Back-Tracker

by Bob Blink

  “That means he knows what you can do,” Karin objected.

  “Not me specifically, but yes, it does imply Ray or someone has thought out the logical process for someone with abilities like mine. That implies more knowledge than I sensed in him the other day. He might not be working alone in this.”

  “And the thugs work for him.”

  “I think that’s the case.”

  “Can’t you follow them back and see how they get into it?”

  “Possibly, but that’s likely to be tricky based on what he did in the future, and at best we verify he hired them. It wouldn’t help us find out where he goes.”

  “You need help,” Karin said. “You need to call Carlson.”

  “I was thinking the same thing, but my first thought was Nate.”

  “Nate and Brenda just got married. I doubt they are even back from their honeymoon as yet.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I was able to work around the problem. I won’t need Nate’s help.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ray is on the train. He has to be in one of the cars. Instead of following him, I looped back enough times I could wait in any of the cars to see what happened.”

  “And?”

  “He had something set up. It didn’t matter which end of the train he finally reached. He got off at the airport. He headed toward the airline terminal. He’s fleeing.”

  “You couldn’t follow?”

  “I could find a way, but for now I let it go. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has another loop set up against the possibility I might do so.”

  “So what do you do now?”

  “The problem isn’t really finding out where Ray plans to go from the train. There are several ways I can do that, with the most straight-forward to simply pull a gun on him before he boards the train and scare him into telling me. I could then loop back before the discussion so for him it effectively would never happened. I’m leaning toward doing something like that.”

  “Even Ray probably doesn’t know where he’s going beyond the next few days. I’ll have to follow him constantly and hope I could keep track of him and discover how he learns about Jake Waters or who passes the information to him. I’m certain that he doesn’t have that knowledge at the moment. He must have learned from someone. I can’t see how he could have learned anything at the time of the attack on the Senator, and why he would have waited so long if he had. It is also unlikely that he simply stumbled into the information. Everything suggests he learned from someone else, and I believe that it is as important I learn who that person is as it is to stop Ray. Keeping track of Ray until I can do both will be a fulltime task and very disruptive to our life, and frankly not something I’m trained for. My previous activities have been far more direct.”

  “So you are going to back-track and have a ‘discussion’ with Ray before he gets on that train?”

  “It seems the simplest. I’ll learn more that way than any other I can think of, and will involve less back-tracking.”

  “All of this discussion we’ve had will be gone if you back-track to confront him, won’t it?” Karin asked.

  “Sadly yes. Thanks for helping, Karin. I’ve really enjoyed our brainstorming together this time. It was a first in that regard.”

  “Just be careful, and make things safe for Janna,” Karin urged.

  “I promise,” Jake replied.

  “Do you have to go now?” Karin asked.

  Even though he knew it wouldn’t really matter, Jake shook his head. He took Karin’s hand and they walked to their room. At least he’d have the memories, and he made a promise to himself to relate the incident to Karin when this was done.

  Chapter 11

  Jake waited down the road from the newspaper plant in the Highlander. He knew that Ray would be coming his way in a few moments. He’d recalled that for almost a quarter mile the road was shielded by trees and had been all but deserted when he’d followed Ray from the plant as they drove to the airport. There were other places he might choose, but this would do. He wanted to catch Ray off-guard with a sudden jarring surprise.

  The list of things he wanted to know were outlined in Jake’s mind. First of all, he needed to know where Ray was headed. He knew about the trip to the BART station and the car waiting to help him outside the station downtown. That would help him tell if Ray was lying to him. But, what mattered was where did he intend to hide. Jake also wanted to know how Ray had learned about Trask and Mathews. Had someone told him, or had he somehow figured it out on his own. It was almost certainly the former, but Jake needed to know a name. Other, lesser matters included what his plans after he disappeared consisted of, and more information about the man’s sister. There was something about the incident that Jake didn’t understand. There wouldn’t be time for more, and maybe not all of that. If he could get the answers to the first two, it would be enough. Jake had considered going after Ray at his home, but somehow wasn’t comfortable with the idea and in the couple of days he’d watched the man hadn’t seen any other place that he was isolated enough to make a move.

  Finally he saw the ancient vehicle that Ray drove poke its nose out of the newspaper’s parking lot and start his way. He allowed the car to drive past before he pulled out and sped after it. On the turn he’d selected, he pulled around with his horn blaring and then cut in sharply, his right rear bumper smashing into the front of Ray’s car, forcing the car off the road and into the ditch. Jake pulled the damaged Highlander to the side of the road just in front of the wrecked Ray.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” Ray screamed as he saw Jake climb out of the car that had hit him. “Can’t you drive?” Ray didn’t recognize Jake since from his perspective the two men had never met. Ray slammed open the door of the car, and climbed out, mad as hell. He hurried toward Jake while continuing to yell abuses. His face was red with anger and frustration.

  Jake was faster than the other and reached him first pulling him around the front of the car and off to the side away from the road, using the car to help shield them from sight. Ray struggled against the unexpected assault, but stopped short with fear in his eyes when he saw the gun Jake was holding.

