by Joni Hahn
She couldn’t allow him to use her any longer. He’d stolen away her life, her family, and the man she loved.
What more did she have to lose?
Shoving the phone back in her bag, she grabbed the canister and case.
A raised voice penetrated the door from the hallway. “Annie just got hit by a car.”
Teague whipped around as a key turned in the lock. The woman from the hallway ran inside, stopping short when she saw her.
“What are you doing in here? Are you okay?” Shaking her head, she grabbed a crash cart and wheeled it out the door. “One of our employees just got hit by a car. I have to hurry.”
Teague rushed out the door behind her. “I’ll help.”
Running past the front desk, she set the canister and case on the counter and raced outside.
***
Annie lay unconscious, her body still as if in slumber. Pulling out his phone, Luke cursed aloud, realizing he had no signal. Throwing it to the ground, he checked for her pulse.
Nothing.
Pressing against her chest with both hands, he started CPR, his vision blurring.
God, it was his fault. Her traffic accident, her death, was his doing. He’d killed her.
He blew into her mouth. Please God take me instead. I don’t deserve to live. She’s the one that deserves happiness.
“Luke, let me...”
Glancing up, he saw Teague Hamilton run toward him, Cyrus running behind her, his face a mask of anger. She took over the compressions to Annie’s chest as he breathed into her mouth. He heard the emergency crew arrive with a gurney, but didn’t look up. He didn’t want to quit looking at her.
“Luke.” Teague’s authoritative voice broke into his thoughts. “You need to let them work.”
Rising to his feet, he stepped out of the way, his gaze on Annie. He watched them tend her, Teague beside them, knowing in his heart it was futile, knowing she was destined to die.
He wanted to die with her. He couldn’t live knowing he’d killed her.
“Tragic, isn’t it?” Cyrus stood beside him, his shrewd blue eyes proving his sympathy rang false.
With a finger to Cyrus’s chest, Luke backed him away. “You knew I was responsible for her death,” Luke said. “You led me to believe my presence could change the outcome, but you knew it wouldn’t change anything. You brought me anyway.”
Cyrus spoke in a low, denigrating voice. “Perhaps, you should’ve told her everything. She wouldn’t have run after you.”
Luke winced at Cyrus’s cruel words. Grabbing him by the shirtfront, he spoke through gritted teeth. “I ought to kill you here and now.”
“You won’t kill me.” Cyrus gave him a half-grin. “Now that you have nothing here, you need to get back to twenty fifteen.”
He shoved Cyrus. The bastard stumbled backward, his face shadowed with menace.
Dropping back his head against his shoulders, Luke growled into the air. He’d come for answers, for happiness, and found nothing but more misery.
Teague’s voice carried on the night stillness. “We have a pulse.”
Chapter 15
Teague used the emergency crew for cover, as she rushed into the emergency entrance of the hospital. As long as she stayed around people, she would be safe. Cyrus wouldn’t cause a scene.
His piercing blue eyes glared in fury as the door shut in front of her, leaving him in the waiting room with a belligerent nurse who refused him access. Teague knew it was dangerous to alter past events, but if it meant staying out of Cyrus’s hands and foiling his plans, she would do it. She could do no more harm than he’d planned.
Luke gave the staff what personal information he had on Annie. Teague remained by his side, afraid to drift too far away, knowing there was strength in numbers. With both of his passengers out of sight, Cyrus had to be coming unglued.
He would be more dangerous than ever.
Turning away from the counter, Luke almost ran into her. “Dr. Hamilton.”
Grabbing his arm, she dragged him down the hall, not far from the nurse’s desk. He pulled her into a hug filled with fierce desperation.
“Thank you for what you did out there.” Pulling away, he swallowed hard. “If you weren’t there, she would’ve died. You changed the course of events.”
Frowning, Teague said, “What do you mean?”
Clutching her by the shoulders, he said, “Annie was supposed to die tonight. I came back, hoping to change things, but it wasn’t me that changed them.” He stared at her, relief shining in his eyes. “It was you. You saved her life.”
