Reversion (The Narrows of Time Series Book 3) (39 page)

The door key slipped in like it’d been greased with butter. He opened the car, climbed in, and sat down as his fingers found the ignition and started the four-cylinder compact. He swung his head around before backing out, but stopped when his eyes noticed a toddler seat in the backseat. It was red and blue with the letter
S
in the middle of its emblem. The Superman motif was the coolest thing he’d ever seen. It warmed his heart and brought a smile to his lips.

Lucas made his way out the garage, through several miles of surface streets, then turned right and drove the stolen Ford to the last row of a parking lot behind a popular nightclub called Cowboys. He picked a spot, parked the car, and turned off the ignition, tucking Lauren’s keys next to the Google Glasses inside his shirt.

If the glitzy marquee sign in front was correct, the dance club was featuring an outdoor country music event tonight, starting at 10:00 p.m., and the special live performance was sold out. Those facts, plus the mention of two-for-one Coors, were the reason he chose this location to dump her car.

The Escort should go unnoticed for hours as the drunken crowd filled the area with rowdiness and puke, leaving the cops to focus on traffic control and drunk driving stops. Plus, this location just so happened to be only a block away from ABC Daycare on North Tucson Boulevard. He laughed, thinking of the gabby old women in the elevator. If they hadn’t pressed Lauren about her son’s injury, he never would’ve known which daycare had been assigned to watch baby Drew. He’d found the address in the Yellow Pages of a phone booth near the hospital after he’d managed an unfettered getaway from the garage.

The original plan was to steal Lauren’s car and park it somewhere safe, then fire up the Smart Skin Suit and flash home to the future. But something inside of him took control and wouldn’t let him leave so quickly. He knew every minute he spent in the past was a gamble, but a new, burning desire to see baby Drew was consuming him.

He needed to know how badly his brother was hurt. Plus, if his attempt to alter the future succeeded, there was a good chance he’d never see grown-up Drew again. This may be his last chance, and he planned to savor the moment. He needed to say his goodbyes, from a distance, and make sure Lauren didn’t borrow someone else’s car and find a way to drive home tonight. Otherwise, he’d have to change his plan.

Lucas thought he knew all the facts about her fatal car crash from Kleezebee, but didn’t remember Drew having a broken leg already. Maybe it was a new fact, or a forgotten one. He couldn’t be sure. It wouldn’t be the first time Kleezebee omitted or altered important details to serve a secret “need-to-know” agenda. But either way, Lauren would certainly be distracted with an injured Drew in the car. The more he thought about it, the more he came to believe Drew’s injury may have been the actual reason for her accident the first time through this timeline—not sleep deprivation.

He decided to wait in front of the three-spire church across the street from the daycare. Its plush landscaping featured a neatly trimmed line of palm trees bordering the sidewalk, one of which looked to be the perfect height to use as cover from the cool night air. He took residence under its outcrop of palm fronds and waited for baby Drew to make an appearance. He figured he had some time to kill while Lauren searched for her keys in the cafeteria, then decided to bum a ride from a coworker. Plus, there was the ten-minute drive. If he had to guess, the over/under mark for her arrival would be twenty-two minutes.

ABC’s front entrance was well-lit and directly across the street from his position. Four parents arrived during the first minute to pick up their kids, but none of them were Lauren. Lucas didn’t have a watch, but was able to judge time by studying the traffic light on the corner and counting its cycles. He ran a manual count of seconds and determined that each green-red transition took approximately two minutes to complete.

Lucas kept watch on the area as seven traffic cycles came and went, then his mind started to wander a bit. His focus drifted from Lauren’s arrival to thoughts of the distant Earth outpost where his friends were waiting for his return. He knew it wouldn’t be long now, making this moment in time extremely precious. His right shoulder leaned against the skinned trunk of the palm tree as the hypnotic sounds of city life embraced him.

The melody was manmade and uneven, but carried with it a sweet undertone he wanted to remember. There were cars whizzing past with engines purring and music playing, potholes being hit with double thumps, metal tailgates rattling, and various rubberized tones from different tire treads skimming across the pavement.

