Part 15: And They Lived...
by N.R. Levy

Parker stood in front of the black marble tombstone for the first time in over a year. For the very first time since the second name had been added. It was still dangerous to be here, she knew that, but she couldn’t ignore the first anniversary of her father’s death. So she stood here, unable to cry, unsure of how she felt, holding two-dozen red roses in her hands.

Finally, she knelt down, placing 11 of the flowers under her mother’s name, another 11 under her father’s. It seemed so right to have them together again. As much as she hated Lyle, she was at least grateful to him for making sure their father was laid to rest here, in the one and only place on earth he would ever find peace.

Standing, she walked slowly back toward her car, stopping only when she neared another black marble marker.  This one was smaller, and had clearly been visited even less than that of her parents. She hated that, hated that no one else seemed to remember him. But she would, always, and so would his son.

She leaned down again, placing the two remaining roses under Thomas’ name, and then she let her fingers trace the carved letters. So many times, she had silently thanked him for everything he had meant to her, for their son, yet it never seemed to her to be enough. It would, she knew, never be enough until the man who had taken him away paid for what he had done.

Parker stood again, wiping away the one errant tear which had somehow found it’s way to her cheek, and walked quickly to her car, climbing in and driving straight to the airport. She boarded a plane to New York, where she stayed only long enough to grab her luggage, change her clothes, let down the hair she had worn up earlier in Delaware, and board another plane, this one bound for California.

Hours later, she fought exhaustion as her taxi headed through the hills of San Francisco toward her house. She yawned and stretched trying to wake herself, a small feeling of excitement beginning to grow in her stomach.  She couldn’t wait to get home.

The car stopped and she hopped out, paying the driver and grabbing her things. She was halfway up the stairs when the door flew open and she dropped everything she was carrying to scoop Thomas Kyle up into her arms and hold him tightly, her eyes catching a smile on Sam’s face as he checked the street to make certain the area was free of interlopers and sweepers.

"Mommy, you were gone too long."

"I’m sorry, baby. Did you take good care of everyone for me?"

"Mommy, Catherine was very good, but that other one..."

Parker immediately burst into laughter at her son’s commentary. Thomas, who had just officially turned 16 months old spoke like he had been in school for years, and it was clear that he had definitely inherited her genius intellect. He also considered himself quite the big brother. He had immediately fallen in love with baby Catherine, but his feelings for her twin brother were far more complicated. Michael – she still couldn’t believe Jarod had insisted on naming the poor little boy after her – seemed to annoy Thomas very much. Sydney was certain it was because Thomas thought of himself as his mother’s "baby boy" and he was damn sure not ready to share her with another one.  It was a reminder that for all his brilliance, her son was still a small, impressionable little child – something she hoped she and Jarod would never forget.

Finally inside the house, Parker set Thomas down and moved quickly to the bassinette where five-week-old Catherine lay sleeping soundly. Thomas eagerly climbed the stairs, his hand held tightly in Sam’s much larger one. She watched them go for a moment, then Parker scooped up her sleeping daughter, cuddling her close and finding immense comfort in the happy gurgles her little girl made. She still couldn’t believe the joy her children brought to her life, though she knew she would always be afraid for them, especially the twins. If Thomas’ development was any indication, her twins, who had benefit of two Pretenders for parents were going to be leaps and bounds ahead of their peers, and it was going to be difficult to hide what they were from those who would look to hurt them.

As she smiled down at Catherine, it seemed so impossible to her that she had ever been afraid to know she was carrying her beautiful new babies. Honestly, she still sometimes felt guilty over that fact. That’s when Jarod would remind her of what she had been through, telling her that anyone would have felt the same way. Thankfully, they had never been able to tell for certain if the twins had been conceived during Raines’ experiment at the Centre, or during those first days when she and Jarod had been reunited, and both knew that it really didn’t matter – their children were theirs, and they loved them more than they had ever imagined possible.

She heard Thomas’ anxious footsteps on the stairs, and Greta’s soft voice calling him back to put on his pajamas. Then she heard another set of footsteps approaching and looked up. She found herself staring at perhaps her favorite sight in the world.

