The Traveler's Secret: Book One (The Traveler Series 1)

by Jan Eira

  “What about if we fudge the results?” asked Ellie. “If we hack into their computer and—”

  “My dad is the only investigator for now,” said Valerie. “Even if we hack into the computer and change the records, he’ll know the results himself. But that might work much later when the drug begins widespread research.”

  “That won’t be for another year and a half,” said older Brent. “And by then, Supreme Pharmaceuticals will have a good idea about how the—”

  Dogs barked in the far distance. Then a man shouted. “This way! The hounds are going this way. They got to be pretty close now.”

  “Fan out wide,” yelled another man. His words barely rose above the barks and growls.

  “What am I hearing?” asked William.

  “Dogs,” said younger Brent.

  “Are they looking for us?” asked Ellie.

  Older Brent grabbed an instrument the size of a smartphone from his backpack. He studied it for a long moment. “Five men and three large dogs.” He studied the gizmo. “It’s the cops coming toward us. At this pace, they’ll be here in one hundred thirty-eight seconds. This is new. This didn’t happen before.”

  “I’m not surprised,” said William. “Before, we hadn’t neutralized three men.”

  “What shall we do?” asked Valerie.

  “Let’s run,” said younger Brent.

  Older Brent shook his head. “We can’t. They’ll catch up. We can’t escape.”

  “We should try,” said Ellie. “Shouldn’t we?”

  “I’ll slow you all down,” said older Brent. “You kids run. I’ll delay them as long as I can and give you a chance to get away. Run to the river and then walk in the water or swim away. The dogs won’t track you nearly as well in the water. Go. Hurry up. Go!” Swiftly, he produced a gadget from his backpack. The teens looked at him, bewildered, as he began to walk toward the advancing group. He looked back at them and whispered. “Go, kids! Go. Get out of here.”

  They fled the area. Older Brent placed all but one of his belongings from his pockets into the backpack. He resumed his brisk march toward the approaching snarls, looking back as he did. He saw no signs of the fleeing kids now.

  “There he is,” yelled a man holding two dogs on a leash. Their barks and growls were now very loud.

  Another man, whom older Brent assumed was in charge, shouted. “Get on your knees, and place your hands behind your head. Do it now!”

  Older Brent complied and was soon handcuffed.

  “Where are the kids?” another officer asked. “The four teenagers?”

  “What’s wrong, officers? What did I do?”

  One of the cops produced a smartphone. “Smile pretty for the camera,” he said, taking older Brent’s picture. “We’ll have the answer in a few seconds.” He pushed a button on the mobile.

  “Where were you about an hour ago?” asked one of the officers. “Did you poison three men?”

  “No, sir. I’ve been right here over the last several hours meditating in the woods. Alone.”

  “Meditating, my ass,” said another cop. “Was it a drug deal gone bad?”

  “Drugs? No, sir.”

  “What’s your side of the story?” asked one of the cops. “Why did you kill those men?”

  “Kill?” Older Brent’s voice trembled. “I didn’t kill anybody.”

  “Maybe they had it coming,” said one of the cops. “Those boys had police records a mile long—quite a diversified portfolio, really. And those machetes. Was it self-defense?”

  “I didn’t kill anyone.”

  A loud ding announced an incoming message. The officer read it.

  He faced older Brent. “Unfortunately for you, when you killed those men, there were several witnesses. They all independently identified you out of a pictorial lineup as being the guy they saw kill those three men in the parking lot.” He then turned to one of his subordinates. “Book him for three counts of murder.”

  “I didn’t kill anybody,” said older Brent. “You must believe me. Please.”

  The cop looked around into the forest. “Take the dogs and spread out. The kids can’t be far.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Without a word, the four teenagers ran as fast as they could toward the river. When they arrived at the water’s edge, Brent, William, and Ellie began to remove their shoes and socks. Valerie simply stood and watched them.

  “Meeting you guys has been the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said.

  “We didn’t ask for any of this, Valerie,” said William.

  “We don’t like it either, money bags,” said Ellie. “Are you afraid you’ll ruin your Louis Vuitton designer purse?”

  “It’s a handbag,” said Valerie. “And yes, it’s very expensive and—”

  “Are you with us or not?” asked Brent, already in knee deep in water.

  “I’m not liking the way this is going,” Valerie said. “I have to call my dad and—”

  “You want to get caught by the police?” asked William. “I’m sure they’re still looking for us. And coming this way, toward the river, is exactly what I would do if I were in their place.”

  “You can stay here and face the cops or come with us now,” said Ellie. “But we have no time for discussion.” Brent and Ellie began to walk upriver. William stayed back for a moment, looking into Valerie’s eyes. He then extended his right hand toward her. Reluctantly, she took it and removed her shoes. Then she walked into the water.

  In the not-so-far-off distance, barking dogs approached. “Come on,” said William. “I’ll help you.”

  Thirty minutes later, now on the other side of the river and about three-quarters of a mile north of their entrance point into the water, the four teenagers sat heavily on the wet grass surrounding the river. They were short of breath, fatigued, and very mystified.

