A Year to Forget (The Accidental Time Travellers Book 2)

by Marc James

  “You are doing this for our government?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And Mengele?”

  “No of course not, he’s a Nazi war criminal.”

  “So is Jacob working for the OSS?”

  “No, absolutely not.”

  “Mengele said he mentioned your name?”

  “Well this was also my job when we were part of the CIA, he may well have mentioned me.”

  Faraday was astounded. “Can I check this with the President?”

  Gottlieb smiled. “Of course you can, although I don’t think he takes a very active role in the organisation, you may be better speaking to Abaddon.”

  “But when I came here to see David I mentioned the President and you didn’t say anything?”

  “I don’t publicize the fact Mr Faraday.”

  “Did you test LSD on David?”

  “I did but I was not aware of who he was, I would never have done that had I been aware of his position.”

  “And that makes it okay?” Will asked sarcastically.

  “It is my job Mr Carter. I’m sure that there are some things in your roles that are unpleasant.”

  “Usually it’s the people we meet. We don’t test mind altering drugs and electric shocks on the most vulnerable people in society.”

  Gottlieb smiled. “It is for the greater good, our enemies are doing the selfsame thing.”

  “That doesn’t make it okay either.” Will barked.

  “May I use your phone to verify this with Abaddon.” Faraday interrupted.

  “Of course you may Mr Faraday.”

  Faraday picked up the phone and dialled Abaddon’s home number. “Abaddon, its Faraday.”

  “Hello Faraday, I’m so sorry about Jane.”

  It stung his heart like a knife. “Thank you. I’m calling because I’m with Dr Sidney Gottlieb, we got his name from Josef Mengele. He claims that he works for the OSS and his research is authorized by you?”

  “Josef Mengele? How would he know Sidney?” Abaddon asked, sounding surprised.

  “Well I asked him if he knew the name, he said Jacob Cohen mentioned it.”

  “I believe they both worked in the CIA a few years ago.”

  “So the OSS has no ties to Cohen?”

  “Why would you even ask such a ridiculous question?”

  “Just with what Mengele said, and I saw David when Gottlieb tested him with LSD.”

  “That was a mistake on his part, he was not aware of who David was. When I found out I was furious myself.”

  “Well alright then, sorry to bother you.”

  “Not a problem. Also just to make you aware, David will be away for a few days, he’s looking into Apollo 8 for me. I just want to ensure that we haven’t missed anything, I would have asked Bobby or you but given what happened I assumed you would be taking some time off.”

  “We think Cohen may be behind what happened this morning.”

  “I would have to agree. But if you don’t feel up to it just let me know, you can take as much time as you need.”

  “Thanks Abaddon, I appreciate that.”

  “You’re quite welcome and if you need anything you just let me know. My door is always open.”

  “Okay, I’ll speak to you later.”

  “Bye James, God bless.”

  As Faraday replaced the receiver he felt quite silly. “Dr Gottlieb I’m sorry to have wasted your time. We should have considered the source before we walked in here accusing you of working with Cohen. It’s just been a traumatic day.”

  He smiled sweetly reminding Faraday of his grandfather. “You have no need to apologise, you were doing your job. Most people wouldn’t be able to function in this kind of situation, it is inevitable that a mistake would be made. Just take care of yourself.”

  “Thanks for your time.” Faraday rose to his feet, and he and Will left the room. They walked from the hospital in silence and got in the car, Will was driving them back to the airport. He had been driving for a few minutes when he decided to break the silence.

  “Don’t you think it’s terrible that he is doing that to people?”

  “Well yes, it is.” Faraday replied half heartedly.

  “But because your friend has authorized it, that’s alright?”

  “No I didn’t say that but it’s like he said, it’s his job.”

  “Are you kidding me? Mengele’s job was experimenting on the Jews, blacks, homosexuals, children, that doesn’t mean that’s okay.”

  Faraday really wanted to hit Will. “Will my wife died this morning, I am sick of you rambling on about fucking Nazis. I know they are evil but I have other things on my mind!”

