Time pirate, p.21
Time Pirate, page 21
“So, what do you think?” I asked as we cleaned up our shells and used targets. “Think you’ll be at the range again?”
“For sure,” Joan said as she excitedly bobbed her head up and down with a big grin. “This was way more fun than I was expecting, I was always taught that guns were bad and scary and not to be around them.”
“Well, they’re definitely dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing,” I said as I swept up my spent shell casings. “But you’re a smart woman, you can handle the responsibility of a gun.”
“O-Oh, thanks, Frankie,” Joan said, and she blushed a bright pink and shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, I know I still have a lot to learn, so do you think you could, um, bring me back here again?”
“Of course,” I said as I shot her a grin, and a moment of electricity passed through the air between us.
“Oooooh,” Lance cooed dramatically behind us. “Love in the gun range.”
Leave it to Lance to make a situation awkward.
“Shut it, Lance,” I said as I rolled my eyes at my friend and quickly pushed past the awkward situation so as to not embarrass Joan. “You always want to make a rom-com out of everything.”
“Because it’s the best genre, obviously,” Lance said, and he returned the eye roll.
We finished gathering up our things and headed back to the front office, where we returned the borrowed guns, bade goodbye to Bo, and promised to be back soon. Then we piled back into Joan’s car and headed back to DC. Once we were en route, I pulled my phone out and saw I had a text from Craig. I opened it up and read the lengthy message.
Hey, bud, do me a favor and keep today on the down-low for now. Don’t want Lance losing it. We’re looking into it now, I’ll call you tomorrow with more info. Are you staying with your friend tonight?
I quickly tapped out a reply.
No problem, mum is the word. Yeah, I’ll be staying with Joan.
I kept my phone in my hand until Craig messaged back, which luckily, was less than two minutes later.
Good. Keep your gun nearby. Speak tomorrow.
I sighed and returned my phone to my pocket, and all of my ideas about what happened with the professor started to swirl in my head again. I didn’t want to worry Joan or Lance, though, so I tried to push them out of my mind for now. Instead, I joined the other two in singing along to the radio hits until we got to downtown DC, where we dropped Lance off at his work. Then Joan and I headed back to her place, finally.
I wasn’t sure if it was the time travel or the murdered professor or the parking lot shootout, but I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed, but I felt a sudden shift in my chest.
My hand instinctively went to my front pocket, where the time traveling watch was tucked safely, and I glanced at Joan’s side profile as she leaned across me to unlock the door. I had a sudden realization that I needed to tell Joan about the pocket watch sooner rather than later. The last thing I wanted was for her to find out by coming across it accidentally or when I was carted out in handcuffs for stealing it.
I didn’t expect either of those things to happen, but I hadn’t expected to find a time traveling pocket watch, either, so I was learning to embrace the unexpected.
Once we were inside, we headed into the kitchen, and I knew it was time to rip the Band-Aid off. I felt bad having to do it after she’d already been through so much today, but it needed to be done.
I took a deep breath and faced the small woman.
“Hey,” I said. “So, um, I have to talk to you about something.”
“Is everything okay?” Joan asked, and she stilled as she was putting her handbag on the kitchen island.
“I hope so,” I said with a forced grin.
“So, what’s up?” Joan asked as she put her things down and turned her full attention to me.
My heart started pounding in my chest again as the time had finally come for me to fess up.
“Joan…” I started, but then I grimaced at what I was about to say.
“What is it?” the dark-haired woman asked, and her face was suddenly full of concern. “Are you okay? You look so serious.”
“This isn’t easy for me to say,” I sighed. “But… I took something from your research lab the other day. An artifact.”
“Wha--” Joan began as her face twisted in confusion. “What do you mean?”
I sighed deeply, and then I reached into my pocket and pulled the watch out of my pocket. Joan’s eyes went wide as they fell on the artifact.
“Okay, listen--” I tried, but Joan cut me off.
