“I’m going to have to go to Chicago, the day before that. Somehow I have to be in a position to prevent that meeting and deal with Graper,” Jake said. “It’ll mean I have to miss those last couple of days, but the terrorists were already captured and it shouldn’t matter much.”
“You’ll have to come to Washington to back-track,” Carlson said, aware of the distance restriction associated with Jake’s ability.
“I’ll fly back to Washington in the morning,” Jake said. “I’ll get there tomorrow night. The sooner I can be there, the shorter my jump will have to be. I can jump back to the morning the day after the assault was completed. That will give me a day to get to Chicago and prepare.”
“I’ll send a package of information to your computer later tonight,” Carlson promised. “It’ll have everything we know about Rizzo and where he lives. You can study that on the plane and be better prepared.” Then she hesitated. “When you get here and have back-tracked, call me at home, the earlier the better. Tell me I told you I am to set you up with Tony. He can help you with this kind of thing better than anyone I know.”
“Tony?” Jake asked. It was a name he wasn’t familiar with.
“He’s the covert operator I’ve referred to a couple of times. Given the tight schedule, you’ll need someone like him if you hope to succeed.”
Chapter 43
Very early the following morning Jake and Nate headed north toward San Francisco Airport. Nate was on his way back to Sparks, Nevada, and the airport was on his way. There was little to be gained by having Karin wake Janna to make the trip with him, especially since once he reached the East Coast and back-tracked, all of this would cease to exist other than in Jake’s memories. Nate knew their adventure would disappear as well. He’d been involved enough times to know how it worked, and while he felt a little melancholy about the whole affair, he knew that Jake would recall how he’d helped out. If he probed him about it, he’d get the story so at least he’d know what they did secondhand.
Once again, given the time difference between the coasts, Jake arrived in Washington, DC late in the afternoon, the day there virtually spent. Jake had spent part of the trip going over the information that Carlson had forwarded to him, so he knew what he was looking at when he finally ended up in Chicago. As yet, he hadn’t any kind of workable plan. He couldn’t see any reason to delay looping back until he’d disembarked at the terminal, and so he back-tracked while the plane was still taxiing toward the gate. His memories found him four days earlier, very early in the morning. The arrival of the future events jolted Jake out of a sound sleep, but he was pleased by the whole thing. This was the longest back-track he’d attempted since his recovery, and he’d accomplished it without the faintest of headaches. He wouldn’t have to make the timid attempts to test his recovery all over again. He knew his ability was fully restored.
Jake pushed aside the covers, rolled out of bed, and checked his watch on the nightstand. Five AM. His orders had been to call Carlson early, and this seemed to qualify. He located his cell-phone and made the call. After a couple of days of being himself, he was back to being Bob Trask for a while longer.
“What’s the matter?” Carlson asked when she answered the phone and realized who it was.
“I back-tracked,” he told her. “Four days worth. My ability has returned, but there’s a problem that needs to be resolved quickly. I have to move on Graper before that situation becomes uncontrolled. That’s why I looped back.” He gave her a condensed version of events.
“I assume you called me with a plan?” she asked.
“Actually, it was your idea,” Jake said. “You told me I should tell you that you need to link me up with someone named Tony.”
“Tony?” she asked, the surprise evident. Then after a minute she must have reproduced her thinking. “Yes, that probably makes sense. This has to be handled much as you used to deal with such problems. Tony would be an effective partner for you. I’ll give him a call. Come to my place. Try to be here in an