by Robyn Nyx
“The way I see it, your missions aren’t of this time, so neither are your enemies—usually. You’re not putting me in any danger, baby.” Jade squeezed Landry’s hand, brought it up to her mouth, and kissed her knuckles. “What happened this time won’t ever happen again, will it?”
Landry moved in closer. “No. I won’t let it.” She rested her head against the pillow, and once again, sleep pulled at the edges of her consciousness. I can’t lose this.
Chapter Nine
July 5—I-90 Eastbound to Washington, DC
Delaney knew she had to play this carefully. She was hoping to intercept Elena without affecting Landry. She pulled Landry’s pocket watch from her jacket. She’d taken it from Ravensbrück because Adelita Lake didn’t need it. She gave it to Landry because she knew how much she enjoyed collecting them. Delaney couldn’t deny she wanted to give it back to her. She slipped it away and turned the ignition key. The engine failed to fire. She smacked the heel of her hand hard against the steering wheel and cursed Calvin for selling her a lemon. She needed this delay about as much as she needed a syphilitic monkey crawling up her ass.
Muniz tapped her on the shoulder tentatively. “Do you want to pop the hood so I can take a look?”
Delaney clenched her jaw tightly and nodded. “That’d be great.” Having a genius engineer in the passenger seat was already proving to be of benefit beyond using him as a pawn for her plans.
“No problem.” He smiled, shuffled over, and dropped out.
Delaney leaned down and pulled the hood release.
Simson returned from paying for the gas and rested her hands on the edge of Delaney’s door. “Trouble?”
“If we had more time, I’d be tempted to cleanse Chicago of Frankie Calvin and her nasty operation.”
Simson laughed. “The van’s a shit heap. I’m not sure that means you should close her down. I kinda liked her.”
Delaney shook her head. “You’d like to fuck her is all. Remember why I want to take over Pulsus? To do more, not less.”
Muniz popped up at Delaney’s open window. “The battery terminals are corroded. I just need some baking soda and warm water to clean them up, and we should be fine.”
Delaney blew out her breath as if it might somehow rid them of the problem. Luckily, their first pause for supplies was at an upscale truck stop. “There’s a Walgreens somewhere in here. Go with Simson and get whatever you need.” Am I doomed to fucking fail? “Get plenty of drinks and snacks, too.” She handed Muniz sixty dollars, and he looked surprised. “It’s seven hundred miles. It’s gonna be a long day.”
“It’s very considerate of you to drive rather than insist on us flying. Seven hundred miles is a long way, so thank you.”
Delaney saw Simson smile in her peripheral vision. Flying wasn’t an option with the arsenal they had in the back of the van. “We’ll only be stopping once more, so hold on to that sentiment when your legs are desperate to stretch out, and I refuse to pull over.”
Muniz chuckled. “I will. I’m used to long-distance drives. You’ve got nothing to worry about here.”
I might not have, but you will when I make you put on your explosive designer jacket. “Glad to hear it. Be quick.”
Delaney resisted the temptation to pull Landry’s pocket watch out again. She was still fighting with feelings about Landry’s escape. She vacillated between all-consuming anger at both Sledge and herself for letting it happen and an inexplicable sense of relief even though it had decimated her perfect plan. She’d never wanted to let Simson loose on Landry, and her disappearance meant Delaney hadn’t been forced to make a tough decision she knew she wouldn’t have been able to handle. It didn’t mean she’d changed her mind about her desire to take control of Pulsus—far from it—but at least now she didn’t have to destroy her best friend to do it. Not yet, anyway.
They returned, and Simson loaded a couple of bags into the back of the van. She handed Delaney a bottle of bright blue liquid.
“Is that for me or the car?”
“It’s the drink of champions, apparently. Chock full of electrolytes and good shit.” Simson raised her own bottle and chugged it down.
Delaney took the offering, removed the lid, and gave it a suspicious sniff. It was a confused mess of toilet chemicals and fruit. “I’ll take a Coke.”
