Joe Read Free Page B

do. I suppose I will go to the future.”
    “But if you were created for a needy future, then no one will know you.”
    “That is not true. Are you not going to be securing that future? Good or bad for me.”
    Danny grinned. “I am.” He exhaled. “So. Do you think it worked?”
    “The ALS3, yes it …”
    “No, whatever you and Joe did to get you here. Cause his death. Change the future.”
    “Oh, I hope.” Roy wisped out. “I hope.”
    “Did you ever think about cheating?”
    “Cheating?”
    “Yeah, sneaking into the future. Taking a peak, seeing if it is different.”
    “Yes, I have.” Roy said. “Unfortunately, the HG Wells is broke. I have that trigger mechanism that makes it impossible to fix.”
    Danny shrugged. “Build another. Then go to the future, see if it worked, and make your decision.”
    Roy’s eyes lit up. “Danny. You are brilliant. I will make another.”
    “Didn’t think of that, did you?”
    “Not at all. Sometimes I lack simplicity?” Roy grinned. They headed to the steps. Just as they reached the doors, they heard the screech of tires.
    Both men turned. Robbie was pulling up to the clinic with Dan, still out, in the jeep.
    “Well, there’s Robbie,” Danny said. “Looks like Dan is injured.”
    “Would explain where he was.” Roy watched Robbie lift Dan from the jeep. “I wonder what’s going on.”
    “Find out soon enough I guess,” Danny said and opened the door. “Let’s go in and wait.”
    “Sounds good.”
    They went inside.
     
    Robbie struggled to carry Dan. He was a much bigger man, heavy too. He paused half way up the steps in shock when he witnessed Danny and Roy just go into the clinic. “What the fuck?”
    *****
    Jason usually thought things through all the time. All the time. But why he didn’t think about the safety deposit box issue beforehand was beyond him. He thought he had it all worked out. Perfect. The bank in Bowman was still in existence. However, he had to deal with Ben from Fabrics to get into it. The old bank was the new coffee and poetry house, and Ben was in charge.
    It took some convincing, going back and forth with Ben. But after to agreeing to a twenty-dollar Unique Boutique purchase Ben let Jason through to the vault with the old safety deposit boxes.
    “I don’t know how you’re going to get into these boxes. They are locked. We’ve been dying to try forever.”
    Jason, smugly, raised a key.
    “How did you get that?” Ben asked.
    “You can say. I thought ahead.”
    Ben didn’t leave him alone to open the box, but it certainly was heavy.
    ‘Yes’, Jason thought, the book is in here. Of course, Jason was not pleasantly surprised when he opened the box.
    Two packages were in there. One from Nancy Reagan, and the other from the Reagan Foundation. Postmarked decades apart. After quickly skimming the return addresses, Jason scooped up his packages, thanked Ben and left. He’d find somewhere private to examine what he had.
     
    And he did. Then Jason went immediately back to the house where Dean was hiding.
    “Dean.” Jason called out like a parent.
    Dean was still sporting his tee shirt. Enthused he popped into the living room. “Did you go? Was it there?”
    “Yes.”
    “Excellent.”
    “Dean...”
    “Yes?”
    “Shall I start calling you, ‘Frank’?” Jason asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    Jason held up the packages. “What did you do?”
    *****
    It actually ended up being a perfect thing. At first Robbie was pissed off that Danny and Roy just walked into the clinic without holding the door, but as Robbie entered and saw no one around, he figured it worked in his favor.
    He carried Dan down the hall to the waiting room, which was empty, and he placed Dan on the couch. He propped up his feet, put a book on his chest, and took a good look.
    Dan appeared as if he had taken a nap, and then Robbie left him.
    He supposed there could be questions, but it was Dan. The last thing Dan would remember was seeing Robbie talking to