15 Minutes: A YA Time Travel Thriller (Rewind Series) (10 page)

The
mall goes into complete lockdown a few minutes too late. Whoever has taken
Molly had enough time to get away. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t been fighting
with Donovan and Rick, I would’ve seen it.

I
should’ve been paying attention.

I
sit on the edge of a carousel with a tissue pushed to my nose. The bleeding
slows. The loud, angry crowd around us grows, increasingly irritated about
being detained by the police. Kids cry, but none of them are Molly; she must be
long gone. I can’t help but wonder if my actions since being in this new past
are to blame.

Donovan
sits with Mike, who is crying hysterically, having rarely been separated from
his twin, especially not in such a disturbing fashion. I worry he’ll be
traumatized forever if we don’t get her back. I glance at my watch. It’s only
been fifteen minutes, but it feels as if it’s been a lifetime. I wonder where
Mom is and what I’ll say to her, what she’ll say to me. I wasn’t supposed to
take them out without permission.

And
now Molly was gone. Like Mom hasn’t been through enough. I remove the tissue
and fold it up.

Rick
sits beside me. “You all right?”

I
nod but keep silent for fear of blubbering. I take a deep breath. “She’s a
baby, you know. Not even seven years old yet. I should’ve … kept a better eye
on her.”

Rick
swallows, and I see his neck muscles clenching. “I shouldn’t have come.” He
shakes his head. “I didn’t think kissing you would lead here.”

“Me
either,” I whisper, barely able to get the words out.

I
sit up straighter when I see Mike coming over. I hold my breath as he crushes
me in a bear hug and buries his head deep in my stomach. I hold him as tight as
I can, but my eyes are focused on Donovan, who is walking in front of me. I’m
not sure I’ve ever seen a face more severe than Donovan’s, his lips turned down
and his eyes hollow.

He
runs a hand through his hair as if he’s getting ready to say something, but the
charging of footsteps behind him distracts all of us. Mike looks up and cries,
“Mom,” and rushes toward our parents.

Mom
and
Jax
are bent down low, ready to accept Mike’s
tackle of a hug, and my stomach twists. I don’t want to live through what’s
coming. I’m not ready for the worry, the lecture. I pray they’ll see how much
this is killing me.

“I
shouldn’t have … started with Rick. If I knew the twins were here…” He chokes
out the words, not on tears but instead on his pride.

I
nod. “You didn’t know.” My tongue circles inside my mouth. I taste metal and
something like fish. Is it nerves? Something else?

Glares
of intimidation pass between Donovan and Rick. They have unfinished business,
but it’s going to have to wait.

Mom
approaches me, her cheeks still streaked with tears and her blue eyes lit like
a Christmas tree. “What happened?” she demands.

Ready
to face the music, despite the growing pit of dread in my stomach, my mouth
opens.

“What
the hell were you doing here?” she says before I can utter a word. “You said
you had chores. You said you had homework. Why did you lie, Lara? Why!”

“We
just—”

“She’s
a baby,” Mom wobbles on her feet, and fresh tears spring to her eyes. “And now?
Why can’t you tell the truth once in a while? Why!” Her hands are shaking in
the air, as if she wishes they were squeezing my neck.

 
I feel seething jealousy. She seems to love
Molly more than me, so I take out the receipt from my purse, crumble it, and
throw it at her. “Because they wanted to get you this. It was supposed to be a
surprise. All right?”

Mom
reads it, but her eyes barely flicker. I thought it might be my way of defusing
the situation, but I lose hope as she tosses the receipt down on the floor.
“Fine. A shopping trip? Fine. So where were you when she was taken? Why weren’t
you there the moment, the very moment, the ride stopped?”

Donovan
steps forward. “It was my fault, Miranda. I’m sorry. I saw Lara with Rick. I…
distracted her. I’m real sorry,” he says with his eyes trained on me.

It
means a lot that he’d take the blame after what he caught me doing. I bite my
lip, waiting for Mom’s next venomous attack. It’s not really her fault, but it
doesn't make it hurt less.

“Rick?”
Her tone shows recognition. “I didn’t know you still talked to him.”

“It’s
a new thing,” I say and grip my fingers.

Jax
stands behind my mother, massaging her
shoulders. I can’t tell if he wants to kill me or not. “Police have some
questions for Lara, if you agree.”

Mom
nods without thinking. “Anything. Anything that brings our baby home.”

In
two steps a police officer is beside me, and while his face is friendly, this
feels like the beginning of the end.

****

The
officers take me to a private room at the mall and ask me a lot of questions I
don’t have answers for, but I repeat to them what happened, making sure my
story doesn’t change. I even keep in the part about Donovan and Rick fighting
because I’m sure someone has tipped them off. When they ask if I saw anything
and I break down crying, they give me some tissues and a glass of water.
Someone mentions reviewing the security tapes, which gives me an idea.

“Can’t
you go back in time? Follow who took her?”

The
officers exchange glances. “We wish we could, but the red tape involved—”

“We
would never get to her in time. Time travel is reserved for … serial killers,
and even then…” The officer shakes his head, but it's obvious he wishes things
were different.

So
do I. Suddenly, everything Congress is voting on next week, what my mom has
been working toward, doesn't seem so evil.

It
seems necessary.

 
A knock comes from the door, and
Jax
pokes his head in. “It’s been a long day for my son.
Are you done with Lara?”

My
heart feels run over with a cheese grater. The police dismiss me but say
they’ll be back in the morning with more questions. I don’t know where we are
going, but I put on my jacket, glad to be going somewhere other than here.

