Lost in Time(70)

She held out the California driver’s license for Daniele Danneros.

“I need this to be a real ID.”

“No. Wrong place.”

“I need it.”

He shook his head. “Wrong place.”

His eyes drifted from Adeline’s face to the middle of her chest.

She knew what he was thinking. She glanced behind her, through the plate glass window, at the nearly empty parking lot.

She had thrown the ink-stained dress away. She now wore a sundress with flowers on it that she’d bought at Goodwill. She reached down and pulled it up, revealing her pasty skin, panties, and bra. “I’m not wearing a wire. I’m not a cop.”

She let the dress fall back down. “I need help. I need a social. And IDs that will pass a background check.”

The man inhaled and exhaled. Adeline felt her fate hanging in the balance.

“Four thousand.”

She nodded, and he motioned to the picture booth.





FORTY-SEVEN


Adeline slept in the next morning.

Upon waking, she made a list of all the things she remembered from her childhood and all the things Daniele had told her about her past.

For the future to exist, it all had to happen as it had before. That was up to Adeline now.

She wondered then about the nature of fate and the universe. She wondered if there was something even larger at work, if all these tiny slices of reality—these causal events—that stacked on top of each other led to something she couldn’t imagine now.

She wanted to believe they did.

Yesterday she couldn’t have conceived that she would be the person responsible for Absolom, for her father’s exile from this timeline—and possibly Nora’s death.

In a strange twist of fate, her father had confessed to the crime she had been framed for—a crime she might be destined to commit nineteen years from now. She was going to find a way to change that destiny. And get him back. Because she was in control now.

She was scared, alone, and strangely, also hopeful.

*

After making the list, Adeline wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. Her mother didn’t have a class that day. She had no job, but she did need a new place to stay.

A half-hour spent on Craigslist turned up several good prospects. A few calls narrowed it down to a one-bedroom apartment sublet. It was located right off Sand Hill Road, close enough to walk to campus.

Adeline’s best guess was that the guy on the other end of the line had partied too hard and flunked out of school and now needed cash.

When she met him at the apartment, his bloodshot eyes lent credence to her suspicion.

“Look,” he said, holding his hands out, “I’m totally violating my lease here, so keep it on the down-low, okay?”

Adeline wanted to say, “No worries—I’m a time traveler from nineteen years in the future. I won’t tell a soul.”

Instead, she simply said, “Sure.”

“If anyone asks, just tell them…” His red, watery eyes drifted to the ceiling. He wasn’t a good liar. “Tell them… you’re my cousin. From out of town. House-sitting.”

“Totally.”

“Hey, just so I know, what happened to your place?”

Adeline stared at the floor. “I’m getting out of a bad relationship.”

It turned out she was a good liar. Or becoming one. She was becoming Daniele Danneros.

*

She spent the afternoon buying things for the apartment. The guy’s bedroom featured a mattress and box spring—on the floor, of course—and a lamp box that served as a side table (the lamp sat on top of the box).

The living room wasn’t much better: just a futon and two beanbags. At least the guy had cleaned up the place. Sort of.

When she finished buying the essentials for the apartment, Adeline splurged and bought a bike. Every dollar she spent was one less she had to invest, but the bike would cut down on her travel time around town (and save cab fares).

*

That night, she sat in the bedroom, scowling at the Netflix website. The user interface was atrocious. The selection was even worse. The vast majority of titles were only available via the mail. Who would want to wait for DVDs to come in the mail? And how could they even make a profit mailing stuff to your house—especially if you had to mail it back? It didn’t make any sense.

She wondered how they had ever made it.

She biked to Blockbuster and rented the first season of a TV show that was a staff pick. It was called 24, and Adeline figured if they had the guts to name the show just one number, it had to be pretty good. And it was. In fact, it was about a guy racing against the clock to save his life and the country. Adeline definitely identified with that. She kept popping the DVDs into her laptop until it was late into the night. It was 8 a.m. for Jack Bauer, but it was bedtime for her.

*

Adeline arrived at the lecture hall early the next morning and waited at the front. When her mother arrived, she looked sick and haggard.

“What’s wrong?” Adeline asked.

“Morning sickness.” Her mother closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if waiting for a wave of nausea to pass. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Don’t be.” Adeline reached out and put a hand on her mother’s shoulder. The feeling was indescribable. A moment she had imagined a million times since her mother had passed away.