15 Minutes- The Complete Saga Boxset

by Jill Cooper

  I’ve never seen him so angry or ruthless. I know how desperate he wants Lara back, I know how dark his grief would get if we didn’t get her back. There’s is a dark cloud of regret and desperation clouding his future and I need to stop him.

  “Don, listen—.”

  “I want to do it.” Alternate Lara nods her head and presses her lips together. It’s a look I’ve seen a million times before. She’s made up her mind and there’s no changing it.

  We’re going somewhere we’ve never gone before. Somewhere we shouldn’t.

  Chapter Fourty-One: Donovan James

  As Mike prepares to do the impossible, I spend time with Lara in a back room. Together we sit on a bed side by side and I’m a bundle of raw nerves. Soon, she’ll be my wife. At least that’s what I hope happens, but the idea of my wife’s consciousness being in another Lara’s body disturbs me, but there’s no other alternative. We need her back.

  I need her back.

  “I’m really okay with this. Really. It’ll still be me, right? I’ll still be here, even if I don’t know it. I owe her, don’t you think?”

  I hand her a glass of water as I sit beside her. “I wish I could answer definitely, but I can’t. If you change your mind…I’d understand. We’re asking you to sacrifice a lot.”

  Lara nods and I recognize that determination on her face. “I’m not going to change my mind.” She sips her water. “What will she say when you tell her about me?”

  Truth is, I don’t know. Truth is, I’m not sure how we’ll tell her any of this.

  “Tell her I wanted to do this. Tell her it’s my honor, okay?”

  I nod even though it’s a lie. “I promise.”

  ****

  Mike gets Lara ready for the transfer of consciousness. We move to one of the private rooms on the bridge and Lara lays down on the bed. She swallows nervously and I take her hand in mind.

  “It’ll be okay.”

  “Memory transfer is a funny thing,” Mike says. “When Future Mike did it to the altered timeline, all of you fought against it. Old memories seeped in. If given long enough, the memories would’ve been permanent, but the mind fights against it. Lara’s will too.”

  “What are you saying?” I scowl.

  “She can’t know. You can’t tell her or we risk losing her again.”

  I gaze down at Lara’s disappointed face and I feel what she feels. I don’t want to lie to Lara, but if that’s what is needed to pull this off, I don’t see an alternative. “Still time to call this off.”

  Lara shakes her head and pushes her lips together. “I want this life. This is what I want. I’m ready.” She leans her head back on the pillow and for a brief moment, I lean over and kiss her lips gently for thanks. Her sacrifice is great. Her ability to give herself to us and to the real Lara Montgomery James humbles me.

  Just like my Lara. There’s a piece of her in there and that gives me comfort that this is the right thing to do.

  Mike needs privacy so Molly, Cassidy, and I return to the bridge. They both look as uncomfortable as I feel. I rub my hands and pace back and forth. It’s only been a minute but I feel like it’s been hours.

  How long will it take?

  When will we know?

  “This is a bad idea,” Cassidy whispers with a sigh. “Real bad.”

  “You have any other ideas? Because this is it. Other than live life with that Lara.” I point toward the double doors that lead to where she is.

  “Maybe that’s what we should do,” Cassidy says.

  I can’t believe her, of all people, would say something like that.

  “And I Miranda found out?” I glance at Molly. “Your mom can’t handle any other blows. You’ve seen how fragile she’s been through all this.”

  Molly shakes her head. “It’s not about Mom. It’s about you. Stop making excuses.”

  My jaw grates back and forth. “Fine. It’s about me.”

  “Always is,” Molly sighs.

  “You have something to say? Maybe you should just say it.”

  “Hey,” Cassidy narrows her eyes at me. “Back off. She’s Lara’s sister. You’re not the only one who feels this, but we didn’t have a say. Did we?”

  I sigh and throw my hands up in frustration. If there were any residual feelings in me for Cassidy, they dissipate in a cloud of smoke. “Emotions are tense right now. I’m sorry, all right? I’m sorry.”

