“Good.” Jason handed him the pendant. “Remember, we can’t run this for very long. The time door will be open on the other side. Be careful. And if by chance you get there and it’s the wrong time frame or we missed it, come right back.”
“Got it.” Frank nodded.
Joe took a deep breath. “Stay out of sight.”
“Dad, I know. Start the machine.” Frank held the pendant.
Jason worked the computer. “Ready.”
“Yes.” Frank nodded.
Joe stepped back.
The doorway illuminated in a bright flash of light and Frank stepped through. On the present day side of the time door, the entrance closed.
Joe looked at Jason. “Did he get sucked out?”
“Only time will tell.”
Both of them snickered.
Frank knew the second he made it to Bev’s street, he had made it there in the right time frame. Her upstairs bedroom light was on and he could see a pregnant Bev, walking back and forth,. Looking at his watch--which he had set in synch with the clock in Jason’s lab when he stepped through the machine--Frank backed up and stayed hidden. It wouldn’t be long. The killer would show. Frank only had to wait and in the back yard of the house across from Bev’s, he did.
^^^^
Mid laugh at Frank’s ‘lost in time’ scenario, Jason and Joe moved back when the door illuminated again.
Frank stepped back through. His face was stone cold and his eyes were wide. He handed the pendant to Jason and started to leave.
“Well?” Joe called out. “Frank?”
Frank stopped walking.
Bang! His body shuddered in the memory of the gunshot he heard outside of Bev’s home. His eyes closed.
“Frank?” Joe asked again stepping to him. “Did you see who shot Bev?”
Frank looked at his father. His jaws twitched in tenseness. “No.” His voice graveled. “I missed the time frame. Sorry.” Saying no more, Frank walked straight across the Quantum lab and out. Outside he stopped. He had to. Shocked and a little sacred, his heart pounded so strongly that Frank could barely breathe. He hated the fact that he had lied to his father but he had to. The truth was, he did see who walked into the house. He saw that person through the bedroom window arguing with Bev and that same person run out in a panic right after the shot was fired. And if asked once more, Frank would lie again because to Frank, no matter what, the identity of Bev’s killer would remain with him. He couldn’t, nor would he ever, let that information be revealed. He just . . . couldn’t.
^^^^
THE ARAGON WINDOW
Beginnings Book 14
CHAPTER ONE
November 4
Beginnings, Montana
Blood.
It had been since morning when it was discovered, yet all Johnny Slagel could still see was blood. His day was spent hiding behind the vision that literally made him sick to his stomach. He pretended he wasn’t affected when the truth in the matter was he was screaming inside.
Hurt was an understatement. The young woman who was murdered was not only his ally to the Society, but his lover as well. Five months pregnant, Bev Hadley was shot, at close range, in the head. Her body was found slumped over a desk, and that was all Johnny knew.
A tight lip was placed on what had occurred. Most of the people in the community didn’t know whether she had been murdered or took her own life. All that was released with the information of her death was the news that she worked for the Society. How could she not. Her father was the one and only George Hadley, leader of the Caceres Society.
An enemy of Beginnings and the closest person to Johnny, not to mention she was carrying his child, a child that in Johnny’s mind caused her murder. They tried to use that child, pawn it off as Dean Hayes’, but when the truth of the baby was discovered, so was the news of her name. But before the community could find out Bev’s true identity, she was shot.
On the floor of his home, with his back against the wall, Johnny sat clenching the cellular phone that did not work. Not a single phone worked in Beginnings since the immediate order, given by Joe, to power down the communication ability of the community. Fear of what the Society would do in retaliation of Bev’s murder caused that order and it went into effect just at the same moment Johnny had started to place that call to George. Five more seconds and George would have known his only child had been killed. But he wasn’t giving up. He’d find a way to get in touch with George.
