A Year to Forget (The Accidental Time Travellers Book 2)

by Marc James

  David watched on excitedly as Armstrong uttered those famous words, and saw as they planted the US flag. He knew in advance that the flag would wave, but there was little point in bringing this up to Hughes or Stanley, they wouldn’t listen to him.

  Chapter 86

  David, Bobby and Faraday were sat watching the broadcast of the Moon landing. David had received praise from Kennedy when he had first watched the footage. Although David had not directed the filming, he had played his part in this historic moment.

  Bobby and Faraday watched open mouthed as the television showed the footage of the astronauts jumping around on the Moon.

  “You can see the wires.” Faraday commented.

  “I told them that.” David replied. “Watch closely in just a minute you will see the rock that Howard tripped over. It was a prop with the letter “c” on it, the “c” was supposed to be hidden but he turned it when he tripped. I told them that as well, but they wouldn’t listen.”

  The three men watched in silence as the rock did come into focus. “Oh dear.” Bobby commented.

  “Why are there no stars?” Faraday asked.

  “Apparently they would make it evident that it’s a fake.”

  “But doesn’t it look more fake without stars?” Faraday asked.

  “There aren’t clouds on the Moon, so surely the stars would be very visible.” Bobby commented.

  David shook his head. “I told them that too.”

  “It still looks pretty good.” Faraday commented. “How did they manage to make them walk like that?”

  “They slowed the footage down.” David replied.

  Bobby took a draw of his cigarette and sighed.

  “Something wrong?” Faraday asked.

  “I just can’t get over Teddy. Even if the public love the Moon landing, they will still be pissed off with the Kennedy’s.”

  “I can’t believe he did that either, the poor woman.” David added.

  “She didn’t even fucking drown! If he had just called the police, she would have been fine, she was in an air bubble. She was alive for hours after the crash, the poor girl suffocated.” Bobby ranted.

  “At least he stepped down.” Faraday said.

  “He didn’t want to though, Kennedy made him. This year has been bad enough without Teddy cocking up.”

  “It hasn’t been that bad, Castro was overthrown and technically we won the space race.” David argued.

  Faraday laughed. “The best achievements in America’s history, and one of them was an accident carried out by a terrorist, and the other was a fake.”

  “This isn’t funny! Kennedy could end up having to step down if things keep going this way. The polls will focus on Teddy rather than the Moon landing.”

  Faraday and David remained silent.

  “What’s more those fucking Black Panther’s are trying to create a race riot.”

  “What’s happened now?” David asked in surprise.

  “Another two cops were shot yesterday. Just three weeks ago they tortured and killed one of my agents, and now they are killing cops. Fred Hampton is fucking killing us, every other day someone comes into the office and suggests taking him out. I don’t want to do it but if he keeps going the way he is...” Bobby did not finish the sentence.

  David wondered if the Black Panthers would have anything to do with Martin Luther King’s death, Abaddon still hadn’t given him any idea as to when he would be carrying out the hit.

  Chapter 87

  Over the coming months things did get progressively worse for both President Kennedy and the FBI. Despite the success of the Moon landings, the Chappaquiddick incident had damaged public opinion of the Kennedy administration.

  Bobby’s primary focus had been the capture of Jacob Cohen, but as of yet he had very little to go on. He had not been seen since the Cuban revolution. Bobby had intended to make today the day that he would finally read the COINTELPRO documents, but he knew he wouldn’t have the time. The last time he had read them had been his first day as Director, when he had learned about Will raping Jane, that had been months ago, it was now December 2nd 1969.

  He had decided to keep this information to himself after Will had rescued Chase and Faraday from Cuba. Chase had accepted the position with the FBI, but Bobby had until now been a little reluctant to send him out in the field. He had required hours of therapy following his hypnosis, but today was the day that Chase was being sent out in the field. Bobby had offered a position to Faraday but he had declined the role, he was still planning to return to Scotland.

  There was a knock on the office door and William Sullivan entered the room, alongside Chase. Chase looked much more like himself than he had when Bobby had last seen him, the events in Cuba had traumatised him.

  “Take a seat guys.” Bobby said with a smile.

  Chase and William did as they were asked.

  “So William tell me how are we doing this?”

  “Well as you know we have William O’Neal in with Fred Hampton, he is trusted by them and tomorrow night he will be with Fred at his apartment. O’Neal tells us that tomorrow Fred will be hosting some of the major players in the party.”

  “How many?” Bobby asked.

  “I believe there will be around twenty of them.”

  “Jesus, and the Panthers are heavily armed?”

  “That’s right.” William nodded as he spoke.

  “Is it really wise to go in when so many of them are there?”

  “This way we can bring them all down for their use of firearms, attempted murder of police officers, perhaps even a murder.”

  Bobby was stunned. “So you actually want a gun fight?”

  “It would give us enough to put them away. It doesn’t matter when we do the raid, they will be armed and they have no qualms about shooting at the police.”

