The patrol boat was fully engaged with the yacht and did not bother to look for the dinghy again. Maria was able to bring it around to the back side undetected and the pair clambered aboard the swim deck, leaving the little boat to drift away. The two were able to make their way into the cabin without coming into the line of fire, where Lovelle handed over a familiar Colt 1911 to Maria. “Keep your head down. Use this only if they come aboard. There are no more skips damn it, so don’t get yourself killed.”
The ex-pats were on the deck huddled down behind a large metal box. Not wanting to draw fire to the cabin where Maria was, Lovelle slipped out onto the deck himself and took refuge behind a large built-in fish cooler. Unaware that reinforcements had arrived, the ex-pats loosed a short barrage of gunfire and ducked back behind cover. This encouraged the solders to reveal themselves and return fire. Lovelle took advantage and incapacitated another one.
Surprised at the shots coming from behind them, the ex-pats turned to see their passenger as he took another quick shot and then ducked back behind cover. “Glad you could join us.” Manuel called out.
“Thank you for waiting.” Lovelle called back, though he’d never had any doubts about that. “Do you think we can get past them?”
“We’ll find out.” Juan called back. “Cover me!”
The other two men did just that and Lovelle called out, “By the way. We have a passenger.” Just so that Juan wouldn’t be caught off guard by the beautiful woman huddled in the cabin with a .45 in her hand. A long minute later the boat’s engine roared to life and Lovelle felt it lurch rearward. It couldn’t do much in reverse, but, he was able to change the position of its nose so that it could clear the patrol boat. The engine reversed thrust again and the powerful motor quickly started moving them away. However, the change in position exposed Lovelle and he felt the familiar string as yet another bullet went through his shoulder while he was trying to maneuver away.
“Aargh!” Lovelle shouted as he and Manuel made their way to the back of the yacht where the patrol boat was turning toward them. Gritting his teeth he settled into a shooter’s stance, hoping to be able to fire effectively from the accelerating yacht. This was going to be a race now, and, although he believed they had the advantage, he thought he might be able to stack the deck in their favor.
Manuel lay down cover fire, hoping to discourage the soldiers from shooting at them and possibly scoring a lucky shot. Meanwhile Lovelle was trying to get into the rhythm of the yacht and taking aimed shots milliseconds before it bounded over a wave. Seven careful attempts, and then success. The soldier at the helm of the patrol boat dropped and the boat veered wildly to one side effectively ending the chase. Only a few minutes later and the yacht roared into international waters.
Knowing they had crossed the boundary, and seeing no one in the vicinity, Juan eased off the speed and Manuel accompanied Lovelle to the cabin. His wound nearly invisible beneath his black clothes and in the dim light cast by the instrument panel, Maria rushed to embrace him. She did not see him wince, but, felt the blood on her cheek.
“Oh my God Curtis! You’ve been shot.” She stated the obvious.
“Yeah. Same dang shoulder as before.” He answered. “I’ll be fine. It went clean through, just like last time. I don’t know how the heck I’m going to explain it though.”
She nearly said “Stay with me and you won’t have to explain anything”, but held her tongue. He had risked everything just to come and see that she was alright, and she would not do anything to hurt him, just as he had known she wouldn’t. Instead she tended to his wound before having her reunion with Juan and Manuel.
Instead of sailing straight for Florida, the quartet headed to the Bahamas. The ex-pats had contacts who could deal with both the shot up boat and Lovelle’s shoulder. From there they would separate. Maria would wait there for Lovelle to secure her the Maria Hidalgo identity so that the ex-pats could smuggle her in as a fishing charter, just as they were about to do with Lovelle.
Chapter 24
Lovelle was delayed in returning to Detroit, but, that went right along with the new cover story he had concocted. He called home on the Friday when he’d arrived in Miami and told Katie that he’d been the victim of a drive by shooting. One more lie, like the cherry on the top of his big secret life. He told her that there were no suspects and no witnesses and that the police had basically told him to be grateful that the damage had been so minor. Having no reason to doubt him, Katie took him at his word.
