Murder Through Time (World Bureau Legacy Book 1)

by A. R. Grosjean

  Ryan didn’t say anything. He was holding his head as he groaned.

  Charles spotted his injured shoulder. He didn’t have any beef with this man, but he understood why his older version did. He had to get rid of him. “You can’t stay here. I’m going to put you back where you came from.”

  Ryan looked up at him. “No, wait. I can’t jump again like that.” He paused for a moment as if to search for the right words to say. “Why do you even care? You framed me.”

  Charles held up his hands, shaking them. His eyes widened. “No, that wasn’t me. One of my older versions did that. I was just sent back to aid him,” Charles said. He knew he already said too much. He knew the plans; he’d shared in some of the planning. But he never would have thought this guy would’ve been a good fall guy. No good cop ever was. At least not from his perspective.

  “Why are you being nice to me? After all this time?” Ryan asked.

  “I just want my mother to pay for what she did. Since she’s no longer alive, my sister will pay for her crimes.” After he said it, he realized his sister was really the object of his anger, but he was not going to correct himself or admit this to Ryan, or any other person, for that matter.

  “And what are those crimes?”

  “My mother left us, driving my father to commit suicide.” He explained in full detail of the event, not leaving anything out. He remembered visiting her and meeting his sister for the first time. That day set everything into motion. The plan to use this man came after his version. He guessed he also grew angrier as well. He wasn’t this ruthless before.

  “So, if your father hadn’t died, you wouldn’t have done any of this?” Ryan asked.

  “No, probably not.” It was the truth.

  “So why didn’t you jump back in time and change that?” he asked as he sat down in one of Charles’s chairs. The chair was over-sized just as the sofa was, only it didn’t have a floral pattern—it was a shade of green that complimented the sofa.

  He couldn’t let on where they were in case Ryan could remember and return to his house. He walked over to the window and looked up at the sky. He watched an air-taxi fly overhead. He tried to think of the right words to say. Why hadn’t he stopped his father’s death? That would have been the reasonable thing to do. He could have saved him, stopped himself from becoming this bitter man that he’d become. As smart as he was, he really hadn’t thought of it. The anger had just taken that choice away from him. Now he was feeling stupid for it.

  “Why did you have to ask that question?” He turned around and faced Ryan. He only knew his name from what his older version told him. “Above all the questions you could have asked, why that one?”

  Ryan shrugged his shoulders. “It just makes sense to me.”

  “You must be smarter than I ever was.” He lowered his head.

  “No, I don’t think it’s a question of being smart. I just think if that was what drove you over the edge, you’d at least consider that first. I didn’t mean anything by it, Charles.” He paused for a moment as he looked away, then returned his eyes to Charles. “It could just be the training from the academy that got me thinking about it.”

  “No, you just wanted to prove to me that I’m not as wise as I thought I was.” Anger began to fill him. Ryan was showing him up. There wasn’t another explanation.

  “That’s not true. Maybe your grief just blinded you. Hell, if my father had done the same thing, I think I would’ve been too sore to think of anything at all.”

  “You’re just saying that.”

  “No, I’m not. Listen, you can still save him. All you have to do is time jump to the day he died. You can speak to him; tell him how it impacted your life. He’d understand.”

  “My father? Understand how I feel? He may have been a lot of things, but understanding wasn’t one of them.” He turned back towards the window. “That’s probably why I hadn’t done it. The man was a bull. He was set in his ways. Once the idea of death snuck up on him, it was done.”

  “Okay, then I will do it. Tell me the date and where it happened. Give me that time piece, or whatever it’s called. I’ll save your father.” Ryan stood up and fell back into the chair. He was still weak from the time jump or his injury—Charles wasn’t sure which, maybe the combination of both.

  “No, you can’t go back into the stream in your condition. You need rest and that injury needs healing.”

  “So now you care what happens to me?” Ryan asked. A moment later, he passed out.

  “Shit, Charles, you really messed everything up, didn’t you?” he yelled at his older version. He knew the man couldn’t hear him, but he felt a little better saying it out loud. He rushed past Ryan and headed into the kitchen. He searched for his communicator, forgetting where he had last seen it. He searched through the rest of the house, finally locating it in the bathroom, on the white countertop, next to his black toothbrush. He couldn’t believe he left it there. He picked it up and called one of his father’s old friends. The man knew someone who did house calls. He’d fix Ryan up and then he could get rid of him. No one would ever have to know. Except his older version, who would eventually remember doing this, once the memory caught up to him. “Shit,” he said to himself when he realized it. There wasn’t possibly a way to hide anything from himself, any version.

  After the fifth ring, the old man answered.

  “Hey, John, I need your assistance.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I have a friend who’s been shot. Do you think you can send that Dr. friend of yours to fix him up?”

  “How bad is your friend?”

  Charles walked over to Ryan and looked under the rags. “Well, it’s a single shot to the right shoulder. He’s passed out.”

  “All right, give me a bit. Where are you?”

  “Home.”

  “Stay there.”

  “Where am I going to go? Other than work?”

  “Point made. I’ll call him up. Probably be there within twenty or so.”

