Fanfic

Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘The Pretender’ or any of its characters. They rightfully belong to NBC, MTM, TNT and Pretender Productions. Man this is getting depressing! I’m not doing this for the money, but for my sanity. Please don’t sue. Thanks, Thunderchild.

Values:

Part 3: Cruel World

by Thunderchild

PARKER MANOR:

8:30A.M.

Parker is still in bed, but she is awake just thinking about stuff when the phone rings. "What?" She answers the phone with ice dripping from her tone.

"Well! If that’s how you greet people on the phone I’m glad I’m not next to you." Jarod laughs.

"I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get back to my normal attitude, I’ve been thinking a lot about what Syd said about been as normal as possible." Parker explains for the sudden attitude change.

"You don’t have to explain, I was only teasing anyway. If your just getting ready for work now your father must have let you have a lie-in." Jarod questions.

"No, Daddy said for me not to go to work today, but I’m just going in for something to do." Parker states calmly.

"Can I see you tonight?" Jarod laughs lightly.

"Yeah, I’ll see you tonight when I get back from work. Well I better start getting ready for work." Parker says quietly.

"See you tonight then Sweetie." Jarod says lovingly.

"Bye Jarod." Parker hangs up.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

PARKER’S HOUSE:

1 HOUR LATER.

Parker is just about to walk out the door, when the phone rings. "What?" She barks thoroughly annoyed.

"Hi Angel, can you come into work today, I want to speak to you about something rather important?" Mr Parker asks.

"Yeah Daddy, I was just about to come in." Parker replies.

"So I’ll see you in a few minutes then Angel." Mr Parker hangs up.

"Now where the Hell are my keys?" Parker asks herself. She goes upstairs to look for her keys and she doesn’t notice that her front door opens and someone slips inside and ducks into the shadows. When she comes back downstairs she heads for the kitchen and the man comes from behind and hits her in the back of the head. She falls to the ground unconscious. Two more men come in and carry her carefully out to their car.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE CENTRE:

½ AN HOUR LATER.

Mr Parker walks towards Parker’s office and he pokes his head round the door but she’s not there. So he heads to Broots’ office to find her. Mr Parker enters Broots’ office and Sydney is there as well. "Mr Parker, what can I do for you?" Broots says startled.

"Nothing Broots, have either of you seen my daughter around here this morning?" Mr Parker asks concerned.

"I thought she wasn’t coming in today." Sydney states carefully.

"No she wasn’t but I called her and asked her to come in because I had to speak to her about something." Mr Parker explains.

"No we haven’t seen her, have you tried calling her at home?" Sydney asks.

"Yes, but there was no answer and when I called to ask her to come in she was just leaving to come in anyway." Mr Parker shakily.

"Well if you want we could call round there and have a look for you." Sydney suggests.

"Yeah, and call me and tell me what you find." Mr Parker says with a frog in his throat. Mr Parker exits.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

PARKER MANOR.

Sydney and Broots pull up outside and get out of the car. Parker’s black BMW is still sitting in the driveway. "Broots you wait out here." Sydney orders. He walks up the steps to the front door and it is opened ajar. He walks in. "Miss Parker, are you here." Sydney calls out. No answer. He starts to walk through the house see if he could find her. He comes to the kitchen hallway and he finds a couple of spots of blood. "Broots!" Sydney yells urgently. Broots comes running.

"What is it Sydney?" Broots asks urgently.

"Does this look like blood to you?" Sydney asks quietly.

"Oh My God! It wouldn’t be Jarod because he would hurt her." Broots replies urgently.

Sydney rings for Mr Parker. "Yes." Mr Parker snaps.

"Mr Parker, it’s Sydney, we’re at Miss Parker’s house and her car is here but she isn’t. And there something else, there a little blood." Sydney says quietly.

"Oh My God! Would it be Jarod?" Mr Parker asks urgently.

"No, it doesn’t look like his style." Sydney says knowing dam well it isn’t Jarod after he had a talk with Miss Parker and Jarod the other night.

"Well, thank you Syd." Mr Parker hangs up.

"What do we do now?" Broots asks urgently.

