by Jill Cooper
“It wasn’t all for Dad.”
Molly smiles at me as she’s tucked in Mom’s arms. I touch her chubby cheeks, wanting nothing more than to protect her. “Can we go for sodas? Maybe burgers?” she asks.
The imagery of something so simple, so mundane, makes me laugh.
Mom wipes her eyes. “Tell you what, how about we go get Mike, and we go get those burgers? The four of us?”
My heart soars. I stand up, and we both take one of Molly’s hands. “I’m sorry, Mom, if you get in trouble. If Rewind—”
“It's just a corporation. Nothing but a stupid company. I never should’ve let myself be manipulated by Patricia.” Her voice is strong, resolute. “I have you, Molly, our family. That’s all that matters.” She lifts Molly up in her arms again and gives her kisses, while my sister squeezes her back like there’s no tomorrow. My heart swells with happiness.
“I’m sorry it took so long for me to see it.” Mom frowns and touches my face. Her thumb strokes me. “I can fix it, if there’s still time.”
“There’s still time.”
I step forward and smile at Jax. His lips are drawn and his eyes sad. His shoulders round forward like a sad boy who misses his dog, and when I call him, he barely looks up.
My arm extends, and I offer him my hand. “Maybe we should make it five burgers.”
His eyes lock with mine, and he fights back tears. He nods, takes my hand, and squeezes it. Before I know it, he pulls me into his arms and crushes me into a bear hug. I wrap my arms around his waist and bury my head against him. Jax is a victim in this, same as me and Mom. He has been living with his crimes for so long, I can’t judge him. He did his best to protect Mom, me.
Molly hugs my leg, and Mom hugs me and Jax. We are a unit. A family.
Epilogue
“So a time traveler, huh?” Donovan asks.
We are holding hands and walking through the park. It’s summer now, and I’m wearing a cozy outfit of shorts and a blue tank top.
I shrug. “It’s no big whoop.”
He smiles, shy and reserved. It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, I’m not sure what to say next. His mother is arrested and awaiting trial. That’s all my fault, even if she was guilty as sin.
Donovan tucks my hair behind my ears. “You saved your mom’s life, your sister’s, and stopped a dangerous group from trying to shape our country, the world. I’d say pretty big whoop.”
I smile.
“All that time the video was right in Rex’s grasp?”
“Yup, right on Molly’s locket.”
He shakes his head. “And now that you’re a time traveling superhero, what are you going to do with your new power?”
My eyebrow arches. “I hope nothing. I hope Mom can come up with something to fix me, but even if she doesn’t, I hope never to time travel again. Believe me.” I take a deep breath. “Donovan, about your Mom—”
He places a finger over my lips. “How about we don’t. She kidnapped you, Molly, and was ready to kill anyone who got in her way.”
“She’s still your mother,” I whisper. “You must have things you want to get off your chest.”
He holds both my hands, and we are closer to each other than we have been in ages, our chests practically touching. “How about instead of all that, I kiss you and ask you what you’re doing tomorrow night for dinner?”
I smile and bite my lip. “I think I’d like that a lot more than you realize.”
He grins, and when our lips meet, it’s magic. I haven’t forgotten Rick and how much I loved him once, but my heart belongs to Donovan. He is everything to me. I know things will be hard for him in the future with his mom’s arrest, but I look forward to facing it with him.
He walks me uptown to where I’m staying with my dad for the weekend and kisses me goodbye. I go inside the small apartment and watch Dad cook mac and cheese. He doesn’t see how nostalgic it makes me, but when he shows me the small yellow lab puppy he bought, I melt. “Oh, Sparky,” I whisper, and the puppy comes to me. I crush it in a hug.
“I figure with all that money the government is giving me for wrongful imprisonment, I have enough to spend on a dog. What do you say?”
My dad’s face is wide and full of joy. I pet the puppy, and even though I know he isn’t my old dog, I’m sure we’ll be great friends.