  Bobby nodded, it had only been a few weeks since the Panthers had killed two more police officers in the street. “I don’t want a gun fight, we go in during the night and arrest them. If they shoot at us we will defend ourselves, but we don’t go in all guns blazing.”

  “That is easier said than done Mr Stinson, these men are cop killers. The cops that raid the apartment will not think twice about opening fire.”

  “Well we order them not to. That is why Chase will be there.”

  Chase nodded.

  “With all due respect, we may be better leaving this to the police.”

  Bobby shook his head. “I don’t want them dead William. I want them apprehended and given a fair trial for the crimes they have committed. If we go in and kill them, the violence will spill into the streets, there will be more deaths. So this O’Neal, has he given us a layout of the apartment?”

  “Yes but better than that, O’Neal is cooking dinner tomorrow night for the guests. He is going to slip a sleeping pill into Fred Hampton’s food. That way when we go in, he won’t wake up.”

  “That’s good, but what about the rest of them?”

  “Well it may be a little obvious that we drugged them, when nobody wakes up during the raid, that’s the last thing we need the press hearing.”

  “So how many officers are raiding the flat?”

  “Thirty.”

  “Make that thirty two, I want both of you in there.”

  William’s jaw dropped. “Sir I am not experienced in carrying out raids.”

  “I’m sure you’ll manage, and it will give you the added incentive to ensure that it doesn’t turn into a shootout.”

  Chapter 88

  Faraday walked along the shore of Loch Ness and took a seat at Jane’s bench. The weather was overcast and there was a light drizzle. The Loch still looked beautiful, he watched as a canoe sailed from the middle of the Loch, over to where he sat. As he looked at the woman inside his heart leapt, he had been expecting Nancy, but it was Jane.

  “Jane!” He shouted.

  She waved and smiled at him, he had her back. She reached the shore and stepped from the canoe. They shared a long e
mbrace, any betrayal that Faraday had once felt had now melted away at the site of her.

  They both took a seat on the bench holding hands and looking out at the water, neither of them saying a word. The overcast sky was beginning to clear and there was warmth that spread over the Loch. In the sunlight the beauty of the water was breathtaking. They sat still and silent for a long time, just happy to be back in one another’s company.

  Faraday watched her every movement, the little things that he had taken for granted when she was alive, were suddenly so wonderful and perfect.

  “I’ve missed you.” He said, breaking the silence.

  Jane smiled back at him. “I’ve missed you too.”

  “Nancy told me that you weren’t ready to see me.”

  Jane nodded. “I didn’t think you were ready to see me either.”

  “Why?” Faraday asked, already knowing the answer.

  “You know why Faraday. You thought that I’d cheated on you.” Jane replied, with the pain evident in her voice.

  “So you didn’t?”

  “You know what happened Faraday.”

  “He raped you?”

  Jane nodded.

  “The bastard! Jane why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I knew it would hurt you and I didn’t want you to do something that you would regret.”

  “Like what?”

  “You know what I’m talking about.” Jane replied.

  “He deserves to die!”

  “If you had killed him, then you wouldn’t have escaped from Cuba.”

  “That doesn’t change what he has done to us.” Faraday replied.

  “If you do anything, you could end up in prison.”

  “I won’t be around here long enough to end up in prison.”

  “Are you really going through with that?” Jane asked, looking slightly disconcerted.

  “I’ve already earned my ticket, I’m just waiting on David.”

  Jane shook her head in annoyance.

  “What?” Faraday asked.

  “When I was alive, you had no interest in going home.”

  “If you had told me what happened then I would have gone anywhere with you Jane.”

  “Are you going to try and save me?” She asked.

  “I want to.” He replied.

  “I don’t think it will work.” She sighed.

  “Neither do I. I don’t know when I should go to save you.”

  “I think you should stay with Bobby.”

  Faraday was stunned. “Why?”

  “He needs help Faraday. He’s lost his grandmother, his father, a friend, and then he is going to lose the only two people he has left in the world.”

  “He doesn’t even care about Nancy.”

  “You know he does.” Jane snapped.

  Faraday was silent now.

  “What is it you want Faraday?”

  “I want our life back Jane. I want us to be back in our own time, together. I should have listened to you and left when we still could.”

  “But it’s gone Faraday. We can’t have that. If you change what happened, then how can you have lived through what originally happened.”

  “I don’t know, but Nancy and Clint are dead and yet Bobby is alive.”

  Jane didn’t reply.

  “Maybe we can change things because we have already done things, we don’t need to ensure that we do them again.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.” She replied.

  “Yes it does. We already found out what happened to Kennedy, so I can go to the future and stop you from travelling through time, because you have already done it.”

  “But then I wouldn’t have done it.”

  “But we already did.”

  “But if I don’t go back, then you don’t go back. Which means you can’t then save my life, because you wouldn’t exist in that timeline.”

  “So you want me to stay with Bobby?”

  “He will need you Faraday. When Kennedy resigns and you and David have left, what will he do? Do you think Abaddon is going to allow him to keep his job? Don’t you think Abaddon will want to get rid of him?”

