by Jill Cooper
He sounds like an abomination. I stare up at him, blood dripping out of my nose and realize he’s nothing more than a kid himself.
“If I have been the master who holds the strings, then he’s the messiah who writes the game.”
Another Rex glares at another. “You sound crazy, you know that? Do we always sound so crazy?”
“Why don’t you tell dear Cassidy your name?” Rex asked.
The man gives me a smug smile before turning to Rex. He looks to him with adoration, the way a boy might look up to his father.
“Mike,” the young man smiles as if this answer should mean something. “My name is Mike.”
Rex laughs. “And that, dear Cassidy, is how villains are born.”
Chapter Twenty-One: Molly Montgomery
I yank on my hands cuffed to the van passenger side door as it rumbles through the streets of Boston, but it’s no use. I can’t get free. I’ve been trying for days to find a way out of this altered timeline, but with the drugs that Patricia has been feeding me….
There’s no way around, out, or sideways. The only way out is through.
Through the mess that my sister Lara helped creat, even if she didn’t mean to. Even if she didn’t understand, but I understand as I gaze at Rex, or one of the many versions of Rex that have distorted reality. He drives the van and he barely gives me a passing glance.
He thinks he and his multiples have won. Rex thinks he can’t be beat since he’s pulled so many versions of himself into this timeline.
It broke the bridge. It tore Lara away and now everyone’s memories are twisted just the way Mike…my twin brother Mike…wants it to be. He’s been tricked by lies and deceit. I’m sure of it. If I can get enough time alone with Mike, I can show him the truth and what’s real.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Rex says quietly and glances at me out of the corner of his eye.
“What am I thinking?”
He speaks in a high and squeaky voice. “You’ll never get away with it, Uncle Rex. Lara will save me.” Rex waves his hands in the air like a little girl, a baby, and laughs. “But I already have. Lara’s gone. No one remembers her except for you. Me. And Mike.”
Little does Rex know that isn’t true. Cassidy’s had flashes about Lara and Donovan talks in his sleep about her. My poor mother is desperate to have Lara back and even Delilah Chase, Patricia’s receptionist and Lara’s old friend, has nightmares about her. They are of course, only one path on the timeline.
I see the timeline where Lara believes she’s guilty of murder and where she sees what her life would’ve been if she hadn’t time traveled. I feel what life will be like for her and Donovan when all this is fixed and how hard it will be. I see what life will be if we fail, and all the infinite choices that go along with that.
I see a great time travel war between a set of twins who once adored each other. They battle and fight to come up on top. Me, I fight to keep the timeline safe and Mike fights from a place of pain. A place that he’ll never leave if I can’t convince him now. A path that leads to the fabric of time unfolding with pockets of timelessness punched through it like Swiss Cheese.
All of that reveals itself to me in the instant it takes Rex to turn the corner.
“Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see,” Rex smirks and responds with a bit of singsong in his voice.
“He won’t be able to block me forever. Sooner or later, Rex, and I’m going to be able to time travel again. He can’t block the three of us indefinitely.”
“You don’t think so?” Rex pulls the van into an alleyway behind a series of warehouse buildings. I peer through the windshield; the place doesn’t look very safe or secure. Certainly, no safer or more secure than the secret labs of Rewind.
From the outside, my door opens and Patricia unlocks my handcuffs. “Little thing like you causes a lot of trouble. Get her out of the van,” she orders and a few of the bodyguards that work for her grab my elbows and force me from the front seat.
“In my timeline, Lara beats you. You’re in a forever orange jumper and in jail.”
“Shut your mouth,” Patricia squeezes my cheeks together and I struggle to rip away from her. “Lara never should’ve beat me or taken my son. She poisoned him against me and now, I’m going to reclaim my place. I’ll never lose again.”
“She’s beat you so many times. She’ll do it again,” I promise. “And this time, I’m going to help her.”
“Brat.” Patricia shoves me and I fall down on the wet asphalt. When my hand splatters into a puddle, it ripples in time and it’s not my face, but Lara. Where she’s trapped, where she is, it’s upside down from my timeline.
How can I help her? How can I get her out?
“Is this really necessary?”
I gaze up with happiness at the sound of Donovan’s voice. He’d never hurt me, he had never hurt me before. Now he stares his mother down with a cold look, his hands shoved in his pockets.
“Don,” I whisper with hope. He can end this, I only he could realize how strong he really is.
“It’s as necessary as keeping that bitch you’re engaged to in line,” Patricia says, wiping the corner of her mouth.
Donovan’s face twitches. “She…won’t be a problem anymore.”
What does he mean? What did he do with Cassidy?
Patricia smiles with satisfaction. “Move her inside before I lose my temper and permanently shut her up.”
Patricia storms off toward a waiting car and inside, I’m desperate as Donovan grabs my arms and forces me up to my feet.
“Don’t do this,” I beg him, my eyes imploring him. “Don, please. You know me. Reach back, remember. Don’t let them manipulate you like this.”
“Don’t make this worse than it has to be, all right?” He sighs as he leads me into the warehouse. When we step inside the lights turn on. The place is fitted with white sterile lab walls and in the center, is an all glass cage.