“I say it’s great. I always wanted a dog.”
I follow Dad into the kitchen. It’s a tight fit with a table and chairs, but the room sings with love. I hug Dad around the waist, and he kisses the top of my head.
“Make things right with your boyfriend?”
He says the word with disdain in a way Jax never does, but it makes me smile. He is my dad. That gives him a right.
I nod. “We’re going to go out tomorrow night.”
“Only if you’re back by nine.”
“Dad!” I roll my eyes.
“Ten,” he says with a twinkle in his eye. “Set the table, okay?”
I nod and head to the cabinets. The table is by the window and has a beautiful view of the city. I watch the traffic roll by with a smile on my face.
My cell phone rings. “Hi, Jax.”
“Hey … peanut. Just wanted to wish you goodnight. Mom and I have counseling tonight and wanted you to know we’re looking forward to picking you up in a few days.”
“Me too. I’ll see you soon. Tell the twins I love them.”
“Will do. See you soon. Tell John ... well, never mind. See you soon.”
When I hang up, Dad brings the food to the table. He says grace, leaning across the table so we can hold hands. “Mac and cheese still your favorite?”
“Oh, definitely!” I pick up my fork and dig in.
For a moment it feels like nothing has changed. As though I never time traveled at all.
Almost.
I take a spoonful of mac and cheese to my mouth. Blowing on the steaming pasta, I look up. The clock catches my eye.
The hands are spinning backwards.
When Lara Crane, changed the past and the course of history, what happened to the world she left behind? A time line novella where the cast of 15 Minutes comes together in an alternate version of the truth.
The world is destined for the abyss.
Rick loves Lara Crane more than anything and when she tries to change the past he rushes to stop her. But he's too late and no one believes his story about time travel as the world crumbles around him.
Meanwhile John Crane’s worst nightmare’s come true when his daughter, Lara never returns home and when he discovers she’s been to Rewind, all bets are off.
Forced to relive horrible memories about his wife’s death, John finds a key to a locker at the YMCA that promises to unlock the secrets about Miranda’s murder.
Once he pieces everything together, he’s on a collision course with destiny. And the man he sets his scope onto?
Jax Montgomery.
Chapter One: Rick’s Late
The train’s fifteen minutes late.
What should have been an easy trip was anything but. Now I race against the clock. I run toward the Rewind Agency, a large towering skyscraper that against the Boston skyline is easy to spot. Slamming through the revolving doors, I spit out into the lobby.
I rush to the receptionist’s desk. “Where are the time travel rooms? Where!” I slam my palms onto her desk and she points down the hall. She grabs at my arm, but I shove her off a little harder than I intend. She falls to the ground. Someone gasps, but there’s no time to stop. Apologize.
I know it’s wrong, but if I’m going to stop Lara, there’s no time. Her appointment started over two minutes ago.
I scan the doors and find the one with Lara’s name beside it. I bang my fist on the door. “Lara!” Through the glass I see her strapped into the chair.
She’s going through with it. After everything I said, everything she promised.
“There he is!” Guards with the Rewind Agency logo on their jacket sleeves ru
sh toward me. I bang on the door a final time before they grab me and pin my arms behind my back. “Don’t do this!”
My head bangs against the glass and I see love in her eyes, maybe for the last time. Can she see my panic? My desperation?
The room lights up so bright, I squint. The collar on my jacket tugs backward and a large man with a day of scruff on his chin grizzles in my ear. “Come with me.”
I’m not scared of him, but I’m scared of what he represents.
He shoves me into a small room with a metal table and little other furniture. His large meaty hands thrust me into a seat. All around me the walls are plastered with warnings about time travel. Exploding brains, heavy fines, they have all their bases covered.
It makes me nervous. Twitchy.
Lara faces all of these if she’s successful in changing time; saving her mother’s life. I’m not sure if I’ll even know if she is. If your fate or destiny change, you should feel something shouldn’t you?