I
wish I had never bought that stupid necklace. Even more, I wish I had never
gone back in time. I miss my dad, my room, and my stupid mutt of a dog who
forgot to go outside before he peed. I miss the Rick I knew and cold bowls of
macaroni and cheese. God, how I miss Rick.

When
we get into the elevator, I stare up at
Jax
. I’ve
failed him, and I’m desperate for his approval. “I’m sorry.”

I
bite my lip and cover my eyes with both my hands to hide my tears, but my
shoulders rock with heavy sobs. I’m not sure what I expect, but it isn’t a warm
embrace. I rest my head against his chest and everything in me lets go. He
should be screaming at me, but all he does is rub my back and rest his chin on
mine.

“You’re
my daughter too, you know. And I know no matter how bad things have been, I
know how much you love Molly. I
know
.”

My
teeth chatter as I will myself to pull together. The elevator opens, and a
police officer greets us and escorts us out the back of the mall, where cars
are waiting to take us home.
Jax
opens the door and
waits for me to slide beside Mom. I try not to look at her, and she’s trying
not to look at me. I don’t know how bad it is, but I don’t want to talk about
it.

My
parents talk about the police, and after a while
Jax
turns his attention to me, since Mom seems to be giving me the cold shoulder.
“There will be police at the house to monitor our lines. They think we’ll get a
ransom call over the next day, and then we can get Molly back.”

Sitting
beside
Jax
, Mike’s blue eyes are lost in an abyss of
despair, and I wink at him to try to make him feel better. He gives me a sad
smile, so I can tell he doesn’t blame me, and I thank God for small favors.

We’re
all quiet the rest of the way home. It’s getting dark, but as the car pulls up
to the house I see the flash of cameras from the journalists camped out on our
lawn. I close my eyes from dread as the door opens and a million questions are
shouted at once.

An
officer takes me by the arm and helps push me through the crowd. Mike cries
through the rushing field of questions.

“Lara,
this isn’t the first time tragedy has struck your family. Why do you think that
is?”

“Lara,
when you noticed your sister was missing, how did this make you feel?”

Lara.
Lara. Lara.

The
door to the house is flung open by an FBI agent, and I quickly duck in. Mom’s
face is severe as she carries Mike through the door. When
Jax
slams the door shut I jump, and feeling the start of a headache coming on, I
rub my temples.

Not
now. I don’t want any new memories now. The ones I have are enough to kill me.

Through
the glass, the lights continue to flicker, and I turn from them to watch Mom
carrying Mike up the stairs. It’ll be a long night for him, for all of us.

Jax
rests his hand on my shoulder and squeezes me
close as he listens to the FBI agents. I miss what they say as the pounding in
my head grows louder. I feel as if I’m in a tunnel underwater, and nothing
around me seems real.

It’s
like a bad dream, and I’m desperate to wake up. My head flashes.

****

I
see twin babies in front of me. Each of them is in a walker, one blue and the
other pink, but neither baby is big enough to move their walker, thanks to the
deep, plush carpet.

I
sit on the floor with them, legs crossed. I cover my eyes, wiggle my fingers,
and yell, “Boo!”

They
giggle with excitement, and I kiss each of their chubby hands.

Laughter
comes from behind me.
Jax
is sitting on the sofa with
his paperwork spread out in front of him. With glee in my head, I bounce on the
sofa and fold myself against him. He squeezes me as hard as he can and plants
kisses on my forehead.

“You
love the twins?”

“They’re
the best.” I grin and peer up at him. He kisses my nose. “When’s Mom coming
home?”

“Soon.”
Jax
nods. “A rough few weeks at work but she’ll be
here soon. She misses you guys something fierce when she has to work late like
this, you know that?”

“Yeah,”
I say, but a darkness in my heart begins to swallow me.
Jax
always says that, but when she is home, all she does is take care of the twins.

“Maybe
Mom can take me to see a movie sometime?” I ask with hope, my knees knocking
together. “Just the two of us?”

“Now
there’s an idea. I bet she’d love it.” He winks at me, and we settle in for a
few minutes and watch TV.

When
the front door slams, I get excited and stand up to greet Mom. She’s rushing in
with a giant smile on her face.

“Hi
sweetheart,” she says to me, but her eyes dart quickly to the twins. She
squeals and begins to scoop them up.

My
heart falls, and I sink back into the sofa cushions, feeling invisible. I wish
they’d swallow me alive. Maybe then Mom would notice me.

****

The
intense pain in my head is gone as the memory fades, but now I’m forced to live
with the truth that I’ve felt left out in my family for a long time. I am
essentially the third wheel in the Montgomery home and a painful reminder of
John Crane.

Lara
was right. The Lara I became that is.

Me,
I was wrong.

“When
do you think the call will come in?”
Jax
says, and my
head snaps to attention.

“Soon.
By tomorrow night.”

Jax
runs a hand through his hair. “Tomorrow
night
? She’s only a little girl.” He
bites his lip, and I’m sorry for hating him a few days ago. I see the fear in
his eyes and know how much he loves Molly.

I
try to move away, but his arm is clamped hard around me. He doesn’t seem to
want me to escape, so I stand there and stare at the floor.

Clomping
footsteps come down the stairs. “Go to your room,” Mom orders me. She stands at
the bar and pours herself a stiff drink. She downs it without looking at me and
commands, “Go.”

“Miranda.”
Jax’s
eyes narrow. “She has every right to be—”

“Don’t
argue with me tonight. Not tonight.” She clenches her jaw, refusing to look at
either of us.

Jax
hugs me, and I bury my face against his neck.
“It’ll be easier tomorrow,” he whispers against my ear. “I love you, peanut.”

I
flood with love for him along with regret. I want to hug Mom, tell her I’m
sorry, but she doesn’t want to hear it.