  “I can’t stop that from happening.” Faraday protested.

  “You can stop David.”

  “You can’t be serious?”

  “Faraday, he is planning to kill Martin Luther King!” Jane yelled.

  “Martin Luther King would be dead already if it wasn’t for us. We saved his life.”

  “So that gives you the right to take it away?” Jane asked angrily.

  “I’ve made my decision Jane, and so has David.”

  “So what I want doesn’t matter?”

  Faraday was unsure as to how to respond.

  “Well?”

  “Why should I stop him?”

  “It’s the right thing to do.”

  “Is it? Stopping him means that he can’t get back to Sharon and his kid.”

  “So you are going to stand by and do nothing?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about Will?”

  “I’m going to kill him.”

  “That’s exactly why Bobby and I didn’t tell you.”

  Faraday turned a bright shade of red. “He knew?”

  “Not until recently.”

  “How recently?”

  “The day he became Director of the FBI.”

  “I’m going to kill him.”

  Chapter 89

  Chase sat beside William Sullivan, watching the activity at the front of the apartment building. The officers had arrived in numbers and were heavily armed. They were waiting for Chase and William before storming the building.

  “We better go.” Chase suggested.

  William was nervous, it was blatantly obvious that he had no desire to take part in the raid.

  “They don’t need us, they’ll be in and out in ten minutes. There aren’t even anywhere near as many niggers as we expected.”

  Chase shook his head at the cowardice of the man. “You heard Bobby’s instructions, those cops have chips on their shoulders. They want blood.”

  “So they should!”

  “Oh come on William. You know that the Panthers are just fighting back, the police have killed far more men than they have lost.”

  “That is their job.”

  “To kill people?”

  “If those people deserve it, then yes.”

  “You are coming in.”

  William begrudgingly opened the door and stepped from the car, Chase did the same. They hurriedly crossed the road to meet the seventeen officers, stationed around the entrance to the building. There were as many men around the back of the building. It was 04:30 and the residents of the building were asleep, but they wouldn’t be for much longer.

  The estimation that William had given yesterday regarding the twenty Black Panthers, had turned out to be far from accurate. There were ten of them in the apartment and one of those was Fred Hampton’s wife, who was eight months pregnant.

  William gave the nod and one of the officers radioed the men at the back of the building to give them the go ahead.

  Chase and William were at the back of the line of officers that stormed up the stairs of the apartment building. Every so often as they ran up the stairs, Chase overheard racist insults spewing from the mouths of the officers. When they reached the door, Chase felt compelled to remind the officers that they were there to arrest not murder. His instructions were met with nods by the officers, he hoped that they would listen.

  The officer closest to the door rammed it open and the flood of officers swept into the apartment, Chase was not through the door when he heard the first shot being fired, this was followed straight away by another.

  “Hold your fire!” Chase ordered.

  “Fucking niggers!” He heard an officer shouting.

  Chase raised his weapon, but he could not see any of the residents. The apartment was filled with officers, everything seemed silent, until he heard an officer saying.

  �
��That’s Fred Hampton.”

  The gunfire rang throughout the apartment in all directions, Chase ran through to the bedroom, as five officers shot at a body on the mattress.

  “Hold your fire!” He ordered once more. The apartment was dark, but he could hear the screaming and managed to make out the shape of Hampton’s heavily pregnant wife, she was screaming on the bed, as shots were fired into her husband’s body. Chase ran towards the bed and grabbed the woman to lead her from the apartment.

  As he pulled her into the hallway, she continued screaming and scratching at Chase.

  “Get off me you bastard! You fuckers killed him!”

  Chase ignored her protests as she tried to struggle free.

  “I’m trying to help you.” He said, he knew that she wouldn’t believe him, the sound of gunfire and the woman’s screams were all that could be heard in the apartment.

  Chase felt ill at the sound of the screaming, he managed to get the woman out of the apartment and pulled her down the flight of stairs.

  “Get off me you pig! They killed him! You sick fucks! What about my baby!”

  Chase could not argue with the woman, he knew that she was right, and he had allowed it to happen. He managed to pull her out into the street where a small crowd was already developing. Chase continued to drag the woman across the street, and forced her into the car that he and William had been sitting in only minutes before.

  The woman was screaming and crying, gunfire could still be heard coming from the apartment. The few people that were now gathering outside the building, looked absolutely terrified. Chase began to worry that he would die here tonight, if other Panthers arrived on the scene this would get even worse.

  Chase sat in silence beside the woman as she screamed, unbelievably there was still gunfire coming from the apartment building. The building door opened as a black man ran out in to the street drenched in blood, he only made it two steps before a police officer tackled him to the ground. Within seconds two more police officers arrived and began beating the man.

  Chase stepped from the car, leaving Fred’s wife crying helplessly. He ran towards the officers but before he reached them, a black woman was thrown from the buildings entrance and she was hit in the face by a bat.