by Bella Street
She looked over her shoulder, gasping when she saw her necklace hanging from his fingers. The necklace jerked in time to his labored breathing, sparkling in the dim, greenish glow.
She reflexively slapped her hands to her chest. How was it possible she'd dropped it?
I must've left it in the padlock.
Seffy glanced at the doorway she needed to hurry through, then back to the necklace she had to have. “Gareth, please.”
“I only wanted you to have peace,” he said between breaths. “Why can't you understand that?”
She braced her hands on her knees. “I found it.”
“With Ellison,” he said flatly.
“Yes.”
He shook his head. “Why him? I thought you wanted me.”
She straightened, her heart still out of control. “The thing is, you kept me at arm's length. Trent never stopped reaching, and he never held back.”
He stared at her, a mulish look on his face.
“Gareth, look up.”
He raised his gaze to the sign above her head.
“I have to go.”
His brows furrowed. “Where?”
She swallowed. “Can I have the necklace? You know what it means to me.”
He took a step forward.
Please, she pleaded with her eyes.
Even if she didn't need the J to get to the right place, she had to have Trent's ring.
There was no way she could take the final step without it.
Gareth approached her with slow steps. The necklace glinted tantalizingly close.
Her fingers itched to swipe at it, but she waited.
She knew she might be too late. If it wasn't past nine, it had to be mere moments away.
Come on.
Gareth's face took on a lopsided look, like something had collapsed within him.
He held out the necklace.
Even if it was some kind of trap, Seffy didn't have time.
She wrapped her fingers around the chain and tugged it from his hand.
He released it, leaving his palm extended in the air.
She regarded him for the space of a heartbeat, a thousand memories running together in a blur.
But there were no words.
She turned and ran into the last room.
His final look of hurt and betrayal followed her as she burst into the closet, through the inner door, and down the stairs.
This time the lower door wasn't locked.
Seffy shoved her way in and saw Fenn look up in relief.
“Finally.” He pulled her to a spot on the floor, shoved an envelope in her hand, and typed something into a computer. He looked up. “You remember the words?”
It took a moment for her brain to shift gears. “Yes,” she said, feeling stunned that she'd somehow made it after all. “Why?” She sucked in another breath. “Why those words?”
Fenn's face twitched. “What matters is that she knows what they mean. You have to stop her.”
The task ahead seemed too onerous, too heavy.
She latched the necklace around her neck, comforted somewhat by the weight of the ring against her sternum.
Fenn approached her, touching her hand where it rested over her heart. “I swear I'll get it right this time.”
Seffy regarded him as weariness pulled at her intentions. “There are no guarantees in life.”
He dropped his hand. “Trent will find you.”
She slipped her hands into her pockets, thankful the photographs were still there. “I know.”
His flame blue eyes were the last thing she saw before a white light obliterated everything else.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“What are you doing down there?”
Gareth didn't respond right away. He still wasn't sure what had happened. The question might've been a better one for Seffy to answer.
Why had she come down this way? He thought she was afraid of the hallway.
And yet she'd lunged into the very room where the worst had occurred.
It didn't make sense. Any more than the way she ran from him.
Why did she always reject his help?
A tapping on his shoulder made him turn. Addison regarded him with concern. “You okay?”
He licked his lips. “She's gone.”
The redhead's expression froze.
Then she curled her hand around his arm and drew him back down the hall. “She'll be back.”
“She will?”
Addison nodded and helped him step over the sagging chains that still hung from the outer door handles.
“Geez, do you see that crack?” she said when they'd cleared the opening.
Gareth looked down. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “I think it's from the earthquake.”
Another tremor sent them lurching to the floor, arms outstretched to brace for impact. He joined Addison where she scooted up next to the wall to wait out the rumbling.
“I think you're right. About the earthquake, I mean.”
“Guys?”
“Down here, Lani!” Addison said.
The brunette appeared around the corner in a rush, then quickly sat next to him. “Gosh, that might've been the biggest one yet! Where's Seffy? She was gone when I woke up.”
“She left,” Gareth said. “Addison said she'll be back.” But when he looked at Addison for confirmation, she no longer seemed so sure.
***
It was warm and wet and in her ear. Seffy struck out and came in contact with a dog sniffing and licking her face. “Blech! Go away, doggie!”
The animal loped away as she struggled to a sitting position.
A blue sky met her eyes, making her wince at the brightness. Her fingers dug into the soft grass. All around her joggers ran by, women with strollers strolled, dogs strained at leashes, kids chased each other in a game of tag.
Just another beautiful day in Los Angeles.
Or so she hoped.
The elation she experienced last time eluded her now.
Instead of freedom, she felt the weight of gravity, pulling her to the center of exactly what, she didn't know.
A businessman walked by, briefcase in his hand.
Seffy cleared her throat. “Can you please tell me the time?”
He referenced his watch. “Just after nine.”
“Thanks.”
