Double-Back (Jake Waters Book 3) (9 page)

All had continued on a steady and predictable course until the testing two months ago showed the product was a likely success and Karl had boosted Natalie's ownership in the company to her full third.  Natalie was certain that was what had triggered Anne's ire and caused her to contact the FBI agent named Carlson and which was causing such a problem.  Unless they could do something, all her efforts were going to come crashing down around her, and she could conceivably end up in prison for a pair of murders.

"How do we even approach this?" Jim asked.  "We have no specific place to start.  Now that you have looped back, none of it ever happened."

"Remember the sequence here," Jake warned Jim.  "All of this happened after I alerted you that you had called and warned me that Susan had been taken.  Their initial efforts were successful, and they got away with Susan to some place we never discovered.  Now I wish we had taken the time to figure out what exactly had happened.  I'd have those memories now.  It would tell us who these people are and give us a far better chance of dealing with them."

"They might have already killed me," Susan pointed out.  "They've shown by the sniper attempt that my survival isn't in their planning.   I assume they tried the kidnapping because they had questions they wanted answered.  Questions they ultimately decided were of secondary importance."

"Okay," Jim agreed.  "So after you alerted us, that's when we thwarted them, and took their pictures, which I forwarded to you in California?"

Nodding, Jake agreed.

"That's where we got unpredictably lucky.  If I hadn't been planning on the multi-jump Back-Track matter for Karin, whoever it is in their group that has my ability would have looped back when he became conscious and aware of their failure, just as I believe he did, but I would have been caught in the loop just as you and Susan have been, and none of us would have been aware that we caught them.  In fact, if he did it right, I would not have known of either of the attempts against Susan, just as they are unaware that at one point they succeeded in grabbing her."

"This kind of thing was hard enough to keep track of when it was just you making the jumps backward," Jim noted.

Susan had been thinking.

"A similar chain of events must follow the sniper attempt," she said.  "These people must be aware that somehow we thwarted their attempt at kidnapping me, but not know exactly how we became aware of their attempt.  That means they know they were caught, and at least one person with an ability like yours will have memories of Jim and the other agents involved.  This assumes the person was a participant in the kidnapping, but that's probably a reasonable assumption.  He probably saw me as well, but he won't know about you, because you weren't there at any time."

She looked at Jake.

"That's how I see it," he agreed.

"All of this is somewhat reasonable, but we aren't certain he was there during the sniping attempts," Jim pointed out.  "You said we arrested just two men that time."

"Which might mean I'm wrong about him, or that after the problem with the kidnapping, he elected to stay remote, perhaps in radio contact.  He could do his Back-Tracking and alter their plans that way just as well."

"Except you were already suspicious, and acted quickly to preserve your awareness of the second attempt against Susan," Jim said.

"I was convinced that if someone like me was involved, he would act quickly to undo the situation, just as had been done before.  I needed the event as a verification of my theory, and hoped the loopback I made would allow me to preserve my view of what happened.  Thus far, it has worked."

"Thus far?" Susan asked.

"We've been lucky," Jake replied.  "Whoever this is has no reason to suspect anyone like me.  He probably believes he is unique with this ability.  Up to now I believed that of myself.  I never considered the need to protect any of our actions against someone who could loop around my memories.  Because this person believes he only needs to protect against normal individuals, he has only looped back far enough to undo the critical parts of their plan, so you and Jim won't know of their planned attacks, and therefore have no reason to go looking for them.  But, if they get a hint of me, then I can't see what could prevent this guy from Back-Tracking far enough and changing history, so that I'm no longer aware of events either."

"This could get out of hand," Jim noted.

"It could get incredibly dangerous," Susan said.  "Up to now, they have been after me for reasons we still don't know.  If they focus on that goal, the two of you are there to continue to thwart their actions."

Jake shook his head in disagreement.

"There can't be too many more situations like these last two, or they are going to realize something is involved beyond good intelligence on our part.  They'll eventually stumble onto the idea that we are doing the same thing as them."

"Agreed," Susan added.  "But, if they make that connection, then they are going to plan differently, and they will be focused on all of us, especially which of us might be the one with the Back-Tracking ability.  If they can eliminate that person, then they will be free to act as they wish.  That means Jake is actually the person at the greatest risk."

"So far, we think they are two steps away from coming after me," Jake said.  "We don't believe they are aware someone like me exists, and they don't know which of us might have the ability.  I suspect they don't even know I'm part of your team just yet.  They never spotted me in the interactions that happened before.  It would be advantageous to keep matters that way, but I doubt it is feasible."

"Could this person actually Back-Track farther than you did, and eliminate your memories of all these happenings?" Jim asked.  "If he did that, none of us would know to be on the alert, and they could sneak up and take each of us out in turn, especially if they had learned who you were and nailed you first."

"To first order, I can't see why the person couldn't go back farther.  I've done it in the past, with some serious consequences, and that's why I didn't attempt to loop back even more.  The problem is, we don't actually know what the capability of this guy might be.  Is he an exact copy of me, or is his ability somehow different, perhaps stronger, or hopefully less capable."

"What do you think we need to assume?" Susan asked.

