Marcus sat down on a chair next to the television set while Ryan went to the kitchen. Billie noticed she could see the island from where she sat.
“Why hasn’t the story of the body been on the news?” Billie asked as her eyes returned to the TV.
“Because the body wasn’t from this time. We had to cover it up. The bureau has it.”
“Yeah, but there were reporters there. How did you get all of them to be quiet?” she asked.
“Our boss makes phone calls when things like this happen. I honestly don’t know what he tells them, but it always works. Just be glad it has; you won’t want that kind of noise.”
“I understand.” Billie was still trying to wrap her brain around it. “So now what?”
“Keeping you safe is the highest priority for now. But the rest of the bureau is out looking for Ryan since he’s the only suspect. We know the truth, so we’re going to have to find this man on our own.”
“How can you be so sure you’re going to find him?” Billie asked as Ryan entered the room holding a bag of chips.
“Because that man always gets his man, or woman,” Ryan said.
“Seriously?”
“Not to toot my own horn, but yeah. This is the first case I haven’t been able to catch a killer, but I’m not giving up. At least now I know who the real suspect is—sorry I doubted you, Ryan.”
“All is forgiven.” Ryan sat down and pushed a handful of chips into his mouth.
“But listen, Billie. I think you should permanently move out of your house. Have someone sell it for you. You change your future already. If this guy doesn’t kill you in that house, it may stop the ripple from happening.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I want to step foot in that house now that I know someone will kill me there. I didn’t like the backdoor anyway.” Billie leaned forward to grab a bottle of water from the bag on the coffee table. She opened the bottle, took a sip, and leaned back. “I think I know someone who can handle it for me. Would it hurt to call him?”
“Give me a day or two so I can locate a burner phone. I don’t want our guy tracing the call. Would that be all right?”
“Sure.” Billie took another sip of her water.
“Okay. Ryan, you and I have some planning to do. Join me in the kitchen?”
“All right. So, we’re back to being a team—then?”
“Yeah, of course,” Marcus said. He stood up and walked away. Billie watched him leave the room while Ryan walked over to the door under the stairs. She hadn’t even noticed it was there. When he opened the door, she could see it was a closet, and she watched him grab some papers before heading into the kitchen. Billie listened and watched from the comfort of the sofa. She took another sip of her water.
As they stood by an island, Ryan said, “when I acquired this house, I made sure it would be covered with cameras.” He opened some papers as he pressed them down on the island. Billie couldn’t see what the papers were, but she figured they were blueprints of the house. He pointed at different areas on the paper. “As you can see this house is heavily protected. We have eyes everywhere.”
“That’s good to know. Where do we keep an eye on the camera feed?” Marcus asked. His eyes were down, facing the paper so she assumed he was studying them.
Ryan pointed out that the backyard had the tall fence wrapped around it, the fact that the neighbors were in a safe distance, and the fact that the driveway lead to the back of the house were his reasons as well. It was a good place to hide if something like this ever happened. Ever since he had been framed for killing Billie, he had been hiding here. It was the best choice. “I have a hidden room where I keep all of the equipment. This is another reason why I chose this house.” Billie went back and forth between watching what was on the TV and listening to Ryan and Marcus. She sat on the sofa, leaning towards the kitchen. She kept both, eyes and ears, open, so she wouldn’t miss anything. Her hands trembled as she reached for a bottle of water.
Keep your shit together, Billie. Keep your shit together. She repeated the words until she felt calm and her body agreed with her. Her head ached as the trembling slowed.
He turned and looked back at Billie, smiled and returned to the paper on the island. “Looks like you thought of everything,” Marcus said.
“Not really. We still need to learn more about this guy and since he works for the government; we may not be able to do it quietly.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about that, too. But I’m sure he already knows that we know, so we’re going to have to do it loudly. Let him see what we find. Get him scared. Maybe he’ll make a mistake or two.”
“Exactly,” Ryan said.
“Do you have alarms set up?”
“I do. I don’t have them turned on at the moment but it’s a quick setup,” Ryan said.
“All right. Get them turned on. Show me where the room is.”
“Can do,” Ryan said. He gathered the papers and put them back in the closet. He pressed a hidden button, and the wall in the back of the closet opened up. “After you.”
Marcus followed the stairs going down. Billie jumped up and followed them so she wouldn’t be alone. The house didn’t have a basement so having a basement added was genius. As she descended, she thought of how long it must have taken Ryan to dig one out. Her hand followed the wall as she took each step downward, being careful not to step on Marcus’s heel. When she reached the last step, she looked at everything. A light turned on in the center of the room. She thought it was automatic until she saw Ryan’s hand move away from the light switch on the wall, and let out a small giggle.
Marcus looked at the light switch at the same time as Billie. She glanced at him, and saw him grinning at Ryan. Billie assumed he thought the same as her, based on his grin.
“There’s another one at the top of the stairs, just beyond the fake wall,” Ryan said.
“Good to know,” Marcus said.
