* * * * *

Once they were on the road, Jarod dared again to ask her , "What about Sydney and Broots?"

She clasped the steering wheel tighter and took a deep breath. "Will you just shut up? Don't you understand that you should be dead by now?"

"Yeah, O.K."

They drove through two states and stopped only at gas stations. Miss Parker felt like a tractor just drove over her. She stretched, lit another cigarette, and sat once more behind the wheel. Jarod seemed to be asleep, finally. She started the engine, and he blinked and sat up in his seat.

"You can lay in the back if you want." she offered, wondering where that thought came from.

"No, I'd like to see where we're driving. But thanks. By the way, what have you done with Miss Parker? You look like her but..."

"Very funny, Jarod. Go back to sleep and don't piss me off."

"What do we do anyway?" he didn't want to push her because he knew she could become very dangerous, but he was curious.

She pretended that she hadn't heard his question, but after a while she began to talk.

"I was assigned to bring you back to the Centre two years ago. I always looked forward to the day I finally caught you and could drag you home by the ears, but I also want some answers to the questions we placed on the last couple of months.When you're back in the Centre you will certainly not help me. And as much as I hate it, I must admit that you have given me some good answers so far. I don't know if I would know today that mom was killed instead of committing suicide."

Jarod just sat there, not believing what he was hearing.

"You sure that you're Miss Parker? The one I know, well, isn't..." he teased a bit.

"Shut up or should I stop?" she threatened.

"No, sorry. Please, go on."

"Fine. I could live with the fact that you were imprisoned in the Centre until the end of your life but I surely won't kill you."

"May I ask you why? You've told me more than once that you're going to shoot me." he said, trying to find a more comfortable position, without any luck. "Well, if you want me to help you, you should take these off." he shook his hand behind his back, and replied, "Or I won't be able to do anything with my hands for a long time."

She looked at his wrist and realized that it didn't look so good. Miss Parker slowed the car down and pulled off the shoulder. There, she searched quickly for the key to the cuffs in her pocket, and gave him a warning look before she maneuvered him forward. "If you try anything, you know what I'm gonna do?"

"You're gonna shoot me, I know."

Finally free, he rubbed his wrists and tried to get the circulation going in his sleepy fingers.

"I don't want to beg for too much, but would you make another pit stop?" he murmured, trying to look pathetic with success.

"Out!" she said.

"Huh?"

"I don't believe there is a stop for another fifty miles. We're in the middle of nowhere. You have to go now or wait for a few hours." she said, smiling at him.

"I'll go. I guess I don't' have to say, Wait for me, do I?"

"I don't think so." she retorted.

What was she doing? She couldn't understand herself. Shoot him, leave the Centre, and start again from scratch. So simple, but no, she had to kidnap Jarod and drag his across the country, probably with a dozen sweepers on their heels.

She climbed out of the car and looked up and down the highway. Nothing in sight. Nothing but sand and cactus, Jarod and herself.

* * * * *

The Motel

When Sydney and Broots arrived at the motel with the fast food, the realized that the car was gone. They knocked on the door of the motel room, but there was no answer. Sydney tried the doorknob and pushed the door open a crack.

"Miss Parker?" he called cautiously. "Jarod?"

They entered the room quietly and took a look around. Miss Parker and Jarod were gone. As were all of their belongings. Gone were the DSA's, Broots' laptop, everything.

"Sydney? What happened here?" Broots asked, sitting the paper bags down on a nearby table. "Did the pilot come back and take them and leave us here?"

Sydney walked through the room and noticed the hole in the wall. "I don't think so, Broots. Look!"

He pointed to the hole, and Broots slowly came and stood beside him. They stared at the hole for a moment, neither saying anything. It was Broots' unusually loud voice that shattered the silence.

"Oh God..." he whined, his eyes darting nervously around the room.

* * * * *

"Jarod? Are you ready?" Parker asked, tiptoeing along the side of the car. Her bright idea to wear heels in the desert was not so bright anymore; she now realized how difficult it was to walk in the sand, but she was used to difficult. After all the months chasing Jarod, she knew that she had been in a lot tougher places than this. And all because of Jarod. She was growing irritable with him and snapped loudly, "What? Should I buy you Pampers at the next stop or are you coming?"

"Why do I have to hurry? No one is following us. No one knows that we're here." he replied calmly, strolling back to the car.

"Whatever."

"What are we going to do? Do you want to show me everything in the world that I didn't already discover by myself? Or are we simply doing a little sight-seeing? I hear the Joshua Tree National Park is beautiful this time of year." he retorted good-naturedly.

