15 Minutes: A YA Time Travel Thriller (Rewind Series) (17 page)

Rex
was the assassin.

He
had a working relationship with the Senator, and even though they pretended not
to know each other, if you knew what to look for, you could see it. Rex tried
to kill Mom, and when he failed, she stayed with Rewind and married
Jax
.

Did
Jax
know? Was he innocent?

I
don’t want to hurt him, but I know I need to expose them all.

****

My
eyes snap open and I
suck
in a sharp intake of air.
I’m in a small room surrounded by cement walls with a window far up, but little
light is streaming inside. The room is empty except for a mattress I’m lying
on.

Pushing
up on my elbows, my stomach sways back and forth. I groan and check all my
pockets for my phone. It’s gone. My legs wobble when I try to stand, and I fall
against the wall. I brace myself against it to get to the door, but there’s no
window and no handle. It is completely flat.

I’m
trapped.

My
heart is pounding with fear. There’s no way out.

Footsteps
echo outside. Someone’s coming. I look around for a weapon, anything, but the
room is barren. Instead, I crouch down in the corner and wait for the door to
open.

The
men who kidnapped me enter, holding
Jax
between them.
The one with the dragon tattoo throws him to the ground. “Say what needs to be
said. Time is short.”

He
cringes in pain, and I scurry over to him. His face is black and blue, and he’s
bleeding above one eye. My heart gives an awful twinge at the sight of him
hurt. I grip him by the shoulders, my head collapsing against his chest. The
door latches.

We’re
alone.

Jax’s
hand rubs the top of my head. “This is all my
fault, Lara. I’m sorry. I thought I could control it. Then Molly …”

His
face contorts with pain, but he doesn’t cry. He remains strong.

And
that helps me stay strong too. “Are you going to hurt me?”

Jax
shakes his head. “Never. Never. God, that you
think that—of course why would think anything different?” He exhales. “I’ve
made a mess out of everything, Lara. Everything.”

I
bit my lip and feel like I can trust him. I can see the despair on his face as
he rubs his eyes with his hands. He looks like he’s living a nightmare. I ask a
question I need an answer to even though I’m afraid.

“Did
you know Rex was going to try to kill Mom? Did you help him?”

He
shakes his head as I help him sit up. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Tell
me,” I spit out. “I deserve the truth.”

“It
started with late nights, dinners … then dancing. I was in love with your
mother, and she—”

“Was
married, I know. Then what?”

He
leans his head back and looks up at the lights. “You missed your mom. So did
John. Miranda was going to quit, spend more time with you, but Patricia James …
wouldn’t stand for it. Your mom knew too much about the illegal research, about
the illegal money Patricia was funneling into the company when it was a
startup.”

“The
guys who grabbed us, the ones with the tattoos, that would make them—”

Jax
nods. “Mob. They are invested in your mom’s
research and keep Patricia on a short leash. Even now, if it got out … they own
her. Once, she was our friend, but now … no. She can’t be trusted.”

“So
she hired your brother to take her out?”

Jax’s
shoulders round, and his face despairs. “I
didn’t know, not before he took the shot. You have to believe me. We might be
brothers, but our lives took very different paths. He was in the mob as an
enforcer at a young age, and since then … let’s say his skills have improved,
all right?”

I
do believe him. I see the agony in his face as he talks about his brother. “But
you covered it up. You framed my father.”

“I
didn’t have a choice. The mob … they would’ve tried again. They would’ve killed
your mom, you, me, everyone. But he’s my brother. We worked out a deal. He’d
never come back. He’d leave us alone … if I kept Miranda at her job, doing her
research. If I’d keep her quiet.” He takes a deep sigh. “Then we got married. I
never thought —”

“You
fell in deep.” I bite my lip. “You had the twins.”

Jax
nods.

“So
what changed? Why did Rex come back?”

