Zeke shuddered. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Yes, you do. You’ve done it before. You choose to forgive. You stop dwelling on what Marc did. You stop trying to punish him. You can control your waking thoughts, and once you get them under control, your sleeping thoughts will fall into line, too.”
“Forgiving isn’t easy,” he mumbled, running an unsteady hand over his forehead.
“No one said it is,” she replied. “Jesus laid down His life so our sins could be forgiven. That’s a high price. Be glad that forgiving Marc will only cost you your pride.” She squeezed his hand. “Just promise to think about it.”
He nodded slowly.
She smiled. “Now, where’s that cribbage board? Don’t think that I’m not on to you. You let me win last time. This time, I want you to be ruthless.”
Zeke gave a weak chuckle. “Ruthless? Are you sure?”
“Well”—Nicole grinned—“maybe not ruthless. Maybe you should just work harder to hide the fact that you’re letting me win.”
~*~
Drake glanced through Crystal’s curtains at the SUV parked in the street. Ruthford’s agents were still oblivious to his presence. His lips curled into a sneer that turned into a snarl as he remembered watching the coroner removing the body from his apartment. He knew without being told that Crystal was the one who’d discovered the fake wall.
“You’re too smart for your own good, Miss Einstein,” he growled. “You’re unraveling my clues too quickly. I want everyone to know who I am—but not yet. It’s too soon. You’re digging too deeply and prying too hard.”
Stepping back from the curtain, he stared at the papers cluttering Crystal’s table. He thumbed through her research.
“I’ve had fun playing with you,” he muttered. “But you’ve become a problem.” He slid his hand into his pocket. “Luckily, I know exactly how to deal with problems.”
~*~
“Do you want peanuts in your chocolate or almonds?” Marc asked, fishing in his pocket for coins.
“Surprise me,” Crystal mumbled past a humongous yawn.
Nodding, he put money in the vending machine. “Two almond bars coming up.”
Chocolate bars dropped with a thunk to the bottom of the machine. Grabbing them, Marc sat down next to Crystal on the sofa in the common area. He smiled. She was sitting scrunched up with her knees drawn up beneath her plaid shirt. Her pink-socked toes were wiggling. She looked like a cute, roly-poly munchkin.
As she unwrapped her chocolate bar, he smoothed her hair. “We need to find you a hairbrush.”
She smiled at him and didn’t bat his hand away. “Do I look like a haystack?”
Grinning, he continued brushing her tumbled locks with his fingers. “Something like that.”
She started to stand. “Let me find a comb.”
“No need to hurry about it,” he said, catching her arm. “I think you look cute as a haystack, and no one else is around. Eat your chocolate.”
As they sat in companionable silence and nibbled their bars, Crystal started humming.
Marc’s brow furrowed. “Do you have a tune stuck in your head? You’ve been humming that same little ditty all day.”
“It’s driving be bananas!” She groaned. “I can’t stop humming it, and since I can’t remember the whole tune, I just keep humming one line. I can’t even remember where I heard it.”
“Sing it for me?”
As she sang the lyrics of the line she remembered, Marc froze. His mind spun.
“What are you thinking?” Crystal asked, hiding another giant yawn behind her hand.
“Come on, Cris,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. “I want to check something online.”
Crystal stretched and groaned. “Look who’s suddenly become a big ball of fire. It’s the middle of the night, and I need some sugar to stay awake. Can’t I eat my chocolate first?”
Shaking his head, he said in a voice full of mischief, “I’ll race you back.”
“Running through the halls?” Her eyes twinkled as she said in a severe voice, “That’s too juvenile for words. Why, Marcus Kerry, what’s come over you?”
“A bad case of Crystal-itis,” he replied, tweaking one of her curls. “You make me feel like a kid again.”
Crystal’s lips twitched. “I don’t know if I’ve just been complimented or insulted. Should I be angry at you?”