“Frankie!” she gasped as her hands flew to her mouth, narrowly avoiding her coffee mug. Then her eyes met mine with a betrayal that hurt my heart. “What have you done? I-I thought my colleague had taken that for more research. But… it was you?”
“I can explain,” I said quickly as I lowered the pocket watch.
“I-I-I…” Joan stumbled for words as she bolted up from the chair. Suddenly, her face dropped as pain filled her eyes. “Was that why you wanted to help me? To get closer to the artifacts so you could steal them?”
“What? No!” I said, and I shook my head in disgust. “No, that’s not what happened at all, just please, let me explain it to you.”
“Fine,” she said, and her voice was tight with anger as she gestured at the watch. “Explain it, then.”
“Okay, well,” I said, and I took a deep breath. “I did take it from the lab…”
Joan’s eyes flashed with anger, so I quickly continued on.
“But I didn’t mean to. This pocket watch is… special, Joan.”
“I know it is, that’s why it was donated to us,” she said in an annoyed tone.
“No.” I shook my head. “I think even the person who donated it to you didn’t know how special it is.”
“Well, what makes it so special?” Joan asked, and I could tell her curiosity was getting the better of her, but the anger was definitely still simmering beneath the surface.
“It, um, time travels.”
A moment of weighted silence passed between us.
“Psht,” Joan then scoffed as she shot me an are-you-kidding-me look.
“I swear, I’m not lying, look.” I flipped the top of the pocket watch open, leaned in close to the small woman, and pointed out the Cyrillic numerals around the edge of the clock face. “See all these here? Lance has been helping me translate it all, and we’re still trying to work out the details, but it coordinates to like, years and months and things like that.”
“Wait,” Joan said as she glared up at me again. “Lance knows about this, too?”
“Yeah.” I grimaced as anger flared in the researcher’s eyes again. “But it wasn’t intentional, just let me explain. See, it started that first night we met…”
I launched into a detailed recounting of how I picked up the pocket watch to put it away when Joan left that first day, and it had transported me back in time. Then I told her how I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew the pocket watch was special, and I couldn’t risk it falling into the wrong hands. I skirted over the whole Emily thing, but I did tell her I’d made friends in the past, and that’s why I keep returning.
Joan listened without interrupting, although her face was a kaleidoscope of emotions while I spoke. When I finished, I let out a long breath. The silence was tense, but I felt a lightness in my chest now that I had told the truth.
By the time I’d finished, her face had settled on curiosity.
“Can you show me?” she finally asked as she studied the pocket watch in my hand.
“The watch?” I asked in a confused tone, and I held it out farther so she could look closer.
“No, the time travel part of it.”
“Oh,” I said as I pulled the watch back to me again. “Um, well, I’ve never really tried to take anyone with me before…”
“Convenient,” Joan scoffed as disbelief started to cloud her face.
“But I can try,” I finished quickly. “Not here, though.”
“Why not?”
“The watch transports me back in time, but I stay in the same physical location,” I explained. “So if we transported here, we’d go back to wherever here was in 1814. Since we don’t know where that is, that could be really dangerous. We could be seen and cause a, well, scene.”
A silence settled between us, and the tension was so thick, I could cut it with a knife. Joan’s eyes darted between me and the pocket watch like a tennis match until she finally settled on me.
“Frankie, do you swear you’re telling me the truth?” Joan asked, and her dark eyes bored into my eyes intensely. “Because you’ve got to understand, you’re asking me to believe a lot here.”
“Joan, I swear on my life,” I said, and I put down the watch and took her small hands in mine while I held her gaze. “I am telling you the truth. And I promise I will take you to time travel to show you I’m telling the truth. Just not right now. I’ve been using Lance’s office as a transport pad, so to speak. I’ll arrange a time to take you there and show you I’m being for real.”
There was another tense moment of silence before Joan finally blew out a long breath.
