Wrong Time (15 page)

“Okay,” Michael said as he got down on
the ground and began to look through his scope.

He felt a bit shaky. Just holding the
weapon brought back memories that had often haunted his dreams. He closed his
eyes and simply squeezed the trigger. The gun fired, and it seemed as if a
thousand memories flashed through his mind all at one time. A tear rolled down
one of his cheeks. James was looking through the binoculars, and it was clear
to his eye that Michael had missed the entire target.

“Okay. That can be a practice shot.
It’s my turn,” James said as he helped the noticeably shaky Michael off the
ground.

James aimed and quickly, without any
doubt, fired.

“You were about four inches to the
right of the middle of the target,” Michael said as he pulled the binoculars away
from his eyes.

“That’s a lot closer than you came. You
didn’t even hit the target, Mr. Hotshot,” James said smugly.

Michael was furious. How dare this
shrink pretend that he was better at shooting? He didn’t have the training that
Michael had, and he hadn’t seen the things that Michael had seen. I’m about to
show this moron what’s what, Michael thought as he dropped to the ground and
looked through the scope. He took his time and aimed carefully. He took one
calming deep breath and squeezed the trigger.

“I think you hit it dead in the
center,” James announced.

“Well, of course I did,” Michael said
with a smile.

The two men continued to shoot
competitively for the next few minutes.

“You really are impressive. Well, I
think that’s enough for today,” James said.

Michael almost looked disappointed by
the fact that they had to leave. They walked back to the truck and got in.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what was
the real purpose of us coming here?” Michael asked.

“I think there are three things that
people use guns for. The first is just plain fun. You rediscovered just how fun
shooting can be in a controlled and safe environment today. The second is as a
tool to get jobs done that ought to be done. Finally, guns can be used for evil
purposes. A gun is a tool that can be used just like any other tool. It isn’t
the tool itself that’s evil, but instead, the user of the tool. You were physically
unable to use your tool for good back in Atlanta, and I wanted to show you that
you can still fire a gun, even if it’s just for fun. Whether or not you take
that further and use your talents for something good to help others or you just
visit this range occasionally and get some enjoyment out of something that used
to frighten you, today was a success.”

 
Michael was kind of amazed.

“You’re actually pretty good at what
you do,” Michael said.

“I know, and so are you. Do me a favor,
and don’t waste that.”

* * * * *

Nathan and Sam were visiting everyone
and helping
them
with their work as much as they could
when Michael came into the house. Jess jumped up and walked over to him.

“How did it go?” Jess asked him.

“It went really good. We went to a shooting
range,” Michael said.

“A shooting range? What made him think
that was a good idea?”

 
“I pretty much reacted the same way that you
just reacted when I realized where we were going, but it all turned out okay.
It turns out that I’m still pretty good at what I do,” Michael said with
confidence.

 
After hearing their conversation, Nathan
walked up to him.

“So has he just about got you in game
shape?” Nathan asked.

“Almost. I wish that I could go with
you guys to Paris,” Michael said.

Somehow he, Sam, and Michael going to
Paris didn’t sound appealing to Nathan, but he wasn’t about to tell Michael
that. Sure, they were going on a serious mission, but in their off time, there
was going to be the potential for a little sightseeing and maybe even some
romance. Somehow, Nathan didn’t see where Michael would fit into that.

“I know. We could use you for this
one,” Nathan said while trying not to hurt Michael’s feelings.

“I can try to get James to sign off on
me going!”

 
“No, you’re where you need to be right
now,” Jess said while shooting Nathan a look as if to say
help
me out here.

“Jess is right. Get your head right
first, and when you’re completely sure that you’re ready, if Campbell doesn’t
find something for you to do, I’ll request that you be brought along with us
until he finds something for you,” Nathan said.

“Fine,” Michael said in disappointment.

Michael knew that they were right, but
he couldn’t help but feel a little useless in this situation.

“Hey, cheer up. We haven’t had a chance
to actually visit with each other for a long time. We should enjoy this
afternoon,” Nathan said while patting him on the shoulder.

The friends spent several hours laughing
and joking together until it was time for Nathan and Sam to leave for Paris.

“Have a safe trip, and get some
pictures of the tower for me,” Michael said.

“We are
not
going to that tower,” Sam said in an agitated tone and walked
off.

“What was that about?” Jess asked.

Nathan simply shrugged and smiled.

“I’ll see you guys soon,” Nathan said
as he walked to the car to join Sam.

Chapter 14

After Nathan and Sam left, a thought
occurred to Michael.

“Hey, the night’s still young. Why
don’t we all go do something?” Michael asked.

“Is this really the time for us to be out
having fun?” Jess asked.

“I think it’s the perfect time. We’ve
all been working so hard lately. Why shouldn’t we have a little fun?” Lee
asked.

The truth was that Lee knew they should
probably stay in and get some sleep, but he thought that Michael, and
especially Trish, could use a night of fun, given everything they had both been
through recently.

 
“Great! Lee is on board. How about you
two?” Michael asked.

“Why not!” Trish said.