“Nah, getting angry takes too much oomph for this time of night.” As she laughed, he coaxed, “Come on, Cris. Let’s race. I’ll give you a five-second head start to—”
Crystal took off like a deer down the hallway. “Catch me if you can,” she yelled over her shoulder.
Laughing, Marc chased after her. By sprinting, he arrived at TEMCO’s temporary headquarters the same time she did.
“That’s one way to get the blood pumping.” Crystal giggled, bending over to catch her wind. “Well, mister macho-man, how does it feel being beaten by a girl?”
“Beaten, nothing.” Marc smirked, opening the door. “I was ahead of you by a mile.”
Crystal gave a hoot. “You may feel like a kid again, but you move like an old man in desperate need of glasses. I beat you by two miles!”
Marc threw back his head and laughed. “Later, when I catch my breath, I’m gonna demand a rematch.”
She grinned. “I’ll think about it. After all, it might be fun to beat you again.”
Chuckling, Marc sat down at his computer.
Crystal sat by his side. “What are you doing?”
“Betting on a longshot,” he replied, typing in the lyrics that she’d been humming all day.
Immediately, a match came up on the computer screen. The lyrics were from the song “Candle on the Water.”
Crystal gave a sharp cry of surprise. “That’s it!”
Marc scrolled down a list of information. “It says here that ‘Candle on the Water’ was nominated for best song in the 1977 Academy Awards. It was written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, and it was sung by Helen Reddy.”
Crystal leaned forward. “Can you find the lyrics?”
Nodding, Marc pulled up the page. As he read through the lyrics, he felt a chill running down his spine. The song was all about undying love and the refusal to let go. It was a beautiful song, but when taken as the obsessive words of Drake, it became something horrible and sinister.
“I’m glad I’m not Drake’s girlfriend.” Crystal shuddered.
“I’m glad too,” he whispered fervently. The thought of Drake turning his obsessive focus onto Crystal made his gut twist.
Marc continued scrolling down the page. Suddenly, he sat up straight and exclaimed, “Cris, look at this. ‘Candle on the Water’ was a song in Walt Disney’s movie, Pete’s Dragon!”
Crystal looked stunned. “We’ve just found our link to Drake’s alias.” She shook her head. “I knew that a candle on the water had something to do with dragons, but I never would have connected Drake to a good dragon named Elliot. I thought Drake was naming himself after some horrible beast like Grendel or Ancalagon.”
Marc stroked his beard. “I think Elliot may be a better fit for Drake than you think. We view Drake as a monster, but he thinks of himself as a hero—a man fighting valiantly to be reunited with his lost love.”
“That’s completely twisted,” Crystal muttered, looking disgusted.
“I know,” he replied. “But in Drake’s unstable mind, he probably sees himself as the invisible dragon protecting the innocent from the evil workers of TEMCO.”
Crystal shuddered. “And he wants to purge those workers of evil from the face of the earth with fire.”
He nodded. “It fits.”
Shivering, Crystal pushed at her glasses. “It fits, but it stinks!”
Drumming his fingers, Marc stared into space. After a moment, he said, “What does Drake’s last name—Procerus—mean?”
“It’s Latin for tall or high.”
“I wonder…” he murmu
red. “Elliot tall. Elliot high.” He looked at Crystal in excitement. “Could it be that simple? Elliot High School?”
Crystal’s eyes widened. “You’ve narrowed our list down to nine girls. What were the names of the high schools in their hometowns?”
Marc grabbed the list. His face fell. “None of the schools are named Elliot High.”
“I still think you’re on the right track,” Crystal said. “Maybe Drake went to school in a neighboring town.”
“That would make sense,” he said, “but it would be a mammoth search. Since General Elliot’s successful mission, Elliot has become a popular name for high schools.”
Crystal twirled her messy hair into a bun. “We know that Drake enjoys leaving clues. When he was sending cryptograms to Laura and Peter, he would sometimes use a person’s name to indicate a street. According to what we’ve just read, there are several people connected to the song, ‘Candle on the Water.’ Can you run a search for all Elliot High Schools located on streets named Al, Kasha, Joel, Hirschhorn, Helen, Reddy, Walt, or Disney?”
