by Jill Cooper
Taking a deep shaking breath I look at Jeff and then back at Davis. “Jeff is innocent in all this. I forced him to come along. You can’t hold what I’ve done against him.”
The captain isn’t buying any of what I say. He glowers. “Ninety seconds, Winters. I won’t reset the clock again.”
I nod and close my eyes. “I didn’t kill Katie Jackson. I was trying to help her. Daniels is setting me up.”
“Hmmf.” Davis rubs his chin. “You’re practically his prodigal daughter. Why in God’s green earth would Daniels set you up, of all people?”
“Because he knew I was closing in on him, Sir. I have proof that Daniels manipulated the video from the future of Reynold Jackson murdering his wife. It was false. I know that he got Judge Thompson to sign a quick execution order to keep Reynolds from talking to me.”
“Why?” The captain barks.
“Because Reynold was working with Rewind retractors. He was looking for these.” I hold the dairies up. “The dairies Daniels wrote seventy-five years ago, that were stolen by my family and were given to my great-aunt for safety. Daniels has used to the future and knows one of these days I’d come for him. Well, the day of reckoning is here.”
The captain is unconvinced and I see the doubt on his face. “You don’t have a future that can be read.”
“He wiped it, Sir.”
“You have proof of that?”
“Not yet.” I take a deep breath. “But let us go into Rewind and we can get that proof. Please, Captain. You know I would never murder anyone. I wouldn’t make this up.”
He crosses his arms and his eyes are unforgiving. “You hurt some people at that hotel. You handcuffed that poor cleaning lady to a bathroom pipe.”
Jeff shifts beside me and I can’t stop to wonder what he thinks about me. All I can do is puff up my chest. “I didn’t kill anyone. I did the best I could just to scare those in hotel security. I just needed to get here. Daniels has a girl up there against her will. We need to get in there and stop him from hurting her.”
“Who?” The rise in Davis’s voice demands an answer.
“Lara Montgomery.”
His eyes flicker. “Impossible.”
“She’s a time traveler, you know that. With her, nothing is impossible.”
“That’s why he came to the precinct.” The captain talks to himself more than to me.
But, I nod anyway. “Daniels doesn’t want anyone to know about her. I’m betting you can figure out why.”
The captain sighs and mutters a swear word under his breath. “It was highly irregular. He’s never been to the precinct that I know of. Ever. And then to demand someone in my custody?” He shakes his head and points his finger. “So help you God if you’re wrong about this. Any of this. It will be your head on a pike, Cassidy.”
There’s nothing I can do other than to say, “Yes, Sir. I won’t be wrong.” But inside, I cringe. Inside I’m scared that everything I’ve known, everything I’ve ever been, is just going to be wiped clean.
“I’m going to need to call this in. Get a warrant before we stomp up there. If we can even secure a warrant. What you have barely warrants one, but I can call in a favor.” Davis flips his wrist over to activate his comm and I grab his wrist.
His glower intensifies and I have no choice but to ignore it. “Sir, Daniels knows the judges and some of the offices. He’ll be warned I’m coming.”
“I have to follow the law, Winters.”
My eyes flash with defiance. “But I don’t. I’m a guilty suspect right now so if you let me go, I can get up there and make sure Lara’s okay and help her. Then you can call it in, do whatever you want, but she’s already been alone too long with him.” I swallow hard and let my words wash over him. “Sir, he doesn’t want her to ever leave this place. He wants her dead.”
The captain nods. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes. Get up there and secure that girl, but you’ll be questioned when the police show. And if Daniels has video proof that you killed Jackson, no one will be able to save you.”
I take a shaking breath and Jeff takes a step forward. “He could have manipulated the data. There’s no way you can hold her--.”
“Enough!” The captain shouts. “I’ve listened to enough and bent as far as I can. I can’t question Rewind without proof. So go get the damn proof!”
“Yes, Sir.” I spring into action and grab the door. “Jeff, stay here. It’s not safe up there.”