Jarod entered, baby Michael cradled in the crook of his right arm. He looked up at her, and as he made his way to her, he brought up his free arm and let it pull her close to him, both babies safely held between them.

"I missed you."  She didn’t reply to his words, and he knew that meant the trip had been harder on her than she’d expected. He had warned her that might be the case, but she had refused to put it off any longer. Parker had understood that she had to put the babies first, and she waited throughout her whole pregnancy to say goodbye to her father. Now that the twins had safely made their way into the world, she simply stated it was time for her to go.

Later, after both babies had been put in their cribs and Thomas had been read three bedtime stories, both his parents using silly voices to make him laugh, and long after Greta had headed up to her attic apartment, Jarod and Parker lay in their bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. As much as he had missed her, they had not made love, Jarod sensing that tonight, she just needed to be held.  Finally, after what seemed hours since he’d heard her speak, she broke the silence.

"Anything?"

"No. Dad and Jay called from Dallas, but the lead they had on Mom and Emily came up empty."

"I’m sorry, baby. I know how much you want to find them."  And she did. Though she knew she and the children were Jarod’s life, Parker understood that until he had the chance to see his mother, to feel her arms around him again, there would always be a hole in his heart.

"We’ll find them. Hey, if I can be lying here with you, anything can happen, right?"

"You say that like we weren’t destined to be together."

"Oh, no. We were destined to be together. I just wish it hadn’t been so hard for the two of us to figure that out."

She smiled and snuggled closer to him. She hadn’t yet told him about the discovery she’d made in Blue Cove, and because she had long since learned that it was hurtful to him for her to keep a secret, she sat up and turned to face him.

"Jarod, there’s something I have to tell you."

And she did. She told him about the letter she’d found in her safe deposit box at the bank, how she’d gone there to get her mother’s wedding ring, and found the letter sitting under it. It was from her father, and all it said was, "Please forgive me." Wrapped in the note was a DSA.

"Did you watch it?"  Jarod saw her nod, and he instantly recognized the well of pain that whatever it was had opened up inside of her. She moved to her bag and pulled the small disc out, handing it to him.

Jarod moved from the bed and opened the closet. He pulled out his DSA player and set it up on the desk. He also noticed that Parker had slipped into the bathroom, and soon he heard the shower running.

He popped in the disc, his heart pounding. Somehow, he knew that whatever he was about to see was going to draw them back into the Centre’s web, and there was little more in life he dreaded more than risking his family’s safety.

He pushed play and the screen came to life. Before him played a scene that had been recorded in Mr. Parker’s office, Brigitte, Lyle, Raines and Mr. Parker present. The date on the disc was May 8, 1999. Mr. Parker was pacing, worry written all over his face.

"You’re certain she doesn’t know anything?" The older man spoke without looking at anyone in particular, but it was Lyle who responded.

"She couldn’t know anything. I gave her the drug as we agreed. She slept through the whole thing."

"Why did you leave the body there? That wasn’t what we agreed to."

Now Lyle looked at both Brigitte and Raines, Mr. Parker noticing the action, but not reacting to it.  Raines then joined the conversation.

"It was necessary in order to build the illusion that the Centre was not involved."

"Darling, she’ll be fine," Brigitte cooed as she moved to her husband’s side, her arm entwining with his. Mr. Parker accepted her closeness, but his focus was now entirely on his son.

"What happened, exactly?"

"I snuck in once I heard him start the shower and gave her the drug. Then I knocked on the door, told him there was an emergency and I didn’t want to upset Parker and would he come out and talk to me.  Once we got on the porch, he knew what was up."

This comment made the older man visibly uncomfortable. He looked around the room, then back at his son.

"Did he say anything?"

"He told me she needed him. Then I pulled the trigger. We tossed the house, set up the fall guy and disappeared before she ever woke up."

Jarod clicked off the DSA and closed his eyes for a moment, once again trying to fathom the evil that made up Lyle. He had killed a man who had begged for his life, a man whose only crime was loving a woman who so deserved and needed to be loved. And Parker, who had suspected all along that her brother was the one who pulled the trigger, now knew her suspicion to be the truth.

He stood and moved to the bathroom. Though the shower was still running, he could hear Parker’s tears over the water, and he climbed out of his own clothes and stepped in behind her, his arms wrapping tightly around her body. That made her cry harder, and she leaned back against him, needing his support to stay on her feet.

