Agent E2: Aidan (Superhero Romance) (The D.I.R.E. Agency)

by Hahn, Joni

  Laying back, he blew out a breath and shut his eyes.

  You’re a wuss, Monroe. They should’ve sent Jacobs.

  He bent and puked again. Shit. He should’ve skipped breakfast with Cass, but he’d been famished after missing dinner last night. Next time, he'd do IVs before he left.

  Next time? Hell, you don’t even know if you made it to nineteen forty-four this time. Get your ass up.

  Rising to his feet with a groan, Aidan bent over as dizziness choked him. He checked his armband. No D.I.R.E. network, no internet. Good signs.

  Bringing up the video recorder, Aidan looked down at the camera, sweat dripping from his brow. “Robinson, I’ve been puking my guts out since I got here. We need to fix that.” He flicked it off.

  Taking a deep breath, Aidan straightened and waited for the dizziness to dwindle. He had to get with it. The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could get back to Cass.

  Walking through the forest of birch, oak, and hickory trees, the sound of water lapping reached his ears. A few more feet, he broke through the brush and came upon a lake. If he’d made it to nineteen forty-four Princeton, this had to be Lake Carnegie. In the distance, due southwest, stood the radio tower.

  Bingo.

  Making his way south on Washington Road, he headed west on Route One and over the railroad tracks. In minutes, Aidan stood beneath the radio tower. Looking around, he found no obstacles, no security issues other than a locked fence to detain him.

  He may get back sooner than he’d thought.

  Making his way north-northwest, Aidan’s stomach felt better now, the dizziness gone. He wouldn’t be rushing out to find a Royal Crown cola, but he could get around okay.

  A half hour later, Aidan glanced around the grounds of the Institute of Advanced Studies. He’d made it. He’d actually traveled back in time. The living proof surrounded him.

  The Institute’s unique habitat on Olden Farm was unquestionably beautiful, the woods and farmlands a tranquil surprise in comparison to most modern-day campuses. A mint Ford Tudor passed him on Alexander Street and crossed over Mercer.

  Albert Einstein lived on Mercer. Wouldn’t it be wild if he passed him on one of his common walks to the Institute?

  He tucked his head into the collar of a raincoat he’d taken for cover from an open car. Thank goodness Robinson had the foresight to invent headgear that collapsed into the neck of his suit. It would’ve sucked to have to carry around a helmet.

  The overcast sky looked like rain. Though it was summer, the early afternoon weather felt pleasant with a light breeze ruffling his hair.

  He passed a guy on the street, avoiding eye contact. Just his luck, the Institute, and Princeton University down the street, had been all-male back in the forties. Not a woman in sight.

  Aidan shook his head. Crazy didn’t begin to describe where

  he physically stood right now. He felt like he’d stepped onto a movie set. While the urge to tour the area ate at him, he knew he had to find Professor Chalmers.

  Before he left, Aidan and the D.I.R.E. Team had decided he would start at Einstein’s office in Fuld Hall. He knew it would be easier just to ask someone where he could find it. However, knowing he already altered the future by being there, he needed to keep the change to a minimum.

  A woman walked up Alexander Street, away from him, her golden blonde hair reminding him of Cass. Though it was cut shorter than Cass wore it, the color looked almost identical.

  What was she doing in the area? Dressed in a yellow dress and matching hat, she certainly wasn’t dressed like a cafeteria worker or janitor.

  Without realizing it, he’d followed the blonde to Dinky Railroad Station and the adjacent industrial warehouses. The area was a bustle of activity, with men loading and unloading crates and boxes from a train.

  The woman took a set of concrete steps up to the landing of a boarded-up warehouse. Several of the men stopped working to watch her. Some whispered amongst themselves, others watched her with narrowed eyes rather than wolf whistles.

  The only woman in the area went into a deserted warehouse alone?

  That peaked Aidan’s interest.

  However, he didn’t want the men noticing him so he stayed back for a while and let the activity get back to normal. Hell, if she’d picked up on him somehow and suspected he followed her, taking some time could only help to lower her defenses.

