by Jill Cooper
Glass breaks and I shield my face as I step inside and race toward the exit. The door isn’t locked so I pull it open easily. Running through the alley, I careen around a dumpster, straight into a waiting cop.
I pivot and try to get away, but he grabs my arm. He yanks me hard and snarls against my cheek. “We know you’re confused. But you need to stop or we will do this the hard way.”
I throw a punch, but he grabs my wrist and twists it behind my back. I cringe as he shoves my face against the brick wall.
“You don’t understand!” I scream at him. “I haven’t done anything wrong!”
He jolts me with an electric pulse through my back and my teeth chatter. I can’t move even when he releases the pressure. He takes my hands and handcuffs them behind my back. Today, it’s becoming a theme.
I’m starting to wish I listened to them and just gave myself up, but I had to make a good show of it. Pretend I didn’t want to be caught.
Even though I did.
Took less than fifteen minutes from when I was first spotted. I hope that Cassidy’s okay and she makes it as the police haul me back up on my feet.
“Call Daniels and let him know we’re calling the manhunt off on this one. We’re bringing her to him.”
He shoves me back toward the front of the building, and the waiting squad cars. My wobbly legs collapse and I roll down the stairs. My cheek is torn as it smacks into some cement. I groan as he grabs me and pushes me into the car. So much for law and order.
Leaning his arm on the hood of the car, he squats down to look me in the eye. “Where’s Winters?”
“How the hell should I know?” I glare at him. “I got away from her the second I could. Corrupt evil bitch, not much different than you.”
To drive it home, I spit at him.
The officer’s face contorts into a strong scowl and it’s as if his face swallows his lips. “You little…” He makes a fist and I think he might tear me out of the car. Teach me a lesson out back. I sure wish he wouldn’t.
“Knock it off, Richardson. Daniels is waiting for us. He’s not getting any younger.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” He brings his attention back to me. “Count your blessings. For now.” He slams the door and gets in the front.
I hunch down and wait for the car to inch forward. It’s the ‘for now’ that worries me. It’s the ‘for now’ that preoccupies me all the way to the Pru. At least it used to be the Prudential. Now it’s a giant antenna pointing straight into space.
A time travel antennae and I think it can’t be an accident. It wasn’t done by mistake.
Daniels picked this building for a reason.
The plans Cassidy and I came up with keep churning in my mind as the police park the car in the underground garage.
Under the tons of cement, it’s dark and cold. Off in the distance, I hear a car door slamming, but little else. I sit with my head down as they radio ahead to Daniels that I’m coming. The old man must be up waiting for me.
The backdoor opens and they pull me out. The two officers who I’m with look angry, as if they’ve lost patience. Their lips are pressed together and their arms are rigid. Something about these guys scream personal henchmen as opposed to officers of the law.
“What’s the matter? You losing some beauty sleep?”
“Just move it.” He grabs my arm and pushes me along with force. “Entitled little bitch.” He sneers.
“You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“Yeah?” He taunts. “Poor girly, what’d you break a nail?”
I huff as my cheeks grow red. “I’m going to enjoy watching this place burn. And all of you along with it.”
They laugh nearly uncontrollably as we get into the elevator and when they’re not looking, I’m satisfied that my part has been played well.
It’s show time.
Dad always said I have a flair for the dramatic.
****
Mom was into those old retro movies. Before 3D, way before 3D. Her favorites were now over a hundred years old. Back to the Future, the series. Kind of ironic that I think of that now, but as they lead me through the Pru, that’s exactly how I feel. As if I’m stuck in Back to the Future II and I’m Marty, being led to the lazy good for nothing, Biff’s headquarters for the first time. Biff, whose wealth only existed because of Marty.
That was Daniels and I. His empire and all his power exist because of me. Take away me and he has nothing.
It’s exactly what we have to do.
I just hope I can go through with it when the time is right.
