Time of Fate (Wealth of Time Series #6) by Andre Gonzalez (e book reader online txt) 📗

his eyes bouncing around, not knowing which direction Izzy and Lela would come from, needing to avoid accidentally bumping into them too soon. He stayed across the street to reduce his chances, but couldn’t be sure until he saw them.

When Martin reached the spot directly across from his office, he slipped into a narrow alleyway, keeping an eye out for himself and his family. They had met right outside the main doors, and if his memory served correctly, Lela and Izzy had arrived first.

Sweat started to moisten his palms, and his legs trembled beyond control as nerves swelled inside of his stomach. Chris, the Road Runners, and the pending fall the Revolution were nowhere to be found within his thoughts. Tension had bubbled all the way up to his throat, forcing Martin to focus on his breathing as he grew somewhat dizzy.

Hold it together. You didn’t come all this way to faint in the alley.

His biggest regret from his very first trip to 1996 was not getting the chance to speak a word to Izzy. He had plenty of opportunities, but was too terrified that approaching her might cause some sort of supernatural resistance from the past. He had learned so much since then, and had a better grasp of how things worked.

His brain took a moment to process what his eyes were seeing, but the floodgates of adrenaline opened when he saw Lela and Izzy had walked right up to the front doors of the office building, staying a few steps back as they waited for Martin. His heart tried beating right out of his throat, causing Martin to swallow over and over as his throat tensed shut.

“There she is,” he whispered, eyes locked on his daughter who was nineteen months away from her absurd death. She faced the building, her back to Martin, but he gazed at her long brown hair, done in a special French braid for her birthday, a couple of gift bags in hand from Lela having taken her shopping before their arrival.

All of Martin’s limbs felt hollowed out as he waited, wishing he had a way to fast forward time and not have to wait in dreaded anticipation for the next fifteen minutes. But no such ability existed, at least to his knowledge, so he stepped out of the alley and took a seat on a nearby bench facing his family, still too far to be noticed.

At that moment, his past self appeared on the other side of the glass doors, a wide grin as he stepped outside where Izzy ran up and jumped into his arms for a hug. The scene made his stomach churn, and he thought he might vomit for the fourth time today. If only moments like these could be captured and stashed away to revisit later in life, all the heartache he had suffered might have been a bit more tolerable.

Martin watched them converse, trying to recall what their discussion had been about, but unable to remember so much as a word that had been spoken. His mind wasn’t in the right frame for such thinking, and he kept running his hands up and down his new dress pants to wipe off the sweat that kept forming.

He waited the twenty minutes—by far the longest twenty of his life—looking around, trying to not appear like some sort of stalker to any one passing by.

When the time came, his past self bent down to hug Izzy before leaning over to kiss Lela. They waited and watched as Martin returned inside, giving one final wave before he disappeared to his office.

“Okay, this is it,” Martin whispered to himself, standing on wobbly legs, fighting to keep his balance and bowels in check. He shuffled back to the alley and dropped the shopping bag from the suit store, filled with the clothes he had arrived in, knowing Lela would certainly inquire what was in the bag that had magically appeared within the last minute.

Izzy and Lela turned from the office building and started down the sidewalk. Martin dashed toward the office doors to make sure he approached them from the correct angle. His vision pulsed in and out of focus as his eyes locked onto his daughter, his feet moving as if they had a mind of their own.

Martin started jogging, shrinking the gap between himself and Izzy, reaching an arm out as he parted his lips to call her name.

A gun fired, followed by several shrieks as a slug grazed Martin’s shoulder with a deep burning sensation. The chase stopped as he bent over, hand clutched over his shoulder where a small stream of blood started oozing.

“Fuck,” he snarled through gritted teeth, looking up to see Izzy and Lela sprinting away from the scene, Lela running awkwardly as she shielded Izzy’s head with both arms. “No! Izzy! Lela!” His shouts never reached them and they vanished around the corner. Another gun shot rang out, sending people diving under benches, hands over their heads, while others scattered away like frightened mice. The glass behind Martin shattered, falling victim to the bullet meant for his head.

He spun around, snapping back into reality, his moment with Izzy officially gone forever, and saw the man in the trench coat across the street, standing tall with a pistol pointed at his face. He was tucked into the alley where Martin had just hidden moments ago.

Shots kept firing, and Martin ducked as he ran away, flailing for his pockets and the flask of Juice that served as his return ticket to 2020 and the jet in Winnipeg. He glanced over his shoulder once he rounded the block’s corner, and saw the man sprinting toward him. That moment of separation was all he needed to grab hold of his flask, unscrew the cap, and jam a swig of the Juice into his mouth. He crawled under a doorway, people still too occupied with running to safety to notice him vanish into thin air.

Chapter 24

Martin panted for breath, sweat