What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3 (21 page)

“Back off!”  Clint interjected staring at Chase angrily in Jacob’s defence.

Jane walked back into the room, with Scarlett closely behind.

“I can shoot him.”  Jacob stated.

There was a loud thud in the bedroom, Jane and Scarlett turned on their heels and left the room once more.

“We don’t have a rifle.”  Jack replied.

“You don’t even have a fucking rifle!”  Jacob yelled.

Chase rose to his feet looking for any opportunity to confront Jacob.  This caused Jacob to laugh.  “Stop embarrassing yourself.”

Scarlett entered the room with her arm around Faraday and led him over to the table, they both took their seats and Chase sat back down.  When he looked at Faraday, he could see that his cheek was beginning to swell.

“Are you okay?”  He asked concerned.

“Bobby is a psycho!”  Scarlett stated.

“I'm all right.”  Faraday snapped.

“We don’t have time for this!”  Sarah yelled.  “If they are coming here, then we need to leave.  If we don’t have a rifle, we need to get one.”

“We don’t have a rifle?”  Faraday asked.

“No.”  Chase replied.

“How are we supposed to shoot him with a pistol?”  Clint asked.

The room was silent.

“It can’t be done.”  Jack stated.

Faraday suddenly leapt to his feet almost in excitement at his idea.  “We can do it!  There is a storm drain on Elm Street, there is enough room to fire a shot.”

“That would be an impossible shot.”  Chase countered.

“No, it has been done.  All we need is a shooter in the drain and someone to signal to the shooter.”

“I can take the shot.”  Jacob replied.

“How many guns do we have?”  Clint asked.

“I have one.”  Jacob stated.

“I have two.”  Faraday replied.

“Where the hell is Guy?”  Jacob asked, only now realising his absence.

“Dead.”  Scarlett answered.

“Shame.”  Jacob replied genuinely.

“Well, if we have three guns, then we can have three shooters.”  Jack interjected, ignoring the mention of Guy.

“So who are the best shots?”  Scarlett asked.

“I can do it.”  Faraday announced.

“So can I.”  Chase volunteered.

Jacob snorted in derision.  “I think that we should ask Bobby first, he is better than you at everything else.”

Chase went to get up, but Scarlett put her hand over his and smiled.

Bobby and Jane entered the room, Jane was almost smiling, and Bobby hobbled over to Faraday.

“Whatever happened, happened.”  He put out a hand, which Faraday shook.

“We are going to kill Hitler.”  Jack announced.

“Yes I told him.  Jacob is taking the shot.”  Jane replied.

“Well, he is taking one of the shots, but we have three guns.”  Jack replied.  “Faraday has volunteered to take one shot, Chase has also volunteered.”

At hearing Jack’s words, Jane was once again furious with Faraday.

“But Bobby would be more reliable.”  Jacob stated.

Chase looked at Scarlett, who again tried to force a smile at him.  He had never hated anyone as much as he hated Jacob.

Bobby looked towards Jane, and then to Sarah.  “I think I’ve done enough.”

“What?”  Jack asked in surprise. 

“I don’t want to put my life at risk anymore.  In fact Sarah, if you will come with me then I would like to leave.”

“But you caused this!”  Bobby Kennedy interjected.

“That’s right, I should have left well alone to begin with, and if I had then we wouldn’t be in this situation.  I wish you all the best of luck, but I’m done.”

“You don’t want to get to know Clint?”  Scarlett interjected.  Clint looked hurt as he stared at his future son.

“Without wishing to offend you Clint, no I have no desire to get to know you.  My family has caused me nothing but pain, I want to start a fresh with you Sarah.”

Sarah blushed.  “You don’t need me anyway.”  She said to the others.  “The longer you all stay here, the more likely you are to be killed.”  She rose to her feet and walked towards the hallway, Bobby hobbled behind her.

“Good luck to you all.”  He said before hugging Jane goodbye.  “Thank you.”  He whispered in her ear.

“Good luck Bobby.”  She whispered back. 

Sarah and Bobby left the condo, Faraday could not believe Bobby was walking away from everything.

“Well, I suppose that means you are taking the third gun.”  Jack said to Chase.

“I would like to have a word with my husband.”  Jane declared.

Chapter 42

Faraday sat down on the bed once again and Jane sat beside him, she looked at him and sighed.  How could he be so thoughtless?  He looked back at her and realised they were totally different people now.

“How many times are you going to put me through this?”  Jane began.

“We have to do this.”  Faraday protested.

“No, we don’t.  We can leave it to Jacob, he is more than capable.  This isn’t just about your life or my life anymore, we have a daughter.”

“Jane she is hardly my daughter.  You raised her, she is only a few years younger than me.”

“So you don’t care?  You don’t want to get to know her?  To get to know me again?”

“Of course I care when this is over I can get to know her.  But we caused this Jane, we can’t walk away.”

“Yes we can.  Bobby did it, David did it.” 

“Well I’m not walking away.  I’m staying until it’s done!”

“You’ll be staying alone then.”

“Fine.”

Jane had tears in her eyes now, she had no idea how their lives had turned out this way.  She rose from the bed and walked towards the door, she turned back to face him.

“I wish you had never come back.”  She carried on and went back through to the living room. Scarlett was still at the table, sitting beside Chase.  Jacob and Clint were still standing where they had been previously, and both of the Kennedy’s were now sat beside one another on the couch.

“Scarlett we are leaving.”  She stated.

“To go where?”  Scarlett asked in bemusement.

“We are going home.”

“We can’t leave Mum.”  She protested.

“We are leaving.”  Jane snapped.  “Come on.” 

