by Jill Cooper
Delilah nods. “And I have nothing to go on but your word. No proof. No evidence.”
I stretch my fingers out on my lap. Maybe things aren’t going as well as I think they are.
“You’re lucky I’ve learned to rely on your judgment and your word,” Delilah leans forward and her bracelets clink together, “How is she doing this? The TTPA system…”
“Is set to a different frequency. My frequency. Hers is different.” It comes from Molly. I don’t say it, but I think it. “I’m at a severe disadvantage here, Delilah.”
Her eyes flash to me. “I don’t know, Lara. The moment we start making exceptions… How does that separate us from those who would abuse time travel?”
“They went back in time and killed my father. They are manipulating the timeline. If we don’t break the rules to stop them, who knows where they’ll take this. I have to be able to fight them, Delilah.”
She sighs. “I can’t disable the monitor without people noticing, but I can put it on a delay. Give you more time to jump to where you need to go. Eventually, the ripple will show up on the monitors and it’ll be logged. Someone, somewhere, will realize what you’ve done.”
I nod. “As long as they can’t stop me, I don’t care.”
“What do you suggest I do? When this Cameron Kincaid comes looking for me?”
“He’ll be in your life soon, one way or another, he’ll find a way in. Watch him, but don’t spook him.”
“So, pretend I trust him? Sort of like a sting operation? Delicious, Lara.”
“This is serious,” I chastise her and raise my eyebrows, “It’s dangerous.”
“Exactly and who says you’re the one who should get to have all the fun,” Delilah leans back and crosses her legs, “I’ll keep in touch, but it’s best if you not come into the TTPA more than usual. We wouldn’t want to arouse suspicion.”
I’m glad I don’t have to explain that to her. I sling my purse over my shoulder and rush to stand. “One more thing. Think I can get into the security room before I go?”
Delilah sees me to the door. “Of course, what is it that you need?”
I think about Cassidy and the plan I’m about to enact. “I’m going to need a time travel blocker. The harness that the police use on anyone who might try to change the past. I’m going to need one of those.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
With the time-travel restraint blocker tucked in my pocket, I do everything Lara Montgomery would do. I go to class, I take my test, and I hang out with my friends. At four-thirty in the afternoon, I slide into a booth in my favorite coffee shop and sip my favorite mocha, sprinkled with cinnamon.
Donovan is on his way to meet me so we can jet over to see a movie and have dinner. Everything normal and everything calm. I can’t let on that I’m different or from the future, just in case Cameron is watching.
He could be anywhere and I won’t run the risk of having to start this game over. I’m exhausted already, just by going through the motions. Starting over isn’t part of my plan.
When my phone rings, I pull it from my purse. “Dad? Everything okay?”
“Of course. I just saw you called me about ten times while I was in an all-school meeting. I thought maybe something was wrong with you.”
“Me? No, I’m fine. I’m meeting Donovan soon to take in a movie.”
“Good. That’s good, honey. And how did your test turn out today?”
“Everything seemed to go fine. I’m pretty sure I knew the answers anyway. Like child’s play.”
“Glad to hear it. I’m headed home now. Thanks for checking up on your old man. You don’t have to, though. I’m doing fine now. Adjusted.”
“I know you are, Dad.” I smile as I see Donovan enter the coffee shop. I raise my hand and wave at him. Joy spreads across his face as he smiles at me and gives me a wave.
“No worrying about me,” Dad’s voice is stern, “But if you want to have dinner some night this week—if you can handle your school work and have dinner, Don can come too,” Dad sighs, “I’m not very good at this, am I?”
“You’re fine, Dad. Dinner sounds great. Tomorrow night. Don and I will bring the wine.” I cringe as the words come out of my mouth.
“Wine?” Dad chuckles. “Yeah, I know soon you’ll be old enough to drink, but no reason to rub it in. Have a good night, sweetheart.”
Luckily, he’s good-natured about my slip. That was a close one.
