by Jill Cooper
I just have no idea how he will process that information.
Marcus rubs his face. “And I asked you to go to that party? I asked you to give me time travel proof?”
“Yes. But you have no memory of it because we haven’t had that conversation. Not this time anyway.”
“And this is the second time you’ve been here, to my house?” His face is crestfallen and if he wasn’t already sitting, I think he might’ve fainted.
“I guess you could think of it that way, but the first time doesn’t really count anymore.”
Marcus sighs. “I think I need a drink.”
I smile. “I don’t blame you. It’s a lot to process, even for me and I’m the one going through all of it, but Senator”—it feels weird to call him that, as for me, it feels like we locked lips just a few minutes ago, not ten years—“we have to stop Patricia. She has my family. She’ll experiment on pretty much anyone she wants. She has no regard for human life.”
“And if I stand in her way, she’ll kill me? That’s why she sent you, isn’t it?”
“I don’t have to kill you, but if I fail, I’m sure that’ll be her next step. She’ll keep experimenting on others until they’re ready and then she’ll send them back here. She’ll get the job done.”
“So even if I go to DC and make my voice heard, she could just come back and kill me anyway. That’s the new set of rules we’re living our lives by.”
“While she’s still walking around a free person.” I nod. “But if we can stop her…”
“How? How can we stop her with no proof and if she has time travelers at her disposal?” Marcus puts his hands together.
“Get proof. Find me. Get me out of the facility along with all the others. I’m on a tight leash. But if we can send them scattering… There’s more than enough evidence there to put them away and I’ll testify. I’ll do whatever is necessary, but my mom … Molly … they need to be safe.”
Marcus stares me down and his eyes are hard. “Where are you being kept?”
“It’s a hospital. In Massachusetts.”
“But you don’t know—” Marcus sighs and shakes his head “—you have no idea where you’re being kept.”
“Her name has to be on the deed. The hospital is being used for serious time travel testing. It can’t be that hard to find. You’re a senator. You must have access to that kind of information.”
“I’ve been inquiring about the Rewind Agency a long time,” Marcus admits. “They have a lot of powerful people on their side. I get stonewalled in every direction. I’m sorry, this must be terrible for you. But for me, it seems so … farfetched.”
He’s right it is. I pat the sofa beside me. “Come sit beside me for a second and I’ll show you something.” Marcus hesitates and I laugh. “Promise I won’t bite.”
“All right. All right.” He sits beside me and I take his hand and slide it under my hair. When his finger nicks the port at the base of my skull, Marcus gasps and pulls his hand back. “What is that? Is that the port you told me about?”
I nod because that’s about all I can do while trying to ensure I don’t cry or become over emotional about the entire thing. But having your brain modified is a pretty big deal. “They violated me, right? But there’s been nothing I can do about it. But if we have a chance to stop them, really stop them, we have to take it.”
“I’m sorry, Lara. I’m sorry they’ve done this to you.” Marcus sighs. “Ten years ago, when I first met you, well… I guess it’s kind of funny now. I always thought I’d see you again but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
I snicker because I’m nervous and I’m not sure what else to do.
“I thought about you almost every year. Wondered where you went. After you left the party, for the days that followed I looked for you. Couldn’t find you anywhere and I even put an ad on Facebook trying to locate you.” Marcus laughs.
And I laugh too. “I’m sorry if you expected… You should send your family out of town. Grandparents? Aunt and uncle? Somewhere. Just in case.”
Marcus nods. “And what do I do?”
“Try to find where I’m being held. If it’s an illegal Rewind facility, just the existence of the place should be enough to arrest Patricia. Hold her for a few days and give my family a chance to break free. But you have to go dark. If she realizes I didn’t kill you…”
His eyes flash with confusion mingled with resolve. “But, the vote… If I’m not there, Senator James will get everything she wants.”
“Won’t matter once we have Patricia arrested. Then everything will fall apart, no matter how the senate voted.”
“All right.” He sighs and it’s obvious he’s nervous. “I’ll start here. I guess if I ended up suddenly in Massachusetts, she might get suspicious.”
My nose crinkles. “Just a bit. Good luck.”
When I stand, Marcus does too. “You’re leaving?”
“There’s no point in me staying. I’ll head forward two days and see if we’ve done it. Please be careful. I don’t want to leap forward only to find out you’re dead.”
Marcus shakes my hand. “Hopefully we will meet again under pleasant circumstances.”
I echo his sentiments. It’s the only thing I have to keep me going. The only thing.
Chapter Twelve
When I return to my time period I’m no longer inside my cage, instead, I am sitting on a hospital bed. A low thud-thud-thud pounds through my head, but as far as time travel headaches go, it’s not that bad. I don’t yet have memories of this changed timeline, but I am hoping they are slight and not enough to throw me off my game.
Glancing around, I hop down and go to the window despite the fact that my legs feel like jelly and just want to collapse under me.
I grab the window frame and peer outside. It’s still day; summer time. My hand touches the back of my head and I can feel my port, but is my time travel chip turned on or off?
There’s no time like the present to try.
