Reid's Deliverance

by Nina Crespo

  “You knowing Thane is a weird coincidence. At least he can help you fill in the blanks.” Her gaze drifted to the living room. Thane was on the phone with Celine. “Do you think you two can talk without wailing on each other again?”

  “Looks like we have to.” How were Thane and Lauren connected? Why did the two of them in the same room seem wrong? “You mind giving us time alone?”

  “Of course not. I need to call Celine after Thane is finished. Just remember to keep it civil. I don’t like seeing you bruised and bloody.”

  A frisson of irritation kicked up. “You make it sound like I got my ass kicked.”

  She huffed in exasperation. “Give this to Thane.”

  He took the cold pack and caught her hip. Ignoring the pain, he kissed her. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” She gave him a small smile and walked down the hall.

  Reid stalked into the living room and handed Thane the pack. “How’s your head?”

  “Attached.” Thane pressed the pack above the back of his neck. “Are you serious about losing your memory?”

  “Yep.” Reid crossed his arms. “You can start filling in the gaps by telling me why you were peeping at my bare ass.”

  “Trust me. Your ass is the last thing I wanted to see. Celine said Lauren was acting weird. I came by to check on her and look around. When I saw the tattoo on your back, I had to be sure.”

  “Why?”

  Thane tipped his head toward the glass doors. “We should step outside. Lauren shouldn’t hear this.”

  They headed to the deck, and sat opposite each other on benches at the wood table.

  Unease twisted in Reid’s gut. “Let me guess. We’re not in a band.”

  “Actually, we are.” Thane tossed the ice pack aside. “I better start from the beginning.”

  Reid listened. The army, signing on for a recon unit, Thane’s Redemption, that made sense. The helicopter crash, Dalir, time travel, no fucking way. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that bullshit?”

  Thane didn’t flinch away from his direct gaze. “No. I expect you to regain your memory. You have to remember why you’re here. It’s critical to the mission.”

  “All right. I’ll bite. If we’re part of a team, why don’t you know about the so-called mission? And where’s the rest of the team and this ancient warrior dude?”

  “I’m not in on the mission because I’m not team leader anymore. You are. You should be with them in the present. Something’s wrong.”

  “Why aren’t you with us? Did you get kicked out?”

  “No. I left for Celine.” He exhaled a deep breath. “Our last mission didn’t go as planned. Some unknown entity changed too many things here. She got caught in the middle of it. I couldn’t lose her.” His gaze took on a faraway look. “When I finally got to her, it was like she’d splintered apart. She wasn’t grounded in time. I had to pull her back together. We’ve been through some rough shit that scared me. She’s fine now. I’m just glad she doesn’t recall most of it.”

  Unexplained anger, resignation, sadness, it welled up in Reid. “So you just up and left the team?”

  Thane huffed out a wry chuckle. “You can’t remember shit but you still sound as pissed as the day I left.” He leaned forward. “Coming here for Celine wasn’t about choosing her over the team. If something would have happened to her, my head would have been messed up forever. I wouldn’t have been any good for the team. I did what was best for her and you.”

  If he’d lost her, you know as well as I do that he would have carried that burden forever. It resonated like something he’d heard before. If Lauren were in danger because of him, he’d probably feel obligated to get her out of it. Even more of a reason to leave before trouble followed him to her doorstep. “You said I should be in the present. So you’re saying I time traveled to the future?”

  “You’re two years out.” Thane diagrammed his explanation on the table. “It’s like this. There’s three moments in time. The past, what we call the present, and the future. The past is the only other place we exist. We can’t go there. Something about two of us existing in the same place in time screwing shit up.”

  “But what’s stopping us from running into ourselves in the future?”

  “We only exist in one point in time from the present forward. You’re here and nowhere else. That’s part of Dalir’s gift. It keeps us out of trouble. Our missions involve intervening to stop a bad event that’s happening in the future or we gather the intel and prevent it from kicking off in the first place. Think of the present as our home base. It’s the place we phase back to once the mission is done. ”

  What Thane was saying sounded…right. “Okay. Let’s say there is a mission. Maybe I came to find you for help, but something happened.”

