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"Quinn?"
And that quickly the happy buzz faded. "Gabriel."
"Where are you?"
"Visiting a friend."
She heard his frustrated exhale before he asked again, "Where are you?"
"The last time I checked it was the weekend and I don't work over the weekends. So where I am, what I'm doing, and who I'm with is none of your damn business."
"You didn't leave word, Quinn. People have been looking for you," his tone softened.
Déjà vu swamped her remembering a similar instance with Archer. The conversation was almost word-for-word.
"I informed Cole of my plans being that he is the person to whom I've always coordinated my activities," she said coldly.
"Why didn't you call me?"
Quinn leaned back in her chair as she signaled for another drink. "Let me think? Maybe because the last time I saw you, you were storming out of my house like a spoiled child."
Silence.
"Look, Gabriel, I'm working a very nice buzz while being in the middle of paradise so if you don't mind I'd rather hold this conversation until I get back. Is there anything else you wanted?"
The click in her ear was her clue that, no, he didn't want to discuss anything else.
Chapter Fifteen
"Cole, I need a meeting with Nicholas."
Cole lifted his bottle of beer to his lips but his focus was completely on Quinn. "To share with him what you're about to share with us?"
"Yes."
"All right, so what's up?"
Charles and Cole sat across from Quinn in her kitchen. She invited them over for lunch to fill them in on what she'd learned so far about Derek. She wanted to include Gabriel but he was not returning her phone calls. She couldn't blame him. She hadn't been very nice when he called her while she was in Mexico.
"Derek has figured out a way to travel through time and before you tell me that's insane, I can prove it."
"How?" Charles asked as he leaned up and rested his elbows on the table.
She pulled Archer's journal from her lap and placed it on the table in front of Cole. She knew it was real but she had carbon dated it anyway to prove its age and placed that report next to it on the table.
"Read it."
Charles was looking at the report and when he saw the date he looked up at Quinn. "1700s? Really?"
"Yes, but it isn't so much the age of the journal that's important but its contents. Please just read it."
Cole moved the journal so that it rested between himself and Charles and for the next two hours they sat and read Archer's words, a story that starred Quinn. Charles looked dumbstruck when he leaned back in his chair but it was Cole's expression that drew Quinn's attention.
"What was it like?" he asked.
A tear rolled down her cheek which she immediately wiped away. "Magical."
"When?"
