by Jill Cooper
Guns. I hate them.
I don’t want to use it on anyone, but I’m not comfortable with the idea of him keeping it either.
“Grab her!” someone screams and two men charge me.
I jump up and grab the shower curtain rod. It wobbles under my weight as I swing back and my legs splay wide so I can catch them both center mass.
One foot connects and it sends one assailant backward. He trips over a bench and falls to his back, but my other assailant is fast. He catches my leg and tugs it to the right.
Losing my grip on the shower rod, I corkscrew toward the ground and the first thug, with the mustache, hooks me right beneath my arms. He glares at me, a jagged cut on his nose. “You are more trouble than you look like, Montgomery,” he sneers.
I kick my legs and flail my arms. I won’t be taken back to Patricia or Rex. I won’t go quietly into a cage where I will be studied, prodded and turned into a science experiment.
But his grip is too strong and I can’t break free. A hand clamps over my face and I know I’m about to be chloroformed. They’re going to take me out of there and there’s nothing I can do about it except to fight.
I arch my back and I scream.
Panic turns my face red and my scream comes from somewhere visceral. Somewhere deep inside me where my most primal emotions live. We are approaching the emergency exit and then everything freezes.
Not Elsa freezes, but as if time itself has stopped.
I pull my legs free from the two assailants and I fall to the ground, slipping right out of the thugs’ arms. I scamper far enough away to study their faces. My heart is pounding and my lips tremble as I try to catch my breath.
I didn’t time travel, but some how I’ve stopped time.
I’ve done it before, but usually it has been during a phase of time when I changed a location or went back. I have never frozen people in the here and now.
This could be a good development. A really good one. If I could learn to control it. Or learn how I even did it.
It is tied to emotions, it has to be, but I don’t have time to figure it out.
I heft my duffle bag up and gingerly I pull one of the thug’s jackets up. I take his gun and his cell phone. I’m afraid at any moment they will snap back into the here and now, but I move on to the next guy and take his gun and find his cell phone too.
I throw them all into my duffle bag and then my legs are pumping and I’m off and running again, right through the emergency exit. When I get outside, the cars are frozen in mid-drive like a movie is paused. I take a moment to catch my breath and gaze up at the stars. Even they are no longer blinking.
I check my watch and pick a place and time. I think of the parking garage. My hair swirls as the scene around me comes to life. Before the thugs can even think of what might have happened to me, I’m transported to the third story level of the parking garage. It’s dark. Empty. A dangerous place to be a damsel in distress.
Good thing I don’t know any of those.
I take the car keys out of my pocket and hit the unlock button. Over to the left and up the ramp five hundred feet, the black family Lexus beeps. Its brake lights glow red and I trot over to it. I throw everything into the passenger seat and get in.
Before doing anything I lock the doors, then start the car up. Headlights glowing, I place my arm across the headrest of the passenger seat and turn my body. I backup and crank the wheel so the car is facing the right direction and race toward the exit.
Gripping the steering wheel, I use my mirrors to check for other cars and signs of being followed. As far as I can tell, the coast is clear. My lungs fill with air as I take a long, deep relaxing breath.
It clears my head and my muscles are no longer tense.
So far so good.
Chapter Fifteen
When I approach our brownstone, I slow down and cut the headlights. I park across the street and a few houses down. My bags are still behind the bush under my window. I grab them and toss them in the trunk. I make sure everything is secure inside.
Then I scale the tree at the side of the house and shimmy in through my window. My fingers outstretch to my bed and I pull myself over. Curling my legs, I plop down on my bed without even making a squeak. If it wasn’t for the training exercises that Rex put me through on a regular basis this sort of thing wouldn’t even be possible.
Have to give him some props. I am going to be able to defeat him now and it is all going to be his own fault.
You have to appreciate that kind of irony.
I take the money from my duffle bag and hide it inside the locked box under my bed. I make sure the lacy dust ruffle keeps it from view and then I slide the duffle bag into my closet. I close the door and check my reflection in the mirror. I look more windblown than as if I’ve been studying for the last thirty minutes. I smooth my hair back and unzip my hoodie part of the way. Edging it down, my hand goes over the gun I have stashed in my back pocket.
Just having it gives me a bad feeling, but I need to defend myself. I can’t go into this blind. Anything could happen now. I took the thugs’ phones, but it’s only a matter of time before they find a phone and report in.
When that happens, we could be in a heap of trouble.
On the way downstairs I check on the twins. Relief washes over me when I see their sleeping faces. Molly looks like a cherub and I want to do nothing but protect that innocence. If we manage to be successful at this, I’ll be shocked. I just might use up what good luck I have left.
If I ever had any to begin with.
Angry voices are coming from the living room as I trot down the stairs. Mom’s voice reaches my ears first and she’s near shrill. Panic. It sets my heartbeat on fire. “He can’t be here!”
Jax, for his part, is as stressed out as I’ve ever seen him. He runs his hands through his hair and there are worry lines on his face. “What do you want me to do? Throw him out?”
“Yes!” Mom’s eyes are wide with fright. “Get him out of here!”
