15 Minutes- The Complete Saga Boxset

by Jill Cooper

  Lara?

  My knees go weak. “Lara Crane?”

  Granny shrugs. “I called her Montgomery. But they’re one and the same.”

  My mind spins and my body threatens to give out on me. “She’s your sister….the one who disappeared seventy years ago?” I scowl as everything I know collides in my brain like a big ball of glue. I can’t begin to unravel it.

  “And now she’s here. This is where she disappeared to. This day and this time. And wherever Lara goes,” Granny shakes her head, “trouble follows. She was first. The first real time traveler. She took down Senator Patricia James and she unknowingly put Daniels in power. If anyone can undo all this damage, it’s her.”

  “How do you know? How do you know she’s here?” I’m breathless.

  “I saw her face on the news this morning.” Granny smiles and there are tears in her eyes. “And she hasn’t aged a day since that day I got lost in the mall to see the puppies. She was so angry and I never knew why.”

  She dots her eyes with a tissue. “How we looked for her. Everyone. Don. Momma. Dad and Daddy John. Mikey. We all looked for her. It just gave Xavier something to hold over us. Promise us. A way to manipulate us. He’d find a way to get her back. And now it’s up to you. To set her free.”

  I stare at the holo-screen on the wall as Granny turns it on. She changes over to the all-news channel and there I see a teenage girl, dressed not much differently than most teens, in tight jeans and a leather jacket.

  But this one is scowling and her hands are handcuffed behind her back. Long brown curls similar to my blond ones flow down her back. Unconsciously I touch my hair and feel connected to this girl.

  On the bottom of the screen, the words read ‘woman with no identity or past brought into Rewind Custody.’ Then the hotline number if anyone suspects who she is.

  “If she put Daniels into power….”

  Granny nods. “Then he’ll recognize her. He’ll have her killed before anyone can stop him.”

  That means I have to go. There’re a million things I want to say to Granny, but I can’t. I have a date at Rewind. It’s time to meet my great aunt and say hello.

  13: Lara

  I’m taken and held in a cell. People come and go. Most are wearing uniforms some aren’t, but they talk as if they’re the police. I don’t have any ID on me and that seems to disturb them the most.

  I’m in the precinct I remember from my dream. It’s exactly as it was then and when the detective from my dream interrogates me, my mind unravels. I ask for a lawyer and then they leave me alone. I’m grateful for that, as I try to figure out what to do.

  Because I don’t know what to do. I always have a plan. An option, but right now I’m out of plans. Out of ideas.

  Maybe I’m just out of hope.

  My surroundings aren’t much, but I explore them. A cot, a sink. Nothing out of the ordinary and exactly what you’d expect from a jail cell. It’s a walking nightmare. I’ve jumped further in time than ever before and I’ve never stuck around this long. I don’t know how long it will last. If it’s permanent.

  A way out is the only thing I can think about. That and how it seems everything I’m afraid the government would do, it has done. So my big problem is how to get back to my time and how to stop it. How do I unravel all of this?

  It’s making me kind of miss the simplicity of Rex, strange as that is. But being back in a cell again? No, that I didn’t miss. That fear is wedged in my mind, distracting me from strategizing what I should do.

  I grip the bars of my cage as a metal door opens and closes, the sound resonates in a booming echo. Footsteps follow. Taking a deep breath to center myself, I get ready for the next round of questions that are sure to follow.

  A middle-aged officer approaches. He’s wearing a Rewind jacket, but not a cap like the men that arrested me. There’s something kind about his face, it is supposed to disarm me, but I have to be steadfast in my resolve. If these people find out I’m from the past, I don’t know what they’ll do.

  He unlocks my cell and I stare at him with questions. “We’re moving you to holding. A lawyer is on his way to talk to you like you wanted.”

  “Thanks.” I’m on guard, but I allow my face to relax.

  He takes me by the arm and leads me down the hall, as we approach a door I can make out a green light shining down from the archway. When it scans me, the light turns red. I stiffen, don’t understand what it means.

