The Trouble With Time

by Lexi Revellian

  “Scott wouldn’t have shot him through the heart by accident. He learned to shoot pistols in the US to competition standard.”

  “Even so, it was the first raid he’d been on. He was young, he was over-excited, he made a mistake.”

  “No, Quinn used him as a fall guy. That’s why he was there. Remember at the briefing, you didn’t want him to come? And Quinn insisted?”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. You could just as easily say Scott had the TiTrav and killed McGuire to cover it up. Do you have any concrete proof at all of what you’re alleging?”

  Jace’s surface calm began to crack and break up round the edges. His voice became louder, insistent. “Quinn told me himself!”

  Kayla looked at him dubiously. “Why would he do that?”

  “Because I sussed him. Then he wanted me to join him time travelling. He thought I could be useful. He said he was going to make himself obscenely rich. He offered me money.”

  Kayla just shook her head. None of this rang true at all. Quinn was Chief of IEMA Intelligence, highly paid to enforce time laws. He had a private fortune made from shrewd investments on the stock market. He didn’t need more money, he wasn’t a criminal; he was a pillar of society, on friendly terms with the Prime Minister and King William. Jace was living in a fantasy world.

  Seeing her expression, Floss pushed up her shirt sleeve, displaying a TiTrav. “Look.”

  Kayla stared and caught her breath. So Jace did steal it . . . and for some reason he’s given it to her . . .

  Floss said, “D’you know where I found this? Hidden under Quinn’s ottoman in the dressing room in his flat.”

  Kayla didn’t ask what Floss had been doing at Quinn’s home. If she’d been invited there by Quinn, Kayla didn’t want to know. “Why were you searching his apartment? That’s quite an odd thing to do.”

  “To find his TiTrav. I knew he’d got one.”

  “How did you know?”

  Floss hesitated. “I can’t tell you that. But I can tell you when Jace wouldn’t play ball Quinn tied him up and dumped him in future London and he nearly died. He spent five years there on his own struggling to survive. Quinn’s a liar, a killer and a time criminal.”

  Kayla didn’t know what to say in the face of these wild, unsubstantiated accusations. Clearly mistaking her silence for shock, Jace took her hand. “I’m sorry. Floss told me you were . . . seeing him.”

  “Yes – well, I thought you were gone for good. We’ve been together for nearly four years.” I don’t know what’s going on, but Jace is crazy and God knows what that girl’s up to. I wish Ansel would hurry up and arrive, he’ll know what to do . . . Jace looked away, as if he didn’t want to think about her and Quinn being together for four years. Surreptitiously, she turned her wrist a fraction in order to glance at her watch.

  Immediately, Floss jumped to her feet. “Jace, it’s time we went.”

  Jace frowned. “What’s the rush?”

  “You agreed you’d leave when I said. I’m saying we go now.”

  “I haven’t asked Kayla yet.”

  “Come on!”

  “Asked me what?”

  He turned back to her. “The moment my chip passes a reader I’ll get arrested. That makes life difficult. I wondered if you’d put me up while I get the evidence together to bring down Quinn. You’ve got access to the department files, too, which would help me work out what he’s been up to.”

  Floss said urgently, “Jace, we’re not safe here. I don’t trust her. We need to go.”

  At that moment the door opened and to Kayla’s relief, Quinn entered the apartment, gun in hand.

  CHAPTER 38

  Confrontation

  “Hands in the air, Jace. You too, Floss.”

  Jace’s face closed and hardened. He dropped Kayla’s hand, but didn’t raise his own. Taking his lead, neither did Floss. She cursed herself; she had noticed Kayla’s elegant black dress without drawing the obvious conclusion, that her having changed from work clothes meant she was expecting company, and the fact that Kayla hadn’t mentioned this was damning. How stupid she had been, not to have worked it out earlier . . .

  Quinn said to Jace, “Do as I say, or make no mistake, I will shoot you.”

  Jace turned to Kayla and said bitterly, “You knew he was coming, didn’t you?”

  Quick as a flash, Kayla produced a gun from behind a cushion and pointed it at him. “I’m sorry about this, Jace. Best to do as he says.”