“Okay, Frankie,” Joan said slowly. “I’m not sure why, because it’s insane, but I trust you. I know you’re a good guy, you dropped everything to come help me with this crazy stalker situation. I’m going to hold you to that promise, though. I want to see it.”
“Done,” I said before I stood up. “I’ll figure out a time and let you know.”
“Good,” Joan said before she suddenly let out a huge yawn and tiredly rubbed her face. “Okay, I think that’s enough major drama for me today. Can we just… pick this up later? I’m tired.”
“Yes, please,” I said as the fatigue of the day finally took over my body, and I suddenly struggled to keep my eyelids open.
Joan set me up with everything I needed on the couch before we bade good night, and I slept like a bear in hibernation through the winter.
I woke with a start the next day as my mind adjusted to the unfamiliar surroundings. It took me a second to remember I was in Joan’s living room, but eventually my brain caught up, with the help of the loud ringing coming from my phone.
“Unnghh,” I groaned as I stumbled for my ringing phone. I frowned as I realized my boss was calling me. My heart gripped in fear as I checked my watch, worried I was late for my shift, but it didn’t start for a few hours. I breathed a sigh of relief and finally answered the phone. “Hello, Riggs?”
“Johnston!” Riggs barked. “I need you in my office, yesterday.”
“I’m not on shift for another three hours, why do you need me there now?” I asked, and I sat up on Joan’s couch as my head cleared from my heavy sleep. After all that had happened over the past few days, I’d almost forgotten that I had a job. Oh, fuck, had I missed a shift or something? I couldn’t afford any more fuck-ups.
“Don’t play coy with me, son,” Riggs sneered into the phone. “I got you, once and for all. You’re done for.”
Chapter 13
“There’s obviously been some sort of misunderstanding,” I said in a voice much calmer than how I felt. “I’ll be in as soon as I can to discuss whatever the problem is.”
“Better make it fast, I’ve got termination papers waiting for you to sign,” Riggs jeered.
“I’ll get there as soon as I can,” I repeated as I kicked my cover off and jumped to my feet.
“Hurry up,” Riggs snapped before the line disconnected.
I tossed my phone on the couch and ran my fingers through my hair as thoughts raced through my mind. Had Riggs found out about the pocket watch? I didn’t see how, but why else would he be calling me into his office? He could have just concocted some bullshit, like he had with the cameras. Anything to get me fired. I shook my head in frustration, but I knew I had to get there ASAP.
First, I needed to tell Joan, so I hurried up the stairs to where her room was. Just as I was about to knock on her door, it swung open. Joan was standing there with her dark hair a sleepy mess, and she was wrapped in a satin pink robe.
“Oh,” Joan said in a surprised tone when she saw me on the other side of the door, but her surprise quickly turned into a small smile. “Hello.”
“Hey,” I said, and I returned her smile as I tried not to let my gaze fall to the satin robe that was clinging to her feminine curves. I’d been worried she’d be super weird toward me after my confession last night, so it was a relief to see her still smiling at me. “So, I have to go into town earlier than I expected. Like, now, pretty much.”
“Oh,” Joan said again, but she quickly nodded. “Okay, if you just give me a few minutes to shower and get dressed, I can give you a ride into town. I have a couple things I need to do at the museum, anyway. And maybe you can make good on your promise from last night.”
“That would be great, thank you,” I said as I breathed a sigh of relief. “And I can talk to Lance about using his office later. For now, I’ll just go grab a shower myself.”
“Okay, meet you downstairs soon.” Joan shut her bedroom door again, and a few seconds later, I heard the shower from her en suite start to run.
I hurried back to the garage apartment, and I used the private bathroom in there to shower and brush my teeth. Then I threw my work uniform on since I fully intended to fight whatever bullshit Riggs was throwing at me and continue on to my shift this evening. I made sure the pocket watch was safe in its pouch in my pocket, and I gave my gun a once-over and tucked it into my hip holster before I headed down to the living room, where Joan was already waiting.
