Final Hours (6 page)

That thought froze her. She was about to go back in time, to
help a man she barely knew. A man who didn’t scare her. Oh, no, he had exactly the
opposite effect. She kissed him like he was the last man on earth, in front of
witnesses. Worse, she missed him—missed his smile, the glint in his eyes when
she made a smart remark, like he considered her funny. Smart. A whole woman,
deserving of his care.

If this crazy scheme worked, she would end up leaving him
behind. Forever.

Her legs threatened to give out. She dropped to the bench
and hugged her waist, afraid she was going to be sick. How could she be so
stupid? Why did she let herself fall for a man who didn’t even exist in her own
time?

“Easy,” she whispered. “It was too easy.”

From the second he started counting out her panic steps with
her, she left herself open to his charm.

“No.” She scrubbed at her face, refused to let the tears
lodged in her throat have any release. “I’ll take his transport to him and go
home.” She dug a ponytail holder out of her jeans and slipped it on her wrist. With
the ease of long practice, she started to braid her hair, muttering under her
breath. “Maybe I’ll stay in London, take the offer from the gallery I’d been too
chicken to accept. I can change my life, be the person he thinks I am…”

“And who does he think you are, Elizabeth?”

Her fingers froze on the braid. That silky voice lodged her
breath in her throat. Harper appeared at the end of the bench, and kept moving until
he stood in front of her.

“I need—” She cleared her throat. She refused to be cowed by
this man. “I have to finish getting ready. Mac will be here—”

“When I am ready to let him in.” Long fingers slid under her
chin, applied pressure until she met his eyes. “You intrigue me. So fragile,
but so strong. I want you to come work for me.”

Her eyes widened. He didn’t waste any time.

“And where exactly would that work be?”

“With me.” He trapped her chin when she tried to pull away.
“You will be a challenge to break.”

Elizabeth watched him lean in, her heart pounding so hard
she felt it in her throat. His breath heated her cheek, then her lips as it became
quick and shallow.

She tried to jerk away; his grip turned bruising, right
before he crushed his lips to hers.

The shock of his invasion froze her. Then he tried to force
his tongue into her mouth. She stomped on his foot.

With a howl he let her go and stumbled backward. His soft
leather shoe didn’t stand a chance against her boot heel. She jumped to her
feet and put the bench between them, the need to scrub out her mouth
overwhelming.

The door burst open behind her.

“Elizabeth!”

“I’m okay, Mac.”

He skidded to a halt next to her. “The rat bastard didn’t—”

“We came to an agreement.” She forced herself to meet the
cold blue eyes. Rage burned in the pale depths, like fire under ice. If she
weren’t leaving, she would find another way to escape him. “Please get me out
of here.”

“With pleasure.” He kept himself between her and Harper,
backing out until they were through the doorway and in the lab. Once they were out
of Harper’s sight, Mac caught her hands. “Did he hurt you?”

“No.” She let out a shaky laugh. “He offered me a job.” Mac
cursed. “I assumed it wasn’t a conventional job.” Or even a job.

“He’s a spook.”

“A—not CIA, he’s British. MI-6?”

“He’ll deny it with his dying breath. If he can be killed,”
Mac muttered. “I’ll make sure he stays away until I get you to Kane.”

“Thank you.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “For charging
in to rescue me.”

He flashed a smile. “If I didn’t just see Kane kiss you like
you were his last breath, I’d think I had a chance. Come on—time’s moving on
without us.”

Elizabeth followed him to the main console as she tightened
the loosened braid and tied it off. “Can’t you send me to the same time he
arrived? Or right after?”

“I can send you to the same place. But the portal has a
quirk; once an agent is offline, real time kicks in.”

“So, if an hour passes here, I’ll arrive there an hour
later.”

“And hope he waited around. He will—he knows the protocol.”
Mac tapped on the screen, paused long enough to pull something out of his
pocket. She swallowed. It was a transport. “Ready for this?”