  Thane shook his head. “Dalir can’t actually see what will happen in the future, but he can sense where something bad is about to happen. For some reason, now he can’t see anything from the present to two years out. With all the unknowns, he banned the team from missions less than two years out. The time stream is also unstable. You’re lucky you even made it through.”

  “Which is why I shouldn’t be here.”

  “Exactly. And if Dalir can’t see you…”

  “The team can’t find me.” Reid raked his fingers through his hair and exhaled. “Samson. Does that name mean anything to you?”

  “No. At this point, you have to phase back to the present. West is control. He’s always there. If you did get separated from the team, he and Dalir can help you get your head on straight.”

  “One problem with that. I don’t remember how to phase.” It should have sounded nuts to say it. Instead, the admission settled like an uncomfortable truth.

  “Come on.” They hiked a short distance to a clearing in the woods. Thane looked around. “Okay, it’s like this. The power we have is a part of us. It’s an energy we can connect with. Once we do, we feel it growing inside of us. Everything slows.” Thane closed his eyes. Moonlight illuminated his blissful expression.

  A longing for something missed but illusive came over Reid.

  “We can see time and space all the way down to the smallest fraction. That’s what allows us to manipulate time and distance. Like that mountain. It’s fifty miles out, but I can see the way to get there. It’s a golden tunnel of light made of the elements of time.”

  Reid closed his eyes. The yearning to know and possess it expanded. “I don’t see it.”

  Thane stared at the mountain peaked high into the stars. “I can take you on a short jump. Maybe it’ll jar something.” Thane held up his hand to Reid as if to arm wrestle him.

  Reid grabbed hold.

  They flew into space. A sensation of surfing over a wave at a phenomenal speed gripped him. His heart echoed in his ears. A golden light sparked and exploded. His arm tingled with a scalding heat. Thane hadn’t said anything about pain. His vision cleared. Reid wobbled on his feet. Cold air blasted over him. Pine trees swayed on the top of the mountain.

  “Man, I miss doing that.” Thane turned to him. His brows lowered. “Reid?”

  The world around Reid went black. He woke up on the ground in the woods near the cabin. Thane stood over him. Reid sat up. For a brief moment, his head swam. “What happened?”

  “You fainted.”

  “I didn’t faint.” Reid clasped Thane’s hand and used the leverage to get up. “I just got dizzy. You should have warned me it would hurt. It felt like my hand was on fire.”

  “That’s strange.” Thane frowned. “Did you feel or see anything else?”

  On the way to the deck, Reid flexed his numb hand. “I saw something like sparks for a second but no tunnel. This isn’t working. Just take me back.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I’m not asking you to stay in the present. You can drop me off and come right back to Celine.”

  “It’s not that easy.”

  Reid met Thane’s direct gaze. An “oh shit” feeling gr
ipped his gut. “This is the part that really sucks, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, you can say that. Once we cross months or years in time, we’re wiped from memory. If I take you back, Celine will forget me and our life together.”

  The images he’d experienced of him and Lauren having sex the night that she’d found him…. Were they real? “Did Lauren and I have a thing going on in the present?”

  “You slept together before our last mission.” Thane glanced into the cabin. “As far as you being serious about her, I doubt it. Before I left, I got a lecture from you on why I should focus on strictly booty calls.”

  What he had with Lauren didn’t fit as a booty call. It also wasn’t in the category of a relationship. “All the things we’ve done together. There’s bound to be something left behind. What will Lauren think?”

  “If it’s a photo, recording, or something we’ve written, it disappears. Anything else, her mind will rationalize it. The object was already there or belongs to someone else. Same thing if it’s something you’ve done and she can’t figure it out. That’s why we don’t leave evidence behind. Police the place before you leave. Get rid of anything you can’t phase with you. If something does come up, I’ll cover for you. Celine is telling Lauren the cover story. You and I had a falling out and it broke up the band.”