Jax
shakes his head. “The Senator did. Your mother
did. Their relationship … was getting worse. Your mom was going to leave and
blow the lid off the whole thing. I didn’t know any of this until Molly was
taken, until you went missing. But your mom told me about the Senator ’s threats,
about what happened to that reporter. Somehow, she had a source and—”

“I’m
the source.” I watch disbelief roll over his face.

“What?
How?”

“I
stole proprietary information from Rewind, from Mom, and handed it off to the
reporter. They got it back when they killed her. I have it all on video. I can
end this if I can get out.”

Jax
closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “And
Molly? They took her to …”

“Blackmail
me, get their stuff back. Seems like it worked.” I take a breath to force
myself to slow down. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”

“No!”
I almost believe him. “No.”

“
Jax
—”

“Listen,
I’m sorry for what I did, but I did the best I could.”

“What
you did …”

“You
think I don’t know what you’re going to say?”
Jax
narrows his eyes, and his hand caresses my cheek. “Every year, I love you both
more. Every year, I see how much harder it is for you. Every year, I feel worse
than I did before.”

“Every
year,” I whisper, and my mind flashes back to my father’s birthday party.

I
scraped birthday cake on top of an unopened envelope. The seal was a golden
M
for Montgomery. And Dad never opened
it because he knew who it was from—Mom’s lover. He sent us what? A card? Money?
Because his brother was responsible and he got away with it.

“You
okay?”
Jax
asks.

“Yeah
… a lot to take in.”

“Can
you forgive me for what I’ve done?”

I
swallow.

He
waits silently.

“It
might be too much.” His face is crestfallen. “But you raised me. I wish you
found another way.”

His
lip quivers. “Me too. Do what they say, Lara, then maybe we’ll all get out of
here, all get a second chance.”

I
doubt that’s true, but I hope it is.

The
door opens again and in walks Rex. He looks different than he did the last time
I saw him. A scab runs down the side of his face. It looks fresh.

I
snarl. “What happened to your face?”

“You
did.”

My
eyebrows furrow. “I think I’d remember,” I say, even though it’s quite possible
I don’t.

He
crouches down, and his smile is chilling, unkind. “You will later. Just proves
our plans for you were successful. You are the one Miranda has been searching
for her entire career. How ironic.”

I
can’t fathom what he’s talking about. Is he talking about her work?

“I’m
sorry, my darling. There’s no time to explain. The procedure room is ready for
you.”

“Rex.”
Jax
glances up at his brother with wide eyes. “You
said you’d let her go once you had everything that was yours.”

“Plans
change.” Rex signals his thugs, who grab my arms, forcing me to my feet.

“Let
her go!”
Jax
screams.

I
kick my legs and fight them every step of the way. “Let me go!” I try to pull
my arms free, throw my head around. I do everything I can.

Still,
they bring me down a long corridor into a sterile room. In the center is a long
leather chair, something like a dentist’s chair, but with a hole in the
headrest. I’m slammed into it and their strong bodies hold me still as they
cuff me in.

I
scream, thrash, and even manage to bite one of their ears.

“
Ahhh
!” He backhands me across the jaw.

“Enough!”

My
chest heaves as everyone stands to attention. It’s Patricia James in a blue
executive suit, not a hair out of place. She’s the perfect picture of a
Washington powerhouse.

She
studies me. I’ve never seen anyone so unwaveringly unapologetic, but I’ve never
been kidnapped before.

“Have
you forgotten we have Molly?”

I
swallow hard. Part of me did.

“What do you want?” My teeth grit together.

“A weapon. A time traveler. Someone who can get me
everything I need to turn around this pathetic country. And according to your brain
scans at the hospital …” Her sneer gives me shivers. “You’re it.”

I take a deep breath. My insides are shaking.

“You could still die, but this is the only way to save
Molly,
Jax
, your mother. Understood?” She crosses her
arms like a school teacher waiting for me to turn in my homework.

Under her penetrating gaze, I nod, but my mind spins. I
need to find a way out of this.

