by Jill Cooper
“Who cares what they’ll say?”
“I care.” Donovan sighs and stands up, his hands on his hips. “We had so much. I thought I had everything. The money. The giant house. Nothing could ever go wrong for me because I was a James. The best girlfriend. We had a real future. Any future we wanted.”
He leans against the wall, pulls back the curtain, and studies something outside. I go to him and wrap my arms around his waist, resting my head on his back. “You still have me, Don.”
“And thank God for that.” Don faces me and I stroke his forehead. We lean on each other and tenderly, he kisses me. He makes me his again, just as he always does when we’re close.
“I’m glad to be your girl and we’ll find a way out.”
“An hour ago you tried to get rid of me.” Donovan’s face falls when he says the words.
“Because I love you. Because I’m scared. You know I can’t say things like that easy. I hate…We’ll just do it, okay? We’ll find a way out of all this. Because anything else…” I shake my head and we come together like lovers.
But we’re as trapped as mice in a cage. The cage might be bigger, prettier, but I can’t think of a way out. I can’t say that. I probably shouldn’t even be thinking it. Donovan needs me to be strong and that’s exactly what it is I’m going to do.
We’ve come so far. I can’t give up now.
The doorbell rings and it jars us. I don’t want to let him go. My wrists cross behind his neck and I pull him down for another sweet kiss when the door vibrates with a loud knock. I recognize its type.
It’s the feds.
My stomach turns. I resist the urge to grab Donovan and rush out the back door.
“We’ve tracked you here, Ms. Montgomery. Open the door or we’ll bust it down.”
I nod and Donovan’s eyes flash. “You sure?”
“Let’s just get it over with.”
He takes my hand and pulls the door open. I’m standing behind Donovan as he positions himself to be like a shield. “What’s this about?” The sternness in his voice just strengthens my love for him.
“Dr. Daniels needs to run some tests on Lara. He’s found some abnormalities and he wants to make sure she’s alright.”
“She’s not going with you.” Donovan’s jaw sets tightly. “Not if you’re taking her there.”
“Mr. James, no offense, but she doesn’t have a choice. And if you stand in our way, we will remove you.”
I glance at the feds and back at Donovan. “I’ll go.”
“No.” Donovan hisses and shakes his head. “Lara, we don’t know…if you go there…”
“I’ll be okay.” I stroke his hands with my fingertips. “I can’t have you getting hurt. And it’s like they said, I don’t have a choice. I’m their property.”
Donovan strokes my hair and kisses my forehead. “Then I’m going with her.”
“Don!” My eyes widen and he ignores me, only staring at the feds.
“I’m going with her or I’ll call the news, the media, anyone that will listen and they’ll hear all about how you’re treating her. She’s not property. She’s a person.”
The feds exchange glances. “You can come with us, Mr. James. But you’ll be held in the waiting room. No one here wants to hurt Lara. You have to believe that our interests put her interests first.”
Donovan’s hand tightens around mine and from how he sets his lips; I know he doesn’t believe it. I don’t believe it either, but we go with them. They usher us outside and put us into the back of their car.
Looks as if I’m not going to make dinner after all.
“Is it alright if I text my mom to tell her I’ll be late?”
The fed who is driving meets my eyes in the rear-view mirror. “You don’t have to. We’ve picking her up too.”
My chest tightens and fear pulses through my veins.
What the hell is going on?
****
Donovan and I are separated at Rewind. I’m taken into an observation room and forced to sit in a chair. When they move to bind my arms, I shudder. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Sorry, Lara. But doctor’s orders.” The fed says as he wraps the belt around my wrist.
“Let me guess.” My tone is dry, sardonic. “It’s for my own good.”
He shrugs in an unkind way. “Either way it doesn’t matter. Your brain has Rewind tech. The government owns Rewind.” He shrugs and leaves the room. The door latches behind him.