I grip the window and gaze far off in the distance. I think back to yesterday and the trees rush toward me like I am on a freight train. But that’s as far as I get before a pounding symbol echoes through my head and it feels like an ax wants to tear me apart.
I gasp for breath and groan. My knees buckle and I grab on to the wall as tight as I can. I want to scream, but my throat won’t let me.
Well, I guess that answers that. In this time period that I’ve slammed back into, my chip is active.
The door to my room opens. Whoever it is can’t know what I just did. What I tried.
I whip around and smile at Mom as she strolls inside. Mom the lab tech that is. If she remembers me at all, her eyes flash only the most basic recognition.
“There’s a big celebration going on in the cafeteria. Mr. Montgomery has said you can come if you behave yourself.”
Mr. Montgomery, my heart flashes, but then I realize she means Rex and not Jax. “I can behave myself.” I put on the white slippers they allow me to have and follow after her. “What are we celebrating?” It’s hard to keep my voice even, but I manage to pull it off.
“Senator James’ initiative was passed in the senate. They’ve appointed her the new Czar of time travel and have loosened restrictions on the police. Now they can use time travel as a means to gather evidence. Of course, it’s going to take some time to train officers, but everything we’ve learned from you is going to make it so much easier.”
Mom’s voice swells with pride and I feel like I’m going to be sick. I just want to reach in and shake her. I want to scream about how none of this is a good thing, but instead, I just nod my head and whimper a “That’s great.”
We come to an elevator and I watch her push the call button. The red marks on her wrists are worse, which means Rex has been doubling down his efforts. It makes me see red and the anger collects center mass in my chest. “Have you met him? The other Mr. Montgomery?”
Mom stares at me and there’s not even a flicker
across her face.
I lean in and whisper, “Jax. You know, Rex’s twin.”
“He has a twin? There’s two of them?”
I nod. “Oh yeah, except Jax is pretty cute. Blond, though the blue eyes are the same. He lives not too far away in Boston with twin kids. Mike and Molly.” I pause so my words will sink in, but if there’s an effect on her, it’s slight. All she does is gaze at the floor and blink her eyes. “I’m just surprised he hasn’t been around to check on his brother.”
“Check on him?” Mom asks as we step on the elevator.
“Well sure, Rex is the problem child, you know. I heard that Jax’s wife didn’t even realize he had a twin until Rex showed up. Crazy, right?” I shake my head, but I keep a close eye on Mom.
She hasn’t pushed the elevator button yet. Her hand is hovering in mid-air.
“Something wrong?”
Mom sighs and pushes the button. “No, just when you said that an image flashed in my mind. Pink streamers.”
My birthday party. The day Rex collided with our reality. The truth is just beneath the surface of her mind. It doesn’t matter how many times Rex erases her memories and inserts his own, Mom will always remember with time and enough prodding.
Time is a luxury I can’t afford right now.
The elevator opens and we walk toward the party. The cafeteria is decorated with streamers and everyone has gathered around. There is a giant cake and in the center of the celebration, Patricia and Rex clink together two glasses of champagne. I haven’t seen Patricia so jovial in years. Her smile is wide and she shakes hands as people congratulate her.
“Thank you!” She puts a hand to her cheek. “Honestly, I never thought this day would come. I don’t know why Senator O’Reily didn’t show up for the vote, but I’m just glad he didn’t. Hopefully, he got run over by a train.”
People laugh softly as if they are just trying to be polite, but Patricia’s laugh is hearty. She might not be creeping everyone out, but she is definitely creeping me out. I move away and I am handed a piece of cake.
It’s Delilah. I try to say something but she only puts her finger to her mouth. “Nice to see you out of your cage, Ms. Crane.”
I turn my head to follow her, but she wanders off to hand out more plates to people. I’m left wondering if she meant what it sounded like. Can she remember strapping me in? Does she know we have changed the past?
If she is truly an ally, she’s probably the only one I have in the hospital; how can I use her to get out of this mess?
“I’m guessing we have you to thank for all this.”
I glance forward and see Rex, his finger dragging through the frosting of my cake.
“Don’t soil my cake. And I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Senator O’Reily. He missed a senate hearing. The first time in three years. We sent you back in time to fix the situation, didn’t we? Patricia suspects the answer is yes. If the answer is yes, that means we finally have you on board.”
“I thought all your monitoring told you when I traveled back in time,” I say it mostly to test him. I watch his face go slack and it takes him more than a moment to straighten up.
They have a lot of data on me, but they can’t do it yet. They can’t tell when or where I am time traveling to. They can’t pass that information back and forth because I travel in time differently than others. I’m not just a hologram. They can’t monitor me, no matter how much they lie. How much they try.
I feel like a fool, I’ve bought their dishonesty for so long, but now I’m in control of the game. I just can’t let Rex realize it. He still has to feel as if he’s in control.
“Yes.” Rex smiles. “Of course, I just was trying to find a way to say good job without coming out and saying it.”
“Thanks, I guess. It felt good. To time travel. It’s been a long time.”
“I’m sure we can find ways to get you to help out again. There’s going to be a lot of training involved to get the police on board. We’re almost there with the others, but to have you on board, to have you not resist us anymore, it would be a great feat for us, Lara. It would speed up the process immensely.”