  Quinn lowered his weapon a little and transferred his attention to Floss. His eyes flicked to her left wrist and up again.

  Though scared and shaking all over, Floss felt hyped-up, super-aware of every detail, adrenaline racing through her veins. Quinn was looking at her differently, with a new respect in his eyes, she was gratified to see. She stared back with all the insolence she could muster. I’ll give him sweet timidity . . .

  “Aren’t you a tiny bit worried about what might come out in the investigation after you arrest us or kill us?”

  “Why should I be? An innocent man has nothing to worry about. And I’m not going to kill you. Hand over the TiTrav you have on your wrist.”

  “What, you mean this one, the one that you stole from McGuire before you killed him?”

  Quinn raised his eyebrows. “Did Jace tell you that?” He smiled. “And you believed him?”

  “Certainly did. After all, I found the TiTrav in your apartment. Quite a strange thing for a time cop to own. But do tell me your version of how it got there, I’m fascinated.”

  “I have no idea how it got there – assuming you’re telling the truth.” He shrugged. “Perhaps Jace planted it in my apartment for you to find. As for why he would do that, I can only speculate.”

  Kayla said, “I think Jace is delusional – paranoid – he needs psychiatric help.”

  “No I don’t,” Jace said. “How about, I’m not mad, your boyfriend’s a crook?”

  She shook her head sadly. “Jace, please let us help you. We’re your friends, we’re on your side, we understand you aren’t in control of your actions. They won’t charge you if you’re ill, you have nothing to worry about. We need to get this sorted out.”

  Quinn was still focused on Floss. “I advise you to give me the TiTrav. Now.”

  “Else you’ll shoot me?”

  “No. I won’t shoot you. Although it’s highly irregular, I’m going to make you an offer. It’s not your fault you’ve somehow got mixed up in this. IEMA should never have brought you here, so I’m prepared to make a concession in your case. Give me the TiTrav and I’ll take you straight back to your own time. I’ll ensure you are left there in peace, that the Time Police won’t come again to fetch you. The whole thing will be over as far as you’re concerned. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “Come on, Quinn, what kind of pathetic offer is that? I don’t need you to take me. I have my own TiTrav. I can take myself any time I want, to any time I want.”

  “It’s up to you, naturally. I thought you might prefer my suggestion to the alternative, which is my arresting both of you and letting the judicial system take its course.”

  “What you mean is you’d prefer it, because you’d get to keep the TiTrav. Plus you know if I was arrested I won’t keep quiet. Once they’ve worked out where you got the TiTrav from, being done for timecrime will be the least of your worries. You might find yourself trying to talk your way out of a murder charge.”

  “Very well. Have it your own way.” His manner became formal. “Florence Dryden, I am arresting you on suspicion of committing timecrime, and being in illegal possession of a TiTrav. You will be given the opportunity to contact a lawyer in due course.”

  Jace butted in. “Floss, take yourself out of here. I’ll be all right.”

  Floss highly doubted this. She wasn’t going to go, leaving him behind, unless there was absolutely no alternative. She’d hoped Jace had been working out a plan while she and Quinn were sparring. A glance towards the sofa to
ld her Kayla was following the conversation, but keeping her eyes fixed on Jace. Her hand holding the gun was steady. If she could only distract her, maybe he could grab the gun. He was near enough. But how? She could always tell Kayla about Quinn’s other girlfriends mentioned in his journal, but that seemed kind of low . . . on the other hand, she couldn’t think of anything else that might get them out of this mess. She went for it.

  “Hey, Kayla, I bet you didn’t know Quinn keeps a journal? A very private one. I took a quick look at it when I picked up the TiTrav. There was loads and loads, he’s been writing it for five years, but I could give you edited highlights, just all the stuff he hasn’t told you . . .”

  Kayla’s eyes turned towards Floss. Unbelievably fast, Jace’s right arm moved sideways from the elbow and sliced into her arm. She cried out in pain and surprise as the gun smashed into her face and fell from her hand. Jace grabbed it and leaped to his feet. Quinn swung to face him, raising his gun. For a few tense seconds they each watched the other narrowly for any hint of movement that might suggest a finger pulling a trigger. The pause lengthened.

