The Time Travel Directorate (16 page)

“You are really going through with this
?” she asked, giving him one last opportunity to see reason before executing her deadly plan.

He looked up under dark brows and nodded.

“This will take us to the dawn of the new age. I need willing partners who believe this as intently as I do. We all know how important legacy is to law enforcement. What if you, Kanon Hay, brought about a new world order?”

“I wonder if you
promised Chief Smiley the same thing,” Kanon replied, feeling strongly that he had.

Julius shrugged, doodling on his paper with
the quill.

“
Smiley lacks vision, too focused on process, details. It was always clear he would never be able to take us to the next level,” Julius said.

“Why
should I help you?” Kanon asked.

She could feel the blood rushin
g through her ears as she weighed her course of action. If she murdered Julius in this very kitchen, it would surely alert his guards, who would kill her on sight. They could both be moments from death.

Obvious to her reflections, Julius continued.

“After tomorrow, the whole world will know that Standard D is a made up thing—a figment to keep the masses under control,” Julius took a sip of beer. “It is an opiate, a way for us to inflict rules that have no place being there. Time travel is a panacea for the darkness of mankind—allowing us to fulfill our deepest desires. It is only in this way that we will obtain world peace—the goal that no leader has been able to obtain,” he said, his eyes taking on a faint, wondering glow.

Kanon
shook her head firmly.

“You can’t obtain peace
with violence. Your argument sounds very similar to totalitarians throughout history.”

“A lot of them are misunderstood, I grant you
,” Julius admitted, and Kanon’s heart skipped a beat.

To be so close to such evil was
palpable. Her energy felt zapped. It was if just being around his toxic thoughts drew the positivity from her.

Kanon
placed her hands casually on the table, eyes resting on the knife situated in front of Julius.

“I guess
tomorrow we will see who is right?” she said.

Julius
shrugged.

“I’ve invited several
prominent journalists. They see the beauty in the scheme. I think they will understand how travel can create a peaceful present.”

Kanon
instead pictured their horrified faces when they witnessed Julius’ violent acts. She thought of the Duchess, crying as she walked to the guillotine.

“I have done nothing wrong
,” she repeated, her anguish cries dueling with the excitement of the mob.

Two emotions over the same event—one filled with
despair and the other with enjoyment. Was Julius right? Was humanity nothing more than a brutal mob?

Kanon
looked across the table at Julius, feeling her thoughts drift away—focusing fully on the opportunity before her.

Julius
picked up the knife, eager to get at a piece of food stuck between his teeth. He shoved it between his two back molars, talking as he did.

“Now, let us discuss the information you have for me.”

“Oh yes,” Kanon began, watching the knife as it moved between his teeth. “Several inspectors have discovered Chief Smiley is working with you.”

She watched as he placed the knife down on the table. She reached out with her finger and touched the tip of the handle.

“Hmm, what are their names? Come now,” Julius encouraged.

“Let’s see,
Inspector Damato, Inspector Hayward . . . ” Kanon said, listing whatever name popped into her head.

Julius
took up the quill, writing down the names she had mentioned.

“I’ll have them brought here, tomorrow,” he said, looking up at her. “I’ll hang them all.”

The words echoed in
Kanon’s ears as she felt something within her snap. Grasping the knife, she stood, bringing it down with all her force into his chest.

Julius
grunted, falling backward to the floor, the knife buried to the hilt. Kanon leapt over him, pulling the knife out—blood spewing forth.

He
made a gurgling sound, looking up at her in astonishment. Kanon watched as his eyes glazed over, his flailing hands pawing at his chest. An anatomy student could not have aimed better—Kanon knew the amount of blood and location of the fatal blow meant his life would slip away in seconds.

Standing over him
, she locked eyes with his.

“
That was for the Duchess,” she said.

After a few moments
, he stopped moving—his blue eyes dull and waxen.

Julius Arnold was dead, her mission complete.
The next order of business was to get the hell out of there. Working quickly, Kanon searched his person—her spirits falling when she failed to locate a web.

“Dammit!” she cried, sitting on her heels—hands shaking.

Where had Julius placed his web? He surely didn’t travel far without one. It must be hidden in his quarters. Kanon could hardly go searching for it now—not with Julius’s dead body laid out on the parlor floor.

Kanon
looked anxiously around the room. Her eyes fell on a pair of chests positioned near the hearth. Moving quickly, she removed woolen blankets from one.

Turning back to Julius, she
dragged his heavy frame to the empty chest. Filled with adrenaline, she lifted his torso, folding his legs over in a fetal position. Closing the lid, she steadied her breathing as she stared at the bloody trail that streaked across the floor. Taking one of the blankets, she mopped it up as best she could, pulling a rug that had been placed near the threshold to cover what she could not conceal. Studying her hands, she was surprised to find them clean.

Moving to exit
the room before anyone found her, she walked directly into Inspector Habit.