  “What do you want?” he asked in a considerably more subdued tone of voice. He tried to squirm away, but Jake had him trapped next to the car.

  “Where are you headed, Ray?” Jake asked.

  “Where am I headed? Who are you and why would you care?”

  Jake raised the pistol where Ray could see it.

  “Okay. I’m going home.”

  “The truth, damn it. I know you are headed to the BART station. From there you are going to get off at the San Francisco Airport station. You were going somewhere. You plan to disappear. Where are you going?”

  Ray was justifiable shocked that Jake was aware of this information. He hesitated, then said, “I’m finished here. This was my last day. I was told I could go home to New York.”

  “New York? What’s in New York?” Jake wasn’t ready for that answer.

  “My home. That’s where I’m going, and not a bit too soon for me. Look, I’m not Ray. Whatever gripe you have with him, you’ve got the wrong guy.”

  “You’re not Ray?” Jake asked, almost amused at the strange ploy. “You drive his car, you live in his house, you work at his job. But you’re not Henry Ray?”

  “That’s right. I was hired to pretend to be him for the last several months. I’m an actor. My name is Dennis Kennan.”

  Jake could see the truth behind the fear in the guy’s eyes. Suddenly Jake felt he was on shaky ground. If this wasn’t Ray . . .

  “Who hired you?” Jake asked, still trying to adjust to this unexpected situation. He was shocked at the growing realization of what he had stumbled upon.

  “Henry Ray. Who else? At least that is who he says he was. I never saw him face to face. Just talked to him over the phone. He found me somehow and had this strange proposition. But it paid very well, and I needed the money.”
/>   “You can prove this? Do you have any identification?”

  “Of course. It’s in my bag in the car.”

  Jake allowed the man to retrieve a small carry on bag that he had in the back seat. He withdrew a wallet from one of the outer zipper pockets and handed it to Jake. Inside was a New York Driver License with a picture of someone named Dennis Kennan.

  “Do you see?” the man asked.

  “No, I don’t,” Jake said, but he wasn’t referring to the same thing the man was asking.

  He knew in his gut this wasn’t Ray. The damn reporter had thrown him another curve. He had set this up, thinking he’d placed enough twists and turns that even if Jake checked he wouldn’t be able to follow the man. He’d think this was the Ray that had disappeared while all the while the real Henry Ray had disappeared months before leaving a cold trail. Well, cold for most. It was obvious where Jake had to go next.

  Chapter 12

  Jake’s memories settled into his sleeping brain at 5:30 AM exactly six weeks earlier. He groaned as they hit, suddenly awake and aware of what had happened. His future self has chosen this time so as not to let his wife see how adversely the long transitions affected him. Momentarily he felt a certain dismay at the long weeks it was going to take to get back to “his” time.

  “Jake, what’s the matter?” Karin asked, his sudden jerk making her aware that he was no longer sleeping soundly. She wasn’t entirely awake, but no longer asleep either.

  “Can’t sleep,” he replied softly. “I’m going to get up for a while.”

  Karin knew Jake had trouble sleeping sometimes when he was working on a software project, his restless mind teasing him with possible ideas at all hours of the day and night. Hopefully she would think this was one of those cases.

  Jake slid out from under the covers, looking longingly at the soft pillows and the comfortable mattress, and the soft curves of his wife, but there was no time for that. Instead he padded into the bathroom, took his aspirin. The face in the mirror with the tousled light brown hair didn’t look to be in any distress. The brown eyes were clear, and not even sleepy any longer. Given the headache, one would reasonably expect at least some redness in the eyes, or something. He considered the situation, shook his head, and headed out of the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him. Then he checked on Janna, now only ten months old, and looking decidedly more like a baby. This was all going the wrong way. He’d been joyfully watching his child become a small person, and now he was seeing a reversion to a more helpless state. None of his previous back-tracking had been far enough, nor had they involved someone her young age, where the effect of the transitions were so obvious. He positioned her blanket, and then headed toward his study.

  In his office, he considered what he wanted to do. There was nothing special about this date. He’d chosen it because he didn’t want to attempt to back-track any farther without a break. He’d been feeling the headaches build at each brief stop, but they hadn’t settled in because he moved too quickly, jumping from each temporary stop until now. But the first six-week jump had warned him what to expect. Jake had promised himself to take the jumps in thirty-day increments, but the incident with Kennan had shaken him and he’d come back the full time.

  Karin would be working today, and unlike most days, she would be taking Janna to the daycare center. He had a scheduled meeting with the contractor to go over a few modifications Jake wanted to propose on the software project he was currently finishing up. Jake would cancel the meeting and use the day for his investigations. He already knew from the last time around what the contractor would say, and which modifications he found of interest. Jake would simply implement them, and demonstrate what he’d done at the sell-off.

  Jake had decided not to tell Karin about his back-tracking this time. He was only going to be here part of the day, and he knew how stressed she would be if she learned he had come from nearly three months in the future. Three months! He couldn’t believe it. And he had more to go.