The rush of wind above him was especially soothing. Behind him, he heard the rhythmic clatter of the church’s sprinkler system turn on. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the back of his pants might get wet. The water jets closest to him weren’t active; only the seven heads near the church’s east wall were busy—each puffing out long sprays across the grassy knoll.

Before he turned his attention back to ABC Daycare, another round of time waves erupted, interrupting his blissful moment with dizziness. The church’s beautiful landscape was rotting and dead in the first cycle of change, then back to normal in the next. The parking spaces in front of the rectory on the right were full, then empty, then full again. Dizziness found him during the fifth distortion wave, making him grab onto the trunk of the palm tree holding him up. The series of displacement waves was much longer this time, numbering twenty-two before the event stopped and the woozy feeling disappeared.

His eyes returned to the traffic light, but his attention was interrupted by a long blast from a car horn. It broke through the city noise and was coming from his right. He swung his focus in time to witness a city bus change lanes in heavy traffic, effectively cutting off an angry man behind the wheel of a shiny, black Trans Am muscle car with wide tires spinning on a jacked-up rear end.

The bus slowed to a crawl, stopping next to the sidewalk with a hiss of its air brakes, leaving at least a hundred yards between its position and the double doors of the daycare. The Trans Am spun its wheels violently, swinging wide around the transport. Its driver blasted the horn again while its squealing rubber took it swiftly down the busy roadway.

The overhead safety lights inside the bus ignited, giving Lucas a clear view of the one passenger moving down the center aisle to the front. It was Lauren Falconio.

The doors of the bus flew open and Lauren made her way down the exit stairs. As soon as her feet hit the cement, she took off in a full gallop to the entrance of ABC Daycare.

Lucas studied the bus, but no additional riders were standing and none of them disembarked. He expected the bus to resume its journey after Lauren was clear, but it didn’t move. In fact, the middle-aged driver sat motionless with his arms folded across the top of the steering wheel, the engine idling and parking lights flashing.

Lauren pushed at the building’s double doors and went inside. A few minutes later, she returned with a screaming baby in one arm.

Lucas felt the sting of tears when he saw the crying face of his little brother. Drew’s injured leg was sticking straight out with a flat brace along each of its sides, both secured with tan-colored medical wrap. Lauren’s free hand was supporting his tiny leg, but Drew was obviously in a lot of pain. She found the sidewalk quickly, then picked up one of her legs and shook it back and forth at the bus driver. Lucas realized she was using her leg as a come-get-me signal since her hands were full.

Lauren held the baby close to her chest, giving him a series of short kisses on the forehead as she waited for the bus to pull up and stop. It did. The overhead safety lights flashed on, giving Lucas a perfect view of the passengers, who were already standing near the front. Lauren climbed inside and sat in the third seat from the front. Her head disappeared from sight when she sat down on the far side.

A heartbeat later, the doors swooshed closed and the bus took off in a lurch; its diesel engine let out a high-powered roar. Lucas watched the driver and his passengers head for the traffic light, with a heavy heart and a single tear rolling down his cheek.

He whispered in a hoarse voice, “Live a long and happy life, Little Chief. Thank you for always having my back, no matter what. I love you, bro. More than you’ll ever know.”

Lucas stepped away from the palm tree and onto the sidewalk, keeping his eyes on the bus as it traveled into the night. He was about to slip out of his street clothes and ready his Smart Skin Suit for the trip home when a blur caught his eye. His vision locked onto the movement, seeing a yellow dump truck hauling a full mound of dirt. It was approaching the traffic light from the right at high speed. A beat later its brakes squealed, but it wasn’t slowing down.

“Nooooo!” Lucas screamed while the bus entered the intersection on a solid green light.

The dirt hauler blared its horn and tried to swerve, but it was too late. It rammed into the middle of the bus, on the same side where Lauren and Drew were sitting, The sound of the massive impact sent out a shockwave, staggering Lucas back a few feet.

The bus bent where the loaded truck sliced into it, sending the bus skidding sideways. Glass and metal exploded into the air as the bus was ripped apart at its midpoint.

Lucas gasped a shallow breath and held it when the two sections of the bus spun apart and entered the lanes of oncoming traffic. A wave of vehicles plowed into the front half of the bus, knocking it over and onto its side. The force of their combined impact sent it sliding into the back half of the mangled bus.