"I have to make a phone call, I’ll be back in a minute." Sydney walks outside. Sydney dials Jarod’s mobile number.

"Hello." Jarod answers.

"Jarod, its Sydney. I don’t know how to tell you this, but Miss Parker is missing." Sydney whispers.

"What the Hell? Do you know who did it?" Jarod snaps.

"No, if you want to see me I’m at Miss Parker’s alone with Broots." Sydney suggests.

"Yeah, I’ll be there in five minutes." Jarod hangs up. Sydney walks back inside.

"Broots don’t touch anything, Jarod will be here in five minutes." Sydney sits down on the lounge chair to wait.

"Who could have done something like this?" Broots asks Sydney.

"I don’t know but Jarod might be able to find out." Sydney says.

Just then Jarod walks in. "Hello Syd." Jarod says through clenched teeth.

"Hello Jarod, I’m sorry." Sydney whispers.

"It’s not your fault…When I find the SON OF A BITCH who is responsible I’ll make it so only his dentist can identify the body!" Jarod barks.

"OK Jarod, calm down, we will find out who did this, just be patient." Sydney tries to soothe Jarod.

"Your right Syd. Firstly, I’ll need to know who isn’t at the Centre today, and then I will need to go and see Parker’s office." Jarod says.

"OK, the people that aren’t at work are Lyle, Brigitte, and I think Raines." Sydney says.

"Fine, I’m going to go after Lyle, he has enough motive, because if Parker dies everything goes to him." Jarod’s mouth tightens.

"I’m sure Miss Parker is alive." Broots tries to reassure Jarod, Sydney, and himself.

"OK. Lets go back to the Centre and have a look around." Jarod says walking out the door.

"Jarod wait till I call Mr Parker to tell him that you’re coming to help." Sydney calls after him.

Sydney dials Mr Parker’s phone in his office to tell him the deal. "Yes!" Mr Parker snaps.

"Mr Parker, it’s Sydney, I’m bringing Jarod in with me to help track down Miss Parker." Sydney explains.

"Why should he want to help find my daughter?" Mr Parker asks accusingly.

"He is going to help because he cares about her because grew up with her and if any one can find her it would be Jarod." Sydney snaps a little for Mr Parker’s ignorance.

"Fine. I’ll give the order Jarod isn’t to be touched." Mr Parker hangs up.

"There, everything is settled, now we can go now and find Miss Parker." Sydney says cheerfully.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE CENTRE:

2.30P.M.

Sydney, Broots, and Jarod are walking down the corridor to Parker’s office and they run into Lyle. Lyle stops Jarod and they start to fight. "Well, well, well, my luck seems to be changing for the better every minute." Lyle smiles.

"Get your hands off me SON OF A BITCH!" Jarod pushes Lyle up against the wall and starts to punch him in the stomach.

"JAROD! You have better things to be doing than beating the SHIT out of Mr Lyle." Sydney says holding Jarod back off Lyle.

"If you had your head out of your ARSE long enough you would know that your sister is missing, but you probably all ready know that you SLEAZY BASTARD" Jarod slings at Lyle like a knife.

"What do you mean?" Lyle asks urgently.

"Someone has taken Miss Parker." Sydney whispers so not to provoke Jarod into attacking again.

"And why should Jarod be helping find the person who is trying to bring him back to the one place he doesn’t want to be…Oh, I know now…Your sleeping with her." Lyle laughs.

"You ARSEHOLE, I’m going to break your FUCKING neck for that!" Jarod yells and breaks away from Sydney’s hold and starts to punch Lyle in the face.

"Jarod! Come on it’s time to go!" Sydney says dragging Jarod off Lyle and walking him away. Then he stops before going into Parker’s office.

"Lyle, if you enjoy breathing I would keep out of Jarod’s face after what you just said, because I won’t be held responsible if he kills you like he swore he would." Sydney warns Lyle.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE CENTRE:

PARKER’S OFFICE:

1 HOUR LATER.

Jarod is looking through papers on Parker’s desk while Broots is hacking through her computer and Sydney is standing around. Mr Parker walks in. "Hello Jarod." Mr Parker whispers.