  “How much does Celine know about you?”

  “She knows how we met here in the future and that I traveled time to get to her. She knows you, Dalir, and the team exist. I didn’t go into why I have to stay here. She was confused about us enough without tossing that into the mix. How she felt about me terrified her. She didn’t understand why things were moving so fast between us.”

  “And she believed you?”

  “Not until I phased across the room.” Thane’s lips twitched. “She fainted, too.”

  “I told you—I didn’t faint.” Reid rested his arms on the railing. Lauren wouldn’t have to deal with the shock. It couldn’t get any more screwed up than him leaving and her forgetting him. His chest grew tight. Something bigger than both of them demanded he return to his time. As much as he wanted to stay with Lauren, he couldn’t.

  He didn’t remember Thane, but every part of him sensed their loyalty to each other ran deep. He wouldn’t make him choose between helping him or staying with Celine. He had to regain his memory and make it back without Thane’s help.

  “We don’t have to figure out a solution tonight.” Thane gripped Reid’s shoulder. “Sleep on it.” He left.

  Tiredness weighed down on Reid along with information overload. He slipped quietly into the bedroom.

  Lauren sat up in bed. “Hey, how did it go?”

  “We talked.” He undressed and lay down beside her.

  “Celine told me about the band.”

  “She did?” The sincerity in her gaze fueled stabs of guilt, but how could he tell her this crazy story? He was that guy on her do-not-date list, sworn to duty, just like her dad.

  Oh and by the way, once I travel time, how you feel, what you want, it won’t matter. None of it can exist.

  “Celine also said the fight that broke you guys up really affected Thane.” Lauren propped up on her elbow. “Maybe not remembering the bad stuff that happened between you two is a blessing. A clean slate could give you both a solid chance at mending fences.”

  Clean slate. In theory, it sounded simple. Say nothing. Let her believe he was just a musician. Enjoy being with her a little while longer. Then go back to the present without telling her a word of the truth. He’d carry the burden of remembering. She’d find freedom in forgetting everything about him. They weren’t Thane and Celine. He and Lauren didn’t have as much at stake. Right? Reid threaded his fingers through her hair. He smoothed his thumb over her cheek as he memorized her face. “Is that what you really believe?”

  “Yes. I do.” She kissed his palm. “Don’t question how or why you’ve ended up here and now with this. Just go with it.”

  Hours later Reid lay awake, listening to Lauren’s calm, even breaths as she slept. Fatigue finally claimed him. He dropped into a nightmare.

  “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is Lima Alpha Six and we are going down!”

  Reid swirled and tumbled in a helicopter. Heat and sand blasted his skin. Diesel fuel mixed with the smell of sweat and burning wires. He wasn’t alone. Men in desert camouflage sat across him. He knew their faces. Why couldn’t he remember their names? He looked beside him and into Thane’s eyes. They were going to die.

  No! We never hit the ground. We. Don’t. Die.

  Plummeting fast turned into floating in golden light. A voice echoed around him. “Follow me…save the world.”

  Chapter 13

  Lauren rolled over on the mattress. A cool empty space greeted her instead of Reid. She’d awakened him during the night because he’d been mumbling and thrashing from what she’d guessed was a nightmare. The second time it happened, he’d gotten up for water. The lamp light had reflected the aloofness in his eyes. She’d tried to comfort him. He’d slipped out of her arms and told her to sleep.

  Anxiety pulled in her chest. Her father used to have bad dreams. Instead of talking, he’d frozen her mother out. Once that happened, her mother said their marriage had crumbled. Stop! She shouldn’t compare. Reid’s career as a musician didn’t have the same burden of duty. But a trauma haunting his memories could exist. Lauren shoved back the covers and swung her feet to the floor.

  She pulled on an extra-large sweatshirt. As she walked down the hall she spotted Reid out the window. Dressed in his jeans, he stood on the front porch. When she stepped outside, he didn’t turn around.

