“How do you know she didn’t get divorced?”
“Maybe she did,” Derek agreed. “You could be saving her from making the biggest mistake of her life.”
“Unbelievable,” Jason muttered.
“Huh?”
“I said, you’re unbelievable. You always find a way to turn a situation around and make is sound so...positive,” Jason sighed.
“Well, that’s because I’m a positive guy, which is why I’m confident that it won’t hurt for you to just go on one date with her.”
Jason just turned and stared at Derek.
“Come on man!” Derek’s upbeat tone turned to desperate plea. “She’s fucking beautiful. You’d be an idiot to pass this up.”
“She was stunning,” Jason thought, but beautiful or not, it was too dangerous. “You’re a smart guy, Derek...maybe not right now...but you have your moments.”
“Thanks?” Derek replied confused.
“You know that I can’t do it. You know the danger and we just can’t risk something like that.”
“Unbelievable, I go through all of that to get you a date with what is probably the hottest woman you’ve ever met...and still is by the way...” he flashed Sarah’s profile picture on his phone, “...and you tell me you can’t go on one simple date with her?”
Jason just stared at Derek as he completed his rant, avoiding eye contact as he returned his attention to the picture on the phone.
Looking up Derek saw that Jason was watching him. he glanced back down at his phone and then back up at Jason. “Alright, fine. I get it,” he finally gave in to Jason’s logic. “You’re right. I understand the risk, but...just look at what you’re giving up,” he flashed the phone again, this time holding it up longer for Jason to see.
“Derek was right,” Jason thought. Even in her early forties she was still stunning with her long blonde hair blowing in the wind in what appeared to be a photo shot on a beach somewhere.
“You’ve gotta promise me one thing though,” Derek insisted as he returned the phone to his pocket.
“What’s that?”
“You, me and shots of whiskey at The Belligerent Leprechaun tomorrow night.”
“I—”
“—No! You have no say in the matter,” Derek interjected before Jason could decline. “I’m going to get you laid my friend because whatever backup you have in your piping down there...,” he motioned to Jason’s crotch, “...is causing you to make some piss poor decisions.”
Jason knew better than to argue. Derek had made the declaration, so it was decided. He knew exactly how the night would go though. They’d go to the bar and meet two relatively attractive women. But, instead of getting his chance at one of them, Derek would get drunk and, if he didn’t bang them both in the bathroom, he’d bring them back to the dorm, leaving Jason with a choice, run off to the lab for a night of number crunching or lie awake listening to the sounds of the ménage á trois taking place only ten feet from his bed. He did have a lot of data to sift through, so maybe that plan wasn’t so bad after all.
“Fine,” Jason agreed, looking forward to the likely productive evening.
“Good. It’s settled then,” Derek declared. “Now, I’m going to bed. They don’t tell you in movies but time travel really takes a lot out of you. You coming?”
“No, I’m going to get started on this. I’ll be up in a bit.”
“Well, don’t be too late honey. Time travel apparently makes you horny as well,” Derek joked as he used his hand, tongue and cheek to mime a blow-job before laughing and disappearing through the door.
Not surprised by Derek’s vulgar humor, especially when floating on cloud-nine, Jason just smiled and returned to the thousands of lines of data on the screen.
NINETEEN
“I’m home!,” Phil announced as he walked through the front door to his daughter standing at the foot of the stairs, arms crossed with the look of a parent who just caught their teenage son sneaking back into the house in the middle of the night.
“Where have you been?”
“You knew that I had to go into Boston for that convention today. It took longer than expected. I’m sorry I didn’t call,” Phil apologized for his tardiness. “What’s that smell?” he suddenly noticed the surprisingly pleasant aroma of non-burnt food, lingering in the air.
“I cooked you dinner,” Katie grinned.