  The girls seem happy with my appeasement and it’s another moment before Cassidy continues. “We don’t know…Lara will hate this if she ever finds out. She’ll hate all of us. She sat with me and told me how much she hated what Rex did to her. The two years in the cage. This—.”

  “It’s different, Cass. It’s not the same thing.”

  “Trading one Lara for another? I don’t think she’s agree.” Cassidy shakes her head.

  “It’s what she did when she saved her mother’s life. She erased one version of Lara when she became her,” I answer.

  “A different time. She’s grown so much since then.” Cassidy sits on the edge of the console and crosses her arms. “We’re going to have to lie to her every day. Every time we see her. How can you think that’s a good idea.”

  I didn’t, that’s the worst part. My stomach was twisted in the worst possible way and there’s noting I can say to convince Cassidy otherwise. But it’s the only idea. I’m not willing to live my life without my Lara and I’m pretty sure Cassidy and Molly feel the same way. We’d be lost without her.

  The situation blows but it’s the one we’ve been dealt. We do what we need to, just like Lara always does.

  “It’ll erode us.” Molly says with wide eyes. “I can see it. This is going to destroy us.”

  “I won’t let it.” I shake my head. “This is not going to pull us apart.” To allow anything else would be so painful, but how can I live with this? How can I look in her eyes every day and pretend none of this happened?

  We’re started when Mike comes back onto the bridge. He’s wiping his hands together, proud of himself. “It’s done. She’s starting to wake up.”

  I’m over to him in a few shorts steps. “Do you think it worked? Will she be all right?”

  Mike grins and it alleviates my fear. “It worked. I think we should do something special for her.”

  Chapter Fourt-Two: Lara James

  “Wake up, sleepy head,” Donovan’s voice wakes me from what feels like a really long, restful sleep.

  I yawn and peer at him with one eye. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed with a breakfast tray. Breakfast in bed? What did I do to deserve such a yummy treat? “Is that bacon I smell?”

  “Sure is. All your favorites. Pancakes, eggs, coffee….”

  “You should have led with the coffee.” I push myself up on the bed in what appears to be a hotel room. I peer outside the window and see what looks like mountains. Now that’s a little abnormal for Boston. I munch on the bacon and slurp my coffee all the while Donovan just sits and stares at me.

  It makes me uncomfortable. Is my bed head that bad? “What?” I touch my hair and realize how short it is. I guess after my time in that alternate timeline, it’ll have to grow back on its own. “It doesn’t look stupid, does it?”

  “You look beautiful as you always have.” Donovan nuzzles my cheek and lingers against me, his arms loose around my frame.

  “I must’ve been pretty tired last night. I don’t remember what happened after the reception or how we even got here.”

  “We drove. I figure restoring a timeline deserves a quick two day honeymoon. Don’t you think?”

  I feel like he’s trying to make up for something, but I’m not sure what it might be. Maybe it doesn’t matter, we’ve all been through enough these past few days. “I think it sounds perfect.” I gaze down at my hand as I sip my coffee and gasp. “My ring!”

  Donovan holds it up with a smirk. “Mind giving me the pleasure, Mrs. James?”

  I offer my hand and grin as he slides the ring
on. Delicately, he lifts my hand and kisses it. “If this is what being married is going to be like, I wish we had done it sooner.”

  “I’ll be treating you like this for the rest of your life if you’ll let me.”

  “Ohhh….I think that can be arranged.”

  “Today I was thinking a short hike, some antique shopping, lunch somewhere quaint? How’s that sound so far?”

  “It sounds perfect.” I squeeze him close. Truthfully, a day without time travel, the TTPA, or anything remotely having to do with Rex sounds like a perfect solution. “I guess I better get dressed. Did you pack for me, too?”

  Donovan grins. “Cass and Molly helped.” He removes the breakfast tray and brings it over to the dresser.

  I peel back the comforter and rush to my feet. My head is hit with a sharp stab of pain and I grab my forehead before it passes. “Lara, are you all right?” The concern in Donovan’s voice is ripe.

