Hourglass (21 page)

Chapter 43

I
’m going in first,” Michael whispered. “Liam doesn’t know you, and I’m not taking any chances on freaking him out. Duck down by that tree to the left. The little building beside it is an old storage shed, but it’s empty. No one ever goes in because the floor is rotted through, so no one will be inside to see you. You should be fine until I call for you. Can you do any nature sounds, birdcalls?”

“Birdcalls?”

He’d cracked from the pressure.

“In case you need me.”

“The only extracurricular activities in the mental hospital involved stringing macaroni, and your average girl’s boarding school is more interested in makeup application than hunting techniques,” I whispered back. “Sorry.”

“Okay, can you whistle?”

I nodded.

“Then if you need me, just whistle.” He started for the lab.

“Michael,” I whispered. He looked back at me. “Good luck.”

Keeping my mind occupied took some creativity. After reciting the states and capitals, the Twenty-third Psalm, and all the teams in the American League, I’d started on the National League when I heard voices. Neither of them belonged to Michael.

I pressed my body up against the tree trunk. A man and a woman spoke softly, not quite in a whisper. I couldn’t distinguish if I’d ever heard either of the voices.

“You said you wanted to be with me.” The man’s tone was suggestive, silky. “That you’d do whatever it took.”

“I’ll do anything … but this …” The woman’s voice smacked of desperation. “I’m just not sure—”

She broke off. I couldn’t see anything, but it sounded like some massive making out was going on. When the heavy breathing started, I began to get uncomfortable, but I was saved when the man started laughing. “Soon. Don’t waste your energy.”

“Why do you keep telling me no?” I heard something unzip and thought I might be sick.

More laughter from the man, and then more zipping. Judging from the woman’s groan of frustration, I guessed he zipped her up. Hallelujah.

“There’s a time and a place. And this is neither.” His voice was harder now.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was shaking, and I could tell it wasn’t from the cold. Whoever this guy was, he was a bully.

“You should be. But I forgive you. Do your job well, and maybe I’ll reward you.”

“Whatever you say, whatever you want,” she said breathlessly. This chick needed a serious dose of self-confidence.

And a new boyfriend.

They walked away from the lab, deeper into the woods, leaves crunching beneath their feet. I stuck my head out slowly from behind the tree to try to catch a glimpse as they disappeared out of sight around the side of the empty storage building. Just then the door to the lab cracked, spilling light onto the ground, making each individual blade of frozen grass sparkle.

Michael called my name.

Hurrying toward him, I stepped through the doorway into the warm yellow light.

Chapter 44

L
iam Ballard was ridiculously stereotypical. He really did have crazy Einstein hair, food on his shirt, and … a pocket protector. But if you looked past the outer trappings, it was easy to see that Kaleb didn’t get all his good looks from his mother. Liam was big and muscular, with the body of an outdoorsman. I recognized him as the man surrounded by fishing gear in the picture in Michael’s loft.

He extended his hand to shake mine and held on. I wasn’t surprised when I felt a slight shot of electricity. Not the same kind of electricity I felt when I touched Michael, but definitely a connection. His smile was warm and welcoming, his eyes very kind. I understood why Michael looked at him as a surrogate father, and I wondered if he had room for another child in his life.

“Hello, Emerson,” he said, his voice gruff.

“Hi, Lia—Doc—I really have no idea what to call you.” I laughed.

“Liam is fine.” He placed his other hand on top of mine, looking into my eyes intently. “Michael told me you’re the reason he was able to travel back. Remarkable. Thank you for your willingness to help me and my family.”

I was going to cry.

And then beg Liam to adopt me.

“However, once I get over the shock of your visit, I’m going to be very angry at both of you. How could you risk your lives this way, Michael?”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“One always has a choice.”

“Well, then, I chose to save you because you’re like my father. And I wanted to.” The words should have made Michael sound like a petulant child. Instead, he sounded like a broken man.

“You can’t change the past just because of your loss, or grief.” Liam exuded the kind of gentleness only the smallest or the biggest among us could manage. “Our gifts aren’t meant to work that way.”

“It’s not just me. Kaleb and Grace … it’s not right without you. Nothing is right.”

A lump rose in my throat at the exposed emotion on Michael’s face.

He continued, “Landers has the files, and no one knows what they contained or whose names were listed, except for you. I only know about Emerson because … that’s a long story.”

Liam looked at me. I shrugged. “Apparently I’m a rule breaker.”

“The point is,” Michael continued, “you’re the only one who can stop him. And Em and I aren’t breaking any rules by being here. The Novikov Principle applies.”

