A Time of Shadows (Out of Time #8) (29 page)

He started to walk away and Simon grabbed his arm. “We can’t wait.”

Boyd looked down at Simon’s hand and then back up in nervous surprise. Simon looked to make sure there was no one else near, then slipped his gun from his pocket to make sure Boyd saw it.

“We
really
can’t wait.”

Boyd swallowed nervously.

Simon had never held an innocent man at gunpoint before, but he would do that and more if that’s what it took to get Charlotte back.

“Now,” Simon prompted him.

Boyd nodded quickly and led them down to the basement into the storage area. Drawer after drawer and shelf after shelf were filled with watches and clocks.

They made their way down an aisle, Boyd reading the tags on the ends as they went. “9,200, 9,300. Here.”

“Open it,” Simon demanded.

Boyd looked nervously at him and then Elizabeth.

She returned his look sympathetically, but firmly. Simon knew she didn’t like getting innocent people involved, but they had no choice.

“I’m sorry about this,” she said.
 

Boyd looked anxiously at Simon, who waved his gun toward the drawer to move things along. Boyd nodded quickly and did as he was told.

He pulled open the large, wide drawer. In small compartments inside it were several dozen watches. Simon kept his eye and his gun on Boyd while Elizabeth searched.

Simon’s eyes danced toward the drawer, unable to resist looking.

“Come on, come on, come on,” Elizabeth chanted softly as she skimmed over each row of watches, until finally a sigh escaped her lips and she reached into the drawer. “Oh, thank God.”

She picked up the watch and held it out. Simon glanced at it. “You’re sure?”

She nodded and Simon felt a wave of relief, but this was far from over. Elizabeth turned back to Boyd as she put the watch in her purse.
 

“Must be mighty valuable for you to do all this,” Boyd said.

“It’s worth everything,” Simon said and looked at Elizabeth. “Everything.”

J
ACK
SAT
IN
T
RAVERS
’ outer office and waited. He’d tried reading. He’d tried pacing. Hell, he’d try yoga if it would take away this feeling of helplessness.
 

“Are you sure I can’t get you anything?” Grace asked. Again.

He mustered up a small smile for her and shook his head.
 

She nodded and they both went back to what they were doing—worrying.

He’d gotten the first flight back to the States after his phone call with Simon and Elizabeth. Tess had been turned over to local authorities. Even if he had been able to reach Travers and other agents had been sent to pick her up, how could he know they weren’t dirty too? It was a helluva a mess.

It had taken him nearly a day to get to San Francisco, and by the time he had, Simon and Elizabeth were already gone. Renaud had been forced to go to the hospital. Jack would have let him stay if the man could have stood on his own, but he was too weak to help. And there was no one else they trusted. They were in this alone.

Jack leaned back in his chair and ran his hands down its padded arms. Just the three of them, and some help he’d been so far. The man he was supposed to find was dead, killed by the one person he shouldn’t have trusted. That was twice now his partners had turned out to be double-agents. From now on, he worked alone. Assuming there was a future.

What a waste his mission had been. He should have stayed here and looked after the kid. Sure as hell, she wouldn’t have been taken if he’d been here.

“Dammit,” he muttered and rolled his shoulders.
 

Grace looked anxiously at him. She was doing her best to hold it together, but he wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
 

He sat forward again and looked at the small package addressed to Simon and Elizabeth Cross that had been delivered hours before. He’d tried to track down the delivery man, but it had gone through a series of services, changing hands several times before being delivered to the Aion Society. No matter how much he might want to know, might dread knowing, what was inside, it wasn’t his to open. And so it taunted him as he waited.

He forced himself to look away from it. “Maybe I will have a—”

The door to the hall opened and Elizabeth appeared, followed closely by Simon.
 

“Jack!” Elizabeth said. It wasn’t quite a smile, but for a brief moment the worry lifted from her face.

“Hey kid,” he said and pulled her into a hug.

