Murder Through Time (World Bureau Legacy Book 1)

by A. R. Grosjean

  “Then we’ll go somewhere else. Ryan doesn’t have a weapon so it’s me against all of them. We need to learn more and then we can arm ourselves. The library also has an arsenal, so we’ll be able to get two birds with one stone.”

  “All right. You’re the detective.” Billie didn’t say another word.

  Marcus looked at her and tried to figure her out. He knew she must have been terrified—this wasn’t something anyone could get used to. She wasn’t shaking so he assumed her adrenaline was high enough that she hadn’t felt the fear yet. It would come soon enough.

  Ryan parked on the back lot, and they made their way inside the small building through the side door. Marcus kept his eyes opened and he was alert. A receptionist asked if she could assist them. Her voice was sweet and quiet. There was a pin attached to her collar, which was a sign that she worked directly for the bureau. Marcus was able to speak freely with her, which saved time.

  “Excuse me, I’m Marcus one-two-four dash one-five. Do you think I can check the bureau database, and take a look at some arsenal?” Marcus asked with a calm and distinct voice. He spoke in a professional manner that was quiet so the library patrons wouldn’t overhear. He looked over his shoulder and saw three people reading a few tables away from them. One man looked up, so Marcus smiled and returned his attention to the woman. “We are in a hurry.”

  The woman nodded without saying a word. She picked up a set of keys that were on the counter next to her and signaled them, so follow her. She grabbed a book along the way. They passed rows of books, turned down between two tall shelves of books, and stopped at the end where a wall blocked the path. She looked through the shelves of books and separated one key from the others. She was quick, even though she was small.

  Marcus kept his eye peeled for unwanted guests, but it didn’t appear like anyone even noticed them. Sure, they weren’t doing anything suspicious—just a group of people standing by a wall, doing nothing until a wall opened up. The door wasn’t noticeable until it was opened. Marcus had been there a couple times in his career, and it always amazed him.

  The woman stood at the opening until everyone was inside the small room. The door closed, and then she began to speak. “This room is soundproof so you may speak freely. I heard about what’s going on. We’ve been given instructions not to speak over the airwaves. I really hope time travel is returned to normal, Marcus. I’m only here for one more year and I’ll be promoted to head librarian. I do think you know what that means.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard about the position. Have you already been promised the job?” he asked her.

  “I have. I told them I wanted a one-year delay and then this happens. I should have taken the job when they offered it to me.”

  “Do you mind if I asked why, you didn’t?” he asked.

  “My youngest is still in school. He’s at a difficult age. I figured I’d wait one more year and then he can choose to come back to 2244 with me or stay here. It’ll be hard but his happiness is all that matters to me.” She took in a deep breath and let it out. “Any who, what can I do for you boys?”

  “The man who is trying to kill Billie seems to know more than we do. I’d like to even those odds and see what we can learn about him. And we’re going to need some weapons.”

  “Oh, I can’t help with the weapons, Marcus. I’m sorry. I’ll have to write down directions for you to find the weapon’s storage bureau bank. Only the top agents know where it is.”

  “Thank you.”

  “The computers are over there. Young lady, would you like to come with me for a moment?”

  Billie looked at Marcus and he nodded, letting her know it was safe to follow the woman. They were behind reinforced steel—nothing was getting in or out without a special key and only one key existed. It was passed down between shifts and each employee knew who to give that key to. Marcus remembered that from his studies.

  Billie and the woman disappeared behind another door as Marcus sat down in front of a large computer. He looked at the blank screen as Ryan sat down in front of another computer. Marcus typed his user's name and password, and began his search. He based his search on the things he did know—things that Billie was able to tell him. He learned that Charles IQ was at 119 which meant he was smart but there were people who were smarter than he was—which was a good thing. He did know of one man who had a higher score and he remembered hearing that he had gone to 2022 for a long vacation. Or was it 2021? He hoped the man was here now. Marcus learned his birthday—April 24, 2204 so he was five years older than he was. His full name was Charles A. Ramsey.

  “Ryan, I’m not seeing an updated picture of him. Can you check the DMV records and see if Charles has a license?”

  “If he’s from our time, he’s got a license. Anyone who is anyone has one.” Ryan began typing away. “There it is. Damn it, why didn’t I recognize him?”

  Marcus didn’t take his eyes off of the screen. “Ryan, stop beating yourself up over this guy. He ain’t worth it. Is that picture updated?” Marcus asked as he scrolled the pages on his computer, searching through everything.

  “Yep, it sure is. I’m printing it now.” Ryan stood up and reached over Marcus’s head. He pulled a piece of paper out of the printer and handed it to Marcus.

  “Well, at least now we know he’s using his real name.” He turned back to the screen and clicked on a link to take him to the charges. He saw the one charge he knew about—the one Ryan had shared with him earlier. But then he saw a list of other charges. “Will you take a look at this?”

  Ryan stood behind Marcus and leaned in to read the screen. “How the Hell does this man have a job working with DNA and weapons?”

  “That’s what I want to know.” He scanned through the information as quickly as he could. At the bottom of the screen, he found his answer. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What is it?”

