Revealing Silver (17 page)

All the tension vanished at once from her body, and Remy slumped to the floor, sliding down the wall with a thump. “So how’d you get away?” She waved a disinterested hand at the room around them. “Because this is the last place I would’ve wished myself to.”

Olivia laughed, though it was far from a pleasant sound. “I didn’t get away. Gabriel sent me here.”

“Why? Why didn’t he send Nate, too, then?”

“Because he’s going to kill Nathan, and Isaac, and possibly my family if I don’t bring Marisol back to him.”

Remy blinked. She’d dismissed Marisol’s explanations for everything as manipulation, but if Gabriel was after her now, maybe there was truth in there after all. “She said she was trying to stop him. That he’s completely cracked about this Silver Maiden.”

“He is completely cracked. But he’s also pretty fucking angry about the fact that she’s murdering the girls he’s worked so hard to find.”

Bit by bit, pieces were starting to make sense. It made Remy sick to think she’d been too late to help the girls when that was her sole purpose for being here, but at least Nathan was still alive. The trick would be to keep him that way.

“Do you know where the girls are?”

“No.” Olivia gestured down at her bloodstained clothes. “And I need to shower and change before we go looking for them.”

“I might have something that’ll help us.” Scrambling back to her feet, Remy retrieved the items out of the nightstand and dumped them next to Olivia. “I stole Marisol’s purse today when she tried recruiting me. All I know is they’re not at the warehouse.”

“Is there any Tylenol in that bag? We still have to go the warehouse anyway. If that’s where she’s stashing the bodies.”

Remy went into the bathroom, grabbing the first-aid supplies she’d been using for her leg. “Use whatever you need. If he wants Marisol, what do we need the bodies for?”

“We need to know how many there are, for starters. We’ve only found one in 2010, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any more.”

“And that’s more important than saving Nate and Isaac? I don’t think so.”

“We’re only this situation because you thought it was important to save Stacy. So don’t get on my case because I want to see how many girls have been
murdered
and stashed away in a warehouse basement to be found later, alright?”

“Difference being, Stacy was still alive to save. If those girls are dead, what can we do for them?” The distinction seemed clear to Remy. “Isaac’s going to check that warehouse out anyway. If they’re there, he’ll find them.”

“You don’t have to go to the warehouse if you think your time is better served doing something else.” Olivia popped several painkillers into her mouth, swallowing them dry. “Isaac’s not going to come around here, is he? It’s probably best if he doesn’t see me.”

“He shouldn’t. There’s no telling, though. How long did Gabriel give you?”

“I have to be back within twenty-four hours, but he showed me how to control where and when I end up. I could spend a year searching for Marisol and only a minute could pass from his point of view. Theoretically.”

That explained why Olivia wasn’t feeling the crunch. It didn’t make Remy feel any better, though. “So why don’t you go back and tell Isaac what’s going on? That way, nobody back home is in danger.”

“No. I’m not doing that again until I absolutely have to, and I don’t know how to find Isaac, anyway. But we can still get a message to him. We just need to figure out what it is and where to put it so we can be reasonably certain he’ll find it.”

Considering they’d already used what she’d put in her statement to get this far, Remy couldn’t doubt Olivia’s trust in the plan. Plus, she knew firsthand how much it hurt using the coin. If there was an alternative, she’d probably take it too.

“So Isaac doesn’t know Gabriel escaped at all?”

“I’m guessing he does. Before we left for the warehouse, he got an emergency page. I can’t think of what else it could be. But he may not know Gabriel grabbed us, and he definitely doesn’t know where Gabriel is hiding right now.”

Remy’s mind whirled. “That doesn’t mean you two won’t be his first priority. Especially after Nathan got snatched last summer. And when you two don’t answer your phones, he’ll know what’s up. Or at least, part of it.”

“Right. There was a struggle in the warehouse, and if Isaac checks there first, he’ll probably figure out what happened. The important thing is to tell him where Nathan and Gabriel are right now. So we need a safe place Isaac could access but won’t be disturbed in the next ten years.”

She snorted. “Yeah, that’s not hard at all. The man takes neat freak to a whole ’nother level.” Flopping back, she stared up at the ceiling, forcing her thoughts to focus on the problem at hand, not on the fact that Nathan was at Gabriel’s mercy again. Last time he walked away with dozens of scars. Would he even survive this encounter? “The other trick is getting him to find it at the right time too. So after he knows you’re gone, what’s the first thing he’d do?” That answer seemed obvious as soon as she uttered the question. “The coins. He’d worry about Gabriel having them.”

