Read Time Was for Free Online Page B

computer system.”

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    In his office, Samuel Preston sat drumming his fingers on the top of his desk, cursing under his breath.
    His personal security guards and the two other guards stood silent and very much at attention on the far side of the office.
    He had no idea what to do with them.
    He sure as hell couldn’t fire or reassign them.
    And they were too good at their jobs to terminate.
    Besides, he hated to waste good employees.
    But that didn’t mean he was above threats.
    â€œAll right,” he finally said. “Here’s the way it works. You saw the hidden doorway and staircase. I can tell you to not mention it to anyone but I can’t tell you not to remember it. I have to live with that.
    â€œNever speak of that passage, understand? Not to me, not to each other, and most definitely not to anyone else—because if you do , I’ll find out about it, and I don’t give a tinker’s damn which of you says something or whether or not the others know, you’ll all be expunged immediately. I don’t mean simply killed; I’ll have every last goddamn one of your records erased—Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, birth records, blood types . . . you name it, it’ll be gone. Then I will have every one of your acquaintances, friends, and family members taken out.
    â€œSay one word about this, and within twenty-four hours there will be no trace anywhere on this earth or on the InfoBahn that any of you ever existed. Any questions?”
    â€œConcerning what?” asked one of the guards.
    â€œConcerning the hidden door.”
    â€œWhat hidden door?” said another guard.
    â€œGood boys,” said Preston, then dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
    As soon as he was alone, he reached into one of his desk drawers and removed an exquisite silver picture frame.
    Stared at the three figures in the photograph under the glass.
    And swallowed twice. Very hard.
    He thought long and hard about what had happened here tonight.
    It wasn’t just the money—he had plenty of money, what he’d lost had been nothing—no; what ate at him was how easily Zac Robillard’s team was able to breach his security.
    Even though he’d employed the Catherine Wheel program, they’d somehow managed to crack it.
    But how? Robillard had no idea of the modifications that Preston had made in the past five years, turning the Catherine Wheel into more than either of them had ever imagined.
    He looked at the three figures in the photograph again andthought about the bright moments of youth that were all too quickly lost.
    And the mistakes you sometimes made.
    Oh, God, the mistakes.
    He could feel the fire inside sparking back to life.
    He laid the photograph facedown on his desk—perhaps a bit too hard.
    â€œNo human being could have done what they did,” he said aloud to the lonely office, then popped two more pills into his mouth.
    He picked up his phone, punched in a number, checked the time, almost hung up, then someone on the other end answered.
    â€œIt’s me,” he said. “I need to get in touch with Janus as quickly as possible.”
    Just saying the man’s name made the blood chill in his arteries.
    But he had to do it. His only other alternative would be to contact Annabelle Donohoe.
    Anything was preferable to that.
    Even dealing with a Class-A, #1, certifiable nuclear bomb of a dangerously unpredictable psycho like Janus.
    Janus , he thought.
    And the chill blood in Preston’s arteries froze solid.

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    Time was the child had known happiness, hope, and acceptance.
    123:18:22
    But no more.
    Never again. Not in this darkness. All this darkness.
    Help me, he whimpered.
    But no one answered. No one came.
    123:18:02
    Soon, it wouldn’t matter. Soon, the darkness would be all.
    And so the child remained still and silent.
    But inside he was