“If you’re expecting me to drink cocoa around that smell, you’re highly mistaken.”
With a groan Harrison stomped up to the bathroom, leaving Gemma with the opportunity she’d been dreading, but hoping, for.
“Hel… Helen,” she stammered her way into the kitchen. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure.” Helen continued scooping heaped spoonfuls of drinking chocolate into mugs as Gemma sat on the edge of the counter.
“Um,” she struggled to speak past the lump in her throat and felt her eyes immediately moisten. “Things are gonna get worse unless I do something about it.”
Helen paused, giving Gemma her full attention. “What are you thinking of doing?”
Gemma shifted uncomfortably on the bench. “I’m putus unus. I’m the key to this whole thing. They needed my blood as a starting point. But if they never got it at all, they couldn’t do this, could they?”
Helen’s expression melted with sympathy. “Pure blood is the strongest.”
“So, I need to make sure they don’t get me and I was thinking that if I could stop them from stealing me as a baby then none of this could happen.” The first tear fell as she whispered the word none.
It was the most frightening word she’d ever encountered when it meant that none of the good things in the past year would happen either. If she grew up with a different life, the chances of meeting Harrison were miniscule.
Helen dropped the teaspoon into the mug and placed her hands on the bench with a sigh.
“It’s a good solution, Gemma, but you’d be sacrificing… I mean… what about Harrison?”
“He’d never know. If I change things, he’ll grow up never knowing and he’ll meet someone else and be safe… and happy.” Gemma covered her mouth as the sob traveled up her body.
Helen wrapped her arms around her and stroked her hair.
“Shh, sweetheart, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” Gemma shook her head, “but it’s the only way. If they got their hands on him or Sam… I couldn’t live with myself. I’m the only one who can stop this.”
Helen stepped back to look at her, a touch of pride in her expression. “You are a brave girl.”
“There’s something else though,” Gemma wiped her tears and swallowed. “If I succeed, it means I won’t be able to go back and save Nathaniel. You’ll never get your letters.”
Helen dropped her gaze with a nod. “I know.” She cleared her throat, blinking rapidly at her own tears. “But I sacrificed everything to give Harrison the best chance at life. I can’t stop now.”
Gemma sniffed and smiled.
“When will you go?”
“I need to talk to Gabe first, but… as soon as I can.”
Helen drew in a calming breath and stepped away from her.
“You need to sleep on this decision and you need to be away from Harrison in order to do that. His presence will only cloud you. Take my car, go back to Gabe’s and come over again tomorrow, once you’ve finally decided.”
Gemma hated the idea, but knew Helen was right. She needed to talk to Gabe and make sure her idea was plausible.
Grabbing the keys from their usual hook, Helen placed them in Gemma’s hand. She gripped them tightly then sighed, passing them back to Helen.
“If I do decide to go, I won’t be coming back.”
Helen took the keys, a shocked sadness lining her features.
“But, Harrison…”
“He won’t know any different. Don’t you think it’ll be kinder that way?”
Helen’s expression softened.
“Besides,” Gemma continued with a wry smile, “if I had to say goodbye to him, I don’t think I could do it.”
She knew Helen would understand that, she’d done the same thing with Nathaniel. Gently taking Gemma’s hand, Helen placed the keys back in her palm. “Take the car. I’ll get it back either way.”
Jumping from the bench, she gave Helen a fierce hug.
“Please don’t tell Harrison.”
“If that’s what you want.”
Gemma nodded mutely.
Helen held her face and gave her a soft smile. “God be with you, sweet girl. I understand now why Harrison calls you his time angel.”
Struck dumb by the admiration in Helen’s expression Gemma simply nodded once before racing out the door, heading straight for an inevitability that would be the death of her.
Chapter Thirty-Six
St Augustine, Florida – 2011AD
The only way to make it back to the caravan was to drive on autopilot. Gemma switched off her emotions, turning when she was supposed to, signaling correctly and arriving at Gabe’s place without incident.
She robotically entered the caravan and spotted Gabe wrapping Simeon’s body in plastic, ready for transportation to the boat.
“What are you doing here? I told you to stay put until I was done.” Gabe jumped from his spot and tried to block Gemma’s view of the body, struggling with the curtain.
In spite of his attempts, her eyes remained glued to the lifeless form. "You ever heard of traveling cells, Dad?"
Gabe’s body stilled and he turned to face her.
"You know when Alistair got all scientific with me that time, he never mentioned them." She let out a cynical laugh. "Everything he said to me that night was probably total crap."
"Science was never my strong suit. What are they?"
"They're the cells in our blood that give us the ability to travel. My blood is full of them - big, ripe, juicy ones and Penelope Hart wants every last one of them." She couldn't take her eyes of Simeon's lifeless form. "It's my fault he's dead."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's my blood they used. And they took more of it today and they will keep on trying to perfect her stupid formula. They don't care how many people they take out along the way. What's the bet, once they've got it right, they'll use it on themselves. They'll be traveling again in no time... and then what?"
Gabe's eyes sparked with anger. "You went back there? I told you not to see them again."
