15 Minutes- The Complete Saga Boxset

by Jill Cooper

  Marcus tugs on the gun and falls backward. The gun is still in the goon’s hand and he raises it straight at Marcus’ chest. “No!” I scream.

  And an instant later, even though I didn’t mean to do it, I zip forward in time to the exact moment the goon fires his gun. I am standing in front of Marcus, my arms spread like an eagle, and I take a bullet to the chest.

  It’s hard to say what hurts more, the ripping and tearing pain in my head, or the bullet that rips through my flesh. I fall backward onto the ground and gaze up at the ceiling. I hear the police scream and rapid gunfire as the goon is taken down.

  “Lara.” Marcus takes my hand. “Hold on. They’re calling the paramedics.”

  I nod; at least I think I do. Our eyes lock and I can barely keep them open, even though I know I should. It’s not my first time getting shot and I’m not a big fan of the experience.

  Marcus strokes my face and for a moment it’s as if I’ve gone back to ten years ago. I smile at him and gasp for air to talk. “I guess you’re not the only one who will never forget.”

  He smiles at me. He might be older, but he’s still that charming college boy I met. The one who briefly gave me what I needed to survive.

  Hope.

  Donovan crashes down beside me. “Oh my God, Lara!” He grips my shoulders and buries his face in my hair. Marcus stands and steps away and I hear the crashing of a medical cart beside me.

  Which is all good because I can feel my consciousness slipping away. I wish I could stay awake, tell Donovan I love him.

  What if I never get the chance?

  ****

  When I open my eyes next, I’m in a hospital bed, staring up at the white ceiling tiles that look so familiar. Panic grips my chest and I squeeze my eyes shut.

  I’m back in Rewind. None of it ever happened, I’m still a prisoner.

  My face scrunches and I think the pain of it will consume me, but someone takes my hand and pulls me back from the brink.

  “You’re okay, rock star.”

  Donovan. My heart cracks, but not with pain. It’s with love. I turn into his warm embrace and realize for the first time how much my chest hurts. I guess I really was shot.

  He strokes my hair and, with my chin on his shoulder, I gaze around the room. There are flowers on every surface and it brightens an otherwise sterile room. The window is open and I see summertime is in full swing.

  Thank goodness, it’s finally over.

  I kiss Donovan’s cheek and he takes my face in his hands. His eyes are alive and bright. “You had us so worried.”

  “What happened?” I grip his hand and he slides onto the bed beside me.

  “Mom, her mafia connections, everyone has been arrested for their involvement. Your mom and Jax are cooperating with the police and have been giving testimony. No one knows yet what’s going to happen to Rewind. Congress is going to invoke a special hearing. But none of that matters right now. Right now all I care about is you.” He caresses my hair and I pull him in for a sweet, tender kiss.

  It’s not a goodbye kiss. It’s a hello kiss.

  “My dad is standing beside me in all this. He never knew the lengths Mom was going to.” Donovan’s face screams his relief. “But I don’t know where this is going to take him. Me.”

  I squeeze his hand. “I’ll be by your side. No matter what.”

  Donovan smiles and the door opens. I turn and see Mom and Jax. Their eyes flutter with happiness and there’s so much I want to say to them, but I’m unable to as Mike and Molly rush onto my bed, screaming with glee.

  “Lara!”

  “You’re awake! You’re okay!”

  They crush me and I wince in pain, but I hug them anyway. Mom steps forward. “Kids, please, she needs to heal. I’m sorry, Lara. Are you all right?” She strokes my hair back and I gaze into her loving face. Then I glance at Jax and he looks so uncertain, but I smile at him. A shy, sheepish thank you smile sneaks across his lips.

  “I’m okay.” I hug the twins and kiss Molly’s forehead. “I think I’ve never been more okay.”

  Epilogue

  The moment I’ve been working for the last six months is finally here. The moment I’ve waited for since I first read that news article about John Crane’s arrest.

