by Jill Cooper
“Dad never …” My voice trails off when my eyes lock with Jax. His are afraid, nervous. I don’t know why he’s so scared, but I don’t think Rex is friendly. No matter if he’s my uncle or not, I don’t want him in our house.
“Yes, Jax and I, we’ve had a few falling outs over the years, but we are working on mending our fences, aren’t we brother?” Rex clasps Jax on the shoulder, and I sense he would rather be anywhere but here.
I want to ask why. As I’m thinking about it, Mom speaks up. “Help set the table, Lara. Rex, you can stay for dinner?”
He smirks. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of missing it. Tell me where I can find Mike and Molly. So delighted to hear twins really do run in the family.”
The twins are thrilled to find out they have a British uncle. They spend most of the dinner asking him to say certain words or phrases and asking about British slang. It amuses Mom, but Jax never cracks a grin. He barely touches his dinner.
“Tell me about your work, Senator? Is it true you’re looking to loosen the laws on time travel?” Rex asks.
Joseph chuckles. “Has been for years!”
Patricia swallows carefully and picks up her glass of wine. “It would seem to me we are wasting a valuable resource. Don’t have time to go on a vacation? Borrow a memory from someone who did. You’ll spend a fraction of the time in the chair but wake refreshed.”
“And three times as much money,” Donovan cracks.
Everyone laughs, but Rex points at him. “Money makes the world go round, doesn’t it? Certainly it does. What does the government think about time travel to save the world?”
Patricia smiles, sits up straighter, and with confidence says, “Soon, if I have my way, that’s exactly how it will be. I hope to have enough votes to pass a law that ensures the police have the real power they need.”
Mom and Patricia clink their glasses together. Usually she hates this line of speculation but is good friends with the Senator, which is how Donovan and I met.
Jax’s eyes are far off. I don’t think he’s hearing anything that’s going on at all.
Rex plays with his butter knife. “So, the world will be made safer, thanks to you then? Murderers will be taken out before they commit crimes, rapists, kidnappers, all of them erased?”
“Can’t happen. For one, if you try to change the past, your mind will turn to mush. We want them stopped, rehabilitated, not dead,” Mom says. “Second, what you’re talking about is murder.”
“What’s a little casual murder among friends,” Rex says, eyeing me specifically.
I shift in my seat, sitting up straighter and trying to act as if he’s not bothering me.
“That’s why we have the memories, isn’t it?” Patricia says. “If we can take a serial killer and strip his memories from him—his rotten childhood—and insert happy ones, we can quell the instincts, change lives. That is what Miranda is working on.”
All eyes fall to my mother, whose jaw is set tight.
“Really, I was unaware your research was so cutting edge?” Rex says.
She gulps back her wine. “I don’t talk about this in front of the children. Lara, please start clearing the table.”
To be asked to clear the table on your birthday is probably considered by most to be rude, but I am pretty happy about it. I take some dishes into the kitchen and begin to scrape the leftovers into the garbage disposal.
I hear a shuffling behind me and turn to see Rex standing there with his hands in his pockets. “Can I get you something?”
He approaches me and stands so close that I back up into the counter. His eyes search mine. They are deep, penetrating and don’t leave my face. I will myself not to blink, but it’s not easy.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” he whispers, stroking my hair.
I shake my head. “Should I?”
“You will. I liked the curls better,” he says with malice. I don’t take another breath until he’s gone.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Rex was the assassin.
He had a working relationship with the Senator, and even though they pretended not to know each other, if you knew what to look for, you could see it. Rex tried to kill Mom, and when he failed, she stayed with Rewind and married Jax.
Did Jax know? Was he innocent?
I don’t want to hurt him, but I know I need to expose them all.
****
My eyes snap open and I suck in a sharp intake of air. I’m in a small room surrounded by cement walls with a window far up, but little light is streaming inside. The room is empty except for a mattress I’m lying on.
Pushing up on my elbows, my stomach sways back and forth. I groan and check all my pockets for my phone. It’s gone. My legs wobble when I try to stand, and I fall against the wall. I brace myself against it to get to the door, but there’s no window and no handle. It is completely flat.
I’m trapped.
My heart is pounding with fear. There’s no way out.
Footsteps echo outside. Someone’s coming. I look around for a weapon, anything, but the room is barren. Instead, I crouch down in the corner and wait for the door to open.
The men who kidnapped me enter, holding Jax between them. The one with the dragon tattoo throws him to the ground. “Say what needs to be said. Time is short.”
He cringes in pain, and I scurry over to him. His face is black and blue, and he’s bleeding above one eye. My heart gives an awful twinge at the sight of him hurt. I grip him by the shoulders, my head collapsing against his chest. The door latches.
We’re alone.
Jax’s hand rubs the top of my head. “This is all my fault, Lara. I’m sorry. I thought I could control it. Then Molly …”
His face contorts with pain, but he doesn’t cry. He remains strong.
And that helps me stay strong too. “Are you going to hurt me?”
Jax shakes his head. “Never. Never. God, that you think that—of course why would think anything different?” He exhales. “I’ve made a mess out of everything, Lara. Everything.”
