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

by Jan Eira

  Behind them, multiple vehicles were approaching fast. The headlights brightened their backs, throwing giant shadows in front of them.

  “You’re almost at the woods. Run faster.”

  They continued as quickly as they could and soon reached the tree line.

  “Get your flashlights out,” yelled younger Brent.

  Older Brent continued to talk from their earpieces. “The cops have exited their vehicles and are now running toward you. There are about ten of them—no, twelve. The closest is ninety-eight yards.”

  The teens heard a shout behind them. “Stop! Police!”

  “Keep running,” said older Brent. “You have eighty-seven yards on the cops. Keep running.”

  Brent suddenly stopped. “I tripped on a tree root and lost a shoe.” Ellie stopped to aid him.

  “Are you OK?” she asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine.” He quickly put his shoe on then stumbled for a few steps.

  “What’s happening?” asked the voice in their ears. “Don’t stop. Keep running. The cops are sixty-three yards behind you. Go! Run!”

  “Bit of a shoe problem,” said younger Brent. “All back to normal.”

  Older Brent spoke in spurts interrupted by vigorous coughing spells. “William and Valerie, don’t…slow down. Navigate a…little bit to your left. There is a group of four…cops heading toward you from…your right flank. Brent and Ellie, do your best to catch up with William and Valerie. You…can do it. Don’t give up.”

  A long moment passed with no transmissions.

  “Brent, are you there?” asked William, his words staccato and out of wind.

  “Brent, can you hear us?” asked Ellie. “We need direction. Are you there?”

  “He’s probably incapacitated again,” said younger Brent. “I think we’re on our own.”

  They continued to run as fast as they possibly could for several long minutes.

  They heard a man’s voice behind them. “They’re up ahead. I can see their flashlights.”

  “I see them, too,” yelled another man. “Up ahead.”

  “At this rate, we’ll catch up to them in another few minutes.”

  CHAPTER 31

  Back in the cave, older Brent was experiencing the delirium of a high fever.

  A monitor next to him revealed four moving figures labeled William, Valerie, Brent, and Ellie. Behind them were twelve other figures. A line between Ellie, who was the last name on the monitor, and the first of the advancing group of cops now measured forty-eight yards. This number decreased with each passing second. Forty-five yards. A few more seconds ticked away. Forty-three yards.

  Older Brent sat on the ground, his back to a large rock. Although he faced this monitor, his mind viewed the virtual screen that was his disoriented, garbled brain revealing what the future world had become.

  “No!” he said in the dim cavern. His yells reverberated. “Leave us alone.”

  People loitered. Windows broke. Guns fired. Buildings exploded. High rises collapsed. Tanks fired into crowded streets. Bodies decayed on sidewalks. The stench of burning flesh fouled the air.

  “Leave us alone!” His forehead was slick with sweat. He convulsed to the ground. A small gadget fell out of his right hand, indicating a flashing number in red: 106.4° F.

  Foam escaped from his mouth as he continued to convulse.

  The monitor next to him now indicated thirty-eight yards between the police and the teenagers.

  “Brent, can you hear us?” said Ellie into his unfocused, distracted ears.

  “We need direction,” yelled William.

  “What should we do?” asked Valerie.

  “Are you there?” said younger Brent.

  “Brent, please respond,” said Ellie. “Please tell us you’re OK.”

  “Brent, please respond,” said older Ellie’s voice in older Brent’s brain. “Please tell us you’re OK. I’m worried about you, Brent.”

  “I’m OK, Ellie,” he said, his voice shaky and garbled.

  “Where have you been?” asked younger Brent.

  “How’s your fever, Ellie?” asked older Brent. In his mind, he saw him holding his wife’s hand.

  “My fever is down,” she said. “You’re stuck with me for a little while longer.” Her smile was as radiant as it had been almost fifty years ago at the campsite.

  “You know, that’s where I fell in love with you, Ellie,” he said.