  Will brought the car to a halt and stared at Faraday. “Well I don’t have that luxury! I was in Auschwitz, I’ll never think of anything else! And you go sucking up to the American Josef Mengele.”

  “Will, shut the fuck up!” Faraday screamed.

  “You were a fucking terrible husband you one eyed fuck!”

  Faraday dove across the car on top of Will and managed to punch him in the face. He struggled to stay on top of him, he was strong. “Fuck you!” He screamed. To his surprise he managed to get another punch in and then again. He was winning the fight. He punched him once more and broke his nose. He was about to throw another punch when Will opened the door and both men fell out of the car, their legs remained inside, but Faraday was lying on top of Will at the side of the road.

  “I slept with her!” Will screamed.

  Faraday felt like he had been shot in the heart, his eye closed when he heard the words. He had no fight left in him. He pushed himself off Will and got to his feet. When he had done so, Will struggled to his feet holding his nose.

  Faraday walked to the front of the car and took a cigarette from the packet, before sparking it up. The tears had returned, but this time they were not for Jane, they were for him. He tried to cry silently but he couldn’t keep his pain inside.

  Will kept his hand on his nose as he watched Faraday. He knew he shouldn’t have said it but the anger had taken over him. He was unsure as to whether to explain himself or not. Should he comfort him? No that would be crazy. Without thinking he put his hand to his holster to ensure that his gun was in place, it was. He hoped he wouldn’t need it but if Faraday tried to shoot him, there would only be one man left standing.

  A few minutes past, Faraday continued crying and Will just stood and stared. Once Faraday had finished one cigarette he lit another.

  The silence was broken when Faraday lit his third cigarette. “Is it true?” His pain seemed to thicken his Scottish accent.

  Will waited a few seconds before answering, he wasn’t sure whether he should lie and say it was all in the heat of the moment.

  “Yes.”

  “When?” Faraday yelled.

  “Last year.” He spoke softly.

  “When last year?” Faraday yelled louder this time.

  “The night that we caught the Wichita Strangler.”

  Faraday thought back to the night, he and Bobby had taken the man into custody. David had been at home lost in his own thoughts and Chase hadn’t yet joined them. They had gone out for drinks to celebrate later that night. But he had been there after the drinking had started.

  “Was this before we went to celebrate?”

  “Yes.”

  “So she was sober?”

  “Yes.”

  Faraday felt his holster with his left hand, his gun was there. But Will would see him turn, he would have the advantage. The bastard.

  Faraday turned to look at the man, he knew that one day and hopefully one day soon, he would kill this man. He walked towards him and pushed him.

  “I know it was wrong, but if you hit me I’ll hit you right back.”

  Faraday looked at Will, he had helped this man to catch the scum who had imprisoned him. He had travelled through time to save Jane, why would either of them do this to him.

  “Did it just happen the once?”
>
  “Yes, we both knew it was a mistake.”

  That didn’t make it easier. Faraday got in the open drivers door and slammed it shut, the keys were still in the ignition. He managed to get the car moving before Will could grab the door open. Will had rented the car in his name, Faraday would drive back to Washington, that bastard could foot the bill.

  Chapter 30

  Bobby woke up on the couch in the living room, when he opened his eyes his head was pounding. His mouth tasted of alcohol, how much had he drank? He looked around the floor for clues and as expected it was littered with bottles, and a hand. There was someone else here.

  He got himself up on his feet and stumbled, his hip wasn’t sore, he was definitely still drunk. The hand protruded from the other side of the couch, as he approached it he saw that it was Chase. He struggled to remember the previous night.

  After meeting Sarah he had been furious, Chase had driven him home and they had started drinking beer. As he surveyed the scene he noticed that they had also drank whisky, vodka and wine. That may explain why I’m feeling like this, he thought. He sat himself back down and thought of Nancy and Clint.