I’m left alone. Forced to stare up at the ceiling as soft music pumps into the room. I don’t know if it’s the chair or the lights, but my head starts to hurt and it’s a doozy. It starts at the base of the neck and rushes through my skull.
I can’t shift in the chair or move at all thanks to the restraints.
The door opens and I struggle to lift my head. I can’t see much but I can make out a lab coat and a hand with a scratch on it. When he gets closer, Xavier greets me with the warmth of an insincere dentist about to poke in my mouth with pointed metal, all the while promising it won’t hurt. “Hello, Lara. I’m sorry we had you picked up in this fashion, but it was important we run a few tests as quickly as possible.”
He gets to work by taking the cap off the back of my head and plugs something into my port. Xavier could use a better bedside manner because he jams it right in. My vision flashes with bright color and I suck in my breath.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry.” Xavier shakes his head. “I shouldn’t have…I should have been gentler. I’m just…excited.” He’s giddy like a kid in the candy store and sits down on a chair, then glides over toward the computer monitors.
The port on the back of my head itches and it’s hard to sit still, but I don’t want to feel that cable moving around in my head anymore than I want to be strapped down to this chair. “The lights are really bright.”
“Oh? Oh yes, yes. I’ll turn them down in a minute.” Xavier types across the keyboard and I have a feeling he doesn’t intend to get up to adjust the lights. “Have you experienced anything weird today?”
I don’t say anything, but I think back to Jax being shot.
“Oh come now, Lara. If we’re to be friends, you have to be honest. Don’t forget, I’ve reviewed your data from today. I’ve seen spikes in blood pressure, heart rate. And if I don’t misread the signs, I think you’ve experienced certain periods of time—twice. But not how I thought it would happen.”
Xavier lifts his glasses and goes ‘hmm’ as he reads the screen. “There’s nothing you can keep from me, so why can’t we just share some information? You know the more open you are; the faster this process can go. Once we have everything we need…”
“You won’t need me anymore. And then what? I’m found floating down the Charles? No thanks.” I resist the urge to spit at him, mostly because I don’t want to turn my head that far.
“The government would never do that to you for all you’ve done. But a nice settlement package. Maybe a cabin, some money for your family.”
A long with lots of armed guards making sure I go where I’m supposed to and never speak out of turn? No thanks.
“The James family is doing poorly, we’ve heard. I’m sure you’d like to help your boyfriend out, wouldn’t you?”
I don’t say anything, but I think about it. Consider it. The wheels in my head turn, about the future. The past. And everything in between.
“I’ve made a few tweaks to help with the headaches and hopefully to put a stop to your time jumps. We want to study you, Ms. Montgomery. We don’t want to harm you.” Xavier turns down the lights and returns to my side. “I wish I could just get you to believe that.”
It’s doubtful that he can. He unstraps my arms and helps me sit-up. “Get some rest tonight and do take care of yourself. Staying hydrated could keep those headaches at bay.”
Strange enough, it does feel as if he really cares.
I rub my wrists and stare down at them. It feels as if I’m a captive at Rewind all over again, except the scars from the
restraints have long healed, still, when I look at my skin, I still see them. “Have you been sending death threats to my stepfather?”
Before my eyes, Xavier’s face drops and disbelief sets in. “I would never…never.” He’s adamant and with straight arms sweeps them across the air as if he’s trying to rid himself of the very idea of violence.
I hop off the chair and push my hand into the center of his chest. “I hope you’re telling the truth.”
“Of course, I am. I’m not…a murderer.” His face twists up as he says it and by God, I believe him. I believe him.
Then who? If someone is going to murder Jax, who else could give the word, other than the person that’s running Rewind?
Unless… “Oh my God,” I release my hand and Xavier adjusts his shirt, “I’ve been so stupid.”
Xavier didn’t want Jax dead. Rewind of the future did . That’s where the time travel assassin had come from. The order didn’t come from Xavier. Someone in the future was going all Sarah Connor on Jax.
But who? Why?