  “I think he’s having a flashback again,” said younger Brent.

  “Yes, he is.” Ellie was panting from the sprint. “He thinks he’s back in the future, before I die.”

  “I wish we could snap him back into reality,” said William.

  “We can’t,” said Ellie. “He’s probably burning up with fever. That stuff cooks up your memory loops and makes the brain cells misfire.”

  “I can’t make it without you,” said older Brent in between sobs.

  “Brent, listen to me,” said Ellie.

  “Yes, sweetheart.”

  “We need your help.”

  “Of course. What can I do to help you?”

  “Brent, you traveled back in time. Remember? You’re trying to sabotage Enoxadin research. Remember?”

  “I love you, Ellie. Please don’t leave me.”

  The monitor now showed the cops’ position to be thirty-one yards away and closing fast.

  CHAPTER 32

  William told Valerie to continue to run in a straight line as fast as she could. He ran ahead to scope out the terrain. He gained a considerable distance from the others. Valerie was behind him by about twenty yards. Brent and Ellie were about to overtake her.

  William recalled older Brent’s explanation. “The neuronal depolarizer works in a narrow field. I programmed its effects to reach a depth of thirty feet and a width of ten feet. Any living creature in that field with a central nervous system will become paralyzed in milliseconds.” William continued to run. “Push this button to activate the blast. This dial refers to how long you want the desired effect to last. I’m setting it to two hours. The amnesia will last from about an hour before exposure to about an hour after neurons begin to fire normally again.”

  William spotted a large fallen tree and noticed that its trunk had a hole that looked big enough for one to hide in. He quickly stepped into it and turned off his flashlight.

  “Guys, I have an idea,” he whispered. “Let’s split up. On my mark, Valerie, you go straight, like you’re doing now. Ellie, turn forty-five degrees to your right. Brent, you turn forty-five degrees to your left.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” said Ellie in his earpiece.

  “If you raise your right arm and use your mind’s eye to visualize that direction versus the direction you’re traveling in now, I want you to turn to approximately half of that.”

  “OK, I’ll try.”

  “You can do this. We can beat these cops. Ready? Now!”

  The kids split up.

  “Point your flashlights down as low as you can,” said younger Brent.

  “The kids are splitting up,” said a man a few yards from William’s hideout.

  “I see their flashlights,” said another.

  The first man spoke again. “The four of you follow the light up ahead. You, follow the one to the right, and we’ll follow the one to the left. Let’s go.”

  When the footsteps seemed far enough away, William whispered. “They took the bait. The group divided into three, with four cops running in each of your directions. Keep going, and don’t look back.”

  William crawled out of the trunk’s hole, his flashlight off. He ran straight in the direction Valerie had gone.

  “She’s the slowest,” he thought. “They’ll reach her first.”

  He kept running. He could hear noises in the not-so-distant
part of the forest to his right and new they belonged to the group of cops heading for Ellie. He also heard the cops on the left as they ran after Brent. William proceeded straight on and soon was behind the group running after Valerie. They had caught up to her.

  “Here’s one of them,” a police officer yelled out, short of breath.

  “Lay down on the ground with your arms and hands straight out,” someone yelled at her. “Do it now.”

  Older Brent’s words from before again came to William: “You can neutralize the synapses of a group of offenders who are close to one another.” William now crawled low to the ground. The cops’ heavy breathing was ahead of him.

  “Do you have any guns or knives on you?” yelled one of them.

  “No, I’m unarmed. Don’t shoot,” said Valerie.

  “Get down now!” yelled another officer. She did. One of the cops placed a knee on her back. “Place your hands behind your back.”

  William grabbed the paralyzing gun and covertly approached the first cop, who was holding a large pistol. Within seconds, the officer fell to the ground. The weapon smacked into a nearby tree.

  A second officer turned to the noise. “What the hell was—” He fell against a different tree. He slid down to the base and remained down, unmoving.

