For now.
She was through a full pancake and two strips of bacon and her first cup of coffee when Brody asked her for his cellphone.
“In my handbag,” Taylor told him. His cellphone had been part of his personal effects she had signed for and collected at the station at one in the morning just before they’d headed for a random hotel on the outskirts of L.A.
Taylor settled back to sip her second coffee and nibble on a third strip of bacon, while she and Mia between them coaxed Marit into eating a bit more bacon and a bit less maple syrup.
Veris was working on his big laptop and Alexander was reading over his shoulder.
“Oh, sweet lord,” Brody breathed, where he sat on the still-made queen-sized bed. He spoke softly, but the room was almost silent and there was something in his tone that made every adult turn to look at him.
Taylor found herself on her feet. There was a stricken look on Brody’s face as he stared at his cellphone.
Veris pushed back from the desk. “Tell me,” he demanded.
Brody held out the cellphone. Veris took it, turned it around and read it. His face hardened. “Fuck,” he said.
“Veris,” Taylor said and glanced at Marit, who was watching him.
He sighed and handed her the phone. She took it, almost afraid to read whatever it was. She looked down. Brody had been reading an email. It was quite short. The email address was unknown to her. There was a quote. The whole email simply said: “While the State exists, there can be no freedom. When there is freedom there will be no State. Lenin (1870 - 1924), ‘State and Revolution’, 1919”
There was no signature, but none was needed. Taylor knew who would send such a pointed quote to Brody of all people.
Tira.
Taylor handed the phone to Alexander, feeling a little sick. “Is this a warning or the formal slap on the wrist?” she asked.
Brody spun to face her, his jaw slack with shock. “Last night was Tira’s doing?”
Taylor pointed at the phone. “That seems to imply it was.”
Veris crossed his arms. “You told her to leave your family out of it, Brody. So she did. She made it very personal indeed.”
“But…so fast?” He licked his lips as if they were dry.
Alexander put the phone on the desk. “Vampire speed. An army of clerks at her disposal. She has been researching you all for days, if not years. She knew of your activities, your intimate information, when she arrived last night. This could have been arranged in minutes, or even prearranged and executed with a couple of calls when she left.”
“I would have done it that way,” Veris growled. “Given us no time for a pre-emptive strike.”
“That’s what you were planning, wasn’t it?” Taylor asked. “A pre-emptive strike?”
“It’s one thing I had thought of,” Veris agreed with a growl. “But the call from the police cut right through any plans at all.” He swore softly, with a sideways glance at Marit. “It was a strategically brilliant move she made. Fast, ruthless and it gave Brody exactly the right message.”
Marit, perhaps sensing the strained atmosphere, climbed down from her chair and clambered onto the bed where Brody sat. She threw her arms around his neck from behind and rested her head on his back.
Brody drew her around and into his lap. “Come here, munchkin.”
Taylor sighed. “So she planted the stuff on the coach?”
“We’ll never be able to prove that in court,” Veris said. “We’ll just look stupid if we try. A death metal band member that doesn’t do drugs? They’ll laugh us out of court.”
“We could prove it if we taped her doing it,” Taylor pointed out patiently.
Everyone but Veris looked puzzled.
Veris exploded. “No!” He shook his head. “Absolutely not! We can’t fuck around with it that way. Not this close to our real time selves. God knows what we’d do to history.”
“Time travel is time travel. This close, any ripples we set up would be miniscule at best. The risks are negligible. You’re just panicking because you’ve never thought of using it this way.”
“Time travel?” Brody repeated. His frown disappeared. “You mean go back and tape her?” He straightened up.
Mia stood up. “I’m going to take Marit for a walk down to the indoor pool and the amusement park. Marit?” She held out her hand. “Let’s get some juice, huh?”
Marit’s puzzled expression fled. “Sure!” She crawled out of Brody’s lap and hurried over to take Mia’s hand.
Mia picked up a room key. “Text me on my cell when it’s a good time to come back, Taylor, okay?”
Alexander stood. “I’ll go with them.”
