Timepiece: An Hourglass Novel (12 page)

Chapter 22

W

“What’s he doing?” I asked softly.

She held on to one of the silver standing poles and swung to the left a little. “Not enjoying the ride like everyone else. He’s looking at his phone, texting.”

“Now that we’re on here,” I asked her, “what’s your plan for when we stop?”

“Just act like you know what you’re doing.” She said the words through her fake smile while pretending to point out the window at something in the water.

I grinned back, sure it looked more like a painful grimace. “How about you act like you know what you’re doing, and I’ll stand behind you?”

Her body tensed, and her eyes darted to the side. “Crap.”

I’d turned my back to hide from Poe, and I didn’t like what I could feel coming from the other end of the trolley car. “Is he looking at you?”

She gave me an imperceptible nod.

I put my hand on her waist and tried to look possessive. “Laugh, not too loud, but like I just told you a secret or said something inappropriate.”

She did, and for a quick second, I wished the situation were different. That I’d made her laugh like that for real.

Poe might not have noticed Lily before, but his spike of interest told me he definitely had now. “Damn.”

“What are you getting from him?” She shivered slightly. “Something about his eyes … he’s scaring me.”

“Good.” I pulled her closer and spoke just above her ear, into her hair. It was as soft as it looked, and smelled like grapefruit. “You should be scared. He’s not a nice guy.”

We rode through six stops, people climbing on and off the trolley, the muscles in my shoulders growing more knotted by the second. Poe didn’t look in Lily’s direction again.

When the driver reached the seventh stop, Lily grabbed my hand.

“Showtime.”

We followed thirty feet behind him.

“The Pyramid Arena,” I said, when I realized where he was going. “But it’s closed. Totally empty since the Grizzlies moved to the FedExForum.”

“The Pyramid might be closed, but the parking lot is hopping. Looks like some kind of festival. And can you smell that?” She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Barbecue. We never had lunch.”

There were at least twenty red-and-white-striped tents set up in a semicircle. Just over a football field’s length away, workers were setting up a stage, complete with speakers and lighting.

“What do we do now?” Lily asked, staring at the closest barbecue stand.

“Watch, wait, and follow.” We still held hands. I pulled her away from the food, even though my stomach was grumbling, too. “We’ll eat later.”

Taking a slow stroll around the perimeter of the activity, we kept at least twenty-five feet between Poe and us. When he broke away and headed toward the Pyramid itself, we hung back and watched.

He completely ignored the huge statue of Ramses the Great at the entrance and took the stairs to the building two at a time. Lily and I rushed to the base of the statue, watching as he pushed through a main door and disappeared inside.

“How are we supposed to follow him?” I asked. “That’s not the kind of place you can sneak into. Every single sound will be amplified.”

Lily ignored me and walked up the stairs to the entrance, pushing open the main entry door as if she owned the place.

“All righty.” I followed.

She let the door shut softly behind me before turning to the left. “He went this way.”

“You’re following his boots again, aren’t you?”

She grinned.

“You take risky to a whole new level.” My whispered words echoed off the concrete walls. “And you’ve got some serious cojones
.
”

“Yes, I do.” When she pulled up short, I almost barreled over the top of her. She held a finger up to her lips and pointed. A sign on the wall said executive offices.

No one in sight. My heart beat so loudly I was certain anyone in the building could hear it. Lily remained cool and composed.

Impressive.

She took my arm and dragged me down the hall, looking into each open door, finally ducking into one. It turned out to be a well-appointed office, empty of people, with a perfect view of the Mississippi River. And Mud Island.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “Why did you stop here?”

She pointed. “Because of those.”

The far wall was full of backlit shelves, every single one featuring hourglasses.

A few were made of glass and sand, simple, exactly like the kind you could buy in a department store. Others were more detailed. Etched glass, bases carved out of wood or formed from metal. The sand inside several had a different reflective quality from anything I’d ever seen. It shone like crushed diamonds.

One hourglass, carved from ivory, completely drew me in. I had a strong desire to touch it, but some instinct made me recoil from it at the same time. I stepped as close as I dared.

Discovered the spindles that connected the top and bottom of the base weren’t ivory but bones. What looked like human bones.

The base was formed from carvings of tiny skulls, each one with black, gaping eye sockets and a wide-open mouth. The mouths seemed to be moving. Seductive whispers in my head grew louder and louder. I raised my hand to touch. So close.

“He’s coming.” When Lily took my arm, real voices overtook the imaginary ones. She opened a narrow slatted door, pulled me inside, and shut it behind us.