“Mum I’m not leaving.”

Jane stormed towards Scarlett and grabbed her by the arm.  “You are coming with me!  Clint I think you should do the same!”

“He’ll be okay here.”  Jacob interjected.

Clint blushed, he looked towards Jacob.  “I’m going with them.”

“We need your help.”  Jack said.

“They are my family, I need to make sure they are safe.”  He explained.  “Good luck Jacob.”  He smiled.

Jacob nodded and watched as Clint followed Jane and Scarlett out of the condo.  When Faraday heard the front door close, he re-entered the living room.

“Can we not cover him up?”  He asked, gesturing to where Abaddon’s body was lying.

Chase stood up from the table and took down one of the Swastikas that were covering the window, he walked over to Abaddon’s body and covered him up.

“So what do we do now?”  Bobby Kennedy asked.

Faraday joined Chase at the table and lit a cigarette. 

“One of you will need to give us the signal.”  Jacob stated.

“I can do it.”  Jack said.

“Hey, now don’t be so hasty Jack.”  Bobby protested.

“Come on Bobby, I served in the Navy, I can look after myself.”

“What if you get killed?  You are supposed to be our President.”

“If I get killed then you will need to be the President.”  Jack smiled.

“How touching.”  Jacob said sarcastically.  “If they captured that spineless coward Oswald then we need to get moving.  If they find us here then we are all dead.  You should probably change your clothes.”  Jacob said, staring at Chase, who was still dressed in his Nazi uniform.

“Help yourself to something from my wardrobe.”  Jack said.

Chase rose to his feet and went through to the bedroom.

“We still have seven hours until he gets here.”  Bobby stated.

“We can’t stay here.   I will get into position in the storm drain.  You will need to signal me from above.”  Jacob said, staring at Jack.

“Do you have an umbrella?”  Faraday asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, raise it when Jacob can take a shot.  You will need to raise it before the car reaches the storm drain or it will be too late, give him plenty of time.  I will be on the grassy knoll.  We have one shot each. Any more than that will give away our positions.” 

“How do you intend to escape?”  Jack asked.

Faraday had not even considered a getaway.  “Well, if you are going to be free Bobby, I could use a driver.”

“I can wait in the car park.”  Bobby suggested.

“Perfect.”  Faraday smiled.

“Where will Chase be?”  Jack asked.

“I’m going with Jacob.”  Chase announced walking into the room.  He was now dressed in a white shirt and grey trousers.

Jacob couldn’t help but laugh.

“I don’t trust him to do it himself.”  Chase stated.

“I think it would be better if you came to the knoll with me.”  Faraday stated.  “It is an easier shot.”

“Well, if it’s an easy shot then you can manage alone.  It will be harder for two of us to go unnoticed.  The sewers provide an easy escape.”

“We could use those Walkie Talkies.”  Bobby suggested.

“Good idea.”  Jack replied, he walked out of the living room and returned a minute later with four black Walkie Talkies.  He handed one to Bobby, one to Faraday, and the other to Jacob.

“Shall we go then?”  Faraday asked. 

Chapter 43

Jacob and Chase sat down under the storm drain, it was 06:15.  Jacob placed the Walkie Talkie on the ground and lay his gun down beside it.  Jacob was still dressed in the clothing he had worn to Auschwitz, he was dressed all in black, but there were huge muddy stains all over him.  They still had six hours and fifteen minutes to wait until Hitler’s motorcade would pass by.  Chase sighed and placed his gun down on the ground.

“Why are you here?”  Jacob asked.

Chase couldn’t bear to even look at the man.  “I’m here to kill Hitler.”

Jacob laughed.  “You could have done that on the knoll, why are you here?”

“I told you already, I don’t trust you.”

Jacob laughed again.  “What did you think I would do?”

Chase did not reply.

“From down here all I can do is try to shoot Hitler.  So what did you think I would do?”

Chase again chose not to reply.

“You wouldn’t be here to try and get me captured would you?”

His words were met with silence.

“Look at me.”  He said calmly.  “Look at me!”  He yelled.

Chase reluctantly turned his head to face Jacob.  “What?”

“Why are you here?”

Chase sighed.  “You are scum Jacob.  Nobody trusts you, nobody!”

Jacob was no longer smiling, he remained stony-faced and stared at Chase with his cold dead eyes.  “Jane, Clint, and Scarlett trust me.”

“And they left, they apparently don’t care much for you.”

Jacob nodded.  “Well, not everyone has friends or a family.  Look at you Chase, is there anyone that would be genuinely upset if you died?”

Chase considered Jacob’s words, they hurt.  He had nobody, nothing.  He had always tried to do what was right and yet here he was sat in a drain with a man he detested and a man who despised him.  He had thought Sarah might have cared, she hadn’t.  As soon as Bobby had gotten out of Auschwitz she had forgotten about everything Chase had done.  “Maybe that’s the one thing we have in common.”

“Maybe it is.”  Jacob replied, still stony faced.

“But that’s where it ends.”

Jacob smirked.  “I suppose you’re right.  You are weak.” 

“No, Jacob I’m not weak, you are.”

“How do you figure?”  He asked, the smile returning to his face.

“Just because you don’t care about other people it doesn’t make you strong.  You helped get Bobby out of Auschwitz purely for revenge.  That isn’t strength that is a weakness.”

“And why did you help?”  Jacob snapped.

“I wanted to save him.”

“Is that strength?  You saved him even though you knew that Sarah wanted to be with him, you couldn’t just let him die.  That is a weakness, you are too scared to do what is best for you.  I do what benefits me, do you think I would save a man who stood between me and something I want?”