"I can’t let it go, Jarod."

"I know, sweetheart. I never expected you to."
 
 
 

Lyle strode down the hallway toward his office, a man possessed with the air of someone who had grabbed the brass ring firmly between his fingers.

The days immediately following his father’s death last year had been the most active days in the history of the Centre, and Lyle had most definitely been the beneficiary of all that activity.

First, there had been the issue of what really happened on the rooftop. Brigitte swore that she had only shot the Chairman in an attempt to stop him from aiding in Parker and Jarod’s escape. Certainly, there was evidence to support her claims, and the disappearances of Sydney, Broots and the techie’s daughter made it all the more clear that some kind of conspiracy had been set in motion to ensure his sister’s release.

Mutumbo was furious, as was to be expected.  More times than he cared to count, Jarod had outsmarted the Centre, and he was sick and tired of it.  He issued a directive to find them, stunning everyone by stating Jarod was on "kill" status, meaning he was not to be apprehended alive.

Though Lyle had been surprised by this, he understood the logic. After all, they had plenty of Jarod’s genetic materials in storage, and even if his sister wasn’t pregnant, there would be time for more attempts once she was secured back inside the Centre.

He’d been delighted to find out the details of Raines’ secretive SP project, because it meant that his sister was no longer a concern for him. She would be a prisoner of the Centre forever, if of course, they let her live. Parker didn’t strike him as the kind of woman who would give up her children willingly, which meant if she caused too much trouble, her days could well be numbered.

But that had been something to think about in the future.  All Lyle wanted to concentrate on in those first days was his new position as Chairman.  Mutumbo and the remaining Triumvirate members Ellison and Trebor had named him to the position 48 hours after his father’s death. He had moved into his father’s office – his office – immediately thereafter, and he had demanded to be left in charge of the recovery efforts to find his sister and her wayward Pretender.

There were other things he had to worry about, of course. Brigitte had been under the impression he intended to share his rule with her, but he’d had other plans.  A respectable six months into her widowhood, Brigitte had become Mrs. Parker again, this time as Lyle’s wife. It had been a terrible decision on her part. Once her shares were firmly under his control, stepmommy had become excess baggage as far as Lyle was concerned. A small leak in the fuel line of the Centre jet had taken care of that problem for him.

And then there had been the issue of his son, the child everyone believed to be his brother. He had given the child to Raines to test if it was of any value to the Centre, but he had failed to demonstrate sufficient Pretender potential. The boy had then become part of one of Raines’ experimental groups – Lyle hadn’t even seen him in more than three months. Occasionally, he felt a small twinge of guilt about that, but he easily brushed it off. The kid was probably better off with whatever he would live through in the Centre than it would be living with him.

Now he was putting the pieces into place for his final move against the Triumvirate. Once he was finished, he would be the undisputed king of the Centre, and the power he would wield would be far greater than anything his father had ever dreamed of.

Lyle reached his office and fought the small surge of guilt he felt as he pushed the door open, remember the man who had once occupied this space. He hated that any shred of humanity still beat inside of him; it would make things so much easier for it to just disappear. Still, Mr. Parker had been his father, and though Lyle would always believe his father had allowed Raines to steal him away in favor of protecting his sister, he had in some way loved the old man.

Shaking off his nearly sentimental thoughts, Lyle walked to his desk and saw a large, gift-wrapped package sitting there. He opened the card, which simply read, "Happy Anniversary." There was no signature. Intrigued he opened the gift, pulling off the paper and lifting the lid on an obviously expensive box.

Inside sat a gold and jade dragon – the symbol of Tommy Tanaka’s sect of the Triad.
 
 
 

Activity in the San Francisco house had increased ten-fold over the past few weeks. First, there had been the arrival of Jay and Charles, who Jarod simply wanted close to him during what was going to be a trying time.  Then Broots and Debbie had arrived – much to Jay’s delight – and soon thereafter, Sydney, who had left Michelle and Nicholas in their new home in Vancouver in order to return and help the two adults he still loved like children.