I end the phone call and rise up from my seat, wondering what is taking Donovan so long. Maybe there’s a long line at the counter. When I get closer to the front, through the crowd of people, I can make out Donovan standing beside a rack of coffee mugs for sale. His hands in his pockets, he’s relaxed as he talks to someone.
A female. A woman in a form-fitting red dress and crazy spike heels.
The way she stands and how her hair swishes as she shakes her head, I know who she is. It’s Cassidy.
She’s already here. She’s either early, or right on time. There’s no way to know. I watch from a distance as Cassidy laughs and offers Donovan her hand. He shakes it and then she’s on her way out the door.
But first, she stops and throws me a glance over her shoulder. Cassidy waves her fingers at me and then presses her glossy ruby red lips together to blow me a kiss.
I’d thought I was sneaking around. I’d thought I was one step ahead of her, but I’d been wrong. She’s one step ahead of me and she wants to play this game. She wants me to try to catch her.
Catch me if you can? Hardly. Cassidy thinks she can outsmart me? It’s time to show her who invented this game in the first place.
Time to slip down into the wormhole.
****
I’m too quiet through dinner and on the ride home. While Donovan readies for bed, I pace back and forth and check all of the windows. Everything seems fine out there, but I don’t know where Cassidy is. Will she watch me? Or will she stick to the mission and go after my dad?
Can’t be sure. Not unless I can be at two places at the same time.
It’s a good thing I can be. Good thing I’m a time traveler.
Donovan comes out of the bathroom freshly showered. His hair is still moist and his gray t-shirt sticks to him in the most delightful way. “Ready for bed so soon?”
He smiles at me as he takes me in his arms. “What can I say? We’re old people already. You have that early morning class and I have an early flight with my dad.”
I’d forgotten that he’d gone on that business trip. My hands slid down his chest and I cuddle tightly against him. There’s so much I want to say to him, now, before he goes. “Make me a promise? That no matter what happens, no matter how much we change, our love will always remain the same.”
Donovan strokes my back. “I can’t make that promise, Lara.”
With a start, I peer up at him.
He breaks out into a grin and touches my chin. “We’re only going to grow stronger. Together. Our love will evolve, but it’ll be better. Don’t be afraid of the future.” He wraps his arms snugly around me. “I’ve got you,” Donovan says, “We’ve got this. That, I can promise you.”
My heart shreds with grief for the future I know is coming. With a steady breath, I whisper in the comfort of his arms. “Then we’ll be okay. No matter how long we wait to get married and no matter where we live.”
“Amen to that!” Donovan claps his hands, “Who wants a bed-time snack? Cookies?”
I nod. “Cookies.” He knows me well and I watch him hurry out of the bedroom. I take a deep breath and in that moment, the room starts to dissolve. It’s getting easier. I’m getting faster at slipping past the fabric of time and getting it to bend to my will.
I wish it wasn’t this easy. Almost.
Before my first experience in the cage, years ago, I’d first discovered how to time jump into my body. Past, present, and future. Now, it’s my preferred method of time travel, even if it does cause the worst headaches imaginable. But this time, this time
I need a decoy.
This time I need to be at two places at the same time.
I take a deep breath and hear the shower turn on. When I open my eyes to gaze into the living room, I see myself standing by the window. Instead of staring outside, she’s looking right at me.
Lara lifts her hand and wiggles her fingers. I put my finger to my lips to keep her quiet and I rush over to the closet. Quickly, I dress in jeans and a gray hooded sweatshirt. After I slip on my sneakers, I grab the duffle bag she left prepared for me in the closet.
She meets me at the bedroom door. “Be careful,” she whispers.
“Once I have what we need, I’ll jump back into you. By morning, you’re going to have a hell of a headache.”
She nods and her eyes draw together severely. Serious. Do I always look so serious? I really need to work on that.
When the shower turns off, I step out into the living room and close the bedroom door softly. Through the cracks, I witness Donovan embracing Lara in the center of the room. I see his face as he holds her. That love, that tenderness, it’s real. I do more than just see it, I feel it in the center of my chest.
