“Nothing outward that someone like me can see and identify? Like a mark?”
“No.”
“Go on.”
“Goen took us prisoner. He tortured my parents, and he tortured me. It was while I was being kept bound and gagged that I met Juda. They had killed her father, and she had been brutalized far worse than me by Goen and his men. One day, Goen’s men were not as attentive as they should have been. I was able to grab Juda, and we ran. When we were far enough away, we jumped.”
“When you were far enough away?”
“We must be several paces away before we can jump, or else whoever is chasing us is caught up in the backwash.”
“And you end up in the same place?”
“Yes, but not always together. Only if you remained in physical contact with the other person will you end up together.”
“So I guess if the two of you split up, it’s more difficult to find each other?”
Cayn bowed his head to calm himself. The longer they sat here and talked, the less time he and Juda had to get away. Conroy must have thought the same thing.
“We’re almost done here, son.”
Cayn gave a nod. “Yes.”
“So during your lifetime you’ve traveled through…sweet Jesus! Thousands of years!”
Cayn nodded again.
“So how did you end up here in Tuckerville? We’re clear on the other side of the world from Mesopotamia. Can you cross oceans when you jump?”
“No. When we jump, we end up in the same location, but at a future time. Otherwise, we must take a conveyance, like a ship or a horse, or simply walk to a new location.”
“Then at some point you must have taken a ship to get to this continent?”
“Yes.”
“To get away from Goen?”
Cayn smiled. “Precisely. We use every trick we learn to prevent him from finding us. The longer it takes him to reach us…” His face fell. “We cherish those brief respites.”
“Why do you keep running from that man? Why not just kill him outright and be free of him once and for all?”
Cayn dropped his gaze to the stained and marred table in front of him. He knew that the man would eventually ask that question. “Juda and I—”
A shriek came from outside the office. Both Cayn and the sheriff jumped to their feet, and Conroy hurried to the door. Before he could reach for the knob, a deputy slammed it open.
“That guy’s back!” the man yelled without further explanation.
Cayn lifted his bound hands to the sheriff. “Release me now! I must protect her!”
Conroy turned to the deputy. “Get those cuffs offa him!” he ordered and raced out the door.
As the deputy removed the cuffs from Cayn’s wrists, Goen’s bellow filled the building.
“Bring me Cayn!”
Temporary
Juda sensed him entering the building. Jumping to her feet, she whispered to the deputy standing guard. “Goen! He’s here!”
