“I don’t think they can come back and change what happened. Melody once told us that there are rules. They’re not allowed to change the past. It can have too many ripple effects and totally alter the future, and then, they might not even exist. Which hopefully means they won’t come back and stop you fromrescuing us. Because then we wouldn’t be here... You’re right, my head just exploded.”
“What else did you learn?” Rose asked.
“They’re agents for something called the Tel Group. But other than that—not a lot. I couldn’t read them at all.”
“Like Melody.”
“Yes, I’m guessing they have a one-way implant that stops anyone getting inside their minds, but they can still read everyone else.”
“I wish I’d known that when I caught the last lot,” Kane said. After the party where Josie’s husband had been shot, the attackers had headed for Uganda. Kane had been there waiting for them. “I would have taken a look inside their heads.”
“What did you do with the bodies?” Kaitlin asked. Though maybe she didn’t want to know.
“Left them in the jungle for the scavengers to clear up.”
“Ugh.”
He shrugged. “Everything has to eat. Why waste good food?”
She supposed he had a point. There were a few people she wouldn’t mind feeding to the hyenas and vultures.
“They told me a couple of interesting things,” she said. “They’re here to finish a job—which I’m guessing is tied to the mission and the cataclysm, but whether to cause it or stop it, they didn’t say. But they’re also here because we’re some sort of anomaly. We’re not supposed to exist now, and they want to know why we’re here. And maybe, how we’re connected to them.” She thought for a moment. “But that was secondary. The ‘job’ was their primary concern, so we have to presume that they’ll head to Uganda and try to take the time machine.”
“They could be already there,” Janelle added.
“We’ll contact Jake from the plane,” Kane said. “They’re on high alert anyway. Nothing will get through our perimeters.”
“They don’t need to get through,” Rose replied. “They can just beam up—or whatever it is they do—inside the cave right next to the machine.”
Kaitlin shook her head. “No. I doubt they would have gotten accurate enough coordinates from inside my head. I don’t think they would risk it. But, hell, what do I know? Let’s just get there.”
She sat back and stared out the window as they drove through the dark. It had been a long day. Her feet throbbed from all the walking, her leg hurt from where they had jabbed her with the sedative, her head ached from their goddamn mind probe. Then Kane rested his hand on her thigh and warmth and peace flooded her. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a light sleep.
She woke as the vehicle stopped. She blinked and realized she felt better. The headache was gone, at least.
They’d pulled up in front of a medium-sized plane. Hopefully it was big enough to get them all the way to Uganda, but small enough to land at the local airport. It looked disturbingly similar to the plane she’d been in eighteen months ago—the one that had been shot out of the sky.
Apprehension tightened in her chest. She ignored it. Having avoided the place for years, she was now filled with a need to get to Uganda as quickly as possible. Something was going to happen.
A man stood at the foot of the steps, and she recognized Detective Steve. Josie gave a little cry, flung open the door, leaped out, and raced across the tarmac. She came to an abrupt halt in front of him, reached out and touched his face. Then they were hugging.
Kaitlin sighed. She’d been worried that Josie would back away now that she had nearly lost Steve. But her friend was obviously made of sterner stuff.
“Aw,” Rose murmured from the front. “I think Josie has gotten over her asshole husband at last.”
“Yeah. Let’s hope we can keep them both alive long enough to appreciate it.”
Kane was already out of the car. Reaching in, he took her hand and almost pulled her out, then kept hold of her as they crossed the tarmac and climbed the stairs into the plane.
Ethan had outdone himself; the plane was pure luxury. More echoes of the one that had crashed with her on board. She shook off the feeling. She couldn’t give in to her fear, couldn’t let it control her actions. No one was going to shoot them down. The last time, it had been rogue Conclave agents, but Ethan was sure he had rooted them all out.
There was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Kane headed toward the row of seats, still holding onto her hand and she couldn’t get up the energy to object. Besides, she quite liked the feeling—it took her mind off imminent crashes. He nudged her toward one of the wide seats and took the one beside her, finally releasing her hand to fasten his seat belt. He was still being quiet and staring fixedly ahead.
She wanted in his mind. Presumably, they could take off the reflector devices once they were in the air. Surely there would be no one close enough to read them at thirty thousand feet.
She closed her eyes as the engines revved, her hands curling into fists on her lap. Then she felt Kane’s hand in hers, uncurling her fingers.
