1) Paper Snowflakes (the original, isn't a sequel)
2) To Dance In An English Garden
3) A Night To Remember
4) The Trick Is To Keep Breathing
5) Life In A Heartbeart
6) With Me (the last in the series)

~~~~~~~~~
 
 

"Nathan Crawford?" she repeated in disbelief. "You're here to avengethe death of a child molester?!" Out of nowhere, the gun barrel came swingingat her, connecting with her skin. Her cheek immediately reddened, and shewas surprised not to feel the familiar warmth of blood trickling down herskin. Still, it hurt like hell.

"That'll leave a mark," she noted wryly, feeling fury build up in her.

"Don't you call him that," the man growled. "My father was a good man,good man."

"Your father?" She stared at him, wide-eyed. "Crawford had a kid?"

"That's right. And I'm here to make things right." He brought the gunback up to her temple. "This is over."

"Damn straight," she shot back. Ducking away from the weapon, she gavea swift kick to his knee, a punch to his chest, and raced out of the roombefore he'd recovered.

Back in the ballroom, Jarod was on his third dance with Julia, and havinga great time. As they glided in time to the violinists, though, a thoughtcame from the back of his head--where was Parker? He hadn't seen her inawhile. Glancing over to where Sydney and Broots stood, he saw his oldmentor look down at his watch, then to a door, with concern.

Suddenly, Jarod realized that Julia had said something.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said, is anything wrong?"

"Oh, um, no." He glanced over at the door Syd was watching. "At least,I don't think so." And then, as a man opened the large door for his companion,Jarod spotted Parker running down the hallway, high heels and all. Shepushed the man aside, and hurried into the room. She slowed, but not much.Jarod didn't even notice that he'd stopped dancing until Julia tugged onhis arm. "Just a second, Jewel. Something's up."

Across the room, Parker made it to Broots and Syd, and immediately beganpulling them towards the entrance. "Guys, we gotta go. Now."

"W-why?" Broots stuttered, looking with worry at the red mark acrossone side of her face.

"Not now. Come on." With no further argument, they followed her outof the ambassador's home.

Just as they disappeared through the entranceway, the door on the otherside of the ballroom opened again, revealing a somewhat disheveled man.He straightened his jacket a bit, and -spotting Parker leaving- hurriedthrough the crowds. Jarod watched all of this with growing alarm, but itwasn't
until the stranger's jacket slid back a bit, and the chandelier lightreflected the metal of a gun, that he broke away from Julia, brushed pastthe other dancing couples, and followed the others outside. Julia watchedhim go, completely lost for a moment, then moved determinedly out of theballroom in his steps.

Outside in the courtyard, Parker, Broots and Sydney moved speedily downthe unfamiliar walk, the only light coming from inside the house and themoon above, and the trees and shrubbery around them casting odd shadows.

Parker dared a glance back at the house, and spotted the silhouetteof a figure rushing towards them. "Oh, no...Guys?"

"Yeah?" Broots huffed, unused to the exercise.

"Run!" For a split second neither was quite sure she was serious, butwhen she broke out into a full-speed run, they followed suit. No idea ofwhere she was going, she spotted a gate in the middle of a row of hedges,and hoping it led to the driveway, headed through. The killer wasn't farbehind, and gaining.

Back on the house steps, Jarod saw the chase, and joined in, racingfor the gate, praying that no one got hurt. He never even heard the panickedcalls of Julia behind him.

~~~~~~~~~

Within a few moments, everyone, from Parker to the killer to Julia,had passed the gate. Only then, as she turned one way and Syd and Brootsturned another, did she lose sight of them completely. Looking around herin confusion, she called out to them. "Broots? Syd?"

Her response was the painful ringing as a gunshot rang out.

From somewhere to her left, Jarod called out in alarm, "Parker? Parker!"

"I'm okay!" she shouted back. Another bullet rang out, and a hunk ofthe hedge next to her exploded, leaves falling to the ground. Okay, shethought, I'd say it's time to shut up.

From every direction around her, she heard the scurrying of feet, butall she could see was more and more of the stupidhedge, easily raisingto twice her height, and making it damn inconvenient to spot the peopleyou're looking for.