Parker shook her head disgustedly and plopped herself behind the wheel, and took her cue and sat in the passenger seat.

"I could drive for awhile if you're tired." he offered innocently.

"Nice try. And when I wake up, I'm trapped in yet another hellhole and you're gone. No way, Lab Rat!"

I have to get and idea of what to do next. she thought worriedly. I sure as hell don't plan on traipsing around the desert for the rest of my life with Wonder Boy.

"I don't want to ruin your plans, if you already have them, but how long do you think it's gonna take the Centre to find the car? How many big, black limos drive around here, huh?"

Damnit, he's got a point. she thought grudgingly.

* * * * *

Parker made another pit stop at a seedy gas station and diner. She exchanged the limo for a Jeep. It looked like the Jeep Jarod drove while in the Keys. The boys that took the limo off of their hands thought they had made the greatest deal of their lives, poor things. As soon as the Centre found it, they would reclaim their property.

As Jarod and Parker took their seats in the diner, the boys had already taken off. The waitress approached, and Jarod ordered hamburgers and fries, Parker ordered a salad and pack of cigarettes.

"O.K., listen, Jarod. I'm only going to tell you this one time."

"Oh, our food." he replied, taking the plate out of the waitress' hands.

Parker closed her eyes and tried to resist the urge to pull out her gun and shoot him right there.

"You wanted something? I just didn't want anyone to hear what you had to say." he replied, apologizing, and bit into his hamburger.

"Yeah. Let's make a deal. You help me find the bastard that killed my mom, and the proof I need to take him down. God help me, don't let Lyle be my brother. And in exchange, I let you leave. Don't leave any trails behind you, stop calling me, and no one will find you again."

"But it was fun sometimes, wasn't it?" he teased. "And by the way, the bastard that you're planning to kill happens to be my father."

"Oh, sure. I always looked forward to the nights you called me and woke me up. And I don't give a shit that he is your dad." she said, not hiding the sarcasm in her voice. Actually, she had sometimes enjoyed talking to him.

"O.K., if I tell you now that I apologize, what will you do for me?" he asked, an eyebrow cocked questioningly.

"I may think about not shooting you or letting my sadistic side come out tonight while you sleep." she snapped, and tore into the salad viciously.

"Well, that's better than nothing." he quipped. "But what if I apologize and I'm really sorry for some of the things I did to you?"

"Then I might think about getting a room with two beds instead of making you sleep beside the car in the sand." she said, this time it was difficult for her not to smile at him. And she failed because he smiled back.

"That means we have a deal?" she queried, holding out her hand to him.

Jarod nodded and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Deal."

"When we are alone, I'll show you some things I found a few days ago. I finally found and old friend of my father's and he gave me some papers. You won't believe it, he knew your mother too. Mr. Fenigor wasn't the only one who tried to help her."

Parker looked up at him, her blue eyes wide. "What? And when were you going to share this information with me?"

"I couldn't risk phoning you, you know. You're house is full of bugs, FYI. So I had to wait until I saw you again. And, well, now we're seeing each other again."

"Clever. But there aren't any bugs in my home. Believe me, I check for them often. You know the Parker motto, Trust only yourself and never the Centre."

"Hmm, when did you alter the phrase? Two years ago, everything the Centre said and did was right and Law."

"People grow and learn. It took some time to discover some details about the Centre, but now I know better. I'm very careful."

"But not careful enough. The last time I was there, I found four bugs." he said matter-of-factly, having already scarfed down the two burgers and waved for the waitress to bring more.

"What do you mean by, The last time I was there? You were in my house? When?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Well, remember after the fiasco at the bank? After I called you, I felt I had to see you. Fenigor gave me an envelope with documents putting me in touch with who I am and I...I don't know, I just felt that way...but you weren't at home, so I let myself in and as soon as I was inside you showed up. I hid myself under the bed and waited until you were in the bathroom. You got a call from your father, and as far as I could tell you were really pissed off, so I decided to disappear. When you came back out to the bedroom, I was already gone. That's it."

"That's it? You're a pig, Jarod, and a coward."

"Well, considering the mood you were in that day, you would have shot me first and asked questions later. But when I think back, you didn't wear a gun. Or should I say there was no place to conceal a gun."

"You really are a pig! You never were taught to respect privacy, were you?"

"You mean from the people who watched me for over thirty years of my life, who watched every move I made, every step I took? No, they didn't." he snapped, now his turn to be sarcastic.

* * * * *