“I’m ready.” She kept running those two words through her mind—and
hoped the repetition would eventually convince her.

Kane knew the
procedure when he was cut off.
Stay put. No exceptions.

The bloodcurdling scream had him bolting around the
building.

He skidded to a halt when he saw a young woman on her knees
next to the canal. She leaned over so far he expected her to fall in any
second. Kane scanned the long alley for unwanted company before he strode over
to her. He crouched next to her, ready to grab her arm if she threatened to
topple over the edge.

“Can I help?”

“Oh—” Tear bright eyes stared at him. “My dog—”

She pointed. Kane followed the line of her arm, and spotted
it—a white, fluffy head, just above the water.

He shouldn’t leave—an agent could show up at any second, and
he needed to be here.

He cursed under his breath. It hadn’t been long enough for
them to brief another agent, and he could hardly walk away, now she knew he was
here. What if it was Elizabeth in need or danger? He would want someone to step
up and help her. He could hardly do less.

“Stay here.” He didn’t wait for an answer before he stood
and took off, jogging along the canal. The head disappeared under the bridge.
Kane checked for traffic and crossed the street, finding the canal on the other
side. Along with a much wetter white head. “Hell—”

He scanned for a good spot to grab it. The dog was
struggling now, its head staying under longer each time. He could not face that
woman without a live pet.

There, just ahead. He could get to the bank without too much
effort. He halted at the spot and shed his greatcoat, unbuttoning his sleeve so
he could reach in unhindered. Once he pushed through the hedge next to the bank,
he dropped to one knee and slipped his arm into the icy water just in time to
scoop the dog up.

The tiny thing shivered violently. Kane was frankly
surprised it had survived as long as it did. He tucked it in the curve of his
arm, oddly moved when a soft pink tongue licked his fingers. With his free
hand, he pulled his scarf from around his neck and wrapped the little dog in the
warm blue wool. He stopped long enough to pick up his greatcoat before he
headed back along the canal.

The woman waited for him at the edge of the sidewalk. He
crossed the street, and she sprinted to him, arms outstretched.

“You found her! Oh, Jane Eyre, you poor, sweet thing.” She
took the dog, cradled it in her arms. Kane fought a smile at the name. “I’ve
got you, you’re safe now. Thank you,” she whispered, gazing up at Kane. Tears
stained her face, but she looked happy now instead of terrified. “Thank you.”

“Glad to be of service.” He slipped on his greatcoat while
she was distracted, and hoped she had not noticed the uniform. His non-military
hair, and the earring he always forgot to remove would raise questions, never
mind the fact that most of the BEF was in Europe at the moment. “Jane is in
good hands now.”

“Please.” She touched his arm. “Allow me to at least offer
you a hot bowl of soup. I live just to the other side of the canal.” The dog
yipped, and she laughed, wiping at her eyes. “I don’t normally take her outside
off leash, but she got away from me when I opened the door, and tumbled
straight in.”

Kane had already interacted more than he should have. But he
figured saving a bit of a dog would not change the course of human history, as
Dr. Kinimoto liked to say.

“Thank you, miss—”

“Helaine.” She held out her free hand. “Helaine Knowles.
Please—I can’t be letting you go with just a thank you. Not after you saved
Jane Eyre.”

Kane smiled, regretting that he would have to say no.
Helaine was a lovely girl, and a dog named Jane Eyre—he found the pair of them
intriguing.

“I wish I could. But I have an appointment. One I can’t be
missing.”

If Mac could find him. He held out little hope of that, but
he intended to stay put.

Just in case.

Mac held out
his hand. “I need you to punch in
your ID code. I’ve got it right here.” She looked down at his hand, saw the
piece of paper between two fingers. “It’s easier after the first time.”

“Promise?”

“No—I just wanted to take the frightened rabbit look off
your face.” She let out a shaky laugh. “Now give me your wrist. You’ll have to
let go of your other hand, sweetheart.”