  “Just a quick headache. I probably got up too fast. I’ll grab some water after I get dressed.” I kiss him, resting against his chest and his arms come around me tight.

  “Sure, yeah.” Donovan laughs with a smile. “I’m sure that’s all it is.” He rubs my back and I peel away from him to go into the bathroom.

  I close the door and run the water in the shower. As I unbutton my pajama top, I notice that my face holds the nasty scar from the alternate timeline. I thought I would’ve left that behind.

  Odd.

  I step into the shower and lather up my hair. As I wash my hair, I avoid the port on the back of my head, but my finger strokes over the surface except…no port. My port is gone and if that’s gone…

  I quickly rinse my hair. My vision flashes black. When it clears again, I’m standing beside Rex on the outside of a plexi-glass cage. Inside is a version of myself with long hair and in a wedding dress. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes and I jolt backward. In my heart, I feel grieve and relieve. I’m going to get everything I’ve ever wanted now. Thanks to her.

  Rex sneers at me. “I told you, Lara, you’d never get out of that cage. I told you.”

  I scream as my vision returns to the shower and slip on some soap. I fling backward and fall hard to the basin below, consciousness slipping from my body.

  Epilogue: Mike Montgomery

  Five hours earlier….

  With fatigue, I lower my hands to my side. It’s done. Lara’s been restored, but at what cost? I gaze at her sleeping face and her lips part, she takes a deep breath, but she’s still lost in a dream. Her consciousness is nowhere near the surface yet, but it’ll come. She’ll rush to life as a scuba diver crests through the ocean surf.

  Behind me, I feel the shimmer of a portal open. I turn to see Future Mike stepping clear. Everyone believes he was destroyed along with the dark bridge, but that’s what we wanted everyone to think. Still, my choices way me down.

  “It’s done, then?” Mike asks as he stands beside me.

  I did as he asked. Lara’s brain is put back together like a normal person’s and not like a time traveling superhero. “She’s been restored. Well, most of her. No one suspects that you’re the reason Lara’s consciousness separated from her body.”

  Mike smirks. “Excellent. Use the bridge to send her somewhere fun. Keep her distracted for a short while.”

  Why did he want to do that? I hesitated but in the end, I nodded. I’d do what he said. He might as well have had a noose around my neck or everything I had done to help him and all the lies I told.

  “Please, if you would, hand over what’s mine as we agreed.”

  I stop short. “You promise to leave my family alone? You promise there will be no more cages, no more dark bridges. No more ruining our lives with time travel?”

  “I promise, Mike.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. “I would never lie to myself. I want you to be happy. I’ll be content to play in someone else’s sandbox. Amass my empire far from you and our family.”

  I roll a golden cylinder a fixed with a long needle into his hand. “There it is. Just like you wanted. Lara’s power.”

  Future Mike’s face glows with happiness as he gazes down into his hand. Lara’s golden power flows back and forth inside as if it has a mind of its own. “Oh, Mike. I won’t soon forget what you’ve done for us. This is going to get us everything we need.”

  Everything.”

  Time Warp: Book 6

  Lara James thought a honeymoon would fix all her problems, but instead, it's left her with new problems.

  Pockets of lost time.

  Strange memories not her own.

  Angry outbursts.

  And her shoes...no longer fit suggesting she may not be Lara James at all.

  But her family and friends do their best to leave her in the dark, but a mysterious clock may help Lara unravel the mystery of her life

  Before the threat of time travel assassins strike.

  Chapter One: Donovan

  It’s been done.

  My wife’s consciousness has been put in a body that isn’t hers—a different version of herself, yes, but one that is not hers. It might have been the only option to save her, but now the hard part comes. Pretending everything is normal, looking her in the eyes and convincing her everything is fine.

  Everything is far from fine.

  I love her and this is the only way to save and protect her. So, while she takes a shower, I tidy up the hotel room to control the nerves bubbling inside. I fold my clothes and put them back inside the suitcase and put the empty breakfast dishes on the small cart against the wall. Pulling back the curtains all the way, a glorious bright morning shines through the glass. The sun gleams off the red and orange leaves on the mountainside.

