Storm Front: NA Fantasy/Time Travel (Tesla Time Travelers Book 3) by Jen Greyson Read Free Book Online Page A

of his eyes crinkles. If my memory wasn’t a fractured mirror, I’d be able to remember if I’ve ever seen a real one from him before. If I have, it’s been forgotten amidst the rest of our interactions. This seems genuine. He’s pleased with himself. “I did find a trace. He points toward where he was standing when I came in. “That trace was what caused the flurry of activity and we’re making adjustments now to reduce the data to indicators we can not only track, but predict.”
    “And that hasn’t happened before today?” I think of the computers, of the wild spinning diagrams, at how much firepower he’s put behind the workings of this place.
    “This is the first time since she went missing that I’ve had one solid enough to replicate.”
    I really wish he was fiddling with his left sleeve. But there’s still one other truth that’s never happened, one he can’t manipulate in any way—I’ll gain a memory from him while I’m here. “How long will it take you to make something of it, something useable?”
    He strokes his tie, then brushes a speck of imaginary lint from above his left pocket. “A team of seven is working through the data. We’ve dedicated every server we have to locating her. I anticipate a resolution within two days.”
    “Then what?”
    “We destroy Penya.”
    “And bring Tiana home safe.”
    He holds out a hand. “You must tell me everything. I understand your hesitation and I will do what I can to prove my trustworthiness. No matter where if fall right now on that measurement for you, I cannot help you if you don’t trust me with the details.”  
    Another request for trust and I think of what Steinaman said about the difference between trust and accepting help.  
    “I’ll think about it. For now, you have work to do and I have to get back to Steinaman. We were in the middle of figuring this guy out and I’ve got to show him my lightning and explain this whole thing to him.” I wave my hand toward the rest of the lab.
    “Can you trust him?”
    I shrug. “Not sure. But I need his help.”
    “A wise course of action. Trusting creates problems.”
    Yet that’s exactly what he’s asking me to do.

C HAPTER 15

    I N S TEINAMAN ’ S KITCHEN , I snuff my lightning and Daisy whimpers in Mrs. Steinaman’s lap; they’re both shell-shocked and working to recover. Mr. Steinaman blinks and taps his cane repeatedly against the carpet, unaware he’s doing it. A scowl furrows a deep line between his bushy eyebrows. It’s the most he’s moved since I agreed to reveal my secrets. “Time travel?”
    I nod.
    “Goodness,” Mrs. Steinaman says, taking a big breath and relaxing into her chair with relief. “When you told us you were traveling for work I thought you meant the occasional trip to Santa Fe. It didn’t occur to me that you meant backward through time.”
    “I’m sorry I had to lie to you.”
    She dismisses me with a wave. “Brant did it all the time when he was working for the CIA.”
    “FBI.”
    “Whatever, dear. Evy, lying to keep people safe and out of harm’s way is far different than lying to do others malice. You did what you had to do. We understand that most of all. I’m happy to keep caring for Ike while you’re away. Just maybe use the phone to keep me apprised.”
    “Thanks, Mrs. Steinaman.” She nods and putters off, putting Daisy’s leash on and heading outside to take him for a walk. I look to Brant , not sure I can call him that, but it’s comforting to know his name after all these years. He quiets his cane and motions toward the dining table. “Looks like we have plenty of work cut out for us.” I follow him over, grateful he’s managed to take all this in stride, from my lightning to the arcing to the men I’ve already killed. “The gray-haired man’s a traveler, and this Ilif fellow. You think the others aren’t from around here?”
    We sit and I jot the list of men on my paper. Ilif, Gray, all the men with him in Nikola’s