Time Keepers

by Kate Allenton

  TIME

  KEEPERS

  Kate Allenton

  Copyright © 2019 Kate Allenton

  All rights reserved.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Coastal Escape Publishing

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHPATER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  Chapter 1

  Sarah Weston punched buttons on the seemingly simple watch strapped on her wrist. To the unwitting onlooker, the electronic timepiece with the wide black band looked a bit cumbersome. There was nothing too fancy about the apparatus. There certainly were no diamonds inlaid on the face. Nothing unusual to the untrained eye, but the watch interface was much more valuable. It powered the new systematic eye contact Sarah was wearing on a test run.

  A smorgasbord of information filled her vision like a computer screen. The contact interface lit up the streets and pedestrians around her like a computer game, complete with a digital trail of arrows pointing in the direction the target ran. All she had to do was follow the energetic trail.

  She took off running again, shoving and jostling her way through the Thanksgiving Day parade crowd. Music blared as floats and displays inched by at an agonizing pace. These people were clueless of the dangerous threat she was chasing. Loud, boisterous laughter from the crowds and snatches of songs from the floats filled the air like an attack of little needles penetrating Sarah’s brain, making her head throb like the bass from a speaker.

  Men, women, and children excitedly lined the street, and for what? Big floats were skirting the row of skyscrapers while marching bands and dancers entertained.

  The police officers and other emergency personnel weren’t watching the parade. They were watching the onlookers, waiting for heated arguments to break out about something as trivial as why people were blocking little Sally’s view. At some point, the tension would explode and make the ten o’clock news. She’d never understand why people liked to assemble in crowds. Masses of people without ease to move made a person vulnerable.

  Criminals loved these celebrations. The victim pool was endless, all huddled shoulder to shoulder like a can of sardines. But Sarah wasn’t about to let the pickpockets deter her. She had a job to do that was much more important than stopping street crime; she was stopping crimes against time.

  Sarah followed the red energy trail at a jog, only slowing when cops glanced in her direction. The second they looked away she’d start running again to make up the lost time. The energy trail veered down a darkened alley hidden in shadows by the height of the tall buildings. She thrust her hands out, scraping them on the red brick buildings as she maneuvered the turn. She slowed taking in her surroundings as she tried to catch her breath. The corridor was littered with more than just trash. Street thugs covered in cliché tattoos huddled together as if discussing what score they were about to make. They probably were.

  The muscles in her shoulders tightened into knots as she stomped in their direction. Her hand lay at her back on the gun handle beneath her jacket as she scanned their faces. The computer flashed their profiles on the optic of her contact for her to read.

  One by one, their police files filled her vision until she figured out which was the ringleader. If she was going to make this quick, she had to go straight to the top and go for the throat.

  Carlos Mateo scanned her from head to toe as she came to a stop in front of the group. His gaze was assessing, no more than hers had been moments ago. He swiped at white powder around his nose and licked his lips.

  Top thug. Sarah gestured to her nose and held his gaze. “You missed some.”

  “You turned down the wrong alley, lady,” he announced, sliding the gun from the waist of his jeans. He held it pointing to the ground, swiped at his nose again, and inhaled.

  The others with him sneered in agreement like a pack of apes, swaying back and forth in an animalistic dance.

  “You can go back to doing your delinquent drug thing. You aren’t my target,” she announced, holding her hands out to the side. Sarah didn’t need a weapon to take on these five thugs. Even if they did get the drop on her, she’d walk away with barely a scratch. “A man ran down this alley five minutes ago. It’s him I’m after.”

  The four remaining thugs started to fan out around her, blocking the path.

  “I’ll show you what a real man is.” Mateo gave a little nod to one of the thugs, and Sarah turned her computer guided contact lens in his direction. His threat popped up first—a bulge from the knife beneath his coat—before the computer flashed, indicating his weak spot. A medical file was showing an injury with his knee. That was the only in she needed.

  She struck with the full force of her weight, breaking his leg into two. He went down fast and screaming, landing with a thud on his side as he held the broken limb in place.

  Sarah pulled her gun and waved it between the remaining four. “Mateo, call them off. I’m just passing through.”

  “How do you know my name?” Mateo stepped forward with a swagger like he refused to be scared of a woman and unconvinced that she’d be able to take him down.

  Both of his assumptions were misguided. Her brows dipped as his police file scanned in her vision. It stopped on a missing person police report filed by Mateo in search of his sister after the September 11th terrorist attack.

  She flicked the safety off and cocked the trigger. “It doesn’t matter how I know your name. What matters is that you’re standing in the way of me catching a terrorist. Unless you want another 9-11, I suggest you let me pass.”