They go through my wallet, flicking through the card before tossing them down onto the table. My student ID card is flung at my chest. “Rick Miller. Want to explain what you’re doing so far from Cambridge on a school day?”
Easy question. “Just a short sub ride away. Besides, my afternoon is all study classes. I can do what I want.”
His lip snarls. “What you want. Not here.” He glances at the other guard. “Place a call to his parents. See this jerk is picked up.”
Crap. My knee jerks and it doesn’t go unnoticed. The guard’s eyes deviate toward it and he leans across the table. He smells of his morning cigarette break. “Why don’t you tell us why you raced through here then? Pushing down the receptionist like that has put you on everyone’s hit list.”
I cringe. “Sorry about that. I really didn’t mean to. Is she all right?”
His lip twitches. “She’s off baking cookies.”
I cross my arms. I don’t want to get Lara in trouble. Protecting her has to be my top priority.
The guard goes ‘hmmpf’. “What would be so important you would try to break into a standard time travel procedure? Girl forget her homework or something?”
The other guard laughs and I glower. “I’m not going to say anything else without a lawyer.” Let’s just say that my older brother, Tom’s, trouble with the law taught me a thing or two; like being weary of the police or anyone in authority.
“You’re not under arrest here. Not unless you give us a reason to. Now, why don’t you buckle down and answer a few questions for us. Starting by what you meant when you said—.”
The door opens in time to save my hide, at least for now. A lab coat technician steps into the doorway. Her face is angular and her red hair is pinned back in a tight bun. I’ve see her before with Lara. My heart races with fear that she had bad news for all of us.
“Whatever he wanted, it doesn’t matter Ms. Crane completed her fifteen minutes successfully without incident.”
My heart skips a beat. That means it’s done, over. But does that mean her mother is alive? The guard fills the silence with a question. “No anomalies or problems we need to worry about?”
“None.” She says but there’s a strange smirk on her face. I don’t trust her.
Still, she’s my only hope of getting out of there. “I want to see Lara.”
One of the guards smacks me in the back of the head. “You’re in no position to demand anything,” he snarls.
“And you keep your hands to yourself or I’ll sue.” My eyes narrow to a fine point.
All of which makes the technician laugh. “Please, Mr. Miller. You don’t have the money it would take to even think of suing us. Get his parents here and let this be a warning to you. Be more careful, or your brother’s fate will be your future.”
I’m left alone and they lock the door behind them. I wonder how she knew my name without anyone telling her and my family’s infamous history.
I’m uneasy, but Lara is my primary concern. I have to see her. Find out how it went. What she did. And what the fall out will be, I can’t even begin to expect.
*****
Dad is a large set man with a shuffled limp when he walks and wide shoulders. When they round as he unlocks the apartment door, I know I’m in trouble. Big trouble. But he doesn’t say anything. Hasn’t said anything since he picked me up. Everything points to him being royally pissed off and I can’t blame him.
I care, but I don’t know how to say it. I can barely draw breath I’m so disappointed in myself for letting him down. He lets me go to my room without saying a word. Glad? I should be because I can barely make eye contact, but it stings so bad, I’m not glad at all.
My room is cramped with a messy bed and a desk crammed into the corner. The plaster is peeling and the neighbors music pump above my head rhythmically. I sit at my desk and use the computer to search for Lara’s mom.
I type Miranda Crane and I wait, hold my breath for the outcome to be displayed. When the only references I find are ones relating to her murder in a mugging ten years ago, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Lara will be crushed and all I can feel is relief.
My eyes flash to her photo on my dresser. Even in an old baggy t-shirt she’s stunning with long curly hair and eyes that sparkle with fire. Determination. She’s a fighter with fire raging in her gut and I’m sad she can’t have her mother back.
But she’ll make it through. I know she will.
She’ll need me now more than ever. Luckily she lives up on the third floor and I leave my room to go see her.
