Back-Tracker

by Bob Blink

  “I’m going to reduce your medication,” Dr. Tracey added. “That might make your head clearer. The medication has a tendency to cloud one’s thinking.”

  After the doctor left, Jake and Karin had a chance to talk. Janna clearly recognized him and was awake and alert this morning. Her young eyes were interested in what the new surroundings offered. After a while, Jake climbed out of bed, and using the walker, even though he was certain he didn’t need it, the three of them wandered down to the community area for a chance to sit at a table and talk normally. While they were there, Jake slipped Karin the note, telling her to read it and that she’d have to be home around three this afternoon to take a call from Susan Carlson.

  Karin sat alone at the computer system in the study. Janna was sleeping in the playpen off to one side. Jake said the call would come in just after three. It was now four minutes after.

  Then the special phone rang. Hesitating, she reached out and pressed the speaker button.

  “Hello?” she asked.

  “Is this Karin?” the voice asked. “This is Susan Carlson. Is Jake there?”

  “He’s not here,” Karin replied. “Can we go to secure video? He wants me to speak with you.”

  It took a few moments to get the link up and established, but then the monitor came to life, showing Susan Carlson in her far away Washington office. Karin took a moment to study the FBI agent. She hadn’t seen her but a couple of times. Karin knew that Carlson was in her mid forties. She had short brown hair, which was starting to show some streaks of gray. She was attractive enough given her age, but the wrinkles were starting to settle in. Karin sensed she was being examined in return.

  “He’s in the hospital,” Karin began without waiting for Carlson to ask.

  Karin could see the surprise and concern that flashed across the FBI agent’s face.

  “What happened? How is he?” Carlson asked.

  “He suddenly collapsed the other day. He was unconscious for more than twenty-four hours. His brain showed excessive swelling. They almost went inside to relieve it, but when it started dropping they held off. I just left him a while ago. He’s up and walking around, and the doctor said this morning that the swelling is almost gone. He hopes to get out tomorrow.”

  “That’s encouraging,” Carlson said. “Do they know what caused it?”

  “They don’t, but we do. He was using his special ability. He came back a long way.”

  “Something caused him to back-track?” Carlson asked.

  Karin nodded. “He’ll want to explain it to you when he gets home. He’s only given me small pieces because we can’t talk freely in the hospital. He slipped me a note on what he wanted me to tell you. He knew you would be calling. Basically, someone has learned about him, and is using Janna and me as well as his friends for leverage to try and get him to do something. He’s been trying to determine who. He’s come back six months.”

  “Six months! I didn’t know he could do that. Is it safe?”

  “Apparently not. That’s almost certainly what caused his problem. He said that the repeated jumps have become increasingly brutal. Also, the last couple of jumps were made more complicated because he had to travel between the coasts. At the moment he doesn’t know if he can even make a small jump.”

  “That’s unfortunate,” Carlson said. “I don’t want to sound callous, but it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”

  Karin smoothed out the note on the table. She pushed aside a long strand of her blond hair that had fallen across her face.

  “He told me you would be calling today with a major problem. He wanted me to assure you that he’s been through this one with you, and it works out. Last time around he flew to Washington tomorrow, where you spent two days briefing him and showing him what had been found. He recalls all of that, and feels that if he flies two days later you will be in the same relative situation as before.”

  “Is he going to be in any shape to do so?”

  “He thinks so. I’ll admit I’ve told him I’m against it. He needs to rest, and he shouldn’t use his ability for as long as possible. No one knows what might happen if he tries to back-track, even a short time.”

  “I agree with you. His life could be at risk. I can’t see how he will be able to help given the change in his situation.”

  “He says it wasn’t this way the last time he went through this. He thinks he can substitute his memory of what the team did to replace the need to back-track. He’ll have to explain that to you. He asked that you stand by for a call tomorrow if he gets home.”

  “Don’t let him do anything stupid,” Carlson said. “If he needs to stay in the hospital, make sure he does so.”

  “He doesn’t always listen to reason,” Karin replied.

  “So I’ve seen,” Carlson agreed.

  “Oh, and he suggests that you bring Agent Laney in and bring him up to speed. As a result of this event Laney learns about him anyway, and it might be helpful if Laney is informed from the beginning. They apparently have worked together quite often in the future and he says it was a productive arrangement. He sees a further complication this time, because in addition to the problem you have to deal with, he believes somehow he is compromised during the effort and he needs to find out how and by whom to solve this other problem.”

  “I’ll do that. I’ve wanted Laney to be part of our team for some time. I’m glad Jake has finally agreed. What time do you think he might get home tomorrow?”

  “I can’t see it happening before lunch. Things just don’t move that quickly at the hospital. I’d plan on a call this time or later. If they decide to hold onto him, I’ll call you at your office.”

  “Use my cell,” Carlson said. “With everything going on here, I’m not certain where I’ll be at any given time.”