  But my stomach is a bundle of nerves. I lean against the car and stare out at the back of the prison. The chain link fence is locked tight. There’s been no sign of my father and I suddenly wonder if maybe he doesn’t want to leave. Maybe he doesn’t want to see me. The bundle of flowers and the blue teddy bear in my hand suddenly seem stupid. Trite. I don’t know if I can do this, or what I’ll even begin to say.

  In all of my time travel escapades, Dad has been short changed the worst. I don’t know how I can even begin to make that right.

  Donovan leans in beside me and takes my other hand. “It’s going to be all right.”

  His face is bright, despite how glum I feel. I know despite everything, we’ll be okay. I was so worried he wasn’t the boyfriend I thought he was, but in the end, Donovan is even stronger than I gave him credit for.

  “You’ll pull through this.” He slings his arm around me. “He’ll pull through this. We’ll all manage somehow, together. No matter where it leads us.”

  I smile with trepidation. “We’re an us.”

  “Montgomery, don’t you know we’ve always been an us?”

  I know he’s right. We share a tender moment as the sound of the gate opening pulls my attention. And then I see him.

  Dad.

  He’s walking toward us in a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt around his lean frame. In his hand is a small box of possessions. When he sees me, he slows down, but he doesn’t stop walking. I can see the emotion on his face as I step away from Donovan.

  And then, with my heart pounding in my chest, I run towards him as if I’m five-years-old again and have hurt myself on the playground. Dad bends over to catch me and the full force of my hug nearly topples us over.

  Dad squeezes me tight in his arms and I squeeze him back as he spins me around. “Oh, Lara.” He strokes my cheek and studies my face. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for this moment. Can’t tell you at all.”

  There’s so much I need to say, but I kiss his cheek. “I’m so glad you’re out. So glad. I never believed a word of what they said about you. Never.”

  That, at least, is the truth. Dad looks overcome with emotion and he hugs me tight. There’s so much we still have to get through with Mom’s trouble with the government, Jax’s deception, and the trial of the century still has yet to begin.

  But I have my dad. My family. A life. Somehow, we’ll all get through it.

  “Mom has a small dinner set for you. If you don’t feel up to it I understand.” I know the state has provided him with an apartment and Dad will be rewarded a lot of money for his wrongful imprisonment. I hope he’ll want to come to the dinner with me. I hope he’ll want to be part of my life.

  Dad nods. “I can do that. If you promise to tell me what you’ve been up to for the last ten years.”

  My smile broadens. “I promise. Do you want to meet my boyfriend?”

  He grunts and I laugh with a roll of my eyes. “Oh, Daddy.”

  Dad’s face stills. “I haven’t spent any significant time with you since you were six years old, but my God, Lara. I feel like… I feel like we know each other. I feel like you trust me.”

  “I do trust you.” I take his hand and my fingers coil around his.

  Dad stares at it. “But how? Why?”

  “Because you’re my dad,” I say simply and my voice cracks. One day I’ll have to tell him the truth, but not today. Not yet.

  He doesn’t say anything, but he slings his hand around my shoulder and I lead him over to where Donovan is waiting.

  They shake hands. It’s a moment that every girl dreads, but I love it. It makes my heart soar.

  What’s to come? The challenges of life—the journey that never really ends is about to come
next. But, somehow, watching the two men in my life introduce themselves, I feel as if everything is going to be okay.

  We have each other. There’s nothing family can’t tackle together.

  Time Scape: Book 3

  1: Present Day: Lara

  I’ll never have a normal life.

  I go about my day. I pretend. But inside my head is a tug of war. The ability to freeze time, to change time, wars with the constant need to be normal. To move on with my life.

  “And it was then that Patricia James and her associates killed Joyce Meyers?”

  I lean forward, toward the microphone and struggle to hold eye contact with the congressman on the panel who asked the question. “Yes.”

  Every day is a struggle. Every day I lose the battle a bit more than I did the day before.

  I’m Lara Crane.

