Part 8

FOUR LOST IN COAST GUARD ACCIDENT

A COAST GUARD HELICOPTER CRASHED OFF THE COAST OF SABLE ISLAND YESTERDAY. THERE WAS ONE SURVIVOR. LOCAL MAN, ROBERT BROWN, LOST HIS BROTHER ALTON. ALTON WAS THE PILOT OF THE DOOMED AIRCRAFT. MECHANICAL FAILURE IS SUSPECTED.

"How does this help us?"

"Guess who sent them to Sable Island."

"Mr. Patten," Jarod said understanding finally.

"How did you know about this?" asked Miss Parker.

"I'm not sure, it just sort of came to me. It used to happen a lot at the Centre. When we were down at the Memorial a Coast Guard ship went by. I guess it just triggered something."

"So what does this mean to us?"

"I would guess that if we find Robert Brown, we find Mr. Patten."

"Why do you say that?"

Fiona clicked "FIND RELATED ARTICLES." She scrolled through the results.

LOCAL MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS FOR ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING

"It looks as if our Mr. Brown has tried this before. The dates also show something significant. They match the time Mr. Patten moved to Blue Cove permanently."

"Brown must blame Mr. Patten for his brother's death," Parker said.

"Now you got it!"

The Centre
Blue Cove, DE

Broots rushed into Sydney's office carrying a folder.

"Syd, I was searching for Miss Powers in the mainframe. I didn't mean run into this. I probably typed in the wrong thing. But I found it and…"

"Calm down Broots. What did you find?"

"Um, it's an old project from the 80's. The rumor was that it was never successful but this says otherwise. There are no details. It just says it worked."

"What's it called, Broots?"

"It's… it's called RFG2. It's a branch of the Pretender Project."

"It's the second generation of Red Files."

"What?" Broots asked confused.

"I thought you said you knew about this."

"I only know it was an extension of the Pretender Project that supposedly failed."

"You didn't know what they were attempting to do?"

"No, I didn't. What were they doing?"

"You already know all that you should know about it, Broots. I was never sure it was successful. I always hoped it wasn't. All I can say is I'm glad Miss Parker is not here to find out about it."


"There are at least half a dozen Robert Browns in the Gloucester phone book," Parker said holding a large telephone directory.

"Don't worry about that, Parker. I can find anything on this. The Internet can be a wonderful thing."

Fiona went into a people search and immediately came up with a match.

"Mr. Robert A. Brown. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1942. His address is right here. I'm gonna go check it out," Fiona said while getting up and shutting off the computer. Unfortunately, Miss Parker didn't see the address.

"Oh no, you're not. A thirteen-year-old girl is not going out in a strange city at 8:00pm to go investigate a potential kidnapper's house. No way," Parker said.

"Oh, come on. I may be thirteen years old but I can take care of myself. And besides, I've been a private in the Marines and about 20 other things since the Centre. I'll be all right. Trust me."

"Trust can kill you."

"Or set you free," Fiona added.

Parker was stunned by Fiona's comment. She hardly noticed Fiona bolt out the door. When she did it was too late. Fiona was gone. Miss Parker had no chance of catching her and she knew it. She had no idea where she was going. She ran to Jarod's room to talk to him.

"Jarod, Fiona just ran off to investigate Brown's house. I tried to stop her but…"

She couldn't say any more. She couldn't figure out what was bothering her so much. This was the first time she noticed the change in herself.

"Parker, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm sure the Centre taught her well. She is smart enough not to get into trouble," Jarod comforted her. It wasn't working.

"Jarod, you've seen a hint of what she can be like if she loses her

temper.""Yeah, I have. She's just like you. But you have to remember. Whenever you lost your temper you might have wanted to do something but rarely went through with it, for one reason or another. Like the time you thought my father killed your mother. You ran down there with every intention to kill him but you didn't."

Parker started to calm down. Jarod could tell she was still upset. He sat down next to her.

"I could go look for her if it would make you feel better."

Parker smiled a rare smile.

"Thank you, Jarod. I haven't really been myself lately. For some reason, I feel some sort of connection with Fiona."

"I do, too. Maybe it's because she grew up in the Centre."

Jarod was probably right but Miss Parker had a nagging suspicion that it went deeper than that.

"I better get going now." He started for the door.

"Jarod, be careful."

"I will. And I'll be back with Fiona."

Jarod ran to Parker's room and quickly found the address on Fi's computer. He decided to walk because he would have a better chance of finding Fiona. When he got there he walked quietly around the house. Someone tapped him on the back.

"Fiona, don't do that!"

"Funny seeing you here, Jarod."

"I could say the same thing about you. While we're up here we are responsible for you. We can't have you running off. Things like that can get you killed."

"I'm fine."

"That's not the point."

"Jarod, can we please stop with the lectures? Bob Brown isn't home now but I have reason to believe someone is. Come over here."

They walked over to a small window near the foundation.

"I can't see anything."

"That's the point, the windows are covered up."

"I'll check it out. You wait here."

"No, I'm coming, too."

"You're not going to change you're mind, are you?"

"No."

"Okay, come on."

They opened up the bulkhead in the backyard, went in and closed it behind them. Jarod picked the lock. He opened the door. There was a strong smell of aftershave lotion coming from the open door. Jarod didn't know what it was; Fiona did. They walked into a basement filled with junk. There was a curtain in the corner. Fiona walked slowly over to it and pulled it aside. There was a small bed behind it.

"Mr. Patten!" Fiona whispered.

