by Jill Cooper
Chapter Twenty-Five: Molly
Morgan was Lara’s daughter from the future and now she was out to destroy our family. Man, if that wasn’t the best case for birth control that I had ever heard….
“Mike tried to make her whole again. It’s just that he couldn’t do it. It was too hard, he’s too new at this and he did the best he could.”
Morgan laughs. “Trust me, darling Molly, that’s not what happened. Is it Uncle?” She tosses her head toward Mike’s stasis field and he won’t look up. He won’t look up at me.
So, it’s true? He did steal Lara’s time travel ability?
Mike’s betrayed her. Us. He’s betrayed me, and I can’t get over that. How could he? “What did you do with it?” I ask calmly, too calm because inside all I feel is rage.
“He wanted to be strong, so he stole it and gave it to himself. A future version of himself.”
“Future Mike?” I gawk at my brother. “You gave Future Mike more power and you thought that would be okay? You thought everything would work out?” Tears pool in my eyes and Mike finally glances up.
His shoulders shrink down low all around him. “I wanted time travel to be over. I wanted Lara to be Lara like she used to be. Future Mike promised he’d go away. He promised he’d build a fortune with the power, but that’d he leave us alone.”
How could he be so stupid as to believe all that?
Footsteps approach from the side and I’m thrown when I see Future Mike step out from the shadows. His hands are in his pockets as he stands beside Morgan. “Hey sis,” he winks at me. “Good ol’ family reunion, am I right?”
I shake my head. “You were destroyed. I saw it, I felt it.”
“Yeah you did, but that was thanks to my good boy back there in the stasis field. Does just about everything I ask him to. He made you feel what you felt. He gave you the memories you have, but there was never an explosion. At least not one big enough to kill me. I spaced Rex, that part is true. Didn’t need him anymore. Not with Lara’s power.”
Future Mike’s face twitches into a cruel smile. “Don’t need her either, but no one in clan Crane would like that. So I did something even worse than kill her. I neutralized her.”
“And now we’ll have your power and Mike junior’s too.” Morgan tosses her head to gesture to my trapped brother. “We’ll start with you. Make him watch.” She snaps her fingers and the security guards start to push me toward the experiments-1 room. I can’t keep my eyes off the reclining chair that I’ll soon be strapped to.
I drag my feet, digging my sneakers in so that I can get away. “Stop, Mike! Please! We’re family. Your family!”
“Speaking of family, don’t you have something to do?” Morgan asks. “Go take care of my parents.”
I’m forced into the chair. I struggle and fight and one of the security guards pins me down by laying across me so they can snap it on my ankles and then my wrists. A moment later I’m shaking my head to avoid the restraint going around my cranium, but I can’t fight it.
I’m locked in place, can’t even turn my head as Morgan sits beside me. “Kill them and you’ll die too.”
“Not in this multiverse,” Morgan says, “but I will be stopping a version of me from being forced to grow up in that house. A disconnected father who feels nothing but guilt, a mother who wants nothing more than to reclaim her glory days?”
She couldn’t have been talking about Lara and Donovan. That isn’t the type of people they ire. “Not true. They’re good people. They’re great people. I’m sure they would be good parents.”
“Oh please, you’re no shining example of parenthood either, Molly.” She slides her chair away toward the wall. “Get started and don’t use any pain medicine on that one. She deserves everything she gets.”
What had we done to Morgan to make her hate us so much? I train my eyes straight ahead on Mike, my breathing fast, and near the level of a panic attack. His eyes are mournful and lined with tears. I can feel his regret but none of that matters now. We might never get out of here. If they can’t take my power, they may end up killing me.
Maybe that’d be better.
A technician slips some gauze into my mouth and then a rubber bit. “Bite down through the pain, it’ll help.”