  Jake had actually fallen asleep again, and was brought back to the world by the delightful smell of his wife’s perfume and she reached over and gave him a light kiss on the lips several hours later.

  “We’re going,” she said when his eyes fluttered open. “Did getting up early accomplish anything?”

  Jake looked into the deep blue eyes of his wife as he nodded. “I think so. I’ll have to see how difficult it will be to implement the change.”

  Karin stood and started for the door. “Don’t forget we are meeting the Furgesons for dinner,” she reminded him.

  He had forgotten about that. He’d have to finish up and be gone before then. He raised a hand in acknowledgement of her reminder, feeling a sense of guilt at his keeping the situation from Karin, especially after how she had helped him six weeks from now which he’d just left. But, he consoled himself, none of this will have happened. The next stop would be different. He’d definitely have to tell her what was going on then.

  He listened as the BMW backed down the driveway, and then sped away. He forced himself out from between the sheets for the second time, grabbing a quick breakfast of cereal, something he hated, and after retrieving his pistol, he headed to the garage where the Highlander was parked.

  Traffic was heavy this time of morning, and instead of heading across the Bay to Oakland, he elected to go directly to the newspaper. If Ray’s car wasn’t in the lot, he’d simple wait until the man arrived. He should be posing as a working reporter, not yet preparing to disappear on the train. Jake had no doubt that the imposter had already replaced Ray. It had to have happened the first day of Ray’s assignment to the new paper. Any other time and his coworkers would have noticed the change.

  Jake intended to use the same story about corruption he’d used in the future. It wasn’t a breaking story now, but it would get their interest, and when Jake moved back even farther in time, this whole event would cease to have happened for everyone but him. Sometimes he wondered how many versions of reality his brain could hold before it became full.

  Luck was with him, and when he pulled into the lot, he spotted the familiar wreck that Ray drove. Jake greeted the receptionist for the first time yet again, then went upstairs to speak with Ray. The interview followed a similar path as the last one, but this time Jake discovered that the imposter Ray didn’t know of him as either Bob Trask, Stan Mathews or Jake Waters. That was extremely interesting. Between now and six weeks hence, he would be told about Trask and Mathews. At the moment Jake couldn’t sort out the reasoning for that.

  Leaving Ray with a series of facts he might try and follow up on regarding the matter in the Mayor’s office, Jake took his leave. He pondered the situation as he headed across the Bay. More and more he was convinced he was going to have to discover where the leak had been and see if he could patch it. That would be the most straightforward solution to the whole matter. He didn’t want to have to spend too much time trying to track the elusive Ray once he determined where the real one had gone.

  The small graveyard where Pati Ray had been buried was quiet this time of day. Jake saw only one other person as he made his way to the gravesite. The tombstone was different now. The inscription had changed. It now was more caustic. “Died as she lived, carelessly.”

  Jake stared at the tombstone for a long while. It seemed a harsh epitaph. He wished he’d thought to check the cemetery before he’d back-tracked before. It would be interesting to know when the tombstone had been changed.

  Jake considered what to do next. He couldn’t think of anything he could gain by spending any longer in this period. The stop hadn’t provided much information, but had given him a chance to recover from the jump. He could drive home, then make the next jump backwards, but why suffer the drive. His head felt fine now, so he simply thought about where he wished to end up, and back-tracked.

  “Four and a half months!” Karin exclaimed when he explained how far back he’d come. “Jake, you’ve never done something like this before. Is it
safe?”

  Karin held young Janna in her arms as she looked with concern at Jake. At eight and a half months of age, Janna was far from the curious and seemingly bright young child he’d come to know. Now she was clearly a baby with the fleeting interest in things that caught her attention.

  “The longer jumps are harsh, but thus far I have been unable to sense any other complications,” he replied. “I made the jump in segments. Of course, there will be the problem of reliving all those weeks without screwing matters up.”

  Jake had explained to Karin what had happened, and some of the strangeness he’d encountered. When he’d started, he’d believed this problem would resolve itself much like others had in the past, although in the back of his mind he’d sometimes wondered if he would need to go all the way back to that night in San Francisco nearly two years ago. Karin immediately understood his concerns, and why he was willing to make such a jump.

  “Someone learned about me and what I can do. Someone other than this Ray character. I don’t think he fully understands my ability, but he knows enough, actually too much. Whether the person who discovered my secret has a reason to dislike me, or whether that is just how Ray reacted when he was told about me, I don’t yet know.”

  “You said the leak probably happened a couple of months ago when you helped out Carlson in Washington. Does that mean you will need to go even farther back? What are you hoping to find at this time?”

  “In the morning, Ray is going to start working for a new newspaper. I think around that time is when Ray makes the switch and the real Ray pulls his disappearing act. I intend to be there and watch when the fake Ray first shows up, just to verify it happened as I believe. Then I’ll go back a few days and check out the old newspaper office over in Oakland. I’m certain the real Ray will be found there. Maybe I’ll learn something.”