She pushed the door open even farther. Foster was right about one thing; they were no longer in the warehouse.
Sarah stepped out of the room with Foster following her. The larger room around them was almost like a break area. A big table sat in the middle of the room surrounded by chairs. A fridge was pressed against the wall, and next to it were cabinets, counters, and a sink. But nothing to indicate where they might be.
She walked over to the only window and pulled back the curtain. Green grass and blue sky for as far as the eyes could see. "Where are we?"
“I'm gonna kill that kid." Foster rested his fist on his waist. "You weren’t supposed to see this place for another twenty-eight years."
"How do you know when I'm gonna see it?"
"I told you our lives are entwined. That's all I can tell you without breaking laws."
“You never appreciated the laws before. Why now?” Sarah didn’t know why she expected Foster to be anything but cryptic. Instead of expecting an actual answer, she decided to figure it out for herself. She walked around the room opening drawers and cabinets, only finding what would be a normal kitchen minus any takeout menus.
They both paused when another guy walked into the room and ignored them as if he'd expected them to be there. His brown hair was shaved close to his head. He hardly even acknowledged them as he moved across the room and grabbed a coffee pot to refresh his cup.
"Hey, I thought you guys were off trying to contain the dinosaur," the man said while pouring creamer into his coffee cup.
Foster and Sarah exchanged a look. Foster’s brows dipped as he moved to her side and grabbed her hand.
"You know this guy?" she asked.
The guy turned to glare at them with questions in his eyes. "Mom, are you feeling all right?"
Sarah’s eyes widened as Foster dropped his head and shook it. "I can't believe you just asked that, Danny."
"Are you guys loopy from your travel? Because, if you are, I can find another stabilizing agent for you. We don't need another mishap like what happened when you went to 1837."
Sarah held up her palms to stop the guy from talking. She turned her glare on Foster and stabbed the air, pointing in the kid’s direction. "Did he just call me mom?"
Danny slowly set his coffee cup down on the counter. His gaze was assessing, going down her clothes and Foster’s. "What year are you from?"
"She’s from 2018." Foster said.
"Ignore everything I've said and wait here please." He held up his finger before hurrying out of the room and returning moments later with three other people—none of whom she recognized.
"Look at how she's dressed. She's from 2018." Danny, the young guy from moments ago, announced to the new arrivals in the room.
The three other people stepped into the room surrounding Sarah and Foster. Foster tightened his hold on her hand.
"Zeke must have punched in the wrong coordinates."
An older gentleman with a scruffy beard stared at Sarah and Foster with confusion in his eyes. Next to him were two younger gentlemen and a woman. They all looked confused.
The older guy crossed his arms and tilted his head. “Zeke sent you here?"
Sarah tossed her hands up. "Can someone tell me where we are and what the heck is going on? I need to get back to 2018 to stop Steed.”
The woman in the room covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my God, she is from 2018.”
They turned their glare on Foster. “What have you done?"
"Me? I didn't do this. We were never supposed to be here." Foster walked over to the coffee machine and poured two cups and handed Sarah one.
"Not for another almost thirty years," Danny said after whispering Sarah’s age.
None of this was making any sense, and they weren't getting any further trying to get to where they needed to go. Tiny pricks formed in her head. The onset of this headache made her squint.
"I know that look," the woman said, crossing the room to the cabinet. She pulled out a pill bottle and opened it, handing Sarah a little blue pill.
When Sarah wasn't quick to take it, she held it up to further inspect. "You'll thank me for this. It took them five years to figure out what was wrong with you, and once they did, it took another two years to find the correct medication, and this is it. Take it."
Sarah raised her brow. She was never one to do what she was told.
The woman gestured again for her to take it and waited for Sarah to swallow the pill before speaking.
"Now it'll pass." The woman clasped her fingers together and moved to stand next to the other people in the room.
"It is definitely her. Only Sarah would be that stubborn not to take medication that can help ease her headaches."
The older gentleman in the room smiled at us. He scratched at his scruffy beard. "My apologies. This must all be confusing to you." The man turned to look at the others. "Go make sure they have fresh linens in their room. While I explain just enough for Sarah to understand what's going on."
"How can you explain something you don't know?" the woman asked.
Sarah was thinking the exact same thing, but the other woman beat her to it. It seemed like the only person in this room that knew what was going on was Foster, and he was being less than forthcoming.
The older man waited for the others to clear the room before gesturing to the table to have a seat. They all sat and stared at each other in silence.
"I know this is all confusing to you, and to be honest, this is not something that has happened yet. Pardon my manners. I’m Andrew. I run this place when neither Foster nor you are here. It's hard to explain, but this is where your entire family comes to hang their hat. Along with some other friends. Without telling you too much, just know, in the near future, you'll find this place and call at home."
"So you're saying that we are in the future?"
"Future, past, it's all irrelevant in the big scheme of things. Time is more than something to be trifled with or played with. Sarah, you of all people understand that. It was you who set the guidelines for this place."