“Good. We can be friends if you do what you’re told.”

I sneer. “Some friend.”

“
Hmph
!”

The next sight turns my blood cold. Men enter the room with
my mom between them and slam her onto the floor. A thug places his hand on her
neck, keeping her down in place.

“I won’t do this to my daughter. I won’t!” she cries out.

I squeeze my eyes shut and lean my head back. Everything I
went through to save her, and now she’s back in danger, despite all I did.
Maybe that’s how things are. Maybe I have no control. Maybe I can’t save her.
But I don’t believe it for one second. Mom
can
be saved. We all can, if I can only figure out how.

I must go through with my old plan, go back in time to when
this all started. If I catch Rex at the scene and turn him in, this future
won’t exist.

It’s my only shot.

“You saw the brain scans,” Patricia says. “This is the only
thing that might save her life. You have no choice. Or should I get Molly in
here?”

“No!” Mom shouts. “Leave her out of this.” She stands up
and rests a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry about this. I’m so sorry, Lara.”

I swallow hard. “It’s the only way out. Do it.”

Her eyes cloud over. I am the next test subject. They want
to unlock time travel in someone, and I am the best candidate. What Patricia
doesn’t know is I am her worst enemy, and if this works, I’ll take her down.

 
“This is going to
hurt,” Mom says.

I open my eyes and try not to look as she readies a needle.
I bite my lip as she slides it into the base of my skull.

When she pulls it out, I gasp for air, my fingers gripping
at the arm rest.

“Mom?” I whisper, my lips trembling.

She’s holding a metal hose in her hand and begins to fish
it through the back of the chair. I can’t see much, which makes my heart
palpitate. I can barely keep still and am beginning to sweat.

“I love you, baby,” she whispers and leans over to kiss my
cheek. “If this works, you need to save Molly. You need to find a way.”

I barely nod. I don’t want the Senator to see.

The tube is attached to my skull, and a moment later
searing heat and ice race through my body. My vision flashes to white, then a
spectrum of colors.

Agony!

My back arches, my head snaps back, and I scream.

After a lifetime of misery, in my mind, I see the entrance
to an apartment complex. My finger hovers over the buzzer for 302c.

The label reads
Joyce
Meyers
.

The
young woman who answers the door of 302c has blonde hair, cut simply, but
stunning eyes. So this is Joyce Meyers. I nervously walk in and hand her the
duffle bag.

She
examines the contents. “This is everything?”

I
cross my arms and pace. Being there is my goal, but it’s making my skin crawl.
“Yes. Do you think it’ll be enough?”

“To
free your father? I don’t know, but to get an inquiry into Rewind and the
Senator? Absolutely. I’ll look over everything and get back to you as soon as I
can.”

I
smile at her as she places a hand on my shoulder. We stop short of the front
door as the doorbell rings.

“Are
you expecting someone?” I ask.

She
runs to peer through the peephole. “Quick, hide!”

I
grab the duffle bag and run. Frantic, I slam myself into the linen closet,
barely able to catch my breath.

I
hear voices, one of them familiar. Fishing my cell phone out of my pocket, I
start recording a video. Through the slats in the door, I can make out Joyce.
Her mouth is slack and her eyes wide as she raises her hands up in
self-defense. The thug with the neck tattoo clamps a cloth over her mouth. She
struggles and then goes limp in their arms.

I
cover my mouth to keep from screaming. He lays her down on the ground and
another face comes into view. Patricia James.

“Make
it look like a suicide this time.”

This
time.

I
turn off my phone and squeeze my eyes shut, shoving it into my pocket as I
kneel down so no one will see me. If they catch me, I’m dead, but this video
might be what I need to stop the Senator for good.

“Find
the evidence. Find out who her source is.”

I
only hope they won’t find me. Please don’t search the closet.

They
go to search the bedroom first, so I take the opportunity to peek out of the
closet door and look around. The coast is clear. I sling the bag carefully over
my shoulder, and with shaking legs I am at the front door in only a few steps.
The run down the hall seems to go on forever.

