Second Chances

by Phelps, K. L.

  The remainder of the day had gone relatively smooth. She checked in with Cameron during the layover. She informed him about the gun incident and could tell he was less then pleased, but he didn't berate her, only said he would see what he could do about retrieving it. The gun was unregistered and untraceable, but her fingerprints were on it and someone with enough clearance might be able to access her file and then there would definitely be questions. She was certain it was nothing that Cameron could not handle, but she didn't like screwing up in front of him. She had already messed up and he'd forgiven her, any more screw ups and he might reconsider just how much he needed her.

  When the plane landed she quickly retrieved her suitcase and made her way toward the exit. She hated the changes that 9/11 had caused. In her mind she envisioned Cameron waiting for her at the gate, a smile on his face and perhaps even with flowers in hand. She shook her head and laughed as she felt her flash flush.

  "Get a grip Linda. You need to focus," she said to herself as she lightly slapped her face and exited into the light of the late afternoon.

  She looked at the cars parked in the pick up area. She had no clue what he drove. She saw the trunk of a black BMW M3 coupe pop open and then Cameron got out of the driver's side. She suppressed her smile as best she could and made her way quickly over to the car. He took the suitcase from her and put it into the trunk, then without a word got back into the car.

  She frowned and again wanted to smack herself, but figured he was watching her. What the heck had she expected? A hug and a kiss on the cheek? She silently cursed her foolishness as she got into the car.

  "Good flight?"

  "Yes."

  "I managed to have your weapon recovered."

  She sighed softly, so much for small talk.

  Cameron's phone rang and he answered it. Linda could hear a female voice on the other end but couldn't make any of it out.

  "I see. No, you did the right thing. Excellent work, continue to monitor things. If anything happens I trust you will act accordingly."

  Linda looked at him when he hung up the phone. She wondered who the woman on the other end was. Wondered who he was praising.

  "So where are we?" she asked. "Do we know where they are?"

  "I was just going to call and get an update from Jimmy."

  She watched him dial his phone and sat up a little straighter.

  "Status update," is all he said when he heard Jimmy answer the phone.

  "Hey boss, give me a second." Jimmy's voice boomed from the phone's little speaker. Clicking keys could be heard as well. "Well they are checked into a hotel called Bayside and they've made several purchases from some local stores in the area around the hotel."

  "What are they driving?" Linda asked and received an approving nod from Cameron.

  "Silver Ford Taurus. Sadly he cheaped out and didn't get GPS, otherwise I could track his exact location easily."

  "Shouldn't be that hard to acquire them. We know where they are and where they are likely going. Thank you, Jimmy."

  He clicked off the phone and returned it to his pocket. He pointed to the glove compartment.

  "I have a replacement weapon for you."

  Linda opened the compartment and retrieved the weapon and silencer. She transferred them into her purse and let out another quiet sigh. It was obvious this was to be no pleasure trip.

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  Nathan had to admit that Newport, at least the portion he had seen today, was impressive. It was everything his Paige had said it was during their time together. He wished he could have relaxed and enjoyed it. He had kept a close eye on Paige as they had wandered through the shops in the Brick Market Place and the surrounding area. She seemed to swing back and forth between happy and sad, or perhaps confused. She helped him pick up several changes of clothing, which he had lugged around for the afternoon. They had considered dining at the hotel's restaurant, but in the end neither of them had much of an appetite.

  Paige was standing by the window, looking out over the water. Her hands trembled a bit and she cursed her lack of control. She balled her hands into fists at her side. She realized she had been doing that an awful lot these last few days.

  "I guess we can't put this off any longer, can we?" There was a hopeful tone to her voice, as if she expected that there might actually be a chance of him saying they could delay.

  "Afraid not."

  She turned away from the window and looked over at Nathan. He was sitting on the edge of the far bed. She nodded and walked over and sat on the edge of the bed opposite of him.

  "Where do you want to start?" he asked.

  She reached over and picked up his laptop bag that was leaning against the nightstand between the two beds. She unzipped it and pulled out the black journal, flipping it open to the last entry.

  "Your questions. They were pretty much the same as mine, so I guess that is as good a place as any."

  "Okay," he said, reaching out and taking the journal from her. "So is it possible that you are my Paige?"

  She looked at the ground and said, "I don't think so."

  "Neither do I."

  She looked up, her eyes wide. She had not expected him to say that.

  "As much as I would love for that to be true," he began. "And believe me, you've no idea how much that is. I just can't come up with a scenario where that is the truth. What am I supposed to think? Amnesia? Time travel? You look almost exactly like Paige did when I met her, but that was years ago. I can't say she looked that much older when...when I lost her, but she had definitely aged some."

  He reached for the box of tissues on the night stand and wiped at the corners of his eyes. Admitting that she wasn't his Paige had been harder than he'd expected.

  "I don't believe in time travel either. Amnesia though...well I don't think so and yet." She threw her hands up and shrugged.

  "Because things aren't exactly like you remember them to be, right?"

  Her eyes went wide again.