"I just thought that if they knew Simeon had died, they might stop,” her voice quivered. “I was wrong.”
“Did they hurt you?”
Gemma shook her head. “Not really. Just the blood thing, I guess.” She held up her arm. “Harrison came and got me out.”
Gabe closed his eyes, obviously struggling to keep his cool.
"I can't let them do this." She couldn’t see Simeon’s face through the plastic, but she could picture the details of his smile. Her mind morphed it into Harrison’s. The idea of her boyfriend stiff, pale and wrapped in plastic was horrifying. She closed her eyes against the nauseating image and nodded her head.
"What are you thinking?"
"That they can't have one drop of blood or one piece of my heart." She finally looked at him, her eyes blazing.
Gabe studied her for a long beat, reading her expression, knowing what she was about to say.
"I'm going back, Dad. I'm going to make this right."
“You sure you want to do that?”
She looked away from him and whispered, “I need to go as soon as possible. They won't stop unless I do something about it.”
The room pulsed with a slow, silent beat. Gemma opened her eyes and looked at her father. He looked sad, resigned and also a little proud. She winced and looked away.
“I guess we better get to work then.”
“Can we…” Gemma looked at the corpse. “Can we bury him first?”
“We’ll have to wait until it’s dark, but I promise it will be out of here before we go to bed.”
“Thanks.” Gemma’s voice sounded dead as Gabe turned to try and hide the body from her.
Finally winning over the curtain, he pulled it across his bed and strode towards the cabinets beneath the couch. Within a matter of minutes the small table was piled high with photos of a young family who had set up base in a little town called Grants Pass
in Oregon.
“I don’t really have any good shots of the house. All I can tell ya is we lived at number seven, Butler Avenue.” Gabe scratched his whiskers, obviously unsatisfied with sending his daughter back on such sketchy details. “Unless you head to the mall, we can easily find some good 1993 pictures of that. Then you can make your way on foot. It’s only a few miles. Actually that’s better… you can sneak in and grab some clothes. We’ll make sure you head back after closing hours. I had a friend who used to work there, I know a way in that won’t trigger any alarms.”
Gemma looked at him with a mixture of surprise and skepticism.
“I’m not a thief, if that’s what you’re thinking. He just showed me one day.”
“Sure, Dad.” Gemma patted him on the shoulder.
“Can we just get on with this please?”
“Mm-hm.”
The rest of the night was worn away with details, details, details. The next morning Gemma was at the library going over more details, details, details on the Internet. She arrived back at the caravan late that afternoon drained, yet determined. She now felt confident she could pull it off, she just wasn’t sure if she could will herself to do it.
Grabbing the phone from her pocket she noticed she had missed another call from Harrison. Her eyes burned as she read the text message that followed. She hated making him angry, but she couldn’t call him. She knew the sound of his voice would smash her resolve into a thousand pieces. Instead she was going to keep on pretending that everything was normal and smash her heart in the process. She quickly sent back a chipper reply about being busy with Gabe and that she would call him in the morning. Flipping the phone shut with a snap of self-loathing, she slumped at the table with a weary sigh. The subway sandwich in front of her was bursting with nutritious goodies and all Gemma could do was grimace.
“Eat it.” Gabe pointed at her with a stern finger. “You need the energy for tomorrow.”
She picked at the crumbs with her finger and reluctantly gave in to the demand. Gabe slid into the booth opposite her and devoured his food, trying to encourage her.
Eventually her plate sat empty. Pushing it aside she turned to her father, ready for their last debrief before getting some shut-eye.
“Now I know we spent the last twenty-four hours going over this, but I want to cover all the details one more time before bed. That way it’ll be fresh in your head while you sleep.”
“So, I leave first thing in the morning,” Gemma began.
“I think that’s best. You’ll be rested and ready to move.” Gabe held his breath for a minute then released it with a harsh sigh. “Are you sure you’re not trying to go too soon. I mean these details are pretty sketchy at best. I’d really prefer to go a little more in depth with this. I…”
“Dad.” Gemma placed her hand on his arm. “Tomorrow. We don’t know how quickly Alistair and Penelope will move once they get out of that room. I’m guessing they’re not still in there, so we’re running on borrowed time as it is.”
Gabe sighed then closed his eyes. Reaching for their collated page of notes, he placed it in front of Gemma. She picked it up and studied the contents for the last time.
“So I arrive at this shopping mall at ten pm.” She fished for the photo and gazed at the bright red lettering adorning the entrance.
“Do you think you can visualize your way there?”
“I’ve been studying these images all day. I’ll be able to get there.”
“Once you arrive you need to find some clothes and head for Redwood Highway, take back roads if you’re confident you won’t get lost.” He placed the map in front of her and she soaked in the directions, pulling it closer to her face to make sure she didn’t miss any details. “Now the police were called at 12:10 am when the neighbors heard gunshots, which means that the Hart’s probably arrived around midnight, but they could have been staking out the house from much earlier in the day, it’s impossible to know. That’s why you’re getting there a couple of hours early. It’ll give you plenty of time to explain things to Lena and get the hell out of there before anyone sees you.”