“What’s going on?” When my feet hit the soft carpet a familiar, eerie feeling washes over me. Mom grabs my arm. “I was trying to call you.”
“I was … wrapped up. What’s the matter?”
“You have a house guest.” That familiar voice, the one laced with the charming British accident, says and when I turn I’m not surprised to see him stepping out from the kitchen.
But my palms are sweaty and the quickening of my heart is fast enough to starve my body of oxygen. I can’t keep my eyes from narrowing or the disdain from my voice. “Rex.”
“I’ve come to visit my dear step-niece. Hello again, Lara.” Rex laughs and his finger coins into my hair. “Nice curls. And from that look in your eyes, I say you know me far better than I know you.”
“You could say that.”
“Last time we met, you couldn’t remember me at all. Do you remember? Or are you really two separate versions of the same person? We would love to know.”
“We’re not going to play twenty questions.” My eyes level out into a stare.
Jax is left confused. He scratches his head. “Anyone want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Time travel, dear brother. The rules have changed. And this one is coming on a little ride with me.”
“No!” Mom screams.
I reach for my back pocket and my hand grips the pistol. I pull it out hard and fast, training the gun on Rex. I place my other hand over my wrist to stabilize my aim and step back so he’s further than an arm’s reach away from me. “If you think I’m going anywhere with you, well, we have a problem.”
“Oh my God, Lara!” Jax scolds and he moves to step in front of me. “You don’t want to do this. I promise you.”
Mom’s hands cover her mouth. “Please, Lara.”
I wave Jax off with a flash of my eyes. “Back off, Jax! I know exactly what I want. And you know why I need to do this.” For a split second, my eyes flash to Jax and I see horror and recognition. His eyes turn to
Mom and his face goes green with the realization she knows. We all know. It’s finally all out in the open.
Family secrets are about to be spilled.
“Mom, get him out of here.”
I see it play out with a sideways glance. Mom wrapping her arms around Jax, trying to pull him away. He shrugs her off and gestures to his brother. His brother who, up until now, has kept Jax under his thumb, but that’s about to change.
It’s all about to change.
Rex gives me an amused smirk as his arms go up, bent at the elbow. He gingerly takes a step forward. “Well, I’d say you know me even better than I thought. How far into the future have you been?”
“Two years and if you take one more step toward me, I’ll blow your head off.”
“You wouldn’t,” Rex sneers. “A sweet little thing like you.”
“I killed you once before, I’ll do it again.” I cock the safety off the gun, and my eyes never deviate away from his. I make sure he sees the anger in my eyes. The lust not for power but for blood. But it’s not about vengeance or revenge. It’s about protecting myself and my family. That is all I am interested in at this point. It is everything I want.
And Rex is a murderer. An intruder. A blackmailer. Everything that is wrong in this world is standing right in front of me in a nice little package.
With a bull’s eye right on the chest.
Jax takes a deep breath and pushes his eyes closed. “Lara, you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself messed up in.”
“No? I know in the future this one locks me in a plastic box. I know he’s stripped Mom of her memories of me, the twins, everyone. And Molly.” My teeth grit together. “What he’s trying to do to her—turn her into me. And I know better than anyone she shouldn’t have to be me.”
“So.” Rex raises his eyebrows, but he doesn’t threaten to move a step forward. He wouldn’t dare at this point. He sees the hatred in my eyes just as I see the amusement in his. Somehow, he still thinks he still has the upper hand and I have to strip it away from him. I have to put all the cards on the table and hope he goes for the biggest bluff I have.
“What he does to you, Jax, maybe its worst of all. Want to tell him, Rex, how much you really despise him? The plans you have to stick him into a little box, chain him to the wall?”
“To my baby brother born two minutes after me? I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Liar.” I spit the word out at him.
Rex shrugs and picks a piece of lint off his shoulder like it’s the most interesting thing in the world, but I know he’s not really disinterested in me. He’s fascinated by it all.
“We’re at a standstill.” I grit my teeth. “You aren’t getting me this time. If you do, I’ll time travel you right to the police. And with the evidence I have, you’ll be lucky if you see daylight ever again. I promised myself I wouldn’t murder you. Even you, I’m afraid, are a human life.”
“So what do we do?” Rex asks.
“I give you the thing you love most in the world, well, other than yourself.” I raise an eyebrow. “Money.”
Now it’s Rex’s turn to look amused. “Well, I like where this conversation is going.”
“I’ll give you what I have upstairs. And it’s a lot. In return, you buy me some time with Patricia. Tell me where to find her and I’ll let you go. If I ever see you again”—I lower my voice—“I’ll just time travel back to this moment in time and blow your head off.”
Rex forces a smile and the white of his teeth shows off just a bit too much. I’ve made him nervous. He doesn’t know how much I don’t want to kill. He doesn’t know me yet. All Rex knows is that I’m a time traveler and I have a gun. That’s what I have to keep him focused on.
“You drive a hard bargain. I think I can agree to your terms.”
I give my mom orders. “Go upstairs to my room. There’s a locked box under my bed. Empty the contents into a bag and give it to Rex.”