The room was a small square room. Up against one wall sat a heavy-duty table decked out with monitors. The table was extra wide to allow writing and a keyboard. An office chair on wheels sat under the table. The walls were reinforced with concrete and metal, and the door was also reinforced. Billie didn’t notice that part heading down, but when they returned to the main level, Ryan revealed that to her and Marcus.
“All right. So, you have the basics down there. I think we should bring some things down there just in case we have to lock ourselves in.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think that far ahead. Thanks, Marcus,” Ryan told him.
“No problem. You were smart enough to make it safe. Reinforcing those walls was the best thing you could have done.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“Hey, look at this,” Billie said as she saw a news bulletin appear on the TV.
“This just in,” a woman said on the TV. “Reports of what appears to be the same man are coming in from all areas of town. Next after these brief messages.” A photo of a man in his 40s appeared on the top right corner of the screen as the woman spoke. A commercial for a brand of chips came on, leaving Billie feeling speechless for a quick moment.
Marcus rushed around the sofa and sat down as Billie sat down on the other end. As they watched the TV, Ryan sat back down in his chair and pushed another handful of chips into his mouth.
She finally could get the word to pierce her lips. “Charles.”
“What is the bastard up to?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know. I dislike this. First, he disabled time travel, and then he does this? How much you want to bet he’s got time pirates working with him?” Marcus asked.
“Makes sense. We can’t time jump, but he can. You’re right, Marcus. Something isn’t right.” Ryan tossed the bag of chips down.
“What are time pirates?” Billie asked.
Marcus blankly stared at Billie before he replied, “you really don’t want to know. These guys make Charles look like a saint on a good day. If he’s mixing with them, then we have a major
problem and I don’t even want to think about that.”
Billie turned the volume up and they continued watching the news report. “No one seems to know who these men are or why they appear to look so much alike. These men appear out of thin air, according to witnesses. Let’s head over to Jasmine Winters, where she’s speaking to one of these witnesses,” the reporter said. The woman stood behind a desk made of plastic with a wood base. She was wearing a blue dress that was cut low.
The screen flashed and another reporter was standing on the street next to a man in a soldier’s uniform. The woman was wearing a two piece navy pant suit. Her long black hair was tied in a bun. She held the microphone close to the man as she asked him questions. “Tell the viewing area what happened, Mr. Jones.”
“I was eating breakfast here and just happened to look up. As I was watching nothing in particular, this man appeared next to the large window across the street. He was a younger man, I’m guessing in his late 20s. He was wearing Dockers with a stripe Polo shirt. I had never seen anything like this before. At first, I thought maybe it was part of some magic show, but the man just looked around, then ran off. Nothing else happened.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jones. Another witness, who wanted to remain anonymous claims she saw the same thing only two blocks away, on Jefferson Boulevard. Reports are coming in with the same comments from 20 or 30 people.” The woman held her hand up to her ear and touched her ear piece. “Wait, that number has gone up. A total of 50 men have now appeared in our city. They are all wearing the same blue dress pants and striped Polo shirt. Something strange is definitely occurring here in Fort Lane. We will keep you folks updated as more information comes in. This is Jasmine Winters, reporting in. Back to you, Alice.”
Billie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. How many copies of one man could there be? And they were in different ages but yet they were wearing the same thing. She recognized some of them from her childhood, and they were all Charles. She was still confused about how this man could travel through time if Marcus said it was broken.
“Ryan, do you think it’s possible that we could be wrong about the time quakes?”
“What do you mean?” Ryan asked.
“All this time, the bureau thought it was Billie getting murdered all this time, but maybe this is what caused it.” Marcus said while pointing at the TV. “We’re witnessing the beginning of it right now.”
“You know what? I think you’re right, Marcus.”
Billie jumped into the conversation. “So, I was never part of this?”
“No, I believe you still are. But your deaths didn’t cause the ripple that’s shaking things up back home,” Marcus said.
“Ok, so how do we stop this?” she asked.
“By stopping him,” Ryan said.
There was a knock at the door, and all three of them shot their eyes in that direction. Knots began forming in Billie’s stomach. She could feel her hands moisten so she wiped them on her pants. As she did, she noticed her hands become shaky. She tried to hide it. What if Charles was on the other side of that door? She wasn’t sure if Marcus and Ryan could protect her if there were hundreds of him standing outside, waiting for them to answer. So many things piled up into her mind, she did not want either of them opening the door.
“Ryan, were you expecting anyone?” Marcus asked.
“No, I wasn’t.” His eyes would not leave the door. Billie felt the way he looked.
Marcus pulled his revolver out of the holster and quietly rushed over to the door. He looked out of the door’s window. Ryan went to the window to the side of the door and peeked through the closed curtain. There was a man standing at the door, but it wasn’t Charles.