“With good reason, since he does have both of them. He’ll know to check my underwear drawer for my coin, but that’s not an option. Where does Nathan keep the other one?”

“His safety deposit box. Which Isaac knows about.” She grinned as she sat up. “Even better, he’s got full access. That’s how we got the coin to trade for Nathan last time Gabriel got grabby.”

“Do you have access to it?”

Remy shook her head. “I don’t even know if Nate has it yet, and I’ve only seen him the one time. But I could talk to this time’s Isaac, tell him I have something I need him to hold on to for me, under lock and key preferably. We’d find out quick enough whether the deposit box is an option.”

“Okay. While you call Isaac, I’ll write something out for him. After I get cleaned up and eat, we’ll start.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Buoyed with hope that an end might finally be in sight, Remy went to the phone, digging Isaac’s number out of her pocket. She hesitated when she went to dial, though, her eyes straying to Olivia. “Just so we’re clear, nothing happened between me and him, you know. Isaac told you that, right?”

Olivia’s smile was tired and small, but genuine. “I never thought anything did, Remy.”

“Good. Because if he remembered it different, I’d have to kick his ass.” She turned back to the phone. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him.”

Olivia stood, and Remy noticed her limp for the first time as she crossed to the small bathroom. “I hope that’s still true.”

Her cryptic comment went unexplained as she shut the door behind her. Remy frowned for a moment, wondering what she’d missed in the time she’d been gone. Nathan helping Olivia instead of Isaac? Isaac being out of the loop enough for him not to even know they’d been snatched? And here she’d been, chatting him up when she would’ve much preferred dealing with Nathan.

Sometimes, the world was a bizarre place. She only hoped they finally had the means to fix it.

His fingers itched to get on with it, but Isaac waited until the bank clerk left him alone in the private room before opening the lid on the deposit box. As much as he hated those damn coins, the Silver Maiden was his only bargaining chip when it came to Gabriel. Once he had Nathan’s, he’d get Olivia’s, and then check in to see if the techs had picked up any hint of where Gabriel might’ve taken them. He hadn’t stuck around the scene for the worker interrogations, but something might pop up in any of those too.

Something had to. Losing them was not an option. He’d made enough mistakes with Olivia already. He refused to let this one be the way things ended.

The box was only a third full. Isaac rifled through the papers on top, watching and listening carefully for the coin to slip free. When that didn’t happen, he tipped the box over onto the table and spread everything out.

No coin.

He stared at the mess he’d made. The coin had to be here. Nathan kept it under lock and key. They’d even had an argument after the mess with Gabriel last summer about whether or not Nathan should get a box in a new bank in a new part of the city, just in case this one had been compromised. In spite of Isaac’s protestations, though, Nathan had been adamant that such a measure wasn’t necessary. This was where he kept anything valuable.

That could only mean he’d taken the coin.

“Damn it!” Isaac stalked away from the table, running his hand over his hair as he tried to think. With emotions running so high over the past week, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Nathan would take the coin home. It was what brought Remy to him, after all. He needed that link. But just once, Isaac wished he would think a little more rationally when it came to Remy. Sometimes it felt like Nathan had lost his common sense when she landed into his life.

He went back to the table and began sorting through each item. Maybe he’d missed it. It could’ve gotten lodged in the flap of an envelope, or maybe it was in one of the envelopes themselves. He set aside a stack of fake IDs—
didn’t see those
—as well as a small ring case that had belonged to Nathan’s mother. The first two envelopes were inconsequential, their contents pertaining to past bounties, but the third stopped Isaac dead in his tracks.

It was a plain white, letter-sized envelope with a date and initials written across the front.
December 27, 2000, I.M.
The significance rested not in the fact that it came from the same time period Remy had been sent to, nor the fact that those could very well be his initials.

It looked like Olivia’s handwriting.

Heedless of Nathan’s privacy, he tore it open. A single page was inside.

Isaac,

I hope this letter actually reaches you. By the time you find it, it may be too late. It may be too soon. Here are the facts I think will help you: Gabriel took us from the warehouse soon after our arrival. I would say it was no later than nine o’clock on December 28, 2010. He transported us across the Mexican border in a white semitruck with CA license plate 7SVR182. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the precise town, but we didn’t stop until it was nearly dark, and I’m pretty sure we’re on the coast. Maybe no farther south than Nueva Odisea (I tried to measure it on an atlas I picked up at the gas station). He’s holding Nathan in exchange for my cooperation. The last I saw him, he had superficial injuries only.

