by Orton, D. L.
The rain has stopped, but the pavement is damp, and steam billows up in the cold night air. The clouds have cleared and a sliver of the moon is visible hanging above the city.
I glance both ways down the narrow street. Warehouses and small cafés, closed this late in the evening, line the damp sidewalks. A block away, on the opposite side, the two women are walking arm in arm, chatting and laughing. Images of Isabel flash through my mind: strolling up the beach in the billowing dress, sitting with her chin on her knees in the sand, throwing her arms around me in the deep water. I strain to hear her voice, but they are too far away.
I hurry across the empty street and follow them down the sidewalk, jogging to catch up, but trying not to look like I’m stalking them. My hands are shaking, and I feel a little sick. I have never wanted anything more than I want that woman to be Isabel.
The two friends stop for a moment and glance back. I force myself to slow down.
Take it easy. Think. What are you going to say when you catch up? What if she doesn’t recognize you?
They disappear into a parking garage.
Shit.
I consider following them into the cavernous place, but decide against it. Instead, I step out into the street and look for a taxi. There’s a boutique hotel half a block down with a cab sitting out front. The inside of the car is dark but the light on top is glowing. I jog down the sidewalk and knock on the passenger-side window.
A startled face peers out at me, and a moment later, the window goes down. “Yeah? Need a cab?”
“Please. And quick.”
The lock clicks, and I get in the front seat and fumble on the seatbelt. “Thanks. Make a U-turn and wait down by the flower stall, please. She’ll be coming out of the parking garage across the street.”
He gives me a skeptical look, but complies.
We sit in silence for a minute, a couple of errant raindrops splatting on the windshield.
He clears his throat. “You sure this be a good idea?”
“Yeah. She’s my girlfriend. We got separated a couple of years ago, and I’ve been trying to find her ever since.” Even to me, it sounds lame.
“Yeah, right. You not some stalker are you?”
I sigh and pull out my last twenty. “No. I’m just desperate. Please?”
He stares at my face for a moment and then takes the bill. “Okay. You got three minutes and then I’m goin’ back to my nap. Save you the embarrassment.”
Headlights cut into the foggy night and slip down onto the wet pavement. I squint into the darkness, trying to see who’s driving. The car stops for a moment at the top of the exit ramp, and the lone security lamp shines directly into the front seat. It’s Isabel, and she’s alone.
“That’s her!”
The cab driver puts the car in gear.
“No, wait! Give her a second. I don’t want to scare her.”
The guy shakes his head. “What you gonna do when she gets home? Wait outside all night? She gonna call the cops, and they gonna put your ass in jail.” He looks over at me, trying to decide if I’m a serial killer or something.
“I just want to talk to her.” I’m surprised by the desperation in my voice.
He puts on his headlights and eases out into the street, staying half a block behind Isabel’s car. Ten minutes later, we watch her turn into an apartment complex and disappear behind a two-story building.
The cabbie pulls over to the curb. “You sure you wanna do this, mister? Ain’t no way you gonna get another cab tonight. You betta off comin’ back tomorrow when it’s light and ain’t no one gonna be thinkin’ you some rapist.”
He’s right, of course.
But something in me refuses to be reasonable. I have been looking for Isabel for almost five years, desperately searching for any trace of her, and now that I’m this close, I can’t take the chance that she’ll slip away.
“You seem like a nice kid. Why don’t you just call this thing off, and I’ll take you back to where I found you. No charge.” He holds out my twenty.
I stare at it for a moment and then shake my head.
“Your ass, mister.”
I open the door and hop out into the cold, foggy night. “Thanks for the ride.”
The cabbie watches me for a minute, still frowning, and then makes a U-turn and heads back the way we came, talking with the dispatcher.
I walk down the driveway until I come to a dead end, and then shut my eyes and listen.
Somewhere close by, I can hear a warm engine ticking in the still night air. I move toward the sound, wondering how she could have disappeared so quickly.
It doesn’t take me long to find her car. I cup my hands and peer into the driver’s side. It’s dark and empty.
I turn and look at the well-lighted apartment buildings, but there is no sound or movement. I decide to check on the other side of the parking garage, my heart racing now that I realize I may have lost her.
I stay in the shadows, keeping my back against the stucco structure, but moving quickly. I slip around the end of the building and plow into the woman I’ve been following.
She shrieks and falls back, stretching out her arm as if holding a gun.
I raise my hands. “Sorry!” Up close, she doesn’t even look that much like Isabel. “I thought you were someone el—“
And then my eyes are on fire, the burning agony spreading into my nose, mouth, and lungs. I collapse onto the muddy grass, struggling to draw a breath, my eyelids swollen shut and my whole body writhing in pain.