“Right.” She pulled them apart, held out her left hand.

“This is the transport for Kane.” Mac strapped it on her
wrist, forced to use the last hole in the band to keep it from sliding off. “He
can use it to send you home. I already have the coordinates in the transport’s
memory. This baby can do more than you think. It even has a translation chip.”

“Translation?”

“Yeah.” He tapped his finger on the transport. “The chip
emits some kind of field—I don’t know how, and I don’t want to. But it lets you
understand anyone standing within a few feet, and they can understand you. Just
in case you end up talking to a Neanderthal, or a Roman.”

“Oh, God—” She didn’t want to think of the possibility that
she may actually end up somewhere else—

“I was kidding. Breathe, Elizabeth. I send agents out there
every day. All of them have landed exactly where they were supposed to, and
returned in one piece.”

“Okay.” She took his advice. There was no panic, yet. She
was—nervous, seeing Kane again after that mind melting kiss. It would have been
easier to keep the memory of him, go home with that. More contact would just
give her more time to become attached. “I’m ready for the number.”

She tapped it in carefully, watched the screen under her
hand flash a countdown.

“That’s for you, sweetheart. Let’s head over.”

Mac led her to the steps next to the platform, one hand
under her elbow. Sparks danced around the perimeter, sparks she knew would
explode up into a transparent wall. A wall she had to step through,
voluntarily.

“Mac—”

“Kane is in Dover. I have the transport set for his entry
coordinates.” His voice was brisk, but the hand on her elbow was gentle, supportive.
“He should be nearby. Tell him I said not to lose this one.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I’ll do that.”

“Take this.” He slipped a folding knife in her hand. Her
fingers trembled as she slid it in the pocket of her trousers. She hoped she
wouldn’t have to use it. “When the wall comes up, all you have to do is stick
your hand in. The portal will do the rest. Take care of yourself, Elizabeth.”
He leaned down, kissed her cheek. “I look forward to reading your new bio.”

With a wink he let her go and moved back to the console. She
knew that was her cue.

She skipped step one, since she was already standing still.
No way to get any slower than that. She closed her fingers over the heart
locket. “Step two,” she whispered.

After taking in a few slow, deep breaths, she climbed the
stairs. The gold wall shot up as she reached the platform. A last glance over
her shoulder had Mac smiling at her, giving her a double thumbs up. For some
crazy reason she couldn’t fathom, she trusted him. She studied him for a few
seconds, drew his handsome, rawboned face in her mind, with the sun streaked
brown hair and laughing blue eyes. Another memory to take with her.

She closed her eyes briefly and faced the wall, her hand
inching forward. Her fingers shook so badly she jerked her hand back, afraid
she would touch the transparent wall before she was ready.

You can do this.
She wiped her palms on her trousers,
and kept up the mental pep talk.
You went all the way to England, alone,
when you’ve never been out of California. If you can do that, you can do this,
for Kane.

Before she could change her mind, she lifted her hand and
plunged it into the wall of light.

She expected pain. The warmth that spread up her arm
surprised her, and she relaxed—just before it seized her arm in a vise grip and
yanked her through the light and into nothing.

~ ~ ~

The portal spit
Elizabeth out.

She managed to get her hands up before she slammed into a
brick wall, so it scraped her palms instead of her face. She sucked in a sharp
breath at the sting—right before she doubled over.

Her stomach tried to twist itself into a knot and eject what
little she ate while she sat with Kane. It took every ounce of control she had
not to throw up.

Endless minutes passed before the cramping subsided. She
took in an unsteady breath, used the wall behind her for support, and studied
her surroundings.

Mac told her the portal chose a secluded entry point. It had
sent her to what looked like the back entrance of a brick building. She glanced
up, and saw a gleaming slinky of razor wire stretched across the underside of
the roof. Water swept through a small canal on her right. Her stomach rumbled
again at the sight of the rushing water.

She turned away and lifted her wrist to check the transport.
The screen flashed at her: Dover, 14 May, 1940.

