What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3 (20 page)

“Why is everyone in my condo?”  Bobby Stinson interrupted.  “And why the hell is it covered in Swastikas?”

“Kennedy owns it now.”  Faraday replied, his voice sounded slightly nervous as he spoke to Bobby.  “The Nazis won the war.”

“What do you mean the Nazis won the war?”  Jacob snapped.

“Apparently they captured Teller, he made them the Atom Bomb and the wormhole generator.”

“Oh my God.”  Sarah managed.

“We were planning to kill Hitler, it would spark uprisings around the world, but our shooter was arrested and you just shot our best hope.”  Bobby Kennedy stated.

“Where were you planning to kill him?”  Bobby Stinson asked.

“Dealey, no sorry I mean Hitler Plaza.”  Faraday replied.

“Did I ask you?”  Bobby snapped.

“Maybe we should talk?”  Faraday suggested.

“Maybe we should.”  Bobby agreed.

“You can use the bedroom just across the hall.”  Jack instructed.

“I know where they are, I used to live here.”  Bobby barked.

Chapter 41

Faraday sat down on the bed, unsure as to how he should start the conversation.  The room had changed remarkably since it had been Bobby’s bedroom, the walls were red, the floor was wooden and it was clean; Bobby had always lived like a pig.

Faraday looked at the man that had once been his friend, he no longer even resembled Bobby, the shaved head and the drawn face both made him look considerably older and very ill. 

Bobby closed the door and hobbled into the room, grasping his cane tightly.  When he looked at Faraday, he felt nothing but betrayal.

“So what do you have to say for yourself?”  Bobby barked, his thick Texas accent had never been more pronounced than it was at this moment.

Faraday looked at him, he had no words with which to explain his actions.  “I was wrong.”  He said softly.

“You were wrong?”  Bobby shouted, pulling a cigarette from his packet and lighting it quickly.  After a puff, he stared hard at Faraday again.  “You were wrong?”

Faraday dared not look at Bobby this time.  “Yes.”

“That’s it?”  Bobby shouted in amazement.  There was a knock at the door, to which Bobby yelled “Fuck off!”

“Calm down in there!”  Scarlett’s shouted from the hall.

Bobby turned and hobbled towards the door, he opened it forcefully.  “Fuck off!”

“Don’t you talk to her like that.”  Jane snapped.

“You can fuck off too!”  Bobby yelled.  He slammed the door and turned his attention back to Faraday.

“Don’t ever talk to Jane like that.” 

“Or what?  Who will you kill this time?  Me?  Who is left for you to betray?  They’d be better off without you!”

Faraday said nothing.

“Why would you do that to me?  I got you and her back together!  I helped you!  I tried to find out who killed her!  I helped you and that son of a bitch David for years!”

Faraday rose to his feet.  “You helped us did you Bobby?  It was David who did all the talking when we first met!  When David tried to kill himself, you were too busy with Kennedy!”  He felt anger like he never had before.

“I was too busy trying to stop people dying!  Big deal Faraday, you were there when he did it, of course you were.  Did you never wonder why Kennedy chose me to head up our department?”

“No, I knew why.”  Faraday snapped.  “You liked to think you were in charge, you always did.  I mean Christ Almighty Bobby, on the night that we first went to the Carousel Club you just shouted at everyone and told us that we were not allowed to discuss anything until you wanted to.  Who died and made you God?  The only thing you ever did Bobby, was contribute to the fuck up that is your beloved America.  You were the one who brought Billy Beane into our lives, you killed mobsters, you associated with Meyer Lansky, and you were friends with the very people that were trying to kill Kennedy!” 

Faraday stopped for a moment to pull out a cigarette from his own pack.  He struggled to light it at first, his hands were shaking with rage. Once he had lit it he took a deep pull and stared at Bobby again.  “Do you not realise that while you were busy representing Oswald, on the order of the man who ordered the death of my wife, your father and your grandmother, I was saving lives?”

“Saving lives?  You got shot!”  Bobby barked.

“When I was trying to save a life.  I got shot by your grandfather!  I lost my eye because of him!  Then I saved Jane, Nancy and Clint Hill when I shot the gangsters that your friends hired to kill Kennedy!”

“I was trying to save Oswald.”  Bobby said, he had tears in his eyes.

“And you didn’t, another one of the people you got pally with killed him!”

“Pally with?”  Bobby asked.

“Friendly with!”

“Ruby?  I wasn’t friends with Ruby!”

“No, he just picked you up from jail and invited you to his club.  What about your dear friend Hoover, he helped them as well!”

“And you killed him!”  Bobby yelled back.

“I didn’t kill him.  He had a heart attack, I scared him.  I wasn’t even going to go through with it.”

“So you hid in his cupboard whilst I tried to save him and you assaulted his housekeeper?”

“Who gives a shit Bobby?  Hoover was a scumbag, you know that.  Who honestly cares?  When did you become so friendly?  Whilst you were trying to make your way into the corridors of power, David and I were attempting to get our lives back.  You see Bobby, we loved people, when Nancy died you told me you were relieved!” 

Bobby had been almost managing to control his anger, until he heard these words, he moved towards Faraday as quickly as his hip would allow.  He dropped his cane and grabbed Faraday with both arms, forcing them both to the floor.  Faraday landed on his back, with Bobby on top of him.

“You son of a bitch!”  Bobby yelled as he threw the first punch, hitting Faraday in the cheek.  He managed to throw a second causing Faraday’s mouth to spray blood over the bedroom floor.

Faraday looked up at Bobby’s manic face, he was sure Bobby would kill him.  He managed to raise his knee to hit Bobby in the groin, winding him.  He pushed Bobby off and got on top of him, he punched Bobby once in the eye and Bobby let out a wail of pain. 