∞
Two hours later, I’m hunched over on a cracked plastic chair in the Taraval Police Station when Dave walks in. His hair is disheveled and he’s as pissed off as I’ve ever seen him.
Can’t say I blame him.
He takes one look at my muddy shirt and swollen face and softens his expression a bit. “Shit, Tego. What happened?”
I grab my jacket and stand up. “Ask me tomorrow.”
He glances over at the chubby police officer behind the counter. “He free to go?”
She puts down her pencil and crosses her arms, glaring at us over the top of her glasses. “Yes. The woman didn’t press charges. Seems the cabbie who dropped him off convinced her it was an honest mistake.” She looks pointedly at me. “But I suggest you stop following unfamiliar women home late at night, Mr. Nadales.”
I swallow hard and nod. “I think I got that part.”
She shrugs and goes back to her paperwork.
“Thanks for coming,” I say to Dave. “And sorry about, uh, interrupting.” I slip on my jacket and start coughing, hacking so hard my eyes water.
He shifts his weight and exhales. “If you’re looking for sympathy, you’ll find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary.”
I take a tentative breath. “I guess I deserved that.”
“For christsake, Tego, why’d you go and follow her home?”
I stride out after him into the misty night. “Because I’m a dumbshit.”
“You can say that again.” He puts his arm around my shoulder and leads me across the street to his Corvette.
“Sorry,” I say. “And thanks again for the ride.”
“Ah, no worries. You probably saved me from an ugly scene when I had to pick between the two of them in the morning.” He opens the passenger door and waits for me to get in. “And I fucking hate to kiss smokers.”
“Thanks.” I take a deep breath. “Shit, what a night.”
He gets in on the other side. “I can’t wait to meet that ex-girlfriend of yours.” The tires squeal as he whips a U-turn in front of the police station. “She must have been one damned good lay.”
Table of Contents
Crossing in Time
Front Matter
Copyright
Also by D. L. Orton
Dedica
tion
Epigraph
Prologue A Few Years from Now
Part One Ten Months Earlier
Chapter 1 Isabel: Falling for Him
Chapter 2 Isabel: Not in This Universe
Chapter 3 Diego: The Fire & the Furry
Chapter 4 Matt: People Will Die
Chapter 5 Diego: Handle My Weapon
Chapter 6 Isabel: Playing With Fire
Chapter 7 Diego: If I Had Any Patients
Chapter 8 Matt: It’s Classified, Doctor
Chapter 9 Diego: In a Pickle
Chapter 10 Isabel: All the Facts
Chapter 11 Matt: The Magic Kingdom
Chapter 12 Diego: Wait for Me
Chapter 13 Diego: The Long Way Home
Chapter 14 Isabel: Right As Rain
Chapter 15 Diego: Second Chances
Chapter 16 Diego: Get in Line
Chapter 17 Isabel: Out of the Blue
Part Two The Magic Kingdom
Chapter 18 Diego: I Wouldn’t Do That
Chapter 19 Isabel: It Rings True
Chapter 20 Matt: The First Peep
Chapter 21 Isabel: Gone to the Dogs
Chapter 22 Diego: The Peeping Tom
Chapter 23 Isabel: Lost in the Blizzard
Chapter 24 Diego: Did You See the Blood?
Chapter 25 Isabel: He’s Dead
Chapter 26 Diego: Tenpins With the Devil
Chapter 27 Matt: Pretty Nasty Stuff
Chapter 28 Isabel: Heads or Tails
Chapter 29 Diego: Out of Time
Chapter 30 Matt: If I’m Wrong
Chapter 31 Isabel: Precious & Few
Chapter 32 Matt: The Top of the List
Part Three La Isla, Another Universe
Chapter 33 Isabel: It Beats Taking the Bus
Chapter 34 Isabel: I Was Misinformed
Chapter 35 Tego: I’m Not Going Anywhere
Chapter 36 Tego: Wrapped Around Her Finger
Chapter 37 Isabel: Alone in the Dark
Chapter 38 Tego: In the Moonlight
Chapter 39 Tego: Crazy for You
Chapter 40 Isabel: You Have No Idea
Chapter 41 Isabel: Drowning in Regrets
Chapter 42 Tego: Rip Your Heart Out
Chapter 43 Tego: In My Wildest Dreams
Chapter 44 Isabel: All Is Lost
Chapter 45 Tego: Over My Head
Chapter 46 Isabel: One Last Time
Chapter 47 Isabel: Left for Dead
Chapter 48 Tego: To Hell & Gone
Epilogue Don’t Stay Away Too Long
End Matter
Thank you for reading!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Time Enough: The 2nd Disaster (Preview)
Table of Contents