Page 29 of I Know You

“We know so little about the process—but we have a couple theories,” Dr. Cooper says. “One, that the first person to travel through a specific mirror creates a sort of point on the timeline that everyone after follows according to the time that lapses between travel.”

That makes sense. “What’s the other?” I ask.

“That Clara stepped off the path later in the timeline by accident, and she could potentially refine that talent,” Dr. Cooper explains. With that, his eyes light up at the possibilities. It’s easy to read his mind. Gibbons is a loose cannon, but if Dr. Cooper can trust me, the opportunities for the team are limitless. What kind of small, barely noticeable shifts in history could we make if I could move around at will—saving people or orchestrating events without too much of a ripple? Was it possible?

It’s quiet for a few moments as everyone watches Burke pass the main terminal of the airport and head for another hangar and a large airplane parked next to it. Nobody speaks again until Burke has parked and we’ve all gotten out.

“So, best-case scenario, you want Clara to take us to New York in 1928, make contact with Gibbons, hope it was all a mistake, and bring him back?” Ben asks as we follow the two men toward the plane. A set of stairs is already pushed up against the door. It’s a huge passenger plane. I don’t know enough about planes to know its exact name, but it looks like the kind that makes trips over the ocean carrying hundreds of passengers. Why do they need something so big? I thought private planes were small and carried a few passengers.

“Yes,” Dr. Cooper says, mounting the steps. The door swings open as he does so, and a woman dressed in dark slacks, a white shirt, and a tailored suit coat opens the door for us.

“And we don’t really have a choice?” Ben hesitates halfway up the stairs.

“Of course you do,” Dr. Cooper says, turning around. He meets Ben’s gaze and then shares a look with Burke, who brings up the rear. One glance back at the bad cop tells both Ben and me the same thing: the task force will do what they need to do to round Gibbons up—including figuring out a way to make us choose their way.

“Can we have a second?” Ben asks, looking at Burke, who blocks our way off the stairs.

“No problem,” Dr. Cooper says.

With a grunt, Burke moves aside as Ben and I descend the stairs and stand close to talk.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

He puts his hand under my elbow and holds me close. “Even if we did break their time-traveling rules, we didn’t know any better—and we didn’t do it on purpose. They can’t put us in prison or anything.”

“No,” I agree. “But they can make life miserable for us, especially you.” I let my gaze flicker to the two men watching us.

“I can walk away from the money if I need to, Clara. It’s not that important if this isn’t the right choice to make,” he argues. I catch a hint of anxiety and can’t blame him for it. He was trapped for two years. I can multiply the fear and hopelessness I felt in three days by a lot before I get to what he experienced. And I had help. He spent most of those two years alone.

“It’s not just about money,” I say. “They lost Gibbons. I think they’re both desperate enough to … I don’t know. Nothing good. What if you have no money and no job? If they entangle you in an FBI investigation, it’s going to make employment difficult to find. What will they say about you? Will they get your family involved?” As I spout possibilities, Ben’s jaw tightens in agreement. “What’s the point in risking it when we can do this? Go back, grab Gibbons, and come home.”

“What if it’s not that easy?”

I put my hands on his arms, squeezing. “It won’t be like last time. We won’t get trapped. I believe that Dr. Cooper knows what he’s talking about.”

He takes a deep breath and leans into me. “Yeah…”

“I can feel it—the energy when I touch mirrors. I’ve felt it all my life, but I thought it was weird static electricity or something. I can do this.” I take his hands in mine and look up at him. “I think I want to, and not just to stay on these guys’ good side. We could be saving the world.”

Ben chuckles, and he relaxes a little. “It could be dangerous. Gibbons could be dangerous.”

Black ops kind of dangerous, I think. “We could be the only ones to stop him.” I move in closer. “I won’t last a second without you.”

His smile finally looks real. “We both know you’ve watched Downton Abbey enough times that I’m like arm candy.”

“Wasn’t it you that spent an entire episode pointing out to me all the historical inaccuracies?” I’d thought when I came back from living in 1901 that I would’ve had my fill of historical romance for a while, but watching with Ben is a whole other thrill. Stepping back in time with him—on purpose and prepared for it—could be amazing. Finger curls, darling hats, and no corsets … 1928 sounds like an adventure I can’t wait to embark on.

“You ready for a real history lesson?” he asks, the same excitement in his features that was there when he talked about taking me to see President McKinley. I nod decisively.

Taking my hand in his, Ben leads me up the steps to where Dr. Cooper and Burke wait at the doorway. “Okay, time to stop treating us like prisoners and more like members of the team.” And without waiting for any kind of permission, he marches past the two men and onto the plane.

Chapter Twelve

The task force’s plane isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. The front section has two rows of seats, but the rest of it is like a high-tech training barracks, with bunks lining one wall and workout and training equipment filling up the empty space.

Ben stops at the head of it, staring at the plane in wonder. “You guys have some great funding.”

“Ha,” Burke says, pushing past him and shrugging out of his suit coat. He slings it over one of the seats—first-class seats from how wide and soft they look. “One of the first things we had Gibbons do was travel back a few years and make some strategic investments. The costs of the technology and other things we need to make this work are astronomical.”