CHAPTER 30

  "If you don't want to be seen

  Well you don't have to hide

  And if you don't want to believe

  Well you don't have to try to feel alive, yea."

  -Soundgarden

  ...

  "I don't understand, theres almost no information about him."

  Seven looked up from his computer, Carl Prime and Skeever stood staring at him. Skeever was lost in thought when Prime put a finger up.

  "Wait...Psyche was from Skeevers timeline. Doesn't it stand to reason that so are his associates? This Westin guy could have a TTD just like Psyche did."

  Skeever looked up at Carl with a big grin.

  "Thats twice you've beaten me to the punch...I must be getting old."

  He turned to Seven.

  "He's right. Check our timeline for any jumps back to Robbies timeline."

  Seven moved his chair over to another computer, one that was capable of running the anomaly detection program.

  "And...its running. It may take a while."

  Carl sighed loudly.

  "Of course it will."

  "In the meantime, I say we jump to my time and see what we can find out about this clown."

  Carl nodded, he waved to Seven and followed Skeever as he created a bright purple portal and stepped through.

  All of this felt to Carl like they were just spinning their wheels. All they had was a name and a face.

  He could be anywhere in time...what a pain in the ass.

  He was becoming increasingly worried about Robbie's well-being. What if this guy isn't feeding him? Its been four days since he disappeared.

  He clenched his fists as he walked behind Skeever. His anger was growing, as was his frustration. The investigations baby steps weren't going fast enough for his liking.

  The T.E.A. office had been in a pocket dimension, they were now crossing into Skeevers timeline.

  Carl stepped out into Skeevers own pocket dimension, his gun room. 26 and Chloe were waiting for them, both lounging on a couch, sitting close together. It was an odd sight for Carl.

  For a split second he felt that old pang in his heart.

  He ignored it and smiled at them.

  Let them be happy.

  "So, where are we?"

  26 stood as he asked. Skeever grinned.

  "We have a name and a face. Aaron Westin. Either of you ever heard of him?"

  They both shook their heads.

  "We know he was an associate of Psyche, but thats all we know."

  26 looked at Prime.

  "As in, the guy you killed in my apartment?"

  "Yep."

  "Shit...so you killed this guy's boss. That was four years ago though."

  Chloe stood and joined the discussion.

  "Waitaminute here...first of all, did anybody but us know that you killed him? What did you do with the body? Maybe someone found that and connected the dots."

  Prime shook his head.

  "No way. I jumped back to the fucking jurassic era and dumped the body...and as far as I know, only the people in this room know I killed him."

  Skeever was lost in thought, as was Chloe.

  "So revenge isn't the motivation."

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  26 said it to himself more than the others, but Prime was following the logic.

  "Right. Maybe the connection to Psyche has nothing to do with it. Is this Westin guy a supe? Maybe Robbie tussled with him before?"

  26 shook his head.

  "I've been monitoring his training very closely. This was only his second solo mission. I know every bounty hes had, none of them were this guy."

  Prime shrugged.

  "Still could be a connection there."

  26 nodded.

  "Maybe."

  26’s cell phone buzzed.

  "Hello?"

  Prime waited, studying 26, he looked tired. He'd been searching non-stop for Robbie these past few days.

  They all had.

  It made him feel guilty for not being here. Not that it was his fault, just that he had been happy and blissfully ignorant in another universe while his son was being taken. 26 had stepped up, he'd trained Robbie. In a sense he'd taken care of Chloe as well. 26 had held Primes old life together while he was gone. Now it was his life, it no longer belonged to Prime.

  Maybe thats the guilt he felt.

  26 slid his phone in his pocket.

  "Chloe just sent me Westin's last known address."

  "Lets go."

  The house was on the outskirts of Ironhaven, a quaint single level. It had been painted a light blue and had rosebushes on either side of the front door. It didnt look like the house of a kidnapping asshole.

  They approached the front door.

  "Should we knock?"

  Prime shook his head.

  He put a single finger on the door and gave a little push.