In short order Lovelle went through the familiar process of securing a new identity for the final time. A few weeks later, Maria entered the country without difficulty. Before she had ever stepped foot on American soil again she decided to stay in Miami. Juan and Manuel helped her to settle in to the ex-pat community. She had decided not to be a part of Lovelle’s life. It was too painful for her, and probably best for him as well. He knew she was safe and in good hands with their old friends. In time he was sure she would move on. Maybe then, they could talk again.
***
For some time, Lovelle waited for the inevitable visit from another Skipper. He felt quite certain that someone would come. Either Hardy, Baker, or one of his emissaries from the 7/17 club. As self-sufficient as he had proven to be in all the years before Maria, he could barely tolerate not having someone to speak with, now that it was all over. It was odd to him that he should feel that way. When he was in the midst of it, he could function perfectly well in isolation. But, now that he might actually be able to put it behind him, he could not.
He was sure the others, who had been so accustomed to having each other, would have to get together. But, of course, they had each other, and had never really established that Lovelle was even one of them. With no more need to find the vigilante, and quite possibly believing that he was the one who had bombed their club, they might never come knocking. Hardy, however, would have to be chomping at the bit to speak with him.
He figured that Hardy would have probably gone right from dying in the front seat of his car in Sudan, to waking up wherever it was that he had left off when the skips began. Certainly believing, in that moment, that he was at an end. Lovelle knew the man must have been just as shocked as he was to wake up one more time. Especially to wake up as a 34 year old. And he had to be wondering what had gone on in the interim. How could he not? So, even if he decided to reconnect with the club, which probably had no idea Hardy had been the architect of their demise, he would still be compelled to speak with the only one who had outlived him.
Three months passed, then six. Lovelle’s initial loving demeanor at finding himself back in the arms of his wife and long lost son, was fading as he brooded about his past. Cut off from Maria, living a lie that he could not get out from under, and unable to speak with anyone about their common experience, he was sinking into depression. It was the same type of morass that had destroyed his marriage to Charlene after he had realized that his efforts to move time were unlikely to bear fruit.
Katie brought the situation to a head before Lovelle even realized it was happening. The melancholy had crept up on him slowly and he had failed to notice as it gripped him fully. Because of the timing, she assumed it had something to do with being shot. She implored him, “You need to go see someone.”
“About what?” he asked in ignorance.
“About whatever is troubling you. I don’t know if being shot has freaked you out somehow, or what. But, you aren’t yourself these days, and I’m worried about you. I’ve never seen you act depressed before. That’s not you. So you need to go see a therapist or something. You need to get past whatever is bothering you before it gets worse. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, or for me, then do it for Kyle. He deserves better than this.”
Once again it was his wife that alerted him to his own demeanor. This time, however, he listened. Shaken by the revelation, Lovelle promised that he would seek help. True to his word Lovelle went to see somebody. However, the somebody he went to see was
Cedric Baker. He might not really have closure without seeing Hardy, but, he was more difficult to reach, and Lovelle wasn’t really sure how he would react. Baker could at least settle for him the question of whether there was a support group of any kind. If there was a place to go and vent, Baker would surely know it.
Rather than trouble the man at home. Lovelle put his skills to use. He watched the man's house until he could determine where he worked, and then he approached him on the job.
He walked up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Mr. Baker, could I have a minute of your time?”
Baker’s face had a glimmer of recognition, but, also of doubt. “Sure, what can I do for you?”
“My name’s Curtis Lovelle. I think we've met before.”
Baker’s face darkened. “Mr. Lovelle. The mystery time traveler. I knew I recognized you. But I’ve never seen you at middle age. So, Mr. Lovelle, tell me something. Now that it’s all over, were you the vigilante?”