“Don’t ask me to stay behind.” His jaw tenses.
“I just did. You stay here. You plead my case and tell them everything I’ve told you.” I hand Jeff the diaries. “Go over all that. It proves that Daniels experimented and killed people in the name of science. This place is built on the dead, Jeff and it’ll go a long way to prove his character. Please.”
Jeff gazes at the diaries and finally he nods. His eyes are moist as I lean in and kiss him. Hungrily, desperately, I cling to him for a moment. “Be careful, Cass.” He whispers into my hair, nuzzling me close. “I don’t want this to be good-bye.”
“It won’t,” I whisper even though I know it’s a lie.
The captain issues me a short warning. “Fifteen minutes.”
I turn and sprint toward the elevator. I hit my comm and set a timer. If I’m going to get Lara and send her back into the past, I have to hurry.
There’s no time for mistakes.
****
I have fifteen minutes.
Well, more like fourteen minutes, twenty-nine seconds as the elevator doors open. I step out and can picture time ticking down as I approach Daniels office. The door is closed and there are two guards outside, Chuck and Harris.
Large and skilled, I’m not looking forward to going head to head with them. They shift when they see me; stance widens and they cross their arms in front of their bodies, looking official rather than relaxed.
“Is he in there?” I ask and keep my arms relaxed, but my hands are ready if they decide to reach for their electrical weapon.
“He’s busy.” Chuck doesn’t bother to look at me.
Harris is more cordial. “He took a visitor into the restricted zone. He shouldn’t be too long. Just dropping off a package.” His lips twitch up in a greeting that unnerves me.
The restricted zone.
I’ve never been in there. I’ve never made it in, although I’ve always been curious about what goes on in there. . I’ll need to figure out a way to get in.
“Great well, I guess I’ll just make my way to the little girl’s room.” I twist on my heel to scoot around to the side, but Chuck puts his hand on my shoulder. I freeze and inside I go numb.
“You really think we’re going to let you just go, Winters?” His face is set in stone; his narrowed eyes say he’s ready for a fight.
Harris just flashes his comm to me and there’s a slow, silent red light flashing.
Silent alarm.
“I was hoping to do it the easy way.” My hand twitches toward my electrical wand.
We enter a shit storm. Chuck’s arm comes down to bash me. I swing my wand free and use the strength of my upper body to block him. Harris is on my right and he moves to grab my waist. My body twists and I deflect him away with a slash of my weapon. It jolts through his arm, a direct hit.
I back away from them as Harris grabs his arm. He grimaces with pain as his wrist lights up with electricity. His comm is holding the charge. Chuck is speaking into his comm. Soon the place will be swarming with guards and officers, all loyal to Daniels. Breaking through Chuck and Harris is my only option to get to Lara. I twirl the baton in my hand as Chuck readies his.
He cracks his neck side to side. “Ever since training, I’ve wanted to mop the floor with you.”
“You never could.” My tongue licks the corner of my mouth as he comes at me. His wand zaps against mine as I meet each of his offensive maneuvers. When Harris gets close, I have no choice but to use roundhouse kick to hold him back.
“Wasn’t allowed to,”
Chuck argues. “Daniels wouldn’t have you hurt. I don’t know why, but you were always his favorite.”
“Probably wanted to kill me himself.” I throw myself at Chuck and our wands clash against each other.
He slams into the wall and his face is strained from pain as he tries to pull his wand away. The charge is heating up between us and it’s growing hot. It blazes against my skin and being that Chuck’s skin is practically against the wands, for him its worse.
The further he pulls his wand away from me, the more the electrical bolt grow, almost an arch between us. I use both hands to steady my wand and just when I plan to send the electrical bursts through him; Harris grabs me by the waist and throws me off. Slamming me into the wall.
Chuck screams as the electrical charge between both of our wands go wide. It zots through the walls, the floor, and jolts down toward the elevator. I duck as Harris throws a punch and he hits the wall with his fist.