  “The system can’t find you. No future. No past. It’s like you don’t exist.”

  “That’s me. Grown in a test tube.”

  The officer slides his ID through the door and it opens. He pulls me through, a firm grip on my arm. “My name’s Mahoney. I can get you through this if you’d just open up. Tell us who you are.”

  That’s the last thing I think I should do. I fall silent and Mahoney waits for an answer and after a few paces, shakes his head.

  “Have it your way, kid. But someone has to miss you eventually.”

  Eventually. Maybe they already did. Maybe they were already dead. I don’t even know what year I’m in and that’s everything I plan on finding out, once I see my lawyer. I hope he can secure my release, as Mahoney opens a door to a small holding area and escorts me in.

  There’s a metal table and the man sitting at it stands. He’s wearing a dark suit and his briefcase is laid out in front of him. “Thanks, Officer Mahoney.” His eyes lock with mine and he extends his hand to me.

  I reach for it and for a split second, time slows down. My third eye zooms in on the ID dangling from his lapel and I read the words Global Law Counsel printed on top of Rewind’s logo.

  My hand hovers in mid-air. As this lawyer tries to shake my hand, I side step him. Crossing my arms, I move over to the other side of the table. “I didn’t want a lawyer from Rewind to show up here. I want a defense attorney to help get me out of here.”

  The lawyer is smiling as if I’ve said something very funny. I definitely don’t feel funny. “Miss, Ma’am, there aren’t any defense attorneys anymore. What are they teaching you kids in school these days?”

  That can’t be true. No defense attorneys? But the headache pounding against my temporal lobe says it’s true. I rub my forehead. “I created a fascist state,” I mutter quietly to myself.

  “Pardon?” My lawyer asks.

  “Excuse me?” I counter.

  With impatience, his foot taps. “Listen, I feel like we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot. I’m Jeffery Davis. I’m lead counsel for Rewind, and for some reason that makes you feel defensive, but I’m not here to railroad you.”

  “Feels like it.” I narrow my eyes at the beady little fish. “If the guy that is supposed to help me is also the guy who wants to keep me in jail, you have a problem. A system that can’t work. Doesn’t work. How can I trust anything you say?”

  “Are you with the resistance? Is that why you won’t give us your name?”

  A resistance? So there is still hope. I sit down in the chair and cross my legs.

  “Look, we just want your name. If we have your name, we can look you up. Find out why the system can’t find you. If everything checks out, you’re free to go. Global Law exists to keep the world safe. If you aren’t going to do anything wrong in the future, if your nose is clean in the past, then you have nothing to worry about.”

  Anything wrong in the future. His words horrify me and I turn ghostly pale. As the color drains out of my face and I’m pretty sure I’m going to faint. Jeffrey grabs my hand. He turns it over and wipes his hand across my fingers. My palm.

  With a jerk, I pull it away and slide it under the table. I don’t know what this guy is up to, but I sure as hell don’t want him stroking me—any part of me. “I’m seeing someone.”

  My glower softens as his mouth falls open slightly. “You’re not chipped. How are you not chipped?”

  Shrugging is my only cover that I have no idea what he’s talking about, but the way his mouth falls even further, I kn
ow he’s not fooled. “The chip. For making electronic payments? Tagging you in the system’s database? Everyone is chipped at birth. Where’s your chip?”

  My eyes fall to the table and I refuse to answer. It’s my only move because anything else would be the truth.

  “If you had it removed illegally, there’d be a scar.” Jeff pushes me harder and I dig in my heels. I bite my tongue and clench my jaw hard. “You’re really not going to tell me anything?”

  Shaking my head, my curls swish.

  “There must be someone you want to see. Talk to. If you answer some questions--.”

  I raise my head and greet his level stare with my own. “There’s no one.” At least that is the truth.

  Sadness clouds his eyes. “You an orphan?”

  “More or less.” I lean back in my chair and cross my arms. “Can you have someone take me to my cell?”

  Jeff’s eyes narrow. “No. We’re not done here.”