“Yes sir, I was.”
“You were a pebble in my shoe for the longest time. I’m not sure I even want to talk to you. There may be no evidence now, but, you’re a cold blooded killer. You may have been my killer, for all I know.”
“Yeah, l killed a lot of people, but, not you. You can look to Elton Hardy for that one.”
“Elton?” Baker looked surprised, but, for only a moment. A look of understanding came over his face, “You know, I knew he was up to somethin’. I guess he suspected I knew.”
Lovelle continued his original thought, “And I’m no threat to anyone now. I no longer know the future, so I’ve hung up my guns as it were. We can debate the justness of my actions if you like, now that it’s all academic. But, if you’re not interested in that, I understand. You might be interested to know just exactly what went on after you were murdered though. I did get to have a chat with Hardy, and I do know why he blew up the club. I also know why time has finally moved on. If you’re interested.”
How could anyone resist an offer like that. Baker could hate Lovelle to the core, but, he could not deny that the man had information he wanted to hear.
“How about dinner, tonight?”
***
Lovelle laid it all out for Baker. He started at the end to prove his value, and then worked his way back through time. He talked nearly non-stop for more than an hour, and when he was done at least he felt better. Baker let him ramble on, waiting patiently for the story to unfold. “I had a feeling Elton was working on his own agenda.” He finally said. “I never should have trusted him.”
“Don’t feel too bad. He had been working on that agenda just about as long as we had on ours. He had killed a lot of people before you. And he had saved you for the end for a reason.”
“Yeah. Because he wanted to bond with you.” Baker said bitterly.
“Partly that.” Lovelle acknowledged. “But he obviously respected your work as well, even if he disagreed with your motives.”
“My motives…” Baker said thoughtfully. “Let me ask you, do you feel vindicated because a killer like Elton was on your side in the debate?”
“No. But then, I was never looking for vindication or approval from anyone. I made my choice and I was comfortable with it. I am more than a little frustrated that everything I did turned out to be for nothing, but, I don’t regret my choices.” Lovelle stated. “Let me ask you, do you regret all the time you spent trying to stop people from making changes, since that turned out to be useless as well?
“I don’t regret anything I did. The club was doing the best it could, based on the information we had. I had as much reason to think we were on the right path as you did. And we weren’t doing anything to harm anyone.”
“I didn’t come here to debate the past, but, that last point is arguable.”
“How so?” Baker seemed irritated.
Lovelle was happy to answer. “I’d argue that stopping someone who has the foreknowledge and ability to save lives is harmful. You weren’t doing nothing. You were interfering in what I was doing.”
“What you were doing was against the law!” Baker barked.
“Yes it was. But the law doesn’t account for time travel. Every one of my victims was convicted in a court of law. And, in case you didn’t know, I went a step further with every one of them and conducted my own investigation, just to make sure there wasn’t a judicial mistake. They all needed to be stopped, and the only method I had for stopping them was assassination.” Lovelle argued. “Look, I understand the purpose of the law. I have no intention of violating it now that I have no special knowledge. But I stand by everything I did.”
“Yes, well, I guess none of that matters now. Everything we did has been erased. And I guess that’s for the best.” But he didn’t sound convinced. Lovelle suspected that for Baker, it wasn’t so much that his actions had been wiped out, but, that he no longer had his cult following.
“I assume you haven’t heard from Hardy?” Lovelle changed the subject.
“No. I’ve been expecting he would come, but, based on what you’ve told me, I doubt I’ll hear from him again.”
“I’m not too sure with him. Personally I expected to hear from him by now. He has to be chomping at the bit, wondering how he went from dying in the front seat of my car to picking up where he left off. He’s got to wonder what happened to me in the meantime.”