To Rex, I say, “You will let them go with Mike and Molly. We will give them a head start. Do you understand?”
He nods. “And you trust me?”
“No.” I laugh. “But I’m pretty sure you believe I’m a time traveler and I’ll do what I promise.”
Jax glances between us. “I don’t understand what’s going on. Rex—Lara—how do you know she’s a time traveler? She’s just a kid!”
“Because,” Rex snarls, “when I missed the shot on the day Miranda Crane was supposed to be killed, I shot this one instead. You bled out on that street. But here you are.”
“Here I am,” I echo with a smile. It’s not a happy smile, it’s bittersweet as I think of the last two years, how I couldn’t leave well enough alone and just be happy with my dad, our dog, and my boyfriend. It wasn’t a lot, but part of me would give anything to go back in time and tell Lara not to do it.
Not to change time.
But then I’d have to watch my mom die all over again and that just isn’t acceptable.
Mom comes downstairs with a bag and hands it to Rex. She keeps her distance from him and swings the bag out to him. He opens it and gives it a quick glance over.
“Quite the big cash for a kid,” Rex says.
I shrug. “I consider getting rid of you an investment. Cross me, and we’ll be back right at this spot in time. You’ll be dead and I’ll be richer.”
It’s clear from the look of horror on Mom’s face she doesn’t like hearing me talk this way, but if I let the tough girl act fall, Rex will seize control of the upper hand. “Into the kitchen.” I point the gun at his face while I fish the car keys from my pocket and toss them at Jax.
“Get the kids. Just keep driving. Cross the border. Go somewhere. Anywhere.”
Jax hurries up the stairs even though I’m sure he has more questions than answers, but Mom hesitates. “How will we know you’re all right?”
“I’ll be in touch. Now, please, move.”
They hurry up the stairs and I push the barrel of the gun into Rex’s back, edging him into the kitchen. I guide him over to the sink and we face the window. I keep the gun pointed at his head. Out in the living room, I hear the sound of soft footsteps down the stairs. Rex turns his head slightly.
“Don’t even think about it.” I push the gun against his head with more force.
“You think you’re unstoppable? If I was to get that gun from you, maybe I’d shoot you dead instead of living with the threat of your time travel abilities.”
“I only need a split second to travel in time.” The lie rolls off my tongue easily. “And even if you did, Patricia would never let such an indiscretion go. She’d kill you for losing her big chance to shape the world.”
“So”—Rex’s voice is sour—“we really have done all this before.”
I don’t answer him. Across the street, I can see the gleam of headlights barreling down the street. “Now that we’re alone, tell me how you can help me. Tell me where I can find Patricia James?”
“Am I allowed to turn around now?”
I back off and lower my weapon. “Go on.” I toss my hair back and my jaw is set firm.
Rex turns and lowers his hand. As he moves from his pocket, I raise the gun on instinct. “I need to show you something. Don’t shoot.”
Relaxing again, my arms return to my side, but the grip on my gun is still hand over hand. Rex reaches inside his breast pocket and pulls out an envelope. “I must say, for someone so young, you handle that gun well.”
“I had a good teacher,” I sneer. “Open the envelope and show me what’s inside.”
“I gave you weapons training? Well, that was a bad move on my part.” He unfolds what looks like an invitation and places it down on the counter.
It’s solid black with gold writing. An important black-tie gala event that the senator is hosting at a regal hotel downtown. It takes place tomorrow night. And it’s title?
Fundraising for Policing Time Travel.
It says the attendance will be local law enforcement and se
nators in favor of the bill plus celebrities in favor of changing the law.
“If you’re going to take her down and make it public, this is the place to do it. Ironic isn’t it, that her fundraising effort will be the end of her?”
“Slide it back inside the envelope. Do you know who else is on the guest list? Will Senator Marcus O’Reily be there?”
I haven’t yet met Senator Marcus, but if my assumptions are correct, and I have to pray they are, we still met when he was a young college student. I have to bank on that meeting still meaning something to him. Because the way he had talked, it was as if he once thought we might have a future.
And right now, a future is all I want.
Rex snorts. “Please, Patricia would never let him in the door. Or you. But if you have one of these invitations, well, you’ll just stroll in. That’s why you need me.”
I smirk. “You really think I’m going to let you go to the gala? With me?” I snort. “Rex, I’m impulsive, but I’m not stupid.”
“You need me.” Rex grits his teeth.
And I roll my eyes. “I don’t need you. I have what I need. I have Donovan. He’s always invited to these things. He’ll be my date.”
Shock rolls across Rex’s face. I don’t know if he forgot about me and Donovan or somehow he missed that little development. I grab the invitation from the counter and slide it inside my hoodie and zip it all the way up.
“Get Patricia on the phone and tell her you have me, but I haven’t given up the location of the microchip. You’re talking me somewhere secluded to extract the information and you have armed men on my parents. Do it and make it look convincing.”
“And then what? You’re just going to let me walk out of here with a bag full of cash?”
“Pretty much. You’ll leave the country and never come back. If I ever see you crossing the street again, even if it’s just to go to CVS, I will come back here and I will kill you.”