  “All right.” Charles pressed the end call button and set it on the table next to the chair. He returned to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. He swallowed it down and refilled it. He took the glass of water with him to the living room and sat down, holding the glass in both hands. The water bounced a bit as his hands began shaking. He began thinking as he waited for his friend to arrive. Shit, how am I going to explain this to older Charles? If Ryan could somehow stop my father from killing himself, it would be worth it. Wouldn’t it? Damn it, why did he have to jump at me and join me in the time stream? If he fails, and this messes up our plans to get back at Billie and Mother, this isn’t going to be good. Shit. Okay, I need to calm down. I must do this. I don’t have a problem with Ryan. I must let him try. I must help him. His shaking hands slowly subsided. He drank more water, then set the glass down on the wooden table next to the chair, by his communicator.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Marcus stood at the exit, watching the copies in the parking lot. They were watching him. He wasn’t sure why they were just standing there, doing nothing. They were surrounded. The copies could have just run in and taken Billie hostage if they wanted to. He didn’t think he’d have enough ammo to cover all of them. But he would die trying. He was still angry that Billie had her cell phone all this time. He kicked himself, knowing that he should have asked her about it. He was an agent, and he didn’t make stupid mistakes like that.

  “What’s on your mind, Marcus?” Ray asked.

  Marcus turned to look down the hallway at the blockage. Nothing had been touched. “None of this is making sense. Why surround us, make one attempt, and then nothing?”

  “To cause fear.”

  “I’m not scared of these assholes,” Marcus said. He was offended by his remark.

  “Not you—her. Charles is trying to scare Billie. And I bet she’s terrified right now.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. We have to do something; I can’t let her just sit there and wait
to be killed.”

  “So, what are your plans?” Ray asked him as his eyes returned outward, towards the parking lot. The large group of copies just stood there, facing them.

  “We have to assume that Ryan is fine where he’s at. We can’t wait for his return, so I’m thinking we will move to another area. These halls don’t have cameras, so we should be able to move freely if none of the copies are within these tunnels. If Charles thinks we’re still at this location, he won’t search anywhere else.”

  “Okay. You think I should remain here.”

  “That’s the only way it would work, yes.”

  “You better get a move on, then,” Ray said as he smiled.

  “If by chance I never see you again,” Marcus began to say.

  “Nope. I don’t want to hear it. ‘If’ is a big word, Marcus. Besides, this has been better than just sitting in my apartment resting. Best vacation ever.” Ray sounded enthusiastic.

  “Yeah, I bet. All right, I will see you around. Do you have your earpiece? We can still communicate.”

  “Yes, of course.” They shook hands, then Marcus walked away.

  He returned to the storage room, made his way through to the back and announced his entry, so Billie knew it was him before opening the door. She didn’t jump but did act relieved that it was him. “We’re moving to another location.”

  “What about Ryan?”

  “He’s a full-grown man. I’m sure he can handle himself, whenever he’s at.”

  “I do hope he’s okay.” She stood up and walked towards him.

  Marcus shifted some of the boxes so an opening would be wide enough for them to squeeze through. He pushed his arm through the opening and pulled the boxes back to close the barricade. It wouldn’t appear that they had gone through, just in case one of the copies had paid them a visit.

  They hurried down the long hallway, being as quiet as they could. Whenever they reached another entrance door into the mall, Marcus peeked through the large plastic window. His weapon was drawn and ready to be used at a moment’s notice. The bag of weapons hung freely on his shoulder.

  He spotted one of the copies standing in front of the first set of doors. He hadn’t seen Marcus; his back was facing them. Marcus watched him closely. As he shifted his weight to turn around, Marcus ducked as he gently pushed Billie back, out of view if the copy had peered through the window. He pulled his finger to his lips signaling her to stay quiet, grabbed her hand, and ran down the hall. He found an open door and swiftly pulled Billie into a dark room. He listened for the sound of the entrance door sliding open. The copy was now in the employee hall.

  “Did he see us?” Billie whispered.

  Marcus shook his head. He waited for the swishing sound of the door before peaking around the corner. He only snuck part of his head out of the doorway, just enough to see if Charles was there. He wasn’t. He took Billie’s hand again and nudged her out of the room as they ran down the hall, finding another door. Marcus saw another copy but didn’t stick around to see if he would enter the back hallway. “We need to find another dark room to hide,” he whispered to her as they hurried down the hall again. He saw a door, leading to one of the stores on the left. Something was wedged in at the bottom of the door, keeping it open a crack. Marcus slowly opened the door, checking for any copies. He anticipated it being a trap. He kept his head low as he held the door open just enough for Billie to follow him through. Once inside, he let the door close slowly, minimalizing the sound. The lights weren’t on, so he was glad. “Stay close behind me.” He kept his voice low—almost too low.

  He crept through the back room as he felt Billie’s hand on his back. There was a light on from the front of the store, so he followed the white glow to the other side of the room. He peaked through a small window on the door leading into the store and watched. No one in sight. The front gate had been closed and locked, so it wasn’t possible for anyone to come in that way.