The sixty year old stirred in his sleep, his handcuffs clanging on the metal bed. He was considerably thinner than he was the last time Fi saw him. The fact that he had already been thin made this worse. He had a large scrape on his forehead covered with dried blood as if he had been hit hard over the head and it hadn't had a chance to heal yet. The sight of him in this condition made Fiona's eyes well up with tears.

"Wake up, Mr. Patten!" she said nudging his shoulder. "Jarod, get over here!"

He ran over and unlocked the handcuffs.

"What's going on?" Mr. Patten asked still half asleep. It took a little while for his eyes to focus.

"Fiona! What in the world are you doing here?"

"Duh! What does it look like? We're taking you home."

"Fiona, you shouldn't be here. It's too dangerous."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Patten. You must know what she is."

"Of course I know what she is, Jarod. How else would I be able to protect

her?""How do you know who I am?" Jarod asked while taking a step back in

shock."Let's just say a friend told me."

"Okay, we'll catch up on everything later. Right now we have to get you out of here," Fiona said, helping Patten up.

The Crow's Nest

Parker was pacing the room by now. She heard something out in the hall and ran to open the door. She was startled by what she saw. She had expected Fiona and Jarod but not Mr. Patten.

"Jarod, how in the world did you find him so easily?"

"I give all the credit to Fiona."

"Miss Parker? I thought your job was to catch Jarod. What are you doing

here?""How do you know about Jarod?"

"Yeah and I would like a better explanation than 'a friend told me,'" Jarod added.

"Well, I guess you do need to hear the truth once in a while," He said sitting on the edge of the bed. "I've been helping the good people at the Centre for some time. I've known about Jarod for years. When Dr. Wolfman, the person who raised Fiona, told me you had escaped a few years back she knew she had to get Fi out as fast as possible. She helped her escape a little over a year ago. I've helped Fiona keep a low profile ever since."

"How much do you know about the Centre?"

"Only what is needed. I know that Fiona's special, even for a Pretender, but I don't know why. I know she was in that place most, if not all, of her life. I've tried to help her find her family but we don't have much to go on."

"I'll be glad to help you search," Jarod offered. Fiona's eyes lit up.

"You would? I don't know how to repay you, Jarod. For that and helping me find the only family I've ever known."

"You don't have to, Fiona. Just knowing you're free from that place is payment enough."

Robert Brown's House
3 Friend Street
Gloucester, MA
The next day

"Richie, I'm back," Brown said while walking down the stairs to the basement. He went over to the curtain and pulled it back.

"What the…?"

He turned around and knocked himself out banging into something hanging suspiciously low from the ceiling.

"Mr. Brown? Oh, Mr. Brown? Wake up!"

Brown woke up with a start when a bucket of water was dumped on his head.

"Ahhh! Who did this? Patten, if that's you, I'm gonna…"

"Um, I don't think so, Mr. Brown. You're not in any position to be making threats. You see, Richard Patten isn't here right now. But I am."

"Let me out of here!"

"You really would like that, wouldn't you? Well, okay I guess I, um, no. That wouldn't be fair. After all, you kept Richard Patten here for, let's see, three weeks. I have to keep you here at least that long to…"

"You're crazy! Let me go!"

"I'm crazy? I believe that is what you are. After all, you did kidnap a man that had absolutely nothing to do with your brother's death."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come now, Bob. 20 years ago a Coast Guard helicopter crashes off the coast of Sable Island, one survivor. Does that ring a bell?"

"Yeah, so what? It's ancient history."

"Oh, it is. Okay, well what about the time you tried to kidnap good old Mr. Patten. That wasn't successful, though. Someone found out, you went to jail and Patten moved away."

"Okay, so I did. So what? People can change."

"But you didn't, did you? You waited fifteen years so you could get out of jail and try again. Patten was gone when you got out so you had to track him down. When you did, you ripped him from his family. Do you know how that feels? Never knowing if they're okay, if you'll ever see them again?"

"I do know what it feels like. My brother was killed in that crash and Richard Patten sent us there. He might as well have shot him in the back. Patten deserved what he got."

"It wasn't Patten's fault that your brother died. It's no one's. Your brother could have turned down the assignment if he didn't think it could be done. Don't argue with me about that. It's Coast Guard fact."

"You believe whatever you want. I'll admit it. I kidnapped him. It doesn't matter though. You can't prove anything. Now, let me out of here!" he yelled banging his handcuffs on the bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry but I can't do that. If I let you go now, no one be here to greet the police when they arrive. They'll be very eager to see you again after they here this."

'You believe whatever you want. I'll admit it. I kidnapped him. It doesn't matter though. You can't prove anything.'

"Apparently I can. Tape recorders, one of the many advantages to living in a technologically advanced society such as ours. I'd better be going now. Have fun… rotting in prison."

"Hey you, don't leave! Come back here!"

"Hey you! My name is Fiona and don't you ever forget it! You took away the only family I ever knew and you will pay for that, by spending the rest of your miserable life in prison. And the next time you think you can get away with messing with Richard Patten, or anyone else for that matter, you better think again. I'll be watching you; I'll always be watching you."

Fiona came out of the shadows for the first time. Robert Brown all but burst out laughing when he saw her.

"I was caught by a teenager? Oh, great, wait till the boys here about this one. I'll never live it down."

"Don't underestimate the mind of a teenager and don't underestimate me."

She walked up the stairs and slammed the door behind her.

Go to Part Nine.


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