  “Reid?” She braced for rejection. He turned. His haggard face made her heart ache.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Sadness tinged his smile as he wrapped her in his arms. “I didn’t think you’d be up this early. I planned on bringing you breakfast in bed as an apology.”

  Lauren kissed his chest. Warmth, strength, this alone made up for whatever Reid thought he’d done. “For what?”

  “Keeping you up all night, but not in a good way.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not yet.” He kissed the top of her head. “I just want to enjoy this with you. Is that okay?”

  “Perfectly.” She tightened her arms around his waist. What could she do for him? How could she help? “You know, I was thinking. With Celine and Thane in town we should take a break. One last barbecue on the deck with them would be fun.”

  “What about your deadline? You wanted to be done by the end of the week.”

  Holding her breath, she ventured into the unknown. “With the two of us, it shouldn’t take that long. I can afford to take a day. It’ll be nice for us to relax and enjoy our friends.”

  Please, say yes. He needed this. She wanted this. One day to hang out and pretend they were a normal couple.

  His chest rose and fell under her cheek. “What are we grilling, chicken or steak?”

  Lauren gave him a hard squeeze. “Both.”

  She called Celine with the plans and her friend jumped on board, offering to pick up a few items Lauren needed.

  Lauren drove to the small store up the road that sold food and other supplies for the rest. She also bought clothes for Reid.

  The other couple arrived just after noon.

  “You didn’t say which one you wanted, so I brought both.” Celine put white wine and sodas in the refrigerator.

  Thane carried a case of beer to the deck and joined Reid. The guys did the manly handshake shoulder slap, then they conferred over what needed to be cooked on the grill. Reid looked adorably scruffy with a light beard, a new T-shirt, and cut-off sweatpants.

  Thane was a little more upscale in cargo shorts and a pullover shirt.

  “Damn.” Celine sighed. “All that gorgeous in one place is a total sin. I wonder what the rest of the band looks like.”

  Lauren nudged Celine. “If they get back together, maybe we can hook Ari up with one of
them. Where is the rest of the band?”

  “Not sure. I should get started on the potato salad. Thane begged me to make it. ” Celine dumped potatoes into the sink and washed them. “Has Reid remembered anything?”

  “I think so. He kept having bad dreams last night. He doesn’t want to tell me about them. Not that he has to. Technically, we’re not a couple.”

  “Do you want to keep seeing him?”

  “I don’t know. So many things are up in the air.” Lauren put a pot of water on the stove. “I had a flashback of my mom and dad and all of their communication issues when Reid wouldn’t talk this morning. I know I’m being silly. He’s trying to figure things out, but I’d like to know a little about what he’s thinking. What about Thane? Is he the silent type?”

  “Sometimes. He doesn’t like to talk about his past with the band.” Celine’s brow crinkled. “The situation is…complicated. It was a hard breakup. He hasn’t talked to Reid or any of them since it happened. No telling how Reid feels. You may have to give him time to tell you about it.”

  “Does Thane not talking bother you?”

  “A little. But if something is going to affect us, he’s promised to let me in on it. I realized I had a choice to make about our relationship. I could either worry about what I don’t know or trust him.” Celine held Lauren’s gaze. “Dominic used to always tell me that I knew what I wanted. That I should trust myself. I’m choosing to trust Thane because I know myself and what I want. If you want a chance with Reid, for now, you might want to just trust how you feel about him.”

  Lauren cut up potatoes and dropped them into the boiling water. Maybe she was making too big of deal about Reid not talking. Assumptions would drive her nuts and put a wedge between them. Why not enjoy the time they had together and make more concrete decisions when the facts emerged?

  Reid came inside. “Thane said we have chips and queso.”

  “Here.” Celine handed Reid the plastic bag with the snacks.

  He grinned and kissed Lauren. “Don’t worry, beautiful. I’m taking the healthy stuff, too.” Reid grabbed the plate of chopped veggies and dip out of the fridge and left.