  “What should we do now?” said Brent.

  Ellie got up on her feet. “Let’s walk deep into the woods right here and rest. We’ll wait another hour or so and then go back to the parking area and see if our bikes and Valerie’s car are still there. Hopefully, the cops didn’t find them.”

  “Wait a goddamned minute,” said Valerie. “Who made you the boss?”

  Brent intervened. “Nobody’s the boss. But what Ellie said makes a lot of sense to me.”

  Ellie looked at Valerie. “OK, look, we’re never going to be best friends and go get mani-pedis together. I get that. But we’re all in this mess right now. We have to stick together. Like it or not, you are part of this team, and we have an important job to do.”

  The boys remained seated and silent. Valerie got up on her feet and stared at Ellie. “Let’s go. I agree that we should walk away from the river’s edge and deeper into the woods. But when we get to my car, I’ll go my way, and the three of you go yours. I want nothing to do with you three. This problem is not my problem. I want to go on with my life and never again think about dangerous drugs and heart disease and harmless viruses that can cause hearts to blow up.” She began to walk, with William right behind her. The others were a few steps behind them.

  “We have to figure out a way to free the old me,” said Brent as he and Ellie walked side by side. “Any ideas?”

  “Let’s go back to the entrance of that cave where we were talking before,” said Ellie. “If the cops took him in, I’m sure he hid his futuristic gadgets, and they can help us out somehow.”

  Valerie smirked. “You won’t know how to use them. You’re liable to get yourselves blown up first.”

  “You’d like that,” said Ellie. “But we’re a little bit smarter than that, mogul girl.”

  “No, I would not like that,” said Valerie. “And would you quit calling me names? Very immature.” She walked away from the others. William followed her.

  “Do you mind if I sit with you?”
William asked Valerie when he arrived at her side.

  “I don’t care. But shouldn’t you be with your buddies and plan how to save the world?”

  “I haven’t known you for very long, Valerie. And I know you and Ellie haven’t been seeing eye to eye. But really, are you OK with burying your head in the sand about this whole thing, knowing what we now know?”

  “I’ve been thinking. What are the chances this guy is really telling the truth? What if it’s all a hoax? I mean, we’re all pretty young and impressionable, right? Can you be one hundred percent sure he’s really here from the future?”

  “What does he have to gain by deceiving us?”

  “He gets our trust before he carries out the rest of his plans to steal from us and kidnap us. I don’t know. Something awful!”

  “He predicted a lot of things. They’ve all come true, like the man with the heart attack, the baby deer, and your sweater.”

  “What baby deer?”

  “Before we met you, he predicted Ellie would find the love of her life and let it go within the hour. We came upon a fawn with its foot trapped. We released it and let it go.”

  “So what? What does that really mean?”

  “You know what else he predicted?”

  “What?”

  “That you would be the love of my life.” William looked at the grass.

  “Yuk. I don’t even like you a little.” She punched him on the arm. They looked at each other.

  “I hope he’s right about that,” said William. “Because I like you.” He smiled. “A little, I mean.”

  Both looked at the others conversing a few yards away.

  “Come on, Valerie. Let’s do this.”

  “I’ll think about it. For now, let’s go get my car. I need to get back to the hospital before my dad finds out I left there. He’ll kill me if he finds out.”

  William got up and held out his hand to help her to her feet.

  She grinned. “By the way, thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Helping me upriver. I was contemplating letting the cops find me and not going with you. The more I think about it, the more I see that would have been the wrong decision.” She gazed into his eyes. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Valerie and William walked to Brent and Ellie. A long moment of silence stretched as the two sat down.

  “Our plan is to go get grown-up Brent’s stuff by the cave,” said Ellie.

  “We need to learn how to use his gadgets and plan a way to go free him up from jail,” said Brent. “We’ll do that tonight, after dark.”

  “I need to get the Lexus back to the hospital soon,” said Valerie.

  “Sorry, Valerie,” said Ellie. “I’ve been rough on you. If we’re all in this together, we need to be a team.”

  “No sweat, penniless,” said Valerie, smiling.

  “What?” asked Brent. “Did you say penisless?”

  “Yes, that, too,” said Valerie.

  The teens’ giggles filled the stillness of the nearby woods. Everyone stopped when they heard a faint crackling sound far behind them.

  Ellie shushed the others. “What was that?”

  William pointed to the river. “Over there. Something or someone is coming this way.”

  “Is it the cops?” asked Brent. “We need to find a better place to hide.”

  “This way,” said Ellie. “Follow me.” She took off running deeper into the woods, with the others right behind her.

  CHAPTER 18

  “This is Mr. Andrews’s chart,” said the nurse, Peggy, as she handed over the medical records. “Dr. O’Rourke consulted you. He thinks the patient may be having a heart attack. He’s waiting for your opinion.”

  Dr. Rovine looked at the information. “I’ll be in Mr. Andrews’s cubicle.” He took a few steps and then returned to her. “Peggy, have you seen my daughter, Valerie?”