Don’t worry, Donovan. I have your back.
Time to change the future, by mucking with the past.
****
Slowly the room pulls away from me until I’m in darkness. In a matter of moments, a new setting begins to appear. First, there’s a dim sky on the cusp of sunset. Off in the distance, an orange glow peeks out from behind the trees. Brick-and-mortar buildings are added next, and one by one, people appear.
Everyone is frozen in time. The couple sitting on a park bench, a pair of college students kissing by a rose bush, a child bouncing a ball beneath an awning, all are motionless. I move between them all to get a better view of the coffee shop. Just inside the door, Donovan stands. His hands are in his pockets, relaxed as ever as he speaks to Cassidy.
I can see her profile and her pretend smile. It angers me and disheartens me all at the same time. She’s frozen, but I don’t know how long that’ll last, so I find a hiding spot behind a vending cart where she won’t spot me, and push play on time.
Everyone comes to life in an instant and no one is the wiser, unaware that anything has happened to them at all. I tuck my hair into my hood and wait. Cassidy emerges from the restaurant and turns her head to blow a kiss at the other Lara. With a roll of her hips, she saunters off. She walks with such confidence and precision, it startles me. I remember how she’d looked back in the cage.
I’d seen the terror. The tears.
Somewhere that woman is lost inside of her. I just have to find her. Bring her out.
Creeping out from my hiding spot, I follow Cassidy down the street. I’m careful not to follow too close behind, to avoid the risk of being caught. When she turns left down a street littered with Italian restaurants, I wait to follow her.
It’s a good thing too, because standing under a red canopy I can make out Cameron. He’s here too. Cassidy goes right over to him and Cameron takes her hand and kisses her fingers. Then she leans in and they share a tender moment. As real as anything I’d ever seen.
Distant relative or not, he’s a pervert. A sick son-of-a-bitch. I’m going to make him pay for what he’s done to her. To all of us. But it seems I’m going to have to wait, as they step into the restaurant for what I’m guessing is dinner. Cameron ushers her in, his hand on her lower back right above her ass.
As if he owns her.
I squat down in the shadows, getting comfortable as I unzip my duffle bag. It’s a good thing the other Lara had thought to pack me granola bars. I’m going to be here awhile.
****
When they leave the restaurant, I’m surprised when they part ways. Cameron goes to a waiting car and Cassidy heads towards me, on her way home—or so I guess. I slink further back into the dark and I press up against the brick wall of another restaurant.
There’s a whiff of whiskey as she walks by and true to the scent, I watch her stumble slightly as she rounds the corner. Cassidy’s had too much to drink and that can only work to my advantage. I grab something from my duffle bag before hurrying to follow her.
For a few blocks, she goes straight, but then she crosses the street, turning left. We’re close to a gas station, but she walks past it, fluffing her hair. Cassidy continues for a few more blocks then she turns left again. The road is residential, lined with brownstones. She slows down as she reaches one of the houses. Maybe it’s her home, but when she leans over a planter making a gagging noise, I’m pretty sure she’s just going to be sick.
She grabs onto the planter, but nothing comes from her mouth. If it had, I would have heard it. No, she grabs something and I realize Cassidy’s been playing me. She’d known she was being followed the whole time.
When she spins, her electrical sticks are glowing in the dark, I lift my hand and freeze time. Cassidy moves as if she’s running through molasses. Her face is frozen in a scrunch of anger, her mouth open to yell. Eventually, she’ll get to me, if I let her.
I stick my taser against her side and slowly her face morphs in pain. I allow time to speed forward to normal and Cassidy falls onto the ground. “You bitch!” Cassidy screams at me and struggles to get back up.
I stuck her again—this time against her neck— Cassidy falls back and her body convulses. Funny, I thought that only happened in the movies, but then I realize that something else is wrong. The electrical current must have triggered something else. Her head bangs against the sidewalk and I realize she’s having a seizure.