His office is grand and sweeping. I can’t believe he’s taken half of the observation deck of the Pru as his own personal space. What a jerk this guy is.
When he sees me, he smiles. Daniels has a regal cane in his hand as he hobbles forward. He’s wearing simple slacks and a comfortable blazer. I guess he really has been waiting up for me.
“Lara,” Daniels gazes at me as if I’m his long lost niece. “Leave us for a few minutes, would you?” When he reads the officer’s dismay, he snorts. “Oh please, there’s nowhere she can go. Just wait outside. Give us a few minutes.”
The officer’s nod and leave the office. They close the door, but I imagine they haven’t gone very far. Might even be able to hear everything we say.
“You’ve looked better.” I eye him up and down. Shriveled grape.
Daniels just chuckles. “I know what you think of me, but when we first met all those years ago, I never meant you any harm. I still don’t.”
As if, I’d ever believe that. “Except for people, that get in your way.”
He shrugs. “Self-preservation isn’t a bad thing. You learned that a long time ago. Don’t pretend you haven’t.”
I can’t deny he’s right about that. Self-preservation is the name of the game. “I’m surprised you’re still alive, to be honest. How old are you anyway?”
Daniels relaxes and smirks. “One hundred and five.” He straightens up and I think he might break out into a little tap dance version of Hello My Baby.
“How is that possible? How is any of this possible?”
“Time travel. Borrowed time, to be precise. From space, different places. Those who can afford it, well they can buy the most precious commodity in the world.”
“Time,” I whisper and can’t believe I’m staring at him in awe, but I am. He’s found, not the secret of youth exactly, but a way to extend life. Improve the quality. Maybe it’s possible my mom and Jax are still alive somewhere.
“Rewind isn’t just about fighting crime and keeping the peace, Lara. It’s about improving the quality of life. Giving you more of what you already have. There are so many different factions under my control. Rejuvenation. You should see what we could do when given the chance. It’s not all bad.”
I cross my arms. “Neither is hell. At least it’s warm there.”
He laughs and pats my back. I restrain myself from grabbing it and breaking it in at least two places. “Oh, Lara. Give me a chance. Give this place a chance. I promise you won’t hate everything you see.”
I can’t even perceive that as a remote possibility. No one should be able to play with what Daniels is playing with. He’s given himself the throne of God. He’s made himself the master of time manipulation. That will never sit right with me and I’m surprised so much of the world is willing to go along with it.
“And then what, you’ll send me back?”
“No.” Daniels shakes his head. “No, I can never send you back. You’re too dangerous. You’ll stop what’s happening here. I know that. You know that. But we can set you up. Make it so you never have to want anything. Suffer. It can be a good life if you let it be one.”
I can’t give in. I can’t even pretend I want to give in. I shake my head, my eyes moist. “Without my mom. Dad? Jax, all the rest?”
“I can show you vids of them if you like. Even make it like you were there.”
Gritting my teeth, I rage. “Been ther
e. Done that. Won’t do it again.”
He holds his hands up and I notice they’re shaking. “Alright, alright. I concede that wasn’t my finest idea. But we could find a spot here for you. Something to reward you for everything we’ve given you. Even a front row seat.”
“Why not just kill me?” I narrow my eyes at him.
“Oh, Lara,” he squeezes his arms around my shoulders. “I’ve never wanted to kill you. I’ve only ever wanted to understand you. And now I do.”
“How?” Finally, I get to the question of the hour. If I could, I’d take notes.
Daniels smirks as if he’s won and I let him keep on thinking that. “Let me show you.”
“Sure.” I swallow hard and gaze up at the clock. “I’d love to know how my brain helped you do all this.”
He hobbles over to the desk and hits a button on his phone. “Monroe, she’s ready for the beginning of her introduction.” He heads back over to me. “He’ll be right here. It’s just the beginning, but I think when you see him, everything will become crystal clear.”
I sigh and cross my arms. When the door opens, I ready a witty comeback, but it dissolves when I turn and see his face.