  "I noticed. I watched you today. It was like you were on a roller coaster. Your face would light up with joy and relief when you saw something the way you remembered it and then drop into a frown and agitated frustration or confusion when you saw something that didn't seem right."

  "You saw that?"

  "It was impossible not to."

  Paige pulled one of the pillows off the bed and hugged it to her body.

  "I thought I was losing my mind. Hell, maybe I am. How is it possible that so much has changed? I haven't been gone that long and yet so many things seem different."

  "How long do you think you've been gone?"

  "Only a few weeks. After the fire I was a wreck. Linda wanted to come out and be with me, but she is still new to her job and she hadn't set up everything for me out there so she suggested I get away from everything. A solo vacation to clear my head and get ready for the first step in my new life after college. That was why I was in Miami."

  "Did it work? How was Miami?"

  Paige went quiet for a minute. She seemed to look beyond Nathan and said, "Miami was wonderful. I had a great time."

  Nathan shuddered at the sound of her response and was instantly reminded of lunch the other day with Linda. He reached out and placed his hands on Paige's shoulders. She trembled a little and then oriented on his face.

  "Wonderful? Can you tell me what you did?"

  She was quiet and then repeated, "I had a great time."

  "Yes, but what did you do during that great time? The beach? Clubs? What?"

  She pressed her lips together and frowned, her brow furrowing in concentration for a few minutes. She gripped the pillow tighter.

  "I...I had...I..."

  A tear ran down her cheek.

  "I don't...I can't remember," she said. She looked at Nathan, her eyes wide, watery, and full of horror. "What does that mean?"

  "I wish I knew."

  She grabbed the box of tissues, wiped her eyes and runny nose, her hands trembling even more.
Part of her, a very large part, wanted to run from the room, but she stayed seated on the edge of the bed.

  "What's happening to me? What in the hell is happening to me?"

  "We are gong to find out."

  "How?"

  He got up off the bed and paced back and forth from the bed to the door several times before saying, "I don't know, but we will. How about we start by comparing your history and my Paige's history? Do you think we can do that?"

  She nodded and said, "I guess so."

  "Okay, so when I met Paige she was twenty-four."

  "That's my age now."

  Nathan nodded, not surprised, but encouraged by the news.

  "She had grown up in Kline, Kansas."

  Paige nodded.

  "Her mother worked at the local grocery-store."

  "Yes, she was basically their accounts manager."

  "And her father taught chemistry at the local high school."

  Again Paige nodded.

  "Paige's mom died when she was fifteen. Cancer. She told me it was an incredibly rough year, she even dropped out of school. She ended up having to redo her sophomore year of high school which is why she graduated late."

  Paige was wiping the tears from her eyes. "She..she tried not to show how much pain she was in. She tried to be brave for me and dad, but...but we knew. It was horrible."

  He sat down next to her. She leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her. He didn't like causing her pain and knew he was about to cause her more.

  "And then it was sophomore year again, only college this time."

  She nodded her head against his chest.

  "Daddy had a heart attack. I was a wreck. The semester had just ended. Linda was there for me. I don't think I would have made it through without her. I never went home again. One of my dad's friends took care of everything, settled the estate for me. Had him buried next to my mother. It's horrible that I never went back, isn't it? What kind of daughter doesn't attend her own father's funeral? I just couldn't handle it."

  She sobbed against Nathan and he held her tighter. He'd heard this all before and it was no less heart wrenching this time around.

  "I'm sorry," she said after a few minutes. She wiped away her tears and released her hold on him.

  "Don't be. I'm sorry you have to go through this again."

  She didn't seem to hear that last word and he was grateful as he hadn't meant to say it aloud.

  "I hate to do it, but...so two or three weeks ago. The fire?"

  She nodded.

  "You lost everything, absolutely everything?"

  She nodded again. "Your Paige as well?"

  "Yes," he said. "I...umm. I met her only a few weeks after the fire. She told me about it. She had lost everything and her friend Tanya had suggested a vacation. She had just returned from that vacation in Hawaii and relocated to Fairfield. Toby had dragged me out to a club, something I hated doing. He and Tanya had seemed to hit it off and that left you...Paige and I alone at a table. She hated clubbing as much as I did. We spent the time making up stories about the people in the club and making sarcastic comments about them. I was in love with her before the night was over. It was only a few weeks later that I proposed."

  There was a sad smile on Paige's face as she listened to Nathan and she again felt an irrational twinge of jealousy.

  "What happened to her friend? Tanya?"

  "She moved away a month or so after we got married. Some job opportunity in Seattle. Paige still kept up with her, a phone call every couple of weeks or so, but that was it. The truth was, we became each others lives. We saw Toby and a few people related to the business every now and then, but we were newlyweds and completely infatuated with each other. We didn't really give a damn about the rest of the world. As far as we were concerned the world began and ended with us."

  "She was very lucky," she said.

  "No. I was the lucky one."

  Nathan got up and walked to the window. He braced himself for what he knew was coming.

  "What happened to her?" Her tone was almost apologetic.