  In the end, Floss walked over and stood between them, facing Quinn. “This is silly. If either of you fire, you’ll both get hurt, maybe killed, and bleed all over Kayla’s nice cream carpet. Now I have a suggestion of my own. If you don’t agree to it, I’m going to go back in time to warn us, so we won’t be in Kayla’s flat when you arrive, but waiting in the hallway up the stairs to jump you. Or shoot you, if Jace thinks that’s better.”

  Quinn said, “You forget you are standing in front of me and I have a gun pointing at you. But leaving that to one side for the moment, what’s your suggestion?”

  “You both take the ammunition out of your guns and give it to me. You first, because I trust Jace to keep his word, and I’m not so sure about you. Then we’ll leave. Jace, will you do it if Quinn does too?”

  More seconds trickled by. Jace said, “Okay. But make sure that after he takes out the magazine, he ejects the round still in the gun.”

  “Quinn?”

  “Very well.”

  Slowly, eyes on Floss, half smiling, he lowered the gun, released the magazine and let it drop into his hand. He pulled the slide on the top of the gun and a bullet popped out. He plucked it from the air with casual ease, put the bullet and the magazine on to Floss’s palm and pocketed the gun. She moved a little to one side and watched Jace do the same. As he handed her the ammo, with the tail of her eye she saw Quinn’s hands move. He had got the gun out again, and there was a soft click as he slipped something into it. He had a second magazine.

  “Jace!”

  But even as she cried out Jace barrelled past her, knocking her on to all fours. The gun went off, a muted bang, and plaster burst from the ceiling. She scrambled to her feet. The two men were fighting savagely, slamming each other round the room, barging into furniture, thudding and grunting. Quinn rammed Jace into a mirrored console which exploded into fragments. Jace punched him, grabbed his arm and yanked him round fast and hard, and as he hit the wall Quinn’s gun spun out of his grasp. They crashed to the carpet grappling, Quinn’s hand groping about, shards of mirror crunching beneath them. Floss leaped forward and grabbed just as his fingers touched the gun, and dropped it in her pocket with the magazines. She watched anxiously, not certain who was winning, looking for a way to help . . . she noticed Kayla had retreated to a corner and was on her phone, talking urgently. The men knocked over a flower arrangement which rolled to the floor, water and flowers spilling everywhere unregarded. The elegant living room was a shambles. Jace’s arm went round Quinn’s neck, straining, and they both became still. Seizing her moment, Floss jumped forward and aimed a kick at Quinn’s groin with all her strength. The blow connected. He collapsed doubled up in agony, and after a moment Jace let go of him and stood up, breathing hard. His face was bleeding, but less than Quinn’s.

  Standing side by side they looked on as Quinn writhed, clutching himself and groaning. The only other sound was a faint glug glug as the champagne bottle lying on the floor emptied its contents. Floss was slightly staggered by the effectiveness of her attack. She had no experience of assaulting people. Blood from the cuts on Quinn’s face made red blots on his shirt and the formerly immaculate carpet. Kayla put down her phone and ran and crouched beside him, moving bits of broken mirror away from him, picking them off his skin, careless of cutting her own fingers. Quinn seemed oblivious to anything except his pain. They watched him for a while.

  Floss pulled herself together. “Now it really is time to go,” she said, seizing Jace’s arm. “She’s called the police.”

  “Good.” The rage in his eyes had gone icy cold. “I can hand him over to them.”

  “Don’t be crazy! You haven’t got any evidence. And it won’t matter what you tell them, this looks bad.”

  A croak came from their feet. “Stay, by all means.” Quinn was still curled in a foetal position. “Attempt to incriminate me . . . and the best you can hope for is we’ll go down together . . . most likely, you’ll go down alone.” He shut his eyes again.

  “You fucking lying bastard.” Jace stepped towards Quinn.

  Kayla’s eyes were wild. “Don’t hurt him!”

  Quinn said, “He won’t kill me . . . not in cold blood.”

  “True. Maybe I’ll dump you in future London, 2185. See how you get on there.”