Taylor nodded. “Thanks, Mia. Alexander.”
Veris crossed his arms as the door closed. “I’m not panicking,” he said flatly.
“Yes, you are,” Brody shot back. “Taylor’s right. If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s a fucking duck. What difference does it make if we jump two days or two millennia? We go back, tape her planting the stuff and stash the tape somewhere safe. Come back here and collect the tape. Voilá. Proof for the courts.”
“The courts will want to know how we got the tape,” Veris insisted. “Where it came from. We can’t tell them we jumped back in time. We have to show a clear line of logic demonstrating how the evidence was collected and stored. It’s called the chain of evidence and if it’s broken the evidence is worth snot in a court of law.”
“Christ, you’re trying to teach me the laws of evidence?” Brody cried. “We’re talking about forty-eight hours! Something can sit in sealed locker for forty-eight hours.”
Veris hesitated. “Okay,” he agreed.
Brody pushed his hands through his hair. “Yes, it can,” he pushed. “My barrister days are dusty, but I know that much. As long as the seals are good, you’re covered. Find a barrister, a lawyer. Check with them. Who do you know, Veris? Someone high up. Know any appeal lawyers? Judges? Anyone who will take a call from you right now?”
Veris frowned. “I know one or two.”
“Call them. Ask them.”
“Which one?” Veris asked reasonably.
“All of them,” Taylor replied. “Consensus of opinion rules. We don’t do this unless they all agree.”
Brody held out his cellphone. “Here, use my phone.”
Taylor pushed it away. “Think Tira won’t be tracing it?” she asked. “Use the hotel phone,” she told Veris.
He nodded. Twenty minutes later he put the phone down and sat back. “It’s unanimous,” he agreed heavily, looking down at his notes. “Two copies, one sealed and unbroken and identical to the working copy, both dated and witnessed, will cover us.”
“So why do you sound so unhappy about it?” Brody demanded. “Is it that you don’t like me being right for a change?”
Veris looked up. His expression was rueful and there was a pinched, painful look in his eyes. “You know that’s not it,” he said. He stood up. “If we do this…if we go back two days to catch Tira planting the stash in your locker—”
“If?” Brody repeated.
“If we do it,” Veris continued firmly, “then you stay here, Brody. I won’t jump with you.”
Chapter Three
“Like fucking hell I stay here!” Brody exploded off the bed, his hands clenched, the tendons in his neck standing out. Fury radiated along every line of his body. “It’s my life she’s screwing up. It’s me the fucking cops tried to stuff into an oubliette.”
Veris didn’t move despite Brody’s anger. “And it’s your black Irish temper I’d be taking back with me,” he said softly. He shook his head. “Look at you.”
Brody’s chest was heaving. “How are you going to find your way back without my memory?”
“It’s only two days. I’ll manage,” Veris told him. “I was here two days ago, too.”
Brody shook his head. “I want to go.” He looked at Taylor. “Don’t leave me sitting here and worrying.”
Taylor stood. “You did say we shouldn’t split up, Veris.”
Veris looked at Brody. “You’re going to make her feel guilty for you? That’s cheap.”
Brody shook his head. “It’s true, this time. Last time we jumped it was a fucking disaster that was averted by a gnat’s whisker. I won’t be left sitting here on my hands while you two jump back into god knows what.”
Veris closed his eyes. “Fuck.” He sighed. “There’s other reasons you shouldn’t come. Reasons I can’t speak of.”
Brody snorted. “Like what?”
Veris rolled his eyes. “Obviously, when I say I can’t speak of them, I can’t speak of them.” His tone was impatient.
Taylor knew, suddenly, what Veris wouldn’t say. The time travelling they did was a function of their combined talents. She provided the push, the power. But Brody and Veris, or just Brody or Veris, provided the direction and that direction came from whatever they were thinking of—whatever was strongest in their minds at the time they jumped.
Veris was afraid that Brody’s experience with the police had dredged up his fears and memories of his time as a slave and it would color his thoughts when they jumped.