More cars entered the intersection with brakes engaged and tires smoking, smashing into the pile-up. Each time another vehicle hit, it compacted the growing wreckage and pushed it a few feet closer to Lucas. Horns continued and tires screeched, then more metal crunched.

Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, a powerful air horn sounded from the other side of the accident. It was a tanker truck—the kind that carried gasoline or some other hazardous liquid. Its wheels locked up and its dual trailer was skidding sideways in a jackknife position as the driver tried to divert the payload from the intersection.

Lucas knew what was about to happen and his feet reacted before his brain could send the signal to run. He turned and took off for the church behind him. He wasn’t sure his legs would be fast enough to get him to his destination in time, but he had to try.

The deafening sound of the tanker’s impact and subsequent explosion rocked the street. He dove headfirst for the grassy area just beyond the east wall of the church. His belly landed first, allowing him to enter a long skid between the sprinklers.

The heat from the massive fireball warmed his right cheek as he flew across the wet grass like a base runner stealing home plate. He ran a quick calculation and realized his right arm was about to smash into a sharp corner where the brick walls came together. Their edges would easily rip through his street clothes and damage the Smart Skin Suit, so he tucked his arm in and rolled to his left side to slim his profile. It worked.

A second later, his head and torso flew past the wall safely, but not before his eyes flew wide at the sight of the firestorm heading his way. It was massive, and nothing like anything he’d ever seen before. The flames and heat would surely consume anything it touched, like human flesh and a Smart Skin Suit.

His eyes swung ahead as his grassy slide continued, catching another problem in his path—the foot-wide base of a tree. He tried to duck his head but couldn’t get his hands up in time to protect himself. The top of his skull smashed into the stout trunk and everything went black.

Lucas opened his eyes to find he was lying on his back with a mask covering his nose and mouth. His neck ached and his head was throbbing. It felt like a herd of elephants were taking tap dance lessons inside. Floating speckles of blobs danced across his vision, making it difficult to focus. All he could see was a blurry image of a redheaded female and three retina-burning overhead lights. Plus, there was the rank smell of week-old BO in the air, but he wasn’t sure if it was his stench, or hers.

The woman holding onto his wrist spoke in a soft, comforting voice. “Stay calm and everything will be fine. My name is Sarah. I’m a paramedic. You’re on the way to the hospital.”

“Hospital?” he said in a slow, muffled voice, powering through his sticky lips. His mouth felt like someone had dumped a box of cotton swabs into it.

“There was an accident. But you’re safe now. Can you tell me your name?”

“Lucas,” he answered, blinking rapidly to get a better look at the women taking his pulse.

“Hi, Lucas. Nice to meet you. Do you remember how you received the cut on your scalp?”

“Not really,” he said, wanting to bring his hand up to feel the top of his head, but his arms wouldn’t move. They were strapped to the gurney he was lying on. He started to panic, yanking his arms to test the restraints.

She put her hands on his, squeezing and pressing lightly. “Lie still, now. We don’t want you pulling the IV out of your arm.”

“Why am I tied down?”

“For your own safety. There were issues when I first began triage on you.”

“Was I seizing?”

“No, it was more restlessness than anything else. You were speaking nonsense and wouldn’t let me get a good look at you.”

“What was I saying?”

“Something about a Krellian invasion, anchor points, and time travel. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve heard some strange things over the years, but I have to say, never anything like that. So right now, I need you to remain still. Can you do that for me?”

Her voice had a calming effect, so did her touch. He nodded, though the pressure inside his skull was still there. “My head—it hurts.”

“You may have a concussion. I need you to breathe normally and lie still while I gather the rest of your vitals and address that cut.”

His memory still wasn’t working, but his vision was clearing a bit. He could see that Sarah was a slender woman in her thirties with a dash of freckles across her nose. Rather plain-looking but she had kind, aqua-blue eyes and a gentle way about her. Lucas knew he could trust her, and he really didn’t have a choice. He looked at his left arm and saw the IV line. She must have pulled the sleeve of his shirt up, and then did the same with the Smart Skin Suit to expose the vein.