  I’m pretty sure we are as I turn my head and refuse to look at him. It makes Jeff indignant and he leans across the table. “You have to talk to me. Tell me who you are. Why you have that port on the back of your head.”

  His face is flushed with anger and I give a playful shrug and lean toward him. Now our noses are almost touching. “Why do you think I have a port in the back of my head, Jeffrey?” I egg him on with a smirk.

  If he wants to play, let’s play.

  His eyebrows furrow and his lips pinch together. His cheeks redden further, to a deep apple color. “Only TTD agents have one, but you’re young. Barely recruitment age. So the question begs; were you recruited? Did you run away from the program?”

  “If any of that was true, there’d be a record of me, wouldn’t there?”

  Jeffrey nods. “That’s the puzzling part. So if Rewind didn’t put it there, who did? Has the resistance given into time travel to…change the past? Found a way to remove your chip without leaving a scar?”

  “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” I lean forward and stare at him. “And that terrifies you. Terrifies all of Rewind and whoever is in charge.”

  “I want to help you…”

  My eyes narrow. “Liar.”

  His face reddens even more and he stutters. It’s clear he’s flustered, frustrated and I’m glad. I want to watch him squirm. A knock at the door interrupts our powwow session. Jeffrey glances at it over his shoulder. “That’s Daniels. If you want my help, you need to explain yourself fast.”

  “Daniels?” The name rolls off my tongue like a phantom. All of my grandstanding dissolves with the knowledge that Daniels did all this. He’s still holding the reigns.

  The door opens and Jeffrey stands to attention as a little old man hobbles into the room. There’s a cane in one hand and he’s hunched over. His skin is wrinkled, but still, intelligence glints in his eyes.

  “I’ve been waiting for this day.” His voice is full of glee and it makes me sick. “Ever since you disappeared I’ve been waiting and waiting for this day.”

  I stand as he approaches. He’s so old. So brittle. How far in the future did I go?

  “You know who she is?” Jeffrey asks shock on his face. “Sir, you didn’t--.”

  “As soon as news came over the wire, I knew. But then to see her on the news, to see that face.” He lifts a shaking finger toward me and I resist the temptation to bite it off. “You haven’t aged a day, Lara. Not a day.”

  Jeffrey’s eyes widen. “Lara? The name from Reynold’s computer? This is…this is her?”

  Xavier ignores him and practically foams at the mouth as he studies me. “The world’s missed you, Lara Montgomery.”

  “It’s Crane.” I spit out at him and his shriveled disgusting little face. “And I’m looking forward to wiping the floor with you.”

  Xavier laughs into his fist. “Ever the spitfire. She never changes. Get Mahoney in here. Lara is being transferred to Rewind Headquarters. I want to keep an eye on her myself.”

  “Sir, I don’t think that’s a good--.”

  “Now, Jeffrey,” Xavier says in a low voice. Almost as if, he has affection for this snake in a suit.

  His lawyer can’t do anything but comply. In his eyes, I see hesitation, fear, and I wonder if maybe he was on my side. Would he have been, if Xavier weren’t here? I wish I could ask him, but I’m helpless as Mahoney comes and takes me. He handcuffs my hands behind my back again and pushes me out into the hall.

  “Just keep walking and nothing bad will happen to you.” He says softly in my ear.

  At least until I get to Rewind. That realization tastes sour in my mouth. No matter what I do, where or when I go, I can’t escape my destiny. Maybe it’s time I embrace it. Stop running. And collapse Rewind from the inside out right on top of me.

  Without me, there is no mess. Without me, none of this happens.

  I never thought I’d be a martyr, but now I feel like there’s little choice. No hope for survival. And I have no way of getting back. My heart is heavy and bitter. Everything that Donovan said about clawing and surviving to be together, it’ll never happen. The only way out for any of us is death.

  When we get outside, I see a woman with blond curls. She flashes Mahoney orders. “I’m transporting this one to Rewind.”