Gabriel believes he’s been betrayed by Marisol. He claims she’s killing the girls, and he had no intention of ever killing them because he wants to resurrect the Silver Maiden. To that end, he’s used the coins to send me back to 2000. I’ve found Remy, and we’re preparing to go after Marisol, free the girls, and if all goes as planned, return to Gabriel’s hideout by 9 p.m. on December 29. Gabriel informed me if I failed to return with Marisol, he will kill Nathan. I believe him.

Please contact my parents and tell them they need to get out of the city. He’s threatened them, as well. If possible, have them take Tiberius, too. I’d rather he not be alone in case something happens to me. If I don’t make it back, my parents know what to do with all my affairs.

I wish I could go to you right now. It kills me that I know where you live, I know where you work, I know you’re so close and I can’t go to you. I know you would help me, even though this younger version of you has no idea who I am. There’s nobody else I want more right now. I know Remy will have my back, and I’m sure I can outsmart and outfight Marisol, but honestly, Isaac, I’m terrified. I have no idea what I’m doing or what we’re going to face. If I can find her, there’s nothing to say I can bring her back to Gabriel. And even if I do, there’s nothing saying he’ll stick to his end of the bargain and let me go. But I’m going to try. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure nobody gets hurt, and I’m going to believe from this moment forward that when I “leap” back to 2010, you’ll be the Al to my Sam. Waiting for me.

Yours ’til the end of time,

Olivia

The
Quantum Leap
reference laid to rest any doubts that Olivia hadn’t written this herself. He read it three times before folding it carefully, putting it back in the envelope, and slipping it inside his pocket. His hands felt numb, and his heart twisted in more directions than should’ve been feasible. She was safe for the moment. That was good news. She wanted him to make arrangements for her, which meant she had good reason to believe she wouldn’t be safe for long. That was bad.

She was terrified. And he wasn’t with her to help. That was a crater the size of the Grand Canyon left in his chest because if he hadn’t been such a baby about seeing Nathan and Olivia working together, he could’ve insisted they wait to go to the warehouse until after he came back from the station. They would both be safe.

The letter itself, however, was genius. The details it provided were as good as if she’d recorded them and sent them in. And he knew exactly what town she was referring to, though he’d have to check his file to confirm the address of the safe house. Gabriel probably still thought it was secure, but it was one of the addresses their earlier investigation had turned up. The license plate wouldn’t do much good except to pinpoint location, or if Gabriel decided to move Nathan before she returned, but Stotko would love the tidbit to add to the manhunt.

The only thing he couldn’t figure out was how she’d gotten it into the box for him to find. Pulling it back out of his pocket, he examined it more closely. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. He’d never met Olivia before they’d started working together on this case, he was sure of it. Had she concocted some kind of disguise to give it to him and he’d forgotten about her, too? No, she made it clear in the letter how much she was resisting the need to see the younger version of himself.

That left Remy. And as soon as his brain tripped on that, he remembered the last time he’d seen her.

She’d stopped by the station to see him. He and Nathan had been busy with something—he couldn’t remember what—but she’d insisted she wouldn’t keep him too long.

“I was right,” she said.

He frowned. “About what?”

“This town. It’s better if I go home.”

“L.A.’s not that—”

“It’s not L.A. It’s me. And what I left.”

“The other guy.”

Her gaze ducked, unnaturally shy. “Yeah.”

“Well, if you ever get back to L.A., promise me you’ll let me know.”

“I’ll make sure you’re right at the top of the list.” Instead of going, she reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope. “Hold on to this for me until I do, will you? Someplace safe. Lock-and-key safe.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep it right here for you.”

“No, not here. I mean, super-safe. It’s really important to me.”

“Why? What is it?”

She grinned. “I’ll tell you the next time I see you.”

And that had been that. In 2000, he and Nathan had shared the safety deposit box, because it was cheaper to have the one. With Maggie out of his life, he’d forgotten all about it.

He went through the rest of the box again, just to be safe. Nothing else of interest turned up. Putting everything back inside, he rang for the clerk to lock it back up.

Five minutes later, he was on the road, the first of what would likely be many calls already underway.

“How’d Wright get this intel to you?” Stotko asked, after taking all the particulars Isaac had gleaned from the letter.

“She stole a phone.” It was the only story that sounded remotely plausible.

“And you trust it?”

“With my life, sir.”

“If Gabriel’s crossed the border, there’s not much we can do about bringing him back in. You know that.”