There’s an old scar down the left side of his face from the eye all the way down the cheek. The time travel assassin, the one I battled is standing right in front of me. Except, instead of a spry thirty-year-old, this guy is an old shriveled man.
My mouth falls open and I stare at him.
His legs shake as he takes steps toward me, but his eyes are as angry as they were that day. “When you left, I got trapped there. I spent the next seventy-five years in a time I didn’t belong in. My family. My friends.”
“Getting off topic, Monroe.” Daniels tries to bring everything back on point.
“Sorry, Sir.” Monroe puffs up his chest as much as he could. “Mr. Daniels didn’t send me back to kill Jax Montgomery.” I move to argue and he holds up a shaking finger. “At least not this one. I was sent from a different timeline. One where Jax turned the diaries over to the authorities and I got stuck in this timeline.”
Jumping timelines?
“You see, Lara?” Daniels says even though I clearly don’t. He puts his hands on my shoulders. “You jumped forward in time thanks to my harness messing up your brain signals. You saw the future and warned Jax. He gave you the diaries which is something he wasn’t going to do before so when he did that, he created a new parallel timeline that runs alongside the one our friend Monroe is from.”
“It was too late for me.” Monroe refuses to look at me, as if somehow I’m the guilty party in all this. “I was already in this timeline. Trapped. I could never get back.” He shakes his head.
“When I discovered that changes in time, like the ones you are so famous for, create new timelines I realized, there is no such thing as changing the past. It’s just the creations of new time alternate universes. A world where Lara Crane’s mother is still dead. A world where she’s still stuck in that damn cage.
“And a world,” he stops forward and sneers, “Where Patricia James won. Beat you. Every change you’ve made created a new world. You’re not changing anything, Lara. You’re jumping between worlds. Alternate realities. That’s the power I learned to harness from you.”
My eyes fall to the floor and every bit of confidence, believe in myself is gone. What I know, what I think I know, is shattered.
“How did you…” my voice is so small that I stop to collect my thoughts, “how did you know I saw Jax murdered and went back in time to fix it?”
“Easy,” Daniels smirks. “You told me.”
15: Future Cassidy
Lara takes the boat and paddles off. When I first saw her name in Reynold’s computer, I never thought I’d meet her. Never pictured her so young. Strong or stubborn. I’m sure if we had a chance to get to know her, there are things about her that would drive me crazy Right now, I’m just mournful that if we succeed, I might never remember meeting her at all.
When she’s out of range, I turn and pull myself up the old wooden dock. Cameras are going to be looking for me. Officers are going to be full-on alert, so if I want to keep moving, I’m going to need to be fast.
Ruthless.
And above the law.
Everything I promised myself I’d never be.
It’s hard, but I push my thoughts away and run down the street. I use doorways as cover. When the green lights on billboards and on the flying drones activate, I side step and hide behind trees, park benches and the occasional entryway. With a few close calls, I make my way into the Harbor Marriot hotel.
Hotels are crowded, but they have phones almost everywhere. I need one to send word to Jeff, let him know I need help. I require an accomplice for all of this. Someone that can get me in Rewind without any questions being asked, which means finding a phone. I destroyed my comm back at Katie Jackson’s home; if I hadn’t, Rewind would have been able to track me and would’ve been listening.
They’re always listening.
The hotel’s roof is arched and skylights are plentiful. The lobby extends the length of a football field and it is lit with the warm, rich glow from the table lamps. It’s late and few people are loitering around, which means I stick out.
I keep my head low as the front desk clerk looks up. Shoving my hands into my pocket, I duck into an opening elevator and push to the back, hiding behind a cluster of people. I face the wall and rest my forehead against it. I hear the buzzing sound as the green light turns on to scan us.
If it picks me up, I’m a goner.
It doesn’t and I feel blessed. The elevator ticks up a few levels and on the fifteenth floor, I push past the other guests into the hallway.