Marc’s fingers flew across his keyboard. He grimaced. “I’m afraid there aren’t any.”
Crystal narrowed her eyes. “Do you remember the poem written on Drake’s floorboards? Try connecting Elliot High School to streets named Letitia, Elizabeth, Landon, or Revenge.”
Marc turned back to his computer. After a moment, he gave a shout of triumph. “There’s an Elliot High School on Landon Street in Eastwater, Wyoming. Eastwater is five miles from Smithtown, the city where one of our nine girls used to live.”
“Which one?”
“Summer Hallwick.”
Crystal grabbed his arm. “Summer! Of course! Summer was one of the clues in Drake’s apartment. Remember the Stonehenge picture? It’s all falling into place.”
With a few clicks of his mouse, Marc brought up Summer Hallwick’s file. “Before Dan and Gil counseled her, Summer killed four police officers during a mall shooting in Cheyenne. She ended up on death row. After Dan and Gil went back through time and intervened in her life, sixteen-year-old Summer decided to break up with her dangerous boyfriend and turn her life around. Rather than becoming a criminal, she ended up becoming an Olympic runner. She brought home gold for our country, and today, she’s a rising star in NASA.”
Crystal pointed at the computer. “Look at that. Summer is married to Stan Colbrick, a NASA engineer. The two of them just had twins, and she’s still on maternity leave.” She laughed. “Appropriately enough, Summer named her babies Dan and Gil.”
“This has to be our connection to Drake,” Marc crowed.
“It all fits,” Crystal agreed. “Bring up the yearbook for Elliot High School. Let’s see if we can find Drake’s picture and discover his true identity.”
Marc turned and typed. A yearbook came into view. He and Crystal poured over the digital pages, studying the photos.
Suddenly, Crystal gasped and pointed. “That’s him!”
Marc felt a chill as he looked at Drake’s senior picture. Drake’s bold good looks seemed to jump off the screen.
“Dennis Carver,” Crystal whispered, her finger tracing Drake’s real name. “We have him!”
“We sure do,” Marc replied. “This part of our search is over.”
Crystal pushed at her glasses. “We may have won this battle, but we still have the war to fight.”
EPILOGUE
Sitting down on Crystal’s couch, Drake fingered his knife. Frustration boiled in his chest as he thought about Phoebe and the leaders of TEMCO.
“I’ll find them,” he muttered. “They can’t hide forever. No one can.”
He glared at the clock and then studied the sharpness of his blade. He didn’t know where Crystal was, but it was late. She’d have to come home soon, and when she walked through the door, she’d have a nasty surprise.
Staring at the light glittering on his knife, he murmured, “Patience wins. Slowly wins. Never-but-ever-but-slowly wins.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank my wonderful family and friends, my awesome Facebook peeps, my terrific blog followers, and Prism Book Group’s special authors for all of your support. You have tirelessly promoted my books, and I’m forever grateful. I have the best family and friends in the world! You’re all extremely special to me.
I also want to thank everyone who has taken the time to post reviews for my books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, and other websites. Reviews are the lifeblood of an author, and the support I’ve been given means so much to me!
Thank you, Kent Kurtz, Justin Kurtz, Joshua Kurtz, Rob Caudle, Tim Caudle, Johnathan Caudle, John Rotharmel, Devon Rotharmel, and Brooke Rotharmel for your love and support. You have blessed my life in so many ways.
Thank you, Don Rotharmel, Joan Rotharmel, Darla Caudle, Donita Kurtz, Kim Rotharmel, and Jacqueline Hopper for proofreading and editing my book. I also want to thank JoAnn Brokaw, Judy Gagnon, Marvin Howard, Marci Howard, Lys Rinehart, and Jodie Spady. Your help has been invaluable.
Thank you, Joan Alley and Nicola Martinez, for my beautiful book covers and for publishing my novels.
