Second Chances (30 page)

"Mr. Kroft, please you need to help me. Tell me what to do."

"Well Doris, I guess you should prepare to rot in jail for a very long time." He ended the connection and threw his phone down. It shattered, pieces of glass and plastic flying everywhere. He picked up the major pieces out of the wreckage and than ran for the parking area.

Locked in her office, Doris blinked at the dead phone receiver in her hand.
 

They walked slowly down the stairs. When they got to the exit Paige pulled Nathan to a stop.

"How are we supposed to find him?"

"I am not entirely certain. I am sure the university's website has an alumni section, but I have a feeling that you need to be registered and somehow I doubt you are."

She nodded and had to agree that he was probably right.

"Do you remember where he was from? The names of his parents?"

Paige looked down at her feet and shook her head.

"Do I remember? Do I? Did I ever know him? How could I have?"

She leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I know this is scary. It makes no sense to me either. But your memories and my wife's were the same. It stands to reason they are the same as..."

"As what? The real Paige?"

She looked up into his eyes, begging for comfort.

"Listen. You are real. My wife was real. I may not know what exactly is happening, but I am certain of those two facts."

She hugged him tight. "He was...he was from a small town in Michigan. Oscoda, I think."

"Okay, we have a starting point. Come on."

They slipped out of the building and headed for the car.

"Where to?"

"First we find his parents," Nathan said as he reached into the backseat and grabbed his laptop bag. He pulled his computer out and booted it up. Nathan waited as his computer found and connected to the college's Wi-Fi and then a few minutes later he was connecting to the internet. "Okay lets see. Oscoda, Michigan. What was his dad's name?"

"Daniel Perry."

"No, his dad."

"Same name. Daniel, was actually Daniel junior."

He clicked a few keys and then nodded. "Okay here we go."

"You found him? That quick?"

"The internet is scary, isn't it. I don't know if I found him or not, but I found a Daniel Perry. Let's find out if this is the right one." He pulled out his phone and swore.

"What's wrong?"

He dug around in his bag for a minute and then pulled out a cord.

"Dead battery." He clipped one end of the charger to his phone and slipped the other end into the power adapter of the car. A few moments later he was dialing the number from the computer.

"Hello," a soft female voice answered the phone.

"Mrs. Perry?"

"Yes, can I help you?"

"I hope so. I am hoping that you are the right Mrs. Perry. I think I went to college with your son Daniel. I was hoping you might be able to help me get in touch with him."

"You went to school with Danny? How nice."

"Do you think you could tell me how to get in touch with him?"

"Sure. He's still in Rhode Island. Just give me a minute and I'll get you his info. I'm horrible with numbers."

After a few moments, Mrs. Perry gave Nathan the information and he repeated it. Paige nodded her head and typed the information into the notepad program on the computer and then gave him the thumbs up signal.

"Thank you Mrs. Perry and I will definitely give your love to Daniel."

He hung up the phone and looked over at Paige.

"Do you know where that is?"

"Yes. Well no, but I can find it. I actually think its fairly close to where we ate lunch yesterday. Do we really need to go see him?"

"Paige I don't think this is something to do over the phone. Hell, I wouldn't even know how to do it over the phone."

"You know how to do it in person?"

Nathan frowned. "Well, no."

Paige smiled, but it was forced

"Can you do this?" He reached over and took Paige's hand.

She refused to look at him. "I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Not if you still want answers. As I see it, it's our only lead."

She squeezed his hand and sighed. "Okay. Let's get this over with. Back to Portsmouth we go."

The trip only took twenty minutes. They pulled the car into the driveway in front of a blue two story Cape Cod style home with a white front door and shutters and a small front porch.
 

Nathan got out of the car and came around and opened Paige's door. She looked up at him and frowned. He reached out his hand.

"Come on."

She got out of the car and followed him up the steps to the front door, keeping a few paces behind. Nathan rang the doorbell and they waited. A moment later the door opened. The man at the door was an inch or so shorter and many years older than Nathan. He had thinning black hair and was dressed in tan pants and a blue shirt sporting several stains. In his right arm was a little girl of three or four in a pink dress and the obvious source of the stains. Both he and the little girl were laughing.

"Yes can I..." He stopped talking when Paige moved out from behind Nathan. His eyes went wide and his face went white.
 

"Holy shit."

The little girl put both of her hands over her mouth and giggled.

The man shook his head, wobbled on his feet for a moment and then fell back crashing onto his bottom, the little girl in his arms still laughing. "Paige? H...how?"

"Slow down," Jason said for the third time.

He understood that time was of the essence, but driving erratically would surely get them noticed. They had yet to hear any sirens and he took that as a good sign. She had a death-grip on the steering wheel and he knew she was barely keeping it together. He would have offered to drive, but he knew that he couldn't manage such a feat in his current condition.

"Julie, it's okay. You need to try and calm down. Come on, sweetheart, please try."

She started to look over at him but the car began to swerve.
 

"Eyes on the road."

She returned her focus to the road and brought the car back into their lane. She glanced in the rearview mirror, but she didn't see the road behind her. All she could see were the flecks of blood on her face. Sarah's blood. She began to raise a hand to wipe it off and again the car got out of control and she immediately gripped the wheel again. The blood would have to wait. Jason continued to speak softly to her and she began to slow a little until she was only barely breaking the speed limit.

They drove for another few minutes until they arrived in the parking lot of a grocery store. She drove to the far end and pulled up next to a five year old white Toyota Camry.
 

"Okay, give me a minute."

Julie exited the car and went to the trunk. She slammed her hand against it and returned to the open driver's side door. She bent down, reached in and turned the car off, pulling the keys free of the ignition. She dropped them and cursed again.

