What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3 (23 page)

He was nudged as a chubby blonde woman and her children pushed their way to the front of the crowd.  Jack tried to push his way back through, but the woman’s husband appeared beside him and gave him a filthy look.  The man had also chosen to sport a Hitler moustache, Jack smiled apologetically and backed off.

He was still near the road, but he wondered if they would be able to see his signal from where he stood.  He glanced up at the sign, it was 12:28.  He received odd looks as Faraday’s voice came through on the Walkie Talkie.

“You need to move forward Jack.”

“What is that?”  The man with a Hitler moustache said aggressively.

“What is what?”  Jack said, blushing.

“Is that a radio?  Hey!  This guy has a radio!”  He said shouting to the guard a little way down the road.  The guard wore the all black Nazi uniform, he strode up to Kennedy aggressively.  The man looked like a weasel, he had jet black hair and was skinny, but he held a revolver.  When he reached Jack, he demanded that he be given the radio, Jack handed it over timidly.

“You are under arrest.”

“For what?”

“I believe you are a threat to the life of the Fuhrer.  Turn around, hands behind your back.”

Jack did as he was instructed, dropping his umbrella in the process, he was then placed in handcuffs.  He was led towards the Hitler Youth Book Depository.

When they reached the depository, the black, open-top Mercedes-Benz entered Hitler Plaza. It was 12:30.

Chapter 48

“I hope you’re ready for this kid.”  Jacob said condescendingly.

Chase did not reply, he picked up his gun from the concrete and stood looking out at the road of Hitler Plaza.

“How are we supposed to see him?”  Chase said.

Jacob chuckled and rose to his feet, he looked out and for once agreed with Chase.  “This shot can’t be possible.” 

“Apparently it was one of the positions that was used to kill Kennedy.”  Chase replied.

“Yes I was there when he told us that you idiot, but how the hell are we supposed to shoot him from here?”

Chase fought back his desire to punch Jacob, he almost wanted to shoot him.

“Jack you need to move forward.”  Faraday’s voice came through the Walkie Talkie.

“He’s not in position yet?”  Jacob said furiously.

“Oh fuck.”  Chase whispered.

“Hey, this guy has a radio!”  Came a shout from above.

Through the drain, they saw black boots appear in front of them.

“You are under arrest.”

“I hope Faraday can shoot.”  Jacob said turning away from the drain in frustration.

Chapter 49

Jane was stood exactly where she had been on the day Kennedy was shot, she had a view of the Grassy Knoll and the Book Depository.  She was standing on the grass between Elm Street, and Main Street.  On this occasion the crowd was different, there was no Babushka lady and no Umbrella man.   A hell of a lot of people had ridiculous moustaches.  Standing beside her, to her right were Clint and Scarlett.

Jane glanced up at the clock that had previously been a Hertz Rental sign and saw that it was now 12:28.  Her attention was caught by a Nazi guard accosting a member of the crowd, it was Jack Kennedy.

“What are they doing?”  Clint asked.

They watched as Jack was led away in handcuffs by the Nazi officer and taken towards the Book Depository.

“We need to help him!”  Scarlett snapped.

“No, we are here for your father, nothing else.”

Scarlett looked furiously at her mother, she was such a hypocrite.  “Well, I’m going!”  Scarlett barked, running towards the Book Depository on the other side of Elm Street.  Clint ran across after her, Jane was about to do the same but the beginnings of the motorcade had started to come along Elm Street.

She looked towards the Grassy Knoll and could see a figure behind it, it must be him.  She couldn’t cross though, there was a soldier stood by the roadside just in front of her.  She saw another Nazi soldier walking up the steps towards the picket fence.

“Fuck.”  She said, fighting the tears back.

She wanted to yell at whoever it was to run, but it would only draw more attention to them.  The Nazi soldier began to talk into a radio, the soldier directly in front of her crossed the road and made his way towards the knoll, she followed.

She squeezed her way through the crowd on the opposite side of the street and began to walk up the steps behind the second Nazi soldier.  She could here shouting coming from behind the picket fence, it was Faraday.

“You’re going to have to take your best guess at when to shoot, I’ve been spotted. I’ll try and lose them and get to you.”  She heard him say.

“Freeze!”  Came a shout from the first Nazi soldier, there was no gunshot but she could hear a struggle.

She ran to the top of the steps behind the soldier she had followed. He was just about to go behind the fence on the grassy knoll. Jane cut the gap between them and pushed his head as hard as she could into the fence, he fell to the ground unconscious.

When she made her way behind the fence, she saw the other guard was also lying unconscious, but Faraday was nowhere to be seen.

Jane ran towards the man that had accosted Faraday and saw a Walkie Talkie a few feet away from him, it must have been Faraday’s she reasoned.  She picked it up hastily.

“Hello, Jacob, Chase, is anyone there?”

“Jane?”  Came Bobby Kennedy’s voice.

“Where are they positioned?”

“Umbrella man.”  Kennedy replied.