  Leaning against a brick wall, Aidan frowned as he swallowed hard. Damn, he needed a drink after all. Something to wash this god-awful taste out of his mouth. It wasn’t like he could pop into a burger joint and pick up a Royal Crown. Maybe he could snag someone’s lunch thermos when they weren’t looking and leave them one of the special five-dollar Federal Reserve Notes he’d brought.

  Looking around the corner, he saw that the men had gotten back to work. Tugging up the collar on his coat, Aidan made his way to the deserted warehouse. However, rather than following her through the same door, he searched the perimeter of the structure first.

  The building had the usual docks that faced the railroad tracks. However, at the far end of the building, facing due south, sat another set of large doors that opened up into a large paved area. Why would they need a set of doors facing that direction?

  The solid, wooden doors were secured with a heavy chain and padlock. Nudging them open a crack, Aidan peeked through the slit.

  The wide brim of the time machine sat no more than twenty feet from the doors.

  His narrow viewing area didn’t allow him to see the entire craft, but he would recognize the design, the shape, the lights anywhere.

  He needed to get inside.

  Mitchell told you to just find Chalmers’ lab. That’s it.

  Yes, but what did it matter if he determined how to get inside now or next time? And, after discovering the craft today, there would be a next time.

  Heading back the way he came, Aidan found the electrical box on the back wall. Yanking it open, he touched his gloved fingers to the box. Sparks popped and zapped before smoke wafted from the panel. Inside, he heard the lights power down before the buzz of conversation ensued.

  Running down to the south end of the building, Aidan ducked behind a crate. The position gave him full view of anyone coming from either direction. Soon, a blond man wearing a Navy uniform and carrying a Junior Commando came around the far corner of the building. Stopping at the electrical box, he cursed aloud before shaking his head. Slamming shut the panel door, he went back the way he came.

  Little hard to commit treason in the dark, huh?

  A few minutes later, a short, dark-haired man in uniform came around the front of the building to the south entrance. Opening the lock, he lowered the chain and swung open one of the wooden doors.

  Aidan heard a car start up inside. Peering around the crate, a maroon, Pontiac Deluxe 8 Silver Streak slowly came into view. Behind the wheel, the hot brunette from his father’s electronics store.

  Score.

  That left at least the blond sailor and the blonde woman inside. With this clown standing out here, that gave him three to one odds. He had this.

  After the car drove out of sight, the sailor shut the big door. With his back to the empty lot, the man pulled the chain through the handles. Aidan crept up and wrenched him into a headlock. Grabbing his right shoulder with his left hand, Aidan cut off the blood circulation in his carotid artery. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

  Snatching the keys from the sailor’s hand, Aidan dragged him inside the door and shut it. The interior of the warehouse lay in dark shadows, with sunlight filtering through the narrow windows at the top of the walls.

  On the other side of the time machine, voices echoed off the concrete floor – one female, and at least two males. Aidan pulled the gun from inside his suit. He prayed to God he didn’t have to use it.

  Taking a deep breath, he peered around the time machine.

  Working at a desk fifty or so feet away, sat Albert… freaking… Einstein. Aidan bit the
inside of his lips to keep from shouting aloud.

  Robinson would freak.

  With the high windows above his head, Einstein still had good light to work on the left side of the room. However, bookshelves along the right side of the warehouse sat in virtual darkness.

  Separating the time machine from the office area were four large chalkboards on wheels. The wall of chalkboards prevented him from seeing what sat on the other side.

  Moving to the dark side of the room, he made his way along the brick wall. Reaching the edge of the closest chalkboard, he peered around the corner. Work tables and desks scattered to the far end of the warehouse. A model of the time machine sat on one table, with papers, drawings and books littering several tables around it.

  A tall man with salt and pepper hair sat across a desk from the blonde, her back to Aidan. He wore dark-rimmed glasses, a tie and trousers.

  He had to be Chalmers.