Worse, if Veris even raised the subject in discussion, it would keep the matter in the forefront of Brody’s mind. That was why he wouldn’t discuss it, why he was dodging behind the “couldn’t” excuse.
Taylor cleared her throat. “Veris is right, Brody. This is something he can’t discuss.”
Brody spun to face her. “You know of this conspiracy, too?”
Taylor saw surprise skitter over Veris’ face before he got his expression under control.
“Yes, I know what Veris is talking about,” she told Brody. “You’ll just have to trust him. Us. You really don’t want to know about this.”
Brody’s face hardened. “For my own good, huh?”
Taylor hesitated. “I would never be so condescending,” she replied.
“Then tell me this mysterious something isn’t you two trying desperately to avoid any mention of my enslavement,” Brody shot back. “Just in case my fragile mind can’t handle the strain.”
Veris sighed and threw himself into the big armchair that Brody had been sitting in last evening. “Well, fuck,” he muttered, sounding disgusted.
Taylor tried to ignore the guilt digging at her. “I’m sorry, Brody. Although it’s not the vulnerability of your mind that is the issue. You steer the jumps. If you’re subconsciously worrying over that it could affect the jump.”
“Which is why you should stay right here with Marit,” Veris finished.
Brody pushed his hand through his hair, staring at the wall. For long minutes he was silent. Then he got up and came and sat next to Veris, so that he was looking at Taylor. He picked up Taylor’s hand.
“Here’s what I think,” he said. “I’m not so good with the philosophy and fifty dollar words, like you two, so just shut up and listen while I get it all out.” Again, he looked far away, marshaling his thoughts. “We all need to go together. Alexander and Mia can watch Marit. Alex adores her and Mia is devoted to her so we know she is in good hands no matter what happens. But it’s important we all jump. We’ve always all jumped on the big jumps and it would be wrong to change that now.” He grimaced. “I got us into this mess by telling Tira to come after me, so it makes sense I should jump back and clean up my own mess, now. I don’t like the idea of sitting around here waiting for you two to do all the heavy lifting for me.”
He rested his hand on Veris’ knee. “Here’s the other thing. I don’t want to screw up the jump. Of course I don’t. I just want to go back two days, nail Tira’s ass to the legal wall and get back to our lives. But you often talk about fate and blind corners and not counting on life going the way you plan on it happening. Okay…so maybe we just hit a big corner. But if the jump goes screwy, so what? We’re together, the three of us. We’ll figure it out. We did the last time. We’ll do it again.”
“’Screwy’ can cover a lot of territory,” Veris said. His voice was hoarse.
Brody shrugged. “I just know I don’t want any of us flipping back in time without all of us doing it together. It was the lack of one of us that nearly killed us, last time.”
Veris dropped his head.
Brody curled his hand around the back of Veris’ neck. “I don’t say it just to stir your guilt.”
“You say it because it’s the truth,” Veris whispered. He lifted his head and looked at Taylor. “You have as much right to say yes or no here as either of us. More, really. Do we jump all together and risk fate?”
Taylor shrugged. “Hobson’s choice,” she said simply. “Of course we all go. I prefer this to be the simple in and out it should be, but the idea of being stuck in history somewhere without both of you is frankly terrifying.”
Veris nodded and looked at Brody. “The orator of the people.” He grimaced. “You even sold me.” He kissed him and stood up. “Taylor, if you get Alex and Mia back, I’ll put some preparations in place. Brody, do you still have what it takes to put together a power of attorney for Alex?”
Brody looked affronted. “Listen to the professor. You’d think he was the only one who ever earned a bloody degree.”
* * * * *
Alexander’s normally placid expression became even more serious when Brody explained what they planned and the legal preparations and arrangements they had put in place.
“Of course I will care for her – as if she were my own! But this is a simple hop back. Two days in time and you will be gone long enough to tape the stash being planted, then store the tape correctly, yes? A few hours at most! This extraneous preparation is ridiculous. Panic inducing.”