A small rustle behind her--Parker spun around, ready to attack, butinstantly eased with an irritated sigh as she realized that it was justJulia, somewhat disheveled, her dress torn and her hair coming undone.

"What's--" Parker jumped forward and slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Don't be so loud," she whispered. Julia nodded consent, and Parkerslowly removed her hand.

"Now, would you mind telling me just what's going on?" she whispered.

"I really don't think this is the time," Parker hissed, then froze atthe sound of approaching footsteps. And suddenly, there was no more rustling,no more urgently whispered calls between her friends. In the still air,she heard the metallic click of a gun cocking.

"Julia, run, now." She didn't question, just did as she was told, weavingthrough the hedges aimlessly, trying to hurry in her heels. Parker followedclose, determined not to lose the one person she'd come upon. Behind themwas the heavy footfall of someone racing to keep up. No point in keepingquiet anymore.

"What the hell is this?" Parker shouted to Julia.

"The ambassador's hedge maze," Julia gasped. "The center of his garden."

"That doesn't sound small."

"You're right--it covers three acres." Before Parker could reply, threeshots rang in the air, the last two cutting into the hedge far too closefor Parker's comfort. She ducked down, pressing Julie down too.

"He's shooting at us!" Julie cried out in indignation.

"Well I'd say that falls into the 'No shit' category!" Another shotrang out, and she grabbed Julie's hand. "Come on!"

The next few minutes were chaos. In the shrubbery, everyone was callingafter each other, and running directionless through the maze. But Parkerwasn't as concerned, because the footsteps behind them had stopped.

"Parker? Julia?"

"Ouch, where'd that branch come from?"

"That wasn't a branch--that was my foot!"

"Who's that to my left?"

They were all nearing the center of the maze; the calls were closerto one another, and Parker was able to match voices with the footstepsto one side or another of her. A turn left, right, another left, and Parkerand Julia arrived at the center, a large circular area bordered with flowers.

"We've made it to the middle!" Parker shouted.

"Gotcha!"

"Be there in a moment!"

In the center, Julia gave a small laugh. "I can't believe we made it!"Grinning, Parker opened her mouth to reply, but stopped as Julia froze,her face paling and her eyes widening. Before she could act, a strong armgrabbed her from behind, nearly strangling her, as his hand clamped downon her mouth.

~~~~~~~~~

The calls of the girls abruptly stopped, and again panic flooded throughJarod.

"Julia? Parker?"

~~~~~~~~~
Julia gave a choked shriek, as the familiar cold metal of a gun barrelcame to rest on Parker's temple.

"Goodbye, Miss Parker," came the same hoarse voice from behind, closeenough to her ear to make her spine stiffen. She knew the inevitable hadcome; she closed her eyes, and waited for the bullet.

Click.

"What the..." Click, click. He gave an angry growl, but his hold onher didn't lessen. Julia chose that dramatic moment to faint. "You seewhat you've done? If you hadn't made me chase you down, I could've takencare of this with a single bullet."

Realizing that she still had a second chance to get free, Parker triedto struggle, but his arm just strangled her tighter.

"You're really gonna regret not getting a bullet in the head," he warned,tossing the useless gun to the ground. She heard the rustling of him reachinginto his jacket.

~~~~~~~~~

No reply. Where the hell were they? A second ago Syd could've sworntheir voices had come from his right, but now he wasn't so sure. He gaveBroots an uncertain look. This was not good.

~~~~~~~~~

Withdrawing a syringe, he held in front of her, so Parker could seewhat would at last do her in.

She recognized the pale green liquid, but couldn't quite place it. Nowwas hardly the time to figure it out, anyhow. She continued to try andsquirm away, but his grip wouldn't loosen.

~~~~~~~~~

Jesus, why couldn't he find them? As Broots and Sydney began to callout, still with no reply, Jarod sped up from a jog to full-out running.

"Parker, talk to me!"

~~~~~~~~~

"Sleep tight, Princess," he oozed, and jabbed the needle into the skinof her shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~

"Somebody answer me!"

~~~~~~~~~

It stun like hell, and she was angrier than ever. Furious, she did theone thing she could think of--opening her mouth as wide as his hand permitted,she bit into his palm, and he gave a scream of pain.

