Free The Trouble With Time by Lexi Revellian

travel.”
    Floss considered this insight into the future, while simultaneously modifying her assessment of Jace Carnady. He was more intelligent than she’d thought, though still a killer, unpredictable and violent. Short on social niceties, too. Though she needed him, she wouldn’t be sorry to see the last of him.
    “Can’t you take the limiter off?”
    “I haven’t got the code, and I don’t want to try to get in in case I stop it working. Then we’d both be stuck here. There’s a man I know who should be able to do it, if he’s still around . . .”
    “Is that illegal?”
    Jace nodded. “And I doubt I have citizen status any more. So, d’you want to come?”
    However dodgy, criminal and uncertain his plan, whatever her abhorrence of him, this was her only chance. She said, “I don’t want to stay here.”
    “We’ll leave when you’ve finished eating . . . actually, you’re probably wasting your time eating, you’ll just throw it up again.” Jace swiped and tapped the screen, saying absently, “When you do get back, you might want to be careful, in case they send someone else after you.”
    At that moment, Floss didn’t care. She just longed to be away from here, back in her proper life, even if Jace Carnady was right and she would be at risk. She wouldn’t mind having to be careful. She put down her spoon.
    He glanced at her unfinished plate. “Are you done?”
    Floss nodded. She’d lost enthusiasm for the meal after what Jace had said about her throwing it up.
    “Then let’s go.” He took off his jacket and undid the buckle of his leather belt, threaded the belt through the cuff and fastened it again.
    “Why not put it on your wrist? Aren’t you supposed to wear it?”
    “It’s locked. I don’t have the code.”
    “So how did you get it off Quinn, then?” Pause, while Floss realized how he had got it off Quinn, and imagined him doing it. “Oh.”
    He seemed to find her revulsion faintly amusing. “At least he was dead. There are some nasty stories from the early days, when more of these were kicking around.” Jace put on his jacket and stashed the pile on the table into various pockets. He added a rusty tobacco tin from the shelf, then did a visual check of the room, apparently not finding anything else he needed to take with him. “Hold on to me. Grab my belt.”
    He put his arm around her waist. Floss tried not to breathe in the rank stench of his clothes and body.
    “I hope he set off from his apartment,” he muttered. “We don’t want to materialize into an office full of people wanting to know where Quinn is.”

CHAPTER 13
Back to the future
    Friday, 25 th March 2050
     
    Jace’s plan, should they appear in the Event Modification Authority’s offices, had been simple; use Quinn’s gun to threaten the eight or so people likely to be present before they could raise the alarm, then run away. He could see there were various problems with this. Serious problems, problems that would likely result in sudden death. So it was a relief when they arrived instead in a luxury penthouse which had to belong to Quinn. Its floor-to-ceiling windows gave a panoramic vista of City of London skyscrapers, their lights sparkling in the night.
    While the girl was spewing macerated rabbit in red wine on to the marble floor (displaying a pleasing rear view in old-fashioned tight jeans) he did a quick tour of the place to make sure it was empty, then sat at the desk. Luckily, given Jace did not know the password, Quinn had left the computer on, expecting to return immediately. “Food. French bread and cheddar. Diary.”
    “Does it ever get better?” Floss gasped, gazing up at him, her eyes huge in a white face. She was a looker, no doubt about it, even doubled up heaving her guts out.
    “Probably. There are pills you can take.” He turned back to the screen. Quinn had an appointment that evening with a woman called Jinghua. Jace went to his mail and after a bit of research cancelled it,