Chapter 25
Elton Hardy did indeed wonder. And there was little doubt that he would eventually find his way to Lovelle’s doorstep. But, his normal life wasn’t so simple as to allow him to pick up and leave. A Sergeant in the British military, Hardy had originally been whisked away from a tent in Afghanistan. One moment he was listening to his Captain lay out the plan for an upcoming raid on a Taliban encampment, and the next he was settling in behind a school desk preparing for the start of his next class. Several lifetimes later he was dying in Lovelle’s passenger seat and suddenly found himself back in the Afghan tent.
Being fully awake and attentive, Hardy couldn’t really entertain the notion that everything he had gone through was an elaborate dream. Even so, he had been so sure that his death at the hands of Lovelle would be the final end for him, that he could not help wondering if he were completely deluded. In his position it would be a matter of months before he could do anything to verify that it was all too real. When his current tour of duty ended and he returned to England, Hardy went straight away to see his fellow British time traveler, the serial killer. Finding the man very much alive, rather than a figment of his imagination, he confronted him. The killer further validated his experience by pleading for his life.
“Please! Surely there’s no need for the pistol. I’m no threat to anyone now. I was just fooling around with the reset. No one really got hurt. I wouldn’t do anything now that time is back to normal. I promise you.”
Hardy answered, his voice thick with contempt. “Even if I believed you, which I most assuredly do not, I simply could not let you get away with the twisted, violent things you’ve done. And since I have no evidence upon which to present you to the authorities, I will simply have to dispense justice myself.”
Thomas fell to his knees, groveling. “No! Please! They’re all fine now. I would never have done it if they weren’t going to come back. They don’t even know it happened.”
“Which is exactly why it’s up to me to take care of matters. You see, I’ve lived for more than a hundred years since you last saw me. And in all that time I have never forgotten what you did to those women. I had believed you were gone for good. Now you will be.” Hardy fired three rounds into the man’s head then exited the apartment building via a service door.
He had little concern that he would be caught for this murder. A fedora and scarf ensured there would be no useful eye witness or video identification. He had picked up his handgun, a Chinese knockoff of a Russian Tokarev, from a small time French arms dealer he knew to be discreet. And in this life there was absolutely zero connection between him and his vict
im. Finding Thomas removed any lingering doubt about the reality of his long life. It gave him a sense of peace that would allow him to get on with living.
Eventually he would need to speak with Curtis Lovelle. Not because he expected some earthshaking revelation. In the end, he doubted that Lovelle either anticipated or understood why they had all been resurrected. But he was curious to know what he had missed, and Lovelle was the only one who could fill in that gap. However, there was something he needed to take care of before he could start any long term planning.
***
Hardy walked into the office of his Commanding Officer. He snapped off a sharp salute and his CO returned the gesture in kind, if a little more casually.
“What can I do for you Sgt. Hardy?”
“Sir. I just wanted to inform you that I do not intend to re-enlist.”
“Really.” The officer was obviously surprised. Hardy was only two years from earning his full military pension. “Why is that? You’re not having some kind of family trouble? Something we can help you with?”
“No sir. Nothing like that. To be perfectly honest, I have simply seen and done enough killing. I’m ready to try a little normal civilian life while I still have the time to enjoy it.”
A distant future
Several men and women sat in what amounted to a small theater. They were watching the scene in the C.O.’s office on a large video display. The grainy video was clearly never meant to be displayed on such a grand scale. It had been captured on a security camera hung in the corner of the office, and its consequences had gone unrecognized for several centuries. The screen went blank and a youthful looking man stepped in front and addressed the audience.
“We’re very lucky to have recovered such a definitive piece of evidence. Very few visual records of that obscurity, and from that time, remain today. So much of their security video was still being captured on physical tape, which was intended for repeated reuse. Even their digital files were routinely erased too make room. This particular officer just so happened to like having his own records. And this was discovered among a collection of his private effects that has been passed down through several generations of his family. And so, we can see not only the end result of this time intervention, but, a very good explanation of how we came to that result.”
Time Skip (Book 2): The Time Skippers Page 24
