Read TimeRiders: City of Shadows (Book 6) for Free Online Page B

1831, only to be fused
     into the bodies of two horses. He’d held on to life for perhaps five, ten minutes,
     a gruesome jigsaw puzzle, an inside-out parody of a centaur.
    A horror-show freak for the few minutes he,
     it, lived.
    ‘I want to know what’s really
     going on, Maddy.’
    ‘I want to know more about this
     Waldstein fella. Aye, and more about this agency,’ said Liam. ‘And the only
     way I see it is … we have to keep on doing what we’re doing. Even if we
     have to move somewhere else and continue doing it there.’
    Maddy tapped the table gently with her
     knuckles. Her attempt at calling their meeting to order. It took a few moments. She
     would’ve been quicker just telling the pair of them to shut up. But also a touch
     rude.
    ‘OK, it’s agreed, then. We
     relocate and we’ll set things up again.’ She looked at them all. ‘And
     we will
continue
keeping this timeline on track while we’re still able
     to. Because – look – whatever’s really going on, if we’re being played for
     fools, if we’re being manipulated by Waldstein somehow … or someone else
     inside his agency or someone outside, the truth is … I know what we’re
     doing is the
right thing
. And that’s the only, literally the
only
, certainty we can grab hold of.’
    The other two nodded. They’d seen enough
     alternate timelines to know there could be far worse ways history could play out than
     the way it was now.
    ‘For better or worse, right,
     Foster?’
    The old man nodded. ‘For better or
     worse, history needs to stay on track.’
    ‘OK … OK, this is what
     I’m thinking we do.’ Maddy pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.
     ‘We head north to Boston.’
    ‘Why? What’s so special about
     Boston?’ asked Foster.
    ‘It’s my home.’
    Liam looked up from his burger. ‘You
     want to go to your home?’
    ‘It’s my home turf,’ she
     said. ‘I grew up there. I know the area. And look, maybe we can get some help. My
     folks –’
    ‘You
can’t
go to your
     home, Maddy,’ said Foster.
    ‘Why not?’
    Sal’s eyes widened. ‘Jahulla!
     You’ll be there already, won’t you? Another you?’
    Liam stopped chewing. Dawning realization on
     his face too. ‘You’d be a little girl! There’d be a little Maddy
     there!’
    ‘Nine.’ Maddy nodded.
     ‘Yes, I’d be nine.’
    ‘Madelaine,’ said Foster.
     ‘You cannot visit your family, you cannot visit
yourself
. Do you
     understand me? That’s a very dangerous contamination!’
    She stared at him silently for a long while
     before finally, reluctantly nodding. ‘All right. I get it. OK, I won’t visit
     home. It was just an idea. But listen! I know the area. There are places I know where we
     could set up. If we’re going to ground, it’s better we head somewhere that
     someone knows. Right?’
    ‘Somewhere we can easily tap
     power?’ said Rashim. ‘We’d need that if you want a viable new place to
     operate from.’
    ‘Sure. There’s loads of places we
     could settle in. There’s industrial parks. We could rent a unit, pretend to be
     some small business or something.’
    Liam nodded, encouraged that she seemed to
     have already given the move some thought. ‘Seems like a plan, so.’
    Sal smiled. ‘A new home. I’d
     like that.’
    Foster seemed less than happy.
     ‘It’s a danger, Maddy. And a temptation. To be so close to your childhood
     home.’
    ‘I won’t go home! OK? I promise!
     I mean … what’s the alternative? We stick a random pin in a map of
     America and just hope for the best?’ Her burrito drooled gunk on to her plate with
     an unappealing
splat
. ‘Seriously, guys. If anyone else has got a better
     suggestion … I’m all ears.’
    No one, of course, did.
    ‘Then that’s all I’ve got.
     Boston. It’s a start. What do you guys say?’
    Liam and Sal nodded.
    ‘Uhh … so does that answer
     your earlier question?’ asked Rashim.
    ‘What’s that?’
    ‘Whether I’m