I bit my lip and feel like I can trust him. I can see the despair on his face as he rubs his eyes with his hands. He looks like he’s living a nightmare. I ask a question I need an answer to even though I’m afraid.
“Did you know Rex was going to try to kill Mom? Did you help him?”
He shakes his head as I help him sit up. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Tell me,” I spit out. “I deserve the truth.”
“It started with late nights, dinners … then dancing. I was in love with your mother, and she—”
“Was married, I know. Then what?”
He leans his head back and looks up at the lights. “You missed your mom. So did John. Miranda was going to quit, spend more time with you, but Patricia James … wouldn’t stand for it. Your mom knew too much about the illegal research, about the illegal money Patricia was funneling into the company when it was a startup.”
“The guys who grabbed us, the ones with the tattoos, that would make them—”
Jax nods. “Mob. They are invested in your mom’s research and keep Patricia on a short leash. Even now, if it got out … they own her. Once, she was our friend, but now … no. She can’t be trusted.”
“So she hired your brother to take her out?”
Jax’s shoulders round, and his face despairs. “I didn’t know, not before he took the shot. You have to believe me. We might be brothers, but our lives took very different paths. He was in the mob as an enforcer at a young age, and since then … let’s say his skills have improved, all right?”
I do believe him. I see the agony in his face as he talks about his brother. “But you covered it up. You framed my father.”
“I didn’t have a choice. The mob … they would’ve tried again. They would’ve killed your mom, you, me, everyone. But he’s my brother. We worked out a deal. He’d never come back. He’d leave us alone … if I kept Miranda at her job, doing her research. If I’d keep her quiet.
” He takes a deep sigh. “Then we got married. I never thought —”
“You fell in deep.” I bite my lip. “You had the twins.”
Jax nods.
“So what changed? Why did Rex come back?”
Jax shakes his head. “The Senator did. Your mother did. Their relationship … was getting worse. Your mom was going to leave and blow the lid off the whole thing. I didn’t know any of this until Molly was taken, until you went missing. But your mom told me about the Senator ’s threats, about what happened to that reporter. Somehow, she had a source and—”
“I’m the source.” I watch disbelief roll over his face.
“What? How?”
“I stole proprietary information from Rewind, from Mom, and handed it off to the reporter. They got it back when they killed her. I have it all on video. I can end this if I can get out.”
Jax closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “And Molly? They took her to …”
“Blackmail me, get their stuff back. Seems like it worked.” I take a breath to force myself to slow down. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”
“No!” I almost believe him. “No.”
“Jax—”
“Listen, I’m sorry for what I did, but I did the best I could.”
“What you did …”
“You think I don’t know what you’re going to say?” Jax narrows his eyes, and his hand caresses my cheek. “Every year, I love you both more. Every year, I see how much harder it is for you. Every year, I feel worse than I did before.”
“Every year,” I whisper, and my mind flashes back to my father’s birthday party.
I scraped birthday cake on top of an unopened envelope. The seal was a golden M for Montgomery. And Dad never opened it because he knew who it was from—Mom’s lover. He sent us what? A card? Money? Because his brother was responsible and he got away with it.
“You okay?” Jax asks.
“Yeah … a lot to take in.”
“Can you forgive me for what I’ve done?”
I swallow.
He waits silently.
“It might be too much.” His face is crestfallen. “But you raised me. I wish you found another way.”
His lip quivers. “Me too. Do what they say, Lara, then maybe we’ll all get out of here, all get a second chance.”
I doubt that’s true, but I hope it is.
The door opens again and in walks Rex. He looks different than he did the last time I saw him. A scab runs down the side of his face. It looks fresh.
I snarl. “What happened to your face?”
“You did.”
My eyebrows furrow. “I think I’d remember,” I say, even though it’s quite possible I don’t.
He crouches down, and his smile is chilling, unkind. “You will later. Just proves our plans for you were successful. You are the one Miranda has been searching for her entire career. How ironic.”
I can’t fathom what he’s talking about. Is he talking about her work?
“I’m sorry, my darling. There’s no time to explain. The procedure room is ready for you.”
“Rex.” Jax glances up at his brother with wide eyes. “You said you’d let her go once you had everything that was yours.”
“Plans change.” Rex signals his thugs, who grab my arms, forcing me to my feet.
“Let her go!” Jax screams.
I kick my legs and fight them every step of the way. “Let me go!” I try to pull my arms free, throw my head around. I do everything I can.
Still, they bring me down a long corridor into a sterile room. In the center is a long leather chair, something like a dentist’s chair, but with a hole in the headrest. I’m slammed into it and their strong bodies hold me still as they cuff me in.
I scream, thrash, and even manage to bite one of their ears.
“Ahhh!” He backhands me across the jaw.
“Enough!”
My chest heaves as everyone stands to attention. It’s Patricia James in a blue executive suit, not a hair out of place. She’s the perfect picture of a Washington powerhouse.
She studies me. I’ve never seen anyone so unwaveringly unapologetic, but I’ve never been kidnapped before.