  The blond sailor from the alley and one other uniformed man lounged in chairs at a table, reading newspapers.

  Okay, now you know what you’re dealing with. Get out of there before the babe gets back or they see you.

  The woman threw back her head and laughed, the high-pitched sound flooding Aidan’s mind with thoughts of Cass. He really needed to get back.

  He just had to get some video.

  Turning on his recorder, Aidan held up his armband and videotaped the contents of the room and their movements. Mitchell and Tristan would have a cow when they saw this.

  Freaking Einstein.

  A horn honked at the back doors. Shit.

  “Jocelyn’s back with lunch.” The blonde looked around. “Where’s Nichols?”

  Looking up from their papers, the two sailors frowned as they stood and looked around. Setting down the papers on their chairs, they went out the front door.

  Aidan cursed mentally. He couldn’t go to the back doors. To follow them out the front door would expose him to Chalmers, Einstein and the woman.

  So much for not engaging. Mitchell would be pissed.

  Backtracking, he grabbed a wrench from a worktable by the machine. Going back to his position by the chalkboard, he tossed the wrench across the warehouse. It hit the far wall with a ping and clattered to the floor, the ring echoing throughout the building.

  All three whipped around, following the sound. Chalmers jumped up, pulling a gun from his blazer on the back of the chair. The woman pulled a gun from a desk drawer and stood.

  Chalmers motioned for Einstein to get under the desk. Making his way to the far side of the room, Chalmers motioned for the blonde to head Aidan’s way.

  Oh shit.

  Ducking behind the chalkboard, he watched the woman come around the corner, gun out in front of her.

  He held his breath, his heart beating riotously in his chest.

  Don’t engage, don’t engage…

  As soon as she traveled a few feet past him, he slipped around the corner and headed for the front door. Running on his toes, he got within fifteen feet of the door when it flew open.

  The two sailors ran inside.

  Aidan skidded to a stop. Aw, hell.

  Drawing their guns, they fired at him. He dove under one of the work tables and scrambled out the other side. They fired again. He ducked behind a desk.

  Footsteps came from the back room. “Come out and we won’t hurt you,” the woman said.

  Dammit. He couldn’t shoot his way out, or risk taking a

  hit to his suit. He definitely couldn’t die in nineteen forty-four.

  He really didn’t have a choice anymore.

  Aidan jumped up from behind the desk, arms out in front of him. Lightning bolts shot from his diodes like machine gun fire, sending the others flying for cover.

  “Oh my gosh,” he heard the woman cry. “Professor Einstein, can you see this?”

  “Who are you?” Chalmers shouted, his voice deep, loud over the crackling electricity.

  Making his way to the front door, Aidan focused his energy on the room. If he could just get outside, he could lose them.

  At the threshold, he cursed when the door opened from the outside.

  The brunette held a gun to his head. “You.”

  Grabbing the gun with his hand, electrical current shot through her, sending her flying back onto the concrete landing. Letting the door slam shut behind him, he rushed to her side.

  He extended a hand to help her up.

  She shook her head violently, her eyes wide with fear.

  He heard the others coming. “They’re traitors.”

  Her chest heaved but she said nothing.

  The door opened. He had to get out of there.

  “Stay safe.”

  He ran the length of the landing and jumped off the end. He headed south, toward the tower.

  A bullet shot past his head. Ducking low, he ran to the edge of the next warehouse and down the alley. He’d have to get there the long way.

  Making his way through a maze of alleys and warehouses, he knew he’d lost them but he didn’t know for how long. They had cars at their disposal.

  The forest appeared before him. Flying through the woodland, he ducked through bushes and swatted at branches. He knew the open area that ran the length of Alexander Street to Route 1 would leave him exposed. Reaching the edge of the forest, he went for it.

  Running for the tower, Aidan saw the maroon Pontiac Deluxe come into view from his left.

  Shit. At this rate, he’d run right into her.

  Mustering power to his diodes, he felt electricity crackle and zap around him, ready for release.