"I think you're forgetting that I had a hand in this creation," Foster added.
Sarah slid her chair back and rose. She began to pace. "So this is like STEM Corp or something similar to monitor time travelers?"
Foster gave a little shake of his head. "She's from 2018. Be careful of your next words."
"Oh, I think the cat is already out of the bag. That kid, Danny, called me his mom. Who am I supposed to believe is his father?"
Andrew’s eyes widened, and he turned to look at Foster. Neither of them answered her question. "If Zeke sent you here, it was for a reason. Let's start there."
“The Enforcement Board wanted to keep me in 2130. Zeke helped us escape. I need to go stop all of this. I need to stop Steed."
"Oh, if that's all…" Andrew rose from his seat. "Let me show you to your room, and you guys can rest up and get something to eat. And then we’ll help send you to wherever it is that you actually need to go."
Foster slowly rose to stand with them. Sarah could read the unease on his face. His jaw ticked. It was his telltale sign that he wasn't prepared to tell her something. They both followed Andrew out of the room. Foster rested his hand on her lower back. He leaned in to whisper. "Try not to ask too many questions and change things. We’ll be out of here first thing in the morning."
"Me, change things? I'm the only one trying to right everything."
Andrew turned around with a smile on his face. "Maybe in 2018 you are, but that's not the year you’re in now."
Chapter 14
Andrew led the way down several corridors before he pushed open a set of doors to something similar to a suite. Sarah and Foster stepped inside. The living room was furnished like Sarah’s beach house with comfortable couches and a television.
The walls were lined with several bookcases identical to the ones in Sarah’s study. Books and DVDs were the only articles she recognized on the shelves.
; “Please don’t touch the stuff you’ve never seen. As you can imagine, we don't get cable here," Andrew said. He gestured toward the bookcase. "We have a collection of all of your favorites.
“To keep all of this contained, I suggest not speaking to the other members in the building." His cheeks shaded pink. "You know those boundary lines you love so much, Sarah? You are way beyond your boundary."
Andrew grabbed the doorknob and turn around before he was about to leave. "I'll bring you back something to eat in just a little bit. Try to relax, and we'll figure out what, if anything, has changed."
"Maybe I should help with that," Foster said, walking toward the man.
Andrew stopped Foster with a hand to his chest. "Son, I don't think that’s a wise idea. I think you need to stay here with Sarah until we figure out what you two being here has changed. Sarah doesn't show up here for another thirty years. That tells us that something significant has transpired. We need to figure out what it is."
“That seems to be the story of her new reality. Going back to fixing other people’s issues." Sarah rested her hands on her hips. “Whoever is running the show needs a good kick in the ass."
Sarah headed for the bedroom, leaving the other two in the living room. Her head was still throbbing. The bedroom was furnished exactly like her beach house: everything from the furniture to the bed and all the knickknacks on the shelves. She walked over to the dresser and picked up a picture. Her heart stilled as she stared at it. This wasn’t a picture on her shelf back home. This picture was of Sarah and Foster. She had two toddlers by her side and a baby in her arms. Foster stared down at her with love in his eyes.
She dropped the picture back onto the dresser as if it were laced with poison and turned in place. "This has to be a joke. Those people have to be actors. And that picture has to be Photoshopped."
Foster stepped in behind her and leaned against the doorframe. "I should've guessed if anybody was going to ruin the surprise it would be you. You weren’t supposed to find out this way."
"I'm tired of people telling me that."
Foster picked up the picture that she’d dropped and turned, showing it to Sarah. "This doesn't happen for another seven years from your time.” He ran his finger over the faces. "It's even further away from my time."
"Foster, you have all of these secrets. I can't fix things if I don't know all of the problems."
Foster set the picture back onto the dresser. He took her hands in his and stared down into her eyes. "Do you remember what happens with Francesca and Steed?"
"Francesca was put in the fake witness protection, and Steed didn't even know she was pregnant."
Foster guided her to sit down on the bed with him. "Something similar happens to us, and I don't know, for whatever reason, you don't tell me that you're pregnant."
“I would never…"
"But you do, and you did. I don't know why. I don't know about our first child until a year after she’s born, and that's when you come find me."
Tears clouded his eyes, and he visibly swallowed. Sarah rested her hand on his cheek. "If I did that, I had to have a good reason."
Foster cradled his hand over hers. "And in another couple years, you won't look at me with confusion in your eyes. You look at me with nothing but love.”
It was a foreign idea to believe, that the man that she had been chasing and shot would be somebody that important in her future. But if the picture on the dresser was any indication, he was right.
"Foster, if I'm that important to you, why won't you tell me where my mother and Natalie are?"
He leaned into her. His lips hovered near her own. "That's the one point in time I wouldn’t dare mess up. It's in that moment that you realize that you love me too. I can't tell you where they are. I can't risk changing everything else. You're my soul, you're my heart, and you're my compass in time. You're the fabric that keeps me together. I can’t risk that."