I
hear a voice far off. “Whoever she is, get her.”

I
squeal and hit all the buttons on the elevator before I run down the stairs. I
hope they didn’t see me.

I
hope.

****

I
have no idea how much time has passed when I open my eyes next. My body is on
fire. The muscles in my arms and legs are shaking from utter exhaustion.
Groaning, I roll over in the bed I’m in. It’s a hospital bed, but the room is
anything but medical. Other than myself and the bed, the room is empty. When I
try to sit up, my vision spins like a kaleidoscope. I mash my hands to my eyes
and hear the door open.

“Feeling
better?” It’s the Senator. She throws a bag down on my leg. “Financials,
schematics. It’s all here but one thing.”

My
eyes flutter open and I glance down. It’s my bag, the one with all the evidence
in it. I can’t look at her. I know what’s coming.

“Where
is the video?” Anger begins to seep into her voice.

“The
video is there.”

“Not
the one of my conversation with that damn reporter.”

“You
mean the one when you killed her?” My eyes open and I grin. “Oops.”

She
grips my arm and bares her teeth. “Where is it! I am not playing games with you
or your family.”

“No?
You think I ever expect to get out of here? My mom? You’ll never let us go.
I’ve seen enough movies to know we are too big a risk for you. We’ll all be
framed or disposed of, so I see no reason to help you.”

I
lay my head back and close my eyes to settle my rolling stomach. “If I am not
released, if I don’t call your son, he will release the video to the media,” I
lie, hoping it will buy me some time.

“You
told my son?” Her voice is a hushed whisper. “He wouldn’t believe you.”

“No?
Maybe you should ask him.”

Patricia
backs out the door.

I
hope Donovan will be all right. I’m sure he’ll piece together what his mom is
up to, but I can’t bet on it. Somehow, I have to get out of this room and find
Molly. If I can get the microchip and release the contents, the Senator will be
arrested. It’s the only way to save me and my family.

****

“I
can’t,” I say.

I
groan, my back arching in pain. Electrodes are fastened against my temples, and
I am strapped back in the chair. Overhead, the lights grow brighter. The
intensity pounds painfully into my brain, but I can’t even move my head to get
away from them.

“Again.”
The Senator grits her teeth.

Rex
is at the controls. I see him shift a gear, and the pain in my head magnifies.

I
see a hallway, the one leading to my prison cell, but I resist using time
travel. If I show them what I can do, all will be lost. The Senator will never
leave me alone. She’ll make sure I’m never able to go back and fix my mistakes.

I
groan again under the strain. My teeth chatter together, and saliva forms at
the corner of my mouth. Part of me is drawn, pulled from my body, but I
restrain myself. I grip the armrest, refusing to give in. It’s like the
ultimate staring contest, but the more I hold steady and refuse to give in, the
more it hurts, the more my body wants to blink.

“Enough!”
Mom screams, trying to force her way past the mob thugs that watch us every
step of the way. “She’s in pain. She can’t do it.”

“You
better hope she does.”

The
thug with the golden dragon tattoo says, “If she doesn’t, I have the authority
to get rid of any loose ends. And you, your family, you’re all a loose end.”

I
can’t see what Mom is doing, but I hear the fear in her voice. “Let me give her
something. She can’t think like this, how is she supposed to do anything in
this much pain? Give me a few minutes, please.”

“You
have five minutes," the Senator says. “After that, we will need to see
results, Miranda.”

A
few moments later, a door latches behind us. Mom pushes a few buttons, and the
machine restraints loosen. The tension in my head is gone, like a released
vacuum seal. My mouth falls open, and I gasp for breath as Mom injects me with
something.

“Mom?”
I whisper with everything left in me.

“Oh
baby.” She strokes my forehead. “We have to figure out a way to give them what
they want.”