Her fingers went to the pendants on the necklace. Once she felt their reassuring shapes, she slowly got to her feet.
The movement made her aware of a crinkling noise. She reached into the pocket of her hoodie and felt papers next to the photographs.
She pulled them out and saw a written reminder of where she had to be at what time.
As if she could forget.
In addition, there were five twenties. Not quite enough for a spanking new Juicy Couture tracksuit. Maybe Fenn meant it for cab fare.
Seffy shoved the paper and money back into her pocket. Luckily, she had a little extra time.
Because she planned on making a few stops along the way.
***
Fenn stared at the spot where Seffy no longer stood. He'd been here several minutes, going over everything in his mind, hoping his calculations were correct.
Last time they'd been a disaster.
Last time he'd sent Trent along to make sure Seffy got back.
This time she had only herself.
And a difficult choice to make. He thought of her last words.
There are no guarantees in life.
That went both ways.
***
“I can't believe they're dead,” Lani said her voice raspy from tears.
They stood in the hall where the man had shot Cynthia and Eva. The bodies were gone—even that of the shooters. The blood was gone, too, as if it never occurred.
“It's so brutal, gunning down someone like that in cold blood,” Addison said. “You're sure this is where it happened?”
Gareth thought of Cynthia and Eva interrupting Seffy's procedure. If only
they hadn't shown up.
Now Seffy had gone missing again. This was exactly the kind of thing he was trying to avoid. “Yes,” he said, exhaustion weighting his words.
“Who...who took care of it?” Lani asked.
“It must've been Malone,” Gareth said. “He was the one who stopped both shooters from killing Seffy.”
“It's horrible what happened to the girls. I wish he'd stopped those men before they were killed, too.” Lani clasped her hands together. “But in some small way, Malone redeemed himself with Seffy. He saved the day for her, at least.”
Addison shook her head, obviously not convinced. “God, Lani, that is some twisted logic. What's important here is that assassins are on the loose again and Fugere has no security guards!”
Gareth frowned, remembering the man who'd offered to help him with Seffy. He'd assumed he was from the medical staff because he'd been in the back room of the clinic where Seffy had been treated before. Gareth found him pawing through a file cabinet and asked if he could do the treatment. The man had responded with alacrity.
His 'help' included an attempt on Seffy's life. And I'm the one who brought her to him.
A powerful pain built behind his eyes. He rubbed his temple, trying to forget the image of Cynthia and Eva with bullet holes in their heads, of Seffy and her terror at the idea of the treatment...
Of the look in her eyes when she chose a necklace over him.
***
Seffy smelled the Pink's hot dogs nearby. A flood of memories poured over her—of grabbing a dog after work, or when she was out with her friends on the weekends, always hoping to see a celebrity.
And then there was that one time with Trent.
The crowds on the street blurred a little as she passed by. God, I miss him.
She fought against the threatening waterworks and hurried around the corner, entering a area filled with apartment complexes.
Last time she was here, she'd focused on breathing in the polluted air and enjoying the blue sky. Now, time was not on her side. There were no surprise side-trips at Fiona's or Fenn's direction. She had only one goal here.
And that was to die.
Her lungs felt weighted and it was suddenly hard to breathe. Seffy bent over, gripping her hands on her knees, struggling to get herself under control.
But it was so hard. A tear leaked from her eyes and dropped to the ground, staining the bubble gum-pocked cement at her feet.
“You okay, lady?”
Seffy glanced up to see a Latino man looking at her with concern. Something in the tilt of his head struck her as familiar, making her remember where she'd seen him before. She looked over her shoulder, half-expecting to spy a tall man with sunglasses and a rifle lurking nearby. None sprang to view, but the notion gave her the chills anyway.
“Lady?”
She forced herself to take a cleansing breath, then smiled at the man. At least she wasn't in the last alternate universe, and just maybe she was in the one she'd come from. “I'm all right.”
He frowned. “You sure?”
She nodded. If the man hadn't killed that shooter, she never would've had any of the sweeter moments with Trent. “You saved my life. In more ways than one.” She touched his arm, tears sneaking into her vision. “And you're still here, too, so that's a plus!”
The man put up his hands and slowly backed away, his expression reflecting regret for getting involved.
Seffy sniffed back her tears and headed to the next stop. When she got there, she was relieved to find the back door unlocked. She had a feeling her necklace key wouldn't work in WeHo the way it had in Fugere.
Inside the narrow hall, she found the inner door and made her way up the hidden staircase, her heart thundering in her chest. It was dumb, but she knocked. Who knew, maybe he'd left some bimbo in bed before he'd been hurtled into the past.
No wait, he'd been having lunch at some sushi place. Maybe the bimbo hadn't gotten her ass out of bed yet.
But no one answered the door. Seffy turned the knob slowly and poked her head inside. The place was empty so she entered and closed the door.