~~~~~~~~~

"Broots?"

"That didn't sound like Jarod, Syd."

"Oh, God, he's found the girls..."

~~~~~~~~~

He yanked his hand away, purely out of reflex, giving Parker her opportunity.She ducked down, grabbed the gun, and -jumping back up- hit him squareon the temple with the butt of the gun, the contact between the weaponand his skull making an audible thud. The syringe fell to the ground, androlled into the hedges.

"That's payback for earlier," she snapped. He touched his head gingerly,then looked down in surprise at the blood on his fingers.

"You hurt me." He seemed shocked.

"If you think I'm anywhere near done with you..." she threatened, advancing.They were on even turf now, and she had every intention of kicking thispsychopath's ass.

~~~~~~~~~

Jarod heard her strike, and the comments after, just to his left. Justone damn hedge between him and them.

~~~~~~~~~

He stumbled back, finally realizing that this lady wasn't going to dieeasily. He didn't even see the large stone bench behind him.

~~~~~~~~~

And at last, he was there. At the other end of the circle was Parker,fists clenched, moving in on the man he'd seen earlier.

Crawford's son didn't even notice the large rock until his foot cameupon it. Loosing his balance, he fell backward.

A solid crack echoed as the back of his head met with the edge of thebench. He lie, huddled on the ground, motionless. A small pool of bloodbegan to gather beneath his head.

Jarod gulped, then looked to Parker. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine," she lied, as the fiery sting in her arm returned, and worsened.Then, with sudden remembrance, she looked to one shadowy corner where theother woman had collapsed. "Oh, Julia..."

Following her line of sight, Jarod spotted her and rushed over. Shewas just coming too. He helped her to her feet, and began to check forany wounds. "Are you okay?"

"I, I think so." Her eyes came upon the dead form. "Oh, god. Jarod,what's going on? Is he from one of your pretends?" Parker's eyes shot up.She knew?

Jarod caught Parker's look, but offered no explanation. "No. No, he'snot. It's okay now." Broots and Sydney finally arrived on the scene, andthey began to hear concerned shouts from beyond the maze.

"I do believe they've finally caught on," Parker noted.

"We can't be seen here," Jarod determined. "Not with a dead body wecan't explain."

"Two, actually." Everyone looked at Parker. "He got to Keiller--he'sin the woods somewhere out back."

"Great," Jarod muttered. He closed his eyes, and scrambled through hismind for an idea. When he came upon one, his eyes flew open. "Okay, everyoneneeds to get out of here."

"How?"

"The benches," Julia offered. "All these benches have maps carved intothe design, showing you the way out."

"And you know this because...?" Parker asked.

"The ambassador's her uncle," Jarod replied. He walked to the nearestbench, and studied the map. "Okay, guys, the simplest way would be if youturned out there--two lefts, a right, a left, another right, and you'reout on the other side. I think the limos are parked there. Take ours."

"What about you?" Julia asked, concerned.

"I'm gonna stay behind, make a story up." The sound of sirens filledthe air. "I'll let the police think he killed Keiller, thought I saw, andso went after me." Julia looked doubtful, so he reassured her, "Don't worry,I'll be home in an hour." Parker raised an eyebrow at the word home, butdidn't comment. Jarod kissed Julia gently on the forehead. "I'll be fine."She nodded, and began her way out of the maze. Jarod turned to Parker,and noted her cuts and bruises with concern.

"Like I said, I'm fine."

"Do you know who that guy was?"

Parker looked at him for a moment. "No. Probably just another personwith a grudge against the Centre."