Teague stared at him, wonder propelling her heart. If she could save Annie Crawford, could she save her parents, too? Could she somehow use Cyrus to travel further back in time and foil his plans to murder them?
“Will you stay with her, Luke?”
Looking away, he ran both hands down his face. “I’m fifty-three years old. Twice her age. She wouldn’t want me.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Hell, I told them I was her father so I could come back here.”
Luke’s love for Annie shone like a beacon in the dark evil that shadowed them. How could love transcend time and space like that? It had been over thirty years since he’d last seen her.
“She ran across the street to reach you,” Teague said. “That sounds a lot like the actions of a woman that wants – and loves - you.”
Staring at the floor, he braced a hand against the wall. “Curiosity and disbelief drove her. I’m not fool enough to believe love sent her into that street.”
“Why not?” she countered. “You time traveled with your sworn enemy to reach her.”
His downturned eyes met hers. “I guess I’m afraid to believe, Doctor.”
She gave him a small smile. “Teague.”
Grinning, he gave her a brief nod. “Teague.”
Releasing a breath, she told him about her work at the lab and what she’d found in the closet.
He dropped his hand to his side. “It had to be Cyrus.”
Nodding, she said, “Yes. If I can get my phone to the authorities, perhaps I can get him and Dr. Capri arrested.”
A young, balding man in green scrubs stopped to talk to them. “Oh, sorry. Wrong family.”
Stopping short, he turned back around, his mouth hanging open. His brown eyes were wide behind round, gold-rimmed glasses.
“You look exactly like a doctor that used to work here.”
Heart hammering against her ribs, she nodded. Perhaps, if she could convince him of her evidence, he would help her.
“Diana Hamilton?”
With an exaggerated nod, he held out his hand for a shake, before turning to Luke for the same. “Dr. Richard Arns. Yes. Are you her sister?”
Taking a deep breath, she released it and looked at Luke, who gave her an encouraging nod. She lifted her chin. “I’m her daughter, Teague.”
Stilling, the man stared at her and gave an uncomfortable laugh. “Um, no. Teague is only five years old.”
“Yes,” she said, “in nineteen eighty-nine. However, I’m from the year twenty-fifteen.”
Frowning, he looked at Luke, then back at Teague. “Working in the ER, I hear a lot of wild tales. But this tops them all.”
Pointing at the bag on her shoulder, she said, “I can show you proof. Would you like to see it?”
Holding up his hands, he backed away with cautious steps.
She held out the bag to him. “Inside the small pocket is my smart phone. Please remove it. It has all of the proof you need.”
With a wary glance, he took the tote bag from her hand and looked inside. Checking the small pocket, he removed her phone and stared at it.
“This is a phone?” He handed the bag to Luke.
Nodding, she said, “Yes. Press the round button at the bottom. You will see several icons on the screen. Press the one that says photos.”
Absorbed in the phone, he looked at all of the icons before pressing the photo button. Pulling up the first photo, he squinted to read the lab
notes.
Luke walked over to him and held out his hand. “May I?”
Staring at him in awe, the doctor nodded. Luke enlarged the photo and handed it back. Teague watched the doctor’s face darken, his brows furrowing deep.
“Where did you get this?”
She said, “In the files at Dr. Capri’s lab. You will find all of the evidence there. My mother and father were both murdered, Dr. Arns. Can you get that evidence to the police?”
He placed the phone in his shirt pocket. “Yes, of course. But, that doesn’t explain you, or how you got here.”
The double doors shoved open and smacked against the walls. Cyrus stood in the threshold, his nostrils flared, his face flushed with ire.
“You’ve made a grave mistake, Dr. Hamilton.”
***
Mitchell met them on the D.I.R.E. compound roof, the desert darkness amplifying the desolation in Dylan’s chest. Well past midnight, he felt like he’d been up for weeks. Teague’s loss felt like an eternity.
