Twist by Karen Akins Read Free Book Online

digit, it was a waste of your time and mine.”
    And Leto had become a master of wasting my time. The moment ICE had announced their new Shifting program a few months ago, he’d been first in line. He discovered the loophole of being able to change his own past almost immediately. Over and over again, I’d had to go back and revert his changes. Most had involved gambling or stealing someone’s inventions. You’d think the idiot would learn.
    Now here he was. I was starting to rue the day I’d ever dangled that bank account in front of his nose.
    â€œYou’re not getting that digit, Leto. Finn is the only one who knows it,” I said. Leto knew as well as I did that if he entered a wrong digit in an attempt to access the account, he’d be locked out of it. He wouldn’t risk it by trying to guess.
    â€œWell?” I said. But Leto was staring off into space, ignoring me.
    â€œHuh?” He had this dazed look on his face that broadened into a knowing grin. I narrowed my eyes at him when he clicked his tongue and gave me an attagirl eye-squinch. “Sorry, Dollface. Just remembered something I gotta do later.”
    â€œGet out of here, Leto. If I need you, I’ll contact you.”
    â€œGet your bloomers out of a bunch,” he said. “Some interesting news came down my pipeline, and I thought you’d like to hear it.”
    â€œYou thought wrong.” Probably his newest get-rich-quick scheme. As far as I was concerned, anything that came down that man’s pipeline was covered in slime. And I wanted as little to do with it as possible.
    â€œEven if it has to do with a certain Finnigan Jonathan Masterson?”
    I whirled around so fast, purple popcorn showered the little kid passing me.
    â€œWhat did you just say?”
    â€œIt has to do with Finn—” But Leto didn’t get to finish his sentence as I’d clamped my palm over his greasy lips.
    â€œWhere did you hear his last name? How?” I had never used Finn’s full name around him. And Quigley had erased every trace of Finn and his family from the public record almost a year ago. I pulled my hand away.
    â€œThat’s my news. His record’s been reinstated. Including where and when he’s from.” Leto tsk-tsked. “But that’s not the interesting part.”
    Leto grabbed one more handful of popcorn and slowly munched it. I whipped my Com out of my pocket and shoved the stunner prod against his neck. Enough games.
    â€œTell me everything you know.”
    â€œWhat’s it worth to you?”
    â€œYou want the last digit?” I asked. “Fine. It’s yours.” It didn’t do me much good now anyway. I had to get Finn back to his time pronto. And he could never come back.
    â€œY’know what?” said Leto. “This one’s a freebie.”
    â€œYou’re turning down the last digit?” No blarking way. I didn’t believe it. But I also didn’t have time to ponder why Leto had had a sudden change of heart.
    â€œI just want to see the look on your face when I deliver the last bit of news,” he said. “That’ll be payment enough.”
    â€œThere’s more?”
    â€œYour friend Finn in there has been classified a chronofugitive.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œNot just any chronofugitive. Level Five.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œIt means Finn is going to do some bad, bad things.”
    â€œ Going to? As in he hasn’t done them yet?”
    Leto pinched the crease of his nose. “Do you know nothing about chronocrime?”
    â€œApparently not.” And I would have preferred to never have the need to.
    â€œAny crime that someone commits outside his present is considered a chronocrime. So if someone were—hypothetically speaking—to allegedly sell a stolen modern-day medicine to an individual in the past, that would be a Level Two chronocrime. This is all a