I took a few seconds to recover, and then crept over to the rear bumper of the Honda and peeked around the side. Teague turned back around and headed toward the Pyramid, while Poe moved to the end of the line forming to board the monorail.
We waited, crouched down. The water lapped against the dock, and hungry seagulls cried out for lunch.
“Too bad I don’t have my camera to hide behind,” Lily said, pulling the Skroll out from under the Honda and into her lap. “We could have pretended to be tourists.”
“How long have you been taking pictures?”
“Abi bought me my first camera when I was twelve. It was secondhand, but it had all the bells and whistles. I had a blast learning how to make it work.” A blip of sorrow.
“Why does thinking about it make you sad?”
“I’d started to forget things about my family. The house I lived in when I was little. Abi thought being able to keep a record of my life here would help me. So I’d never have to worry about forgetting anything again, and so I’d have a tangible memory.” She slid a little on a loose stone and I lightly touched my hand to her back to help her keep her balance. “Been taking pics ever since. I have a digital camera now, but I kept the original.”
“Your stuff is really impressive. You could have a gallery showing. Em pointed them out, on the walls at Murphy’s Law. Do you want to pursue photography professionally? When you’re older?”
“I’m pursing it professionally now.” Drive and determination.
“It looks like we’re in the clear,” I said, standing. I reached for Lily’s hand to help her up. “You sense anything?”
“No.” She held the Skroll close to her chest. “But maybe you should sniff around for some despair.”
We made it to the hotel without any further incidents. Neither of us paid attention to the duck parade that was taking place as we hurried through the lobby. We didn’t talk in the elevator.
Lily remembered our room number. We’d left without a key, so I had to knock. Waiting for someone to answer was torture. Finally, Michael opened the door and we stepped inside, barely dodging a flying Emerson.
“You scared us to death,” she said. “What the hell’s going on? Where have you been?”
“Calm down, Em,” I said.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. You take off in a strange town with my best friend and-”
“We’ve been with Teague.” My words made the impact I’d hoped for. Em sat down hard on the edge of the couch.
“Teague?” Michael joined Em.
“On the way back from getting your coffee, we saw Poe and followed him. He led us straight to Teague’s office in the Pyramid, which I’m assuming is also Chronos headquarters.” I pulled two different bottles of soda out of the minibar and held them out to Lily. She picked the non-caffeinated one.
“You randomly saw Poe on the street in downtown Memphis. He led you to an abandoned commercial building, and then you followed him inside?” Michael asked. “It could’ve been a trick.”
“It wasn’t.” I didn’t like the implication that I would’ve put Lily in a situation like that. “I’d have known if he was trying to trick us, and I’d have insisted that Lily come back to the room.”
“He tried to make me come back to the room, anyway, but I didn’t listen.” She untied the sleeves of my shirt and removed the silver rectangle. I took it. It was still warm from her skin. “If I had, we might not have made it out with this.”
“What is that?” Em popped up off the couch and plucked the Skroll from my hands.
“Dr. Turner called it a Skroll.”
“Wait. Dr. Turner was there, too?” Michael looked from me to Lily and back again. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”
We explained everything, including the crowd of freaky rips.
“So now we have a device that we don’t know what to do with, and we still don’t have any leads on how to find Jack,” I said.
“Obviously, we have to go back to talk to Dr. Turner.” Em felt the edges of the Skroll, looking for a way to open it. “We’re taking this with us. First thing in the morning. And we aren’t leaving until we get answers.”
Chapter 26
Early the next morning, Em and I hurried across Bennett’s campus toward the science department.
“Are you just going to plop it down on his desk and say, ‘Hey, my best friend stole this from the same office where you were seen with the head of Chronos. What’s that all about? And also, do you know how to open it?’”
Em had the silver case in her bag. “No. Maybe. I don’t know right now. But when I see him, I’m sure I will.”
We didn’t even have to go all the way to Dr. Turner’s office.
He was in front of the science building, holding his briefcase. A pink carnation was in the buttonhole of his vest.
“Dr. Turner,” Emerson called out.
When he heard his name, he turned to face us and smiled politely. “Good morning. How can I help you?”
He seemed a little formal after our encounter yesterday. I stepped close to him, hoping no one around would hear us. It was around nine, and people were rushing to classes all around us. “I took your advice and checked out the sights. The Pyramid? I saw some things I wanted to talk to you about.”
I expected shock, at the very least, surprise. But not confusion.
“I’m sorry, did I give you advice?” Dr. Turner pulled at the edge of his bow tie.
“Yes,” I answered, “in your office, yesterday…”
He had no idea what I was talking about.
“Dr. Turner, it’s me. Emerson.” She smiled and nodded, encouraging him to remember. “We were here yesterday morning.”
He leaned over to get a better look at her face. “Yesterday morning?”
“During your office hours.” She looked around before saying in a low voice, “We talked to you about Chronos.”
Distress coated his words. “I don’t… I wouldn’t… oh, hold on, my phone…” He fumbled around, touching each of his pockets before finally finding his cell. “Hello?”
He glanced at Em and me as he listened to the caller on the other end, his fear more pronounced by the second.
Em’s anxiety crashed into mine. “I don’t feel good about this.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Could he be senile, have Alzheimer’s or something? Or does this mean what I think it does?”
“His memory is gone.” I nodded. “It has to be Jack.”
“But he disappeared off the map.” She fought her fear, denying the obvious truth. “Lily’s been checking every hour.”
“More like every half hour.”
“Then how could Jack have gotten here?”
“He could be hiding in veils. If he stays inside them, it could block Lily from being able to track the pocket watch. He would exist outside space and time.”
“Or he could be stuck. That could explain why the rips just keep getting worse. More screwing around with the continuum equals more consequences.” Em made a sound of frustration. “As if things weren’t bad enough already.”
“Actually, I don’t think Jack’s stuck. He paid the professor a visit, which would be impossible if he were stuck.”
“Why would he take Dr. Turner’s memory?” Em asked. “Specifically his memory of us?”
“I don’t know.” I just knew we were surrounded by enemies and uncertainties, and everything in me wanted to get the hell out of this town and back to Ivy Springs. “Maybe because Dr. Turner told us too much about Chronos.”
“He barely told us anything.”
I looked at Dr. Turner, paid attention to his appearance, and panic settled in my chest. “We have to go, Em.”
“We need to call someone. We can’t leave him like this.” She didn’t move. “Who knows how much of his memory Jack took?”
“Em, don’t.” I needed to get her back to the hotel. “There’s nothing we can do.”