She held onto him and he whispered into her ear, “We’ll get her back.”

He felt her nod against his shoulder and then pull away. She wiped under her eyes and pulled herself together.

Jack turned to Simon. He knew the answer, but he asked the question anyway. “Get it?”

Simon nodded curtly. “Anything here?”

Jack nodded. “Grace,” he said without turning around. “Would you give us a few minutes?”

Elizabeth’s face went pale and Simon’s jaw tightened.
 

“Is Charlotte…?” Simon asked.

“No,” Jack said quickly. “We don’t have any reason to think that.”

Jack didn’t know what was in the package and if it was something…personal, he wanted them to be able to deal with it privately.
 

He heard the door to the inner office close as Grace left them alone.

“What is it?” Elizabeth asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“It might be nothing, but….” He looked down at the package. “That arrived a few hours ago.”

Simon and Elizabeth looked down at it with fear and revulsion, and he took hold of her hand. Slowly, they sat down.
 

Simon looked to Elizabeth for permission. She took a deep breath and nodded.
 

Simon’s hand shook as he picked up the small package. He tore open the brown paper and paused. He pushed out a slow breath and then opened it. His jaw set as he steeled himself against what might be inside.

Elizabeth closed her eyes.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s all right,” he said putting a hand on her knee. “It’s all right.”

Jack let out the breath he’d been holding. Thank God.

Simon reached into the box and pulled out a lock of auburn hair. He stared at it for a moment before handing it to Elizabeth. She wiped back fresh tears and ran it through her fingers.

From the box, Simon pulled out a small cell phone that had a piece of paper wrapped around it. He removed the rubber band and tossed it into the box and put them both onto the table.

“What does it say?” Jack asked.

Simon frowned and looked at him with dark eyes as he turned the note around to show him.