“We’ve learned to expect the unexpected,” Veris said quietly. “We won’t do this without making sure Marit is cared for, no matter what happens.”
Alexander ran his fingers through the black curls of his hair, frustrated. He picked up the form Brody had just made him sign. “I will take great joy in tearing this up in eight hours’ time.”
“I will enjoy watching you do it,” Taylor added.
* * * * *
They settled on the big king-sized bed together. Alexander hovered over them.
“From a medical viewpoint, it looks alarming,” Veris warned him.
“Yes, yes,” Alex said. “You’ve briefed me on the symptoms. The lack of them. I have saline, blood, glucose. I know what to do if this extends beyond the simple jump you plan.”
Veris grinned as he settled on the bed. “It probably won’t and all this fuss is for nothing. Marit, come here and give me the biggest kiss ever.”
Marit laughed and crawled into his arms and kissed his cheek wetly and noisily.
“Do what Uncle Alex says, hmm?” Veris told her, pressing her nose.
Marit nodded, her eyes wide. “You’re going back in time again, Far?”
Brody clear his throat. “Never try to fool smart kids,” he muttered.
Veris glared at him and scowled. Then he gave Marit a hug. “Just a quick trip,” he promised. “There and back.”
“To help Athair with the queen,” she added wisely, looking at Brody.
Brody sighed and pushed his hand through his hair with a helpless gesture.
“You were saying?” Veris asked. He hugged Marit again. “You be very careful of the queen, okay, munchkin? She isn’t a friend of ours right now.”
Marit nodded. “But Uncle Alex and Mia are.”
“That’s right.”
Marit climbed over to Brody and hugged him. “Ádh mór, Daddy.”
“Thank you, sweetheart,” Brody told her. “I’m sure your luck will be luckier than everyone else’s.”
Marit squeezed Taylor hard. “You have to bring them back, Mummy,” she murmured in her ear.
Taylor brushed Marit’s hair out of her eyes. “I will,” she promised. “Just for you.”
Marit nodded, her expression serious. Then she smiled and kissed her and climbed off the be
d and took Alexander’s hand. She looked very small next to Alexander. Very small and very determined.
Taylor turned to Brody and Veris. “You know we could probably do this without the kissing.”
“Let’s not screw with the formula,” Brody said.
“Not kiss you?” Veris protested. “Wash your mouth out.” He slid his arm around Brody’s waist. “The security tapes at the coach shed show evidence of tampering two days ago, at three in the morning. Taylor, you were asleep. Brody, you were in your music studio, writing. I was keeping Taylor company that night and reading. For obvious reasons, we’re going to use my memory as the beacon. We need to jump to about two hours before that, so we can cross town to the warehouse district and be in place when they arrive and tape them doing the deed. Brody, you need to meditate, go neutral and let me guide the jump.” He took a breath, slid his other hand under Taylor’s hair and brought her face toward his. “Ready?” he asked everyone.
Taylor’s heart was thundering. “No,” she confessed. “But let’s do this anyway.”
Brody took a breath and let it out. “Facing down Saracens was easier,” he said, with a crooked smile. “Let’s go.” He wrapped his arms around them both and glanced at Alex, Marit and Mia. “See you in a while.”
Marit waved.
Veris kiss Taylor, his lips hard and demanding.
Taylor pressed into the kiss, her mind leaning backward through time. She felt them move.
* * * * *
“Taylor, wake up.”
A hand shook her gently.
Taylor woke groggily, feeling the ache of not-enough-sleep behind her eyes. “What is it?” she whispered. “Marit?”
Then memory aligned with consciousness. She sat up in her bed at home and looked around. Veris was putting books on the bedside table as he lowered his legs to the floor. He was in the suit trousers and shirt he would have worn for his professional affairs that day, but the trousers were wrinkled from sitting on the bed next to her.
“Oh god, we made it,” Taylor murmured, deep relief flooding her in a hot-cold wave. “We actually made it.” Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much she had assumed the jump would go wrong.
Kiss Across Chains Page 5