I
shake my head. “That would be signing your death warrant, and then they’d never
leave me alone. I need to fix this. I need to fix it now, Mom.”

Her
eyebrows furrow. “How can you?”

“Time
travel.” I give her a tired smile.

Her
face drops. “But you can’t. You’ve been at it for hours.”

“I
haven’t been trying. I’ve been trying not to time travel.”

Her
hand grips mine. “It might … it might kill you.”

“It
might not. If I don’t get this right, I’m as good as dead anyway.”

She
wipes the tears off her cheeks. “You’re stronger than me, Lara. I don’t know
how you’ve held it together this long, but I love you. Please be careful.”

That
was always my intent.

“Where
will you try to go?”

“I
don’t know.”

I
close my eyes and take a deep breath. It’s time to try again. The pain is
returning with a vengeance. Each blink is like sandpaper, and my tongue is as
dry as the desert. If only I hadn’t been caught by Rick. If only I had found
another way.

The
room begins to spin and shift in front of me. The walls, the floor, everything
moves in a circle except for me. I am stationary.

“What
the?”

My
heart races, and I grip the armrest of the bed as everything falls away. I float
through darkness and space until my feet land on earth. Air fills my lungs, and
everything falls in place around me, brick by brick, almost as if I were inside
a LEGO model. A door and then some lights appear. I’m back in the hallway
outside Rick’s apartment, standing beside myself.

But
she is frozen like a mannequin and doesn’t seem to see me.

Somehow,
I’ve gone back in time. My mom’s experiment worked. The Senator was right when
she said it was me all along. My headache clears as Rick appears beside me, but
he’s also frozen in stone. For a brief moment I peer up into his frozen face.

“I’m
sorry,” I whisper, and yank my duffle bag from his hand.

When
the music begins to blare behind us, Rick’s face snaps to life. Without waiting
for the confusion to clear, I sprint out the door. The air is cool as it greets
my face. My legs pump, and my arms swing. I’m in for the run of my life.

Rick
chases after me. “Wait!”

I
hurry past the van and make a break for the curb. Shielding my eyes, I hear
movement to my side and then gunfire. I leap to the ground, ducking behind a
light post and an old newspaper vending machine for cover. I look up at the
glowing Dunkin’ Donuts sign covered in a dream-like fog. It shatters under a
hailstorm of bullets.

I
cover my head as a set of tires squeal. Donovan’s sports car pulls up on the
curb to cover me. I dive into the passenger seat, my head down low and scream,
“Go!”

Donovan
peels away from the curb in a 180 and drives back the way he came. His eyes
stay on the road, but his hand squeezes mine. “You all right?”

I
nod and clutch the duffle bag to my chest. “Keep driving.”

“Where?”
His eyes flash from the road to me.

“Police
station. I need you to drop all this stuff off in case I don’t return.”

Anxiety
creeps into his voice. “Return? Return from where?”

“The
past.”

“Lara,
you’re not making any sense.”

“I
know, and I’m sorry.” I bite my lip. “There’s no time to explain. I need to fix
all of this so my dad was never framed and Molly was never kidnapped, and
there’s only one way to do that. I need to go back to the beginning.”

Donovan
drives under an old abandoned bridge. He cuts the engine and turns to me. His
eyes study me, and I study him because I’m afraid the next time I see him, he
won’t love me at all.

“How
do we do that? Do we need to get into Rewind?”

I
shake my head and stroke his cheek. “Not anymore.”

The
features of his face are drawn together. “You never make things dull, you know
that?”

I
laugh and lean over. In the background, sirens wail and I hear a rush of
footsteps. “Remember me when I’m gone.”

“Don’t
talk like this. I could never forget you, Lara.”

When
our lips meet, the moment is magical. I feel warm everywhere in the blanket of
his love, understanding, and compassion. My mind opens up, and suddenly I
remember everything.

Everything.

I
wish to stay with him forever. I grip his jacket, and his arms squeeze me
tight.

But
in my mind, I see an alley.