Then their plans had begun to fall into place. First, there had been the uncomfortable and tense time when Parker had flown to Japan, accompanied only by Sam, to negotiate a deal with Tanaka.  As usually happened when he was worried about her, Jarod and Parker had fought about the trip. It had taken her two days to wear him down, but of course, she had won.

And as much as he hated to admit it, she had been right. It would take years to fix the legitimate operations of the Centre, not to mention the monumental effort they would have to dedicate to helping all of the damaged souls who were still trapped in the Centre – people like Angelo, people like Dannie/Einnad, who still lurked in an asylum, trapped between his true self and the monster Raines had created. And both of them knew that despite their desire to hide away from the world, they owed it to her mother to finish what she had started. With so much good to do, there was simply not enough time to worry about dismantling the Centre’s more criminal enterprises, and that meant they needed to be rid of them, the sooner the better.

Parker’s solution was to reach an agreement with Tanaka for the Triad to systematically absorb the illegal businesses. So, she had traveled to Tokyo, convinced her old friend of the logic behind her plan, and returned secure in the knowledge that Lyle’s life was about to get very uncomfortable, and that the Triad was more than willing to take over the multi-million dollar criminal industries of the Centre.

Then there was the continuing search for Margaret and Emily. These were, of course, the only two people left alive the Centre could use as leverage against the group, and it was imperative they be found. But still, the Major had been unable to find any viable leads on his missing wife and daughter. Jarod knew his father was beginning to fear something terrible had happened to them, but Jarod couldn’t allow himself to believe that. They would find his mother and sister, it would just take time, he was certain of that.

Next, Broots had developed a new computer virus, which was now working to undermine the daily operations of the Centre. It worked on a completely random timetable, disrupting things as simple as the lights coming on and off, and as major as the dumping years worth of records from the computer system.

And all the while, Lyle was beginning to feel the noose tighten around his neck as Tanaka forced him to make one seemingly bad business decision after another, in exchange for his continued silence. The power play had extra weight because the Triad boss had done his own surveillance of Lyle in the past year, and he knew that Lyle had planned a coup against the Triumvirate – one none of them were to have survived.

So Lyle sold piece after piece of Centre property to the Triad at ludicrously low prices – all the while, struggling to hide his actions from the Triumvirate. What he didn’t know was that Broots’ computer program was systematically feeding the information on the transactions into the Triumvirate’s private computer files. It was only a matter of time before Mutumbo and company stumbled onto his trail, and discovered just what he’d been up to.

Meanwhile, Jarod was building the life he and Parker would live next. They were agreed that, while their children would always need security and would require special arrangements for their education, the three should have as normal a life as possible. To that end, he was carefully weaving some of the truths about their lives together with well developed dossiers so that anyone who might check them out later would find only a happy couple who adored their three babies and ran a corporation dedicated to the salvation of all children.

But it all hinged on what would happen next – on the scenario that Jarod had predicted in his SIM.  It had chilled him to the bone to pretend to be Lyle – but it had been necessary. If he were right, the Centre infrastructure would crumble to the ground with little more than a gentle push from them.
 
 
 
 

The push came when a dossier on Alberto Trebor made it’s way to Interpol. The file, prepared more carefully than any criminal report Interpol Chief Rene Dangel had ever seen, detailed years of criminal trespasses committed by the international financier who people knew but knew little about.  It had taken less than an hour to get an arrest warrant for the man and bring him into custody.

The man was taken to jail and booked, then placed in a holding cell. Four hours later, he was found lying on his cot, dead. Though there were no outward signs of trauma, an autopsy would later reveal that the man had died from exposure to a poison that contained a rare chemical compound found only in South Africa.

Three weeks later, Mrs. Irina Ellison sat in her living room, several FBI agents searching her home as she quietly waited for her lawyer’s arrival.  The agents, deferring to her increased age and community position, agreed to allow her to travel to the Federal Building with her attorney. They all walked outside, and climbed into their cars, and the agents looked up just in time to watch the car containing Mrs. Ellison explode.

When word reached Mutumbo that his two fellow Triumvirate cronies had met less than pleasant endings, he took it as a sign that it was time to remove the dangerous cancer that had infected the Centre. Mr. Lyle had been a poor choice to succeed his father, and it was only now that Mutumbo saw what Mr. Parker had known all along – his son was a poor substitute for the fierce, strong-willed brilliance of his twin sister.