  They spoke for a while longer, then terminated the call. Karin felt weak when it was done, but she’d done what Jake asked. She had every intention of talking him out of this mission, whatever it was. If he could help based on his memories, he could do that from the comfort of his own home. Carlson would just have to do without him this time around.

  Chapter 25

  Getting Jake out of the hospital was more difficult than getting him in had been. First there was another test or two that Dr. Tracey had ordered, just to make a final check of the swelling. Afterwards, they had to wait for the appropriate expert to examine the results. Once everything was cleared, they had to wait for the release paperwork, which shouldn’t have seemed a big thing, but it took surprisingly long for it to be assembled and brought to them for signature. Finally, when they thought they were done, they had to wait for Dr. Tracey once again. He wanted to speak with Jake before he left. That took another forty-five minutes before the elderly doctor stepped into the room.

  “Ready to go, I see,” Dr. Tracey said.

  Jake, who could barely control his patience, simply nodded.

  Dr. Tracey remained concerned they hadn’t established a reason for the swelling, and therefore was concerned it might reoccur. He wanted Jake to check in with the hospital every other day for the next week. Jake agreed, not telling the doctor he planned to be in Washington, DC before very long, and well away from the hospital. The check-ins would never take place if Jake had his way.

  Finally they were approved to leave, and with Janna in one arm, Karin followed Jake down the hall to the elevators.

  “Freedom,” Jake sighed with satisfaction as they stepped into the open air of the warm August day and headed toward the parking lot. He moved smoothly and without difficulty. Whatever had happened to him, appeared to have passed. Everything except the nagging feeling that back-tracking wasn’t something he should attempt just yet.

  Karin smiled at his eagerness, but she was still concerned that the real problem remained. While the doctor had no clue what had triggered the problem, she knew as well as Jake that his back-tracking was the root of the matter, and she was concerned any attempt to use his ability would trigger a simila
r, or perhaps even worse, event. She also knew that he intended to try and help Carlson, which would place him in situations that would increase the chances he would need to do the very thing he shouldn’t.

  “Over here,” she said, zigging through the lot to where the BMW was parked. She used the remote to unlock the doors, and the flash of light alerted Jake to where she meant.

  They got Janna all strapped in, and as she waved her rattle in eagerness to be moving, Jake and Karin climbed into the front seats. Karin insisted on driving, and Jake knew better than to object. He felt fine, at least for the most part, but agreed that he should see how he reacted to being out of the hospital before tackling too much.

  Fifteen minutes later they were home. As Karin lifted Janna out of her seat, Jake unlocked the door that lead into the house. Then he pointed outside, and led Karin out the side door of the garage and around to the back.

  “Jake, what are you doing?” Karin asked as he stepped into the flowerbed and pulled aside a bush so he could examine the stucco.

  He held up a hand, and repeated the process at two other locations. In all cases he found the same thing, nothing.

  “Checking for microphones,” he said. “They aren’t in place yet.”

  That convinced Jake that he was right about when they had to have been installed. Something that would happen in the next couple of weeks would lead those responsible to his home so they could begin monitoring.

  “Microphones?” Karin asked. “Why would there be microphones in the bushes?”

  “Through the outer wall,” Jake explained. “Something I didn’t want to talk about in the hospital. Whoever is behind the attempt to have me let LoBue be killed planted them in the walls of our house. Except it hasn’t happened yet. It was important to know that. If they were already in place it would mean I was wrong about the timing of this whole thing.”

  “Let’s go inside,” Karin insisted. “There’s a lot we need to talk about.”

  Once inside, they put Janna in the playpen with several toys, and then sat at the nook with a cup of coffee.

  “How are you feeling, Jake? I mean really. Not what you told the doctor to get out.”

  “For the most part I feel completely normal,” Jake said. “My head is just a little stuffy. I can’t decide if that is a residual of what happened, or the last of the medicine they were feeding me which hasn’t completely cleared my system. The one thing that isn’t better is my back-track ability. I don’t believe I could back-track even if I tried.”

  “You’ve lost the ability?” Karin asked. She wasn’t entirely sure what she felt about that. Jake’s ability had always been a mixed blessing and a sometimes area of friction between them.

  “At the moment,” Jake admitted. “I don’t believe it’s lost, not completely. I can still sense my former self, just as I always have when I’m within the conditions that allow for back-tracking, but I can also sense something that warns me not to try.”

  “Listen to that warning,” Karin urged. “You don’t want to risk another trip to the hospital.”

  Karin hesitated, then raised the question that she’d been unable to ask in the hospital. “What’s going on?”

  “Someone in the Mob has learned what I can do. Do you recall the event more than a year ago when I saved Senator Kerns from a terrorist attack?”

  Karin nodded.

  “It wasn’t terrorists, and it wasn’t Kerns who was the target. A man named Mark LoBue was meeting with Senator Kerns when it happened, and it was actually LoBue who the attack was directed towards. The Mob would like me to go back and let that attack proceed.”