I bend down low and go under his arm. Behind him, I kick him in the back. Grabbing his hair, I send his face crashing into the drywall. I pull him back, to do it again, but he elbows me in the gut.
Clenching my abs, I try not to feel the jolt, when behind me Chuck has found the will to move and sticks his rod against the bare skin of my back. . The electricity travels through me and I scream, falling to the ground. Crawling as if I’m a crab, I skitter away.
Chuck is on me, although Harris isn’t moving, he’s still crumbled on the ground. There’s a maniacal sneer on Chuck’s face as he twirls his baton. Mentally unstable and laughing, he grabs the wand with both hands and plunges it straight down toward my heart.
I grab his wrists with both hands and twist them up until they’re at an unnatural angle. My feet come up and meeting his stomach. He rears up under the power of my legs and slams into the wall behind me.
Rolling away, I jump up to my feet as he crashes down to where I just was. Chuck moans, blood coming from his nose. The wind is knocked out of him and that’s all I need. I push my wand into the small of his back.
Chuck groans. His body twitches and when he’s close enough to death’s door to see it swing open, I pull my wand away.
“Sorry, old Chuck.” I whisper and take the wand from his limp hand. I holster both weapons and run down the corridor toward the restricted zone.
It’s time to get her. Time to get Lara.
I only have five minutes left.
****
I’ve never been allowed to the restricted side of the compound and like a good soldier I never tried. Didn’t walk past. Didn’t ask questions.
Now I’m running past, alongside these large, curved windows that look into the bay of a technological hub. There are wires, tubes, and technicians everywhere.
Inside, I see Lara and Daniels. He’s standing too close to her, a smug look on his face. He’s won. I can’t see Lara’s face, but her posture is hunched and her hand is pressed on some sort of glass pane. Whatever’s going on I need to get in there.
Stop it.
But the door is locked and it won’t budge. My ID won’t get me in there. I sigh and tap my hand on the glass to get one of the technician’s attention. There is a row of computer terminals and men in all white uniforms are sitting, studying the data.
One of them looks up. A young guy with blond hair. I rap my knuckles on the door again, this time more urgently. I push my badge against the glass.
He gets up but stops short of opening the door. “You can’t come in here. It’s restricted.”
I guess that’s why they call it the restricted zone. “I need to talk to Daniels. His life is in trouble. Open this door now.”
The boy glances over his shoulder. “He doesn’t look in trouble and I can barely hear you.”
“Open the door then. A crack. So, you can hear me.”
With a sigh, he scans his badge on the inside and the door magnetically opens. The boy catches it and not allowing it to swing open too far. “Now what’s this about? How can Daniels be in trouble? He’s in here with us.”
“Someone is going to murder him. I need to get him to safety right away. Move away from the door.”
He hesitates. “I’ll get Daniels and you can talk to him yourself.”
“Move!” I scream louder and the boy shudders and backs out of the way. I step inside and hold the door open. “Everyone needs to clear out of this room now.”
“Ma’am, officer, we can’t do that…”
Sighing, the anger surging, I holster my baton and retrieve the pistol from the back of my jeans. It’s been hidden, tucked into my jacket for what feels like hours. I aim it at the technician. “Anyone who argues with me gets an old-fashioned bullet to the head. So I’m going to ask again nicely…move out of this room and head to the lobby. Now.”
My eyes flash with defiance and slowly the six technicians rise to their feet. They hurry out the door and when they do, I use my baton against the keypad to render it useless.
I lower my arms and hold the pistol close to my body just as they do in all those super classic movies I grew up watching with Granny. Tiptoeing through the corridors, I follow the voices. I hear the rumbles of an old man and the faint voice of Lara. It’s small, little. Not the powerful voice I’d heard from her just last night..
Where was that Montgomery defiance we’re so famous for?
Then I see them. They’re standing next to a glass cage. I see a pair of feet inside of it, but I don’t want to look up. I can’t afford to be distracted.