  “Kill that bitch,” the man on the ground yelled.

  Mateo lowered his weapon. “A terrorist?”

  “A bad one,” she answered.

  “What are you, FBI?” he asked.

  “Worse. I don’t have to follow the bureaucratic rules. I have the authority to get the job done by any means necessary.”

  Mateo nodded in understanding. “Let her pass.”

  “Mateo, you see what she did to me?” the whiner on the ground yelled.

  “Yeah, she’ll do the same, if not worse, to the terrorist. Let her pass.” He growled his order with a vengeance. He waved his gun to the fire escape. “He to
ok the stairs to the roof.”

  Sarah glanced up to find Foster smiling down on her. Aggravation seeped through her core. He held the answers she needed. She wouldn’t stop until either she caught him or she was dead.

  She hurried up the ladder rungs. The muscles in her legs ached from the three-mile chase, yet she pushed through the pain and jumped onto the roof.

  She reached for her gun at the exact moment Foster stepped into another time slip. She ran to follow him, barely making it before it closed.

  She couldn’t stop her momentum. Throwing her hands up, she bounced off a wall, smacking her head against the drywall. She fell backward, hitting the ground with a thud. Her heart racing as she tried to catch her breath, she stared up at a ceiling of a warehouse, where a sky had been painted. The lights flickered seconds before going out, and another light turned on. The painted sky lit up with streams of colors like the aurora borealis, dancing back and forth across her vision.

  “I’m not a bad guy, Sarah. Just a man caught between a rock and a hard spot.”

  “Good guys don’t try to drown innocent people,” she said, reminding him of a time she’d never forget. Her fear of the water, her need to save lives, had almost gotten her killed and all because Foster had literally pushed her over the boat’s edge. She slipped her gun free. She clutched it in her palm. “Tell me where my mother is, and I’ll let you walk out of here. You have my word.”

  “You have to stop chasing me.” His voice sounded as though it were coming from her right.

  She pushed to stand, ignoring the lights on the ceiling. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “These are dangerous people. You’re going to get hurt.”

  She punched in some numbers on her biofeed, changing her contact to see in night vision.

  She scanned in the direction of his voice until she found his location. A smile twitched on her lips as she aimed and pulled the trigger.

  2018

  Chapter 2

  The sound of shattering glass bouncing off the concrete floor filled her ears seconds before the lights flicked on. The heat signature she’d been picking up was her own reflection. She sighed and spun to find Foster on the other side of the room, his gun pointed at her.

  “You missed.”

  “Leave the light on and let me try again.”

  He took tentative steps in her direction until he was standing behind her. He slipped the gun from her hand and tossed it out of reach across the room.

  “You didn’t like our date.” His breath was hot on her cheek.

  “This wasn’t a date,” she said to the delusional guy.

  “Sure it was.” His lips lingered on her cheek, and she leaned into the feel. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, Foster piqued more than her need to kill. He touched other more intimate parts that she couldn’t control. They’d been playing this game of cat and mouse for over six months, but things hadn’t started this way.

  “When we met, you were a good guy.”

  “You assumed my intentions were pure. Here’s a tip. They’ll never be pure where you’re concerned.”

  “Just tell me where my mother is,” Sarah begged, not that she’d believe his answer, but she didn’t feel she was in much danger from him. There was no water around for him to drown her, and he wouldn’t shoot her. He’d had ample opportunities to do that and worse. She might be playing his game, but she’d eventually be the one to win.

  “I can’t tell you where your mother is, but I can tell you something even more interesting. You have a man arriving in the transponder today. Don’t trust him. He’ll lie to you, he’ll manipulate you, and he’ll kill you.”

  “Sounds like someone else I know.” She swallowed hard around her dry throat.

  Foster didn’t deny her claim.

  “His focus is going to be on one of the open slips. Whatever you do, don’t let him near it.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” she asked, turning to face him. The heat from his hold was gone, and she hated the fact she missed it.

  “You still have no clue?” he asked as his brows dipped. “I recreated the Borealis for you.”

  “Foster,” she sighed and slid her fingers together. “I don’t know what you think we have, but it’s obvious that it’s not mutual. You’re a killer. You’re holding my mother and Natalie captive, and you’re toying with me when I should be helping to find a way to close these slips.”

  Foster’s eyes flashed seconds before he grabbed her in his arms. He pressed his hot mouth against hers in a kiss that rendered her speechless. Her arms flew around his neck, holding him to her. Just a second longer was all she needed. A moan slipped from her lips before he broke the connection.