What is Jax going to do that Rewind wants to stop? Why haven’t they tried again? Is it possible that whatever I’ve done has already derailed Jax from his future actions? Maybe Jax is still alive because I have the diaries and that changed the future.
There’s no way to know for sure.
“Thanks.” I stick my hands into my pockets and Xavier escorts me out to the waiting room. Mom and Donovan stand when they see me, their faces beaming with relief.
“Thank God.” Mom hugs me and as I turn to Donovan, I get the same treatment. It’s nice to be greeted so warmly.
“Where are the twins?”
“With your dad. Thank God, they didn’t have to be brought here. I tried to reach Jax…” Mom’s voice trails off. “It’s not like him not to pick up.”
“What?” My voice warbles. Jax… “Try him again.”
“Lara, I’m sure.” Mom tries to argue with me, but I shout without meaning to. My heart is already telling me he’s gone and I won’t settle for it. I won’t.
“Try him again!”
Donovan puts his hand on my shoulder to calm me down and Mom’s hands are shaking as she takes her phone out of her purse.
“There’s no need.” The British voice says from behind me. “I’ve got him right here.”
I pivot on my heel to see the man in the dark coat coming from around the corner. He has Jax by the back of the neck. My stepdad’s face is bloody and beaten. His hands bruised. Mom screams, “Jax!”
The assassin pushes him toward us. Jax falls and slumps to the ground. His arms struggle to push himself up, but he’s weak. They tremble under the strain and he mumbles incoherently. “The diaries…”
My heart stops, but I don’t let my face show how scared I am. Mom runs to Jax and slides on her knees beside him. The worry and love on her face are real as she touches his back. She rolls him over, cradling his face in her hands. He’s barely conscious and Mom is crying, her lip quivering with worst fear I’ve seen in a while.
Xavier beside us is dumbstruck. His mouth hanging open. “Who are you?”
The assassin walks toward me. His steps are exact. Direct.
Donovan puts his hand on my arm. I know he wants to run, but there’s nowhere we can run to. “Leave her alone. Back off.”
“Or what will you do, Mr. James?” He puts his hands up in the air and wiggles his fingers. “I’m trembling.” His eyes narrow and he grins. Clearly not trembling.
He’s gotten much too close. I grip Donovan’s shirt to pull him backward. I don’t want this assassin guy anywhere near us.
“Come any closer and I’ll scream. I’ll get the feds. The police.” I warn him off, but it’s hollow, I have no real threat.
“Then I’ll just come back and do it again until we get this right. Until Mr. Montgomery there gives up the location of the journals. The diaries. We want them back.”
Xavier shakes his head. “My diaries? Are we talking about my diaries? What’s going on here? I don’t like being in the dark.”
“You’ve been sent to fetch his journals.” Everything clicks in my brain. “What’s in them that are so important?”
Smugly, he shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. Xavier wants them back. I get them back. I keep coming until your step-daddy is dead or he gives them up. Looks like it’ll be the former.”
Xavier rubs his head. “I didn’t hire any…Are you saying it works? Time travel, everything? This guy is from the future and I…” Xavier’s eyes widen until I can see the whites, “I sent him back here?”
“You are always brilliant, Doctor. Never to be under estimated.”
“And you took my place. You’re what I was supposed to be. An assassin.” I tilt my head as I regard him.
“Seems like your Uncle Rex proved you are. He’s dead, isn’t he? You’ll be joining him if I don’t get what I want.”
“Wait a second!” Xavier raises his hands. “This isn’t my way. This isn’t how things are supposed to be. I’m against murder. I’m against others getting hurt. That’s not what I want to do!”
“Agendas change.” The time traveler smirks. “Since he doesn’t have the diaries, I assume you do Ms. Montgomery. You have one hour to get them to me. If you don’t, your loved ones will start dropping like flies.”
“Wrong.” I huff and fire off a shot.
