by L. A. Fiore
"Yes."
"Gabriel, did we have children?"
His eyes grew bright. "We had just found out you were pregnant when you..."
He didn't finish, couldn't and Quinn felt her own tears.
"Oh my God, Gabriel."
His face was fierce when he cradled hers in his hands. "I won't lose you again."
At that moment Shane appeared. He knew he was interrupting something intense so he tried for lighthearted when he greeted them.
"Hello," he stopped next to Quinn and brought her hand to his lips then he turned to Gabriel and they hugged like long lost brothers.
"It's good to see you again, Shane. It's been an age."
"Likewise, but you're looking old my friend," Shane joked.
If Shane only knew that he was, in fact, older. Almost nine years older! Quinn marveled to herself.
Gabriel only laughed then replied, "You sure have a way with words."
"Join us, please." Quinn offered as she gestured to a chair.
"I would really like that, thanks."
"Broderick, Cabernet for the lady and two Guinness."
"You got it boss," Broderick eyed Quinn a moment before turning to fill the order.
"He's going to wonder about me since I was just asking about Gabriel last night and now here I am having lunch with him."
"Broderick's cool besides one look at you two together is explanation enough."
Quinn blushed which pulled a smile from Gabriel just before Broderick walked over.
"Found Gabriel I see," Broderick offered with a wink before he reached over and shook Gabriel's hand.
"Nice to see you, again."
"Likewise."
"Call when you're ready to order," Broderick said before he moved back behind the bar.
Shane looked from Quinn to Gabriel and asked, "So tell me, how did you two meet?"
Later that night they returned to Quinn's hotel to have dinner in the room before getting to bed early. They were heading back to the Cotswolds in the morning. Gabriel stopped off at his car for his bag and as they entered her room he looked over at her.
"Would you mind if I used the shower?"
"Like you need to ask. I'll call room service when you're done."
He pressed a kiss on her lips before he disappeared into the bathroom.
Quinn kicked off her shoes and went to the little bar to pour herself a glass of wine. For Gabriel, she put on her game face but she was more than a little disturbed to learn that he was from the future and was sent back to save her. Talk about history repeating itself. Quinn understood that the entire situation was just whacked out, people didn't generally slip back into time to save their loved ones from harm, and yet she had been sent to Archer and Gabriel had been sent to her.
Whatever was happening was personal and, as far as Quinn was concerned, it wasn't about hidden treasure. Both in the past and the future she was murdered and, because Quinn didn't believe in coincidences, that was very significant. The question now was who stood to gain from her death both in the past and the future and what was it that Quinn had that made murder a reasonable means to an end? The answer was fairly obvious and he was currently taking a shower in her bathroom.
She pulled her head from that and thought about what Gabriel had told her, they were pregnant when she was murdered. How the hell did he survive that? Thank God he came back almost immediately since the thought of him suffering a loss like that, losing not just her but their child, to find himself alone again made her want to drop to her knees and sob. How did any of them survive such pain and loss? It was nearly unbearable to think that everyone she loved, Archer, Nickie, Gabriel suffered and ended up alone. They needed to figure it out and change fate.
She heard the shower turn on and thinking of his beautiful body under the spray she decided to surprise him and keep him from being alone now. She placed her glass down and quietly slipped into the bathroom. The glass door of the shower stall was steaming up but she could still see him as the water slid down the deep groove of his spine. His body was so perfect, like it was carved from marble by a master, and seeing him always meant wanting him so she removed her clothes and quietly slipped into the shower. She pressed herself up against his back and wrapped her arms around his waist allowing her fingers to trace the muscles of his abs. She felt as his entire body went still, felt as his heart pounded hard and erratic in his chest, and then in a blur of movement he turned and wrapped his strong arms around her pulling her up against his body so that her soft curves were pressed up against his hard lines. Right before his mouth lowered to hers, he whispered in a voice that had grown hoarse, "Took you long enough."
Quinn toweled dried her hair but couldn't help glancing in the mirror at Gabriel who stood behind her wearing only a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. He had another towel which he was using to dry his hair, causing it to spike up all around his handsome face.
She didn't want to think about it but watching him reminded her that this poor man finds her lying on the floor, dying. A pain speared her heart at the thought. To actually watch as he slipped away, to watch him die before her very eyes. No, if she had to witness that she would never survive it. He was so strong but the past had to stop repeating itself or it would destroy them.
Who was doing this and why? She was so lost in thought she didn't realize that he had come up behind her, didn't realize it until he slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her back against his hard chest.
"What are you thinking about?"
Her eyes met his in the mirror and the look of love burning there had her heart skipping a few beats. "Wondering why someone is constantly pulling us apart. We met before, you know that, and we were pulled apart. And when we meet centuries later someone tears us apart again. Why?"
His arms tightened around her. "I don't know but we will figure it out."
She turned then and wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face against his chest.
"I don't know how you came to be here or how I went back. I don't know how I was lucky enough to find you and not just in one lifetime, but I am so grateful."
He gently ran his knuckles along her jaw and whispered, "Always and forever." And then he kissed her.
