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.

 

Note:  This story is the second in what has become my ‘Reflection’ series.  It is the sequel to True Reflection of Love.

 

 

The Trust Game

By Nicky

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Miss Parker glides down the halls of the Centre, not feeling at all like she did just a few short days ago.  Things with Jarod had been straightened out, and she felt as if they were on the right path towards . . . something.  She didn't know what, but she felt good about it, whatever it was.  Almost as if it were a new start for both of them.  Another chance at love and happiness.

 

Her obvious change in attitude was apparent to everyone she encountered.  The desk clerks whom she normally ignored got a smile and a nod from her today.  The random sweepers patrolling the hallways that normally were victim of her icy glare were greeted today by a warm and sincere hello.

 

"Good morning, Miss Parker," Broots stutters, cowering behind Sydney.  Not yet aware of the good mood ruling his normally grouchy boss.

 

"Hey Broots," she says with a warm smile.  She holds her arms open and embraces Sydney.  "Good morning, Syd. Thanks again for letting me use your cabin."

 

"I take it things went well for you," the old man insinuates.

 

"Very well," she smiles.  Then she looks over at a very shocked Broots and laughs.  "It's really me, Broots.  I guess Spring Fever can strike anyone."

 

"Well, your day is about to get even better," Broots promises.  "A package arrived just this morning from Jarod.  I think it may pinpoint his whereabouts.  I have it right here."

 

She takes the package from Broots, trying hard to conceal the smile beginning to form on her lips. Her stomach starts to do little flip-flops at the mere mention of his name.  She realizes, though, that she can't contain her excitement and rips open the package like a small child at Christmas.  Inside the box were fixings for banana splits - minus the ice cream and whipped cream, of course.  But everything else was there.  Even the bananas.  Reminiscent of that day in the ice cream parlor all those months ago.

 

"That fudge sauce is a special brand, made only one place in the country," Broots tells them.

 

"How do you know that, Broots?" Sydney is curious. 

 

"I'm not supposed to be telling you this, Miss Parker.  But you know my loyalty lies only with you," the computer technician starts.  "I got in really early this morning.  I walked by your office and was surprised to see your light on.  When I peeked in, I saw Lyle at your desk, looking through the box.  He made me do some research on the items in the box to see if I could find a lead on Jarod.  There didn't seem to be any clues we could use.  Only the fact that the fudge sauce is made only in this little town in South Carolina.  In fact, the town is famous for it . . . "

 

"A little town in South Carolina," she gasps.  All the blood drains from her face and she suddenly feels very panicked.  It was in a little town in South Carolina seven months ago her car broke down.  She was on her way from a conference in Charlotte, North Carolina to meet up with Lyle in Florida.  It was in that same little town that she stumbled upon Jarod and his family.  And it was in that little town when she first realized she was in love with him.

 

She keeps on looking through the box to see if she can find her own clues.  Maybe something one of them had missed.  Anything to end the feeling of doom coming over her.  She comes across a piece of paper folded up and tucked into one of the empty bottles of sauce towards the bottom the box. She hurries to pull out the paper and almost cries at the sight.  It's a picture drawn by Imani.  Made especially for her.  Miss Parker lets a small tear escape as her mind wanders back to the little girl who had stolen her heart.  She can actually feel all the love the girl put into the picture.  And just as strongly as she feels the love, she feels something else.  Danger.  Fear.  More tears.  But not hers.  Imani's.

 

"Lyle got this box first?" she manages to squeak out, trying hard to keep her own tears at bay.  "Did you tell him yet about this place?  Is he on the way there?"

 

"He left about an hour ago," Broots admits.  "I'm sorry, Miss Parker.  I thought a lead on Jarod would make you happy.  I didn't know that you . . ."

 

"Don't worry about it, Broots.  You were only doing your job," she assures the man.  "Stay here and keep me posted on Lyle's progress.  Syd, we have to get to South Carolina before Lyle does.  Who knows what he'll do to whoever he finds there."

 

The two race out of the Centre before Broots can get another word in edgewise.  Something strange was going on with Miss Parker.  He just didn't know what it was.  Maybe she was just jealous that Lyle might capture Jarod before she could.  Who knows.  And who cares.  It wasn't his job to question it.

 

 

"What's really going on, Parker?"  Sydney gently asks once they get on the plane.  They were going to fly down to the Charleston International Airport and rent a car there to drive to the little town Lyle was headed.  With any luck, they wouldn't be too far behind him.

 

"Lyle might find more than Jarod when he gets to South Carolina," Miss Parker sighs.  She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the folded up piece of paper she found in the box earlier that day.  The one with the picture Imani drew for her.  She fingers it tenderly, tracing every line and marking on the sheet.  "He's been there for the past few years with his daughter and his wife's family."