My body bounces up and down in the chair as I struggle to free myself. Please, someone come. Please let this torture end.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Lara
The pain in my head is worse than it’s ever been. I go home to pack a change of clothes. First, I grab a shower and change into a long-sleeveed fitted tee and a pair of relaxed jeans. Back in my sneakers and jean jacket, I feel more like old me. More than I’ve felt in a long time and I’m not sure if I should celebrate or cry. I’m tired of being emotional, feeling like my life is upside down.
Has it been anything but since I changed time and saved my mother’s life? It had seemed like the most critical thing in the world. Now, I’m not sure the cost was worth it. Could anything be worth this?
I pack my duffle bag, but my heart isn’t in it. I don’t want to go to Jax, or my parents. I want to curl up and go to sleep. So that’s what I decide to do. I take three pills for pain and lay on top of my bed—the one I share with Donovan—and stare out the window.
Was it this bed he’d shared with Cassidy, or another one?
Slowly I drift off into an uneasy sleep but a noise interrupts before I manage to drift away completely. I startle out of bed, aware of the strain that puts on my head and neck. Donovan’s standing in the doorway with his hand on the handle.
“Sorry,” he says with a soft smile that makes me want to scream as the same time that it makes me love him. “I wasn’t expecting to find you here. If you’re looking to be alone, I can find somewhere else to be.”
I shake my head. “Please don’t go. I think the only thing that could make me feel worse is to watch you leave.”
I look away so he doesn’t have to watch me cry, but the tears fall. My chin wobbles and Donovan’s footsteps carry him closer. “Damn Lara, I’m sorry. I never wanted to see you hurt like this. I would’ve done anything to save you from this, you know that?”
He bends down in front of me and takes my hands. I want nothing more than to kiss him and fall into his arms, but I can’t let myself do that. The pain is still too real, too raw.
“It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t be taking it this hard.” I wipe my face with my palm. “Since the wedding, I just…. I don’t feel like me anymore. I don’t know if it’s the time travel, but I’m emotional. All over the place. You must think I’m a fool.”
“No,” Donovan whispers and pulls my hair off of my face. “I love you no matter how emotional you are. I took things too far last night, I’m surprised you can even look at me. I’ll never forgive myself for hurting you like this. No matter what you choose to do, I shouldn’t have grabbed you.”
I nod and suck my breath back in. The pain in my chest nearly crippling me.
“Can you forgive me for that? Even a little bit, Rockstar?”
I can never stay mad at him when he calls me that. “I don’t know. Maybe that’s the wrong answer, but I really don’t know.”
His face falls with disappointment. I might not know how I feel, but I wrap my arms around his neck. I bury my head against his neck as he hugs my middle. I don’t know if we’re forgiving each other or if we’re saying goodbye.
“I went to see Cassidy.” I pull away. “It was more painful than I expected it to be. She was so upset and I…felt vindictive. I wanted to see her in pain. I wanted her to hurt like I did. That’s not like me, Donovan. I’m scaring myself.”
His face flashes with surprise at my admission. “You’ve been through a lot, you need time.”
Something about his tone of voice resonates like it’s not the truth. He won’t look at me when he says it. More lies? “If you think I’ve lost my mind, maybe you should tell me.”
“That’s not it. I swear that’s not it.”
�
�Then what? What is it? What are you lying about this time? Is it for my own good, too?” I’m hot under the collar. What a mistake I’ve made. I should’ve packed my bag and left. I push past him, grab my bag and head for the living room.
“Lara, wait please!” He chases after me and grabs my arm.
I glower at him as I spin me around. “Didn’t you just apologize for doing that?” I’m shocked at his behavior, but I’m more bewildered at how angry and biting I sound.
Why can’t I move past this? Why am I so angry all the time?
Donovan raises his hands, wide-eyed. “I want to talk. We used to be able to work through things, Lara. I’m just asking you to listen.”
“I keep listening and I keep falling for your lies and fallacies. I thought we were forever but I’m really starting to doubt—”
A red beam of light bounces on my eye from the window. I squint and try to make sense of it.