The hours had flown by for Johnny, hours he spent trying to get as much of his grief out as possible. He would have to place on a front, pretend he didn’t care about what happened to Bev, and act the part of the outraged Beginnings’ resident at the knowledge that she lived amongst them as a traitor for so long. Johnny would play the part and play it well, but there was something else he was determined to do . . . find out who had killed Bev. Johnny vowed as he sat in the rage of his anguish, that no matter what, no matter who it was, they would pay. At any cost, even at the revelation of his own reveling, Bev’s death would not be in vain.
^^^^
The hollowness of the Quantum lab added to the magnification of the tapping sound. A simple tap was the only noise in the room. The tip of a pen was in perfect thinking rhythm as it tapped on the counter of the lab.
Raising his eyes only, with the pen still moving, Joe Slagel peered at Jason Godrichson, who held the same thinking look as he. “I have to say yes.”
“Joe,” Jason spoke as if lost. “I don’t think so.”
“Frank was scared,” Joe said, “not to mention pale.”
“He was frustrated. We had a shot at going back in time to see who it was that killed Bev and we missed the window.”
“No, we hit the window. Frank saw who it was and now he doesn’t know what to do. I’m telling you, Jason, I know my son.” Joe set down the pen and in the immediate quiet of the room, he let out a loud breath and stood. “He knows. He knows who did it and he’s close to them.”
Jason snickered. “If it is someone in Beginnings, of course he’s close to them.”
“But would Frank protect just anyone.” Joe shook his head. “No.” He walked to the door. “We’ll get together in the morning to discuss how we want to start this investigation.”
“Where you going now?” Jason asked.
“To see Frank. I mean see him. Look at him. That will tell me everything.”
“But if Frank doesn’t tell you something, there’s nothing we can do,” Jason said.
“Officially, yes, but unofficially, it’ll tell us where to concentrate.” Joe reached for the door. “If my son knows who killed Bev and he won’t say, well . . . in my mind, he narrowed down the suspect list.”
^^^^
Water ejected upward into Ellen’s face when she jolted from the peacefulness of her bath at the sound of the door. She immediately sat up. It was late, too late for anyone to be entering her home. Reaching for her towel she heard the sound of quiet walking. “Who’s there?” she called out.
The walking stopped and there was a single light knock was on the door.
“It’s me, El,” Dean whispered.
“Dean.” Ellen allowed for her body to relax back into the tub. She moved her trembling hand over her head.
“May I . . . may I come in?”
“Yeah,” Ellen answered, swiping the hair from her eyes.
The door slowly creaked open. “Kind of late for a bath,” he said as he walked in. His tone was down and his eyes never really looked at her.
“I couldn’t sleep. I thought you were staying at the clinic tonight with Alexandra.”
“I was going to, but the moment our daughter fell asleep, Robbie came in and woke her up. He wanted to stay with her tonight so I finished up some work and came back. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No.” Ellen shook her head. “This is your home.”
A light scoffing breath came from Dean in the form of a chuckle. “Yeah. Home. Um, I’ll let you get back to you
r bath.” He moved to the door and stopped. “El, is everything all right?”
“Yes.” Ellen answered reaching for the wash cloth. “No.”
Dean stopped.
“I . . . I was doing some inventory this evening while Jenny had the kids. And . . . and I put the ‘need’ sheets on Andrea’s desk. I can’t . . .” The wash cloth dropped from Ellen’s hand. “I can’t believe she’s gone. I can’t accept it.”
Dean turned around. “I’m sorry.”
“Is she really, Dean?”
“Why are you asking me this now?” Dean questioned. “Yesterday, you said nothing.”
“Because I didn’t believe they did it,” Ellen spoke more to the water. “I can’t believe she was shot. Tell me . . . tell me she wasn’t. Tell me Joe conjured up some elaborate scheme as a way to prove Andrea’s innocence. Tell me that, Dean.”
“I can’t.” Dean heard the saddened breath escape Ellen and he walked back over to the tub. “I wish I could.” He slowly sat down on the floor. “But she’s gone, El.”