“I guess that it would be okay, but
what did you have in mind for us to do?” Jess asked him.

Michael thought for a minute. He didn’t
really have anything in mind because his idea was just a spur of the moment
thing.

“How about we all go to a movie? We
could make this kind of like a date night,” Michael said.

Jess and Trish seemed to be fine with a
“date night,” but Lee felt a little strange about the whole ordeal. He and
Trish weren’t even close to being anything more than friends, or at least that
was what he thought. Lee agreed but gave Trish a noticeably strange look.

“Oh, come on. You’re the one who said
we should have some fun,” Trish said after noticing the odd look that Lee displayed.

“All right, let’s get going,” Lee said.

As they were walking to the car, Lee
looked on his phone to see where the local theater was at and what movies were
on. Once they were in the car, he gave directions to Michael from the back
seat.

“Okay. There are two romantic movies,
an action movie, two comedies, and a horror film on. What do you guys want to
see?” Lee asked everyone.

Michael had always loved horror movies,
but Jess normally hated them, and Lee actually wasn’t very fond of them either.

 
“Let’s go see a romantic movie,” Jess
said.

Michael wanted to say his true opinion,
but he knew that Jess would prefer something different. He really didn’t want
to see a sappy romantic movie, so he compromised.

“I vote comedy,” Michael said.

“I would rather see something a little
scary,” Trish said.

Lee was surprised by her answer. What
kind of girl actually chooses to see a horror movie, Lee thought to himself.

“Well, Lee, it looks like the deciding
vote is up to you,” Michael said.

Lee was torn. He would have preferred a
comedy, but Trish wanted to see a horror movie, and he knew from years of being
Michael’s friend that he really did, too.

Tonight is really more about them anyway,
Lee thought.

“I’m sorry, Jess. I’m going to have to
go with a horror movie,” Lee said.

Trish glanced over at him as if to say
thank you, and Michael was obviously happy with the decision. Well, here I come,
bad dreams, Lee thought.

Once they arrived in the theater, they
were all seated, and the movie began. Lee was scared stiff. Jess didn’t look
much different from Lee. She had a death grip on Michael’s arm, and she had
nearly jumped out of her seat more than a couple of times. Trish, however,
looked composed. As a matter of fact, it seemed like she was bored by the
attempts that the movie made at trying to scare its viewers. What is wrong with
this girl, Lee wondered. He turned to look back over at Michael and Jess. They
were now holding hands. He couldn’t believe how close the two of them had
become in such a short time. Good for him, Lee thought. Little did he know that
Trish too had noticed the affection going on next to her, and it gave her an
idea.
She reached her hand over and grabbed Lee’s hand. Lee
just sat there stunned, not knowing how they had gotten to this place, or what
he should do about it. Truthfully, Trish didn’t know how she felt about Lee.
She had noticed that she always wanted him around lately, and he was there for
her when she needed someone. Right now, in light of everything that had
happened, she just needed be able to feel something close to love, without it
hurting. Seeing David again had brought back so many old feelings, and then
losing him made all those feelings that used to be great, feel painful. With
Lee, she was safe, or at least that was how she felt right now. Lee ultimately
decided not to do anything about the hand that was holding his. If this is what
she needs right now, then it’s fine, I guess, he told himself.

* * * * *

Sam and Nathan had boarded their plane to
Paris, and it hadn’t been long since the plane had taken off.

“Great, we only have fourteen hours
until we land. What are we going to do until then?” Sam asked.

“We could talk, watch a movie, or maybe
even join the mile high club,” Nathan said with one eyebrow raised to show that
he was only joking.

“What are the benefits of the club? Do
we get a card or something? I hope that we don’t have to take a picture. Is
that something that you can really do from a plane?” Sam asked in complete and
utter confusion.

“You
have
to be kidding me,” Nathan said while laughing.

 
Sam only looked at him in a sincerely
puzzled way. It was just a joke, but should I actually tell her what it means?
She might hit
me or something
if I do, Nathan thought.
Sam was a little mad that Nathan thought her confusion was so amusing, and she
was determined to get to the bottom of what this was all about. As a flight
attendant started to walk past, Sam stopped her.

“Excuse me. Who do we talk to about
joining the mile high club?” Sam asked the poor woman.

Nathan could barely contain the
laughter that was brewing inside of him, but somehow he managed to and motioned
for the flight attendant to lean down.

“Please, be kind to her. She’s my
little sister, and she’s a little bit slow,” Nathan explained.

“I understand,” the woman said and
walked away.

“Well, she didn’t answer my question at
all,”
Sam
said in frustration.

“Well, that’s because . . .” Nathan
said before the flight attendant returned.

“Here, I wanted you to have this,” the
stewardess said in a very slow voice as she handed Sam a miniature ice cream.

“Um, thank you,” Sam said.

As the flight attendant left, Sam
turned to Nathan who was now about to die from laughter.

“All right, spill it. What’s going on?”

Nathan told her what the mile high club
was and shielded himself from the blows that would likely come.

“What? I can’t believe that you made me
ask that woman a question like that,” Sam said as she punched Nathan in the
arm.