  Marcus turned back to Billie. “It’s a clothing store but it’s locked up. The person wedged the door so they must be returning unless they didn’t have a key. I don’t want to interfere with the door, so we don’t alarm Charles where we are. I think we should be okay here for a moment.”

  “Are you sure?” she whispered.

  Marcus peaked through the window again. He nodded. He pointed at the far wall behind some boxes. “We can sit over there. I’ll be able to see everything from there. We’ll rest for a little while before moving to another spot.”

  Billie nodded and approached the area behind the box. She sat down on the cold concrete floor. Marcus sat down next to her and shifted the box over to hide them.

  “What is Charles waiting for? Why is he doing this?” Billie asked after a moment of silence.

  “Ray thinks it’s because he’s trying to scare you. I’m beginning to think the same thing.” He checked his weapon, confirming he had a full clip and that it was ready to fire. He set it down next to his hip where he’d be able to grab it in a hurry and began double-checking the bag for anything they would need. He noticed someone had added a few snacks to the bag. “Where did these come from?”

  “They were sitting on a table, so I grabbed them. I didn’t want to be trapped somewhere without food.”

  “Good thinking.”

  “Thank you.” Billie scooted a little closer to Marcus and nestled into his shoulder.

  He looked down at her. He was about to say something when a voice spoke over the intercoms again.

  “Attention shoppers, I mean Billie and Marcus, you have five minutes to come out of hiding. I know where Ryan is, and I will have him killed if you don’t come out of hiding. I expect you do care about Ryan, don’t you?”

  Billie looked up at Marcus. He gazed into her eyes, feeling what she was thinking. “He’s going to be okay. Charles is just trying to provoke you into revealing yourself to him. Don’t give him that satisfaction.”

  “We just can’t sit here, waiting for the inevitable. We have to do something.”

  “I know we do, but your safety is more important. Ryan would understand.”

  “I hope you’re right,” she said as her eyes wandered around the room.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “Thanks for fixing me up, Charles. You didn’t have to do that.” Ryan put on his shirt and stood up. He needed to get back to Marcus and Billie. He knew Marcus wouldn’t worry about him, but he thought Billie could be. She didn’t need anything else piled up on her plate.

  “I’m going to do something that’s against who I am, Ryan. I want you to get out of here. I’m going to head back to 2022 and meet up with my older self and tell him where you are. Don’t be where I tell him, you’ll be.”

  He looked at Charles, trying to figure the man out. One minute he’s a ruthless killer, and then he’s helping him out. He couldn’t understand the man. “And where’s that?” Ryan asked.

  Charles shot out a year, but it was completely wrong.

  Ryan smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure that can be arranged.

  Charles reached out his hand with something in it. Ryan looked at the gadget. “Listen, I want you to have this. There’s another one in the next room. Use this to time jump whenever you want. Either way, do it fast. I hope you succeed, so I can move on with my life, and put all of this behind me.”

  “Can I ask you something, Charles?” Ryan asked, as he took the object from Charles’s hand.

  “Yeah, sure. What do you want to know?”

  “Why are you being so nice? This doesn’t sound like the Charles, I know.”

  Charles began to laugh. It wasn’t one of those evil laughs that normal villains do. It sounded like a sincere laugh after a joke. Something was funny to him.

  “Tell me.”

  Charles sat down. “Okay, I’ll tell you.”

  Ryan sat back down in the chair. Charles began to explain how he met a woman and he fell hard for her. She was everything he’d wanted in someone—passionate, caring, smart, and had a thing for wea
pons. As Charles shared his story about the woman, Ryan began remembering something about the Charles he knew. He interrupted Charles. “Listen, you obviously love this woman so I’m going to give you a piece of advice that will stop a particular break-up that will happen to you later in your future.”

  “Really?” Charles leaned forward with his ear cocked up.

  “At some point, she’s going to ask you to move in with her. Now I know you don’t like living with people but telling her no will push her away. When she asks to make the next step in this relationship, talk to her. Put her feelings before your own. Explain to her how you feel and why, but do not reject her.”

  “I would never reject her. She’s the woman of my dreams.”

  “Yes, and I remember hearing something about that before. I’m telling you, make that leap of faith. If you love her, sacrifice your solitude.”

  Charles stood up and reached his hand out for Ryan. He stood up and shook Charles’s hand.

  “Thank you for being honest with me. How did you hear about this? If I should ask?”

  “I overheard him speaking to a friend.”

  “Thank you, Ryan.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  As Ryan walked out the door, he began feeling a little guilty. He hadn’t heard Charles talking to any friends—he didn’t know he had any. He had to tell him something and it felt right, knowing what he knew about Charles from 2244. If a woman was making him feel this good and turned him nice for a moment, then he had to keep it going. If the woman did ask him to move in, it could change how Charles turned out. That was a chance he had to take.

  Ryan found himself walking down a street that didn’t look familiar. Maybe his thoughts occupied too much of his attention, and he turned without realizing it. He stopped for a minute to check his surroundings. From a distance, he could see the downtown area in the east. He took a note of where he was and continued walking down the street. He had a way to get back to Marcus and Billie, but he wanted to try something first—save his father from suicide. Maybe that would help push Charles into becoming a good man. It wouldn’t hurt to try.