The pretty dark-haired woman was in her signature sundress. This one was white with large red poppies splotched all across it, and she wore white sneakers with a cute anklet on display. She was also holding two travel mugs.
“You ready?” she asked as she held the bigger travel mug out to me.
“Ready,” I said as I took the mug and sniffed the small opening. Ahh, black coffee. “Mmm, you’re an angel, thank you. And thanks for changing your plans around to take me in earlier, sorry again about that.”
“So, why do you have to go in now?” Joan asked as we headed for the garage.
“Well, I’m not supposed to start for a few hours, but my boss wants to see me now,” I said.
“Why?” the dark-haired woman asked with a tilt of her head.
“I’m not sure,” I said as I blew a long breath out. “My boss is already out for blood, so I’m worried he’s found out about how I, ah, borrowed the pocket watch.”
“Hmm, that can’t be it,” Joan said with a shake of her head. “To be honest, I didn’t know the pocket watch was missing, so if I didn’t, then how could your boss?”
“That’s a good point,” I said as Joan pushed the garage door open. “Well, that makes me a bit more hopeful. I’ll get out of whatever it is anyway, he thinks I’m a sucker who doesn’t know the law.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll sort him out,” Joan said with a wave of her hand. She unlocked the Corolla, and we folded ourselves into it. “And if worse comes to worse, I’ve seen you fight, and I’m sure you can kick his ass.”
“Thanks, but I’m pretty sure that would be an automatic termination.” I chuckled.
“Might be worth it,” Joan said as she led us to the garage. “I’ve definitely had some bosses that I’ve fantasized about beating up.”
“Oh, in my mind, I kick this dude’s ass at least once a week,” I snorted as we piled into the car.
“Good,” Joan giggled, and soon we were on our way to the museum.
It was as quick of a drive as DC traffic allowed, but we eventually pulled up in front of the museum, and I looked up at my work place with a nervous fluttering in my chest. I knew I had to stand my ground against Riggs, and no one liked a confrontation with their boss, but I took a deep breath and decided to just get it over with.
“Thanks again,” I said to Joan as I reached for the handle and tried to hide the nervousness in my voice.
“I’ll just park, and then I’ll see you in there.” Joan smiled brightly. “After you get done metaphorically kicking your boss’ ass, of course.”
“Ha, yeah,” I said with a forced chuckle as I exited the car. I gave her a wave after I shut the door, and I finally headed into the museum.
Jerry was sitting at the security desk, and he gave me a knowing nod as I passed by.
“Frankie,” Jerry said in a somber tone, so this whole thing was obviously serious.
“Jerry.” I nodded back.
I was still clinging onto the calm facade I was putting on, and I made my way through the throngs of museum visitors as I headed to the staircase. Rigg’s office was on the basement level, and I took my time descending the stairs as I tried to imagine the confrontation I was walking into.
I’d checked my schedule on the car ride over, so I knew I hadn’t missed any shifts lately, or ever, which meant Riggs had something else that he thought I deserved to be fired over. I knew the cameras had been fixed, and I’d only had one shift since then, so it couldn’t have anything to do with that. Of course, I was carrying a stolen artifact in my pocket right now, but even Joan hadn’t known that was missing, so there was no way Riggs could know.
I continued to rack my brain for ideas right until I stepped up to Rigg’s office door, which was shut. I knocked twice, with loud firm knocks.
“Come in,” Riggs said from the other side of the door, so I did. My boss sneered when he saw me, and he gestured for me to sit on the chair across from him at his desk. “Bout time, Johnston. Sit. We have some things to discuss, then we need to do your exit interview.”
“What’s all this about?” I frowned as I sat in the uncomfortable chair across from Riggs. “I haven’t even been at work in the last two days, how could I have done anything to get me fired?”
“Your offense occurred before then, obviously,” Riggs said with a shit-eating grin, and he tossed a piece of paper in front of me. “You may have pulled a fast one with the cameras, but stealing from the museum isn’t something we can overlook.”
