Fate (Wilton's Gold #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

devices – a felony offense.”
    “That doesn’t sound like me.”
    “It sounds exactly like you,” Fisher said. “After you ran I learned about your little checklist of money-making projects.”
    Jeff tried to keep his face expressionless. Fisher was referring to Dexter’s journal of proposed time travel missions – a collection of instances in history where the documentation of the event made them reasonably sure there would be vulnerable treasure for the taking. Apparently, he could rely on some things in this new reality being consistent with his own. Dexter must have turned the book over to them at some point, which was going to complicate things. “That doesn’t mean anything,” he said, though, dismissing Fisher with a shrug. “We scribbled some notes in a diary. We never did anything with them.”
    “So it’s coincidence that one of the entries in your ‘diary’ is in the Sierra Nevadas, which is where we originally found your time device?” Fisher asked, his glare piercing through Jeff, who actually couldn’t answer the question because he didn’t know. It could have been coincidence or not – he hadn’t finished his research. Yes, Dexter had meticulously researched and documented one potential mission to travel back to the Gold Rush era and rid a traveler named Joe Wilton of 60 bars of gold in a narrow pass in the Sierra Nevadas, but he’d ultimately been scared off by some cloudy details so they never took the trip. At least, as far as he knew, they never took the trip with the intent of stealing Wilton’s gold.
    Jeff shook his head. “Well, I can’t tell you if it’s a coincidence, but I didn’t put it there.” He wasn’t lying – he hadn’t put it there. A mysterious woman had tossed it into the forest. Jeff had seen her do it when he and Dexter, through some slick maneuvering before he headed to Russia, went back in time to investigate. He wasn’t about to divulge this, though, and hoped Dexter hadn’t at any point either. “So I ran. Where did I run?”
    “Well, we don’t know,” Dexter said. “One of the flaws in the system. We’d instituted fail safes if one of the participants tried anything during one of the trips. Because the devices are secure at all times, we hadn’t considered the possibility that someone would take a device without being authorized and travel back in time, skirting the background checks.”
    “Have to be somebody on the inside,” Jeff said. “I would think I would’ve thought of that.”
    “You probably did,” Dexter said. “And then didn’t tell anyone so you could take advantage of the loophole yourself.”
    He laughed. “That still doesn’t sound like me.”
    “Or, you knew exactly what you were doing the entire time, and left a hole for yourself to take advantage of,” Fisher said.
    Jeff ignored him in hopes of having a productive conversation. “So eighteen months ago, I grabbed a device and ran – you don’t know where – and then what? Did you look for me? Did you try to research to figure out where I might’ve gone?”
    “It’s a big universe out there,” Dexter said, looking down at the table.
    Jeff sat back in his chair and sighed. “Look, Agent Fisher,” he said. “Am I in trouble? Are you going to detain me?”
    Fisher looked him in the eyes. “None of this is familiar to you?”
    He shook his head. “Not a word of it. There’s obviously something going on here, and I’m more than willing to help you research and figure out what it is. You said, or you insinuated, that you needed my help. I’m willing to help… But I’m exhausted. I need a shower and something to eat, and then I need to sleep. I need some clean clothes. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t even have anywhere to go. But if you let me get to a hotel and have a meal, I’ll be back here in the morning ready to take care of whatever it is you need me to take care of. Or, at least do my best.”
    Fisher clearly didn’t want to budge,