  Mahoney studies his bracelet hologram thing with a huff. “Everything seems in order, Winters. But I should really signal Daniels…”

  “We can’t leave her out here any longer than necessary. Just give me the car keys and let Daniels know, soon he’ll get everything he wants.”

  Mahoney shrugs and shoves me into the back of the car. The police aren’t exactly gentle in the future. I hunch forward in my seat because my handcuffs are killing me. Winters gets in and we speed off north, away from where Rewind used to be.

  Her eyes study me in the rearview. “We’ll get those cuffs off as soon as we get where we’re going.”

  I don’t say anything as I study the floor.

  “I’m going to get you out of this.”

  That catches my attention and I sit up to look at her. “Why?”

  “I need your help, Lara.” Her voice is soft but determined. Reminds me of someone I used to be.

  Someone I have to be, no matter the price. The personal cost. My lips push together and I nod. “Is there somewhere we can go to talk?”

  ****

  Turns out, there aren’t many places available to talk.

  But there are few safe zones. One of those places is under the old Charles River Bridge. Some homeless people let us use their space. I put my hoodie up around my hair just in case anyone recognizes me or a patrol comes by and Winters tells me everything.

  Reynold Jackson was framed for murder and promptly executed. I can’t believe this is the future. This is the future I set in motion. Guilt, I’ve felt it before but never of this magnitude. Never quite felt anything comparable to what I’m feeling right now.

  And people have been looking for me. Resistance fighters, the opposition, whatever you want to call them. The internet has been scrubbed of my name, but somehow they still know about me. How to find me. Somehow, Cassidy Winters knew enough to look for me.

  “How’d you hear about me?”

  “At first just on Reynold’s computer. But then my grandmother told me about you.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls something out. Holding onto a chain with her fingers a locket spins out and sways side to side.

  I snatch it from her and hold the locket in my hand, like an old lost friend. “Molly?” Tears fill my eyes. Molly is a grandmother? Cassidy’s grandmother? That would make us…

  “How long?” The question is hard for me to ask so the sound comes out a warbling symphony of grief. “How long?”

  “Seventy-five years. You went missing and everything fell into place then for Daniels. Rewind.”

  “How?” The question begs to be answered, but I don’t think Cassidy can answer them.

  “I know the history that’s taught in school, but if it’s the
truth, that’s hard to say. It’ll be colored one way, written by Daniels and his people.” Cassidy brings something up on what she calls the comm and she stands with me so I can read the information displayed on her wrist.

  Xavier Daniels, thanks to experiments by the U.S. Government, invented time travel and the ability to harness the power of the future to create a utopian society where no crime goes undetected. But even that’s a lie. Xavier didn’t invent anything. Patricia James with the help of my mother did that.

  Seems I wasn’t the only one scrubbed from existence.

  I want to look up my family. Mom, Dad. Don. But I know to do that would just be heartbreaking, so instead, I bite my lip to keep my emotions at bay and keep reading.

  The U.S. Government kept the tech to themselves and wars broke out, but with the help of Rewind, the U.S. conquered and toppled the other governments. Other countries wanted to use time travel to cut crime and terrorism, so sovereign nations were folded into the United States out of fear. It paved the way so Daniels could form what’s become known as Global Law.

  Some senators and governors resisted, for a time, but when the last remaining critic, Marcus O’Reily committed suicide, no one else stood in Daniels way. The constitution was replaced. Citizens were redefined as suspects and Rewind’s reach grew. The article went on to explain how stable the country is now. No one will speak against Global Law. Although it has a small number of detractors, they have rarely been seen in public nor have they allowed their identities to be revealed.

  Marcus.

  I squeeze my eyes shut because the hurt just keeps on coming. Everyone I care about. Everyone I loved…

  There has to be a way to go back and stop it.

  But how can I stop Daniels and what he’s created? If I go back too far, I undo Patricia James being arrested and if I don’t go back far enough, all of this will be put in motion.

  “How does he do it? How does the system know what happens in the future?” My voice resonates stronger than I feel.