She smelled him. It was faint, but she knew he'd been here, maybe a few hours ago. Seffy walked over to the small bed and picked up his pillow. Pressing it to her face, she inhaled his scent, and lost control of her emotions once again.
She lowered the pillow and pushed her hair from her face with a shaking hand. And now there's snot on his pillow. Seffy curled up on the bed, holding the dry side of the pillow to her cheek, wishing she could go to sleep right here and never wake up.
Technically she could. Despite his fancy machine and mega time-travel skillz, Fenn couldn't do anything about her now. She was a free moral agent, she was captain of her own desti—
A knock sounded at the door. She stared at the panels and began to hyperventilate. What if, what if, what if? What if she was in another tangent? What if Trent was at the door? But why would he knock?
“Señor Ellison, are you in there? My son say he saw you return.”
Seffy exhaled in a rush, whether relieved or disappointed, she didn't know. She got up and opened the door.
The man clearly was not expecting her. He stared at her for a long moment, then his face split into a wide grin. “It's you! I see you change your hair a little or something, but it's you!”
“It is?” she said faintly.
He laughed. “I need to get my son's eyes checked, for you are not my tenant.” He held up a Blackberry phone. “Señor Ellison drop this when he leave earlier, so I come to give it back. Looks like things have been going well for him, eh?”
Seffy accepted the proffered phone, whispering her thanks.
“You tell him I'm glad he getting his life straightened. He a good guy when he not on the heroína, eh?”
“Yeah,” she said, still operating on sheer cluelessness.
“You tell him I say congratulations!”
“Okay.”
The man—the landlord apparently—turned to leave. Seffy closed the door once again and looked down at Trent's Blackberry—a way nicer phone than hers, and a bit pretentious for a guy in his sketchy circumstances.
She powered it on, wondering if there were any photos of him she could scroll through.
Instead what she saw was one of herself.
***
“Is it done?”
Fenn regarded the older woman and wasn't surprised when he detected moisture behind her half-moon glasses. He nodded.
She stood briskly. “Well, then, that is that. And do I have your permission to end the experiments and dismantle the lab?”
He saw the hunger in her kind face, knew the endless thirst for more...more experiments, more attempts, because maybe, just maybe, something better was on the other side. “What's your professional opinion?”
She closed her eyes briefly. “As much as I wish it were so, there were too many variables, too many anomalies, to replicate anything of use in the real world at this time.”
“But you'll always wonder.”
She bowed her head. “Yes. Always.”
“Where will you go?”
She raised her head and looked him in the eye. “I might beg one last favor from you—when the time is right.”
“Yes?”
“I need to go far, beyond hope of discovery.”
Fenn shoved his hands in his pockets. “You're a very cagey woman, Olga.”
She lifted her chin, defiance flashing in her pale blue eyes. “I could also do some good. In the field where she worked.”
“Ah.” He released a slow sigh. “So many implications. How would you explain your past?”
“That's where the caginess comes in. I could have the proper documents made. Besides, no one notices a woman of my years. I'll merely fade away in some obscure lab.”
This went against all the rules, and yet he'd willfully broken them many times over in pursuit of his goals. And what else could he offer the woman? She'd helped save his life. She'd saved
Trent's once...Seffy's several times.
And she was no Verity.
“Think about the possibilities of my research. The potential. What if it afforded someone else a second chance?”
The words hung in the air, heavy with meaning. Fenn felt his heart pound. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
The nurse nodded.
“She might not be there, you know.”
Olga's lips trembled ever so slightly. “There's always hope.”
***
Seffy stared in wonder at the glowing image of herself as the wallpaper on Trent's phone. It had obviously been taken while she was at the clinic, talking with a patient. Her blonde hair and blue eyes seemed so foreign now.
Trent mentioned he was consulting with a doctor friend at the clinic. He must've come in and snapped the photo while she was unaware. Old Seffy would've said it was stalkerish.
New Seffy staggered to the bed and sat down hard, staring at the photo, blinking away new tears.
She tried to access the Blackberry for more photos, but it was password protected. What would he have used? A word? A number?
She tried his name, his address, and a few other random ideas, but his phone remained locked.
A glimmering of an idea came to her. No, that would be too weird. But she typed in her name anyway.
It worked.
Seffy scrolled through the menu until she found the rest of the photos. Most were of his friends, a few where he held up the phone to get a shot of himself with someone. A few hinted at the darker side of his life.
She found one with her boss, the doctor who was a friend of his family, if she remembered right. Je must've told Trent her name.
Someone took their photo together in the clinic. Her boss and Trent. Except Trent wasn't looking at the camera. Instead his gaze had strayed to the reception desk in the lobby. Had she been there that day? She rarely missed worked. How would she have missed him?
But he wasn't a patient. He never checked in. The doctor usually met his lunch appointments at the door. She might've been busy with others.
She frowned, frustrated with her lack of awareness. I should've known—should've felt some kind of vibe when he was in the same room with me.