Indiana Belle (American Journey Book 3) (29 page)

"No."

"No?"

"He's still working on the story, Candice. You know these things take time."

Candice huffed.

"It took me twelve hours to obtain one incriminating document. How much time do we need to do get more?"

Thad sighed.

"We need more than twelve hours. We may need more than twelve weeks. A case against someone like Leonard Heller is not made overnight. I thought I made that clear the last time we discussed the matter."

"We can't ignore this, Thad. Leonard is a drug runner, in addition to a bigot, a misogynist, and a liar. If we ignore crime and corruption on this scale, we might as well turn in our press credentials, check our consciences at the door, and join the other side," Candice said. "If you don't have confidence in George to finish this story, then give it to me. I'll find more evidence and get the job done. I'll tie Leonard to Albert Gage. Just give me a chance."

Thad rubbed his hands on top of his desk.

"Don't you have more pressing matters to attend to?"

"What do you mean?" Candice asked.

"I mean your wedding."

"How did you know about that?"

Thad smiled.

"Your mom stopped by this morning. She wanted to make sure everyone in this office knew what was happening on July 18 in case you planned to keep it a secret."

"That's my mother," Candice said.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Does this mean you're running off to Rhode Island?" Thad asked.

Candice shook her head.

"Cameron and I won't go anywhere for at least a year. In the meantime, I'd like to continue working at the
Post
and take on more important assignments."

"I'd like that too," Thad said.

"Then let me start now. Give me this story – or at least let me help George. We can put Leonard away, just like we did Preston Emerson. We can make this paper the pride of the state."

"I'll think about it."

"If you don't, I may just have to give that invoice to the district attorney," Candice said. She raised a brow. "I'm sure he would find it interesting reading."

Thad took a deep breath and stared at his problem child.

"You really want to do this? You want to put away crooks for a living?"

Candice got out of her chair and placed her hands on the editor's desk.

"Yes, Thad, I do. I want to do something important."

"OK. You win."

"What does that mean?" Candice asked.

"It means I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago," Thad said. "I'm going to move you to the city desk."

"Can I start right away?"

"You can start next month. Let me tell the publisher I'm making a change. You can move over to the news side on July 25, after the start of the fiscal year, and jump right in. If you want to help George then, you can help him all you want. Just give me a month to do this right. I don't want to ruffle any more feathers than I have to."

Candice beamed.

"Thank you, Thad. I could hug you now."

Thad laughed.

"Don't do that. I don't want trouble with your fiancé too."

Candice giggled.

"He'd understand."

Thad stuck out a hand.

"Congratulations, Miss Bell."

Candice shook the hand.

"Thank you."

"Now get out of here," Thad said. "You have a wedding to plan."

CHAPTER 53: CAMERON

Friday, June 26, 1925

Cameron put the clues together like the pieces of a puzzle. He compared formulas, symbols, star charts, and journal entries to a master key and by Friday morning had done in a few days what three others had taken months to do. He had created a recipe for time travel.

"I think this will work," Cameron said. "I'm sure this will work."

"Are you positive?" Candice asked.

Cameron nodded.

"I've gone over the particulars several times. I've even checked them against a 'flight plan' that your uncle sent your father in early 1900. Everything makes sense now."

"When can we do this?" Candice asked.

Cameron got out of his chair, stepped away from his desk, and walked across his hotel room. He kissed his fiancée lightly on the lips and then sat next to her on the edge of his bed.

"We can do it anytime you want. We can do it tomorrow."

Candice took a deep breath.

"I must admit I'm a little scared. What if something goes wrong?"

"It won't. But if it does, I have a remedy," Cameron said. "I have two, in fact."

"What are they?"

Cameron put his hand on hers.

"The first is one of the white crystals we retrieved from the cave. The second is the white crystal I brought here from Los Angeles, the one I've kept in a safe deposit box, the one I'll need if I ever decide to go back to 2017 via Professor Bell's mansion."