Foster leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He took his time letting her get used to the feel. Until she opened her mouth and invited him in. Their tongues tangled in a dance as old as time.
He moved closer, pulling Sarah against his body and tilting his head to deepen the kiss. His fingers tangled in her hair. It was all she could do not to question the familiarity she didn’t understand.
He eased her down onto the bed. His body pressed against hers. He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes. Heat and desire swirled in his baby blues. "I wish we could just stay here."
He leaned into her again and kissed her this time with so much passion that even the sands of time wouldn’t dare change.
His hand slowly moved down her side, only stopping abruptly when there was a knock on the door.
Foster rested his head against hers. "Hold that thought."
Foster rose from the bed, and Sarah righted her clothes. There was nothing she could do about the flush on her cheeks, so she took that reprieve to catch her breath. Foster yanked the door open. Danny was standing on the other side holding a tray full of food.
Sarah slid off the bed. “I didn’t think we were allowed to interact with you.”
Danny’s cheeks pinked. “I offered to cook. I brought both of your favorites." Danny held out the tray. Foster took the tray and set it on the bed. Sitting atop the tray were grilled cheese sandwiches and Diet Dr. Peppers, earning Sarah’s smile.
"How did you know? Never mind, don't answer that.”
Danny’s smile grew tremendously as Foster clapped him on the arms. "It's good to have you two back even if you don’t know who we are. We miss you."
Sarah couldn't imagine that if he were her son that she would leave him here. Why would she ever walk away from her family? None of that made sense. There was too much she didn't have answers to and too much that everybody was keeping from her. She was done waiting for other people to fill her in.
Foster and Sarah ate before she took a shower and changed into clothing stashed in the walk-in closet. There were clothes from what looked like every era stuffed inside. Sarah went for simple and comfortable.
She waited until Foster stepped into his shower before she took the family picture out of the frame and stuck it into her pocket, and then she proceeded to sneak out of the room. She had no idea where she was going or where her answers might take her. So, she just used the one thing that she did have—her intuition, which had sustained her and kept her alive all these years.
She knew which way the kitchen was but not anything else. Sarah slowly walked down the corridor, peeking into different rooms as she passed.
There wasn't much to see. There were other suites just like hers and Foster’s, but she didn't dare venture inside, unsure of who they belong to. She continued walking until she found a room that looked oddly familiar as one from STEM Corp—the main security room where they kept Nelly, the quantum computer interface. Sarah stepped inside the room and spotted the glasses sitting on the counter. She slipped them on her face, and the room around her came to life.
It was an exact replica of the room where they kept Nelly, everything down to the security panel on the wall. Sarah moved to the center of the room and put her hand on the reader. The computer came to life.
"Sarah Weston, welcome home. Would you like a status report of time disruptions?"
"Yes." Hope energized her body that maybe she might have found the answers that she needed. The quantum computer would tell her anything that she needed to know.
Images floated across the screen. Faces Sarah knew all too well. Dr. Stephen Steed was walking out of the STEM Corp with his entourage of bad guys. Within minutes of them moving farther away, there was an explosion on the top floor.
She gasped and covered her mouth, afraid to ask what she already knew. "What is that location?”
“STEM Corp.”
"The date?"
“December 31, 2018, at midnight."
“Cheating is frowned upon,” Andrew said as he stepped into the room.
Chapter 15
“Everyone believes that it was Francesca and Steve's relationship that started all of this. I, however, don't believe that."
"What do you believe?"
“I believe that it was that exact moment in time that you just witnessed. I believe that was the day that all the stars aligned and so much changed. You know how there's one major lynchpin that has a chance and opportunity just to change time?"
"I've already been told about the linchpin."
Andrew pointed at the screen to the building as it exploded. "I don't think the linchpin is a person. I think an event starts it all."
She rested her hands on her hips. "If that's the case, then send me back."
"Things have changed since you went to the Time Enforcement Board. Originally in our history books, you end up being sent back to 2018."
"Well, if the historians didn't know about this place, then maybe they're right. This might have been just a short stop for us before we go back to 2018. Historians would've been none the wiser unless we told them differently."
“Sarah, you're the historian of that book. Why would you omit the fact that you came here?"
“Maybe because I didn’t want anyone else to be able to change it from happening.” Her brow rose. To leave out such an important fact, she’d made a choice to keep it secret, and that was for a reason. She wouldn’t have hesitated to do that if it was to protect the people she loved.
Had she left out more? What she knew for certain was the picture stashed in her pocket of her and Foster and their kids. Foster knew where her mother and Natalie were being held, but beyond that, there wasn’t much she could tell him.
"That's not all you know," Andrew said.
"How did you know I was just thinking that?"
"There's not much about you that I don't know, Sarah. You also now know what happens on New Year's Eve."
She turned to regard him. She could see he had more information he was withholding. "Then send me back and let me fix this before anybody else gets hurt."
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