Five seconds later, Poe and a dark-haired woman walked into the office.

Lily leaned against the wall in a half-sitting position. A stack of boxes ended at the back of her knees. She couldn’t stand up straight. I didn’t know how long we’d be stuck in the closet, but she couldn’t hold that position forever, especially if we needed to run once we got out.

The woman’s voice was unnaturally soft, yet there was no mistaking her disdainful tone. “I thought this was your specialty.”

Through the slats in the door, I saw Poe pull his mouth to the side, making his nose curve more prominently than it had the night he’d paid his visit to the Phone Company. “It’s been in my possession a week. Stop making me your errand boy and I’ll work on it.”

Her laugh was as soft as her voice. “Your skills and those errands are the only reason you’re still alive.”

“I suppose I’m to be grateful to you, then?” Poe looked much younger in the light of day than he had the night of the masquerade. “Since it’s thanks to you I still draw breath?”

“Yes.”

Poe set his jaw. His anger spilled across the thick carpet and seeped between the slats of the closet door.

“Have you made any progress?” the woman asked. “At all?”

“It shorts out everything I use. So, no.” He held up a slim silver device that looked like a laptop computer but was half the size. “Did you call him?”

“Only because you said ‘please.’”

Lily tried to stand up straight, and the boxes behind her shifted when her weight was no longer on them. She wobbled and almost fell when they hit her calves. I put one arm around her to keep her upright, and the other against the wall to brace us. It made a slight thudding sound.

The woman frowned and looked in the direction of the closet.

She tossed her dark hair over her shoulders and started walking toward us. Lily squeezed her eyes shut. I tensed in preparation, planning to get us out alive, no matter who I had to hurt. I didn’t know if I could get us both past Poe, but Lily would go free.

Teague walked past the closet and went to the office door. I heard a new voice.

“Hello, Teague.”

The woman was Teague. And the man addressing her was Dr. Turner.

Chapter 23

“H

When Lily exhaled, I realized how tightly I must have been holding her. The fact that I hadn’t noticed spoke volumes about my anxiety level.

“I cancelled my afternoon classes. I hope the matter is as urgent as you made it sound in your message.” He’d taken one of the fedoras from the moose antlers in his office and clamped it down over his head of white hair. He removed the hat now, holding it in one hand and tapping it against his other palm. I noticed his suspenders for the first time. They perfectly matched his orange bow tie.

“You’ll have to ask Edgar how urgent the matter is,” Teague answered, nodding her head toward Poe, who’d taken a seat in the corner.

Edgar?
I’d have gone with the nickname, too. I wondered briefly if his middle name was Allen.

“Hello, Poe,” Dr. Turner said kindly. “Teague didn’t tell me I was visiting for your benefit. I would’ve made it here much more quickly.”

Poe stood and held out his hand. “Sir.”

Dr. Turner shook it, and then his eyes caught the device Poe held. He looked from it to Teague, and back to Poe again. “Is this …?”

“We don’t know,” Poe said, and handed it over to Dr. Turner. Teague hissed between her teeth. Neither of them acknowledged her. “Unfortunately, I can’t get it open.”

Turning it over and over in his hands, Dr. Turner squinted before lifting his glasses and taking an even closer look. “Like a technological vault.”

“Precisely.” Poe continued to ignore Teague as she tapped one high-heeled foot. Both men stared at the device. “Whoever stored the information knew how valuable it was.”

Dr. Turner whistled. “Those won’t even come on the market for at least a couple of years.”

Teague’s thin patience ripped. “Gerald, can you help us or not?”

“I’m afraid I can’t.”
A lie.
One he was happy to tell. “I’ve only read about these, how much information can be stored on them. Not how to access it. There’s a USB port here, but if that’s what Poe’s been using—?” Dr. Turner dropped his glasses back down on his nose to look at Poe, and Poe nodded. “Then I have nothing more advanced to test it.”

Lily’s arms snaked around my waist. I looked down in surprise, and then realized she was about to lose her balance again. I pulled her close enough to feel the rise and fall of her chest.

“What about the university?” Teague asked. “Wouldn’t they have more advanced equipment?”

“You’ve been out of academia for too long.” Dr. Turner shook his head. “We have to fight to get funding for our most basic needs. Skrolls aren’t even in our orbit. Probably won’t be for ten or fifteen more years.”

“I can’t accept being this close to information and not being able to access it.” She walked to the window to stare out at the water. “We’ll just have to keep trying.”

Dr. Turner and Poe exchanged a look I didn’t understand. The emotion that went with it was mixed—both trust and fear.