Instantly he dreaded the culinary crime scene that awaited him in the kitchen. He wasn’t sure that the stove could take another one of his daughter’s meals. Kissing her on the cheek, he made his way down the hall, Katie following close behind. Rounding the corner, he was glad to see the kitchen still intact and remarkably clean. Then he spotted the bucket of KFC on the dining room table and three empty plates in front of the surrounding chairs. Laughing he turned. “Cooked, huh?”
“You were late, I had to reheat the sides a couple of times. That counts.”
“Thank you sweetheart. That was very thoughtful. I’m sorry I’m late.”
“That’s okay,” she smiled, giving her father a hug.
Looking over his daughter’s head with his arms around her, “What’s with the third plate?”
“Miss Moore was over for a bit.”
Phil broke the embrace. “Katie,” he playfully scolded.
“What?” she smiled. “Miss Moore is hot, Dad. Besides, she really likes you.”
“I thought we talked about this. You can’t keep trying to set me up with every single woman in town.”
“Miss Moore lives just outside of Cannon, Dad; in Dalton.”
“You know what I mean,” Phil smiled.
“You deserve to be happy too Dad.”
“I am happy. I have two of the most important people right here,” he placed one hand on his daughter’s shoulder and the other on her stomach.
“Beyond this I mean,” Katie looked past the sweet remark to remain on point. “I mean, you deserve to find love again. You can’t keep running away from the chance to be happy again. Mom wouldn’t have wanted it that way and you know it.”
“I know sweetheart and you’re right. I should get back out there. Trust me. I want to love again but you have to understand that it has to happen on my own terms and when I’m ready. Right now my focus is on you and that precious little girl in there. Right now, that’s all the love I need. I promise you, when I’m ready, you’ll be the first to know and then you can fix me up with whomever you see fit. Deal?”
“Deal,” Katie smiled.
“So how was your day?” he changed the subject as he began building a plate of food from the containers on the table.
“Mark asked me to the junior prom today,” she replied.
Caught off guard, Phil froze, the chicken leg in his hand hovering only inches from the plate on which he’d intended to place it.
“Mark?” he bought himself some time to recover as he continued filling his plate.
He knew who Mark was. He was the youngest of the three Fossy kids. As far as he could recall he was a decent kid, kept to himself and didn’t really cause any problems. The same couldn’t be said for his older brother’s however.
“You know Mark, Daddy.”
“Yeah, I remember Mark. So, did you say yes?” he asked, all the while “please say no, please say no” was looping through his mind.
They’d had enough problems with boys lately, namely Jordan McCandlis, the fifteen year old father of the little angel currently inhabiting his daughter’s womb. When his mother found out that he’d gotten Katie pregnant, she’d shipped him off to live with his father somewhere in California. They hadn’t heard from him since, but frequent encounters with Miss McCandlis in town never seemed to get any less uncomfortable.
“I said yes, Daddy.”
“Damn,” he thought as he turned with a smile and a plate full of food for the microwave. “That’s great dear.”
“I know what you’re thinking Daddy and you have nothing to worry about.”
“W
hat could I have to worry about?” he commented, glancing at his daughter’s stomach and instantly wishing that he hadn’t.
“I’m sorry about Jordan and this,” her nervous happiness grew hostile.
“No, sweetie,” he put the plate down, moving closer to his daughter. “I didn’t mea…”
“I know,” she lowered her head. “I didn’t mean to get upset.”
Placing a finger under her chin, Phil lifted his daughter’s gaze to meet his. “I love you very much, and while this isn’t exactly the situation that I wanted for you, I’m still very proud of you and wouldn’t want things to be any different. Now, tell me about Mark.”
Looking into her father’s eyes she could tell that he was being genuine. Early on in the pregnancy they’d had their blowouts. They’d said everything that needed to be said and had even gone into family counseling to help work through the less than ideal situation. Quickly they’d come to the conclusion that yelling and fighting wasn’t good for anyone, so they’d agreed that, whenever a situation turned negative or angry words were about to be exchanged, they would both just take a breath, acknowledge each other’s sides and move on. It had proved an effective method for dealing with things.
