Corrector (43 page)

The black one grinned, then reached over and unlocked the chains that held him, helping him to stand.  Jake had just found his footing when the white one hit him solidly in the stomach.

Jake fell to his knees and added to the mess on the floor.  The black one kicked him in the ribs, knocking him across the floor and almost certainly breaking a couple of them.  Then they went to work on him in earnest.  They asked a few questions as they took turns pummeling him.  Jake answered honestly.  He guessed correctly that anything that different from what he would have answered under the influence of the drugs would anger them and result in even worst abuse.  After what seemed like a very long time, Jake realized they had every intention of killing him.  They would beat him up, see if they got the same story, but in the end, whoever they reported to wanted him dead.  Part would be retribution for his part in foiling their plan, and part would be to ensure he couldn’t interfere again.  Jake also realized it didn’t matter that he had discovered their intent.  There was absolutely nothing he could do to stop them.

Somewhere along the way Jake realized they had stopped beating him.  He thought he heard shots, but he couldn’t be sure.  He felt nothing but pain, and the input circuits weren’t working too well.  Still wondering what was happening, he passed out.

“Jake.  Jake,” the voice said again.  He didn’t want to respond.  That would mean more pain, even though it was somewhat less than he remembered.  He tried to ignore the voice, even though it was one he remembered. 

“Damn it Jake, wake up,” the voice insisted.

Finally Jake realized he couldn’t go back into the comforting darkness.  Slowly he opened his eyes.  It took a few moments for his eyes to focus, and he knew he was once again somewhere he didn’t recognize.  Then he saw that it was a worried Carlson who was standing next to his bed.

“Thank heavens,” she said seeing him open his eyes.  “Can you see me?  Do you know who I am?”

Jake nodded, but didn’t trust his voice.  He could sense that his arms and legs were immobilized, but somehow knew that it wasn’t from chains, but this time he was in a number of restraining casts.  Well, he’d known they were working him over pretty good.

“What happened?  Where am I?” he managed to croak.  There was something wrong with his jaw.  He didn’t know if it was broken or simply badly strained.

“You’re somewhere safe,” she said.  “We’re still in Atlanta, but someplace no one will know to look for you.”

“What happened?” Jake asked, although he had a rough idea.

“We have an informant inside the agency.  Word got out that we had a source who had led to our finding the bombs.  You were kidnapped.  They wanted to know how.  Because of their inside man they knew about the safe house, and they came for you.  They killed Evans in the attack and wounded Laney.”

“How did you find me?”

“You can thank Laney for that.  He broke a few rules, but the one prisoner that we took at the second bombsite was persuaded to tell what he knew.  It was enough to get the ball rolling.  The rest was good police work.  We learned where they had taken you, not far really, and mounted the rescue.  With the prisoners we took, we now have a pretty good idea who was behind the whole thing.”

“How long have I been here?”

“This is the second day since we rescued you.  Are you okay now?  Can you do that special thing you do?”

Jake shook his head.  “How did you know I wasn’t able to?”

Carlson smiled sadly.  “I assumed you would have slipped away if there had been any chance.  Therefore it seemed likely that the drugs they had given you had impaired your ability.”

Jake nodded. 
Stupid
, he thought.  He should have realized how she knew.  “Can’t think,” he said.  “Want to sleep.”

“Let the doctor ask you a few questions, then rest,” Carlson said.  “You’ll be safe enough now.  We’ll talk again in the morning.  Please don’t slip away until after we’ve talked if your ability returns.”

“You look a far sight better this morning,” Carlson said when she and Jake were alone the next day. 

“I feel like shit,” he replied.

“Is it back?” she asked pointed.

Jake didn’t need clarification.  “Almost,” he admitted.  “I can sense it getting stronger.  I could use it now if needed.”

“Then we should talk,” Susan Carlson said.  “I didn’t want to have this discussion until I knew you were well enough to use your ability.”

Jake looked at her questioningly.

“You’ll understand in a moment.”

“You’ve got something on your mind,” Jake said.

She nodded.  Then she told him what they knew about the kidnappers and who was more than likely behind the attempted bombing.  They didn’t have all the names, but the ones they had would allow them to unravel the whole group given some time.

“Because of you, we stopped the bombing and even know who was really behind it all.  The prevailing opinion had been that it was a terrorist group from outside the country.”

“That had been my thoughts as well,” Jake admitted.  “This should make your Director happy.”

“I’m a big hero,” Carlson admitted.  “It should be you getting the credit.”

“Better that people don’t know.  The fewer people who know about me the better I like it.”

“A lot of people know about you now,” Carlson warned.  “Despite efforts to contain awareness, too much happened.  Too many people had stories to tell, and it’s too good a tale to keep secret.  Even some of the bad guys now know after your drugged interrogation.  There is no telling how far that had spread.”

Carlson hesitated.  “I know you can easily slip back a week and bring this recent development to my attention and prevent the kidnapping, but . . .”

“Come on Carlson,” Jake said.  “What’s going on.”

“Susan,” she said.  “I think you’ve earned that right.  Look Jake.  The reason I wanted to know if you can now back-track is because what I’m going to suggest is contrary to department policy.  Everything in this place is recorded.  There’s nothing I can do about that.  What I’m about to suggest could get me in a lot of trouble.  More than my recent popularity could overcome.  You’ve saved countless thousands, and one of the countries major cities.  I understand what and why you’ve done what you have in the past.  Others aren’t quite so forgiving.  That includes the Director.  The official policy is despite what you have done, you are still guilty of felony crimes by killing those men in the past. You should have come forward with what you knew, and not tried to handle it yourself.  Once you are well, you will be appropriately tried and convicted.  Certain reductions in sentence will be applied in consideration of your recent contributions, but nonetheless, you will go to jail.”