“All right. I probably deserved that
punch, but no more hitting, okay?”

 
“Fine, but wait a minute. Why did she bring
me ice cream?”

“Well, when you asked her what the mile
high club was, I had to say something, so I kind of told her that you were my
little sister, and that you were a little bit slow,” Nathan said while
shielding his head.

After a few seconds of nothing
happening, Nathan uncovered his head and turned to see Sam, who literally
refused to look at him.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I just didn’t know
what else to do,” Nathan said while still laughing.

“Just know that there will be payback
in your future,” Sam said and then put on her headphones to watch a movie.

 
Nathan was a little fearful of her
payback, and he felt bad for embarrassing her, but he still couldn’t wipe the
goofy grin off his face. After a few minutes, he was able to compose himself
long enough to look serious. He slid his hand over to hers and gently held it.

“I’m sorry,” Nathan said.

“I can’t hear you,” Sam said as if she
was irritated, but she didn’t pull away from his hand.

Well, this will certainly be an
interesting flight, Nathan thought as he laid his head back, and for once,
drifted off.

* * * * *

That night, Burt arrived in Atlanta,
and he was on his way to go check on Zane and Dan at the hospital when he
received a phone call from Campbell.

 
“Hello,” Burt said.

“We have a job for you,” Campbell
simply said.

“What kind of job?”

“We want you to destroy the facility in
Atlanta.”

 
Burt paused for a moment in surprise. Maybe
all of his agent talk had finally caught up to him. Did Campbell actually
expect him to take on an entire facility by himself?

“Well, I’m glad you have so much faith
in my abilities, sir, but I don’t think that I’ve gained the power to
telepathically blow things up with my mind yet, so I’m going to have to hear a
little bit more of a plan than that before I accept this job.”

Even if Burt was being a bit of a smart
aleck, Campbell couldn’t help but laugh at the comment he made. Then he
explained their plan for him to deliver a load that was full of explosives to
the facility there.

“Oh, so all I have to do is drive? That
I can do,” Burt said in relief.

“We’ll have a truck ready for you by
tomorrow, and I’ll call you to tell you where to pick it up.”

“Okay. I’ve got it,” Burt said and hung
up the phone.

Burt stepped into the hospital and made
his way to Zane’s room.

“So when are they saying that he can
get out of here?” Burt asked Dan as he entered the room.

“In about three days, but what are you
doing here?” Dan asked.

“I have a job here, and when I’m done
with it, I was hoping to bring you guys back with me.”

“What kind of job?” Dan asked.

Burt explained what he would be doing
in Atlanta.

“When will you be done?” Zane asked
from the bed.

“I think by tomorrow night,” Burt said.

“Great, I was ready to blow this joint
a little bit early anyway.”

“Zane, you know that you’re supposed to
wear a mask over your eyes and stay in a fairly dark room for the next three
days,” Dan said.

“I’ll wear the mask, but I’m getting
out of here. With everything that’s happened back in Washington, I have to get
back there soon.”

“Well, I don’t know how much you two know,
but a lot happened even after our office got bombed,” Burt said and then
proceeded to recap the events of the last few hours.

“You see? We definitely need to be back
there,” Zane said in desperation.

“Fine, we’ll break you out of here
tomorrow night, but when we get back there, do me a favor, and don’t strain
yourself too hard. You’re still recovering,” Dan said.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be just fine,”
Zane
said in satisfaction.

The truth was that Zane was going crazy
in that hospital room. All he had done all day was look at the blackness of his
eyelids and listen to the sound of Dan watching cartoons. He felt that he had
to get out of there and do something useful, even if it was only in a limited
manner.

“Well, I’m going to get a hotel room.
I’ll see you two tomorrow night,” Burt said as he exited the room.

“Things must be really desperate if we
have Burt doing missions now,” Dan said while shaking his head.

* * * * *

When the movie was over and they had all
arrived back home, Michael and Jess retired to their room, and Lee started to
do the same, but Trish stopped him.

“Hey, do you want to come in and talk
for a minute?” Trish asked.

“Sure,” Lee replied and walked into the
room with her.

Trish shut the door behind them.

“I just wanted to say thank you for
being there for me lately. I don’t know where I would be without you,” Trish
said.

“It’s no problem. That’s what friends
are for, right?” Lee said and began to turn and step toward the door.

Trish put her hand on his back, and
when he turned around, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned up on her tip
toes. She kissed him in the most passionate manner that he had ever been kissed
in. After a few seconds into what was the greatest kiss he had ever been a part
of, he began to think. What are you doing, you idiot? Her ex-boyfriend just
died. Is this really a good idea? Lee slowly pulled away and stepped toward the
door.

“What’s wrong?” Trish asked.

“I just don’t feel like you’re thinking
straight right now. Everything just happened with David, and this feels like
something that you may regret. I’m sorry, but I think that I should go.”

“I wouldn’t have kissed you if this
wasn’t what I wanted. Why don’t you tell me the truth? What is it? Do you find
me repulsive? Do I not stack up to Megan
the
most beautiful woman you have ever seen
,” Trish said angrily.