 

"Wife?  You told me a little about the little girl.  But never about where she came from.  Talking about Jarod seemed to upset you, so I never asked much."

 

"Well, it's a long story. One I can't get into right now.  But I can tell you the Centre's involved.  And if they found Jarod's daughter, then . . ."

 

"You really care about her, don't you?  And for Jarod," Sydney states.  Able to see clearly now what's been bothering Miss Parker all of those months.

 

"I love them both, Syd," she simply says.  "That's why I have to get to Imani before Lyle does.  She'll be terrified of him."  She holds the drawing close to her chest and can't help the storm of tears that begins to fall.

 

"Miss Parker, there's more to this than you're telling me," Sydney realizes.  His psychiatrist mind was working overtime and he notices that the drawing seems to be eliciting deep emotions from her.

 

"Syd, I can feel her," she whispers, almost afraid of what she was saying.  "It's like . . . It's sort of like . . . Oh, I don't really know how to explain it.  But when I held the picture, I could practically see her in my mind.  And I saw her crying.  I could feel her fear.  And I knew at that moment I had to get to her."

 

"Hmm," he grunts, pondering what she just told him. 

 

"What?  What do you mean by 'hmm'?  You don't seem surprised that I'm telling you this," she says.

 

"To be perfectly honest with you, I'm not surprised.  Not surprised at all," he smiles.

 

"My mother?" she asks curiously.

 

"Yes.  Your mother had this same sort of sense.  It's a sense a lot like Angelo's ability to empath.  But usually occurs when you have a deep attachment to the subject.  My guess is that this little girl got your biological clock ticking, so to speak.  The maternal feelings you're having for her are what's making the empathetic connection so strong," he explains.

 

"Oh," she says quietly, turning to look out of the window at the clouds passing by.  They still had a long way before they got to South Carolina.  Plenty of time to think about her feelings and this new 'sense' she's apparently developed.

 

 

Four and a half hours later found Miss Parker and Sydney pulling into the driveway at Jarod's house.  The last time she walked through these doors, she had no idea what would be on the other side.  She didn't know that she'd find a man trying his best to raise his daughter and keep her safe.  She didn't know that she'd find a man that she would want to spend the rest of her life with.  She didn't know that she would grow to love a child so much that she'd be able to feel whenever that child was in any kind of pain.

 

She pulls out her gun and raises a shaky hand to open the screen door.  Inside the house, she finds Lyle and a host of sweepers, tormenting the inhabitant.

 

"Lyle!" she yells.  "You mind telling me what's going on here?"

 

"Sis.  Nice of you to join us," Lyle sneers, mentally noting that the computer geek didn't take long to leak this tip to Miss Parker.  "We were just questioning this nice old lady about our missing lab rat."

 

"Looks like she's answered all of your questions," Miss Parker growls.  She glances out of the corner of her eye and sees Miss Dee, Imani's grandmother, sitting in a chair in the corner.  She looks frightened, but trying to hide it.  She does a quick scan of the room and doesn't see Imani anywhere, a fact that gives her some relief, but also some fear. Where could the child be?  Her question is answered in the next second.  She turns back to see Miss Dee and sees the old woman flash a quick, yet reassuring smile as if the tell her that Imani was okay.

 

"I guess so," Lyle says, noticing she still had the gun pointed his way and getting the hint that it was time to leave.  "Come on guys.  We're through here." 

 

All the men except for Sydney exit the house, followed by Miss Parker.  She grabs Lyle on the porch and slams him against the door.

 

"Since when are we in the business of harassing harmless old women, Lyle?  Or was that in a memo I missed."

 

"Listen, we had a tip that Jarod lived here.  But apparently not.  There's nothing in the house to indicate that," he admits.

 

"And you couldn't figure that out just by walking in there?" she screams, exasperated at his actions.  But also relieved that Jarod didn't get caught.  "And where are you going?" she asks when he starts to walk away from her.  "Don't you think you should smooth things over with the woman?  Make sure she doesn't call the cops or something."

 

"No, I'll leave that to you," he says, flashing her a cocky grin while putting on a pair of sunglasses.  She turns her back and can hear him laughing at her all the way to the car.  Little did he know, she was laughing at him all the way back into the house.

 

"I'm so sorry about my brother," Miss Parker begins apologizing when she sees an obviously ticked off Miss Dee sitting across the room.  "I had no idea what he was planning."

 

"That's quite alright, Dear.  Your friend Sydney here was explaining it all to me," Miss Dee says before getting a smile on her face.  "Now, is that anyway to greet someone?  Why don't you come over here and give me a hug, Miss Parker," she says with a laugh, adding that same taunting tone to her name as the first time the two women met.