"I'm not sure I understand," Candice said.

"The white crystals are kind of a master key. They can open any door, at least in theory, and get you back to where you started," Cameron said. "If we step out of that storm cellar and see something we don't like, we can use one of the white crystals to return here."

"Are you sure they will work?"

"I'm sure about the first crystal. I'm not sure about the one in the bank box. It may work only in the tunnel in California, but I want to bring it anyway."

"You really want to do this?" Candice asked.

"Yes. I do. I came here for two reasons, sweetheart. The first was to meet and save a woman I knew only from a photograph. The second was to uncover some secrets. I want to do this for the same reason Robert Peary traveled to the North Pole and a man named Charles Lindbergh will fly across the Atlantic in two years. I want to explore. I want to push boundaries," Cameron said. He gazed at his companion. "I've done precious little of both in my twenty-eight years."

"I understand."

"The question now is where to go."

"Have you picked a destination?" Candice asked.

"No. I want you to do that."

"Me?"

"Yes, you," Cameron said. "Call it my wedding gift."

Candice kissed his hand.

"You've already given me that. I can't tell you how much your declaration at dinner the other night meant to me. That was an incredibly unselfish thing to do."

Cameron smiled.

"It wasn't as unselfish as you think."

"What do you mean?" Candice asked.

"I mean I want to keep our options open before we settle down. I want you to see my time and perhaps a few others before we make a final decision."

"You don't want to live here?"

Cameron fixed his gaze.

"I want to live wherever I can see your face in the morning."

Candice raised a brow.

"Are you sure? I can be frightening at 6 a.m."

Cameron chuckled.

"I've seen you at six. Remember?"

Candice blushed.

"Yes."

Cameron withdrew his hand and wrapped his arm over Candice's shoulders. He stared blankly at the far wall for a moment and then returned to an unanswered question.

"You still haven't told me where you'd like to go."

"Can I pick any year?" Candice asked.

Cameron shook his head.

"We can't go back before 1900. The cellar didn't exist then."

"How about going forward?"

"I don't see any restrictions," Cameron said.

"If that's the case, I'd like to go to 2000. I'd like to see the new millennium while I'm young enough to walk."

Cameron chuckled.

"I think I can arrange that."

"Is that year acceptable to you?" Candice asked.

Cameron nodded.

"It is. I lived through 2000. Except for a crazy election, it was a pretty mellow year."

"Then let's do it. Let's go to the farm tomorrow and give that cellar a spin. Let's see what the world is like in seventy-five years," Candice said. She looked at Cameron with serious eyes. "Let's see the future."

CHAPTER 54: CAMERON

Griffin, Indiana – Saturday, June 27, 1925

Cameron looked at his notes and then at the ceiling and shook his head. He suspected that assembling a time machine would be more frustrating than assembling a chair or a table, but he did not know how much more frustrating until he entered the storm cellar.

Few of the crystals fit snugly in the ceiling groove. Many of those that did fell to the ground seconds after Cameron pushed them in. Some crystals were slightly longer than the standard length. Others were slightly shorter or wider. Almost all created issues that the amateur time traveler neither wanted nor needed on a humid Indiana morning.

"How is it going in there?" Candice asked.

Cameron walked to the end of the cellar, stuck his head out the door, and looked at the woman sitting on the steps. He could see she was amused.

"It's going," Cameron said.

"Can I help?"

"Yes. You can run back to Evansville and get some glue."

Candice laughed.

"Are you having some difficulty, Mr. Coelho?"

Cameron smiled.

"I'm managing. I should be done in a minute or two."

"Can I get you anything?" Candice asked.

Cameron nodded.

"Get my wallet. I left it in the car."

"Anything else?"

"No. That will do. Thanks."

Cameron scolded himself as he watched Candice climb the steps and head for Lawrence Bell's Model T. He knew as well as anyone that they wouldn't get far without money.