And just like the one Lara had been trapped in for two years, there’s a bed and a virtual reality machine that was plugged into her head. I resist and push against Donovan. “You’re stronger than this!”
Donovan doesn’t answer, he just continues to march me toward the cage.
“You can’t put me in there. You can’t! It nearly killed my sister. It nearly killed her!” I’m not as strong as Lara. I won’t survive.
I push against Donovan with all my might and he puts his hands over my face to push me back down. He’s gentler on me than he needs to be but that’s little consolation. “It’s just to keep you busy. Give you something to do while my mother finishes what needs to be done.”
Rex and his double pull my arms behind my back and pull me back toward the cage. I kick my legs as I’m hopelessly dragged backward. “And what’s that? Think about all this! Don, wake up! This isn’t the way anything is supposed to be!”
Inside the cage, they throw me down onto the bed. I struggle up to my knees and start to crawl away toward the door. Donovan shuts it before I reach it in time and I gasp in desperation. “Don, no!” I extend my hand toward him, but his sad eyes just stare at me, unflinching.
“Mother always gets what she’s after, kid. It’s best if you just came to terms with that now.”
“And what is it she wants? Think about it, Donovan! What is it you want?”
I cry and kick, fighting against the men as they strap my arms and legs down. “Don’t do this.” I shake my head back and forth. “Please. Don’t do this.”
I shake with a sob as they tie a thick strap against my head. Slowly the bed rises so one of the men can access the back of my skull. I know what’s coming. The same thing they did to Lara all those years ago. Those years didn’t exist to us, but to Lara, she carried the scars with her wherever she went.
In the form of a port in the back of her brain.
“Don…” I call out in terror one last time.
He places his hand on the glass. “What I want doesn’t matt
er. All that matters is what my mother wants and she wants you.” Donovan sighs and drops his hand, walking away.
“Heartbeat regular and strong.”
“Ready with the drill. Numb the back of her neck, enough to dull the pain, then we’ll send her to sleep.”
Rex smiles at me. “Good night, Molly. Forever.”
My face scrunches up and I cry. I’m not ready for this. I’m not as strong as Lara. I can’t do it. I just can’t.
As the needle slips beneath two vertebrae in the back of my neck, it crunches and I can’t move. My eyes close and study all my choices, infinite in their scope, all leading down a different path.
None of them good.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Lara Crane
In the morning I go through the motions of someone living their live. I make breakfast and coffee while Rick makes small talk and avoids what he really wants to talk about. I drink two cups before getting dressed for my job. The last thing I want to do is see Delilah Chase again, but I need to.
I have to fix whatever is going on here, regardless if this is my timeline or not. Fix things for this Lara and for her family, her friends. This is her future, not mine, and I don’t want to mess it up because when I jump out of this timeline, she’ll have to deal with whatever it is that I do.
And I’m confident I’ll leave. I won’t be stuck here forever, regardless of Rex’s plan. I’m Lara James now and nothing is keeping me from getting back to my family and my husband.
It’s hard not to think about the anger Donovan here has for me, but maybe he has a right to. Cutting him slack isn’t easy, but he doesn’t know me in this timeline. He doesn’t share with me what I share with him. Far as he knows, I’m a low life kid from the other side of the tracks who murdered his mother.
Still, that look in his eye…I’m not sure if I’ll ever forget it. I think it’ll take being in his arms again for that to happen and even then, I fear it’ll haunt me forever.
Rush home to him, find my place, and deal with Rex, one way or another.
Rick drives me to work. On the way, he pulls the car over to the curb to mail something. “I’ll be right back.” He doesn’t wait for an answer before popping out of the car and running over to the mailbox.
“What’d you mail?” I asked when he returned and felt a bit defensive, as if everything he was doing was somehow about me. I knew it was stupid but I couldn’t shake the feeling.
“Just something for work. The shelter is applying for a grant so we can build on to what we already have.”
So, Rick works at a shelter? “How’s…the shelter doing?”
Rick shrugs. “More mouths to feed every year and not enough beds for all the moms and kids who need them. We’ll get by but the city seems to be getting worse. Not better.”
All my life choices suddenly seem to stupid. “You’re a good guy, Rick. A real good guy.”
He smiles at me with surprise. “Thanks, girl. I love you too, despite what’s going on. I just wish…hell, never mind.” He pulls the car away from the curb and we’re on our way to Delilah’s house again. I should get there just in the nick of time.
What I said, I was true. Rick’s a good guy and part of me forgot that. I had only been thinking about the Rick who betrayed me in the altered timeline, the one who hadn’t had a stable influence in his life. This Rick is very much the one I left behind. He’s kind, generous, and he gazes at me as if I mean the world to him.
And all I do is keep disappointing him, that hadn’t changed.
I guess I had missed him more than I knew but it was like returning to high school and seeing your life choices that could’ve been. These weren’t the decisions I had made. I pledged my life to Donovan and I had meant it.
A small part of my heart though, would always feel at home with Rick.