There’s a security guard at the other end. Big guy, with a beer-gut spilling over the edge of his belt buckle. He puts his hand out as if that’s all it will take to stop me. “Ma’am, you need to be scanned.”
Not so blessed, it would seem after all.
“You’re going to have to catch me first,” I answer with a tilt of my head.
“Ma’am!”
The security guard steps gingerly toward me and I bolt. Pivoting on my heel and I’m gone, running to the other end of the hallway. He screams into his walkie-talkie, “Suspect on the move, I repeat suspect on the move!”
Do they know it’s I? Or, am I just one suspect in an ocean of suspects, drowning at sea? Because here everyone is guilty of something.
Everyone.
I slam into the doorway of the stairwell, my shoulder taking the brunt of the force. I need to find a phone and I know the upper levels will be searched last. I leap up the stairs two at a time, quickly reaching the seventeenth floor. I struggle to take even, deep breaths and peer out the window. If they’re waiting for me, I don’t see them.
Blowing out some air to calm my nerves, I fix my hair and step out into the hall. I nearly bump into a cleaning cart and see a woman down on her hands and knees. She wears an all blue uniform and her body shakes back and forth, as she desperately attempts to get a stain out of the rug.
“Excuse me?”
The lady’s eyes dart up. “Can I help you with something, Miss?” She wipes her hands on the hem of her uniform and stands up. Her eyes are tired and withdrawn. I think she might be new.
“I was making a midnight snack run and got locked out of my room.” I do my best to look sheepish. “Do you mind letting me back in?” I crinkle my nose, try to look extra cute.
Her eyes dart away. “Oh…I don’t know…It goes against…”
“Please.” I put my hands together as I beg her. “I promise I won’t forget again.”
Sighing, she nods and takes the key from her pocket, but then her walkie-talkie sounds and we both glance at it. “Suspect on the upper levels. Female suspect on the upper level.” Her eyes are suspicious as they meet mine.
“That’s not me.”
She nods, but takes a step back. She doesn’t believe me. Her hand goes for her walkie and I kn
ow I have to act fast. So I spin her around and wrap my arm around her throat. Hand over hand, I squeeze my arm tight, but the cleaning lady, doesn’t give up without a fight. She thrashes back and forth. I jerk her back with my arm to get her to settle down.
Finally, her face bright red, she stops thrashing; she’s unconscious. Like a rag doll in my arms, I gently place her on the floor. “Sorry about that,” I whisper and take her key card. I hope the room I pick is empty.
It is.
Curtains are drawn and the queen-sized bed hasn’t been slept in.
I pull her into the room, leaving her on the floor; I go back for her cleaning cart. I restrain her in the bathroom, handcuffing her to the towel rod. I won’t be long, but I can’t take the chance that I’ll be caught before I get a chance to help Lara.
Long strides take me over to the bed and I pick up the phone and dial home.
“Hello?”
My eyes close with relief. “Jeff.”
“Cass?” His voice is frantic. “Where’ve you been? Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
Oh Boy, is that a loaded question. “I can’t explain over the phone. You’re going to have to trust me.”
Jeff hesitates and I squeeze my eyes shut. “Please, Jeff. You have no idea how important this is. No idea. A girl is in trouble and I need to help her.”
“Lara?”
So he has pieced some of it together. I nod even though I know he can’t see it. “If you can meet me fast, that’d be great. I don’t know if she has much time left.”
“Where?” Jeff picks up a set of keys because I can hear them jingle in his hand.
“That place where we had our first date. Do you think you can do that?”
“Ten minutes,” Jeff promises.
“Better make it five.” I hang up the phone and give the room the once over. The cleaning lady is awake and jerking on the handcuffs, but when she sees me, her face turns stone white.
I could apologize. I could say a dozen different things, but instead, I turn toward the door. Using the peephole, I can see the hallway is empty. I sneak outside and head for the stairwell.