Jane looked towards the motorcade, but she couldn’t remember where the storm drain was in relation to the knoll.  She grabbed the gun from the unconscious Nazi guard and took aim.  She could hear gunfire from up the street, but no one seemed to be hit, she had only seconds to take her shot.  Hitler was giving his salute to the crowd.

She pulled the trigger.

Chapter 50

“You’re going to have to take your best guess at when to shoot, I’ve been spotted. I’ll try and lose them and get to you.”  Faraday’s message blared from the Walkie Talkie.

“Is that a fucking joke?”  Jacob snapped.  “There’s no way we can hit him without a damn signal.” 

“We’ll just have to try.”  Chase replied.

They both took aim through the storm drain, the visibility was terrible.  They needed to know when the car was a little way up the road so that they could get their shots high enough to kill him.  From their position they couldn’t see any further up the street, there was no way of knowing when to take the shot.

“We take shots at different times.  I’ll shoot first, then you, on my signal.”  Jacob stated.

“Hello, Jacob, Chase, is anyone there?”  Jane’s voice came through the radio.

“We can’t give her our position, they still have Kennedy’s radio.”  Jacob instructed.

“Jane?”  Bobby Kennedy said.

“Where are they positioned?”

“Umbrella man.”  Kennedy replied.

Jacob fired his shot. There were no screams, only the sound of gunfire.

“Now!”  Jacob ordered.

Chase pulled the trigger, this time they heard the sound of it hitting metal.

“Get down!”  Someone shouted above them.

Chapter 51

As Faraday watched Jack being led away, he knew it was down to him to kill Hitler, Chase and Jacob had no chance without a signal.  He raised his gun, he could feel his hands shaking violently, he had never been so nervous.  Without a scope, it was a tough shot, but all he could do was try. 

He desperately wanted a cigarette but knew that it would have to wait, the smoke would expose his position.  He could see the beginnings of the motorcade on its way along Elm Street, with only one eye he didn’t feel confident about his chances.

Unlike the Kennedy motorcade, Hitler’s car was not leading the way. It had more protection around it too.  He tried to control his shaking and then he saw the Nazi soldier making his way towards him.  He put his gun back in his holster and removed the Walkie Talkie.

“You’re going to have to take your best guess at when to shoot, I’ve been spotted. I’ll try and lose them and get to you.” 

He threw the radio to the ground and was helpless as the Nazi soldier shouted. “Freeze!”

The guard walked towards Faraday with a stern expression on his face. If he was captured, both he and Kennedy would die, he knew he couldn’t let that happen.  As the guard got to him and reached for his handcuffs, Faraday head butted him.  The guard stumbled over and Faraday turned around and ran towards the entrance to the storm drain.

Once he had climbed down into the storm drain he slowed his pace to a walk, he didn’t want to startle Jacob or Chase whilst they were both carrying guns.

He moved as quietly as he could and realised he still had the gun in his holster, he removed it and crept further in.  He almost pulled the trigger when he heard the shots.  There were two in quick succession, he began to move quicker.  They had tried to kill Hitler, without a signal.  He knew they had no chance of being successful, all they could do now was hope that they managed to escape.  The guards would surely have realised where the shots had come from.

As he moved towards them, he heard another shot, it sounded as though it came from the knoll. It had to be Bobby Kennedy, although Faraday had never thought of him as being the killing type.  He half wanted to go back in that direction, but it would probably be covered in Nazis by now.  He heard more shots, lots of them, all coming from street level. There must have been about six or seven shooters.

He carried on towards Jacob and Chase, Bobby Kennedy was a lost cause now. 

“I’ve told you before Chase, you don’t have the guts!”  He heard Jacob shout. 

He almost hit the deck in fear when he heard a shot from within the drain, he stopped where he was. He could hear more shouting.  It was Jacob.

“You son of a bitch!”

“You deserve this!”

He heard another shot and a scream of pain, this time it sounded like Chase. 

Chapter 52

Scarlett and Clint had followed Jack’s captor away from Hitler Plaza, they were headed towards the condo on Elm Street.  The streets became almost deserted the further away from the Plaza they got.  They had heard a flurry of gunfire, it must have been well over fifteen shots.  Scarlett had been startled and her face had turned a bright shade of red.

She was trying not to think about the danger that both her parents were in.  She wanted to focus on what she could control, and at the moment all she could do was try and save Jack Kennedy.  The Nazi that had arrested Jack didn’t look particularly strong, but he had a gun pressed into Jack’s back.

The Nazi brought Jack to a halt beside a white Volkswagen, he put the gun in his holster as he looked for his keys.

“We need to do this now!”  Scarlett spoke urgently.

They both ran towards the Nazi, who had his back to them, Jack was staring at both of them in amazement.  When Clint reached the Nazi, he grabbed the man’s head with both hands and violently smashed it through the car window.  The guard let out a whale of pain and his head was bleeding, Scarlett kicked the man in the face rendering him unconscious.