Jarod nodded. "Right. Well, you guys had better get going." Withoutanother word, she joined Broots and Sydney, and they hurried away.

~~~~~~~~~

They found the limo, and got in. As soon as they were seated, Juliaordered the driver to go, then looked at the others with a nervous smile."Busy night."

Broots gave an uncomfortable laugh. "Guess you're not used to it, huh?"

"No...Where are you three staying?"

"The Plaza."

"The Plaza! Oh, but that's on the other side of Seattle. It'd take morethan an hour to get there, and you must all be exhausted. Why don't youjust come to our place for the night. Believe me, it isn't as if we don'thave the room."

"I don't think so," Parker said hurriedly. "All of our things are atthe hotel, and we wouldn't want to intrude."

"You could borrow something of ours to sleep in, and really, we'd lovethe company." Parker realized that she was scared, and probably didn'tlike the idea of staying some place alone after what'd just happened.

"Okay," Parker gave in, with a weak smile.

"Marvelous!" She gave directions to the chauffeur, then began to chatwith Sydney. Parker just looked out the window, and sighed. It was goingto be a very long night.

~~~~~~~~~

The limo pulled up in front of a large building on the bay. The fourexited, weary -and in Parker's case, extremely sore- and ready to settledown for the night.

"Which one is yours?" Parker asked, wary of a long trip up stairs, oreven in an elevator.

"Um, all of them, actually," Julia blushed. "A friend of Jarod's builtthem. They just finished up the basement suites, but they don't start rentingthem out for another month, and since we were in town, he offered Jarodthe building for the two weeks we're staying."

"How generous." Unsure of whether she was being sarcastic or earnest,Julia just smiled and led the way into the lobby.

"We took the top penthouse. It's eight floors up. There's enough guestrooms for all of you, of course, but if you'd be more comfortable in yourown place, there are two other penthouses that have already been furnished."Broots and Sydney agreed to take one, while Parker took the other.

In the third penthouse, after making up the bed with the sheets andcomforter Julia had brought her, Parker headed eagerly to the bathroom.As she filled the bathtub, Julia knocked on the door.

"I'm afraid that you're taller than I am," came her muffled voice. "Noneof my things would fit you, but I did bring one of Jarod's shirts for youto sleep in. It's on the bed."

"Thanks," Parker called, then turned her attention back to the tub,shutting off the faucet when it'd filled to just the right level. Lightingsome candles she'd found, Parker flicked off the light switch. Knowingshe looked like hell, she didn't bother looking in the mirror, just slippedout of her dress and heels, pulled off her jewelry, and eased into thesteaming water.

~~~~~~~~~

It'd been nearly half an hour, and she was just beginning to doze offin the still-warm water, when there was a light rap at the door.

"Parker, you in there?" Jarod asked.

"Yeah," she replied sleepily.

"Just came to make sure everything's fine. Listen, I've left you a bathrobeout here, and a cup of tea."

"Thanks."

There was an uncertain pause, before he added, "You doin' okay?"

"Like I said earlier, I'm fine," she lied. Her feet were killing her,she was cut everywhere from those stupid hedges, and her shoulder feltlike there was a hot poker prodding it.

"Oh...all right. Well, see you in the morning. We've all agreed to havebreakfast at our place." Our place. Parker thought she was gonna gag. Notgetting a reply, Jarod left.

After soaking for a while longer, she got out reluctantly, wanting tostay in longer, but knowing she'd probably fall asleep and drown herself.Reaching outside to the table in the hall, she grabbed the robe and tea,then closed the door again before too much steam could escape.

After putting on the robe, she sat on the edge of the tub and lookedappreciatively at the warm cup in her hands. Peppermint tea with a sliceof lemon, her favorite. Mom had made it for her whenever she was sick.Grinning at Jarod's thoughtfulness, she leaned down to sniff the aroma—andnearly threw up. Shoving the cup onto the counter and closing her eyes,she forced herself to take deep breaths, trying to regain control overher queasy stomach. What did that freak inject her with? Her shoulder wasthrobbing...Parker's eyes shot open. She stood and went to the mirror,wiped it off with her hand.

Slipping off the shoulder of the robe, she looked at her reflection,and immediately paled at the sight. Her entire upper shoulder was swollen,making a huge red circle centering around the puncture. She lifted a handto the area with disbelief, but just before it reached her skin, her handbegan to tremble.

Staring at her quivering hand, shaking her head in disbelief, Parkerbegan to mentally put two and two together. The symptoms, the familiarchemical in the syringe...

"Oh, no." Parker's eyes widen as she realized the truth. "Not that.Oh, god, not that..."
 
 
 
 

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The End!

The Trick is to Keep Breathing