His appearance suitably modified, Lovelle set about to find a place to live. As a first choice, he visited the very apartment complex where Hardy was now located. Unfortunately, Hardy had filled the last vacancy. He had to settle for a place a half mile up the road.
The complex where he was now stationed carried some old memories he hadn’t considered in a very long time. One of those was brought to the fore on the day he moved in. While he unloaded his sparse belongings from the van he watched some kids playing football in the large open lot behind his building. It was something he had done many times himself while growing up. The site sent him on a trip down memory lane. With Maria gone and his vigilante career on hold, he had entirely too much time for reverie. And with the flood of memories came the urge to see the women of his past. So, guiltily, he went on an “ex-wives tour”.
Two of them were away at college and would have to wait for summer break. So he went to see his first love, Katie. Since she did not go to the same high school, and was a few years younger than he, she had no idea who he was. He had no concern about being recognized. He had not met her in this life, and in fact had not laid eyes on her in the last four lives, choosing not to torture himself. When he saw her he immediately knew why he had stayed away for so long. Despite having been in love with three other women, and the very recent loss of Maria, it broke his heart all over again to see Katie. She had been his first love and his best friend. The mother of his lost son. She had meant everything to him. And the loss of that first life, when he had known nothing of the suffering and loss that was to come, was always the most acute.
Katie’s life had diverged so much from both the first life, where they were together, and the second, where his intervention had driven her into the arms of another man. In every life since, he had kept his hands clear. And she had always married a nice man, and settled down to raise a family. Once he had seen how well things turned out for her, he had promised himself that he would not interfere and take that away from her. After all, for seven lives she had been with that other man. Far longer than with Lovelle. At this point, who was to say that she didn’t belong more to that life than to the first one? Just because the first life was the “first” didn’t necessarily mean it was the correct one. Lovelle had no inkling why time was skipping. He had often thought it might be because it hadn’t gone right the first time. If that was so, then maybe anything that happened in it was no more justified than anything that had happened since.
In any case, as much as Lovelle wanted to approach Katie, he would not. With the lessons he learned during his first try at getting her back, he believed he had a good chance of making her fall in love with him, if he wanted. After all, even when he had failed to win her love, they had built a life long friendship, in as far as the skips allowed a life to continue. So he watched her from afar and pined, if not for her love, then for the friendship that he knew he needed right now.
***
In the meantime, Hardy’s own plan failed to materialize. The man he killed had a brother who needed the house and moved in right away. As Hardy waited patiently for the for sale sign to go up, the moving van arrived and the new owner started unloading the few possessions he brought from his own apartment.
Of course, Hardy couldn’t risk staging another accident in the same family. A single incident had not raised suspicion. A second surely would. And there were no other suitable candidates that he had identified. He wasn’t sure he was willing to kill off a family, even if he thought he might get away with it. Although he accepted that there were to be innocent casualties as a result of his mission, he was not without conscience. He would not willingly harm children if he could avoid it in any way. And that included leaving them orphaned. And taking over a house on this street was not essential to achieving his ultimate goal. It would just be damned convenient.
This setback caused his patience to become even shorter than before. From his vantage point, Lovelle might slip by for a quick visit completely undetected. It simply wasn’t possible to man his post 24 hours a day. He imagined he might well find himself here for years without catching a glimpse of his adversary. If Lovelle came to visit in this lifetime, he would certainly do so with caution. But, if something didn’t happen soon, Hardy would have to find another way to press the matter.
***
For his part, Lovelle didn’t have the luxury of watching the entrances to his parent’s street. And since he was keenly aware of the fact that the observer might again be observing, he didn’t even risk driving by the house. He was relegated to recognizance of his parent’s workplaces. Each day he would follow one or the other to their job. Then, during the course of the day he would switch and follow the other one home. In the meantime, he would twiddle his thumbs watching over their respective cars, waiting for that familiar face to show up somewhere in the shadows.
Near the end of May, Trina, his second wife, came home from Stanford. Again his heart ached. In his first life Trina had been a boyhood crush. In his second, she had been his closest friend for many years and then finally his wife and the mother of the baby girl he had never even had the chance to get to know. He would have avoided her completely as well, had he any choice. But, she was his classmate and friend each time he skipped back. With her, he simply let their friendship fade in each life. And always, as in ‘life number one, she left for California never to return to his life. He had no idea what became of her in California. He maintained a hands-off approach, at first due to his relationship with Charlene, and then due to his utter disengagement with anything but his mission. This was, in fact, the first time he had seen Trina over the age of 18 since that second life. He had forgotten just how much more lovely she had gotten as she became a woman. He wanted to speak to her more than he had imagined. She had been his truest friend despite the gloom which hung over him through that first skip. If anyone in this world could sustain him through the turmoil he felt coming, it would be her. But, he would not burden her with his troubles. He did not know what her life had in store, but, he would not risk spoiling it just for the comfort she would almost certainly offer him.