“You know, Teague,” Dr. Turner said, “doing something rash to this piece of equipment could destroy anything stored on it. Why don’t you let me take it—”

“Oh no.” Teague spun around and held out her hand. “It doesn’t leave my sight.”

Dr. Turner didn’t let the Skroll go. “Where did you find it? That might give me a clue about how to manipulate it, the right kind of software and such.”

“Or give you a clue who to contact for leverage against me.” A history of betrayal hung between them, the kind that spoke to the fact that they’d once been allies. Teague wanted to tell him what she knew, and he wanted to hear it, but neither with the intention of helping the other.

Slimier than a snake pit, and even more twisted.

“We should find a way to work together.” Dr. Turner said.

“Why would we do that, Gerald? We don’t want the same thing.” The warmth in her cheeks didn’t match the coldness of her smile.

“That’s not always been the case. It was different when Liam was here.”

All my muscles tensed as a quick flood of adrenaline pulsed through me. Lily rubbed her hand across my back, intending to soothe. It did.

“Liam left because he’s entirely too honorable,” Teague said, lifting her delicate shoulders. “Always has been.”

“I don’t think that’s the only reason Liam left.” Before Teague could ask what he meant, Dr. Turner continued. “Maybe he left because he had information he didn’t want to share. With anyone.”

Teague frowned.

“Oh, and … his son is here, in Memphis. He doesn’t know anything about the Infinityglass, either.”

I tensed again under Lily’s hands. I could feel her heart beating.

“When did you see him?” Teague asked, her expression full of reproach.

“He was at my office.” Dr. Turner didn’t get into specifics about exactly when.

“And he knew nothing about the Infinityglass?” She assessed his reaction. “You’re a human lie detector. If you say he didn’t know, he didn’t.”

“He didn’t.” Did Dr. Turner have a special ability, too?

Teague conceded with a slight nod of her head. “Did he know about me? What about Chronos? … Gerald?”

“He didn’t … there wasn’t …” The way he fumbled around for an answer suggested Dr. Turner hadn’t anticipated that line of questioning, or prepared an adequate story. And that he was afraid of Teague. “They didn’t know much.”

“They?”

“There was a girl with him. Emerson.”

“What did you tell them?” Teague’s voice had gone deadly cool. She knew who Emerson was.

“Very little,” he said, pulling at his bow tie, loosening it. “Gave them some generalities about Chronos so they’d go away satisfied.”

“What about Jack? Did they ask about him?” Dr. Turner didn’t respond. “They did.”

“Just if I’d heard of him, or if I knew where he was.”

“They’re looking.” Teague smiled. “Good.”

“What are you after?” The fear was in his voice now.

“Finding the Infinityglass has always been the ultimate goal of Chronos, our main purpose for years. We’re closer now than we’ve ever been.” Teague had an unnatural light in her eyes as she looked at the Skroll. “Jack Landers picked up the search where Liam left off.”

“You think that all you have to do is find Jack, and he’ll be able to open the Skroll up and answer all your questions?” Dr. Turner asked.

“If we can’t find the answers on our own, I believe he can be persuaded. Especially once he discovers the Skroll is in our possession.”

“What about the Hourglass?” Dr. Turner asked.

“If they find Jack for us, they’ll be fine.” She shrugged. “This isn’t a game. Sometimes myth translates into reality.”

“What if you find the Infinityglass and it doesn’t do everything you hope it will?”

“It will.” Teague held out her hand. Dr. Turner gave her the Skroll. She placed it in the top drawer of her desk and then locked it with a small silver key. “That and so much more.”

Poe and Dr. Turner exchanged a look.

“Shall Poe and I see you safely out of the building?” Teague asked Dr. Turner.

“You have that little trust in me?” Instead of sounding offended, he seemed relieved.

“I don’t trust anyone. That’s why I’m still here.” She opened the door, and she and Poe followed Dr. Turner out.

We were perfectly still for thirty seconds after they left.

“They’re gone,” Lily said. “Far enough for us to get out safely.”

We stepped out of the closet, and the hourglass made of bones started whispering to me again. I turned away. “We need to get out of here before they come back.”

“I’m not leaving empty-handed.” She was staring at the desk drawer that held the Skroll.

“How do you plan on making that happen?”

Without another word, she dug around on top of the desk until she found a paper clip. Shoving it in the lock, she wiggled it, opened the drawer, picked up the silver case, and slid it into the waistband of her pants. She took off my flannel shirt and tied the arms around her waist.

Then she looked at me, smiled, and took off toward the hall at a full run.