“You expect me to believe this is a bloody time-traveling device? This is nothing more than a bloody lighter!” And to prove his point, he flicked the lighter open, ran his thumb over the striker and the yellow-orange flame shot up with a fury.
“I’d like to know how the hell he knows it’s called a time bender,” she said.
“So would I.”
“You’d better do something and fast.” She nudged him.
Dane considered his options. If he charged after Ridgewood, the man would demand the time bender. And if he refused to hand it over…?
Holy shit, he thought. How do we get into these messes? And by the look in the doctor’s eyes, he was one ticked-off bloke. However, he couldn’t stand there and let him abuse poor Tia, either. Skye nudged him again.
“Do something,” she whispered urgently.
With a strangled sort of sigh, he slumped his shoulders in a moment of resignation. Mentally preparing himself for the altercation to come, he inhaled a deep breath before stepping into the hallway.
“Leave her alone, Ridgewood,” he said in his best authoritative voice.
Ridgewood stopped, hand in mid-air and swung his gaze to Dane. His eyes narrowed to slits as his hand dropped to his waist. In his other hand, he held the flaming lighter, but clicked the lid closed with a snap.
“Where is it?” Not one to mince words, Ridgewood got right to the point.
“Where is what?” Dane refused to relinquish the time bender so easily to this maniac. Perhaps by playing dumb, he could stall for time while he thought of a plan.
A quick smile slipped across Ridgewood’s face before his eyes turned once again to slits. “Don’t toy with me, Fortune. I know you have the time bender. Just as I know Skye is Jake Ransom’s daughter.”
He heard her gasp from where he stood and hoped she’d stay out of sight. Alarm bells went off in his head. How in the hell did he know who Skye was? Who was this man? And what exactly did he want with the time bender? From what he recalled about his last mission with the CIA, no one named Ridgewood was involved.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Dane shrugged nonchalantly.
Ridgewood emitted a low guttural growl before throwing Dane’s Zippo lighter across the hallway. It slammed into the wall with a thud before clattering to the marble floor. Ridgewood balled his fists and turned his seething glare back to Dane.
“Come now, doctor. This behavior really is quite unbecoming.” Dane crossed his forearms over his chest and leaned against the wall.
“Where is she?” Ridgewood asked. “And where is the time bender?”
“I’m right here.”
From behind him, Skye stepped out into the hallway.
“Ah, the lovely Skye Ransom. I recognized you the moment you appeared at the Citadel. My luck seems to have changed with your arrival.”
“Who are you?”
“You wouldn’t remember me, of course. But I remember you.” He stepped toward her and Dane positioned himself between them as a shield. Ridgewood chuckled. “Your father and I worked together for quite some years.”
“You’re lying. I knew all of my father’s colleagues and I don’t know you.”
“It was early on, when Ransom Research and Development was in its infancy. Surely you remember when your father started his company? And he needed funding? I was at Oxford at the time.”
Dane grasped her by the hand. “He’s trying to stall us by monologuing. We’re getting out of here and we’re taking the girl with us.”
“I don’t think so. Give me the time bender,” Ridgewood demanded again. He bent at the waist and whipped out a large dagger from his boot. With a fluid motion, he reached for the whimpering girl, snatched her and placed the blade at her throat. “Or she dies.”
“Dane.” Skye’s tone was full of warning.
Dane came to full attention, aware Ridgewood wasn’t going to play nice. He might have to turn over the time bender in order to save this girl.
“Let her go, Ridgewood.”
“Now we each have something we want. You give me the device, I’ll release the girl.”
“Why do you want it so badly?” Dane asked.
“You fool,” he spat. “You think this is some backwards civilization in the middle of nowhere in—what did I say? 1935?” He waved the dagger in dismissal. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is I need to get back where I belong.”
“And where is that, exactly?” Skye interjected. “You told me you were on an archeological exploration team, that your party was murdered.”