“Naylor is on his way.” Mitchell studied him with narrowed eyes. “McCall, are you up for this?”
Stunned, Dylan blinked. All the way back, he’d prepared arguments, expecting Mitchell to refuse his request to go.
“More than, sir.”
Mitchell gave a brief nod, before turning to Saint and Rose. “Don’t even ask. The answer’s no.”
The two agents’ shoulders deflated.
Naylor jogged toward them, Robinson beside him. Dar was the agency’s exclusive time travel agent. He knew the ropes and would help Dylan find Teague.
Clint gave Dylan’s titanium and aluminum suit a quick perusal. “McCall, suit up over this.”
Holding out his arms, Dylan watched as the nanobots covered him from neck to sole. Clint attached a retractable helmet to the neckline of his overlapping suit.
“The graphene will protect you,” he said. “You should have no issues.”
“Why aren’t they taking the time machine?” Rose said.
Mitchell shook his head. “I don’t want to risk leaving behind more technology. It keeps popping up like a damned STD. By destroying the Altay Mountain facility, we’ve eliminated anything Cyrus may have had there. We have to reduce the risks. I’m tired of chasing shit through time. It’s too dangerous.”
Clint handed Dylan some pills. “The time travel will cause nausea. With your chest healing, I would advise taking these to eliminate any further pull on that incision. You’ve probably already done some damage.”
Did Clint really think he cared about damage to his chest when Teague was lost with Cyrus?
His entire being, his life, was in upheaval. Shattered. If he allowed her to remain with Cyrus, what did his death matter? It would prove everything his father said was true.
He couldn’t let her down.
Everything would be all right once he saw her again, held her, kissed her. He would search for her until the end of time, if necessary.
Throwing the pills in his mouth, he swallowed them down. Jumping onto the low bar of the compound radio tower, he climbed to the top beside Dar Naylor.
“Okay, McCall,” Dar said, as he turned to face him, a hand on the bar above his head. “We’re about to get kinky.” He pulled out a strap built into the waistband of his suit.
“No offense,” Dylan said, as he wrapped it around his waist to fuse them together. “But, you’re not my type.”
Clint yelled up at him. “McCall, connect it to your suit.”
Dylan yelled back. ”I have a better idea.”
Releasing nanobots from his armbands, Dylan moved closer to Naylor as the tiny bots created a graphene suit that encompassed them both.
Dar grinned at him with admiration. “Damn, I knew they didn’t hire you for your looks.”
Dylan locked a forearm with Naylor. “Hell, what are you talking about? That’s my greatest weapon.”
Running his forefinger over the screen on his armband, Naylor said, “Are you sure that’s not your talent for spouting bullshit?”
Dylan felt the electrical current shoot through Naylor’s system, activating Dar’s gold and copper compound. His amplifier kicked in, accelerating the time travel system, their bodies humming with power.
“If you don’t believe me,” Dylan said, “just ask your fiancée.”
A bright light flashed in the sky, before the tower fell out from under them.
Chapter 16
Dylan and Dar stood across the street from Capri’s lab in nineteen eighty-nine, the blue and red lights of the police car splashing over them in unsettling intervals. They’d made it through time with no incident, the graphene suit holding up well.
They’d already visited the trailer park where Saint grew up, but found the home vacant. Dylan felt like Tristan, trying to teleport to a moving target. The longer the others remained in the past, the more likely they changed the course of events. He and Naylor could shoot for a past event, but in truth, it may’ve never happened now that Cyrus brought Luke and Teague to nineteen eighty-nine.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Dar said, as they watched the police car drive away, leaving the street in front of the lab deserted.
Walking into the street, Dylan spotted a wad of paper amongst the pieces of plastic and debris. Picking it up, he recognized Teague’s writing on the labels from the canister and case he’d found on her table.
His heart picked up speed, his mood lightening. “Shit, this is Teague’s, Naylor.”
He couldn’t think about her getting hurt. Or worse. That just wasn’t an option. Lose was not part of Teague’s vocabulary, either.