  “But you can’t,” objected Karin. “Even if you would do something like that, you’ve just seen what happens. There is no way you can go back more than another year. It would kill you.”

  “They don’t know that. I didn’t either until this happened. And frankly, they wouldn’t care if it killed me so long as I did what they asked. But I know I’d never make it. My hope had been to find out who was behind the demands, and either deal with them, or make sure they never found out about me. There’s more to this. When it started, I was of the belief that someone else was driving the whole thing.”

  “Someone else?”

  “Let’s try and call Carlson. Then I can explain all of this one time. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to go through it as I’ve worked my way backwards to today.”

  A bit later the link was established, with Jake and Karin on the San Jose end, and Susan Carlson and Jim Laney on the far end. Carlson looked tired, and Laney, as usual, was dressed immaculately in one of his dark suits. He looked a little unhappy about the proceedings. After brief greetings were exchanged, Carlson said, “How are you feeling, Jake?”

  “Better, but not a hundred percent,” Jake admitted.

  “Are you sure you are in any shape to support this problem?” Carlson asked. “Your wife says you know all about it?”

  “He’s not,” Karin spoke up before Jake could reply.

  “Let’s work up to that,” Jake suggested. He looked at Laney. “Have you explained to Laney how this all works?”

  Susan Carlson smiled. “I have, but let’s say he has certain doubts. He is surprised by the names and the relationship between them. Jake is someone new to him, and he is shocked, and a little dismayed, that Mathews and Trask are one and the same. He thinks of Mathews as a killer we never managed to catch.”

  “He was always harder to convince than you were,” Jake said.

  “What do you mean?” Laney asked. “This is the first I’ve heard of this so called ability of yours. I can’t believe that Carlson has been working with someone like you.”

  “Actually, it’s not the first time,” Jake said. “I demonstrated my ability to you and Carlson together when I was being held in the federal detention facility in Los Angeles several years ago. That was when you wanted to know about my activities.”

  “Never happened,” Laney said with certainty.

  “Not now,” Jake agreed. “That was all unwound in a manner than made the detention never take place. Afterwards, I demonstrated my ability again when we worked together on the Atlanta bombing attempt.”

  “You were never there,” Laney objected.

  “Actually he was, and from what he explained, he actually saved your life during the whole thing the first time around,” Carlson said. “After we figured out who was behind it, Jake back-tracked, contacted me, and told me what was going to happen and by whom, so that I could direct the team to deal with it all without him. That kept him secret. He didn’t even give me his real name. The plan was for Stan Mathews to quietly disappear. That’s why we haven’t heard of him in several years. I had to find his real name myself later when I needed his help.”

  “I still can’t believe this is real,” Laney objected.

  “Unfortunately, this time I’m in no position to demonstrate the ability,” Jake said. “For now, you’ll just have to take it on faith based on Carlson’s knowledge it is true.”

  “I’m still uncomfortable that I’m talking with Stan Mathews, who Susan and I sought for several years. I feel like I should be calling someone in San Francisco to come and arrest you instead of talking with you on a secure link that apparently no one else here knows about.”

  “You’ll have to accept that we’ve worked together a number of times, and have been friends of a sort,” Jake said. He told Laney a couple of personal items the man had revealed to Jake during their times together.

  “Where did you learn that?” Laney asked surprised.

  “You told me,” Jake replied with a smile.

  Laney still shook his head. He was yet to be convinced.

  “You knew I was going to call you the other day,” Carlson said, bringing the pointless conversation around to the matter at hand.

  Jake nodded. “You found a device that is filled with an active biological agent, a form of anthax,” Jake said. “It was hidden away with an active timer, but also wi
th the ability to be triggered remotely.”

  Jake could see the surprise on Laney’s face. Only a handful of people in Washington were aware of the discovery at this time.

  “And?” Carlson asked.

  Jake smiled. He knew that Carlson was allowing Jake to use his previous knowledge of the event to demonstrate to Laney that he had knowledge he shouldn’t have known about.

  “You also found a map that someone had carelessly dropped. It identified seven other devices. You have checked and found active devices in those locations as well. All could have been triggered at any time.”

  “Where were these devices?” Laney asked, as if hoping to trip Jake up.

  Jake identified each of the locations where the devices were found.

  “I don’t see how you could . . .”

  “He’s been through this before,” Carlson said patiently. “You’ll start to understand in a while why what he does is so powerful.”

  “You are concerned there are more of the devices with plans to trigger them simultaneously at some point. In that you are right. In fact, there are over three hundred of the devices. If triggered, a large percentage of the Washington, DC population will be killed. Only the fact that the entire network is not yet in place has prevented the disaster. However, if those behind this learn they have been discovered, they will trigger those devices in place instantly.”

  Laney looked stunned. “How can you know about this?” he asked.

  “Hindsight,” Jake replied.