“A well-crafted lie.” He smirked. “In truth, I am a time traveler, like you two. I recognized your mannerisms and overheard enough snippets of your conversations. I need to get back to my time. I had my own time bender, but I’m afraid it’s malfunctioning.”
“Is there really such a thing as the Nenchota, then?” Skye asked.
“Doesn’t matter, does it? Now give it to me.” He pressed the blade deeper into the girl’s throat as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Dane reached into his pocket, fingered the time bender. Skye, seeing him considering it, clutched his arm hard in warning.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Giving him what he wants.” Dane palmed the time bender and brought it out of his pocket. He looked down at it for perhaps the last time, then held it up for Ridgewood to see. “Here it is. Now release the girl.”
Ridgewood’s eyes locked on the small silver and black device. He dropped the dagger and gave the girl a shove out of his way. She stumbled and Skye caught her.
Dane stretched his hand out to Ridgewood and Skye watched, her eyes wide with horror as she shook her head. But Ridgewood stepped forward one, two more steps and reached for the time bender.
“Skye, catch!”
In a lightening fast move, Dane tossed the time bender high in the air. It tumbled end over end as it flew upwards and Skye gasped sharply as it began a fast decent. Ridgewood shouted a curse, reaching his hand up to catch it himself, but Dane dropped his shoulder and rammed into the man as if he were a linebacker on a pro football team.
Skye watched the thing tumble through the air, the world suddenly moving in slow motion. She reached up, realized the time bender was too far away, and made a dive for it. She crashed into the opposite wall, but the time bender landed safely in her palm. Grinning from ear to ear, she clutched it in her fingers.
“I got it, Dane.”
Dane was unconscious and bleeding all over the white marble floor.
“Dane!”
She took one step, but stopped when the bloody dagger appeared in her face.
“Hand it over,” Ridgewood demanded. “Now.”
Hesitating, she kept the time bender curled in her fist, her eyes on her friend bleeding on the floor. Impatient, Ridgewood grabbed her and gave her a jerk toward him. She tumbled into his arms, felt the knifepoint at the base of her throat and tried hard not to breathe.
“Give it to me now and you can live,” he said succinctly.
Reluctantly, she yielded her only hope for ever returning home. Triumphant, Ridgewood released her and pocketed the device as he disappeared down the corridor.
Fearing the worst, Skye knelt beside Dane, nudging him from his side to his back. Blood spread on the front of his orange tunic. He groaned and she was thankful he was still alive. However, he had a large, gaping gash across his ribcage and bled profusely.
“My God, Dane,” she said on a breath.
She tried to push his arm out of the way to get a good look at the wound. He shoved her hand away.
“I’m fine,” he groaned.
“You don’t look fine.” She tugged her lower lip through her teeth. “You may need stitches.”
“Skye, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Her brows knit in concern.
“Get…Ridgewood,” he croaked. “You have less than forty-eight hours. After that, we’re stuck here.”
<
br /> “I’m not leaving you. You need medical attention.”
“And you think you can do that?” He raised a skeptical brow. “Skye…” He gripped her sleeve with a bloody hand, pulled her toward him and spoke through gritted teeth. “Get the time bender or we’ll never leave this place. You have to do it.”
He was right, but she had no idea how to get the time bender back. Dane released her, leaving a bloody smear on her sleeve. She rose, her gaze fixed on Dane’s face pinched in pain.
“Go,” Tia urged. “I will tend him.”
A moment of indecision flickered through her mind. She could go, leave the two of them here and dart after Ridgewood. She had no doubt Dane would be fine in Tia’s capable hands.
“But Dane, I don’t know how. I need you.”
He groaned, struggled to a sitting position and scooted back to lean against the wall. Sweat rolled down the side of his face and she noted the large bump on his forehead. He kept one arm on his middle where the dagger had slashed him and flashed a devilish grin.
“Skye, I need you, too.” She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure something out.”
“All right. But it’s against my better judgment,” she said at last. “I’ll give it my best shot. And only because I don’t want to get stuck here.”