  He was quiet for a long while and Paige began to wonder if it was possible he hadn't heard her, but he finally let out a long sigh and then said, "They claimed it was suicide, but I never truly believed that. She was murdered."

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  Linda drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. She looked at her watch again, only five minutes later than the last time she'd looked. She peered at the people passing under the street lights, hoping to see Cameron. He hadn't been gone that long, but sitting alone in the car made it feel like an eternity. They hadn't been able to park in the hotel parking lot since it had security and Cameron was certain they'd be noticed just sitting in the car. She had volunteered to go, but he had vetoed that immediately. The hotel was not far away, but Linda was not familiar with the area at all and the possibility of her getting lost wasn't out of the question. More importantly, he insisted that she was a known factor. Neither Paige nor Nathan knew him and while the odds of her running into them was slim, the possibility did exist and he did not want to tip them off. He was certain that as of right now Nathan and Paige had no clue they were being tracked and he did not want anything to change that.

  Linda let out a yelp when a hand knocked on the window. Cameron stood at the passenger door. She felt her face flush in embarrassment and flicked the door locks open. He slid into the vehicle, a scowl on his face.

  "Sorry, I didn't know I had locked the doors," she lied.

  "What?" He waved a dismissive hand. "I think they are still there. I believe I saw their car. So unless they are out walking around, they must be in the hotel. Unfortunately I wasn't able to sweet talk their room number out of the front desk woman. She offered to call up to the room, but wouldn't tell me which one."

  "Do you think we can place a tracker on the car?"

  Cameron pulled his phone out of his jacket. Linda tried to hide her smile. It seemed his land line policy was out the window.

  "Jimmy, we've located their car and I think they are likely in their room, but have no clue what room that is. Anyway we can track the car?"

  Jimmy was silent for a moment the only sound was the clicking of keys.

  "Sixth floor room thirty-one. It's a double with an ocean view. Sorry, should have told you that earlier."

  Cameron's scowl was replaced with a grin. He had definitely been underutilizing Jimmy.

  "What about the car?"

  "Like I said before, it doesn't have a GPS. If you have a tracking device that would be one thing."

  "I don't have access to that right now. Can we improvise something?"

  "Sure. Almost every phone these days has GPS and can be turned into a tracking device. Problem is how long the battery would last. Heck these days its hard not to be tracked. But like I said, its all about power."

  Linda snapped her fingers and asked. "Then why don't we just use his phone? You can get his info, can't you?"

  Cameron gave her an approving smile and she felt her heart flutter.

  "Yeah that isn't an issue. I already have all his data and I've actually attempted that already."

  Cameron frowned as he sensed what was to come.

  "Unfortunately his phone is dead."

  "Maybe he never turned it back on after they landed this morning," Linda said.

  "That is possible," Jimmy said. "But that doesn't mean anything. Even with the power off I could reactivate it, so the battery must be dead."

  "Okay, Jimmy, just do whatever the heck it is you do. Monitor for that phone to come back up. The minute it does, I want you to notify me."

  "Sure boss. I'll intercept any voicemail he gets as well."

  "Excellent."

  Cameron hung up the phone.

  "Guess we need to do this the old fashioned way." He looked at his watch. "I don't think they are going anywhere tonight, but we have no way to know what time they might leave. I wouldn't think too early, but I want us out here just in case
."

  "Stakeout all night?"

  "No, I don't think that will be necessary. They don't know we are after them. We'll go check in somewhere close by. I want us back out here by four or five though just in case they get an early start."

  "Can't we just end this now?"

  Cameron looked over at her, his eyebrows raised in a question. She patted her purse.

  "We know what room they are in now. I could go in, bang bang, problem solved. I mean, you aren't planning to try and retrieve her are you?"

  "No. As much as I hate to admit it, I think at this point I have to accept that she is a lost cause."

  "So why not let me end this now?"

  "Tempting, very tempting. However, I don't think we are there yet. Something went wrong with this entire thing and I would like to know what."

  "So you don't think it has to do with advancing the time tables?" Linda regretted the words even before she finished saying them and braced herself.

  He was silent for a moment, before saying, "I can't discount that as a possibility."

  Her jaw almost dropped at his admission.

  "However, I am inclined to think it is much more than that. I need to know if there is more to all of this and that means finding out if anyone else is involved. I want to see where they go, who they talk to. I could have more people working against me than I know."

  He reached over and placed his hand over hers and gave a gentle squeeze. She felt herself flush at his touch.

  "Don't worry. You'll get an opportunity to use that gun of yours. We'll need to end them soon enough, but first I need to see how many loose ends there really are."

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  "I don't want to give the impression that we were perfect. Paige and I had arguments like any other couple. The funny thing was often our arguments were about here. Newport, I mean. There were times she would talk about the great times she had at college. She always talked about it with such fondness. It sounded so important to her. So every now and then I would suggest that we should take a trip down here. After all, we weren't that far away. Those conversations would never end well. She would find the craziest excuses to get out of the trips."