I drop to the ground and cradle her head on my lap to keep her steady. “Easy,” I whisper and stroke her hair back, “Easy, Cass…easy.”
She’s gagging on her tongue and I depress it the best I can. I hold her face firm, but gently. “Hang in there. It’s going to be okay.”
Cassidy’s eyes blink slowly and a tear drips from one of them, “No…” she shakes her head and then her eyes close again. Her body needs rest and now I don’t know what to do.
I had almost forgotten why I’d come. Luckily, my duffle bag isn’t that far. I’m able to reach it and grab the time-travel suppressor I need. It's small, like a metal patch, and I fix it on the back of her neck, right beneath her port. My fingerprint is its master. She won’t be able to get it off unless I remove it for her.
But now, I need to move her. I need to take her somewhere Cameron won’t find her.
A car turns the corner and its headlights blind me. Squinting, I raise my arm to shield my eyes. With a squeal of breaks, the care stops and then someone exits. “Get her inside.”
Another Lara is here; she grabs Cassidy’s ankles and helps me lift her. I notice that the other Lara is dressed just as I am. We slide Cassidy into the back of Donovan’s car. We slam the doors shut and get in the front. I really wish I was driving, but I don’t want to argue with myself.
“How did…”
“I’m you. You’re me. Let’s not think about it too much.” Lara backs out of the alley and I wonder where we’re going. What we’re doing. “I have somewhere we can take her. Don’t worry.”
“We do? I mean, you?” I almost laugh, but then I squeeze my temple as a rush of pain fills my brain. It’s so bad even my legs squeeze tightly together.
A memory flashes in my vision. I’m standing in Delilah Chase’s office again. She’s ushering me out the door. “Just one more thing,” I smile as I say, “I need somewhere safe to take my niece. Somewhere Cameron won’t think to look.”
Delilah thinks for a moment and then gasps. “Ahh, I have just the place. It isn’t even in the city. Some office space I haven’t gotten rid of in Somerville.”
Somerville. Perfect.
I don’t know when I’d gone back and talked to Delilah, but maybe it doesn’t matter. “Somerville,” I say as I glance over at the other Lara.
She only smirks and grips the steering wheel.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The middle of the night drive to Somer
ville takes us twenty minutes. We spend the trip chatting up a storm. By the time we enter the city, Other Lara and I are both starving. “Where does Donovan think you are?”
“I left one of us with him. He can’t figure out what’s going on. He has to get on that plane with his dad tomorrow. We can’t have things deviate too much from what happens in the future.”
That information takes a while to sink in. “How many of us are there? Three?”
Lara smirks. “For now. We need one to go through the motions. Live our life. Check on Dad. Go to school.” She makes a face and then I make a face.
That other Lara really seems to get the short end of the stick.
“Can we all come back together and merge as one?’
“When this is over, I hope so. It’s going to be one hell of a headache.”
That was almost worth saying again.
We park the car in an underground garage. Luckily, there’s no security around. Together we lift Cassidy and get her into the elevator. By the time we get to Delilah’s office, Cassidy is moaning, as if she’s going to wake up.
“Quick,” I whisper as Other Lara unlocks the door and we head into a diminutive office lobby. Off to the right is a smaller office with a glass window. Inside I can see a foam mattress and a stash of granola bars that would make Quaker envious. As we lay Cassidy down on the mattress, I give the other Lara a look.
“I did this, so you can stop looking at me like that.” Once we’re outside again, she closes the door and locks it up tightly. “Also, I reinforced the window. It’s unbreakable from the inside. She’s safe and secure.”
“All this time travel…the TTPA is going to catch us.”
She shrugs as if it isn’t a big deal. How can it not be a big deal? “You deemed it worth the risk. There are three of us now. That means even if one of us gets caught…”
Was I always like this? So pigheaded?
I sigh. “But if the other Lara gets caught, Donovan and the family will find out. If they find out, Cameron finds out.”