  “I toy with you, Sarah, with all of this chasing,” he said, waving his gun around, “so that you’ll be ready to deal with what’s coming next. You’ve been chasing me for six months. Six months. Your transitions through slips have quickened. Your ability to deal with innocents in your way to reach me faster has also improved. Everything about your hunt is getting stronger and more in tune, and that’s because of me.”

  “What’s coming?” she asked, her tone almost begging. “Is it the reason that Steed is opening the slips? To let someone through?”

  Steed was the maniac behind all of Sarah’s troubles. His conniving determination to change time had rendered him a thorn in Sarah’s side. A smart, lethal thorn that was recruiting other barbs to stab her from each direction. Whether Foster was part of that vine was still to be determined.

  “Sarah.” Foster rested his forehead against hers. “Steed will do whatever it takes to kill you and change his destiny. You and Ziggy have got to be ready for this fight.”

  “In your convoluted mind, you believe you’re helping me?”

  He stepped back and narrowed his eyes. “Everything I do is for you. It always has been.”

  He punched numbers into a biofeed watch.

  “Wait!” She held up her palm, not ready for him to leave. She still had questions. “How do you know someone is arriving today via the transponder? No one knows that. I haven’t even been briefed.”

  Foster showed her an instrument that looked much like a tablet an average person from this time period would use, only this one was smaller and more compact. “My quantum computer is mobile. You only have another decade before yours will be too.”

  Foster finished punching numbers into his biofeed. The energy in the room formed a circle, and he stepped back over the threshold. She made no move to follow him.

  “Stay safe, Sarah.” He held her gaze as the slip closed between them.

  “Ziggy, did you copy all that, and do you have my location?” Sarah asked.

  Within seconds, a time slip opened with Ziggy standing on the other side, a computer tablet in hand. “Yes to both.”

  Ziggy was her newest hire and the one that was going to help bring Foster down. He was just as invested in this outcome as Sarah.

  She stepped through the slip and into what she loving referred to as the pit. There were others like her at STEM Corp, each employee tasked with tracking the tourists that are here studying this time period. Guys like Foster and Steed were the cowboys of the bunch. Neither had arrived legally into their time, and neither of them had honorable intentions. That was what made them both fugitives.

  “Did you complete the task?” Ziggy asked.

  Sarah grinned. “I planted the tracking device beneath his collar when he kissed me.”

  “He kissed you?” Jonathan asked from behind them.

  Jonathan was one of Sarah’s best friends. He always had her back and helped her clean up the messes when Travelers went rogue. They’d almost gotten together, once.

  Ziggy’s cheeks tinted as he hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll just go check in with Ritter...yeah…that...”

  Ziggy spun around to leave. All of the other analysts in the pit were trying their best not to eavesdrop and failing miserably.

  Sarah gestured with
her head toward one of the conference rooms, and Jonathan followed her inside. She closed the door. “He’s delusional. He thinks this is a game and he’s doing all of this for me. So, yes, he kissed me, and I let him so that I could plant my tracker. You know I’ll do anything to get my mother back.”

  Jonathan rested his palm on her arm. “He’s dangerous, Sarah. I don’t want to see you get hurt any more than you’ve been.”

  Sarah believed Jonathan to an extent. It was hard to swallow that he cared about her well-being when one time he’d left her to die, even if his excuse made sense. “He wasn’t the one that left me in the water to drown.”

  “I’ve explained that to you. I followed him, and my biofeed glitched. I was stuck for a few minutes while I had to reboot. I couldn’t get back to you.”

  She nodded. She’d heard his excuse. She’d demanded it. Knowing whom to trust was crucial in her line of work, and the lines were getting fuzzier by the day. “I’ve got to go get a shower before the quantum briefing; apparently we have incoming that can’t be trusted.”

  Sarah grabbed the door handle, and Jonathan moved in behind her, planting his hands on the door to keep her from opening it. “Sarah…”

  Sarah dropped her gaze to the ground. “Jonathan, you and I can’t do this until I deal with Foster. I won’t let him use you as a pawn to get to me.”

  Jonathan turned her to look into her eyes. “Is that the only reason?”

  “Yes,” she lied.

  2018

  Chapter 3

  “You’re late, and you aren’t answering your ear comm.” Diana tapped her foot, arms folded across her chest, as Sarah appeared out of the conference room where she and Jonathan conversed.

  “Foster took me on a chase through the Thanksgiving Day parade, and there was a glitch in my biometer. Apparently, when it glitches, I can’t track vertically. I was lucky I found Foster again.” Sarah walked toward her onsite temporary living facilities.