  She saw him coming. He veered off to the right, away from her. Pulling over to the side of the road, she got out of the car and stood by her open door.

  “Stop. Please.”

  Aidan kept running. Don’t engage. Don’t engage. You’ve already done too much.

  Crossing Route One, he ran for the fence that housed the radio tower. She followed him to the gate and skidded to a stop. He hit the fence running and hopped over.

  “Wait. Take me with you.”

  Stopping in his tracks, Aidan turned around.

  Terror marred her beautiful face. Dammit.

  “Please.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t. Get back to the future and we’ll help you. You have my word.”

  He turned back around and ran to the tower. Climbing up, he saw that she watched him, her hand shading her eyes.

  Storm clouds rolled in as he focused his energy on the massive structure. Lowering her hand, she looked around as thunderheads built and rain fell in sheets from the sky. Wind whipped at her dark hair, lightning streaking with evil abandon.

  A Dodge sedan pulled up beside her. The sailors shoved open their doors against the gale force winds. They fired at him, a bullet pinging off the tower above his head.

  Dammit, he had to get out of there.

  With a roar of fierce, unbridled energy, he felt the radio tower disappear from his grasp – just as a bullet hit him.

  Chapter 14

  Cass stared at the barren landscape outside the lab window, the sun shining bright in the noon sky. Since Aidan left, she’d tried to keep herself away from windows, particularly at night. She couldn’t look at the stars without thinking of making love with him on the roof.

  During the day, she watched the weather, hoping, wishing, praying a storm would build suddenly, bringing him home. Admonishing herself, she’d walk away only to find herself back in front of the glass minutes later.

  It had been five days since Aidan left. Five days. The mission should’ve taken two at max. She knew Mitchell and Robinson thought he hadn’t made it. They hadn’t told her such, but she could see it in their faces.

  Hopelessness weighed on them all.

  Dreams had come to her in varying degrees. Some with Aidan flashing on the scene with his cocky, arrogant grin, others where Mitchell tells her they’re tearing down the equipment. He wasn’t coming back.

  The fear
had returned – in abundance.

  “Sis, you need to eat something.” Dar touched her elbow, a banana in his hand.

  Shaking her head, Cass looked at Rachel, who looked as sad as she felt. Her sister sat with her head on Tristan’s shoulder while he studied Robinson’s time travel documentation, looking for clues on how to reach Aidan. He hadn’t slept in two days.

  “Give it to Rachel. She hasn’t eaten.”

  “I tried.”

  Slumping her shoulders, Cass gave her brother a weak smile. He’d been so obedient, sticking by her side in case her father or one of his goons came near. Thank God Robert had left them alone.

  She knew the feeling. After her father had threatened her in his room, she teetered on the edge of madness.

  Disbelief still clouded her mind. Did she and Dar really mean so little to him?

  “Jacobs...” Aidan’s faint whisper came over Tristan’s armband.

  Tristan jumped in his chair. He shot out of it, his gaze shooting to the cloudless sky outside the window.

  Everyone rushed to Tristan’s side.

  He was alive.

  “Monroe,” Tristan said. “Tell me where you are. I’ll come get you.”

  Loud static echoed in the solemn lab.

  “Monroe.” He looked at Mitchell, then Robinson. “Where are you?”

  Static crackled for several seconds. “Can’t… too much… blood.”

  No. Her gaze shot to Mitchell, Robinson, Tristan. Do something, her mind cried. Help him.

  They all stood there, listening to the love of her life ask for help, knowing he wouldn’t ask unless he’d fallen into serious trouble.

  Knowing they were helpless.

  Grabbing Tristan’s armband, Cass called to him. “Aidan, come home.” Tears clogged her throat. “I need you.”

  Rachel rubbed her back as she held her hand to her mouth.

  “Cass...” Static crackled again, fainter this time. “…love you.”

  Shaking her head, she swallowed down a sob. “Where are you, Aidan? Tell me.”

  His voice cut in and out, like a bad internet connection. “Nowhere.”

  She looked at Robinson.