Chase (ChronoShift Trilogy) Read Free Page A

other hirelings who beat him mercilessly now.  He didn't think Grey Tuft even knew they were doing it.  No doubt he was a cold one.  He had made it clear he was going to kill Ty and bury his body in concrete so it would never be found, but in spite of the man's cruel tone, he didn't seem to have a lot of passion invested in the deed.  To him, it was a job, following orders.  A senseless beating requires anger.
    These other two, however, were a different story.  They were the hired help.  Lowlife scum scraped up from the dregs of society.  They hadn't dared lay a finger on him before Grey Tuft left the room, but once that door had closed, the racial slurs and blows flowed forth.
    Ty now heard a new voice outside the room.  He went limp, feigning unconsciousness, hoping to stop the beating so he could hear what was being said.  The two goons kicked him a few more times in the gut for good measure and then retired to some chairs in the corner where they lit a couple cigarettes.
    The voice outside the thick door bore clear authority in its tone.  Was that Smith?   Ty could barely make out the muffled words.
    "...know what I said...plans changed...No."
    "We should...at least..."
    "Can't die...cause too many problems...clear?...Take him..."
    "... the others?"
    "No problem...just...him..."
     
    The conversation stopped.  The door opened.  Grey Tuft entered by himself.
    Peeking weakly through swollen eyes, Ty didn't see any sign of Smith or anyone else outside the door.
    "You idiots !  What did you do?"
    Grey Tuft kneeled and turned Ty's face up, examining the extent of the damage.  "You two are lucky he's alive or you'd be headed for a concrete grave yourselves right now."
    "Wuz yur name," Ty slurred, spitting blood through his teeth.
    "What's it matter?"
    "Wanna know whoz gonna kill me."
    "Torino.  Vincent Torino, and there's been a change of plans, your highness.  You ain't gonna die, but you still ain't gonna see the sun for a long, long time.  Boss has got different plans for you."
    He let go and Ty's head sagged, lolling from side to side.   This time, he truly did fall unconscious.
     
    ***
     
    August 14 th 1834, Virginia Woodland s
     
    "I thought we were prepared for this kind of thing," Rialto growled, glaring a hole through his men.
    "Rialto — you, of all people, should know how difficult it is to pin down someone who’s got a shifter."
    "If you're prepared, it shouldn't matter."
    "We were, but I couldn't stay with the guy 24 /7.  Phillips shifted in and out within a one-second window and took Carpen with him.  Even if we'd been in the room with our weapons ready, we couldn't possibly have gotten a good shot off in that amount of time."
    Stanley Graves was sweating profusely, but more from the thick summer humidity than from any pressure put on him by Rialto.  Killing another time-shifter was a difficult proposition, especially when the guy had friends capable of intervening.  No, he didn't feel bad about Carpen slipping through his fingers.
    "You don't fear me, do you, Graves?"  Rialto asked.
    "Huh?"
    "If I ever have to show you why you should fear me, it'll be too late for that fear to do you much good.  That I promise."
    Graves involuntarily gulped.  "Look, Rialto, we've got all the time we want.  You saw how easy it was to capture their shift signatures with this tracker.  We almost came in right on top of them last time, and we know they're sitting under those trees over there in 1814.  These trackers Irvine gave you are amazing.  We have the upper hand for sure."
    Stanley Irvine, a physicist Rialto had hired to study the shifters, had successfully built several small portable devices that Rialto called "trackers."  The trackers were encased in black plastic and slightly larger than a car fob.  If a tracker was pointed at a person shifting between times, the handheld device could detect tiny fluctuations in the electromagnetic field surrounding the person and interpret those