“Sure thing.” Simson swapped the offensive drink. “It tastes better than it looks.”
“Then you’ll enjoy a second one.” Delaney opened the can and drank the refreshingly consistent soda that hadn’t changed its recipe since it’d removed the Class A drug that gave birth to its original name. It was always a welcome anchor throughout the last few years of decade- and century-hopping.
“Would you mind getting out so I can check under the dash to make sure everything’s okay under there?” Muniz asked.
“Sure.” Delaney did as requested and stood beside Simson. She could almost feel the aggressive energy vibrating around Simson’s body. She didn’t have to voice her disappointment at not getting her hands on Landry. It was evident in her every expression; the dark need didn’t hide well behind her eyes. Delaney knew Simson would need an outlet soon, or she’d implode with the unspent viciousness. Keeping Muniz away from that was imperative to keep this from turning into a blatant kidnap situation. Muniz was currently cooperative because he thought they were helping him, but if he saw Simson let loose, he might reassess his situation.
“Delaney?”
She turned to see Muniz holding up a small device between his thumb and forefinger. She was no mechanic, but it didn’t look like something that was an integral part of a combustion engine. “What’s that?”
He twisted it into his palm and held it out to her. “It’s a bug. Someone’s listening in on your every move. This is what I’m talking about. This is why I’ve spent the last ten years moving from state to state and never staying in one place. There are people who’d do anything to get hold of me.”
I’m one of those people. Muniz had become increasingly frantic with every sentence. Delaney reached out and gripped his shoulder firmly to ground him. “Calm down, Lyman.” She took the device from his palm, dropped it to the floor, and crushed it with her boot. “Sweep the rest of the vehicle and make sure we’re clean. Don’t panic. There isn’t a situation that could arise that we can’t handle.” She squeezed his shoulder hard and ignored the whining voice at the back of her mind that told her she couldn’t handle Landry. “You’re in safe hands with us. I swear we won’t let anything happen to you, and we won’t let anyone take you away from us.” You’re too important to let that happen. She felt him relax a little beneath her hand. He nodded slowly and went about his task.
Delaney lifted her boot and inspected what remained of the electronic intruder.
“Donovan?” Simson knelt and flicked at its remnants.
“No. It’s Frankie or Sledge.” Landry didn’t need to use something so primitive. She’d have all the technology and knowledge of the future in her hands if they didn’t get this right.
“Why would Frankie wire us?” Simson got to her feet and kicked it away.
“I don’t think she would. She took our money and gave us what we needed. Frankie had no interest in us beyond that. If it’s hers, it was probably just a leftover from a previous job. More likely is Sledge.” My disappointment is complete.
“So you were right, and she was playing us the whole time?”
“It’s looking that way. My guess is she was a deep cover agent tasked to get some credible evidence on the Cagle Gang.” Delaney should’ve known. It was her job to deceive people, not the other way around. She’d been blinded by Sledge’s similarities to Landry and had enjoyed her easy nature a little too much.
“She all but begged for us to choose her. I don’t get why she’d distance herself from the main gang if that was her goal.”
Delaney ran her hand through her hair and massaged the back of her neck. This was a complication she didn’t need. “I don’t know. But we need to
know if she’s switched her attention to us. Miller and Walker would’ve reported back to Frankie so Sledge wouldn’t risk going back. She’s blown her cover for Donovan, and we don’t know if she did that of her own accord or because Donovan promised her something.”
“There was nothing Donovan could offer.”
“If that’s true, then Sledge was always waiting for the opportunity to release her. There’s no way Donovan would’ve taken her back to 2076 or tell her anything about what we were really doing here.” What’s your angle, Sledge? Delaney had been honest and told all of them exactly what her plans were. Did Sledge believe her about the time travel or not? “If that was Sledge’s bug, has she still been listening, and does she know where we’re going now? What does she know?”
