Of course, what she’d done was totally against the agency rules.If this was a test, she’d just failed it.But her gut and the way time had reacted trumped the rules.
They’d stopped and tried to look like they weren’t watching them.They sucked at that, too.
Who were they?
Red tucked her arm in the crook of his and they started down the street.
“I am pretty sure I saw a drug store down here with a soda fountain,” Red said.
He was being really nice about her hijacking.What must he think?She wasn’t as worried about that as she should be.
Any interaction with a local put the time line at risk.But her time senses felt right, so she stayed with him, grateful for the support of his arm.Her knees were just a tad wobbly and that wasn’t great with heels on.Why had women worn these things?
She stole a look at him.He looked pleased and only a little curious.Well, he was a guy and she had headed directly at him.She couldn’t fault him for looking pleased by that, and she was very grateful he’d played along.
“Did you notice those two odd birds in black?”he said now.
She managed a chuckle, but her throat had dried.
“Terrible fashion choice for this heat,” she said.Had he noticed they’d been heading for her?He must have.He wasn’t stupid.
John once told her that she could probably bluff her way out of hell—it hadn’t felt like a compliment, but whatever.He was the original Sphinx-man—but she didn’t think bluffing would work this time.
To her surprise, he didn’t press the issue.
She should be uneasy about that.She wasn’t.It seemed impossible in the dry, still air, but the scent of him found her and she inhaled it gratefully.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this close to an attractive man.
Of course, she wasn’t supposed to be here for long, but technically, she had all the time in the world.
Con glanced down at Rita, but all he could see was the tip of her nose.The rest of her face was hidden by the fall of blonde hair.Her clean, light perfume swirled close with each step.It was distracting.She was distracting.
There was no question she was who he’d come to observe.Observe.She even had on the same dress she’d worn in the photograph.
That didn’t clear up the question of whether she was a time traveler.Had the two goons been going after her?It had looked like it and she’d changed direction toward him at almost the last minute.
Did that increase or decrease the odds she was part of the opposition?He honestly couldn’t tell.
He should have pressed her about the two goons.He didn’t know why he hadn’t.Or maybe he did know.He was wondering if the meeting of two, out of time, time travelers could have an impact on the time line.
If she was a time traveler.
He’d thought a lot about the opposition while he’d been training.He couldn’t help himself.He’d been reading sci-fi since he learned to read.He’d even wondered about writing one himself, but he had trouble writing a letter home.
Traveling around the country like he did—like he had—hadn’t left a much time for letters or girls.
After being recruited, well, after he got over most of the shock, he’d begun to wonder if the opposition wouldn’t try the same tactics they were using.
Were they searching through time looking for reoccurring faces, too?
Technically the opposition had more data to work with, since they were further in the future with more of the past to study.But Jack had been very careful so far.As far as Con knew, none of them had traveled more than once, except for test flights, of course.
Would this be his only mission?He didn’t like that thought.He hadn’t given up his life—and his fiery death—to sit in the silo and watch someone else fly theRay.
He wasn’t all the way in all the info, it was possible he didn’t know how it all worked.He’d overheard stuff, of course.It was also true that Jack and Mel at least stayed pretty close to the silo since he arrived.He frowned.Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen Ty and Alice leaving much either.
But that didn’t mean that much yet.He hadn’t been on the team all that long.