“Can’t we coordinate with the locals and inform them of the hostage situation?”

“That’s going to take some finagling to find someone who isn’t in his pocket. We don’t want to tip him off that we know where he is. The last thing we need is him running again.”

Isaac tried not raise his voice in frustration. It was hardly Stotko’s fault he was right. “We don’t have a lot of time, sir.”

“Then I suggest you drive fast.”

“Sir?”

Stotko went on like Isaac hadn’t just called into question what sounded like indirect permission to pursue Gabriel on his own. “They’re…what? Four hundred miles from here?”

“Yes…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then, McGuire. Unless I hear from you first.”

It was permission, but Isaac wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Yes, sir.” He paused, and then added, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”

His second call was to Olivia’s parents. He got her dad, which was a mild relief. He didn’t have the time or patience to worry about calming her mom. Though Mr. Wright asked a few terse questions that left Isaac more than a little uncomfortable, he agreed to Olivia’s request, assuring Isaac they’d head up north for a few days until they heard it was safe to come home.

How many times Olivia had been in enough danger before to have this sort of backup plan already in place?

He deliberately kept his thoughts focused on the immediate details—arranging a new car from the impound that would both blend in and be fast enough for whatever might come up, running back to his apartment to change his clothes, loading up the trunk with enough weaponry for a small army. He left Tiberius for last. Though Olivia had requested the dog go to her parents’ if possible, Isaac had other plans for him. He’d been trained by the head of the K-9 unit as a personal favor to Olivia, not to mention that other than himself, he knew nobody else on the planet as fiercely protective of Olivia.

And, all right, the trip south would be a hell of a lot more tolerable with Tiberius in the car with him.

The huge dog consumed the entire backseat of the car, filling the rearview mirror as they backed out of Olivia’s drive. The ride back to L.A. once he had all three of them would be cramped, but he figured nobody would complain. Remy would be on Nathan’s lap, Tiberius would be all over Olivia, and Isaac would be happy everybody was safe and sound.

They had to be. He’d never be able to patch up the holes they’d leave in his life if they weren’t.

His jealousy wasn’t really gone, but it sure wasn’t as important as before. He could still feel it—hell, he could practically taste it—but compared to the possibility he might lose her and Nathan completely, it didn’t matter. She’d made herself perfectly clear in the letter, how much she wanted Isaac there, how much she needed him. Considering his behavior over the damn coins from the time they’d met, could he blame her for relying on Nathan and his expertise when it came to using them? Nathan had as much at stake, maybe more. Isaac should’ve been more understanding about it.

And he would. When he got them away from Gabriel—when, not if, because he was going to focus on the fact that Remy had disappeared from 2000—he’d focus on everything he had, all the good she brought into his life, how she made him feel. He’d listen to her when she said she needed him, and he’d figure out a way to give her the benefit of the doubt when his insecurities told him otherwise.

Yours ’til the end of time.

The Silver Maiden gave her all the time in the world. She had to know that when she’d written the letter, and she’d used that turn of phrase anyway.

He’d hold onto that, too. Prove to her every day for the rest of their lives that he treasured her, more than she would ever know.

The six girls stood in a straight line, their eyes down, their hands locked behind their backs. Marisol smiled to herself as she paced in front of them, studying each one, weighing her options. Over the past several years, she’d come to know each of
her
girls quite well. She knew their likes and dislikes. Knew when they would try to be stubborn, knew how to break down their wills, knew who would cry out in pain and who would accept it all with a stoic coldness she almost admired. Most importantly, she knew what they were capable of. Gabriel never bothered to ask just what made these particular girls so special. He accepted her word as she used her inherited knowledge and innate powers to find the other girls like her. He believed they would be enough to prompt the Silver Maiden’s return, and he’d never pressed for more details. Lucky for her. It meant she had fewer reasons to lie to his face. Marisol was certain that if he had known the full truth, he never would have trusted anybody—even his dearest cousin—to their care.

The girls didn’t move. After years of conditioning, they knew to keep perfectly still during the inspection. The punishment for even the slightest fidget was swift and harsh. They were under her complete control. After the incident with Stacy, it was even more important to flex her muscles and make it clear exactly whom they belonged to and what was expected of them. Losing Stacy had been a crippling blow. Without Stacy’s powers or either one of the coins, she was trapped in 2000, which wasn’t exactly what she planned. She couldn’t find Stacy unless she traveled through time, and she couldn’t travel through time unless she found Stacy. Or one of the coins. With that, Remy might have been a help to her, but there was only one way to find out.