“Have a nice day. I’ll pick you up tonight, okay?” Rick shifts the car into park before he leans over for a kiss. When I meet his lips, it’s the first time that we really fall into each other. I tell myself it’s to keep my cover, so he won’t suspect anything is wrong, but part of me feels like I’m searching for something else.
I’m looking for the kiss to complete me, to swoon in his arms like all those days behind the high school when we’d do anything to be together.
It doesn’t happen and instead I feel hollow and flat inside.
“Damn girl,” he whispers, “you sure know how to make sure a guy will be thinking of you all day.”
“Be careful.” I pick up my bag and exit the car. I give Rick a little wave before I step up the stairs. I go in through the rear servant’s entrance that leads into the kitchen. It’s easily the biggest room in the house and that’s saying something. I slip my bag in a cabinet with all the other purses and put blue booties on my sneakers. With my hair up in a ponytail I read the list that’s pinned on the fridge for me.
Not too much today but enough to keep me busy. I just cleaned the toilets yesterday and now I have to do it again? Reads like busy work.
I take the list and memorize it before slipping it into my pocket.
“There you are,” one of the cooks sighs in exasperation as she turns the corner and sees me. “I need to prep lunch but Ms. Chase had me searching the house all over for you. You know how long her special lunch for guests take?”
“My shift only just started.”
“Like that matters when Ms. Chase needs something? I’ve been calling you. Look she’s waiting in the study for you. Just pull your hair down and go see what it’s all about.” The cook hurries away, clapping her hands as if that will help her focus. She starts pulling out the cutting board, onions and garlic as I hurry by.
I fix my hair as I move quickly through the house. When I come to the white study door, I’m about to knock, but instead I pause as I hear voices coming from inside. “I’m telling you…” Delilah sighs, “Lara shouldn’t have made bail. What are we paying you for if you can’t rig a little thing like this?”
Was she talking to the judge? I press my ear to the door so I can make out what she’s saying better. It’s hard to hear over the pounding of my heart.
Someone else says something, a low voice, and grumbling. I can’t make it out, but it’s definitely a man’s voice.
Delilah snorts with laughter. “Keep your temper in check, dear boy, or the police will think the surprise I have waiting for Lara upstairs is your doing.”
Boy, temper. Surprise.
I back away from the door because of what waits for me upstairs. I need to get away before I end up dead. Turning, I run right into the cook. Air expels from my lungs in an ‘oof!’ and I quickly apologize. “Sorry, I really have to go…get to work, I mean.”
“Go? Did you even go in and see her yet?” The cook shakes her head and puts her hand on my shoulder, pushing me toward the door.
“No, really. I can’t.” I push against the chef as the door behind me opens from the inside and I fall onto my back into the study.
“I’m so sorry!” The cook gushes but I ignore her.
I’m laying on my back and peering at the upside down face of Donovan James and he’s most angry.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Lara Crane
“You’re not supposed to get closer than twenty feet to me.” I roll up to my knees and stand, backing away.
“I thought it’d be best if we talk, Lara.” The way Donovan says my name makes my stomach turn. I glance to Delilah who is quick to escort the cook out of the study. I notice Delilah closes the door after she locks it and that concerns me.
Walking into the study I notice that there are two body guards loitering by the fireplace and they keep their eyes on me. From how they stand I can tell they’re packing heat. If I make a false move, I might never get out of here.
“If the police find out you’re here…”
“Let’s not involve the police. Please, Lara.” Delilah takes my hands and pulls me toward her. “I’ll get you a drink and explain things to you. I promise it isn’t as bad as it l
ooks.”
No? “I believe you and Patricia James were up to your necks with illegal dealings and that’s why you went along with my mother’s murder and then my father’s. When I started asking questions, you realized I was a danger. That’s why you framed me for Patricia’s murder. I’m just surprised her son was in on it.”
I can barely bring myself to look at Donovan.
His eyes widen. “You’re lying. I would never have hurt my mother. She was everything to me.”
“Maybe but seems you got off good. You’re helping to run Rewind now, aren’t you? You took her seat at the table.”
“Because she left it for me. I didn’t kill her for it. There’s a lot I rather have done than run Rewind.”
“Sir,” one of the body guards says and I realize they may know more than Donovan does. Maybe here Donovan was a sleeve ball but he might’ve been clueless to what was going on under his nose.
“Did you work for Patricia?” I ask the pair of guards.
“They work for me, Lara,” Delilah says, “and I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”
I turn to face her. “The check you gave me was nothing bush hush money. You wanted me to run. You don’t want me to stay and face the charges. You want me to just go away.”
“I was fond of you.” Delilah’s eyes are crestfallen as they sweep over me. “That wasn’t a lie, but now you won’t let this go.”
“It’s not in my mature to drop things. Whatever is going to happen between us, it happens now. I can’t stomach waiting around any longer.”
Delilah motions for the guards. “Take her out. Make it quick and painless as possible.”
Donovan’s eyes widen. “Now wait a second. I want to hear what she has to say. Did you do what she says? Did you kill my mother and frame her for it?”
“Stupid boy.” Delilah saunters over to the bar as the guards draw their weapons and pours herself a whiskey. “Handsome as you are, I have no further use for another James breathing down my neck.”