Justice Found: Time Cop Mysteries, #3

By Maggie Shaw

She lost everything to save the ones she loves… but can she save herself?

 

Love is both a gift and a curse. I learned that the hard way.

After risking my life to save my sister, she repaid me with betrayal.

And to protect the man who holds my heart, I had to gamble with fate.

We time-hopped to change the past.

Now I'm trapped in an alternate timeline.

It's a life I don't recognize—and the man I love doesn't recognize me.

My sister's deceit cost me everything.

My job.

My man.

My identity.

But I won't let her win.

In a world where family is foe, and enemies are allies, the only person I can truly trust is myself.

And I'll fight to get my life back… even if it kills me.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harley Romance Publishing
• Release date: Jul 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781393765769

Book preview

Chapter 1.

THE WIND RUSHED PAST me and my head pounded with a headache I knew would soon explode into a full-blown migraine if I didn’t get it under control.

We burst out of the time hop and I gasped for air, pressing my palms into the side of my skull, hard.

Here. More magnesium.

I took the bottle from my sister and groaned. I think I need more than that.

Amanda reached into her rucksack and pulled out a bottle of pills. Advil?

I nodded and she handed me the painkillers.

Couldn’t hurt.

I needed as clear a head as possible for what we were about to do. I swallowed the pills down and finished the bottle of water, too many time hops today causing my parched condition. I glanced around, panting and trying to catch my breath.

Okay. Where are we?

We were standing in a small park, with trees and park benches. It could have been any park, anytime, anywhere. I didn’t recognize it. But knowing Amanda, there was a strategy behind our landing place, and it would be close to home.

Our parents had been murdered in our house, in the middle of the day. A rare, and horrendously bad occurrence as far as deaths went. Even years later, it still shocked me that such a thing had happened.

Amanda lifted her chin, indicating the houses above us. We’re a block from our old house. I wanted somewhere quiet, where no one could see us.

Smart.

I glanced around again and slowly, the familiar elements began to fall into place. The path where we rode our bikes, the elementary school across the street.

Okay... and we’re back on the day.

She nodded. June seventh . 2015.

I inhaled sharply, pain pressing through my solar plexus.

Yes, that was the day everything changed.

The day our parents had been ripped from our lives.

My skin crept with unease. I wasn’t used to not knowing the plan. What did Amanda want us to do? Were we going to rescue my parents from the house? Or simply intercept the killers?

Are we walking? How do you want to get there? I asked her. Surely, she’d worked all of this out in fine detail.

Amanda smiled. Yes, we walk. The murderers come down from the top of High Street, so I landed us here so that we can come around from the bottom of the hill.

Good idea, I agreed, not sure how Amanda knew all of this already when I didn’t. But I had to assume she’d already done a lot of reconnaissance for this mission.

Amanda nodded once, her hands tightening into fists at her sides. Let’s go.

We started walking, together, a sense of purpose pulsing between us. A thrill of adrenaline shot through my blood, making my muscles tremble and an insane laugh burst from my mouth.

This was dangerous.

And stupid.

And had the potential for terrible consequences.

But a small part of my brain was excited about the possible positive outcome of today. Could we really un-wind the clock? Fix the past? Get our family back?

Imagine if we did that!

I pushed down the excited voice inside my mind and focused on where I was walking, careful not squash any of the flowers that grew between the concrete sidewalk slabs.

The ripple effect could cause major waves in the future. Possibly.

We walked around the block and suddenly I could see a familiar tree up ahead. An elm that I’d looked at outside my window each morning of my adolescent life. We were here.

There it is, I whispered, my heart pounding like a jackhammer against my ribs.

Amanda stopped me by holding out her arm like a barrier. Wait.

Her jaw was tight and her nostrils flared like a horse. What was she so angry about? And how many times had she witnessed this one scene?

I moved my gaze over to where Amanda was staring. Down the road, towards High Street. I gasped. No way.

People walking down the street... the ones I had to assume were the killers. I recognized them.

It was two men. Both of them worked in the time hopping division. They were older than me and had graduated years before me, but I knew their faces.

Is that...? I could barely get the words out. It wasn’t possible. No... We’d been told Mom and Dad’s deaths had been accidental, bad luck... this couldn’t be a hit, could it?

Shh.... Amanda hissed, and I could hear the thinly veiled frustration beneath her tone.

How many times had Amanda been back here, studying this day? How insane must it have made her to know what had happened, and be powerless to stop it?

I swallowed hard against the pain and the lump that rose in my throat as the true situation hit me like a slap to the face.

My poor sister. No wonder she was so screwed up in the head at the moment. Willing to do anything, break any law, kidnap Geoff... How many times had she watched our parent’s deaths?

I wanted to ask her more questions, but as we continued to monitor the men walking towards us, Amanda’s posture became more and more rigid.

I didn’t dare ask any questions. Not yet.

What time was it?

I glanced at my wrist. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing a watch, but was I home? My past self? Had I been home when it had all happened? Had Amanda been home when this had occurred? I didn’t remember. That whole time of my life was extremely fuzzy now.

The sun was low in the sky, so perhaps it was close to dinnertime? I couldn’t quite tell. But Amanda would know. She’d brought us back to a very specific place in time.

I cocked my head and watched the men as they turned