Liam frowned. “Are you saying … I’m assuming there were remains. How are you—”

“I thought of that. We have a cadaver in the car; I need to go get it.” Michael held out his hand, and I pulled the keys from my coat pocket and tossed them to him. “Can we talk after that?”

“Oh, I can quite assure you we’ll be talking after that.”

“What time is it?” Michael asked, in an attempt to defer Liam’s wrath, I was sure.

Liam held up his watch, shaking it. The crystal was cracked down the middle. He pointed to a clock hanging above the door. Both hands pointed at eleven. “Do you need help?”

“We can’t risk anyone seeing you. Em will stay here and get you briefed.”

I frowned at him. “How are you going to get John Doe across the—”

“I’ll drag him. There’s a blanket in my trunk. We need to hurry, and Liam needs the rest of the details.” I gasped when he grabbed my shoulders and kissed me hard on the mouth. “I’ll be fine. Be right back.”

The door slammed behind him and Liam looked at me. I was trying to figure out why Michael had left so quickly, and to interpret the kiss.

“Novikov Principle, hmm?”

I gave my head a shake so I could get with the program. “Right. All I know is that it works because it doesn’t allow us to change the past, just ‘affect it without producing any inconsistencies.’ We replace you with the cadaver, and then you go into hiding, and the continuum isn’t affected because everyone’s timeline remains the same. Except for yours, I guess. But you didn’t have one. Because you were dead.” I winced and looked at him apologetically. “Sorry. Cat and Michael gave me the Cliffs-Notes version.”

“How far back in time did you travel?” He lowered himself onto a stool beside a long worktable full of lab equipment. “How long have I been … gone?”

“Six months.”

“A lot can happen in six months.”

I rested my elbows on the table. “How much did Michael tell you?”

“Not enough. Too much. We spent most of our time talking about Grace.”

“I’m sorry.” I wanted to comfort him, but I didn’t know how.

“So am I. And confused. Grace is very strong. I don’t see my death sending her over the edge that way, making her that desperate. Considering how much she loves Kaleb, I know he would have been her first thought. Her every thought.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“I wish I had an explanation.” We were quiet for a moment. “Kaleb told me about you and your wife, about how amazing you were together. I’ve never heard anyone my age talk about their parents the way he talked about you two.”

“We’re a very happy family. Or rather, we were.”

“Michael is positive you can get it all back. I’m sure he’s right.”

“Thank you, Emerson,” he said kindly, but he looked like he was in pain. “Please, tell me about my son, what he’s been up to. Michael tried to sugarcoat it.”

“I don’t think you have to worry. I get Kaleb. I understand where he’s coming from. I lost my parents, too, and when you think you don’t really have anyone left you … maybe you don’t make the best choices.”

“These choices—would you consider them to be irrevocable?”

“No, not all of them. They can remove tattoos.”

“Tattoos?”

“Don’t you think Michael should be back by now?” I asked. “John Doe—the cadaver—isn’t that heavy.”

He squinted, looking up at the clock, and I watched as fear marred his features.

I swung around.

Neither of the clock hands had moved since Michael left the lab.

Chapter 45

Y
ou don’t have
anything
in here that would tell us what time it is?” Scrounging around on his desktop, I tried to find something that would give me the correct time. “No cell phone? No watch besides the one on your arm?”

“I tend to lose things like cell phones and watches. And they’re destroyed by time travel. I’ve been doing quite a bit of research lately.” He opened a drawer in his desk, treating me to a view of at least half a dozen watches with cracked faces. “No good.”

Research. A computer. A computer would have a clock. “Cat mentioned your mainframe. Where is it?”

“It’s down at the moment. That’s what I was working on when Michael showed up,” he said, pointing to the corner. The mainframe didn’t look like any other computer I’d ever seen. It had multiple screens, keyboards that displayed strange-looking symbols, and a central processing unit the size of a suitcase. Liam knelt down and started pushing buttons and wiggling cables.

A computer disk in a clear jewel case sat beside the largest monitor. The information Cat asked us to retrieve. It was slim enough for me to slip it into my inside jacket pocket. After that, I opened the bottom right desk drawer to grab the disk with the formula for Kaleb’s meds. It was exactly where he said it would be. I tucked it into my pocket as well, keeping it on the inside, closest to my heart. I didn’t think about what that meant.

Liam was still working on the CPU.

“I’m going to look outside, see if he’s on his way back.”

I opened the door. Nothing. The grounds were quiet, still sparkling in the moonlight. I stood on my tiptoes to look across the yard. Even though I was shivering in the cold, I wouldn’t step into the warmth of the lab. I’d just decided to search for him when Michael stepped around the corner of the main house. Exhaling in relief, I waited until he was past the patio and then ran to help him.

“I got back as fast as I could. What’s going on?” he asked as we approached the lab.