Charlene arrived two weeks later. Although he had certainly loved her, his feelings at seeing her were not so intense. Even before he had embarked on his life of solitude, theirs was not a relationship that he had seriously considered rekindling. She was a kind and loving woman, but, their marriage had ultimately failed. It was during their time that he discovered the existence of other Skippers. He had believed that his assassination of Bin Laden would free him to live his life. If for no other reason than simple wishful thinking he had all but convinced himself that stopping the September 11 attacks was the purpose of the skips. He not only wanted to believe, but, he did believe that he had fulfilled that purpose, and that time would move on. But, the presence of other Skippers shook his convictions. He stopped believing that the life he was building with Charlene would be a lasting one. So, although he took no overt action to drive her away, he changed. She could both see and sense that change. When she confronted him on his brooding demeanor he was dismissive. She asked him if he wanted to be married anymore, and he actually said “What’s the point?” He had always regretted saying that. First, because he had hurt her. Something he never wanted to do, even if in a few years she would have no idea it had ever happened. Second, because he tried to live each life as if it would finally continue, so that when it did, he could be happy in it. And finally, because he was just wrong. Even if the skips were to go on forever, in fact, especially if they were to go on, each day was still to be treasured. Life is for living. And in that life, it was better with her than without. He wished even now that he could swallow those words and remove the pain they had caused, regardless of how temporary.
***
The ex-wives tour over, Lovelle settled in to the tedious job of surveillance, just like his counterpart. Lovelle’s failed attempt at getting an apartment in the same complex as Hardy was only the first near miss. On several occasion
s over the next 13 months each of them would narrowly miss an opportunity to spot the other. On one occasion they drove for nearly 20 minutes with a single car between them. A simple lane change by that intervening car would have put Hardy right in Lovelle’s rear view mirror. On another, they went shopping at the same grocery simultaneously. On numerous occasions Hardy watched Lovelle drive past the entrances to his parent’s neighborhood. Focused only on the cars entering and exiting, Hardy hadn’t taken any notice. And the closest call came when they nearly had dinner together. Hardy was eating what he considered a poor imitation of fish and chips, when Lovelle arrived to partake of that popular Friday fare. But when the hostess informed him that there would be a 30 minute wait, he decided to go elsewhere. Had he remained there in the lobby, Hardy would have walked right by, 20 minutes later. If there was mutual recognition at that point, it could have turned into the gunfight at the OK corral.
As it was, neither man had any inkling that the other was around. Both men were coming to believe that they had been wrong to assume that Lovelle’s parents would be an irresistible draw on the other. Lovelle was getting close to deciding that he should just go see his folks, but, he had a job to do and everything else had to wait. Hardy was preparing to press matters. But, he was waiting for something as well.
Chapter 18
For the seventh time, Curtis Lovelle travelled to Sudan to take care of Osama Bin Laden. As always, he traveled to Eritrea, where he knew exactly who to contact for the equipment he needed. He could then drive across the border without notice and arrive at the exact right place at the exact right time. Unlike all of his domestic assassinations, he did not vary the time and place of this kill. Travelling overseas under the fairly thin alias of a Canadian journalist, he did not risk changing a method which worked flawlessly each time. Any variation in time might risk detection or the absence of his target. He knew who could supply him with the rifle which would shoot true every time he needed it. He knew when he could arrive at the factory without being seen or heard, where he would ascend to the roof in plenty of time to settle in for the kill shot. He knew precisely when Bin Laden would arrive, along with Ayman al-Zawahiri, the man who might well continue the construction of Al Qaeda if Lovelle did not take him out as well.
Right on time, the SUVs arrived and the entourage exited. Out of the first truck came two guards who stood outside the second vehicle, waiting. From that vehicle emerged two other guards, followed by al-Zawahiri and then Bin Laden. With the skill honed for over a hundred years, Lovelle cracked off the first round and Bin Laden collapsed. Using that same practiced expertise, Lovelle fired a second round and delivered a head shot to Zawahiri before anyone down there knew what was happening. Then, with both men lying on the ground, Lovelle placed two more rounds into each body, leaving nothing to chance. This gave the guards his general location and time to take cover, but, Lovelle had no interest in them. The weapons they carried were all but useless in the dark and at this distance. And he knew from experience that none of them was a good enough shot to pose any serious threat. While they rattled off wasted rounds, he let their own clamor serve as cover for his escape. He repelled down the side of the building and then scurried into an alley. His car was a short distance away on another street. Bin Laden’s people would never catch sight of him.
This was very different from the first time. Then, he had been forced to chase the terrorist vehicle and ram it to get it to stop. He had been very lucky to have gotten Bin Laden and walk away alive. Not to mention lucky to have driven his battered car out of Sudan to safety. He smiled as he drove the same sedan back to Eritrea. He always made sure he purchased the same stalwart car, just the way he did his favored rifle. He caught himself smiling and realized that he hadn’t smiled out of anything but politeness in quite a long time.
***
While Lovelle was away Hardy began to implement his new plan. He paid a visit to the Lovelles. “Hello Mr. Lovelle.” He said when the senior Lovelle answered the door. “I’m not sure if you remember me?”
Lovelle’s dad thought for a moment, “Sure you came by looking for Curtis right after he moved away.”
“Yes sir, we used to work together.”