  “We have more than enough proof, Congressman that Senator James was covering up illegal activity at the Rewind Agency. Now it’s just a matter of what do about Rewind. Their corruption knows no bounds.” Senator Marcus O’Reily says and I’m grateful to have a friend. Being on Capitol Hill isn’t exactly a tropical vacation and it’s only increased my anxiety.

  How can I be normal when I know so much? I spent two years in captivity that never happened. Not anymore, not since I changed the past.

  Doesn’t change the fact I was a prisoner. Violated.

  Senator Thompkins raises a finger and I know he’s going to address me. I sit up straighter and lick my lips as I wait for his question. “We’ve all seen what you can do. In person and on video. Some believe you’re a miracle. Some believe you’re a monster. Some want to stop you, while others want to control you.”

  “Is there a question in there somewhere?” Senator O’Reily asks and his anger creeps into his voice. We’ve been allies for a year and friends even longer, if you consider the time travel.

  I know him and I’ve come to depend on him.

  He knows my secrets.

  “The question is how can we turn our back on time travel as a way to fix a broken system, a broken society? You can go back and change things before wars are started before murders are committed?”

  His question kills me. For two years, I’ve fought to expose Patricia James. My spirit and mind were broken and I’m still haunted by those who held me captive, pinned me down, and forced their will upon me. I changed time so those events never occurred, but the scars they left behind won’t heal.

  It’s an itch I constantly scratch. .

  A scab that can never be left alone.

  Mostly because the politicians won’t let it. They won’t let me go.

  The cage was easy compared to living like this, under a microscope.

  “What Senator James did,” the anger in my voice struggles to break free. My vision is marred by streaks of red that blacken and obscure.

  Time slows down around me. Those on the committee flip the pages in their hands at half speed. I take a deep breath and time skips a beat to catch up.

  “Was wrong.” Thompkins is oblivious to what I’ve done. What I can barely stop from doing. “Clearly her methods and her moral compass were skewed. But the results…How do we put what you are back in the box and forget about it?”

  “I didn’t suffer for two years so Rewind could get a pass. They’ve lied, hurt people. They can’t be allowed to continue.” I clench my jaw and beneath the table, my hands grip each other hard.

  Time ticks by. I’m aware of each passing second. My mind is now like a clock, keeping them all in order, but sometimes they jumble. Sometimes I do things without meaning to.

  The senators glance at one another and my resolve wanes. They aren’t going to listen to me. They are going to do whatever they want with Rewind, be damned the consequences. Patricia James might be in some prestigious all women’s prison, but her legacy remains.

  And the U.S. government is going to run with it.

  My brain surges with pain from a sudden headache. I suck in my breath and stroke the back of my neck without thinking about it. My finger pokes the metal port on the back of my neck that I still live with. I had been modified as if I were a freak experiment; it’s the only thing that has kept my brain from disintegrating into a pile of goo.

  Except now, the technology that I was plugged into that soothed my brain hasn’t been invented yet.

  I’m a ticking time bomb.

  “Whether we like it or not, Ms. Montgomery, the new global arms race is time travel. Countries want what you have. Not only does that make the decision for us, it puts you in grave danger.”

  My heart deflates. “It took me fifteen minutes to go in the past and save my mother’s life. Fifteen small minutes, it changed the course of not only my life, but also the lives of people I don’t even know. The course of the country changed, in ways, I’d never even thought of. What if countries use time travel to win wars? Assassinate leaders?” I shake my head and can’t even fathom what they’re all thinking, but I see it in their eyes.

  They are practically foaming at the mouth.

  “I’ll never be the same. I might never fully recover. Every time the effects grow harder to cope with.” I promised myself I would never admit it, but I can’t stop myself any longer. “My brain is evolving; it isn’t just time travel anymore. It’s pausing. Freezing. You really want an army of people like me walking around, unable to control what they’re doing?”

  “Clearly we would need to work out the logistics. But an army? No. A squad? A few singular time travelers?” Thompkins glances at the panel before he nods his head. “Thank you for your time.”

