Memories from a Different Future: Jump When Ready, Book 2 by David Pandolfe Page A

She gestured at her daughter to
remove her earbuds. “Margo, turn off your music.”
    Ian kept staring at the kid’s picture, especially at his
name. Henry Connors. He’d barely noticed at first but now all he could see was
the letter “H” as if no other text remained on the screen. That weird psychic
lady, Julie—she’d asked if he’d known someone whose name started with the
letter H. She had, hadn’t she? He wasn’t just imagining that part, right?
    Someone you knew on the other side. I’m getting H. His
name begins with H.
    Ian hadn’t thought about that first part until now. He’d
only told her he didn’t know anyone whose name began with H. What could she
possibly have meant by that other thing? Someone you knew on the other side.
    “The plan was talking to you.” Ian’s father tapped the
top of Ian’s flexlet. “How about eating your breakfast and joining us?”
    “Oh, yeah. Sorry!” Ian collapsed his flexlet and set it
off to the side. He could have sent it to the other side of the planet, though,
and he wouldn’t have been able to stop thinking about what he’d just
discovered.
    “This looks great,” his father said.
    Ian’s mother laughed. “If you do say so yourself.”
    “Hey, I meant the bacon too!”
    “Just kidding, honey. That’s a splendid scramble, perhaps
even legendary .”
    “Yeah, it looks awesome.” Ian cut into his eggs with his
fork and took a bite. He forced himself to snap out of it, telling himself it
had to be a coincidence. After all, lots of names began with H. Howard, Hugh,
Hunter, Harrison. Hagrid! Ian smiled inwardly thinking about the old Harry
Potter movies. Oh, right. Another one. Harry.
    Toward the end of their meal, Ian’s father sat back in
his chair. He looked back and forth between them. “So, you three. We have some
time off together. What should we do today?”
    “I’m meeting up with Donna,” Margo said.
    “Of course you are,” Ian’s mother said.
    I’m getting other names now. Someone whose name starts
with J. Also, N. Do you know anyone whose name begins with N?
    “I have to do a little shopping,” Ian said. “By myself.
Secrets.” He felt bad saying it, since he’d planned on spending the day with
his family. But he figured they’d go along with the need for some privacy while
shopping for gifts. “Just for a couple of hours,” he added, seeing the hurt in
his parents eyes. After all, he hadn’t been around for months.
    His mother smiled. “Back for dinner?”
    “Oh, way before! How about we meet back here at, say,
two? Then we can spend the afternoon together.”
    That did the trick. His father got up and started clearing
dishes. “Two o’clock it is, then.” He turned to Margo. “Same goes for you,
okay?”
    Margo sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”
    Ian’s father pretended to ignore the attitude. “Okay, go,
you two.” He checked the time. “See you both back here in four hours.”
    ~~~
    Ian got into his car, entered his
password into the start pad, set the browser to audio and told it to search for
archived news articles about Bethany or Henry Connors. To weed out unwanted or
coincidental information, he added, “Richmond, Virginia.”
    He backed out of the driveway, shaking his head at his
own foolishness. As he drove toward the University District, he continued to
ask himself exactly what it was he thought he was doing. He was supposed to be
spending some time with his parents during the holidays. Hanging out and
recharging his batteries after a fairly brutal semester. Now, he was obsessing
about some weird stuff that made no sense at all and driving toward the
apartment building he’d fled the other afternoon when the psychic chick freaked
him out. Did he even have any questions for her? Come right down to it, no, he
didn’t. So, why was he going there? Because he owed her money, Ian told
himself. Which was true. He hadn’t paid her and that just wasn’t right, even if
he hadn’t liked the experience. A deal was a