“She can’t be.”
“El, sometimes . . . sometimes when people we care about leave us we . . .”
“No,” Ellen interrupted. “Where’s the remorse?”
“Excuse me?”
“Where is the remorse?” she asked with passion. “The woman lived here for eight years. Started this community. Cared for the ill. She was a mother and a wife and everyone is acting as if nothing happened as if she was just some survivor that got tossed aside.”
“Andrea admitted to being a traitor,” Dean explained. “She admitted to being a part of everything George did. That alone, in people’s minds, wipes out a lot.”
“How about your mind, Dean?”
“Ellen, in my mind . . .” Dean stared down to his hands. “I won’t grieve her. I won’t expel any of my energy grieving her.”
Ellen’s eyes closed. “It’s because of what they’re saying she did with Bev, huh? Helping her out with the baby and all?”
“But we’ll never prove that, will we?” Dean asked. “Bev is gone. So is Andrea. I am stuck picking up what’s left of my life which isn’t very much.” He took a deep breath. “I know I sound bitter and all, but I believe I have every right. For a while, I ran around this community with one ally. One. Frank. My arch enemy. I ran around Beginnings and hoped to get you, of all people, to see I never betrayed you. Believing with everything I was that once Frank and I proved I was set up, that my kids, my . . .” With a swallow he raised his eyes to Ellen. “My wife. They would be mine again. That I would just come home and start back where we were before Bev . . .” Dean closed his eyes. “. . . fucked it all up. But what do I have? I have a house. I have my kids, but you . . . you don’t want me and I never did anything wrong. I feel cheated and I . . . I’ve said too much.” Almost in defeat, Dean stood up.
“I wish you understood, Dean. A lot has happened. I can’t forget what I did to you. I can’t forget how I didn’t believe in you. It changed a lot in me. Please don’t think that it’s because I don’t love you.”
“You moved on.”
Ellen said nothing.
“Elliott Ryder and the mystery man.”
“Elliott is very special to me, Dean. Our relationship is not what you think. It’s innocent and not physical. It’s a relationship built on something other than . . . other than sex.”
Dean nodded and walked to the door. “And what about the mystery man?” He looked at Ellen who drew silent. “I see. It’s none of my business.” He reached for the door.
“There is no mystery man.”
His mouth formed the word first and then Dean turned to face Ellen. “What?” He saw her shake her head. “No. See. I saw the look on your face when Danny talked about the hidden camera in the bedroom. You panicked especially when Frank asked Danny who it was.”
“There has to be a mystery man. You threw it in my face quite painfully and convincingly over and over.”
“Yeah, I did. Telling you I slept with someone and was involved with them kept you away.”
“So there is someone.”
“N, there is no mystery man that has my heart and shares my bed. I got scared because I did have an incident, one incident, and I didn’t want it out. We . . . he and I, we were drinking and we felt bad afterwards. I’m just scared it will get out. That’s why you saw that look on my face. It can’t get out.” She took in a heavy breath.
Dean stepped back toward the tub. “So you’re not keeping the mystery man a secret to protect the relationship. You’re doing it to protect him and his identity.”
“Yep.” Ellen sadly nodded. “I have to.”
“When did you sleep with Hal?”
“What!” Ellen said in shock. “Hal! Why would you say Hal?”
“Because you don’t want Frank to get mad at his brother. That’s why you panicked. Plus he did run around defending your honor by beating me up.”
“Oh, my God.”
“It wasn’t Hal?”
“No,” Ellen said so offended. “That would be almost . . . .incestuous. It was . . . Robbie.”
Dean laughed. “One brother is incestuous but the other is not.”
“Dean.”
Dean shook his head with a smile. “I guessed it, you know. A while ago.” He sat back down on the floor.
“Please don’t tell Frank.”
“No. I won’t,” Dean said.