“Oh, you startled me,” Kanon said, her stomach flying into her chest.

“Where is
Julius?” Inspector Habit pushed past her, walking back into the kitchen.

He took a turn
around the room as Kanon rubbed her palms on her skirts, trying to remain calm.

“Back in his room
,” she said, hoping to distract him.

“Oh well, plenty of time to discuss it tomorrow.
Now, get back in your quarters.”

Inspector Habit
moved towards her, and Kanon quickly turned to leave.

“Stop!”
Inspector Habit cried.

Kanon
obeyed, turning slowly to look at him.

“You’ll come directly to the square tomorrow morning,
at sunrise. We’ll be setting up the gallows there. I want to keep an eye on you when the press arrives.”

“
Very well,” Kanon replied, turning with disbelief at how easily her plan was executed.

She
did not sleep at all that night, tossing and turning for what felt like days. With the house so heavily guarded, Kanon assumed Julius’ guards would find him dead—killing her instantly. Yet, here she was, lying in the same cot as she had yesterday, breathing in the confining scent of a dying fire.

Inspector Habit roused
Kanon the next morning by kicking her off the bed.

“Still upset about the arm?” Kanon asked, pulling herself together.

“Oh
, you’ll get yours, I’m sure of it,” Habit snapped back, kicking her clothes at her.

“
Where is Julius?” Kanon asked, heart thumping as she remembered the events of the previous evening.

“H
e wasn’t at breakfast this morning.”

“
He’s disappeared?” Kanon asked, keeping her voice level.

“
I didn’t say that,” Inspector Habit scoffed, “and since he’s not around, what I say goes.”

“I thought
Chief Smiley was in charge?” Kanon asked, quickly putting on her dress.

“
Chief Smiley is a traitor,” Inspector Habit said nonchalantly.

“
He wasn’t last night, what’s changed?” Kanon asked nervously.

“
Let me worry about that. He did reveal some interesting information about daddy dearest though,” Habit explained. “We have lots of ways to get information out of people. Do you want to hear . . . ”

“No, I don’t
,” Kanon snapped back. “I need a weapon.”

He pushed her towards the door
.

“Look around in
the main house. Now get a move on,” he growled.

He took her by
the arm, walking her to Julius’ house before turning to head in the other direction. Though the hour was early, several laborers were out walking the streets. No one looked at Kanon. It was as if the entire town was under a spell.

Once inside
, Kanon avoided the kitchen entirely. She found a short hunting knife in one of the sculleries, tucking it into a belt she had fastened from a bit of leather.

Anxious
for where Julius might have stashed his web, Kanon searched the rest of the rooms—finding nothing. Without a web, she was a sitting duck. Realizing there would be no point in running, she left the house for the town square.

Turning in the direction Habit
went, she followed the dirt road as it opened up to a wide expanse of farmland. She heard banging sounds as she proceeded further down the path. As the lane opened up, she saw the gallows looming before her in grisly simplicity.

Walking
towards them, Kanon swallowed heavily. She must be ready for an opportunity to present itself—just like the night before. There was surely no point in stopping now.

Thinking this through, she took a seat
on the scaffolding, the servants shooting her nervous glances as they began fastening nooses to a giant beam.

Kanon
wondered how quickly word of her presence would spread through town. Looking up at one of the swinging ropes, she hoped she was not staring at her future. Stretching her aching limbs, Kanon remembered why she was so sore. Julius’ body could not be hidden for long. She was living on borrowed time.

Hopping down from the scaffolding,
Kanon watched as the town came to life. Outfitted homogenously in stark, black garments, the occupants seemed drawn toward the gallows. Kanon kept her distance, watching as they discussed the scene before them.

It had now be
en several hours since daybreak, and it was becoming clear that Julius’ absence had thrown plans into disarray. It wasn’t long before an angry-looking Inspector Habit appeared from behind the gawking onlookers. He quickly began barking out orders.

Kanon
watched as they tossed a final rope over the high wooden beam. Studying at the blank, transfixed faces of the crowd, Kanon realized why Inspector Habit was in such a foul mood.

No one
from the future had come. There were no journalists, no one to report on their grand event. By eliminating Julius, their gruesome plans went into freefall. Delighting in this realization, she watched with amusement when Inspector Habit finally snapped—kicking the ground in anger.

“Where are they
?” he cried.

“Your audience is late
?” Kanon asked, standing off to one side as she studied him coolly.

He
turned, eyes like thunder. Kanon realized she had made a calculated mistake as he lunged for her.

“Come on,” he grunted, grabbing her by the arm and walking back towards Julius’ house. “We’ll proceed as planned.”

“What about
. . . ”

“Shut up!”
he cried, his voice cracking in frustration.

As he pulled her along,
Kanon saw a flash of blue from beneath his long, woolen jacket. It was a web. Her eyes locked on it, wondering if there was any chance she could remove it without him noticing. Fixated on the web, she belatedly realized they had walked right past Julius’ house.