  “What happened, Bill?” asked the third cop as he approached his fallen comrade. He, too, fell heavily. His head was now a few inches from Bill’s.

  The officer who was pinning Valerie looked back into the darkness of the woods. Three flashlights illuminated the bottom of the forest in random directions.

  “What happened here?” he asked. “Guys, where are you?”

  William hid behind a tree.

  He knew that if he tried to shoot the cop from there, he’d paralyze both him and Valerie. William picked up a rock and threw it several feet to his right. The cop looked in that direction and got up on his feet. He began to walk away from Valerie. William darted from behind the trunk and toward where he knew she was lying. As he fell at her side, he fired his weapon at the cop. Thump. The man dropped.

  “Are you all right?” he asked Valerie.

  “I’m OK,” she said, embracing him. “Unfortunately, when they pushed me down to the ground, the container with the Enoxadin-tainting stuff got smashed. It’s all gone.”

  “That’s OK. I’m just happy you’re safe and free.” They hugged a second time. Her warm tears dripped down his neck. “We’ll think of some other way.” Looking straight into her eyes, he moved in to kiss her.

  Ellie whispered into their earpieces. “William, help me. They’re almost next to me. I can’t run any faster.”

  “We’re coming for you next, Ellie,” said William over the communicators. He looked at Valerie. “Let’s go.” Valerie nodded.

  “Brent and Ellie,” said William. “Don’t talk, just listen. Ellie, I’m going to turn you so you’re coming toward Valerie and me. Turn left, sharply, ninety degrees.”

  Older Brent spoke in their ears. “No. More than ninety degrees. Ellie, if you can see the moon, run toward it.”

  “I do,” said Ellie breathlessly. “And I will.”

  “Welcome back, Brent,” said William.

  Detective Sparks drove from the makeshift command center to the Supreme Pharmaceutical’s main parking lot. Several cops surrounded the Lexus, some using their flashlights to peer in the windows.

  “What the hell’s going on?” the detective asked as he got out of his vehicle. “Don’t open those car doors. We’re waiting for a subpoena. Get a tow truck in here now.”

  “The kids ran into the woods right there,” said one of the cops, pointing in the direction the teenagers had escaped.

  “Was there an adult?”

  “No, only four kids.”

  “How was it that we didn’t catch them before they got into the woods?” Detective Sparks shook his head. “I’m dealing with imbeciles.”

  “They fled before we even showed up, before they saw us,” said one of the cops. “They must have had some kind of warning.”

  “Warning, my ass.” The detective’s head was still shaking. “Who went after them?”

  “Four of our guys. A group of four county cops joined our guys in the foot pursuit. Four officers from Springfield converged on them from the west. Twelve in total.”

  “Did you call for dogs and helicopters?”

  “Yes, sir. They’re on their way.”

  “We can’t let them escape. Do you understand that? They’re dangerous murderers. No way, no how, can they get out of these woods alive.” Detective Sparks pulled out his service revolver and inspected the chamber. “Where are those goddamned choppers?”

  CHAPTER 33

  In the Coroner’s Office lunchroom, Dr. Elias Chung opened his paper bag and removed its contents.

  Andy, the coroner technician on duty, was sitting across from him. “Ham and cheese on rye with chips and a Diet Coke, right?”

  “You know it. There is no substitute. Thanks for getting the food.”

  “Is this dinner or lunch?”

  “I don’t know. Lunner? I’m starving. Ever since my wife put me on that stupid diet, I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been.”

  “What you got, three more to go?” Andy placed a potato chip in his own mouth.

  “No, four.” Dr. Chung chewed on his sandwich and swallowed. “It’s been a crazy, busy day today. I take one step forward, and then I gotta take two backward.”

  “When you going to do the three Sparks’s cases? You know he’s pissed at you for not being done already.”