“Sooo?” he awaited a response.
“He was so sweet, Daddy. I knew what he was going to ask. He’d already asked me last week but I’d said no.”
“Last week?” Phil thought. This was news to him.
“I just couldn’t say no this time. Remember that dress we saw in the store a while back?”
“The pink one?”
“Uh, ha. I told him about it and he remembered and bought it for me.
“He’s a crafty one,” he thought. Maybe he would have to take a closer look at the third Fossy kid after all.
“And not just that, he also found a tiny one for little Isabella. Oh, that’s right. I didn’t tell you yet. I’m thinking Isabella for a name.”
New boy, new dresses, baby names; there was way too much information being thrown his way.
“Anyway, he’s really nice and there’s nothing for you to worry about so don’t go being big, mean mister cop if you see him around town. He already knows you're a cop and I told him you were really a big softy and not to worry.”
“Well, that’s emasculating,” he thought.
“Do you want to see the dress?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Daddy,” she scolded.
“Of course I do, where is it?”
“It’s upstairs, I’ll be right back,” she exclaimed as she hopped in place, then ran for the stairs.
Phil returned to the microwave, but instead of inserting his plate, he stared at the machine, wondering if he could fit his head inside and still manage to turn it on.
TWENTY
Disarmed
Ty stared at the single word on the transmitter in his hand. If everything was functioning as planned, the Nesbit’s new alarm system displayed ‘active’ on every control panel, even though he had just deactivated it from almost a block away.
“Now remember Ty,” Grandma Ushi continued to offer advice from the back seat of the car. “In and out. Don’t let them know you there.”
“Yes, Grandma,” he responded, somewhat annoyed. He knew what he was doing. He’d been watching the Nesbit’s for weeks now. He knew their patterns. He knew their habits. This being his grandmother’s first time however, she apparently felt that it was her duty to point out every potential situation, unaware that a solution for nearly every scenario had already been carefully considered.
“Which one theirs?” Ushi questioned as she leaned forward between the seats.
“It’s around the corner,” Ty replied.
“Why we so far away?”
“Because, after last night’s events, the police have increased their presence in this neighborhood.”
“Well, I have not seen a cop yet,” Ushi huffed as she sat back in her seat.
As much as he loved and respected his grandmother, at the moment, he just wanted to tell her to shut up. He knew what he was doing. He would have preferred to have left her at home but she’d insisted on coming along. Just in case something did go wrong, she wanted to be on the road and out of town as quickly as possible, which is why she’d insisted that he load the trunk with all of their belongings as well as install the carseat in the backseat beside her.
“This is best plan,” she’d proclaimed and honestly, he couldn’t argue with her logic. “What you waiting for?” she grew impatient in the backseat. “Go get him.”
“I am, Grandma. I just disarmed the alarm,” Ty fought his frustration.
“Remember, in and out.”
“Yes, Grandma.” With that last bit of unnecessary advice, he pulled at the door handle and quickly hopped out of the car, quietly closing the door and ending his grandmother’s incessant nagging.
With an abundance of vehicles parked along the residential street as usual, he didn’t see any reason why his would stand out to a passing police cruiser, and with heavily tinted windows, no one would be able to see the elderly woman quietly waiting inside. He, on the other hand, was now out in the open, and not wanting to risk being seen, quickly made his way down the street, the view of his car and watchful Grandmother disappearing as he turned the corner onto the Nesbit’s street.
*****
A flash of lightening, followed by distant thunder startled Jason awake.
11:45 pm
He’d returned to the dorm around eleven to find Derek already asleep, which had initially come as a surprise given his roommate’s love of the night and utter distain for the time wasting activity, but given the excitement of the day, his choice was understandable, and by eleven thirty, he too had drifted from reality.
