simple. Convince his father that for the sake of the Jarod chase, Miss
Parker needed to be away from it. And
the only way to ensure she'd stay away would be to send her away. A field office in Kansas or Austin or
something. It didn't really
matter. Just as long as she was away
from it all. And she'd be able to take
Imani and lead a normal life. All he
had to do now was convince his father to request the transfer.
<'You wanted to see me, Dad.' He walks into his father's office, trying to
keep his nerve. She's be angry at him
if she ever found out what he'd done.
But this was for her own good.>
<'Where have you been? Your sister's been back for hours.'>
<'I know.
She left when I was asleep. Have
you spoken to her? Did she say anything
to you? Is she okay?'>
<'Why? What happened? You sound awfully concerned all of a sudden.'>
<'Nothing,' Lyle lies, deciding to keep the
attack to himself. 'But I am
concerned. About the Jarod chase. I think Miss Parker is just a stumbling
block for us. I'd be better off
searching for him on my own. Is it
possible to transfer her somewhere else?'
He laid his cards out on the table.
There was no turning back now.>
<'Another department? Back to Corporate maybe?' Mr. Parker asks.>
<'How about another state? Or country even. She's been distracted with that little girl. It would be better for them both to be away
from the Jarod chase. We'd all be
better off. You know what happened to
my mother when she started a family.
Miss Parker may be like her and start to develop noble intentions where
Jarod's concerned.' Lyle suggests.>
<'You're right, son. Your sister has been a hindrance to finding Jarod. I always knew they were attached as
children. I just thought she'd grow out
of it. But not even the brainwashing
seemed to help. She still has this
connection that's getting in the way.
So, we need to break the connection.>
<'Just what I was thinking,' Lyle smiles. This was easier than he had expected it to
be. His father was agreeing to the
transfer. He was relieved that Miss
Parker would finally be getting away from Jarod and all the danger her feelings
for him were putting her in. 'Where are
you going to send her? The office in
Chicago? Philadelphia? Rome?'>
<'I was thinking a little further away than
that,' Mr. Parker says with an evil grin.>
<'What are you saying, Dad?'>
<'Simply transferring your sister won't help
any. She's become too much of a
liability. She needs to be removed . .
. permanently. And I want you to do
it.'>
<'You want me to kill her?' Lyle asks with a
shaky voice. He couldn't believe what
his father was ordering.>
<'Is that a problem?' Mr. Parker challenges. 'I figured it was the least you could
do. Seeing as how you ruined the last
attempt to take care of her.'>
<'You set up that attack,' Lyle realizes. 'That guy in Boise was supposed to kill
her.'>
<'And now, you're going to do it.' He looks at
Lyle with a look saying that he didn't have a choice about it. That if he didn't do it, someone else would
kill them both.>
<'She was rushed to the hospital this
morning. Sydney called it in. He's there with her now. Send him back here and then you offer to
take her home. Once you're there, take
care of her. Is that clear?'>
"What am I going to do now?" he repeats to
himself. His father is expecting him to
deliver her dead body. But he couldn't
kill her. Especially now. With the baby. He sighs, wondering what he was going to do. Wishing now that Jarod had been able to
convince her to leave before this. He
realized that Jarod was only trying to do the same thing he's doing now - get
her away from that place before it kills her.
But now, it just might be too late.
Jarod continues to sit in shock over the last bit of
news he discovered. He and Willie
shared a father. He didn't know how to
handle that. He didn't know what to
think about it all. How do you let go
of years of hate and anger just because you found out that someone's your
brother? How can he just forget about
all the beatings he received by the hands of Willie? How can he just ignore the way he betrayed Miss Dee and her
family over the years? How can he
forget about the way his heart literally shattered the very second Willie's
bullet almost killed the love of his life?
It was too much.
"Jarod, I know you have some issues with
him," Miss Dee starts.
"Issues?
Miss Dee, you don't even know the half of the things he's done," he
interrupts her. "I won't even tell
you about them because it would kill you to know the kind of person he's become."
"He's my baby boy, Jarod," Miss Dee
cries. "For almost 15 years, I
loved and raised him."
"Well, for almost 6 years, he's tormented
me. Imprisoned me. And attempted to recapture me. Not to mention how he almost killed the
woman that I love more than my own life."
"I understand," she whispers. "But please understand where I'm coming
from. You encouraged Victoria to try to
make amends with her brother. I want to
implore you to do the same. You two are
so much alike. Those eyes. That smile.
And the caring sensitive way he used to be. I know there's good inside of him, Jarod. I know that it's still there."