“Are you suggesting something?” Jake asked.

“Yeah.  Is there any way you can go back before all of this started, pass what you have learned, and let us handle it?  Maybe you can do it in a way so that Jake Waters never comes to our attention.”

Jake was silent while he thought back over the past couple of weeks.  Then he nodded.  “I think that might just be possible.”

Susan Carlson smiled.  “I thought it might be.”  She stood up.  “It’s unfortunate that I won’t get to know you, but carry with you the knowledge that I’ve been very impressed by you.  Be well.”  She turned to leave.

“Susan,” Jake said.

She looked back.

“Thank you,” he said.

              *                            *                            *                            *

He could tell she didn’t know where to start.  “You admit to these crimes?” Agent Carlson asked surprised.  “And you claim there are more?  You claim you intend to turn yourself in tomorrow and will talk about them then?”

“I don’t consider them crimes, although technically I suppose they are.  Yes, I’ll talk about all of them.”  Then Jake hesitated as a new set of memories settled in.  Then he knew where all of this would lead.

“No,” he said, changing what he had agreed to a moment before.  “I think we need to do this differently.”

“You’ve suddenly gotten cold feet?”

“No, but it’ll make more sense once you understand something.  Here’s what we need to do.”

Once again they played the game that involved his knowing future events.  Carlson was reluctant, but she finally agreed to check the facts he’d supplied in response to her questions.  She would be able to do that in the morning.  Then he’d call her again.

“Susan, what I have to tell you is very important,” he said. 

“Susan?” she asked.  “What gives you the right to use my name?”

“You did,” he said. 

She was subdued on the call the next day.  She admitted that she had fully planned to have her line monitored, but after seeing the correctness to facts he couldn’t possibly had known, she had elected to hear him out first.  He told her the whole story.  What had happened, the iterations, how his ability worked.  He also told her about the kidnapping and what it had revealed.

“You really expect me to believe this is all real?”

“You can test it easily enough.  One thing though.  Don’t try and short circuit it too much.  Let events play out in order.  Set up teams to take down the bombs in order.  You have the information on how to disarm them and know where they will be.  Trying to change the flow too much might totally disrupt the final result, which was positive.  After you have both bombs, then go after the culprits. Do you understand?”

“I see what you are saying, but don’t pretend to understand all this.”

“Doing it my way will also provide all the evidence you need against the people responsible.  If you act out of sequence, they may discover it, and change their plans.  Then this won’t happen and another attempt might be made later.  I’ve seen that kind of scenario play out.”

“What are you planning to do?” she asked.

“I’m going to fade into the woodwork,” Jake replied.  “This way only you know what I can do, and you don’t know who I am.  Mathews is just a name, and I’ll never go anywhere near it again. Everything that Mathews owns is forfeit.  You can stop wasting resources watching the plane, for example.  I will never go near it again.”

“I’d suggest you cease you vigilante activities in the future as well.  Our older cases aren’t going anywhere, but if you keep it up, the task force will keep looking.  Eventually you’ll make a mistake.  From what you said, my future self told you what to expect from those within the bureau.”

“I’ll definitely give that some thought,” Jake said.  “Is there anything else you need?”

Carlson hesitated.  “I’ll follow up on this.  I still think it’s an attempt to make me look foolish, but you provided some pretty convincing proof of what you can do.  You also know things that only I could have told you.”

“Good luck then.  Goodbye, Susan.  It’s been a pleasure.”

“Good luck to you too Mathews, or whomever you are.  Thanks for the input.”

Jake pressed the disconnect on the throw away phone, then stripped it and extracted the battery.  He threw the pieces in various trashcans as he walked along the path around the museums.  Then he pulled off the gloves and headed back to his hotel.  As Jake Waters, he called Karin and told her he would be home that night.  She was surprised, but he put off her questions.  “I’ll explain tonight,” he said.

June was looking to be a spectacular month.  The weather in Northern Nevada had been absolutely superb the past few weeks and showed every sign of continuing the trend for the foreseeable future.  The nasty business in Atlanta was considerably more than a half year behind them, and during that time Jake had been careful not to do anything that would trigger any further investigations into his actions.  He had taken Susan Carlson’s warning and advice to heart.  The only actions he’d taken personally had been minor matters that he could resolve without violence or any indication he’d been involved.  Twice he’d made calls to remote police departments alerting them to a potential crime.  In one case the news indicated an arrest had been made and the massacre averted, whereas in the other nothing was changed by his warning.  He had felt bad about that for weeks.  He had toyed with the idea of calling Susan Carlson in the event of future events.  She would know he was telling the truth.  He worried that such contact might bring her mind back onto him, so hadn’t actually decided what he would do.

Now, however, he was feeling great.  He and Karin were to be married in two weeks, and they were currently heavily involved in the preparations for the event.  They were planning on disappearing to Australia for a month after the ceremony.  The pictures and stories that Zack and Cheryl had brought back from their trip had been a major driver in the decision to go down under.  Last night the two of them had gone to see the new Sam Logan movie that Bret Granger had surprised everyone by changing his mind and starring in.

The phone rang as he was walking from his study to the kitchen.  Casually he picked it up.