"Clearly the person can Back-Track," Jake replied.  "We don't know how far back in a single jump.  I'm limited to about ten or eleven days.  This person might be able to do the same, perhaps longer, or perhaps is restricted to shorter periods of time for some reason.  Whether he is aware of the multi-jump capability, we don't know.  I wasn't for a very long time.  Thus far, we haven't seen any evidence of very long jumps, so that might be a clue, or simply coincidence.  I never jumped farther than required either.  After a jump, my physical effects don't encourage thinking of attempting another jump immediately.  I have to assume, and hope, that this Back-Tracker has similar side effects.  "

"I also assume there are the distance limitations so their Back-Tracking is restricted to periods when their earlier self is within a set physical distance from their current location.  That has proven a problem for me in the past, and hopefully is a restriction for this person as well.  Unfortunately, we simply can't know.  There's nothing to base our assumptions on other than my ability.  I'd also hope that their ability can be overcome by the injection of the appropriate narcotics.  That would become important if we managed to capture this guy.  We need a way to prevent him looping back until we can incarcerate him in a place he can't Back-Track out of."

"How would we even go about finding such a person?" Jim asked.

"I'm somewhat curious why we haven't seen hints of this guy existing before now," Susan said.  "You wouldn't think he has just suddenly appeared.  With this ability, why haven't we caught hints of his earlier activities?"

"What would give him away?" Jake asked.  "He could patch up any mistakes.  I'd guess he has been very careful.  Recall when you were looking for me.  The only hints you had that I existed was because of my going after serial killers.  You didn't know of my ability, only that someone was out there eliminating a certain kind of person.  If he is focused on staying hidden, it wouldn't be very hard."

"Could he be a new Back-Tracker?" Jim asked.  "Perhaps he has only recently gained this ability?"

"That's also a possibility," Jake agreed.  "I don't know exactly how my ability came about, and so we don't have any idea how he might have gained the ability."

"About the only thing we have to go on, is this guy has some reason to be after me," Susan said.

"That, and Jake's memory of what a couple of the group look like," Jim added.

Susan shook her head.

"That's a lead we need to follow up on, but we dare not fall into the trap of believing he is one of those Jake recalls.  All of the people Jake encountered or saw pictures of might be hirelings, and not the individuals behind the actions.  Looking for this guy might never lead us anywhere, because he and I have no former history."

"Then how do we proceed?" Jim asked.

"I don't know.  We're going to need to sit down and think this through very carefully and plan a strategy that allows us to move forward without exposing our interest."

"That introduces another problem," Jake said.  "If these people were to learn that we are pursuing a targeted investigation for someone who made attempts on you, then they will know that we are aware of them, something only possible if we possess their ability.  We have to proceed without revealing that.  Whatever we do, it has to be masked as part of other investigative activities."

"How would they find out?" Jim asked.

"I believe they have eyes into the FBI," Jake said.  "At least we should assume they do.  They knew far too much about Susan that should have been secret.  That means it has to be just the three of us, or a few others you are absolutely certain of."

"How does one get to be absolutely certain of anyone?" Susan asked.

"That's the problem," Jake agreed.

"Okay, for now, it's just the three of us," Susan said.  "I want to bring in one other, who I'm close to being certain of."

"Who?" Jim asked.

"Shaun, my computer expert.  He and I have been close for years.  I trust him as much as I do either of you, and we'll need his help.  Without computer access skills like he has, I don't think we'll get far."

She waited for Jake to nod.

"We could have him start by looking for the two people you recall from the photos Jim sent you.  I'd like to see if they are in any database, and are tied to any case I've worked."

"I can't draw well enough to give him something reasonable to work with," Jake said.

"We can't use the FBI artists," Jim noted.  "Word would get out.  But Clarissa can draw, and she won't be a risk."

Jake had seen some of Jim's wife paintings, and realized that a facial sketch would be easy for her.

"Perhaps we can have her try tonight," Jake said.

"They are going to make another attempt against me, aren't they?" Susan asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Jake agreed.  "We'll need to find some reason that work makes you inaccessible."

"Perhaps an alternate approach would be wise," Susan said.  "Perhaps we should allow them to succeed.   With you watching, you could track them down and we'd know who we are dealing with.  Then Jake could Back-Track and undo their attempt."

"That's very risky," Jake said.

"If something happened to Jake, he wouldn't be able to save you," Jim protested.  "Neither Jake nor I are invulnerable, and this time the risks are even greater."

"I think we need to pursue other approaches first," Jake said after a moment's pause.

"Okay, then we meet here in the morning.  Bring in Clarissa's sketches."

"What about you?" Jim asked.

"I'm staying in the office tonight," Susan said.

She had a small room with a bed and clothes off her office, which she had been known to use when involved in a busy case.

"I'll be safe enough here."

"I think I should have put more time in target practicing," Jake said.  "I have a feeling I might need my gun before this is all over."

Jim scoffed at Jake.  "I don't know why you don't get in more practice.  You used to like it, and it comes free, and doesn't take you any time."

Jake looked at him oddly.

"Sure, you go to the range, shoot your ammo, then loop back, and do it again.  When you are finished, you Back-Track to before you left the house and you still have your ammo, and you haven't used any time."

Jake grinned.

"It's not quite that simple.  That might help with the mental part, but some of the practice is for muscle memory, and I'd lose that with the Back-Tracking."

"Details," Jim complained.  "So half of your practice comes at no cost.  You'd still be better off than now.  You told me the first time in months you'd been at the range was when they kidnapped Susan."

Susan shook her head as the two men headed off.  She had some serious thinking to do before they met again in the morning.