“Thank you.”
“Can I ask why you decided to tell me the truth?”
Ellen’s hand played with the water as she spoke. “I feel bad. You’re still my husband. I still care about you. So much has happened . . .” Her voice trailed off. “So much. We don’t need another riff between us.”
“I’m glad you lifted it.” Dean moved closer to the tub. “We can get past this, El,” he spoke in deep persuasiveness to her. “The Robbie incident. The hurting each other. The mean things we said. It’ll just take work to build it back up.” He waited for a response and the moments of silence that stammered seemed like an eternity. “We can get past this.”
“Yeah . . .yeah, we can,” Ellen said with an exhale.
Dean was shocked. He felt the surprise of her words and his face conveyed it. “You really believe that?”
“Yes I do,” Ellen said. “It’ll just take time but we can get beyond it. Tonight this . . . this sitting here, us talking with me totally exposed to you,” Ellen snickered. “Tonight was the first step.” She took a moment to stare at him. “I’m glad you came back home tonight.”
Dean smiled. Not minutes before, the word ‘home’ ached through him, but in the simplicity of sharing a small conversation on that bathroom floor, the feeling shifted. The word ‘home’ had more meaning than just a place to live. He could be a father in any location. That would never change, but in Dean’s heart, no matter where he lived, he didn’t really have a ‘home’ if he didn’t have Ellen.
^^^^
How long had it been since he had one? To everyone else it had been months. But to Frank it seemed like only the day before. Because it was the day before that he last had the urge. He didn’t even have any in his home. Frank had to abuse his privilege as Security to go into the Social Hall and take some.
Was reaching that point a question of getting there again or had Frank never left. He couldn’t remember a time since he was dry that he didn’t want a drink. Though no one else saw it, everyday was a struggle to him. Diving in again wasn’t as easy as the phrase ‘falling off the wagon’ sounded. It took a lot of thought. Perhaps that was why Frank sat on his couch, bottle in hand, and stared at it so long in contemplation.
Was it a sign? To Frank, it had to be. Just as he unscrewed the cap, the oddness of the late hour knock made him stop. Replacing the cap and setting the bottle on the coffee table, Frank stood up and walked over to answer the door.
“Dad?” Frank said surprised. “What uh . . . what are you doing here?”
“I was hanging out with Jason and I
thought I’d stop by on my way home.” Joe stood in the doorway.
“Oh, O.K., thanks. Night.” Frank reached to shut the door.
“Frank.” Joe pushed the door back open. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing much.”
“Can I come in?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” He opened the door wider.
“Thank you.” Joe stepped inside and peered around. “It’s quiet.”
“It’s night. There are no kids,” Frank shrugged. “So what bring you here at three in the morning?”
“I want to talk to you about the time machine.”
“Right now? At three in the morning?”
“Frank, I need to know what you saw. I really think you saw something.”
Frank shook his head. “Sorry.” He tossed his hands up. “We missed the time window.”
“And you would tell me if you saw who it was?”
“Yep. Why wouldn’t I? That’s the whole reason I went through, right?”
“Right.” Joe placed his hands in his pockets. “Well, I’ll let you get to sleep. Think about it. Think about everything you saw. Maybe you can come up with something.”
“I’ll try.”
Joe moved to the door then stopped. “Are you O.K.?”
Frank nodded.
A silent answer sent warnings to Joe. “By the way, I wanted to ask you something. I have a little proposition for you. Since Dean has moved back with Ellen and you lost your roommate, I was wondering . . . . with Andrea gone, it’s gonna be tough for me. I was hoping maybe I could convince you to move into the house with me and the kids.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah. Move in. Help me out. Be a sort of emotional support.”
“Dad, I irritate you.”
“It keeps me young. What do you think? You can have the den as a room.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Frank debated. “It sounds weird.”
“I’d like you to, Frank,” Joe said. “I need you to.”
The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20 Page 143