  “No. She was hanging out with three other kids, but they all left the ER a long time ago. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “Here’s her cell number.” Dr. Rovine wrote on a piece of paper. “Will you see if you can get her on the phone and tell her to meet me here in the ER as soon as possible? Knowing her, she’s probably in the gift shop.”

  He walked into ER-3 and introduced himself.

  After looking at the tracing, he addressed the patient. “Unfortunately, Mr. Andrews, the EKG shows that you are having a heart attack. The traditional way to treat you is to take you to the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory to do a heart cath. We insert a long, flexible tube into the artery in your right groin and feed it up the main artery into the heart. We inject dye into the arteries that feed your heart muscle—the coronary arteries—and see if there are any blockages impeding blood flow. I’m sure one of the main coronary arteries is occluded. Usually, we’d use a balloon to open up the artery to restore blood flow into your heart muscle.” His eyes drifted from the patient to the EKG tracing and then back to the patient and his wife. “However, we are researching a new way to treat heart attacks. We’ve developed a brand-new drug called Enoxadin, which, at least in animals, is capable of stopping heart attacks from occurring. We inject the new drug into the blocked coronary artery. You’re stable and are a great candidate for the medication under a research protocol, if you’re interested.”

  “Do you think it’ll work?” asked Mr. Andrews.

  “I’m very excited about Enoxadin,” said Dr. Rovine. “I think research will prove that this medication will be the best treatment option for patients having a coronary. But, of course, this is not a proven fact, since the drug is experimental. If Enoxadin doesn’t work, we can still proceed with the standard treatment, so you have nothing to lose.”

  “Has any patient ever died from this research drug?”

  “No, never. It seems pretty safe. So far, we’ve tested only animals, though. You would be our very first human patient.”

  “If you were me, would you take it?”

  “Without a doubt. I would not hesitate for a second or think twice about it.”

  “OK, let’s give it a go.”

  “I need to give you and your wife some more information and have you sign the research paperwork and consent form.”

  Twelve miles to the southwest, the four teenagers fled, dodging branches and hurdling over rocks and tree roots.

  “Are they still behind us?” asked Valerie, holding on to William’s hand. His gentle tug encouraged her and persuaded her to resist the temptation to give up.

  “Yes,” said William. “Don’t look back. It’ll slow you down.”

  “I can’t run for much longer,” she said. “I’m about ready to collapse.”

  “You two keep running,” said William. “I’ll hide with Valerie and stay with her.”

  “No,” said Ellie.” We’re in this together. If one needs to stop, we all stop. We stay together.”

  Brent ran in front of the pack. “This way. I see somewhere to hide up here.”

  As he turned sharply to the right to skirt a large thicket, he disappeared into an abyss. He rolled down its steep wall.

  “Oh my God!” yelled Ellie. She was able to stop in the nick of time. “Are you all right?”

  She, William, and Valerie panted from the sprint and from the horror of seeing Brent disappear into the deep unknown. On the edge, they peered deep into the large opening in the ground.

  William yelled into it. “Brent, are you all right? Can you hear me?”

  “I’m fine. I fell on a bunch of soft dirt. I’m not hurt. You guys go hide.”

  “I don’t care about the cops,” said Ellie. “We gotta get you out of there.”

  “God knows what can show up down there,” said William.

  “How deep is this thing?” asked Ellie.

  “Deep,” s
aid Brent. “The walls of the hole turn a couple of times. That’s why you can’t see me. It’s maybe about fifteen to twenty feet deep.”

  “Let’s tie all our belts together and see if that’s long enough to reach you,” said William, already removing his. Soon, he attached two other belts end to end. He lowered the ropelike contraption. “Can you reach this?”

  “No,” said Brent. “Need at least one more.”

  “I hope the cops are wearing belts,” whispered Valerie. “I hear some noises from behind us.” She held her breath. “Hear it?”

  The three teenagers squatted in silence behind some bushes.

  “It must be the cops,” said William.

  Ellie pointed into the woods in the direction they’d traveled. “It looks like only one person. One man is walking this way, fast.”

  “Yes,” said William. “I see only one man, too.”

  Ellie tried to get a better look. “I think I—”

  A loud ring interrupted her. The teenagers all looked at one another.

  “It’s my cell,” said Valerie. “Sorry.” She fished it out of her pocketbook and hit the mute button. Everyone returned focus to the direction of the approaching man.

  They held their breath but soon exhaled when they realized that the oncoming figure was older Brent.

  “Hi, kids,” he said, breathing hard. “It’s been a while since I’ve had this much exercise.”

  “You scared the shit out of us,” said William.

  “Where’s Brent?” he asked.

  “He fell into this hole,” said Ellie, pointing into the abyss.

  “Let me borrow your belt,” said William.

  With the four belts, the rope was long enough to pull younger Brent back up.

  “Thank you,” he said as he sat next to his friends. “That was interesting.”

  “How did you find us?” William asked older Brent.