Then the reality of what she’d done finally hit her.

She was really here. England, at the start of World War II.
The shiny new razor wire on what looked like a retail business told her this
wasn’t the England she walked just a day ago.

Wind bit at her as she moved around the corner, cold and
surprising. The small building had protected her from it until now. She tucked
strands of hair that pulled loose from her braid behind her ear, and jerked to
a halt when she saw Kane.

He stood over a petite brunette, whose curvy figure, wrapped
in a fitted red sweater, made Elizabeth look like a boy. The way he smiled at
the brunette had her hand itching to hit him, preferably with her fist.

She thought he was different, that when he kissed her like
he did before he left, he actually felt something for her. She ignored the
voice in her mind that argued his side, that he never expected to see her
again—

The voice faded as movement behind Kane froze her. She knew
that arrogant profile.

It was Guy.

“Kane—get down!” He spun around, eyes wide as he spotted
her. She ran at him, terrified that Guy would get to him before he understood
the danger. “Guy!”

He grabbed the brunette and dove for the ground. Elizabeth
flattened herself against the wall. The laser blast from Guy’s pistol hit the
wall inches from her ear.

She dropped to the ground. Kane’s furious roar snapped her
head up. He crouched over the brunette and fired his pistol at Guy’s back. The
man had luck on his side—he managed to get past the building and out of sight
before the blast from Kane’s pistol reached him.

Kane pointed at her with his free hand and snapped out a
single word.

“Stay.”

He paused long enough to say a few words to the brunette,
and took off after Guy.

This was not the reunion she envisioned.

She sat, and leaned against the wall, still nauseated from
her trip through the portal. The thought of doing it again so soon made her
stomach clench.

Footsteps echoed down the side street, headed for her. She
took the coward’s way out and kept staring at the ground.

“Elizabeth—” Kane didn’t let her hide. He gripped her arms,
hauled her to her feet and yanked her forward before she found her balance. She
caught the lapels of his greatcoat, met his furious grey eyes. “What the bloody
hell are you doing here?”

Not “are you all right” or even a hello. No—he blasted her
with his temper, after she came here to help him—

 “Elizabeth.” He tightened his grip on her, and she saw it,
almost hidden behind the temper. Fear, for her. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought you this.” She let go of his coat, slid her
jacket sleeve back to reveal the transport. Her fingers fumbled over the
leather strap, but she finally managed to unbuckle the damn thing. She took it
off and slapped it against his chest. “You’re welcome.”

He let go of her to take it. The corner of his mouth
twitched. “Dr. Kinimoto allowed you through the portal?”

“She was going to leave you here!” Elizabeth forgot her
anger. “Mac used your DNA to find you, and I—” She swallowed, the enormity of
what she’d done hitting her again. “I volunteered to come back with a new
transport.”

“Why?” He spoke quietly, his face unreadable, for the first
time since they met.

“Because—” She wanted to be sarcastic, to just toss off a
reason. Her mouth betrayed her and told the truth. “I couldn’t abandon you.”

Kane moved toward her. Startled, she retreated, until the
brick building stopped her, trapped her. He kept coming, dropped the transport
in one pocket, and reached up to cradle her face. She kept her eyes open as he
brushed his lips over hers, the kiss more intimate for its gentleness.

“Thank you.” He tucked stray hair behind her ear, so close
his breath warmed her cheek. “Now, my darling Elizabeth.”

“Yes?”

 “Let’s get you home. I need to find Guy before he
disappears again.” His brisk voice broke the spell. Disappointed, she watched
him pull out the transport and start playing with it, like a boy with a new
video game. “There—he won’t be hiding from me again. Mac is one clever tech. He
programmed Guy’s vitals into the transport, so I won’t need the portal to
track—”

“Pardon me.” The brunette stood near the canal. An adorable,
little white dog wiggled in her arms, trying to get to—Kane? “I am assuming you
are acquainted?”