Another flash of lightening lit the room, followed by an even quicker, louder clap of thunder. Glancing toward Derek’s bed, Jason attempted to make out the shadowy figure asleep in the bed across from him. Since the day they’d moved into the dorm together, there hadn’t been one night that Derek hadn’t rattled the walls with his obnoxiously loud snoring. The first few months had been torture for Jason. He’d tried everything from a pillow over his head to noise canceling headphones but, after nearly strangling himself with the cord one night, he’d opted to just deal with the noise, which is what made his roommate’s current state seem so odd. Though Derek was dead asleep, the room was completely silent.
While the peace and quiet was a welcomed change, it was also a source of concern. Derek hadn’t felt the strange sensation when making the initial jump that morning nor upon their return…or at least that’s what he’d said. Meanwhile, Jason had felt it both times, even more so the second time. Wondering if Derek really had felt the odd sensation, Jason quickly sat up in bed, placing his hand to his heart as he recalled the quickened heartbeat which had accompanied the full body tingling. What if Derek had experienced the same sensations and cardiovascular response? While he’d recovered relatively quickly, the sensations fading only minutes after arrival, what if Derek had been experiencing something different? The quickened heart rate could account for his amped up energy in the lab earlier and for his almost euphoric demeanor. It could also be the reason why their room was now completely silent.
“Derek,” Jason whispered in a concerned tone.
There was no response.
“Derek, are you alright?”
Again nothing.
Tossing back the covers, Jason got to his feet. “Derek, are you dead?”
He instantly wondered why he’d chosen those exact words. If he was dead, he certainly wasn’t going to audibly confirm it.
Along with having to adjust to sleeping in a room with a running lawn mower, Jason had also grown accustomed to sleeping in complete darkness. Derek had insisted that he couldn’t sleep if even one ray of light, whether natural or manmade, struck his eyelids. As far as he could remember, he’d always slept with some sort of night light, but as with the snoring, he’d managed to ad
just, and now the darkness was as much a comfort to him as it was to his nearby roommate. What he couldn’t get used to was navigating the cluttered floor, which made midnight bathroom visits an often frustrating and sometimes toe busting experience. Now the cloak of darkness was limiting his view of his hopefully sleeping friend.
“Derek, wake up,” he spoke louder. He had to know that he was alright, even if that meant stumbling over to Derek’s bed and shaking him awake.
Another bolt of lightning lit the room and this time, Derek’s empty bed.
Surprised, Jason fumbled for the lamp, filling the room with a soft artificial glow. The shadowy figure that he thought he’d seen was nothing more than a body double made of covers and a couple of pillows.
“Derek?” Jason called out as he made his way toward the bathroom.
Again no answer, as confirmed by the empty adjoining room.
“Where did you go?” he wondered aloud as his eyes fell upon the desk at the foot of Derek’s bed. “Unbelievable,” he sighed as he quickly hurried to his dresser, pulling out a t-shirt and pair of jeans.
When he’d arrived home less than an hour ago, the backpack, which had contained all of Derek’s wiring had been lying on the desk, but more importantly, the medical coat that they’d gone out of their way to obtain, had been resting beside it. Now both were gone.
Quickly, Jason threw on his clothes and fumbled with his shoes, nearly falling as he neglected to untie his right shoe before attempting to shove his foot inside.
“How could he?” he mumbled. “He knows the risks. We agreed to wait until I was done analyzing the data. How could he just run off without me and—?”
A sudden chime from Derek’s nightstand ended the one sided conversation as Jason glanced in its direction to see Derek’s personal iPad lit up beside his bed. Curious, he wondered toward it. On the screen was a text, but by the time he got close enough to read it, the tablet went dark. Curiosity getting the better of him, Jason picked up the computer, sliding his finger along the bottom until it fell into the familiar, circular depression. He pressed it, but at the same time, lost his grip on the device and watched in horror as the expensive toy slipped from his hands, bounced off the corner of the nightstand and struck the floor at the exact moment another boom of thunder shook the room.
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