“I’ll help you, but first please let me see my baby. Just let me hold her for a little while.” I swallow hard after saying the words because I really don’t want to go back. I don’t want to have the perfect life only to have it ripped away again, but I can’t let Rex know that’s how I feel about everything. I can’t have him on to my little game.
Rex nods. “You’ve earned it. Finish your cake and…”
“Oh and Rex, you promised I could see the others. I could see the other time travelers.”
He scowls. “Well, yes I know I said that—”
“—Were you lying? How can I trust you if you’re always lying?”
He sighs. “I can show you, Lara. But you might not like it.”
“If you tell me something you have to keep your word, Rex. You can’t keep playing me like I’m some sort of toy. I’m a person. A human being with feelings. I need to see them, please.”
Rex gazes off and slowly he nods. “Yes, fine. You can see them, but after that, we plug you back in. After that, you deserve some time with your family.”
I watch him as he heads off to make arrangements. Family. Like he knows what that word means. My gaze follows my mother across the room.
Family is everything.
And I have to get it back.
****
I follow Rex down a long hall and at an intersection we turn left. There are steel doors on either side and he puts his hand on one of the doorknobs. “You may not like what you see, and I will need you to stay calm. Can you do that?”
Biting my lip, I nod that I can.
“I’m enjoying this new relationship we’re entering into and I would hate to see that come to an end.”
My smile has to be convincing and, as the corners of my mouth turn up, Rex’s face relaxes. “I’ll do my best. I have a lot to look forward to when I get home. I don’t want to mess that up.”
He squeezes my shoulder and snickers. For a split second, I imagine my fist colliding with the smug jerk’s face. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm myself.
The click of the door unlocking draws me back. I gather the strength to open my eyes and I step inside to a viewing room. There are a few chairs inside and the opposite wall is lined with glass. I suspect they are one-way mirrors as Rex edges me on deeper into the room.
The glass is dark and I can’t see inside. Rex pushes a button on the wall and everything brightens like the sun shines on the darkest corner of the earth.
There are three separate rooms beyond the glass. Each room is white with padded walls with no personal effects except for a bed with simple white sheets. My eyes train on the center room at the little girl sitting on the floor.
Her legs are crossed under her white, flowing nightgown and her brown, curly hair obscures her face. My heart clenches and I place my hand on the glass. “Molly,” I whisper.
She glances up like she can hear me and her eyes are sad. They are lined with dark circles and there are electrodes on her temples. Under constant monitoring and surveillance. In her hand is a simple stuffed bunny. I recognize it from her old room.
Thick tears gather in my eyes. “You bastard,” I whisper and Rex leans over my shoulder and laughs.
“Think I would fall for your little game? Your little tricks? Keep up the charade if you want, Lara, but just keep her in mind. If you fight us, if you mess anything up moving forward, we will hurt her. Mike’s training is coming along, slower than Molly’s but he’s proving to be obedient.”
My eyes dart to his profile and I just want to smash him into pieces. “Leave him alone.”
“I know you don’t feel as protective of him as dear Molly here, but she is beautiful, isn’t she? So sad with those deep brown eyes. She fought us at first, but we broke her spirit and we’ll break her further if you don’t stay in line.�
�� Rex grits his teeth.
I nod and my head falls forward, but I peer up so I can see her. Molly’s gone back to playing with her bunny and I can barely see her face. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Good.” Rex straightens out his suit jacket and we start out of the room. I glance back over my shoulder to get a final glance at Molly before the windows darken.
“Does she have a brain port like me?”
Rex’s shoulders round up briefly. “Not yet. We thought it might be too dangerous for her developing brain, but its next. Don’t you worry.”
“I’m surprised you care.” I wrap my arms around myself as we step out into the hallway.
“I don’t want all our work to go to waste, plus she is my niece.” His smile sickens me. “Speaking of my niece…” Rex motions me further down the hall.
It dead ends with a metal door.. He twists the knob and edges me inside. It’s dark and there’s only a narrow stream of light coming from a barred window in the corner, but I can make out the profile of someone sitting in the corner.
“Hello?” His voice croaks out and it’s familiar.
It chills me to even hear it.
“Go take a look,” Rex says, a mocking jeer in his voice.
I’m afraid, but I make my way forward. Whoever is in that room, I can see he’s wearing brown loafers and socks scrunched around his ankles. When I get closer, he jerks his legs away like he’s afraid. As if he’s used to being hurt.
As my eyes adjust to the dark, I can tell his body is turned into the corner and he’s hugging his arms around himself. On his head is a brown winter cap as if he’s cold. When he moves, there’s the noise of clanking chains. It’s as if Rex has Frankenstein’s monster in here.
“Is that really necessary?” I ask Rex. He doesn’t say anything, so I turn my attention to the man—the prisoner, there’s no doubt in my mind that he can be anything else. “It’s okay. I promise I won’t hurt you. I’m not exactly a guest here either..”
The man doesn’t answer and I can’t begin to understand why Rex wants me to see him. I get it, Rex is an evil SOB and he has no regard for human life. This isn’t Earth-shattering news to me.