He returned to the cellar, grabbed a blue crystal off the bench, and forced it into the sole remaining slot in the fifteen-foot-long groove. When he was done, he walked to the door, turned around, and gazed at sixty blue and white gypsum crystals embedded in the ceiling. At ten after ten, fifty minutes after he had started, he was done.

Cameron wiped dust off his blue button-down shirt and tan slacks. He had worn the timeless combination for a practical reason. He knew he would be able to walk through any crowd in any era without drawing unwanted attention.

Candice had also found something suitable to wear. She had purchased a green summer dress that was as ubiquitous in 2000 as it was in 1925 and almost every year between.

Cameron picked up his notes, stuffed them in his pants pocket, and gazed again at the ceiling crystals, which he had arranged in an order that resembled Morse code. He did not know why the formula worked. He just knew he had to place four blue crystals after two white ones in one section and three white crystals after five blue ones in another.

Cameron admired his handiwork for a few more seconds and then stepped toward the door. He exited the chamber just as his fiancée appeared at the top of the stairs.

"I found your wallet," Candice said.

She tossed the billfold to the man below.

"Thanks," Cameron said.

"That's not all I found."

"What?"

"I also found these," Candice said as she pulled two items from a pocket. She held a white crystal in one hand and a blue crystal in the other. "Someone was forgetful today."

Cameron laughed.

"What would I do without you?"

Candice smiled as she descended the stairs. She grinned when she reached the bottom step and handed Cameron the stones.

"Perhaps that's a question you shouldn't ask."

"You're right. I shouldn't," Cameron said. He smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Cameron put the rocks in his shirt pocket with the distinctive crystal from Los Angeles and tucked his wallet in his pants. With three crystals, instructions, and two hundred dollars in Roaring Twenties currency, he was ready to roll.

"Are you ready, gorgeous?"

Candice nodded.

"I am."

"Then let's go," Cameron said.

He guided Candice into the cellar, closed the door, and waited for something to happen. He did not wait long. Before his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the crystals overhead began to glow, the ones in his pocket started to flicker, and the once-dead chamber came to life.

"Oh, my goodness!" Candice said. "Is this what happened in California?"

Cameron nodded.

"The lights in Professor Bell's chamber flickered a little faster, but otherwise the two tunnels are peas in a pod. It's pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Cool?" Candice asked.

Cameron smiled.

"It's the bee's knees."

Candice flashed a playful grin.

"Yes, it is."

"I'm glad you like it," Cameron said.

"How long do we have to stay in here?" Candice asked.

Cameron started to answer but stopped when a blue crystal at the other end of the chamber fell from the ceiling and rattled on the floor. He walked to the gem, picked it up, and pushed it back in its slot. When he was convinced it wouldn't fall out again, he returned to Candice, threw his arm around her, and answered her question.

"We can leave now if you want. There is no time minimum," Cameron said. He chuckled. "At least I don't think there is. Are you ready?"

"I am," Candice said in a tentative voice.

Cameron let go of Candice and stepped toward the exit. When he reached the metal barrier that had once saved him from a killer tornado, he turned the knob, pushed the door open, and welcomed sunlight that was every bit as bright as the light he had left.

"It looks like I got the day right," Cameron said.

"The day?" Candice asked.

"I programmed the portal to send us to June 27, 2000. It looks like June out there. It looks like the same kind of day we left behind."

"It does."

"Shall we go?" Cameron asked.

Candice took a breath.

"You go first."

"All right," Cameron said. He took Candice's hand. "Follow me."

The Rhode Islander led his fiancée slowly up the cellar steps to a flat space that was not at all unlike the one he had seen minutes earlier. Low patches of grass competed with gravel and dirt in what used to be the backyard of a farmer and an academic.

Cameron performed a three-sixty inspection and found other similarities. He saw cornfields to the north and south, the Wabash River to the west, and a dirt road to the east. He even saw a farmhouse in the distance that once served as a refuge after a storm.