Donovan glances at the window and back at me. “Get down!” He tosses himself into me. We crash into the bookcase and fall beneath the arm of the sofa as gunshots tear up our apartment. If he hadn’t pushed me out of the way, I’d be dead.
Now we both might be.
*****
The gunshots come fast and loud. My ears ring, blocking out all environmental noise. Donovan has me wrapped tight, like he’s my human shield. His arms squeeze, keeping my head snug against his chest. I don’t know if he’s hurt, I’m terrified we’re both going to die and I’m helpless to stop whatever is happening.
One thing is sure; Don didn’t just risk his life to push me out of the way, he’s there with me as bullets rip through our apartment. I was wrong to doubt him and his devotion to me. Wrong to question. No matter what he’d done in the altered timeline, he’s still Donovan and I know how he feels about me. I know what he’d give to protect me.
When there’s a break in the gunfire, Donovan takes my hand. “We have to make a run for it.”
But to do that with no time travel? No special powers? What makes him so brave when I’m so weak? I touch his face. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
“Lara,” Donovan takes me by the waist, “we have to move. We might not get another chance.”
I nod, he’s right. We rush to our feet and charge for the door. As we get there, gunfire licks at our heels. Donovan slams the door and its splinters, wood weakened by bullet holes. Our home, all of our things, destroyed. Everything that was once ours is lost.
“Lara,” Donovan grabs my hands and pulls me along as he takes out his phone. “We have to get to the car.”
He’s calling Cassidy. The one person that might be able to get here in time and free us from whoever it is that is trying to kill me. Or maybe they’re out to get Donovan, both of us. Maybe it doesn’t even really matter.
Donovan opens the door to the stairwell and we race in. “She’s not answering. We’re on our own for now.” He takes the lead, but looks back at me.
He doesn’t see what I see. Future Mike manifesting right in front of him.
“Don!” I scream in terror and start moving toward him, but I’m too slow.
Future Mike smacks Donovan in the head with the barrel of his automatic weapon. Donovan’s grip loosens on my hand and he slides down the steps.
Future Mike was supposed to be dead. He wasn’t supposed to be here. Future Mike grins at me as he rotates the gun like a baton in his hand and aims it down at Donovan, who is struggling back up to his feet. “Miss me? I gotta admit, I missed you too, Lar.”
He’s going to shoot Donovan and I’m helpless to stop it. I scream, “No! Don’t!” and a the shockwave of volume rips out from me—like it had last night with Donovan and pushes Future Mike up against the wall. It pins him, as if the sound itself is a weapon.
I glance at the weapon still dangling from his hand and I barely give it a second thought. I lunge for it, grabbing it and yanking it toward me.
Future Mike holds on strong and yanks it back. I slam into the guy who slams into me. “Your power is supposed to be gone. I took it! I stole it when you were made whole.”
I have no idea what he’s talking about. No idea at all.
Donovan charges from the steps, belts Future Mike across the face and Future Mike disappears. He’s jumped through the timeline and he could be anywhere now, but at least I have his gun.
I have Mike’s gun and I have my husband. Donovan crushes me in a hug. “Are you all right?” He runs his hands over my head, checking for wounds and before I can stop him, his lips find mine.
Feels good. Feels right, damn right. It feels better than anything ever has before but I have so many questions about what Future Mike had said. About what he had meant.
“What did he mean, Don? What did Mike mean when he said I was made whole again?”
Donovan’s expression falters into one of horror, but he recovers quickly. He knows something but he doesn’t want me to know. Here I’d thought I was getting past his series of lies, but now he has more.
Maybe he’ll never really learn.
I shake my head and walk away, heading down the stairs.
“Lara, stop. Please. You don’t know who might be waiting for you out there. You don’t know what it is they want.”
“Neither do you, Don, but at least they aren’t pretending. They aren’t lying to me. I know exactly what they are.” I give him a glare. “And now I guess I know what you are too.”