  “There are no recent trauma marks on those bodies other than old and new needle tracks.” Dr. Chung took a gulp of Diet Coke. “It’s all drugs. Four little girls supposedly witnessed the killing with an alleged gun. Well, it wasn’t that, I can say that much for sure. No bullet holes at all. These three citizens killed themselves by overdose, or they were poisoned.”

  “You live by the needle, you die by the needle. Why don’t you tell the Spark that?”

  “I’m procrastinating on those three bodies, hoping tox will come back very positive. If that’s the case, I see no reason to do their autopsies at all. I’ll get out of here that much sooner. I’ll do the other one first—the stabbings case.”

  “The Spark ain’t gonna be happy with you, Doc.”

  “I don’t work for Sparky. Are you ready to assist me with the stabbing? Man, you’re the slowest eater I’ve ever worked with.”

  “I like to digest, Doc. You inhale your food, man.”

  “Come on, let’s go. My son’s soccer game starts in three hours, and I want to be there from the beginning this time.” Dr. Chung threw his garbage into the trash bin and walked toward the fridge.

  “I’m coming, Doc. I’m coming. A technician’s job is never done.” Andy got up and followed the medical examiner.

  Dr. Chung opened one of the multiple drawers in the cold room.

  “Not this one,” he said. “This is a Sparks body.” He pushed the container back into the pit. “Where’s that stabbing from earlier this afternoon?”

  “Down here. Drawer number seven. I’ll get him on the autopsy table. You go get ready for the autopsy. The instruments are already laid out. We gotta get you out to the soccer field to see your son play.”

  “Now you’re talking. Team effort. I like that. Team effort.”

  In no time, the body was on the autopsy gurney, and the postmortem examination was ready to begin.

  Dr. Chung pressed the pedal at his feet, which initiated the recorder. He spoke into the microphone hanging from the ceiling. “The deceased is an African American male in his midtwenties. There are four obvious knife wounds in the anterior chest from the fourth to the sixth intercostal spaces at the left-midclavicular line.” He measured one of the gashes with a ruler. “The most superior wound is fou
r inches wide and seven inches deep. It was made by a blade smooth on the inferior aspect but serrated on its superior—”

  He heard a muffled thump. Then he heard another.

  “Andy, did you say something?”

  “No, Doc. I didn’t say nothing.” He shrugged. “I thought you did.”

  Dr. Chung raised his eyebrows for a moment and then continued measuring the remaining wounds. “All the other wounds were caused by the same knife. The location of these knife wounds and their depth would have been likely to lacerate the right ventricle and aorta. Death would be expected to have been within minutes from internal and external exsanguination.”

  The thumping came again, this time a little bit louder.

  “What was that?” asked Andy, looking behind his back. “It’s coming from back there by the reefer.”

  “There’s no one else but us in here. Go check, will you? Paulette’s not supposed to be back yet. But I guess it could be her.”

  “I doubt it very much. She’s never early.”

  “I agree,” said Dr. Chung. “We have intruders. That can’t be good.”

  Andy walked slowly toward the back of the large autopsy room. “Should we call the cops?”

  “I’m calling 911 right now. Be careful, Andy.” Dr. Chung then whispered into his phone while Andy approached the origin of the muffled sounds. He clutched a scalpel blade in his right hand.

  Suddenly, Andy gasped and brought his arms and hands to his chest. The scalpel clattered to the floor.

  CHAPTER 34

  An unfamiliar male voice talked to Detective Sparks from the walkie-talkie. “Victor uniform seven eight to Detective Sparks.”

  He removed the walkie-talkie from its receptacle on his belt. “Detective Sparks, here. Go ahead.”

  “This is Sergeant Linton of the Springfield PD. We’ve apprehended your four young fugitives. Two of them were wounded, one pretty bad. Not sure he’ll make it much longer. There’s a lot of blood loss.”

  “I got a bird in the air coming this way. Is there a place to land a chopper over there?”