"Julie. You are doing great, just keep it together. One step at a time."

She looked over at Jason and he gave her a reassuring nod.

"You can do this, we can do this."

Julie looked at him for a minute more and then snatched the keys from the floor. She returned to the trunk and opened it. She removed two small suitcases from the trunk and placed them next to the Camry.
 

She shook her head, cursed herself again and then once more returned to the open door. She pulled her purse out and started to dig through it until she removed a second set of keys and then dropped the purse onto the seat once more.

"You are doing fine," Jason assured her.

She used the second set of keys to pop the trunk on the Camry and then loaded the suitcases. She opened the passenger door and returned to Jason. Trying not to hurry him too much, she assisted him out of the vehicle. She could see his grimaces of pain, but not once did he complain. He simply continued to tell her that she was doing a wonderful job. He was flushed, breathing heavy and was sweating by the time she managed to get him into the Camry.

She went around and got in the car, jamming the key into the ignition.

"Wait. Wait, Julie. Your purse."

She slapped her forehead and got out of the car. She ran around to the other car and got her purse.

"Leave the keys in the car," he called to her.

She looked over at him and then nodded and dropped the keys on the front seat before rushing back to the Camry.

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here," she said as she slid behind the wheel.

"Paige?"

She looked over at Jason, the pleading in his eyes was undeniable.

"I...I don't know where she is Jason. I'm sorry."

He continued to look at her without saying a word.

"I don't have a clue how to track her and I can't go back to work, not after what just happened."

"No," Jason said. "No, I don't suppose you could."

"We need to leave, Jason. There is no way they won't respond to what Doris did. If somehow Cameron doesn't know already, he soon will. We need to take full advantage of whatever head start we have."

"But Paige..."

"Jason. I am sorry, but right now, Paige is our best distraction. Whatever the hell happened, it has definitely gotten Cameron's attention, that's why I moved up the time table so much."

"But..."

"No. No buts. Not here, sitting next to that car." She said pointing towards her old car. "We need to move and move now. We can talk while we drive. I know you don't want to give up on her. Believe me I know. However, right now we need to move."

She reached behind Jason and grabbed two baseball caps from the floor of the backseat. She popped one on her head and the other on Jason's.

"I don't have a clue what traffic cameras can pick up, but maybe the hats can help a bit."

She started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Jason noted that she was driving a little slower, more controlled.
 

"What's the plan?"

She looked over at him.

"You don't remember any of the plan, do you?"

He sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Julie. My mind is so muddled. I think I can remember bits and pieces, but I can't be certain. That injection you gave me yesterday," he said putting his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Jason, I didn't see that I had any other choice."

"I know. You did the right thing. It's helping. I am so much better. Everything is so much clearer, but still..."

Julie couldn't tell if he actually meant it or if he was just trying to make her feel better.
 

"So the plan?"

"Well for the moment, it is just to get away from here. I've got plenty of cash, including what you had before...before agreeing to Cameron's demands. The new identities cost a fortune, but I have been assured they will hold up to decent scrutiny. We'll have to practice our backstories later, but unless we get out of here there won't be a later."

"Are you sure about Paige?"

"Jason, I know what she means to you and if there was anything I could do, you know I would. But like I said, I wouldn't even know how to find her. If you think of something, anything, I'd be willing to consider it. For now we need to get out of here."

He nodded.

She knew from the expression on his face that he wasn't happy and that his mind was focused on Paige.

Linda looked at Cameron. His face was a mask of rage.

"They are gone. I saw the way they went, but that was over five minutes ago.
 
What took you so long?"
 

He did not answer her question only looked at her and said, "Your phone, I need it."

She dug in her purse and he snapped it from her hands as soon as she brought it out. He cursed when the password screen came up and glared at her.

"Nineteen-nineteen," she said, her voice trembling. She had never seen him so angry. She shifted back in her seat a little, moving away from him and towards the door. He noticed and waved his hand as if to say everything was fine, but she wasn't sure she believed him.

"Whatcha need Linda," came Jimmy's voice over the phone.

"It's Cameron."

"Hey boss, I was just about to..."

"Listen up, I'll be using Linda's phone from here on out. I had to smash mine."

"What? Why?"

"Julie snatched Jason and that stupid bitch I had watching over at Ocean View shot a woman there and then called my phone to tell me. I wasn't sure if it could be tracked so..."

"Hell no. Don't you remember I have almost a hundred percent of your calls rerouted through more lines than you can shake a stick at. Even with someone competent working on it, it would take them hours. All you needed to do was tell me and I would have rerouted that line to a meat packing plant in upstate New York."

"I wasn't taking any chances. This entire thing is so fucked. Absolutely nothing is going my way."

"Not true. I was just going to call you."

"What have you got?"

"His phone went active a few minutes ago."

Linda noticed Cameron's body relax immediately.

"Tell me it is still on and you can track him."

"It is and I can. I also intercepted his call and listened in."

"Jimmy, you are amazing. What's the story?"

"He called some old lady in Michigan looking for some dude named Daniel Perry. Turns out the guy lives close by and according to the signal I am getting off King's phone they are on their way to see him. I'll text you the address."

"I could kiss you, Jimmy."

Linda frowned and shook her head.

"Just doing my job. Anything else you need boss?"

"Yeah, make sure any connections between us and that idiot at Ocean View disappear. I have no doubt she will try and turn on us. I don't want there to be a damn thing that makes the police even suspect that she may be telling the truth."

"If it's digital, then I can erase it. I can't do anything about physical records. Are there any?"