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)

~~~~~~~~~
 
 

"So, how long are we gonna stay here?" Broots asked Sydney in a hushedvoice, glancing to the balcony, where Jarod and Parker were in the middleof some discussion.

"Eager to return to the Centre?" Sydney smiled.

"Oh, come on," Broots replied defensively. "Like you don't find thisthe least bit weird. Two days ago we were tracking a pretender down--nowwe're his house guests."

"Nothing connected to the Centre is normal, Broots. I've learned toaccept things as they come, strange as they may be."

"S-so, we're not gonna bring him in?" Broots was surprised at his calmness.

"Our job is to find him--it's Parker's to bring him in. If she choosesnot to..."

"Why wouldn't she?"

"Miss Parker may seem a bit...cold at times, but she has her own codeof honor, her own sense of right and wrong. Now I have no doubt that shewill eventually capture Jarod, but you must remember that they were bothraised in the Centre. To her, they're fellow victims of a sort, so if hehelps her in anyway, it's no surprise that she'll feel an obligation."

"You mean she won't bring him in just this once, because we owe himfor last night?"

"Exactly."

With new understanding, and bit clearer picture of his boss, Brootslooked to the balcony. The glass doors were closed, so he couldn't hearanything, but the way Parker was staring out to the bay gave him the ideathat much wasn't being talked about as it was. "But next time...?"

"She will not hesitate. You know she carries a weapon—ever seen herhesitate to use it?"

Unbeknownst to them, Julia stood in the kitchen, listening to theirevery word. She followed the path of their eyes to the balcony and sighed.Jarod was placing a hand on Parker's back, and saying something. She frowned.Suddenly, she had the greatest desire for these people to get out.

~~~~~~~~~

"Parker?"

"I heard you." She kept her eyes focused straight ahead, and made sureto reveal no surprise at his words. He knew? How the hell...

"Well?" he pushed on expectantly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She turned to him. "Exactly what is it that you think you know?"

"Last night--" Her heart stopped. "--you did know how that was, didn'tyou?" Exhaling in relief, she shook her head, and even gave a small laugh,but quickly stopped as the action made her lightheaded.

"Jarod, that man is of no importance." And it wasn't,compared to whatshe was going through now.

Thinking that she was just lying to protect him from the man's identity,he continued. "Of course it is. Someone tried to kill you last night, Parker."

At the word "tried," Parker wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry.Instead, she did nothing at all, didn't show an ounce of emotion, and didn'treply.

"Why won't you tell me?" he demanded.

With an irritated sigh, she looked him right in the eye and snapped,"It's called doing a favor, you idiot."

He gave her a blank look. "What are you talking about?"

She studied his face for a moment, saw the genuine concern, and finallygave in. "The man last night...He didn't have a grudge against the Centre.He had a grudge against me." He raised an eyebrow, but made no comment.Reluctantly, she continued. "He wanted revenge, for his father."

"His father?"

"Yes...Jarod, his father's name...it was Nathan Crawford."

His face paled. "What?"

"He said it was my fault, everything that had happened. I know, it doesn'tmake any sense--"

"Unfortunately," Jarod cut her off grimly, "it makes all the sense inthe world."

It was her turn to be confused, but she grew suspicious at his uncomfortablelook. "Jarod, what aren't you telling me?"

"Back in England, when I told you everything about Crawford..."

"Yes?"

"That wasn't really everything?"

It took an incredible amount of control, especially considering hercurrent condition, to remain calm. "What else? Jarod, what did you leaveout?"

"I wanted to protect you," he said, ignoring the question. "With everythingelse going on, it just didn't seem right to drop something else -especiallysomething this horrible- on you."

"Answer the question--what did you leave out?"

He linked eyes with her, took hold of one of her hands, and preparedto lay another burden on her shoulders.

"When your father got Crawford out, he drove him to the Centre to givehim clear instructions, and the weapon of his choice. He remembered thathe'd left something at the house-your house- that he needed, a file orsomething, so stopped there. While he was inside, Crawford was in the car,handcuffed to the seat. Your father...he'd left the door open a bit, andyou just happened to be home." Parker's eyes widened, but they stayed linkedwith his. They were suddenly her only source of comfort. "You were young,of course, and playing with this doll. You stopped in the doorway, sawCrawford, waved to him..." The memory struck her like a bolt of lightning.

"I thought he was just a friend of Daddy's," she whispered. "How doyou know all this?"

"You know your father trusted no one--there were security cameras hiddeneverywhere in that house."

"Tell me the rest," she murmured, feeling her eyes water.

"Parker--"

"Tell me!" she demanded.

A reluctant paused, then, "I think those handcuffs were all that keptCrawford from going after you. You'd gone outside, just a few feet fromthe door--"

"--and picked some flowers," she finished for him. "I made this bouquetof daisies. I was headed towards the car to give them to him, when Daddycame outside. I couldn't understand why he seemed so mad at me...I-I droppedthe flowers; he picked me up and took me inside. I thought I was in trouble,but when he came home that night, it was if nothing had happened. He nevereven mentioned it."

"Why should he? Nothing had happened to you; Crawford was gone, withhis orders to kill Helena. He thought the whole incident was over."

"But it wasn't," she realized with a tone of doom, "was it?"

"For you, yes. But for others...Before this, Crawford was simply a childmolester. He had no preference, no real idea of the children he harmed.But after...after you he became fixated. You're probably the first childhe'd desired that he'd never gotten."

"You said fixated--fixated how?"

"After he'd killed Helena, he disappeared, as per his agreement withyour father. He lived a few places before Los Angeles, but was mostly adrifter. From what I've uncovered, there were other victims...all fittingthe same profile: dark hair, blue eyes, all near the same age. The clincherwas flowers--one girl was last seen in a garden, another was wearing daisy-shapedhair clips, most had a flower design somewhere on their clothes."

"God, no wonder his son blamed me."

Jarod nodded. "It must've been hard -or in his case, impossible- toaccept the truth. I did some research on the family. Crawford was the perfectfamily man, which is why it took so long for anyone to catch on. Afterhe was sent to prison, the mother had to work to support them. They soldthe house, moved into a trailer. Eventually the mother ran off with herboss, leaving the kids with an aunt. Little Sarah and Chris had no ideawhat was going on. Later on, Sarah committed suicide. My guess is Chrisfelt that everyone had betrayed him--and Crawford, away at prison sincehe was a kid, had always seemed so perfect, that it's no wonder that Chrisbegan to idolize him. After he got out, Crawford didn't contact Chris fora long while, not until just before he reached LA. They met only once--itmust have been then that Chris realized the truth."

"And unwilling to accept it, he blames me."

"Exactly."

Suddenly, horrible nausea and dizziness hit her. Afraid she was aboutto pass out, Parker opened the doors and headed inside. "I'm going downto my room for a bit."

"Of course," Jarod said sympathetically, seeing how hard it was forher even walk. It must've been such a horrible shock, he thought.

Under normal circumstances, Parker would have been upset. But rightnow, she had bigger problems. In the elevator, she leaned against the backwall, and struggled to stay conscious. Just as the doors began to slideshut, Broots opened the door of the apartment and called out to her, "Oh,M-Miss Parker, I was wondering when we were leaving--"

"Back off, bald boy!" she snapped as the doors shut.

Face red, he went back into the apartment. Seeing Syd on the couch,grinning, he said with a look of indignation, "Well, that was uncalledfor!"
 
 
 

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Part 3