But, luck is not with me in the living room. Dad is there and his large frame blocks the door as he leans up against it.
Dad’s head lifts when my feet stop. The sadness in his eyes hits me. “Why’d you do it, Rick?” The tone of his voice is utter defeat and it reckons back to those early years when my big brother ran with the gang.
Before he started dealing drugs and when Dad fought like the hell to save him.
“I thought Lara was in trouble.” I swallow back my guilt.
“Was she?”
“No.” My shoulders hunch up and eye contact is impossible to maintain.
Dad shakes his head. “To lay hands on a woman—.”
“I just shoved her.” I cringe when Dad’s eyes say it doesn’t matter. I know he’s right. “I got lost in the moment. I lost control. Is that what you want me to say?”
He lets out a long breath and his lip curls. With his step forward, I know I’m about to get it. “I want you to say this was a rash decision. I want you to say you are not repeating Tom’s pattern of abuse. I want you to say this is a mistake and as you live and breathe will never happen again.”
I nod. “It won’t. I promise.” I do promise, so help me God, I’d never do that to Lara or any other woman.
“Tomorrow you will go back and you will apologize. Hear me? This would break your mother so you will not breathe a word of this to her. Not a single word. But so help me, do something like this again, and I’ll call the cops on you myself. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Sir.” I gulp, but I know it’s better than I deserve.
He shuffles away from the door. “Be back in time for supper.”
I promise and pull open the door. As it latches behind me, his words grate my heart. “You were supposed to be the good one.”
The good one.
I don’t know if that’s true. Tom was my big brother. I looked up to him. I wanted be him even as he went back. If it wasn’t for Lara, maybe I’d be just like him. But she gave me the strength to be different. To want to climb out of this crummy life no matter what it took.
Apartment number 307. I rang the bell and use the knocker, but there isn’t answer. “Lara?” I twist the knob and when it won’t budge, I fish the key out of my pocket.
“I know you probably don’t want to talk--.” I step inside and it’s dark. No one is home except for Sparky, who comes barking. He wags his tail at my feet and stares at me expectantly, probably think
ing I’m Lara.
I bend down and pet his head. “Hey, girl. Where’s Lara?”
Sparky barks and goes over to the front door. He sits and looks back at me. She wants to go out to do her business which means no one has been home for her in a while.
I grab her leash and take her outside. After a few blocks, I see someone I know. Kristine, one of Lara’s friends. “Hey, Kris. Have you heard from Lar?”
Kristine has a blond bob and it shakes in a resounding no. She still has her backpack like school was just let out. “I left her a message, but haven’t heard back yet. She missed the chem test.”
I force a smile. “There’s always a makeup. If you hear her, tell her to call me.”
Kristine nods. “If she’s avoiding you, must be some real big deal.”
My heart sinks. I take Sparky back to the apartment building and beneath my feet I can feel the rumble of the subway. I never felt it that strong before. Back in Lara’s apartment, Sparky runs inside and I notice an envelope at the threshold I hadn’t seen before.
I pick it up and see Lara’s name scrawled across the top. Flipping it over I see there’s a watermark seal on the back. A circle with an embossed JM. I stick it in my pocket to give to Lara later. On the way back to my apartment, I text Lara a where-are-you message.
I expect one in return, but I never get one. When I return home, Dad tosses me a bag of carrots and walks away. “Start on dinner.”
When you’re on your Dad’s shit list you pretty much do whatever he asks you. Even if it involves a vegetable peeler.
A knock on the door distracts me. “Be right back, Dad.”
His glare is all disapproval, but I move faster than him and before he can say anything, I’m at the door.
“Hello?” I pull it open, but no one is there.
But a scent hits me in the face. The perfume of flowers laces with a gentle sweetness. “Lara?” I call out and step into the door way.
Throwing my glances down both ways I don’t see a trace of anyone coming or going, but the warmth spreads through me like I’m standing with her. Like she’s right beside me.