"There has to be good in him," he
smiles. "With you as a mother, I
don't see how there couldn't." He
leans over and hugs her, enjoying the feeling of being in a mother's arms. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Jarod. Just do me a favor and please bring my boy
back to me. For all of our sakes."
"I'll do my best," he says, kissing her on
the cheek. "Why don't you go up
and get some rest. You've got to be
tired too. Imani will be up soon and
hopefully Tori will be home too."
Jarod takes her up to the guest room next to Imani's
room. He makes sure she's settled
before going back down. He had almost
forgotten about his earlier task of listening to the tapes from Mr. Parker's
office. As he recalls, he'd left off at
an interesting point.
<'Simply transferring your sister won't help
any. She's become too much of a
liability. She needs to be removed . .
. permanently. And I want you to do
it.'>
<'You want me to kill her?' Lyle asks with a
shaky voice.>
<'Is that a problem?' Mr. Parker challenges. 'I figured it was the least you could
do. Seeing as how you ruined the last
attempt to take care of her.'>
<'You set up that attack,' Lyle realizes. 'That guy in Boise was supposed to kill
her.'>
<'And now, you're going to do it. She was rushed to the hospital this
morning. Sydney called it in. He's there with her now. Send him back here and then you offer to
take her home. Once you're there, take
care of her. Is that clear?'>
The tape is silent for awhile and Jarod sits,
listening to the silence and trying to grasp what's about to happen. Several emotions rush through Jarod, but
none more than hate. Even after all Mr.
Parker's done to him, he's never hated the man more than he did that very
second. Not only did he authorize an
attack on his daughter, but now he's sending her brother to finish the job.
Mr. Parker's voice comes back over the tape one last
time, startling Jarod out of his stupor.
It sounded as if he was talking to someone on the phone, because the
conversation was one sided.
<'I need you to do one more thing . . . He's
leaving for the hospital now . . .Wait for him at her house and make sure he
follows through. If not, kill them
both.'>
The phone slams on the tape, making Jarod jump. Mr. Parker was serious. If Lyle didn't kill Miss Parker then he was
sending someone who would. He had to come
up with a way to save them all.
Jarod stops the tape and grabs his phone, hastily
dialing Sydney's cell phone number.
"This is Sydney," the voice answers.
"Syd!
This is Jarod. Where are
you?"
"Back at the office. I was politely ordered by Lyle come back here. He's bringing Parker home now."
"They've left already?" Jarod asks,
practically in tears.
"What's going on, Jarod?" Sydney’s voice
is marred with concern. Something was
going on to get the pretender all worked up.
"I'll have to explain it to you later," he
tells Sydney before abruptly hanging up the phone. 'If there is a later,' he thinks to himself.
He doesn't have much time to come up with a
plan. As soon as he hangs up the phone,
he hears a car pull into the driveway.
He quickly tries to SIM a plan, but his mind is too clouded with raw
emotions. The door starts to open and
he has barely enough time to find his gun and tuck it into the waistband of his
jeans.
"Thanks for bringing me home," Miss Parker
says to Lyle. She's standing in the
doorway, keeping him out on the porch.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Lyle
asks, looking around nervously. He knew
his father was serious about wanting Miss Parker dead. He wasn't taking any more chances. Lyle knew that someone else would be there
to handle the job if he failed.
"The place is a mess," she tries to
explain.
"I'll clean it for you. You need your rest anyway." He pushes his way into the house and leads
her to the sofa.
Miss Parker looks around, trying to spot Jarod, or
any evidence of him. She doesn't see
him and almost breathes a sigh of relief that all's clear.
"How's Imani?" Lyle asks, trying to stall
to give himself time to gather the courage to confess to her what their father
was making him do.
"Good.
I miss her, though. Why do you
ask?" Miss Parker looks at him quizzically, wondering why he's asking
about Imani out of the blue like that.
"No reason.
She's so little. I bet you worry
about what would happen to her if you weren't around. I mean, who would take care of her?"
Miss Parker’s innocent wonderment turns to shock and
fear. Why is Lyle asking her these
questions?
"Her father would take care of her," Jarod
says from the darkness.
Lyle and Miss Parker look over to the source of the
voice, but all they see is the silver glint from the gun.
"Now if you don't mind stepping away from my
wife and putting your hands where I can see them," Jarod orders.
"Jarod, what are you doing?" Miss Parker
asks him. She's grateful that he's
there, but also a little confused as to why he's holding a gun on her brother.
"I don't think I'm the one who needs to be
explaining his actions. Am I
Lyle?" They both look over to Lyle
and a guilty look instantly graces his face.
"Do you want to tell her what's going on here? Or shall I?"
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