“Stop!”  Faraday yelled at him. Bobby continued struggling so he hit him again.

“Will you stop?”  He yelled once more.

“No!”  Bobby shouted back.  He managed to get a grip on Faraday’s throat, Faraday threw another punch but hit the ground, he let out a yelp as the pain shot through his right arm.

Bobby managed to roll on top of Faraday again and put both hands around his throat, tightening his grip.

“Stop.”  Faraday gasped.

“No!”  Bobby yelled back, he squeezed as hard as he could until the tip of his cane struck him in the skull. He fell forwards in shock and pain before he hit the ground hard.

Faraday looked up at Jane, she was furious.  She helped him to his feet and sent him into Scarlett’s arms. Scarlett led him back through to the living room and Jane closed the bedroom door, leaving only herself and Bobby in the room.

Bobby put a hand to the back of his head and felt blood from the blow that his cane had inflicted.  He looked up at Jane and his anger gave way to surprise, he hadn’t really looked at her in the living room, he had been too busy staring at Faraday. She had aged considerably.

“Get up!”  She instructed.

Bobby managed to struggle on to the bed, he felt like a child being told off.

“What in the hell has gotten into you Bobby!”  She yelled.

“Has he not told you what he did?”  Bobby replied, grasping the cut on his head.

“I know everything Bobby, how old are you?”

“What?”  Bobby asked bemused.

“You heard.”

“I’m one hundred and twenty-three.”  He replied.

“Are you not exhausted from all of this Bobby?”  She asked.

He looked at her and nodded.

“Then why are you still doing it?  For crying out loud, that girl in the living room busted you out of Auschwitz, she clearly likes you!  Why fight Faraday for what has happened?”

“He put me there.”  Bobby replied.

“You know he wouldn’t have done that.  He had no idea what Abaddon had planned for you, if it weren't for him you would be dead.  David fucked off, but Faraday tried to fix his mistakes. He saved Chase, he saved Sarah, and he would have saved you had it not been for Jacob.”

“Where is David?”  Bobby asked.

“Bobby, how can I know that now?  Adolf Hitler rules the world, I don’t think things are going to happen as they did before.”

“I mean, what happened after he killed Martin Luther King?”

“I never saw him again.” 

“You don’t know what happened?”

“He saved his wife, they had a daughter.  He was killed.”

“By who?”  Bobby asked.

“Abaddon.  Faraday went to visit him to ask him for help to save you, he said no.  Jacob was planning on killing David. But when he saw Faraday he knew that Abaddon had lied to him again, so he didn’t.  He saved Nancy, Clint and I.  Then he stayed with us for a while, eventually we learned that Abaddon had killed David because David asked Abaddon to save you.”

“He saved Nancy?”  Bobby asked in surprise.  “Is she here?”

“She’s dead, lung cancer.”  Jane replied.

“Oh.”  Bobby muttered.  “And David is dead too.”

“Yes.”

“But he did try to help.”  Bobby nodded, he almost smiled.

“He did.  Bobby you need to understand something about life.  I know you are one hundred and twenty-three, but there is something you haven’t realised yet.  Life doesn’t need to be about death, your life has been all about death.  You watched your grandmother die, you tried to kill yourself, you watched Lincoln die, you killed Maranzano, you attempted to stop Kennedy dying and Oswald dying, you tried to stop Hoover dying, you saw Nancy, Clint and me die, you then went after Lansky and that put you in Auschwitz.  A death camp, where you saw more people dying.  Doesn’t that tell you something?”  

Bobby looked up at her without speaking.

“It should Bobby, you have wasted one hundred and twenty-three years on death.  Why not give life a try?  You are the lucky one Bobby, you are immortal. Unless you get yourself killed anyway.  Look at me, I am not so fortunate.”

Bobby nodded his understanding.  “Did you ever figure out what the wormhole did to you?”

“No, nothing as far as I know.  Faraday claims dead people visit him, you don’t age, and David didn’t sleep.”

“Well, maybe you have something.”  Bobby said out of sympathy rather than belief.

“Bobby that’s my point, I don’t care anymore.  I was a young woman when I last saw you, I’ve raised two kids since then, one of whom was your dad.  I will not spend a single moment more of my time on shit like killing, or trying to stop a killing unless someone is going to hurt my family.”

Bobby nodded again.

“I advise you to do the same.”

“I don’t have a family Jane.”

“Sarah came back for you, what does that tell you?  She wants to be your family, let her.”

“What about Hitler, none of us will live long if he rules the world?”

“Kennedy said if Hitler is killed today, then it’s over, everything will go back to normal.”

“He doesn’t have a shooter.”  Bobby replied.

“He does now.” 

Chapter 41

When Faraday and Bobby left the room, Scarlett and Jane followed closely behind to listen in on their conversation.  Chase had taken a seat at the table by the window, and Sarah had taken a seat on the vacant couch.  Clint had moved over to stand beside Jacob, whilst Bobby Kennedy stared at the floor in front of him.  Jack was pacing backwards and forwards, still holding the bottle of whisky.

“We need to get out of here.”  Bobby Kennedy said breaking the silence.

They heard shouting coming from the hallway.

“Abaddon said that they have Oswald.  He will eventually lead them here, we still have ten hours until Hitler will get to Hitler Plaza.”  It was now 02:30.

“You only had one shooter for a job this big?”  Jacob asked in amazement.

“It had to stay quiet.”  Jack said by way of an excuse.  “If they come here and arrest us, they will find the body, none of us will survive this.” 

“Well, we know who to blame for that!”  Chase barked.

“He had it coming.”  Jacob replied, glowering at Chase.

“So do you.”  Chase replied.