  “His father had connections, which meant he had connections. The judge knew him personally, as did the President. The bastard was pardoned of any wrong doing long before you met him.”

  “So why are the charges still here?” Ryan asked.

  “Were you sleeping that week when they taught this shit?” Marcus asked.

  “I guess. I don’t remember. Tell me.”

  “Once a charge has been placed, it stays on record. Anything added in the records is initialed, dated, and signed. They stopped sealing records around 2035-36 because of the Johan case back in 2030. I can go on about that but it was a boring-ass case and we don’t have time for that.”

  As they were finishing up, the second door opened, and Billie walked out with the woman behind her. Billie was wearing different clothes and looked like she had freshened up. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. She was holding a ball cap and the glasses in her hand. Her eyes were beaming as she began to speak. “You guys really need to check out the next room. It’s a whole new world in there.” Her voice was raised, revealing excitement.

  “This is a training center—yeah, we know,” Ryan said.

  Marcus looked at Ryan. He couldn’t believe that Ryan knew about this library. He thought he was the only one who knew what it was. There was a lot about his old friend that he didn’t know.

  The woman took the piece of paper out of Marcus’s hand. “That’s the same fellow that’s been on the news.”

  “Yeah, have you seen him? Besides on the TV?” Ryan asked.

  “I sure have. He was out front this morning. Of course, that was before he was on the news. He was asking me questions and I didn’t know the answers, so I ran him off. I couldn’t say certain things, you know.”

  “I do know. Are you certain, you saw him this morning?” Marcus asked.

  “Yeah. It was fresh on my mind when it came on the news. I couldn’t believe it was the same guy.”

  “Can you make copies of that picture for us?” Ryan asked.

  “Yeah, but why? Isn’t his face all over the place?” the woman asked.

&nbs
p; “Yes, but we’d like to follow procedure, anyway. I want you to fax that picture to every single bureau location on and off the record. I want you to add a note to the picture,” Marcus said. He grabbed a pen and she handed the paper back to him. He wrote armed and dangerous, wanted for murder—Billie’s murder next to the picture. He gave her the paper back. “That’s the man who killed the girl all those times?”

  “I’m standing right here,” Billie said.

  “I’m sorry dear. I’ll send this off right away. Let me get those directions for you too. Before you leave.” She took a blank piece of paper out of the printer and wrote something down. She handed the paper to Marcus as she smiled.

  As Marcus was looking at the directions, his eye caught a glimpse of her shoes. It was the only thing that wasn’t bureau-dress-code. The torn-up tennis shoes were worn with pride, so it seemed.

  He smiled, which caught her attention. “I’m sorry about these old shoes. They’re so comfortable and I’m on my feet all day.”

  “You don’t need to explain anything to us. You wear what you want to wear. We’re not the code enforcement, although I think the damn rules are nuts sometimes.”

  “Thank you, Marcus.”

  They had done everything they could do there, so Marcus was ready to head out.

  As he headed for the door, the woman stopped him. “You can’t go out the way you came in, I’m sorry.”

  “Why’s that?” Ryan asked.

  “I’m sure that man knows you’re here. I haven’t seen him, but I have a rotten feeling that he’s close. Listen, come through the training center, there’s another way out that he won’t know about.” She opened the door, heading into the second room.

  Everyone entered the second room, and the woman closed the door behind her, locking it in place. The second room was large, slightly lower than the main library level, giving it a different appearance that wasn’t visible to the street. To the untrained eye, it was just a catalog space filled with old books. A protective shield was also covering this area, so if anyone just happened to look through the windows, rows of shelves would be all they would see. It was a perfect cover-up for the bureau. The man who invented the invisible shields was the wealthiest man who ever lived.

  It was like stepping through a time portal. The computers in this room were from the year 2240. They were suspended in front of each person at eye level. Beams of light came from glasses each person was wearing. They wore special gloves on their hands as they typed the air before them. One person swiped his hand, and everything that was in front of him suspended in the air was pushed to another person’s view. He pressed a button on his glasses and the light shut off. Marcus smiled, remembering his days in this class, although it was in another location. Nothing had changed since his training. The man who shut off his unit, smiled at Marcus as he passed them to the restroom. Marcus watched him until the door closed behind him. He continued following the woman through the large room.

  When they reached the other side, the woman stopped next to a door. “This is an emergency exit. It only opens out so there’s no re-entry. Follow the stairs. At the bottom of the steps, there will be another door that will take you to a tunnel. That tunnel leads you to the parking garage on the other side of the street. There are two cars next to the exit. Do you have your watch on?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Good, then you’ll know what to do. Keys were never made for these cars. Make haste, and be careful.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, Marcus. I hope you catch that man and fix time. I would really like to go home next year.”

  “So would I,” Ryan said.