  The hinges broke and the doorframe splintered as the deadbolt was pushed through it. The door fell forward onto the floor with a loud bang.

  "Damn...I forgot you could do that."

  "Lets split up, try and find anything that can give us an idea of where he might be keeping robbie."

  "I know."

  They walked over the door and into the living room.

  "Look!"

  26 was pointing at a picture above the TV. It was one of those old school style portraits, Westin sat staring into the camera with Psyche smiling, his hand on Westins shoulder.

  "Were they brothers?"

  Prime shook his head.

  "No, look."

  Another picture on an end table showed Psyche with a big grin on his face holding up two melting ice cream cones, Westin beside him kissing his cheek.

  "They were a couple...I killed his boyfriend."

  The Carls looked at each other, Prime with a haunted look, that was motive.

  They split up and started digging through drawers, checking mail, anything that might give them a clue.

  Prime opened a door that led to the basement.

  As he looked down the stairs, a flashback of the zombie basement hit him and his stomach did a somersault.

  He stood there a moment, the sensory memory overwhelming him. He shook his head and started down the stairs.

  The basement was like any other, except for a table against the concrete wall. It held all manner of electronics in various states of disrepair. Each "device" looked similar, but there seemed to be multiple different variations of the same thing. Westin had been building something.

  "26!"

  A muffled "Whats up?" Came from upstairs.

  "In the basement, I think I got something!"

  26 clambered down the stairs to stand next to Prime.

  "What was he building?"

  Prime turned one of the half finished devices over in his hands.

  "Not sure. You ever see anything like this?"

  26 was examining a device now.

  "Actually yeah. When Skeever was jumping around as a space hippy because he was too embarrassed to ask for help, he used something like this. His suit wasnt capable of time travel at the time."

  "So its a TTD?"

  "Thats my guess."

  Prime dropped the device back on the table.

  "We need Skeever to look at this. Can you take a picture with your phone and send it to him? My phone doesn't work in this universe."

  "I can do you one better. Nano? Can uou see Skeevers signal?"

  "Yes Carl"

  "Good, send him our coordinates with a request to meet us here, we need his eyes on something."

  "Why dont we just take one of these things to him?"

  "He has a teleporter, this is quicker."

  There was a flash of light and Skeever stood beside them. Prime jumped back.

  "Shit!"

  26 and Skeever both looked at him.

  "What? I'm not used to that!"

  Skeever waved his hand at him dismissively.

  "What do we got?"

  "This is Westins house, he was building something that I suspect is a TTD."

  Skeever was examining the pieces on the table.

  "The man has a rudimentary understanding of the tech, these are one use only devices."

  "That explains why theres so many."

  "Yes...I should jump back to Seven. I can speed up the time jump detection program if I can plug in these coordinates. Assuming he jumped from here."

  Before Prime or 26 would say anything Skeever was gone in a bright white flash.

  "Yeah, ok, we'll wait."

  26 said it sarcastically to the space Skeever had been standing in.

  "So revenge was the motivation...but how did he know?"

  "I have no idea. Did Robbie know?"

  26 thought for a moment.

  "I never said it outright to him...even if he did, he knows better than to talk about shit like that."

  Prime nodded.

  "You know, I owe you a thank you...and an apology."

  26 squinted at Prime.

  "What on earth are you..."

  "You've been training Robbie. I missed out on that, now I have to live with the fact that I've missed the last four years of his life. Some of the most formative years of a young mans life and I wasnt fucking there."

  "Dude..."

  "No. Let me say it man. I fucked up. I let a B-tier villain rip me out of my reality. Fucking Kane...when this is done and Robbies safe, I'm paying that asshole a visit."

  "Already done."

  "What?"

  "The first mission I took Robbie on was to go apprehend that asshole."

  "Did you kill him?"

  "No."

  "Really? You?"

  "Robbie was 18. He wasnt ready to witness that kind of violence. We took him in."

  Primes eyes welled up. He pulled 26 into a hug.

  "I'm sorry man."