"Mr Parker." Jarod says coldly.

"Have you found anything yet?" Mr Parker asks thoroughly depressed.

"Not yet." Sydney replies.

"Please find my little Angel, I lost her mother and I don’t want to lose her as well." Mr Parker’s eyes start to water.

"But you have Miss Parker’s twin, Lyle." Jarod says harshly.

"Yes, but Lyle and I don’t see eye-to-eye, not like my little girl." Mr Parker says sadly.

"I’ll find Miss Parker, so don’t worry." Jarod says, not really thinking about Mr Parker.

"Well, I’ll let you get on with it, and please let me know if you find ANYTHING." Mr Parker exits.

"Well, I can see your not the only having difficulties dealing with what’s happened today." Sydney whispers to Jarod.

"Thank you Syd." Jarod smiles lightly.

"When Miss Parker was with you I didn’t worry, but now I don’t who she is with. I don’t want anything to happen to her. Ever since her mother died I have looked after her. Because when Catherine died, Mr Parker shut her out of his life since she reminded him so much of Catherine." Sydney explains.

"I know Syd, I’m worried about her as well, but Parker can take care of herself, she is a strong person and she can fight back. But I am a bit concerned about that blood in her house, and if it is hers how much is she bleeding?" Jarod starts to panic.

"You said so yourself Jarod she’s probably all right and if it is her blood it was only a little bit." Broots tries to reassure everyone.

"Thanks Broots, we have to think positive. Have you found anything yet?" Jarod asks.

"Nothing, maybe we should just wait for them to phone. And if they do phone would it be an idea to put a tracing system on the phones?" Broots asks.

"Yeah, do you how to install one?" Jarod laughs lightly.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

THE CENTRE:

THE NEXT DAY:

9.30A.M.

Jarod is asleep on the couch in Parker’s office dreaming about her, when Sydney comes in and wakes him up. "Jarod." Sydney says urgently, shaking his shoulder.

"What is it Syd." Jarod asks startled.

"I’ve got something to show you." Sydney says smiling.

Jarod and Sydney walk into Mr Parker’s office and standing next to a smiling bruised Lyle is Parker. When Jarod takes a couple of steps into Mr Parker’s office Parker starts to run to Jarod. Jarod catches her in his arms and holds her close.

"OK, for once in my life I haven’t got the slightest idea of what’s going on." Jarod says smiling still hugging Parker.

"Lyle found my little Angel and brought her back." Mr Parker says grinning till his face hurts.

"Oh, now can anyone else see anything wrong with picture or is it just me? I had Broots hacking into every computer file known to man and myself hacking into some more computer files that Broots didn’t have access to and we didn’t find anything. Now what I don’t understand is how the HELL did you find her by yourself. And only one way pops into MY head." Jarod starts to get pissed off.

"Well, what ever you think LOVER BOY I didn’t do it. You can believe what you want." Lyle says seriously.

"I would take that back if I was you Lyle." Parker threatens.

"Or what? Jarod will start to bash the shit out of me again." Lyle starts to fake ‘shaking in his boots’.

"Yes." Jarod says pushing Parker lightly off his chest. Jarod walks over to face Lyle and punches him fair in the mouth, so hard that Lyle falls over.

Jarod turns to leave and he says. "I know it was you, you SON OF A BITCH and if you try another stunt like that again I’ll break your FUCKING NECK, GOT IT?" Jarod barks at Lyle, who is still sitting on the floor. Jarod puts his arm around Parker and walks her out the door to her office.

"Well I did warn you." Sydney says smiling and walking out the door with Broots to follow Jarod and Parker.

"Boy you can be protective when you want to be, can’t you?" Parker says smiling, glad that Jarod hit Lyle.

"Yes, now sit down and let me look at you." Jarod says, softly pushing Parker down onto the couch just as Broots and Sydney walk in.

"I’m all right Jarod, I’ve just got a bit of a headache that’s all, don’t fuss." Parker objects to the special treatment.

"Let Jarod have a look over you, when you were missing Jarod went of his head, just ask Lyle." Sydney laughs. Just then Mr Parker walks in.