They can’t see me yet, but I can hear their voices.
Daniels starts toward Lara, his hand’s gripping at the air. “And I must have you.”
What a creepy little man he is. Lara backs away. There’s genuine fear in her eyes.
I release the safety on the gun and Daniel’s head jerks in my direction.
“Move,” I snarl, “and I blow your head off.”
Daniels raises his arms. “How did…How did you get in here?”
Lara makes a fist and nails him right between the eyes.
I catch him as he slumps forward. “You ready?”
But all Lara can do is shake her head and gaze at the glass boxes. Abruptly, in a pained voice, she grinds out, “Plan’s changed.” I can see her decision is firmly resolute, based on the clenching of her jaw.
Plans changed? How could the plans change? Her eyes gaze upward, sweeping over the boxes.
I follow her eyes and I can’t believe what I’m seeing. The rows of glass canisters are filled with Laras. A dozen, maybe more, Laras as far as my eyes can see.
There are tears in Lara’s eyes and mine moisten to join her. “Then we free them. We level this place clean so you don’t need to endure anymore. You’re suffering is over, Lara or my name isn’t Cassidy Winters.”
18: Lara
There’s one technician left and Cassidy uses his fear of death to get him to open the boxes. Cassidy locks Daniels in a private room off to the side, but alarms blare into overdrive with red, flashing lights. Soon Rewind will be on us. We don’t have much time.
All I want is for these versions of me to have some peace. They should have freedom without pain. The moments have been fleeting, but they have been wonderful and those are the moments we strive for. Not perfection, but freedom. To be happy, safe. Comfortable, but most of all, free.
I focus on the box with the elder Lara. She’s disconnected and her body goes limp in my arms as I drag her out. Her body is thin and frail beneath her white nightgown. Her eyes closed I study the wrinkles of her face, the long silver curls of her hair. She’s been alive a long time like this and I don’t know how long she’ll survive now that she’s free.
But she deserves to die free. Not as nothing, hooked up to a machine, treated like a piece of property.
Turning over her wrist, I see there’s a barcode stamped on her skin. The words ‘Property of Rewind’ right beneath it. My insides turn black with anger and I stroke her hair. We’re collapsed together on the floor as all around
us everything glows red.
But I don’t care. I don’t care if the building blows with me inside it because this is where I’m meant to be. With her. Toppling Rewind one final time.
“We’re no one’s property. I don’t care what they put on you.” I whisper.
And then she smiles. The smallest and prettiest of smiles I’ve ever seen. She answers me without opening her eyes. “We’re Lara Crane.”
A tear spills from my cheek and I think I might lose it completely. Behind me, I hear Cassidy coming. Her voice is loud and in charge. She’s not just holding it together; she’s the super glue of this entire operation. “The captain’s dispatched the police, but there’s still Rewind agents in here that are loyal to Daniels. I don’t know how long we have before they break in here.”
“Thanks,” I whisper, but can’t keep my eyes off the elder version of Lara in my lap. I stroke her hair as if she’s a baby and she touches my cheek.
“I remember.” She says softly, hoarse and strokes my chin. “When I was so young.”
“I got you out of the cage. Got us all out of the cages.” I push my lips together and feel stupid. As if, it would matter to her. She spent all her life here in a glass box without enough room to stretch her arms.
But her face glows with pure happiness and there’s a laugh in her voice. “Good. Good. Now you go back, you stop Daniels from ever making this place.”
“I need to stay here.” My eyes grow wide. “Free all of you.”
“You already have. Now you have to go back. To the time before this was all build. Fold it like a house made of cards. The timelines will dissolve into each other until there is only one. The right one.”
Lara grips my chin hard and I’m surprised she has that much strength left. “Your timeline, Lara. Daniels was telling the truth when he said you were first. You were special. You’re the one that must survive.”
“How?” My chin quivers. “I can’t even travel in time now if I wanted to.”