“Helaine.” Kane slid the transport back into his coat pocket
and held out his hand to her. Elizabeth fought to ignore the twinge—the strong,
angry twinge—when Helaine took his hand and smiled up at him. Up close, she was
beautiful, with that English rose skin Elizabeth had admired on women since she
arrived in London. “Meet Elizabeth. She is a—friend, from home. My appointment,
though I didn’t expect her to be the person meeting me.”

One eyebrow lifted as he said it. So much for his undying
gratitude.

“It is a pleasure, Elizabeth.” Helaine slipped her hand out
of Kane’s, held it out. “Please ignore the dog slobber, and the bits of rock ground
into my palm.” She glanced up at Kane. “Was that man another of your friends?”

For being thrown to the ground and shot at, Helaine looked
remarkably calm. But then, this was the front lines, even if the war was a new
idea to them.

“A former friend—and one I did not expect. Please forgive
the manhandling—”

“Stop.” She waved her hand, smiling at him. “I will happily
assume he was shooting at you, and be glad your other friend arrived in time to
warn us.”

Elizabeth took her hand and shook it, too polite to ignore
her. Helaine seemed genuinely nice, and her dog was completely enamored with
Kane.

“Oh—” Helaine grabbed for the dog when it tried to squirm
free. “It seems Jane Eyre wants another cuddle.”

“Jane Eyre?”

“My fault,” Helaine said, handing the little dog over to
Kane before it took a flying leap and hit the ground. “I adore
Jane Eyre
and I was reading it when this little bit found me. Tumbled right at my feet in
the park, so dirty I couldn’t tell she was white, but with a grin that could
melt even Scrooge’s heart. She’s been mine ever since.”

Kane held the dog, laughing when the pink tongue licked his
chin, and every other inch of skin it could reach. He looked—happy, carefree.
Two emotions she didn’t expect from him. He was such an intense man, and being
an orphan, she knew that happy tended to be the first thing lost, after family.

After a few more enthusiastic dog kisses, he handed Jane
Eyre back. “We should be going. Elizabeth needs to go home.” He punctuated the
statement with a glance that had her clenching her jaw. “I thank you, again,
for your generous offer.” With a smile, he bent over her hand, kissed it—then
blew away Elizabeth’s unexpected burst of jealousy when he leaned in and loudly
kissed the dog.

How did he keep throwing her off balance like that? The
thought startled her, and worried her. It meant she cared more than she should,
and that path led straight to heartache. God knew she’d already had enough of
that in her life.

Kane took her arm and practically dragged her out to the
sidewalk before she could do more than wave goodbye. “What are you—slow down,
unless your plan is for me to hit the sidewalk face first.”

She let out a squeak when he shoved her against the front of
the building and trapped her there with the weight of his body.

“Have you any idea how badly you scared me?”

“I scared
you
?” Elizabeth pushed at his chest, to
gain some space. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. “Who went racing off
after a maniac, while still recovering from the knife wound they received from
said maniac?” He just looked at her, those clear grey eyes amused. “What?”

“All that fire, hidden behind such a sweet exterior. You are
a constant surprise, Miss Barritt.”

His smile ignited her temper.

“Here’s another surprise for you, Jackson Kane.” She stomped
on his foot. Hard.

He let out a yelp and pushed off the wall, shaking out the
stomped on foot. Elizabeth wasn’t sure who got the worst of it; her boots had
nearly indestructible heels, but his boots had to be lined with lead, or steel.
She could still feel the aftershock, all the way up to her hip.

To top it off, she felt like a fool for losing her temper.

Kane stopped shaking out his foot to greet an older couple,
eyes wide as they halted on the sidewalk, out of arm’s reach.

“Good afternoon.” He flashed them that heart-stopping smile.
“Fine weather for a walk.”

“Yes, of course,” the man said. He kept one arm protectively
around the waist of his wife, glancing at Elizabeth with narrow eyed suspicion
as he hustled them both past.