Chapter Sixteen
It was time Marcus needed to move to the next step of protecting Billie. It wasn’t enough keeping an eye on her and watching for Charles to make his debut. He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket, unfolded them, and placed them on his face. He pressed the button on the side to open the protective shield. He could feel the invisible armor wrap around his body. He was glad he had them. He pulled the second pair out of his pocket and tossed them at Billie. Quietly, he told her to put them on and press the button. He wasn’t sure who the man on the other side of the door was, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. He looked at Ryan. “Do you still have a pair?”
“Yeah, they’re in the kitchen. I’ll get them.” Ryan rushed out of the living room, leaping over the coffee table.
Marcus slowly opened the door a crack and peeked out. “May I help you?”
“Thank goodness someone is home. I’m sorry but my car broke down and I need help.”
“Do you have a cell phone?” Marcus asked through the open crack.
“Yeah.”
“So, call a tow truck. I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” He closed the door. After hearing his voice, he knew who the young man was. He had never seen Charles when he was younger, now he had.
“What did he want?” Ryan asked.
“His story was he needed help with his car, but he ain’t no stranger.” That was all he needed to say.
Just then an alarm went off, and it was loud. Billie covered her ears as her eyes widened and her skin turned pale. “Is that him?”
“Grab that bag and run to the hidden room. Hurry!” He made sure his voice could be heard over the siren piercing their ears. Marcus grabbed another bag filled with food and water. The three of them rushed to the closet and went through the hidden door in the back. Ryan closed it behind them and sealed it. They rushed down the stairs. Marcus looked over the screens and spotted other people.
“Looks like there are 3 of them—all Charles.”
“How is that even possible?” Billie asked.
“As long as they don’t touch each other, we’re all right. But if they do, then it’s bye-bye world,” Ryan said. “How stupid is this guy?”
“That’s not stupidity. That’s anger and revenge. I don’t know why, but something has pissed this man off enough that he’s willing to risk the world’s destruction over Billie’s death. This is worse than major. It’s plain majoriffic.”
“Is that even a word?” Billie asked. She acted as though she hadn’t heard him say it before. He began to think he hadn’t.
“Don’t test him—if he’s using that word, it’s plenty bad. Come on, you need to hide over here,” Ryan said as he pointed under the stairs.
“Ryan, I hope you have more tricks under your sleeve. Otherwise, we’re stuck in this house. Another one just appeared.”
“I do. Come on, Marcus,” Ryan said.
Marcus turned around and looked at Ryan. He was standing by a door. “Where did that come from?”
“Never mind. Come on. As soon as this door closes, it’ll trigger a self-destruct sequence. We won’t have time to argue. We must hurry,” Ryan said.
“Damn, you really did think of everything. How large will the explosion be?”
“Just big enough to take the house and everything inside it.”
Banging on the door to the basement could be heard now. One of the men found it. If he was smart enough, he’d be able to figure out how to open it. Even with it being sealed. Marcus didn’t know much about this man, but he knew he was smart. He didn’t want to stick around to see how smart he was.
On the other side of the door was a long tunnel. Old lights hung along the wall to light up the path. Once the three of them were secure inside the tunnel, Ryan closed the door and locked it, starting a count-down that would set off a bomb. “We have five minutes to get to the other end before the bomb goes off.”
Billie nodded her head and began running down the path. She ran so fast, she tripped over her feet. Marcus helped her up, and they ran together.
Ryan ran past them as he picked up speed. He pulled some keys out of his pocket and began rummaging through them as he ran. The lights began to flicker by the time they reached the other end. “That’s the signal that time is running out. We need to hurry,”
he said. They reached the iron-made door; Ryan inserted the key and opened it. They rushed through the threshold and Ryan slammed the door closed just as the bomb went off. The door bulged under the pressure.
Before anyone could say something, a gun shot fired. They ducked as Marcus and Ryan began searching the area for the location of the gunman. The bullet missed it’s target, as if the gunman was only trying to get their attention. Another one fired, this time ricocheting off the metal door. It was a little closer, so they took off running in the other direction. “I have a car over here,” Ryan yelled.
They followed Ryan to a car that was covered by a tan tarp. They pulled it off of the car and jumped in as Ryan fumbled with his keys. Marcus took the back seat, allowing Billie to get in the front seat. Ryan started the engine and peeled away. Two more shots fired at them, one hitting the taillight. Marcus looked through the back windshield, trying to get a fix on the shooter. He couldn’t see anyone. He flipped back around and gave Ryan instructions on where to go.
“Is that another hideout?” Ryan asked.
“No, there’s a private library in the area that’s bureau owned. I need to get into the database and see if there’s any information that we’re missing. The more we know about him, the better we can defend ourselves against him and all of his copies.”
“Good point. That was why you were always the leader between the two of us.”
“Ryan, don’t cut yourself short. You did well at the house. You’re smarter than you’re giving yourself credit for.”
“Aww, shucks, you’re making me blush,” Ryan said as he turned down the next street.
“Billie, you need to keep your head down.”
Billie slid down in the seat as the car made another turn. “What if he’s at the library?”
Murder Through Time (World Bureau Legacy Book 1) Page 9