Thank you, Dad, for always believing in me. You’ve shown me that kindness is strength. And thank you, Mom, for your wisdom and support. You’ve stood by me and helped me in so many ways. Dad and Mom, you’re living examples of Christ’s love. I feel extremely blessed to be your child. I love you.
And finally, I want to thank the Lord for His grace and guidance. Without Him, none of this would be possible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Danele Rotharmel grew up with a love of the literary word, and by age five, she knew she wanted to be a writer. However, her life took an unexpected turn when a mysterious illness brought her close to death. Eventually, she learned that a low-level carbon monoxide leak from a faulty furnace in her home was slowly poisoning her. This poisoning triggered severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and partial amnesia.
During this time, the hardest thing she faced was a crisis of faith. She had to quit her job and stop going to church. She couldn’t write, couldn’t drive, and could barely remember who she was. To say she was upset with the Lord was an understatement. She began reexamining her faith in light of her illness, and eventually, she came to the firm conclusion that God is real, God is good, God is interested and involved, and God is trustworthy regardless of tragedy.
When her illness became even more severe, she was put into quarantine and could only talk to friends and extended family through the glass of a window. This quarantine lasted for seven years. During this time, she wrote the first six books in The Time Counselor Chronicles.
Danele currently lives in Colorado where she continues to write. Although her journey back to health was long and difficult, it provided her with the opportunity to grow closer to God and to write her books. For that, she is forever thankful.
You can learn more about Danele by visiting her blog at https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CHARACTERS BY FIRST NAME
Alex Ableman: Dan and Angelina’s brother. Sam and
Sue’s son. Phoebe’s boyfriend. Award-winning
novelist. Lives in Colorado.
Andrew Hamilton: The vice president of the United
States. Time counseled by Zeke as a teenager.
Jessica’s brother. Zeke, Paul, and Carol Lynn’s
friend. Scott Ruthford’s boss.
Angelina Ableman: Dan and Alex’s sister. Sam and
Sue’s daughter. Professional violinist. Currently
touring Europe.
Aaron Richards (senator): Married senator attracted to
Nicole.
Bill Winston: Sue Ableman’s first husband. Dan’s
biological father. Died of cancer.
Brandon Fairbanks: Professional male model. Nicole’s
former boyfriend.
Carol Lynn Freemar: First Lady of the United States.
President Paul Freemar’s wife. Andr
ew’s friend. Marjorie’s aunt.
Charlene Adams: Second grade teacher. One of
Andrew’s dates.
Crystal Stuart: TEMCO computer tech involved in top
secret research. Interested in Marc. Zeke, Phoebe, and Gil’s friend. Attacked by Drake and locked in a burning building.
Dan (William) Ableman: Inventor of time travel. Head
of TEMCO. Gil’s husband and field partner. Alex
and Angelina’s brother. Sam and Sue’s son. Jay
and Deleena’s father. In the future, he will be
called Poppa.
David Nelson: Laura’s older brother. Dorothy’s son.
Lives in Alaska.
Deleena Ableman: Dan and Gil’s unborn daughter.
Jay’s sister. Future member of Poppa’s NewGen
Crew.
Dorothy Nelson: Laura and David’s mother. Lives in
Alaska.
Drake Procerus: Former cadet terrorizing TEMCO’s
staff. Phoebe, Laura, and Peter’s former captor.
He attacked Crystal and set fire to Hawking
Hall.
Fillps (Mrs.): Laura’s next-door neighbor.
Gerald Henrickson: Deliveryman for Jefko Foods.
Maria’s boyfriend. Attacked by Drake.
Gil Montgomery Ableman: Professional time
counselor. Dan’s former student. Dan’s wife
and field partner. Jay and Deleena’s mother. In the future, she will be called Twinkles.
Grant (Agent): An agent working under Scott
Ruthford.
Jake Phillips: Professional time counselor. June’s
husband.
Jay Ableman: Dan and Gil’s newborn son. Deleena’s
Time Search Page 35