  They followed the woman’s instructions, and the two cars were right where she said they would be. Two matching cars, both black in color with tinted windows. Billie and Ryan took the back seat as Marcus sat down behind the wheel. He pulled the wire out of his watch and started the engine as he looked around. Other than the two cars, the garage was empty—at least that level was. He drove up one level and took the street exit, staying alert. He spotted Charles and pushed on the gas, escaping the area before Charles saw them. Marcus knew there would be more of him so he left the area as quickly as he could. Once his picture was out there among the other agents, it shouldn’t take them long to bring each version in, and this mess would be over. Hopefully.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Charles smiled as he watched the man. He had to meet up with him in the year 2018 because the man was in the middle of another project. He didn’t ask what the project was, but he assumed it was something illegal—they always were. The man approached him and sat down next to him. He adjusted his tie. “Nice restaurant,” he said as he looked around. “You eat here often?”

  The restaurant was a five-star establishment, and if someone was on the balcony, geese could be fed. The tables were covered with white linen, even on the balcony. He tossed down some bread and turned back to the table. “Not too often, no, but the steaks here are phenomenal. I took the luxury of ordering for you. I hope you’re all right with medium-rare. That’s how I like mine.”

  “Well, closer to rare, but that’s all right. This was my favorite place to run to. You are right about the steaks. So, let’s talk business. What brings you to my neck of the woods?” The man had a snarl when he spoke.

  There was some cheering at two tables over, so Charles looked at them. He shook his head. As he watched a cake being brought to the table, he began speaking to the man. “I’m going to need a way to bring multiple copies of myself to the year 2022. Do you think you’d be able to provide assistance?” Charles turned and looked at the man, dead in the eyes.

  “You’ve brought a lot of business my way, Charles. Of course, I can do something for you. How many copies would you like to use?”

  “My idea for this has gone as far back as twenty years ago, so there are plenty of them to go around. It was a back-up plan originally, but I think I’m going to use this plan anyway—just to have some fun before all of this is done. Have you been following the murders?”

  The man’s communicator began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the ID caller. “For fuck’s sake, it’s the bureau. They don’t know I’m here, so give me a moment. I’ll be right back.” The man stood up and walked to the railing where there was an empty table. He sat down and looked out, over the lake. He answered the phone and kept his conversation quiet.

  Charles listened to the best he could. He knew the man worked for the bureau, but he didn’t know he was an agent. He began to think of all the wonderful things he could do with this information, like making it so he would be around in 2022. When the man hung up, he returned to the table and finished their conversation.

  “What is the deal about this woman anyhow?” the man asked.

  “She’s my mother’s daughter. At first, I wanted my mother to pay for what she did to me, but she went and died on me, so I’ve been turning my rage toward Billie. Now other agents have her protected, so I need other copies to get to her. I’ve been tailing the agent in charge, so I know his routine, where his hideouts are, and all the people he knows.”

  “Sounds like you’ve been planning this for more than 20 years, Charles.”

  “I have.”

  “Then you should have known this would happen,” he said.

  “I did. That was why I came up with the back-up plan. Listen, I’m scheduled back at the dock in an hour so let’s eat our dinner and meet up at another time.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Charles finished the bread he had for the birds, and they waited for their steaks. They ate in silence. When they were finished, Charles paid the bill, and they left in separate cars. Charles returned to 2244 and spoke to his boss. They had been friends for years and the man had connections in the bureau. The agent he had spoken to at the restaurant was transferred to another location and time, just as Charles wanted. When he returned to the year 2022, he met up with his friend to see ho
w things were in his new location.

  “Hey, John, how are you doing?” Charles asked while the man was on break feeding some pigeons in the park downtown.

  “Charles, I heard you were keeping busy. I know what agent you were telling me about that other day, back in 2018. The man’s name is,” he began to say.

  “Marcus, yes, I know,” Charles cut him off. “Listen, I had you transferred to this time for a reason.”

  “That was you? Thank you. It’s so much nicer here. It was too quiet back in 2244. My wife didn’t want to come with me but I’m so happy she stayed behind. I had to come up with a story to tell Marcus. He thinks I want to go back to that dump of a year.”

  “Good thinking. The less ties we have, the better. Were you able to take care of that situation for me?”

  “Yep. I even cut off communications with Marcus and his partner—Ryan. I heard he’s been trying to prove you set him up.”

  “I did set him up. If he hadn’t arrested me when he did, I would have never had a record with those people and covered up the truth. I wanted my mother to know her husband was murdered. Thank God for friends in low places.”

  “I hear you. I’m happy for you, friend.”

  “John, I may be a lot of things to you, but I ain’t no friend. Get the ball rolling—this ends soon.”

  “All right.”

  Charles began hearing on the news that different copies of him were seen all over town. He thought to himself how clever this was. If this didn’t shake Billie up, nothing would. He was everywhere, and she had nowhere to run. Her end was coming soon, then he’d take care of Marcus and Ryan before finding another version of Billie to kill. He wasn’t going to stop until he wanted to stop, and he was having too much fun.

  He arrived at the library after watching the news. He spoke to a little woman who worked there. He knew she was an agent, but those shoes were frightful. After speaking to the woman, he left the building. One of his copies was waiting outside. “I see you’ve been given my plans,” he told his younger version. He sized his copy down, checking out the clothes he was wearing. He never did like the jacket, but it did conceal weapons rather nicely. He was glad he never burned it.