Their passion was interrupted by the buzzing vibration of Quinn's cell phone. And while she didn't want their embrace to end, Quinn knew this phone call could hold the key to the answers they sought.
"Hi, Tessa, what's up?"
"Hey. I just sent those photos to you. It cost me dinner, a very memorable dinner, so I think I might just owe you now!"
Quinn laughed at that, confirmed she received the photos, thanked her friend then settled in with Gabriel to check out the pictures of Derek and Constance.
As soon as she saw the aged version of Derek's partner, recognition tickled her memories.
"I've seen her before. Where have I seen her?" Quinn asked mostly to herself but Gabriel reached for the phone and looked at the picture. He studied it for a few minutes then offered, "Looks like the woman who owns the Organic Grocery in the village near Whispering Winds."
"Oh my God, you're right! It is her. Well, no wonder the day I visited her store she acted so oddly. She was probably wondering or worrying if I would recognize her."
"Who is she?"
"Derek's partner."
Their age difference was great and Gabriel's look of disbelief was comical. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. Scarier yet, she's probably only in her early 30s."
"Damn."
Quinn put her phone on the table before climbing onto Gabriel's lap to straddle him. "We're going to need to speak with her."
His hands ran down her body before he gripped her night gown and worked it up over her head.
"Tomorrow is soon enough," he whispered before his lips molded to hers. She couldn't have agreed more.
Two days later, the bell chimed over the door as Quinn and Gabriel entered the grocery store and when the older woman appeared before them and of
fered her greeting, they were both momentarily speechless.
"So, you've figured it out then?" she asked.
"Not entirely," Quinn offered.
The woman walked to the door and flipped the lock before gesturing toward the back room.
"Come, we can talk back here."
They followed her into the back and watched as she prepared tea before she joined them at the little table.
"I can't lie. I'm relieved you figured it out. I was growing rather tired of the whole thing."
Up close, the marked aging of the woman was frightening. Constance seemed to know what Quinn was thinking when she offered, "I'm only 33."
"Jesus," Gabriel hissed and Quinn silently agreed. The woman sitting before them looked to be at least in her 70s.
"I didn't know about the side effect, none of us did, and it was such a rush that we didn't think of the consequences until it was too late."
"You found the necklace at the Mayan temple?" Quinn asked.
Constance hesitated then answered, "Yes, I knew immediately what I had found, recognized the markings from my dissertation on a theory related to them." Constance stood and walked over to the one side of the room before turning back to them, her face lit with wonder.
"We're talking about time travel. The concept is so far out there, teased about in movies and books, but to actually hold the secret to it in your hands. It was overwhelming as you can imagine. I should have known better, should have known the impact on the future by going back into the past, but the chance to do what no one ever had, it was just too tempting. I think I knew, after the first walk, that the cost of walking through time was very high but I was addicted."
Quinn scrutinized Constance, who moved to join them at the table, before she asked, "You were the one leaving the treasures for Derek, weren't you?"
A self-deprecating grin lit up her face. "I thought if I was going to prematurely age then I might as well see as much as I could, see all the time periods that fascinated me in my studies. The stealing was an after thought, I did it for Derek since he really is a very mediocre archaeologist."
"It was you who jumped to the 18th century?" Gabriel asked.
Again the hesitation. "Yes, Derek and I attended a party where an announcement was made that the Scarcliff treasure was going to be unveiled at some gala event. Derek has always been greedy and he's always lived in your shadow, Quinn, so when the opportunity of traveling through time presented itself, Derek wanted to go back and get the treasure, wanted to come out on top for once. He's greedy but he's also a coward. So although he wanted the treasure, he was too afraid to go back for it. So I volunteered. I wasn't sure where to look so I went to the beginning, to Bryon Scarcliff's time, and man was he a piece of work! I needed access to his house to search it so I got myself employment within his household staff but it didn't take me very long to realize that there was nothing there, that whatever the treasure was I was too early for it. Later, I realized that the treasure was related to Archer and Morgan."
"Were you there when Morgan was killed?"
She looked down at her tea for a moment before she answered. "I was. I never knew what happened to her but I know she met with foul play."
It was Gabriel who asked, "Do you have any idea why the father made the son believe he was married to another after Morgan's death?"
She looked almost guilty in response to that question which had the pieces falling into place for Quinn. "You were Connie Daniels."
"Yes. That was my employment, his nurse."
"And you pretended to be Archer's wife. why?" Quinn asked.
"Bryon insisted and, frankly, I was scared of him especially after that woman started coming around. It was why I was so damn angry all the time, why everyone thought I was such a cold bitch. I didn't like the part I was being forced to play. I feared if I let onto Archer what was really happening that Bryon would retaliate. I couldn't keep up the charade and eventually, I jumped back into the future."
"What woman?" Gabriel asked.
Constance couldn't look at them when she answered. "I was careful to avoid her. She was interested in Bryon but I didn't stick around long enough to learn what for."
She sat back and her expression was very sincere when she offered, "I always felt wretched about being a part of the conspiracy especially since Archer was such a good man and he loved his wife so much and never got a chance to mourn her. It wasn't right."