“Have you forgotten we have Molly?”
I swallow hard. Part of me did.
“What do you want?” My teeth grit together.
“A weapon. A time traveler. Someone who can get me everything I need to turn around this pathetic country. And according to your brain scans at the hospital …” Her sneer gives me shivers. “You’re it.”
I take a deep breath. My insides are shaking.
“You could still die, but this is the only way to save Molly, Jax, your mother. Understood?” She crosses her arms like a school teacher waiting for me to turn in my homework.
Under her penetrating gaze, I nod, but my mind spins. I need to find a way out of this.
“Good. We can be friends if you do what you’re told.”
I sneer. “Some friend.”
“Hmph!”
The next sight turns my blood cold. Men enter the room with my mom between them and slam her onto the floor. A thug places his hand on her neck, keeping her down in place.
“I won’t do this to my daughter. I won’t!” she cries out.
I squeeze my eyes shut and lean my head back. Everything I went through to save her, and now she’s back in danger, despite all I did. Maybe that’s how things are. Maybe I have no control. Maybe I can’t save her. But I don’t believe it for one second. Mom can be saved. We all can, if I can only figure out how.
I must go through with my old plan, go back in time to when this all started. If I catch Rex at the scene and turn him in, this future won’t exist.
It’s my only shot.
“You saw the brain scans,” Patricia says. “This is the only thing that might save her life. You have no choice. Or should I get Molly in here?”
“No!” Mom shouts. “Leave her out of this.” She stands up and rests a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry about this. I’m so sorry, Lara.”
I swallow hard. “It’s the only way out. Do it.”
Her eyes cloud over. I am the next test subject. They want to unlock time travel in someone, and I am the best candidate. What Patricia doesn’t know is I am her worst enemy, and if this works, I’ll take her down.
“This is going to hurt,” Mom says.
I open my eyes and try not to look as she readies a needle. I bite my lip as she slides it into the base of my skull.
When she pulls it out, I gasp for air, my fingers gripping at the arm rest.
“Mom?” I whisper, my lips trembling.
She’s holding a metal hose in her hand and begins to fish it through the back of the chair. I can’t see much, which makes my heart palpitate. I can barely keep still and am beginning to sweat.
“I love you, baby,” she whispers and leans over to kiss my cheek. “If this works, you need to save Molly. You need to find a way.”
I barely nod. I don’t want the Senator to see.
The tube is attached to my skull, and a moment later searing heat and ice race through my body. My vision flashes to white, then a spectrum of colors.
Agony!
My back arches, my head snaps back, and I scream.
After a lifetime of misery, in my mind, I see the entrance to an apartment complex. My finger hovers over the buzzer for 302c.
The label reads Joyce Meyers.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The young woman who answers the door of 302c has blonde hair, cut simply, but stunning eyes. So this is Joyce Meyers. I nervously walk in and hand her the duffle bag.
She examines the contents. “This is everything?”
I cross my arms and pace. Being there is my goal, but it’s making my skin crawl. “Yes. Do you think it’ll be enough?”
“To free your father? I don’t know, but to get an inquiry into Rewind and the Senator? Absolutely. I’ll look over everything and get back to you
as soon as I can.”
I smile at her as she places a hand on my shoulder. We stop short of the front door as the doorbell rings.
“Are you expecting someone?” I ask.
She runs to peer through the peephole. “Quick, hide!”
I grab the duffle bag and run. Frantic, I slam myself into the linen closet, barely able to catch my breath.
I hear voices, one of them familiar. Fishing my cell phone out of my pocket, I start recording a video. Through the slats in the door, I can make out Joyce. Her mouth is slack and her eyes wide as she raises her hands up in self-defense. The thug with the neck tattoo clamps a cloth over her mouth. She struggles and then goes limp in their arms.
I cover my mouth to keep from screaming. He lays her down on the ground and another face comes into view. Patricia James.
“Make it look like a suicide this time.”
This time.
I turn off my phone and squeeze my eyes shut, shoving it into my pocket as I kneel down so no one will see me. If they catch me, I’m dead, but this video might be what I need to stop the Senator for good.
“Find the evidence. Find out who her source is.”
I only hope they won’t find me. Please don’t search the closet.
They go to search the bedroom first, so I take the opportunity to peek out of the closet door and look around. The coast is clear. I sling the bag carefully over my shoulder, and with shaking legs I am at the front door in only a few steps. The run down the hall seems to go on forever.
I hear a voice far off. “Whoever she is, get her.”
I squeal and hit all the buttons on the elevator before I run down the stairs. I hope they didn’t see me.
I hope.
****
I have no idea how much time has passed when I open my eyes next. My body is on fire. The muscles in my arms and legs are shaking from utter exhaustion. Groaning, I roll over in the bed I’m in. It’s a hospital bed, but the room is anything but medical. Other than myself and the bed, the room is empty. When I try to sit up, my vision spins like a kaleidoscope. I mash my hands to my eyes and hear the door open.
“Feeling better?” It’s the Senator. She throws a bag down on my leg. “Financials, schematics. It’s all here but one thing.”