“It’s the clock. It’s broken. We don’t know what time it is.”

He uttered a curse under his breath as the door opened and Liam stepped out. Michael stopped him when he tried to take the cadaver. “No. Take Emerson and head for the car. I’ll be there as soon as I set everything up. Just go!”

“I’m
not
leaving you here,” I said.

“Go, Emerson,” Michael insisted. He shoved the car keys at me. “Take these.”

“Come with me.” I accused him through my teeth as I grabbed them, “You promised we’d be safe.”

“I promised you that
you
would be safe, and I don’t want you anywhere near this lab. Go with Liam to the car.” Michael leaned over to pick up the cadaver. My stomach rolled. “Please? Time is running out.”

Liam took me by my upper arm, gently pulling me toward the house. “I’m sure Michael knows what he’s doing. We’re just holding him up.”

“Go.” Michael looked at me, pleading. “Stay safe.”

He carried John Doe inside, and Liam and I hurried away across the grass. We were almost to the house when I heard a brief shout, followed by laughter.

Then the world exploded.

Chapter 46

W
hen I opened my eyes, fire had completely engulfed the building. The steel beams that supported the roof curled in the heat of the flames. I lay on the ground, a few feet away from the lower patio. Liam was nowhere in sight.

I tried to sit up, but the ground slanted crazily. Hoping I didn’t have a concussion, I attempted it again, more slowly this time. Looking in the direction of the burning building, I made out the shapes of two people standing in the distance. I shook my head, wondering if I had double vision. No, it was definitely two people. My pulse raced. Liam and Michael? As quickly as it had sprung to life, my heart stopped, dropping into my stomach. The figures weren’t either of the men I wanted to see.

The two stood together, watching the fire blaze. Something was off. They weren’t racing around, shouting, or making any attempt to help. From their stances, they appeared to be enjoying themselves, as if standing around a bonfire instead of a burning building that might have people trapped inside.

Pushing myself up to my knees, I blinked and refocused on the faces that were lit by the blazing fire.

Nausea rose in my throat.

I knew the woman’s face.

Her expression was more vulnerable than the one I was used to seeing. She chewed on a fingernail and kept looking up at the guy standing beside her.

I could only see the back of his head. I couldn’t make out any details, just that he was tall and his shoulders were broad.

I heard sirens in the distance and pushed my spiraling emotions to the side. We were in danger of being caught on the property. I had to find Michael.

“Emerson. Emerson!”

Hope surfaced as a low voice called to me from the patio. I crept up the steps, trying to stay confined to the shadows. When I reached the top level, I looked for Michael but found Liam.

“Where is he?” I asked. “Liam, where is he?”

The sound of fire consuming the lab filled the silence between us. I looked up into his face, lit by the flames. His eyes relayed the truth he wouldn’t speak.

“No.” My knees gave out, and I slumped forward. Liam caught me under my arms and slowly lowered me to the ground. “He jumped out a window, something. He promised me before we came back that we’d be fine. He has to be safe.”

“Sweet girl.” Liam sat down on the ground beside me, his arm around my shoulders to keep me upright. “Once I knew you were breathing I scouted the front of the building. He couldn’t have escaped through the back—that’s where the explosion came from. Michael isn’t there. I don’t think he made it out.”

My breath came in spasms, ripping through my lungs, a thousand knives in my throat. “He … he had to … if he died here, in the past … I would never have met him …”

“I wish that’s the way it worked, but it isn’t.” Liam gently took both my hands in his.

“We have to find him. We have to take him back.” I tried to pull my hands away, tried to stand, but Liam had the same massive strength his son did. Even my rage didn’t sway his steady hold. “Please,” I cried openly, begging, “let me go, please.”

He whispered, “There’s nothing to find, Emerson.”

“No. No!” I insisted. “The police only found a few bones in the ruins of the lab. If the cadaver and Michael were both in the building, there would’ve been more.”

“All of that could depend on where the fire started … how hot it grew. What kind of fire it was.”

“What?” I didn’t understand. I didn’t want to. The sound of alarms grew closer, and Liam pushed himself into a crouch to peer over the retaining wall.

“We have to get out of here, get back through the bridge before someone sees us. We can’t afford to upset the continuum now.”

“You’re going back?”

“I can’t let you go back alone.”

“I’m not leaving.” I ran my hands across the stone terrace seeking purchase, anything I could hold on to. My tears flowed so furiously they blinded me. “I’m not leaving without Michael.”

“Emerson, we’re about to be surrounded by firemen and policemen. We’ve got to get back to where the car is hidden before we’re trapped.”

“I can’t leave without him, Liam. I can’t.”

“Sweetheart. He’s already gone.”