"How is my little Angel?" Mr Parker asks smiling.

"I’m just having a look at her now." Jarod says looking over Parker making sure she isn’t hurt anywhere else apart from her head.

"Jarod, I’m glad you hit Lyle because if you didn’t I sure as Hell would have." Mr Parker chuckles.

"Now can you remember anything of that day you were taken?" Jarod asks looking into Parker’s eyes.

"No, only that something hit me in the head and I fell onto the floor hard." Parker starts to shake. Jarod gets up off the floor and sits next to her and holds her to his chest until she stops shaking.

"Well, I don’t have to ask what’s going on here, I might be old but I’m not blind or stupid." Mr Parker looks at the couple approvingly.

"You don’t mind Daddy?" Parker asks cautiously.

"Hell no, when Jarod found out that you were missing, he was willing to give up his freedom to come and help find you. If it was anyone else who would risk giving up their freedom to help find then one person who is hunting them down day and night, they would have just walked away. I’ve always known that in some way that there was some kind of special bond between you two and I don’t mind at all as long as you don’t get hurt Angel." Mr Parker smiles at Parker and Jarod. "And as far as the subject as Lyle, I don’t trust him for as long as I could knock the shit out of him, and you’re right Jarod, I’m pretty sure that it was him that took my little Angel. I’m so sorry." Mr Parker says sincerely.

"It’s OK Daddy, it wasn’t your fault you did nothing wrong, and I’m OK now." Parker says trying to cheer up her father.

"OK Angel if you say so…Well I think I better be getting back to work now." Mr Parker walks over to the couch and kisses Parker on her forehead.

"Take care of my little girl Jarod and be careful of Lyle. Don’t turn your back on him…Also keep all this, between you and my daughter away from Raines if you don’t want any trouble, OK?" Mr Parker advises Jarod and every one in Parker’s office. Mr Parker exits.

"Does anybody else have the feeling that there is something else going on here, apart from what we already know that is?" Jarod whispers, staring at the door that Mr Parker just waked out.

"What do you mean?" Parker asks picking up her head of Jarod’s chest.

"I don’t know yet, but something isn’t fitting properly, but I’m probably just imaging things." Jarod laughs lightly.

"I wouldn’t completely ignore those instincts Jarod, you know how reliable they are." Sydney warns. Parker yawns and settles down comfortably near Jarod’s head, using his chest as a pillow and closes her eyes.

"I think we’re keeping someone up." Jarod laughs.

"Trust me it’s not the company." Parker looks up at Jarod and smiles and closes her eyes again.

"I don’t think I have never seen you so happy Miss Parker, it suits you." Sydney smiles at them both.

"Thanks Syd." Parker says sincerely.

"Well, I think Broots and I should be going now we have to take the tracing devices off all the phones. Broots come on." Sydney and Broots head for the door. Parker jumps up off the couch.

"Sydney, Broots, thank you for worrying about me." Parker says.

"Well why shouldn’t I? I think of you as my daughter as well as my friend." Sydney replies and he comes back and hugs her.

"Now I think you should really go home, all this excitement can’t be good for your ulcer." Sydney and Broots leave the room. Jarod gets up and walks over to where Parker is standing and he wraps his arms around her shoulders.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?" Jarod whispers.

"No." Parker says closing her eyes.

"Well, I love you." Jarod whispers in her ear.

"I love you too." Parker replies.

"Do you want me to take you home and put you to bed?" Jarod says smiling.

"Are you going to be there?" Parker turns around to face Jarod.

"If you want me there with you, I will be."

"I won’t be able to sleep if you’re not with me, I won’t feel safe." Parker says resting her forehead on the top of Jarod’s chest and closing her eyes.

"Well I can’t refuse that, now can I?" Jarod says cheerfully. "Come on I’ll take you home now, you’ve had a long two days you must be exhausted." Jarod says kissing Parker softly.

The End of Values Series.

Whatcha think? Good? Bad? Should I steal Miss Parker’s gun and shoot myself? Umm...Maybe not. You know the drill. Gimme, gimme, gimme feedback, I need it to survive.

Feedback: devilish_princess698@yahoo.com.au