His actions were further motivated by a report he’d received on some rather questionable business transactions the new Chairman had made. Clearly, the man needed to be dealt with, and it needed to happen quickly. It was a plan he would put into play, but would never live to see. The assassin who fired one single shot through the window and into his brain made certain of it. Hours later, the authorities would find the man they’d come to question sitting on the couch, the phone receiver still in his hand.
 
 
 
 

Lyle drove down the road in Blue Cove toward his house, his fears dissipating by the second. The Triumvirate was dead. He still wasn’t certain how law enforcement had picked up their trails, but he had managed to eliminate all of them before the authorities could get to them, which meant that for now, he was safe. Still, he had Tanaka to deal with, but the man now had no power over him. With the council gone, Lyle had absolute authority over the Centre, and that meant he had nothing to fear regarding the secrets he’d revealed.  Tanaka was a reasonable man. He had reaped many benefits from his blackmail, and now that his leverage was gone, he would simply drop the matter.

Lyle smiled to himself – it had all fallen into place so easily. Now, if he could just find his sister, he thought. She remained the only danger to his authority, since many people in the Centre were still loyal to her, and might support her were she to try and take over. What joy it would give him to kill Jarod in front of her – certainly, if finding the carpenter dead had almost sent her over the edge, then watching Jarod die would certainly do the job.

He was entertaining himself with these thoughts as the black BMW moved up behind him, then along side him. He looked up just in time to hear the hissing sound coming from his tire as a metallic object thrown from the car made contact with the steel-belted radial. The car slammed on its brakes, dropping back behind him again as Lyle realized he was losing control of his car. Panic gripped him as he looked up and saw a large tree looming in front of him.  It was the last thing he would ever remember.
 
 
 

As news of the Centre fatalities began to reach San Francisco, Sam quietly excused himself for the night. He knew that with Major Charles and Jarod both in residence, Miss Parker and her children would be safe without him.

His plane landed in Delaware just after midnight, and he quickly rented a car and drove to Blue Cove, heading toward a house he had never been to before. He pulled up in front of the dark house. Two sweepers stood out front, and Sam couldn’t help but note the surprise on their faces as he walked up to them.

"Sam, What are you –"

"Leave now. There’s no reason for you to be a part of this."

Sweepers were trained to face down any enemy, and they were taught that their only loyalty was to the Centre. Unfortunately for the occupant of the house, they were also human beings, made with human weaknesses. And these two men, despite everything they had been taught, could sense the danger that radiated from Sam. They knew that if they disobeyed him they would die, and so they moved quickly to their cars and drove away.

Sam entered the house and quietly made his way to the bedroom. That was where he found Mr. Raines. The old man lay in bed, his wheezing breath sounds filling the room.

The former sweeper moved closed to the bed, and he leaned down over the old man, pinching his oxygen line in order to wake him.  He was rewarded with Raines’ wide-open eyes, which stared up at him with a questioning rage.

"Miss Parker had her baby, Mr. Raines, two of them -- A boy and a girl – and you will never, never touch them."

With that, Sam reached over and turned off Raines’ precious oxygen tank. The old man reached with obvious futility toward the life-saving appliance, half falling out of bed, but Sam moved it farther away, ensuring it was out of reach.  Then he stood there, watching the old man suffocate, watching every last ounce of breath leave the monster’s body, so he could be certain that the family he had come to love would always be safe.

Hours later, after he had turned the oxygen tank back on and set the scene in the bedroom to look like a death by natural causes, Sam searched every corner of Raines house. He found documents about Miss Parker’s mother, and a memo ordering the death of Sydney’s brother. He found reports detailing his efforts to warp the then Bobby Bowman while acting as his counselor.

Then he found the Holy Grail, and he left to do what needed to be done.
 
 

Epilogue

The Catherine Parker Children’s Foundation – the new name of the former Centre, had done much impressive work in their first few months under new management. That meant many changes in the professional lives of the two people who now ran the charitable organization.