“Fuck, Delaney. Now you think she’ll be coming after us? With backup?”
Delaney shook her head. “If she’s following us at all, she’ll be flying solo. She burned herself from her agency when she helped Donovan escape. There’s no glory in bringing us down if she does believe we’re from the future.”
“Why follow us at all then?”
Delaney smiled as she realized that Sledge was like Landry. She had the same ambitious nature, the same hunger for something infinitely more interesting than her current position. Sledge had blown her cover precisely because she did believe they’d come from 2076. “She wants in. She wants to join Pulsus.”
Simson curled her upper lip and looked disbelieving. “I don’t get it. You were offering that. Why would she choose Donovan over you?”
Delaney scoffed. Why wouldn’t she? “She’s made a judgment call. Donovan could sell sand to the Arabs. You don’t think she could just as easily convince Sledge that her cause was the right one?”
Muniz had completed his sweep of the van and walked toward them with his palms open. “I didn’t find anything else. Do you know who’s keeping tabs on us?”
“It was the gang who sold us the van. It was left over from a previous job and wasn’t operational. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Muniz smiled and looked relieved. Given his constant state of paranoia, Delaney was surprised he’d been so easily placated. Maybe I’m better at this than I give myself credit for.
“Everything’s fixed, and we’re ready to go, then.”
“Good. Get in the van, and we’ll be with you in a minute.” Delaney waited until he’d done as instructed. “Keep an eye out for a tail. If I’m right about Sledge, she already knows where we’re going.”
Simson nodded. “Sure thing, boss.”
Delaney motioned for her to join Muniz. She paused for a moment, looked beyond the gas station, and surveyed the parking lot and the hundreds of cars there. Where are you, Sledge?
* * *
Brooke slid a little farther down her seat as she watched Delaney scan the parking lot. She was sure there was no way Delaney could see her, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Muniz discovering the bug was unfortunate, but thanks to a quick FBI database search, she knew where they were heading. Jay Jenkin and Elena Donovan were working out of Georgetown University’s Clinical Bioethics department. She’d still have to follow them but could keep a much safer distance. She’d considered calling ahead to warn them, but what would she say? Some people you don’t employ for another twenty years have come back in time to kidnap you and take over your company. It didn’t really scream sanity, even if they were already working on time travel.
“What would you do, Donovan?” Brooke wanted inside the time traveler’s mind. She’d seen movies, of course, and they all had their alternate versions of what you should and shouldn’t do in the past that would affect the already existing future. But they were fiction, and this was real life. She was a FBI agent, not a scientist. She pushed away the self-doubt that had her wondering if she was doing the right thing. There was no other course of action. Delaney and Simson had every intention of breaking the law, in this time, on her watch. There was no way she could just walk away and let them get on with it, even if everything they were about to do would be rendered irrelevant by whatever Donovan was already doing twenty years ahead of them. Jesus. Could she already be back here? And if she was, would she engage with Brooke? Donovan would have no way of knowing where they were, unless what they did had ended up changing the future.
Brooke banged her head back against the headrest. I can’t overthink this. Everything Delaney and Simson said last night had her mind trying to perform an Olympic routine on the rings with one hand tied behind her back. It was impossible to wrap her head around, so she should stop trying and go where her training and intuition led her.
She watched as the three of them got into their van and navigated it back onto the interstate. She waited until another three cars and trucks had gone the same route before she started her car and followed them.
If you’re coming back, Donovan, make sure you come get me first.
Chapter Ten
June 28, 2076—San Francisco
Landry sat back in her chair and extended the electric recliner. She retrieved her tablet station and set it on her lap. A quick combination of taps and the virtual screen appeared. It scanned her retinas and gave her access to the Pulsus database. The largest collection of information the world could ever imagine, it spanned centuries and detailed every person who had lived and died, and every event, in that time. She selected a year search and flicked through the screen to begin in July, 2055, knowing she might have to work through the next twenty-plus years. They were doing the same back on the island, but Landry was looking for something more specific. She was searching for Brooke Jackson.