  Quinn went to shrug and winced instead. “You know I wouldn’t survive a week.”

  Kayla cried, “Jace, no! Please!”

  Jace turned to her, his expression unreadable. She had smears of blood on her face, and looked distraught. He walked back to Floss and put his arm around her waist.

  Floss pressed the two buttons.

  Friday, 24th July 2015

  Back in her flat, Floss, shaking with relief, put Quinn’s gun and the ammunition on the kitchen counter. Then she made Jace, shaking with fury, stand still while she brushed him down to remove the worst of the mirror fragments. She hoovered them up, then got him to sit on a chair in the middle of the room so she could try to pick out any tiny splinters in his skin. “Well, that was fun. Not. Keep still.”

  “He’ll tell the police I materialized with the TiTrav and beat him up. That’s the version that will go on record. A blameless citizen set upon by a vicious time criminal. Kayla will say the same, except she’ll tell them I’m raving. What a total fiasco.”

  “We didn’t know he was going to turn up.”

  “Kayla did, though.” He paused for a moment. “And he knew I was there, he had his gun out. She must have rung him when she saw it was me. She shopped me to Quinn. How can she . . . like a man like that?”

  “He’s very charming. She must be in love with him. And he’s plausible. I thought he was nice myself.”

  Jace, following his own train of thought, was not listening. “She’s a time cop. I can’t blame her. I suppose she thought she was shopping me to IEMA, telling Quinn. I wonder if he’d have killed me, if you’d agreed to give him the TiTrav and go home? I should have broken his neck.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t.”

  “I might have done if you hadn’t kicked him in the balls.” He went quiet for a minute. “I didn’t mean the gun to hit her face. I hope I didn’t hurt her.”

  She said soothingly, “Her face looked all right to me. That was Quinn’s blood on it. She may have cut her hands a bit on the glass, that’s all.”

  “I’ll never prove I’m innocent now. Quinn’ll keep his job as Chief of Intelligence. He’s unassailable. Kayla still believes he’s honest. I can never go back. Not unless I get more proof, and I don’t see how I can do that.”

  “At least the meeting with Bill went well.”

  Her old boss had been delighted to see her, fascinated by her story, and enthusiastic about using her samples to counter the contraceptive virus. She’d left his home confident about his discretion, satisfied she had done all she could to use her father’s research to save humanity, and feeling a
lot better. Frustrating though it was for Jace that Quinn was still on the loose, at least she had achieved her objective.

  There was a silence while Floss worked and Jace brooded. “There, I think that’s the lot, unless you can feel some I’ve missed. Let me just wash the blood off.” Floss ran warm water into the sink, got out a clean facecloth and cleaned him up. She stuck Elastoplasts on the deeper cuts that were still bleeding.

  She wondered what Jace would do now.

  “I don’t feel like cooking. Let’s go out and have a pizza,” she said.

  CHAPTER 39

  Quinn gets a present, Floss and Jace get a pizza

  Quinn stayed on the carpet for a few minutes after they had left until he was reasonably certain he was not going to throw up. Then he allowed Kayla to help him to the sofa where he lay prone, locked in a private world of pain. She wanted to clean his cuts, but he waved her away. After a bit he cautiously sat up and sipped the brandy Kayla brought him. The doorbell rang – the police – and she went to let them in; a uniformed man and woman who surveyed the smashed furniture, the hole in the wall the bullet had made, the broken glass, plaster, flowers, water, wine and blood on the carpet, then looked at Quinn limp and bleeding on the sofa. They exchanged glances.

  “Looks like you’ve had a bit of trouble here, sir. What happened?”

  He let her tell them.

  Eyes shut, he listened to Kayla’s proficient narration of the evening’s events. He could not have done it better himself, though he wouldn’t have bothered with anxious excuses concerning Jace’s sanity. The power of coherent thought slowly began to return, fighting its way through the pain. It had been excruciatingly tantalizing to see his TiTrav so near yet unobtainable on Floss’s slender wrist, and worse to watch her depart still wearing it. She seemed to be in league with Jace. How had they met? She’d read his journal, she said . . . so must have come across his name and decided on a mission of mercy. He could imagine her doing that.