Jarod and Parker Russell were quickly accepted into the community, a group of people who had longed wondered what actually took place in the great gray stone building on the edge of town. Many of them remembered the beautiful and mysterious brunette who had disappeared more than a year before, and they were awed by the incredible work she and her new husband were doing with the business she had inherited from her father. Medical research was published, missing children were reunited with their parents, and though everyone was curious about where the couple had gotten there seemingly endless resources, their devotion to each other and to their children made them welcome additions to Blue Cove.

No one outside of the Foundation knew about the horrors that were still inside the building, the damaged, tortured souls that Jarod and Parker worked every day to try and save. Each day, they felt emotionally drained from working with Angelo and Danny and the boy they’d come to know as Simon – the son Lyle had callously handed over to Raines. It broke Parker’s heart to see how withdrawn and tormented the little boy was, and she had promised herself she would do everything she could to heal the boy and make him a part of her and Jarod’s family.

And no one knew about the man who lay in the Foundation infirmary – his back broken beyond repair, his mind trapped in a body that no longer received commands from his brain. He was alive because his sister had demanded he be kept alive – because once he had stood in front of a man who begged for mercy and had given none.

Personally, Jarod and Parker’s lives changed dramatically as well.  Once they had settled into their home, she had invited Ben for a visit. And during a private moment in the studio that had once been her mother’s favorite place, Parker told him that he was in fact her father. She had been worried when he’d begun to weep, but she was quickly reassured when he pulled her into a tight embrace, and uttered the simple words, "Thank God." From then on, Ben was a frequent visitor to Blue Cove.

Jarod was also getting used to having family around – Charles and Jay had settled in town as well, feeling there was safety in numbers. The Russell men would stick together, and be ready in case any of their enemies reappeared.

Broots also returned to Blue Cove, becoming the head of security for the Foundation.  He had spent much of his first few days back searching for Sam, who had disappeared during the Centre upheaval, and who had yet to return. Parker was more than a little worried about him, though she knew her friend was more than capable of caring for himself.

And though Sydney had determined he would stay retired, he frequently visited, Michelle in tow, to check on the progress of Jarod and Parker’s family.

This was one of those weekends, and Jarod was still upstairs dressing the twins while Parker tried unsuccessfully to convince Thomas to eat his cinnamon-apple oatmeal before her breakfast guests arrived. Unfortunately, her son was mounting a case for chocolate Pop Tarts instead, and she silently reminded herself to kick Jarod’s ass for that when they were alone later.

She was about to try and explain again why oatmeal was a better breakfast when the doorbell rang. She walked to the door, expecting to see Sydney and Michelle there. Instead, she found Sam flanked by two women, one older, one clearly young enough to be her daughter.

She was about to speak to Sam when she noticed the face of the older woman. She had seen that face so many times – in the photo that Jarod still carried with him everywhere he went. Realizing what was happening, Parker tried to speak, but she found she had no words. She looked at Sam, then at the younger woman, trying to find her voice.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Jarod holding both of their squirming babies in his arms.

"Parker, Tell Sydney to come take one of these—"

He stopped the moment his eyes saw who stood in the doorway. He blinked, certain it had to be a dream. It couldn’t be that after all the years of hoping and searching, after all the dead ends and false leads that this could have happened.

His mother and sister were standing on his front porch.

"Mom?"

Parker turned and quickly took the babies from his arms, and she watched as Jarod stepped into his mother’s embrace.

"Yes, Jarod. I’m your mother. And I love you so very much.

Still watching the scene, Parker sat down on the couch, Sam joining her there as the reunion of mother and son continued. The two held each other tightly, and she knew without seeing that tears were flowing freely from Jarod’s eyes. Tears also flowed from Emily’s eyes as she watched her mother and brother embrace.

In the hours that followed, Margaret and Emily were reunited with Charles, and they met Jay, and they learned about Parker and the children, and began to absorb just the slightest bit of all the history there was for them to catch up on.

And as the hours passed, Parker watched Jarod, and she knew that the hole in his heart had finally closed forever, a thought that couldn’t help but make her think of those who weren’t there to share the day with them.

And then she felt strong arms wrap around her, and she turned to look up into Jarod’s eyes, and she knew that her whole life had been lived to reach this moment – and it had been worth it.
 
 

End