Turning on the toe of her boot, with her heart in her throat, she headed off in the same direction as Ridgewood.
Tia wrapped her long slender fingers around Dane’s arm. Her other hand slipped around his waist.
“Come,” she urged.
Not wishing to put all his weight on her, he struggled to stand, the small and dainty Tia holding him up as best she could. He stifled a chuckle as she led him down the shadowy, torch-lit corridor.
“I will take you to the shaman,” she said.
He could hear her labored breathing, knew he was the cause of her exertion and took as much weight off her as possible. All the while, he kept one arm pressed against the painful gash across his midsection. The girl led him down to the end of the hallway and across the great hall. She headed toward another hallway on the other side.
“We must hurry. The palace will soon wake.”
As she pulled him along the corridor, his thoughts turned to Skye. He should have followed Ridgewood, but he was losing a lot of blood and didn’t know if he could run after the man. He hoped she was all right.
Dizziness swept him and it was all he could do to keep from passing out. Sweat rolled down his face and his back. Black spots danced in his vision. He was going to pass out.
“How much farther?” he grunted.
“Not far,” she assured.
Relief washed over him when they paused at a wooden double door. Tia rapped quickly before pushing it open without waiting for anyone to answer. A small wooden bed was against one wall while the other was lined with bookshelves full of jars of herbs and books. The balcony doors opened to a large terrace, allowing the early morning breeze inside. From an antechamber, a tall, thin man came out to greet them. He wore a necklace of sharp, pointy teeth and had wild salt and pepper hair. Large round hoops adorned his earlobes.
Tia spoke quickly in her native tongue as the man fixed him with a dark brown stare. Her tone was urgent and the man’s reply sounded anything but welcoming. But Dane could no longer stand. His knees buckled and he slid to the floor.
* * *
Skye ran down the corridor, searching for Ridgewood. She rounded a corner and another, wondering where the hell she would end up. There had been so many twists, she had completely lost her sense of direction and had no idea where she was.
She rounded a darkened corner when she heard the shuffling of feet and assumed it was Ridgewood. She could see a shadowy figure at the other end. A door opened, illuminating his outline.
“Ridgewood!” she shouted.
He paused in the doorway to look back at her before he disappeared inside. The door slammed shut with a resounding bang. She hissed a curse under her breath. The last thing she wanted to do was follow him down a drafty hallway through a door that led who knew where.
But if she didn’t, she knew the consequences—she and Dane would be stuck here. That spurred her into action and she darted toward the unknown.
The drafty passage left her with an eerie feeling. Her only thought was to get to Ridgewood and their time bender. As she ran, something barreled into her, slamming her against the opposite wall. The surprise attack forced a high-pitched yelp from her.
Her head exploded as a blunt object struck her. It was the first time in her life she ever saw stars, blurring her vision. Before she could regain her footing, a steely hand clamped over her mouth, another wrapped around her waist and dragged her away.
Chapter Seven: Plea for Help
Dane watched the shaman stitch him up with a careful hand. He was meticulous, keeping the stitches small and tight. Dane was impressed with the handiwork and had the angle not been so odd, he would have done it himself. He had, after all, sewn up Skye’s wounds with a bone needle and horsehair back in the Ice Age.
As soon as the shaman finished, Dane got to his feet, only to sway unexpectedly still woozy from the blood loss. Leaving Skye alone, though, he knew he didn’t have a moment to waste. Tia was at his side, her hand on his shoulder, and pushed him back down to the narrow wooden bed.
“You must rest,” she said softly in his ear.
He shook his head. “I’ve got to get to Skye.” He couldn’t leave her at the hands of Ridgewood. And he had to find out how that man knew about the time bender and Jacob Ransom.
Tia pressed her palms firmly onto his shoulders. “You cannot go.”
The shaman shuffled up behind her, holding a wooden cup in his aged hands. Taking it from him, Tia stretched it to Dane.