All it said was
Wait
.

~~~

Long drives were good for thinking. The last thing Simon wanted to do was think or go on a long drive and now he had to do both.

The phone call had come less than twenty-four hours after they’d returned. A digitally altered voice told them where to go and when, and then put Charlotte on the line.
 

His heart constricted at the fear in her voice, but she was alive and she was going to stay that way. As Elizabeth had put it, they’d figure out how to save the world after they’d saved their daughter.

The location of the exchange was more than four hours from San Francisco, and they’d been given less than five as a lead time. There was no time for any elaborate planning. Simon’s plan was simple. Find Charlotte and kill everyone responsible.
 

He glanced over at Elizabeth as she ran the lock of hair through her fingers again and again. Although she was always trying to find a peaceful solution to any problem, he somehow doubted she’d be worried about that here. There was something primal about protecting his child that buried nearly every civilized part of him.
 

He gripped the steering wheel and channeled his rage, focused it until he felt nearly devoid of anything else. It was strangely comforting, calming. Old Nan’s prophecy, that their child would die, whispered to him from the back of his mind. And no matter how he tried to ignore it, it stayed and repeated, over and over again.

The road grew narrower as they drove deeper into the mountains. Large redwood trees crowded the two-lane road and the sun met the horizon. After another half hour on a deserted stretch of road, they reached the turn-off. Saw-horses with a “Bridge Out” sign attached to them blocked the road just as they’d been told it would. Simon pulled over and Elizabeth got out to move them aside. He pulled ahead and she replaced them before getting back in. They faded into the rearview mirror. No one would interrupt them.

They were told to arrive by themselves, but that didn’t mean they were alone. Jack had promised to be there, and Simon knew he would find a way.

They were getting close now, and he slowed down, finally coming to a stop. He reached for a bag in the back seat and handed her a gun. “Take this.”

She frowned down at it—he knew how she felt about them—but she took it. She hefted it in her hand and then turned back and nodded. They both knew this could be, most likely was, a trap. They might not survive it. The weight of that hit him, and it took his breath away.
 

He stared over at her. He knew every inch of her by heart, and yet she still surprised him every day. A lifetime with her would not be long enough. A few hours was impossible.

“God, I love you,” he said.
 

Tears welled in her eyes and she nodded. Her voice broke. “I love you, too.”

She leaned forward and they kissed. It was sad and beautiful and over too quickly. He took a few deep breaths.

“Ready?” he asked.

She chambered a round as if she’d done it a hundred times before. He arched a surprised eyebrow.
 

“Just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use them.”

Another surprise; one he’d ask her about later when they all saw the other side of this.

He put the car in gear and they continued down the narrow road. After only a few more minutes, he could see one of the trusses from the bridge through a break in the trees.

On the far side of the bridge were two cars. Simon could make out two men. He strained to see Charlotte, but he couldn’t.

He parked the car at the far end of the bridge as he’d been instructed. He looked around them, but all he could see was the growing shadows of dusk and the forest beyond. Jack was out there somewhere. He hoped.

The headlights ahead flashed, the signal for them to get out of the car. They both opened their doors and stepped out.

“Do you see her?” Elizabeth asked softly.

Simon shook his head.

“Leave your weapons,” a voice called out, strong and clear in the quiet of the woods. The only other sound was the dull roar of the river below.

Simon hesitated. They would be sitting ducks, but they had little choice.

“Where’s Charlotte?” he called back.

A man Simon hadn’t noticed before stepped out from the shelter of one of the left side vertical trusses at the middle of the bridge. He pulled Charlotte out next to him.

Simon’s heart leapt in his chest. He took a quick, calming breath. “Are you all right?”

“Daddy—” she started, but the man yanked at the collar of her shirt and she quieted.
 

Simon’s heart lurched and he took a half step forward before stopping himself. He stared at Charlotte in the dim light. She seemed unharmed he told himself. That was all that mattered.
 

“It’s almost over, honey!” Elizabeth called out.

“Very touching,” the voice from the other side said. “The guns?”

Simon and Elizabeth exchanged worried glances, but they had to obey. Simon put the guns down on the front seat. He and Elizabeth held up their hands to show they were unarmed.

“And the watch?”

Elizabeth started to reach into her pocket.

“Slowly!” the man warned.

She slowed her movements and pulled out the watch. She held it up, not that they could see anything from that distance. The far side of the bridge was well over 100 feet away.

“And just to make sure you don’t do anything you shouldn’t,” the man said and then waved to the one with Charlotte.
 

The man with Charlotte picked her up and walked over to the edge of the bridge. Simon’s breath came faster and his mind raced.

For a brief moment, he thought he was going to throw her over the side, but the man placed her on top of the railing and held her there for balance. She cried out in fear.

“It’s okay!” Elizabeth called out to her before turning to Simon. Her eyes had gone a little wild, her breathing coming a little faster.
 

“A little insurance,” the man said.

Simon held up his shaking hand. “All right, all right. Just stay still, Charlotte!”

“Now that we have an understanding,” the voice said. “Walk toward us. Stay to the right.”

“How do we know you’ll keep your end of the bargain?” Simon asked.

There was a pause.
 

“You don’t.”

Simon looked over at Elizabeth. He wasn’t sure what either of them was hoping he’d say, but that wasn’t it.

“Walk,” the man said.

They started forward.

“Just the woman.”

Simon stopped and put out his arm in front of Elizabeth. “No.”

The man holding Charlotte leaned her out over the edge and she nearly lost her footing. She cried out again, frantically gripping her captor’s arm. Simon felt a wave of nausea.
 

“Just the woman,” the voice repeated.

“It’s all right,” Elizabeth said quickly, breathlessly, her eyes on their daughter. “I’ll come alone.”

“Elizabeth.”

She looked at him and shook her head. Her voice trembled. “It’ll be fine.”

Simon clenched his hands into fists and watched her walk ahead. His heart beat faster with every step she took. She kept to the right side of the bridge as they’d been instructed. One of the men walked toward her until they met in the middle.