I walk away. No matter how much he screams and hollers for me, I keep going. I don’t know where I’ll go. Maybe that doesn’t matter.
I head through the parking garage and find our sedan. I hide the automatic weapon in the trunk and when I’m slipping behind the wheel of the car, my phone lights up. An anonymous number has sent me a photo.
It’s of Cassidy. She’s lying on a rug, unconscious. A text comes in; Come alone. Or she dies.
I take a deep breath and reply, asking for a location. I might be upset with Cassidy, but I’d never abandon her. Never. We’re family.
A text message comes in with an address. That address shocks me more than the photo.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Cassidy
I moan as I come to and grab my head. It’s spinning and my skin tingles all over from the electrical charge that had gone through my body. When I open my eyes, the apartment is dark and I’m lying against the soft cushions on the sofa.
When I push up on the armrest, a wave of nausea hits me.
“Don’t try to get up yet. You had a little bit of a shock to the system.” The old woman laughs.
I search for her in the dark. Finally, I find her sitting in the corner of the room in a wooden rocking chair. It creaks as she moves back and forth, and she still grips the cane in her left hand. It hits me who she claims to be, who her eyes tell me she is.
But the pictures on the wall from the turn of the century? Why had she been there? What had Lara been doing that far in the past? It looked like she had started a family, had belonged to high society. So what was it she had done?
Lara didn’t do things by accident and if she’d given up on all of us and moved to the past, maybe it had been done because of heartbreak. Maybe I’m the one who’d sent her reeling through time.
Maybe I’m the one who’d broken Lara Crane.
“Are you really Lara?” I need to know, even if she hates me. Even if the answer she gives is one I can’t accept.
She stands, leaning on her cane and hobbles forward with great effort. Whatever it was she had done to me, it must’ve taxed her. Her eyes appear sunken and exhausted. She stands at the foot of the sofa and stares me down. “I’m surprised you even need to ask me that question, Cass. It’s me and you know it.”
I lick my lips. “What happened to you? Why did you come back here?”
“To save you. To save all of you. Save you from my daughter.”
Daughter? I reached back into my childhood and remembered my crazy old Aunt Lara, but only barely. Rex kidnapped me when I was very young. She’d had chil
dren and grandchildren from her sons, but a daughter? I’d never heard about that.
I open my mouth to answer and Old Lara’s eyes sparkle. “Do you remember from your childhood anything about time travel? Anything about it running in our family?”
I shake my head.
“That’s because it was stolen from me by Mike. Lara hasn’t yet discovered what’s going on, but she will soon. And it will spell trouble for you. Don. Molly.” Old Lara sighs. “I remember what it was like when we were friends. When we were close. So happy, despite Rex and the trouble he caused us.”
I won’t buy that we can’t get past everything. Old Lara is spinning a web for me and I won’t buy it. “You have power. What you did to me when we first met, that wasn’t the work of an old woman who is helpless.”
“No.” Lara smirks. “It was the work of an old time-traveler who got her power back, but it took time. So much time. It left me broken with a hole inside. I couldn’t fix myself, Cassidy. I couldn’t save my family and when it came to Don…. We never reconciled. We made a daughter, but we never found a way.”
The news is heartbreaking to me and I can see it playing out on her face too.
“I thought he changed but it just wasn’t him that changed. It was me. Being in this body,” Old Lara holds her arms out, “it took more from me than Future Mike did. The Other Lara became part of me too. Took a long time for me to understand that. I don’t want it to take that long for Lara. The young Lara who is here and is grieving so much.”
She sighs, feeling the grief from her younger self. “I’m here to help.” Old Lara struggles as she walks away and nearly falls. I grab her wrist to help stabilize her. “Morgan has more Patricia James in her than me, than even Don. She wants the power for herself, feels robbed by life and its circumstances. She’ll stop at nothing to get it. Future Mike exploited her weakness for his own.”
Morgan? The woman who was set to marry Jax? So, she did all of that to get close to our family.