Gemma nodded, feeling the enormity of the task pressing down on her.
“But if things go wrong and your timing somehow gets screwed up, you just get the baby out of there.”
“What about Mom?”
Gabe’s expression was pinched as he uttered the words. “Getting yourself away from the Hart’s is more important than anything else. If your Mom gets hurt in the process you have to keep moving.”
He placed another sheet of paper in front of her with a name and address clearly printed on it. Gemma picked it up with icy fingers and memorized the details.
“You need to get the baby to this couple. Explain everything to them. They’re not time spirits, but they can be trusted. They’ll contact me and I’ll come and collect you from there.”
“You know if I do pull this off, they may still find us again or there might be others.”
“If we have to spend our life on the run then so be it, but like you said last night, it’s better than having Simeon dead and Harrison’s family in danger.”
“Not to mention Dom and Ruby.”
Gemma’s hand shook slightly as she placed the paper on the pile of information she knew she’d spend the next few hours reabsorbing. Her father’s fingers came to rest on her own.
“You’re doing a brave thing. You know I wouldn’t let you if I didn’t think it was the best option.”
She nodded.
“Are you sure not telling Harrison is the right move?”
“Dad,” Gemma begged.
“He’ll understand. What you’re doing won’t change the way he feels about you.”
“I’m leaving him! Don’t you think it’s better that only one of us has to live with that knowledge?” Gemma blinked rapidly, finding it unbelievable that she’d have any tears left.
Gabe squeezed her arm. “Come on, kid, you need to get some sleep.”
“You go ahead. I just want to check over these notes one more time.”
Gabe kissed her forehead and settled down on his bed, he had offered it to Gemma, but she couldn’t stomach the idea of lying on the same mattress Simeon had. She was going to take the couch.
Glancing at her father, she shot him one last half smile before he turned over and rustled to get comfy. Five minutes later his breathing fell into the steady rhythm of sleep.
Forcing her mind to function, Gemma dove into her mission. She wanted to be as prepared as possible. Taking her time, she went over the details, studied the photos and revised her plan of attack. By midnight she felt prepared. Straightening the messy array on the table she piled the sheets neatly at the end and found her fingers fidgeting with her necklace.
Closing her eyes, she pictured Harrison’s face as he pinned it around her neck and felt his soft lips as he nuzzled her collarbone. The urge to see him was intense and the more she tried to will it away the more powerful it became. She needed to feel his breath on her neck, she needed to feel his lips on her skin, she needed to hear his whispered words of affection… and she only had one more night to get it. Before she could stop herself she was sneaking out the door and walking her bike down to the road.
With a flick of her key and a snap of her wrist she powered towards his house. One last goodbye before her heart was gutted from her body.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
St Augustine, Florida – 2011AD
Harrison tossed and turned. The sheets tangled around his legs and he kicked at them until his bed became a tousled mess of cotton confusion. Sitting up with a sigh, he grabbed two handfuls of his hair and tried to argue his way out of the paranoia that had been massacring his stomach all day. Sure, Gemma’s texts had been sweet and happy, but he knew something was wrong. The fact she had left the day before without saying goodbye spoke volumes, but his mother had remained very nonplussed about the whole thing. He knew she was lying, but no amount of badgering was going to b
reak her.
Then of course the family had arrived and that had brought with it a fresh batch of problems that Harrison was not in the mood to deal with. Rosie was bursting with questions he couldn’t answer and his brothers were desperate to know every facet of the fight he had been in. Bryan was reserved and quiet, which made his mother antsy and none of it really mattered, because all he could think about was Gemma.
Reaching for his phone, he scrolled through his messages and re-read her texts from the day, scrounging for something that might explain the gnawing sense of dread in his gut. The last one from the evening popped onto his screen as he heard a tapping on his window. Jerking up from the bed, he strode towards the window and pulled back the curtain.
Gemma’s face was luminescent in the moonlight and the look of delight dancing in her eyes when she saw him, made his stomach settle in an instant.
“Hey.” He slid the window up and rested his arms on the pane. “What are you doing here?” He reached for her arm, wary of her perch on the edge of the sloping roof.
“I missed you today,” she whispered. “I just had to see you.”
“Come in.” He was about to step back and pull her with him, but she grabbed his arm.
“Let’s go somewhere.” Her eyes were deep with longing as she nibbled her cheek. “Do you want to spend the night with me?”
Harrison knew exactly what she was referring to; the look on her face was enough to deduce her intentions. A smile curved his lips. “Is that a trick question?”
She grinned back. “I’ll meet you downstairs in a minute.”
He slid his window shut and raced to shove on some pants and a sweater. His worries fled as he imagined what lay in store for them. Creeping down the stairs, he made it out of the house without waking a soul. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he nibbled her earlobe as they made their way towards her favorite spot.
The gates to the National Park were closed for the night, so Gemma parked the bike out of sight and they made their way on foot. It took them fifteen minutes to stumble and giggle their way to the sand. Once they breached the trees the moonlight created the soft glow they needed to see each other clearly.
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