"Any idea who killed her?" Quinn asked.
"No, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was Archer's own father. Bryon hated both of them, Archer and Morgan. He was a very ill man but it was his hatred that kept him alive."
"And the Danvers?"
"You're an archaeologist; would you have resisted the temptation to learn firsthand about possible ancestors?" Constance challenged.
"No, I wouldn't have but you shared what you learned with Derek, didn't you?"
"He needed a cover and I knew of one. I'm not proud of that, Quinn, of deceiving people but that was all I thought it was, deception, not murder."
That sent a chill through Quinn and Gabriel must have seen her fear because he reached for her hand and pulled her from her seat.
"Thank you for sharing, Constance," Gabriel said as he put his arm around Quinn's shoulders and started walking to the door.
Constance held the door open for them and whispered, "Be careful, both of you."
They walked a distance from the shop before Gabriel broke the silence, "She isn't telling us everything."
Quinn didn't miss a beat when she replied, "No, she's not."
Later they were sitting in Nick's solar with Cole as Gabriel relayed what they had learned from Constance. Nick stood and walked toward the bar.
"Are you saying you think Bryon Scarcliff killed Morgan and then…what? Jumped into the future and killed Quinn? Morgan, if the bastard killed her, I can see that, but what's the motive for Quinn?"
Gabriel exhaled as he stood and walked to the fire to stare into the flames. "I've no idea."
Cole spoke up from his spot next to Quinn. "Not to mention how did Bryon learn about jumping through time? Only Derek or Constance could have told him."
"Yeah, and when Derek arrived in the past Bryon was already believed to be dead. I think we need to find out what exactly happened to Bryon Scarcliff. Did he die or was his death faked like Constance's?" Quinn added.
"And who helped them fake their deaths?" Nick asked before he turned to Quinn. "We're going to need Charles."
She reached for her phone. "I'll call him."
The records office, that supported Whispering Winds and the two villages near it in Gloucestershire, was right next to Jack O'Shea's pub. The place was small, damp and so full of unorganized pile of papers, that Nick was convinced it was going to take them years to find what they were looking for.
"Death records are stored here, really?" Nick asked as he ran his finger along the table where a quarter inch of dust had settled.
"Everything is. Land grants, birth records, divorce settlements, all of it is here. These are property lines disputes," Charles said as he put the lid back on the box and moved to another. Quinn was in the corner with Gabriel and while she was looking through marriage records he was brushing his lips over her neck, licking the skin behind her ear.
"Would you stop that? I can't focus when you're feasting on me," she muttered under her breath which caused Gabriel to chuckle.
"But I like feasting on you."
She turned to look at him which was a mistake because she was blushing and he, of course, noticed causing his one eyebrow to rise ever so slightly. "Oh, Quinn, love, please don't do that." He wrapped his arms around her waist and lowered his head to her ear. "Your body covered in that blush is gorgeous."
"Please stop my legs are getting weak."
"Later, my beauty, I'm going to make you blush in earnest."
She lifted up onto her tip toes and brushed her lips over his. "Later, I'm going to let you."
He growled before his mouth covered hers in a kiss that was more a promise. When he pulled away, they were both a bit breathless.
"I've got something," Cole said and Quinn and Gabriel immediately stopped their banter.
"I didn't find Bryon's records. However, there was only one doctor in the area so he was more than likely the one who tended, Morgan, Connie and Bryon."
"Well, we know he wrote up Morgan's death as dying in childbirth and created a death certificate for Connie even though there obviously wasn't a body, so it's not a stretch to believe that he would have lied about Bryon, if asked."
"Especially considering Bryon was the Earl and his word was the law so if he had asked, the doctor would have done as requested." Nick offered.
"So in theory, Bryon kills Morgan and then asks the doctor to fudge the death certificate. Then he has the records sealed to keep his secret from Archer while making his son believe a lie to cover his ass. Sick, but obviously doable. But what's the link to Quinn in the future? You said that Constance mentioned that Bryon really was ill so how likely is it that he'd travel through time to kill Quinn, again, and what would be his motive? Gabriel isn't a Scarcliff," Cole worked on the scenario out loud.
Gabriel's head snapped up at that. "That's a really good point. Presumably, Bryon did all he did because Archer wasn't living up to the family name but I'm not in that family so there's no motive for Bryon in the future."
"So, we're back at square one. Who had the motive?" Quinn asked.
"Derek?" Nick suggested.
"I thought so, he is linked to both the past and the future, but Quinn and I agree, he's an asshole but we don't think he's a killer," Gabriel theorized.
"Wait! Bryon died, or disappeared, right after Archer recovered from his illness but Constance stayed and continued the charade. Why?" Quinn looked to Gabriel. "She said she was afraid but he was more than likely dead so who was she afraid of?"
"Looks like we need to have another chat with Constance." Gabriel said. "She's probably still across the street, I say we go chat with her now."
"I think we might have better success if Nick goes. He looks so much like Archer it might throw her off and have her spilling more than she will to you," Cole suggested.