  Lara will love the tranquil beauty and I can’t wait to show it to her. At the back of my mind, the choices I’ve made gnaw at me. We’d had no other choice. Rex and Mike from the future had robbed me of my options when they’d messed with the timeline. When they’d forced Lara to stretch her power so far, it couldn’t be contained by flesh and bone.

  I had nearly lost her. I won’t do it again. Damn all the consequences to hell. If that made me weak, so be it. I’d be weak, I’d beg whoever would listen to save my wife.

  Her shower takes longer than I expect and I head over toward the bathroom door and lightly knock on it. “Hey, Lar, leave some hot water for the rest of the guests.”

  She doesn’t say anything in reply. Inside the bathroom, something crashes. Without another moment’s thought, I push the door open and step into the hot, damp room. The mirror’s fogged and my eyes are drawn to the bathtub with the chrome faucets and the simple shower curtain.

  It’s drawn open and Lara’s legs stick out of the tub, her head resting against the bathtub. Her eyes are shut and her mouth hanging open. She’s not conscious and it sets my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

  “Lara!”

  I race over and turn the water off. I touch her wet face and she’s cold, freezing to the touch. Damn, no. I grab a towel off the floor and wrap it around her torso, before I lift her up into my arms.

  Should I move her? Should I keep her still? I forget everything I know about primary emergency care from what I’ve watched on TV. Instead, I carry her back into the bedroom and lay her on the bed, stroking her face.

  She gasps for breath and I’m filled with anxiety and joy. Her heavy-lidded eyes squint as the sun hits her face. “You promised to protect me.”

  Her words stun and shock me. Her tone has a slight edge, an attitude to it that reminds me of the other Lara she’d been…before we put her consciousness inside.

  I stand straight up. “Lara?”

  Then Lara’s eyes snap open and she slides herself up on the bed. She rubs a hand through her hair and gazes around. She’s scowling, confused, as if she’s not sure where she is.

  I take her hand and kiss it. “Are you all right?”

  “I slipped in the tub.” Her answer is too simple, too pat.

  “Maybe we should ha
ve you checked out.”

  Lara shakes her head. “I’m okay, really. My head doesn’t even hurt. I think I should get dressed. Let’s not tell anyone what a klutz I am, okay?”

  She sounds like my Lara and her eyes are hers too. So, I nod. I don’t want to believe something bad is about to happen, but I can’t help the terror inside. “Sure. Get dressed and I’ll freshen up in the bathroom before we head out.”

  Lara holds the towel around herself as she hops up to her feet, like she wants to prove to me that she’s all right. She kisses me lightly on the lips before I disappear inside the bathroom.

  I shut the door and turn on the water, but I don’t intend to wash my hands. Instead, I rest my back against the wall and stare up at the ceiling. This was going to be way harder than I thought it would be.

  Way harder.

  Chapter Two: Lara

  I don’t tell Donovan what had happened to me in the bathroom. The vision I’d had…the memory. I keep it to myself. He’s planned a short honeymoon getaway for us and I want it to go well. Not only that, I need it to go well.

  I go through the motions of enjoying a bright and happy retreat—a honeymoon—but my mood doesn’t match the sunny skies, or the colorful leaves falling from the trees. Instead, dread grows inside me. I act as if nothing is wrong and Donovan believes it. He holds my hand, we take selfie photos and in the picture, there’s no evidence of anything being wrong.

  Donovan looks happy, I look happy, but inside something is wrong. I feel it. There’s something wrong with me and I’m unsure how long I can hide it.

  Donovan takes me to lunch and is as attentive as ever. We talk little about anything of importance as we sit outside at a sidewalk café. The table is iron, and we sit and munch on turkey sandwiches. My hands warm as they wrap around a mug of pumpkin latte and Donovan gazes at a tourist map, plotting out our next leg of antique shopping.

  But my heart pounds and my hands perspire. I rub them on my jeans, but it doesn’t help. The fear of the future and of what might be coming, stays with me.