  Boom.

  I’m dismissed.

  Just like that, everything I say, everything I’ve gone through has been discarded. Thanks for your service, Lara Crane, but you’re no longer needed. Wanted.

  I slide my chair back and stand. The agents are behind me, the ones that are there for my protection. The senators were right when they talked about my life being in danger. Those that don’t want to control me, fear me.

  The agents are there to protect me, but also to protect the interest of the U.S. government. I can trust them to do their job, but trust them to tell me the truth. Not on my life.

  “This way Ms. Montgomery.” They usher me through the back of the senate and into a closed-door room. I go inside, sit down and they pour me a glass of water. They say something, but I tune them out.

  Instead, I stare out the window at the bright sun over DC. Spring is coming again and that at least lifts my spirits. The warm sun on my skin will be a welcome change and makes me glad I’m free of the cage. The Earth is still spinning; the seasons are still changing, so maybe—just maybe, there’s hope for us after all.

  I sip my water and listen to the time tick by, but instead of coming from a clock, it comes from my mind. Always keenly aware that time is passing by; it’s a struggle to walk through time like someone normal. My brain won’t stop changing. And one day when I can’t control it anymore?

  Maybe there’s no future for me. Maybe I should be stopped before I can’t control it. Before I destroy things that can never be put back together.

  And the future?

  It isn’t something I even want to think about.

  The door opens. My heart skips a beat and my head snaps up before it swings all the way open. In slow motion, Marcus steps through and I breathe a sigh of relief. The world speeds into real time as the door shuts behind him.

  No one notices the time shift but me. I rise to greet him as he offers me his hand.

  I shake it and stare into his blue eyes. I can still remember meeting him when he was a college boy and now, even though he’s thirty-two, he’s still handsome. “Marcus.”

  “Ms. Montgomery,” Marcus says with a wink. “Leave us alone for a minute, would you?”

  The agent blusters. “Sir, we have our orders.”

  “And I’m a United States Senator. She won’t be going anywhere, trust me. She’ll be safe under my watch. Stand right o
utside the door. You can make sure no one goes in or out.”

  They could refuse Marcus, but they don’t. When they’re gone and the door latches, I breathe a sigh of relief and sit on the desk.

  Marcus takes my hand. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’ve been better, but under the circumstances…” I shrug and glance up at him. There’s compassion and something else in his eye. I don’t want to think about what it could be.

  When I went back in time to meet him, well let’s just say I might have flirted too much. I left behind a ghost of myself for him to search for. It threw the course of Marcus’ life off. He never married the woman he was supposed to and his children were never born. That’s on me. That’s on time travel and that’s one of the many reasons it’s wrong.

  Why the government is playing a dangerous game.

  “There’s nothing I can do to stop them.” My eyebrows crinkle as I say it and I watch the truth of my words transform his face.

  “There never was much hope, was there?” Marcus whispers and he sits beside me. “There’s only one thing left for us to do to keep the technology of your brain from them.”

  I nod and my stomach tightens. Desperation rolls through me, but I know he’s right. “Is everything set?”

  Marcus nods. “I’ll play my part if you play yours.” He stands and adjusts his suit jacket. “I will miss our little talks, Lara. I will always…well; some things are better left unsaid.”

  Our relationship is bittersweet, but I will always be thankful to him. He is a reminder of my time in the cage while at the same time he was my way out. When I stand, I kiss his cheek, even though I probably shouldn’t. “Be in touch with the signal when it’s time.”

  “You’re returning to Boston tonight?”

  “Two hours to be exact.” I feel genuine happiness for the first time since arriving in DC. I’m ready to see my family again.

  Before I have to say good-bye.

  ****

  I settle back on the government jet. Plus side, the seats are roomier than coach. They’re soft, tan leather and I can have as many packages of peanuts that I want. As the plane readies for takeoff, I take a quick call on my cell phone.