  He had tried to connect with the boy, but he was a strange child. Very quiet, didn’t seem to like anyone else. Nancy he supposed was a little bit similar, she wasn’t quiet, far from it but he had noticed that Nancy didn’t care for the others. She didn’t mind David, but she hadn’t been enamoured by Faraday or Jane. Oddly it seemed to just be Bobby and Clint Hill that she had any real affection for.

  It was a few minutes before it dawned on him that he hadn’t seen David since the previous morning, where the hell was he? Was he in bed? No he doesn’t sleep. Surely he would have come into see Bobby and Chase if he had returned home.

  He considered going upstairs to look for him, but he couldn’t be bothered. Instead he screamed his name as loudly as he could.

  “David! David! David! David! Where are you?”

  There was no response, he must be out. The screams had woken Chase who was now groaning and clutching his head. He managed to struggle to his feet but fell over. Bobby was beginning to grow quite fond of the big blonde Chase, he reminded him of a Golden Retriever.

  “Good morning!” Bobby yelled.

  Chase gave him an odd look as he struggled onto the other couch. Chase now surveyed the scene in front of him, they had had a lot to drink.

  “Why were you screaming?” Chase asked in a voice that made it clear how much pain he was in. His own voice made him grasp his head in pain.

  “I’m still drunk.” Bobby replied. “Did David come home?”

  “I didn’t see him.” Chase managed.

  “Did Faraday?”

  “I didn’t see him either. How are you feeling about everything?”

  Bobby thought for a while before he answered. He still felt slightly numb. Perhaps it was because he had already lost them once before, but it just didn’t seem to be hurting him as much as it had the previous time. He was more angry than upset, he wanted to catch the man responsible.

  Instead of explaining the truth he opted for “I’m okay.”

  “So what do we do today?”

  “I don’t think we are going to be much use today. When the drink wears off I imagine I’ll be like you.”

  Chase started to laugh, but it turned into a wretch. Thankfully he managed to keep it down. He closed his eyes where he sat and fell asleep.

  Bobby looked at his watch, it was 11:00. Where were the others?

  Chapter 31

  When the helicopter eventually touched down on the Hughes Glomar Explorer, it was 11:00. He had arrived in Honolulu the previous evening and had had dinner with Sergei Kravchenko, they had stayed the night in a hotel and had boarded the helicopter this morning.

  As he stepped from the helicopter he felt relieved that it was over. He had felt ill throughout the whole journey and Sergei had hardly spoken. He looked around the ship and was overwhelmed by its size. It was around two hundred metres long and forty metres wide. He had been advised that the ship only travelled at around twelve miles an hour, and there was roughly one thousand three hundred miles to go. This meant that they wouldn’t reach the submarine site until Tuesday or Wednesday, at the earliest.

  David was annoyed as he thought back to what Abaddon had said, he hadn’t mentioned anything about it taking a week at least on the ship. He had no change of clothes and he hadn’t considered the distances and travel times. He hadn’t even managed to tell Bobby or Faraday where he was going. The wind was picking up and David was thankful he had worn Abaddon’s red jacket.

  In the middle of the enormous ship was a huge grapple that would be used to lift the submarine, it was certainly an impressive sight. As he admired his surroundings he was interrupted by an impeccably dressed older man, who introduced himself as Howard Hughes.

  “Glad you boys could make it.” He spoke with a wide smile.

  David was a little surprised, the way that Bobby had described Hughes was nothing like the man that was stood in front of him. He had slicked back short grey hair and a grey moustache that was neatly trimmed, the long canine nails that Bobby had described were also nowhere to be seen.

  Sergei replied first. “The legendary Howard Hughes.” He spoke with his thick Russian accent, he was far more dishevelled than Hughes. He was short, fat and had grey tufts of hair on the sides of his head. The top of his head was completely bald, he too had a moustache, but he had more hair sprouting from his ears.

  “Dr Kravchenko, I presume?” Howard replied with a smile, he did not offer his hand.