 

Miss Parker runs to the woman's open arms and can hardly stifle her own laugh.  Miss Dee just wasn't going to let that little mistake go.

 

<"My name's Deidre Nelson.  But everyone around here just calls me Miss Dee."  She offers a hand to Miss Parker to shake, giving her a silent invitation to introduce herself.>

 

<"Miss Parker.  Everyone calls me Miss Parker.">

 

<"Pleased to meet you, Miss Parker," the woman says, emphasizing the 'Miss' with a kind of mocking tone.>

 

<"Actually, you don't have to call me that," Miss Parker says, with a shocking change of heart that surprises even herself.  It just didn't sound right having the woman call her 'Miss' anything.  For some reason, this woman's presence commanded respect.  And Miss Parker suddenly feels as if she doesn't deserve her respect.  "You can call me Tori.">

 

"How have you been, Miss Dee?  It's been so long," Miss Parker inquires.

 

"Much better than you could have been," the woman says.  "I can only imagine what you've been going through.  Because Jarod's been sulking around here for months now.  Ever since you were here last."

 

"He thought that I betrayed him," Miss Parker says, dropping her head remembering how bad the past few months had been for her.  "But I didn't betray him.  It was all a misunderstanding."

 

"I figured as much.  He was hurting, though.  And there was nothing I or Imani could say to change his mind," Miss Dee smiles.  "He's pretty stubborn that way."

 

"That sounds just like him," Sydney adds.

 

"You've known him long?" Miss Dee asks.

 

"All his life.  I practically raised him.  And Miss Parker here," Sydney says.  "I'm not proud of the way I facilitated in keeping either of them at that place, but . . ."

 

"Jarod's a fine young man, Sydney.  He was a good husband to my daughter and he's an excellent father to Imani.  You should be proud.  Because he had to get his values from someone.  I'm guessing that someone is you.  It's a reflection on you how he turned out."  Miss Dee's smile fades a bit when she stops to think about her own children.

 

"Miss Dee, you did a fine job raising your kids, too.  All of them," Miss Parker assures her, knowing that the woman was thinking she failed Willie somehow.  "But sometimes, things happen that are beyond anyone's control.  And the Centre is one of those 'things'."

 

"Billy was such a sweet boy," Miss Dee reflects. 

 

"Billy was your son?" Sydney asks curiously.

 

"Foster son," Miss Parker corrects him.  "But you know him better as Raines' sidekick, Willie."

 

"He was always so polite and charming.  And a handsome little devil," Miss Dee continues.  "When he came to live with us, he stole everyone's heart, especially Sharisse.  He was a lot like how Jarod is now.  Sensitive and caring.  Thoughtful and considerate.  It's no wonder she and Jarod got along so well.  Billy and Jarod even had that same smile.  You know the one that Jarod has that melts your heart."

 

"Oh, I'm more than familiar with that one," Miss Parker giggles, suddenly overwhelmed by a memory of that smile.

 

"Yeah.  That was my Billy.  I haven't heard from him since he left, but Jarod's been telling me some things.  How he works for that horrible place, the Centre.  And he also told me he shot you.  I'm sorry about that."

 

"Don't be, Miss Dee. It wasn't your fault."  Miss Parker grabs the woman's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.  "I'm sorry we can't stay longer, but my evil twin will start to get a little suspicious if we don't turn up soon after he does.  But before we go, do you think I can see Imani?"

 

"Of course.  My other daughter, Tracee, took her to the park before those men could see her.  I told her not to come back until they left.  But, they should be back any . . . "

 

Just then, the door bursts open and blinding flash races past Miss Parker. All she can hear is the pitter patter of tiny feet hitting the floor that stop and hide behind Miss Dee's legs.

 

" . .  minute," Miss Dee finishes, trying to detach the little predator from her legs.  "Imani, look who's here."

 

"Miss Parker," the little girl squeals, unwrapping herself from around her grandmother and running over and jumping up into Miss Parker's open arms.  "You came back."

 

"Of course I did, Baby Girl.  We're friends, remember?  There's no way I'd leave you and never come back.  I missed you so much."

 

"I missed you too," Imani says, planting a little kiss on Miss Parker's cheek.  "Can you stay?"

 

"I'm sorry, Sweetie.  We have to go.  I won't be far, though.  I promise.  And you can call me, whenever you want.  Preferably not at two in the morning, though," Miss Parker laughs, while the little girl is pretty confused, not understanding her father's knack for his middle of the night phone calls to Miss Parker.  "Give me one more little kiss.  I have to go."

 

Imani obliges her and Miss Parker gives the girl an extra hug before finally letting her go.  She says a hasty good-bye to Imani and Miss Dee and runs out of the house before anyone can see the tears.

 

 

 

Chapter 3