  "Stop apologizing."

  "No! I wasn't there to handle my responsibilities, then I casually assume you're a murderer. I forgot why I admired you so much."

  "Admired me? What the fuck are you talking about?"

  Prime smiled at the man before him.

  "Before I left, I was convinced you were a better man than me. Now I see it was true. You absolutely made the right call. The old me would've shot him."

  "I dont...I'm not better than you. Fuck man, I've been running myself ragged trying to fill your massive fucking shoes."

  Prime laughed.

  "Fine. I won't argue, but at least acknowledge that I owe you."

  "You dont owe me anything. I love you man. We're brothers til the end, you know that."

  He held up his hand. Prime looked at it and smiled.

  "The Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers Predator greeting?"

  "You know it."

  Prime grabbed his hand and smiled as they flexed their biceps.

  "We'll get your son back. Hell, Robbies probably giving this Westin asshole a hard time as it is. You'd be really proud of his progress, though he does have a reckless streak, just like his old man.

  "Yeah. Thats what worries me."

  26 sat on the couch upstairs, flipping through channels. Prime wandered the kitchen, looking for something to eat while they waited for Skeever. The fridge offered only a single box of leftover Chinese and a bottle of mustard. Nothing else.

  “Jeezus, what a loser,” Prime muttered, then paused. He remembered his own fridge looking just like this before Chloe. He scoffed at himself, at least he’d never kidnapped anyone.

  A yell came from the basement.

  “You guys still here?”

  “Upstairs!” 26 shouted back.

  Skeever appeared at the top of the stairs in a flash of light.

  “He’s jumping back to stop you,” Skeever said, eyes on Prime. “...from killing Psyche.”

  His gaze drifted to the picture above the TV.

  “I see he has motive.”

  26 pointed at the portrait of Psyche holding two melting ice cream cones, Westin kissing his cheek.

  “They were boyfriends.”

  “Shit,” Skeever muttered. “That means it’s personal.”

  Prime joined them, the weight of the moment settling on his shoulders.

  “That means we need a solid plan. We can’t go in half-cocked, this is my son’s life on the line.”

  “What do you suggest?” Skeever asked.

  Prime thought for a moment.

  “I want to use our strengths. 26 stays outside, relaying intel. I’ll be inside, talk to my past self, then hide in the bathroom. Hopefully, we can take him by surprise.”

  Skeever frowned.

  “That leaves an awful lot of variables. What if he has a gun? The second you pop out, he shoots Robbie? Psyche never has to know his boyfriend is there. You say it’s personal, remember, it’s personal for all of us. Psyche and Westin have as much to lose as we do.”

  “Then what’s your plan?” Prime asked.

  26, still on the couch, spoke up. “You’re forgetting something.”

  Skeever and Prime turned.

  “We’re wearing some of the most advanced tech on the planet. Bring Nano into the conversation. Stealth capable. You can be in the room without anyone knowing.”

  Nano’s calm voice confirmed it. “Affirmative, Carl. Stealth and surprise are critical variables in success probability.”

  Skeever held up his hands.

  “Okay, hear me out. We don’t have to do this all in that shitty little apartment. Split up. Someone helps past Prime with Psyche. The others intercept Westin outside. Psyche never has to know his boyfriend is there. If we can divert Westin, let the past play out the way it already has. Let Prime kill him. One problem solved.”

  Prime shook his head.

  “He’ll hear the gunshot…if Westin’s still got Robbie, one wrong move and it’s over.”

  The three of them stared at each other, minds spinning through possibilities.

  Prime continued, voice firm.

  “I think I should be in the apartment. You two…”

  He pointed at 26 and Skeever.

  “…will grab him outside. Stealth works out there too.”

  26 frowned.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. With the massive upgrade to my superstrength, I can handle Psyche better than any of you, including my past self.”

  Skeever nodded slowly.

  “Yeah. This could work. You boys ready?”

  “Ready,” 26 said.

  “Ready,” Prime confirmed.

  “Good. Let’s go get your boy back.”