  “That’s right.” Sergei replied grumpily.

  “Which would make you Dr Lewis?”

  “Yes it’s lovely to meet you.” David offered his hand, Howard stared at it for a moment.

  “Sorry Dr Lewis, my hands are filthy.”

  David noticed how awkward he had made Hughes and immediately regretted offering to shake hands.

  “Well we have a long journey ahead of us, if you speak to Mr Swan.” Hughes said gesturing towards a heavy set man standing about ten metres away. “He will take you both to your bunks. I have arranged for you both to have your own compartment, hopefully it should be comfortable enough. We can have a drink in my cabin this evening, but as you can imagine I’m very busy, so I will speak to you both later.” Without waiting for a response Howard turned and disappeared below deck.

  Chapter 32

  Bobby awoke on the couch once more, he glanced around the room and saw that Chase was still asleep on the other couch. His head was thumping much as it had been earlier but the pain in his hip was back, he was sober now. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was 15:00.

  He heard the slam of the front door which caused a stabbing pain across his forehead. When Faraday walked into the living room he looked furious. He didn’t speak, he just walked over to the breakfast bar and picked up a bottle of whisky before taking a seat next to Bobby.

  Faraday opened the bottle and took a swig directly from it, this almost caused Bobby to heave, but he managed to control himself. Bobby watched Faraday, waiting for him to explain where he had been, but he didn’t. He didn’t even acknowledge Bobby’s presence. They sat in the living room with the only sound being the long puffs Faraday was taking on his cigarettes, and the sound of the whisky moving between the bottle and Faraday’s mouth.

  “How did things go with Gottlieb?” Bobby asked.

  “He’s not involved, he works for the government.” Faraday replied without even looking at Bobby.

  “So no leads then?”

  Faraday swallowed his mouthful of whisky before replying. “Nope.”

  Bobby had expected Faraday to at least be a little curious as to how he and Chase had got on, but he didn’t seem to care. “We didn’t get anywhere either.”

  “Ok.”

  “Anything you want to talk about Faraday?”

  For the first time he turned to look at Bobby, he looked completely broken. “She fucking ch
eated on me with Will.”

  Bobby had absolutely no idea how to comfort Faraday, he had never really been in a serious relationship himself. “When?”

  “Last year, the mother fucker just blurted it out.”

  “Fuck. I’m really sorry mate.”

  “I’m going to kill him.”

  Bobby was unsure as to whether Faraday meant literally. “Was it just once?”

  Faraday nodded.

  “I know it must hurt but don’t let it ruin what you and Jane had.”

  “She fucking cheated on me Bobby. After everything I did to get back to her. Then she moaned about wanting to go back to Scotland, it was probably to get away from what she’d done!”

  “She must have regretted it Faraday, I know she loved you.”

  “She had a funny way of showing it then!” Faraday barked, he took another swig from the bottle.

  This latest commotion had woken Chase. He was about to speak, but Bobby shook his head.

  “So what do you want to do?” Bobby asked.

  “I told you, I’ll kill him.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Bobby advised. Chase suddenly looked concerned.

  “He fucking deserves it!”

  “I know but it could ruin your life.”

  “It’s a bit late for that, look at where we are Bobby! Both our lives have been ruined for years. I’m sick of this fucking place. Every day there’s a new fucking problem. That fucking bitch! I loved her from the moment we met and this is what she does, with that fucking moaning bastard.”

  Bobby could hardly argue with the first part of what Faraday had said, with all they’d been through they just never seemed to get closer to happy ever after, if anything that was further away than ever.

  “She loved you Faraday, don’t talk about her like that.” Bobby replied.

  “What’s happened?” Chase finally asked.

  “Jane slept with Will!” Faraday yelled his response.

  “I never liked that prick.” Chase replied.

  “Do you have any idea where David is?” Bobby asked.

  “He’s looking into Apollo 8, Abaddon wanted him to give it the onceover.”

  Bobby nodded.