*****
The assassin raises his hand and stops the bullet in mid-air. It drops to the ground rolls away and with a flash of blue smoke, the time traveler is on me. He grabs my wrists and I bash my knee into his groin.
He grunts and strains but in the end, he forces me against the wall. Not everyone behind him is frozen, but they’re moving so slowly that they might as well be. The assassin shoves my arm back so I’ll drop the gun and the time ripples all around us. The bricks move and sway as if they are part of a suspension building in an earthquake.
The headache is back full force, no longer happy to live somewhere in the rear of my brain. Instead, it’s taken over and is drowning everything out. Colors come alive everywhere and I grunt as everything around us sways.
The time traveler throws his elbow into my face. Busts my nose and blood flows from it, but instead of dripping, individual beads float through the air. I don’t know if he’s using time travel as a weapon or if my brain is doing something it shouldn’t be able to do.
But the pain in my head is growing worse.
As the time traveler raises his arm to level me, I duck down and slide beneath it. Behind him now, I assault him with a punch to his back and a kick right behind his knee. He crashes to the ground.
Hand over fist, I raise my arms to bash him in the head. My vision splits and with a flash of light, everything changes. Wind surrounds me like a tornado and I squeeze my eyes shut.
When I open them, it’s daylight and I’m standing on the corner of Commonwealth and Mass Ave. All around me people walk and glance at me as if I’m a stranger.
Lowering my arms, I look around and see a giant billboard beside me. There’s a green light above it and when it spots me, it turns on and scans me. It turns bright red and an alarm sounds.
I’m in trouble.
So, I take off running down the street. Everywhere I see the Boston I know but it’s different. The buildings are taller, more sterile and the shops are strange. Places I know are no longer there, but I see a subway stop with a giant T sign.
At least that’s the same.
At least that hasn’t changed.
I make a break for it but then men in uniform emerge on all sides of me. They’re holding batons instead of guns and they order me to stop. “Hold it right there, Suspect!”
Suspect? I haven’t done anything wrong.
They close in and I back up, but the circle tightens around me. As they get closer, I can read Global Law: Rewind written in scroll on the lapels of their black coats. My heart is in my throat. Everything I’ve feared would happen has happened. I’ve left my present for the
future.
The future I never wanted to happen.
“Hands behind your back!” One screams. I have no choice, so I comply. No option but to let them twist my hands behind my back. They force me to the ground, even though I’ve done as they’ve asked and I feel a jolt of electrical power against the small of my back.
When I cringe and scream, they force me up. They take me to a Global Law squad car while people stand and stare. Watching with their mouths gaping open. It seems some things haven’t changed at all.
11:Through the Years: Donovan
Once, Lara hinted that she thought I should take over Rewind.
Now, on the five-year anniversary of her disappearance, there’s no chance of that ever happening. Daniels seized the reins and he rules it with an iron fist.
Everything changed with her gone. Nothing will ever be the same. The grass doesn’t grow so vibrantly and a warm breeze on a hot day chills me more than cools me.
High school, college. All of it is done and I’m stuck in time. Neither in the past or the present. My mind is only on the future as Rewind grows and regulation after regulation, that once governed it are stripped away.
The television in my apartment plays the nightly news. The mug of coffee in my hand is long cold as the anchor tells the chilling tale. “Marcus O’Reily, last opponent to the Rewind initiative, committed suicide in his home. His body was discovered this morning along with a note in which, he blamed himself for failing the time traveler, Lara Montgomery. While her whereabouts are still unknown, Xavier Daniels promises, that no matter what it takes, he will do everything in his power to return her.”
I turn the television off with a growing sense of dread. Stillness. Adrift. I have no purpose without Lara. I can’t trust Xavier. He wanted Marcus dead and now he is. He was my last hope of taking Rewind down. The one thing I know Lara would want.
If anyone could have stopped all this, it would have been her.
Now she’s gone. Forever.
I know I’ll never see her again and that loss, I struggle with every day. No matter what I’m doing, it’s always with me