There was an unexpected knock at the door. Landry checked her phone link to the CCTV above her entryway to see Caitlin offering a four-pack of beer up to the camera unit. Fuck. Jade had filled Landry in on the details of Priscilla’s current condition, but she hadn’t yet taken the time to talk to the girls about it. She released the door lock via her phone, and Caitlin entered.
Landry collapsed her virtual screen with a downward movement of her hand and set it aside. Brooke and Delaney would have to wait. This was important in a different way. Caitlin smiled, but it was clearly forced. Her shoulders slumped as if she alone were carrying the burden of Priscilla’s limited future.
“Hey, buddy,” Landry said with little joviality. This wasn’t a conversation she’d been looking forward to. Dealing with the potential death of a child was the hardest thing a parent might ever face, and Landry couldn’t begin to imagine how desperately helpless Caitlin and Lizbeth were feeling.
“Lizbeth would only let me bring four.”
Landry stood and took the beer from her. “I didn’t think either of you drank alcohol.”
“We never have. We stock it for the occasional old-school customer, along with a few wines. Seemed like a good time to try it out.”
Landry thought of Delaney. She’d started with the odd drink to cope with some of the things she had to do on missions. Several missions on, and it seemed like a whole bottle of liquor didn’t even begin to blunt the vivid edges of her past actions. “Now might be the worst time to try it out.”
Caitlin shrugged, took a bottle back from Landry, and unscrewed the top. “I need something.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Landry put the rest of the pack in the fridge, kept one for herself, and joined Caitlin on the couch. “Jade filled me in on what’s been happening with Priscilla. It’s a trite question, but how are you guys doing?”
Caitlin took a long pull from the beer and made a weird face when its taste settled. It would’ve been funny in any other circumstance.
“I’m trying to hold it together. We’ve spent the past month with every kind of doctor, shaman, and quack we could lay our hands on. No one has any answers. I’m sick of hearing that she shouldn’t have had any complications since we brought her in so early. I don’t want to hear another surgeon say they don’t know what’s happening. How can they not know what’s fucking happening, Landry?”
“So it’s not the Kawasaki disease?” Although Jade had been supporting Lizbeth, it seemed that Lizbeth hadn’t given her the full details. Landry guessed she was simply too distressed to make sense of what was happening.
“Yes and no. I can’t get my head around the lack of knowledge. We’re heading toward the twenty-second century, for God’s sake. How can it be they can’t fix our baby?”
Caitlin’s desperation and anger became more obvious with every word. Landry wondered if she was sharing her frustration with Lizbeth, or if they were both trying hard to be strong for each other and not break down. She didn’t want to imagine what their life would look like without Priscilla.
“You’ve exhausted every option?” Landry asked. In the debrief, Jenkin had said her mom was getting somewhere with the advanced DNA engineering. “She’s almost ready for test subjects.” Landry had pushed Jenkin to the limit with Jade, but if they were actively seeking people to try her mom’s theories out, maybe putting Priscilla forward might be a possibility.
“They’ve run so many tests already, and we’re—”
“Running out of money?” Landry knew the healthcare system was nowhere near where the Democratic government wanted it to be. They’d been trying for decades to install a European model, where all services were free at the point of access, but it was expensive, and there simply weren’t enough philanthropists like Jenkin and her mom to help make it happen. Even with a thriving restaurant and no rent to pay as long as they stayed in Landry’s building, exploratory tests were astronomical. Pulsus was sitting on the edge of a healthcare revolution.
Caitlin placed her beer on the table a little too forcefully. “That’s not why I’m here, Landry.”
She held up her hand to placate her worry. “I know that, Cait, but if that’s what you need—”
“We can’t take any more of your money. We already owe you way too much, and you’ve been far too generous. And unless you’re some sort of millionaire who has more than you could ever spend, I think that this is beyond even you. But…”