Stuffing the wad inside his suit, he kept it as a talisman.
I’m coming, baby.
Dar broke into the lab, but found it deserted. They jogged to the hospital across the street. Looking at the bustle of activity inside the emergency room doors, they went around to the main doors and entered the deserted foyer. The information desk sat empty, the hallway to the elevators bare.
Giving him a backhanded tap on the arm, Dar pointed to a sign that said emergency. Trotting down the corridor, he followed Dar into a maze of hallways, trying to avoid contact with others. Rounding a corner, they found themselves in the middle of activity, surrounded by wailing people and busy hospital personnel. They jumped back, out of sight.
“How do we look around without being seen?” He and Dar were both big men, wearing graphene and titanium suits.
With another tap on the arm, Dar handed him a folded up hospital gown. Hell, he just got out of one. He pulled it on and tied it at the side. A woman’s groggy moan caught his ear.
“Luke…”
Flattening against the wall, he stopped to listen.
“Luke…?”
He heard a nurse rush into a compartment just around the corner. “Annie, you’re awake.”
Annie Crawford aka Brianna St. James. She was supposed to die tonight. Did that mean they were too early? Or, had Luke’s presence already changed that? Dylan looked back at Dar, who gave a nod.
“Where’s Luke?” she said, her voice an agitated slur. “I need to see Luke. Get me, Luke. Please…”
“Calm down, sweetie. Let me find him.”
Peeking around the corner, Dylan saw the nurse walk down the hall, in the opposite direction.
“Stay here, Naylor, in case Luke shows up,” he said, over his shoulder. “I’m going to follow her.”
“Roger that.”
Following at a discreet distance, Dylan stopped at each crossroad, checking the hallways before entering, hoping to get some kind of advance warning on Cyrus.
“Has anyone seen Dr. Arns?”
Dylan stopped just shy of the nurse’s station. He couldn’t cross without being seen.
“He was talking to the couple that came in with Brianna St. James. Did you see the woman? She looks exactly like Diana Hamilton – God rest her soul.”
Dylan did a double take. Teague Hamilton. Diana Hamilton.
Her mother. Dylan had never asked what her mother did for a living. Maybe she worked in the medical field where these people knew her. She would’ve died around this time.
A grin split his face. Cyrus must be having a fit if people recognized her. What an idiot for bringing her here. At least the conversation confirmed Teague wasn’t hurt. Thank God.
He heard another voice chime in. “I’m looking for them, too. Annie is calling for someone named Luke.”
“That’s her father,” the other said, appreciation ripe in her voice. “What a fox.”
So Luke managed to gain entrance by saying he was Annie’s father. Good move. They were around somewhere.
What the hell was a fox?
“I’ll head down to radiology. If I see Dr. Arns, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”
Stepping back into a restroom, Dylan lowered his arm and watched the nanobots create a tall, linen cart. Pushing it out the door, he headed in the direction the nurse had gone, walking on the opposite side from the nurse’s station.
Seeing a sign for radiology, he branched off in that direction. He caught sight of the nurse as she opened a door.
“Oh.” She yelped, before backing out and running toward him.
A loud growl sounded from the room.
Ducking behind the cart, he watched her pass. The cart disintegrated before he ran down the hall, the nanobots following him and crawling up his leg.
He shoved open the door. A bald man wearing scrubs lay on the floor, his face a pale mask of death. Dylan crouched beside him and checked his pulse.
Nothing. His wrist was still warm so he hadn’t been dead long.
Dylan had to get out of there before someone found him with the body.
Stepping over him, Dylan noticed something peeking out of his shirt pocket.
Teague’s phone.
Pressing the main button, a photo of a document came up. Glancing it over, Dylan’s heart pounded harder the longer he read. Someone had killed Teague’s parents.
Cyrus.
Running out the door, he headed back to Dar. If the body was still warm, Cyrus had to be close by. They had to cover the exits.
Finding Dar where he left him, Dylan told him everything as they tossed away the hospital gowns.