“Mm hmm. I recall. I guess you’ve lost touch with him again.” The man sounded suspicious and Hardy presumed that Lovelle had at least told his parents that no one had bothered to use the phone number Hardy had been given. He had wondered whether they would also be aware that no one of his description had ever worked with their son. But that was a risk he had decided to take.
He soldiered on. “I’m afraid I never got in touch in the first place. I guess I have to admit that follow through is not my forte. After all this time, I wouldn’t bother you, but, I’ve got a bit of bad news. I’ve tried the number you gave me and it isn’t in service.”
“Oh…Well... no, it wouldn’t be.” Lovelle’s father sounded sympathetic now. “He’s been living abroad for a while now.”
“Really. Well, do you have a number where I can reach him? You see, a mutual friend died rather tragically recently.”
“I’m sorry, but, no. He doesn’t really stay in one spot in his work, so we don’t have a way to get in touch. He just checks in when he can.”
“Oh, in that case, I don’t suppose he’d be able to come for the funeral anyway. Still, I’m sure he’d like to know. I imagine he might want to get in touch with the family or something. Could you just tell him that Cedric died and give him my number?” Hardy pulled out his wallet and extracted a battered looking business card he’d picked up at the front desk of a travel agent’s office. He had procured it and artificially distressed it for just this eventuality. He fished a pen from inside his jacket and used his knee to scribble his number. This well planned act looked entirely spontaneous, and the father promised he would pass along the message.
***
Less than a week later Lovelle dutifully called in and received the news. The killer had paid a visit, and from the area code, he was in Detroit. There weren’t as many area codes as there would be in a few years, so, he couldn’t peg him too closely. But he was in the county for sure. Lovelle wondered if the man had been in the area all the time, or if he had been off murdering other Skippers Lovelle didn’t know about. Either way, he was here now, and Lovelle was grateful he hadn’t given in and visited his parents. He did not hesitate. As soon as he hung up with his mother he dialed the number. It was answered after a single ring.
“Mr. Lovelle I presume.” Came the answer. The voice immediately made Lovelle think of Sherlock Holmes. “Or, may I call you Curtis?’ The voice continued.
“Yeah. Sure. Who are you?” Lovelle stated curtly.
“Elton, Elton Hardy.” The Brit replied. Lovelle now thought of James Bond.
“Alright Elton, what the hell do you want?” Lovelle sneered.
“To talk to you. To tell you my story. I want to explain to you why I have done what you must consider a terrible thing. I am very sorry, by the way. I truly wish things could have been otherwise. I bore no ill will toward Maria, or you. I actually quite admire the both of you. But I have had to kill a lot of people who did not deserve to die. And I’ve taken no pleasure in it. Considering the sheer number of deaths I have caused, I don’t think most people would believe that. But, I believe you can understand. I think you, of all people, know that one can be called to do a distasteful task, and can do it well without having a taste for it.”
“So you’re looking to convince me that you’re not some kind of psycho? You just want me to understand you. What do you think this is? Some bad action movie? Well, forget it. I’ve never asked a soul to sign off on what I do, and I’m not going to give you retroactive permission to kill Maria, or the club, or any of the other Time Skippers you’ve offed.” Lovelle was nearly shouting.
“No. That’s not at all what this is about.” Hardy’s tone was calm and even. “The reason I’m speaking to you is because we are the last. It is very true that I admire you. If t
he circumstances were different I would have quite liked to know you. That is, in fact, why you are the last. I’m quite sure I could have killed you before I bombed the club. Afterward, I probably could have followed Maria right to you instead of killing her there on your doorstep. But, I decided some time ago, before I ever laid eyes on you, that the vigilante had to be the last. Not just because of the work that you’ve done. And by the by, I see that you have taken care of Bin Laden yet again. Despite everything which I am sure you must be going through, you have continued to do what is necessary. And that is why I’m sure that if it comes to it you will do what you might have to do.
“You must realize that I am taking quite a risk. I’m no megalomaniac. I have no delusions of grandeur. I have been very successful because I have foreknowledge, and because I have had an incredibly long time to hone my skills. And I know that you have done the same. So I don’t take for granted that this will all come out to my advantage.
“What you do is incredibly important. And it is important that your work be completed, regardless of the outcome of our own inevitable confrontation. And, the only way that can happen is if the survivor continues the work.”
“So you intend to kill me and takeover as the vigilante?” Lovelle was clearly skeptical.
“Yes. I do.”
“And am I supposed to jot down a list are targets for you before I die?”
“Oh, no. That won’t be necessary. One of the great things about Cedric Baker was his attention to detail. There was a lot of brain power in the 7/17 club, and he knew how to make use of it. Each member was tasked with remembering a great number of facts. At the beginning of each time shift, they put all of that information on paper for the clubs files, which are now in my possession. I believe I have the names of all the would-be murderers and rapists you intend to kill. “By the way, should things turn out to to my disadvantage, you’ll find the key to my storage locker in Portland Oregon on my key chain. I trust you’ll not want those files to fall into the wrong hands.
Time Skip (Book 2): The Time Skippers Page 16