“Drink this,” she ordered.
“What is it?” Taking the cup, he warily sniffed the contents.
“It will help you heal. The shaman concocted it for you.”
“It smells awful.” The brownish liquid smelled worse than death. He handed the cup back to her. “Tell him thanks but I’ll pass.”
“You will insult him if you do not drink it.”
“Then I guess he’ll just have to be insulted.”
Reluctantly, Tia took the cup and held it between her hands, staring down into the liquid. “It’s not wise to insult the shaman.”
“I’m sure he’ll get over it.”
She gave the cup back to the shaman, speaking in their native tongue and turned back to Dane. “The shaman refused to help at first after you passed out. He thinks you are one of the underworld gods.”
“And you convinced him otherwise.” Dane rubbed his forehead, pinching the skin between his forefinger and thumb.
“I explained you meant us no harm,” she said with a nod. Her hand trailed through his chest hair, her fingertips light on his skin, and stopped at his abdomen, pausing over the stitches. She traced the line of the wound. “I helped.”
He grasped her delicate hand in his. Her dark eyes fluttered to meet his and he could swear a faint blush colored her mocha cheeks. He recognized the tender look she gave him and couldn’t help but be flattered.
“You need rest.” Smiling demurely, she slipped her hand out of his and pulled the covering up to his chin.
“I need to get out of here,” he corrected. Watching her closely, he saw her eyes cloud over. He gripped her arm, squeezed tightly, causing her to wince. “Where is she?”
“She is safe,” Tia replied, though not convincing enough for Dane.
“Where is Skye, Tia?” he demanded.
“Dr. Ridgewood…” Tia’s words faded away.
Sitting up, he took the girl by her biceps and held her close to his face. Fear flickered in the dark depths of her eyes as a shudder ran through her. Her bottom lip quivered.
“He has her. He wanted to take her and you…” Her words trailed off.
“I made it all too easy for him. Bastard!” Dane shoved
her away, swung his legs to the side of the bed. Sending Skye after Ridgewood was exactly what he wanted. “Tell me where she is, dammit!”
“I do not know, I swear.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “He said I had to help him or he would kill me. He wanted you dead, too.”
“Then why did you bring me here to the shaman to stitch me up?” he demanded.
“I couldn’t kill you myself.” Rising from the bed, she stepped away from him.
Early morning light glinted off the dagger in the shaman’s hand as it plunged toward Dane.
* * *
Skye had fallen unconscious shortly after being hit over the head. She came to and found her arms and legs shackled to a wall and her mouth gagged. Her head still exploded with pain and she gently shook it to make her eyes focus on her surroundings. She blinked several times.
She seemed to be in a dungeon of some sort with cold, damp air pressing in on her. Through the one small window on the cell door, orange-red flames flickered from torches lining the white marble walls. The blazing torches were the only sound she could hear in the deathly silence.
Footsteps shattered the quiet and long shadows wavered along the wall as someone entered what she supposed was the dungeon. Two men followed him. She recognized the leader as Ridgewood. A key clanked in the lock and the door swung open with a creak.
“I see you’ve come around.” Ridgewood handed the key off to one of his lackeys. One held a torch, illuminating that small dank cell.
She squinted in the darkness—as if that would help—trying to see his face. The firelight did nothing but cast his features in hideous shadows.
“Now that we’ve rid you of your bodyguard, we can speak plainly to one another.” He stepped close in the pale light and removed her gag.
Skye tilted her head back, looking down her nose. “Plainly about what? How you know my father, for instance?”
“Ah, yes, your father.” He produced the time bender from his pocket and turned it end over end. “This is not much different from the earlier design I remember.”
He reached into his pocket and brought out a second device that looked hauntingly familiar. Ridgewood held it up for her to see. It was bigger than her version, but yet she could clearly see the black button and the digital read-out. Hers was the length of a lipstick, while his was the size of a pen. My God, he has one too!
A Break in Time Page 6