“I can’t be the only one in the goddamned city who’s too
stressed for sex!”
I sucked down the remainder of my chocolate brownie
frappuccino, struggling with a stubborn chunk caught in
the straw. Finally I gave up on the last smidgen of
chocolate (a total crime against humanity, I know!) and
set the cup down, letting out my most frustrated sigh.
“I’m sure you’re not,” my photographer Jenny replied with
a laugh. The pretty 22-year-old brunette reached over and
patted my hand. “But who wants to admit it on local TV
news?”
“Right.” I stared out into the crowd of people milling
about the Fashion Valley mall. We’d scoured the area for
hours that morning, asking the inane “Man on the Street”
question for my six p.m. news story on the subject. A
fascinating feature on a new scientific study that found
eighty percent of Americans feel uninterested in getting
it on with their partners because of work pressures.
Eighty percent claimed they were literally “too stressed
for sex.”
Problem was, zero percent wanted to go on camera and tell
me about it.
“Besides, it’s not that you’re too stressed for sex,”
Jenny added with a twinkle in her sparkling blue
eyes. “It’s just that you only want to have it with a guy
you refuse to talk to.”
I groaned. Not this again. It constantly amazed me how
even after nearly a year, Jenny still rooted for “Nick the
Prick” and I to get back together. I should have never
told her my “We’ll always have Baghdad” romance on that oh-
so-boring eight hour stakeout we’d been on when I first
came back to California. (No, not that kind of stakeout.
No lurking criminals or bad guys. Angelina Jolie had been
rumored to be staying at the Four Seasons, if you must
know.) Ever since that day, Jenny had been like a pit bull
with a bone and no matter how much I protested that I
would never, ever speak to that asshole as long as we both
shall live, my words fell on naively deaf ears. In her yet-
to-be-scarred mind, our relationship was beautiful,
broken, and just dying to be mended. With her help,
evidently.
Sigh. She was as bad as Nick’s geeky brother Tom. The
dot.com billionaire who Forbes claimed was busy
revolutionizing cyberspace seemed to have a lot of free
time on his hands, trying everything under the sun to get
Nick and I back together. He claimed his brother deserved
a second chance and nothing I said or did could dissuade
him.
But hey, the two of them could hold out hope ‘til Judgment
Day for all I cared. After what Nick did to me last
Valentine’s Day halfway around the world, I’d sooner run
away and join the circus rather than speak to him again.
And that was coming from someone with major clown phobia.
Jenny grabbed her video camera as she stood up and handed
me the microphone. Time to get back to work. “You know,
maybe you should call him sometime,” she said, oh so
casually. “See how he’s doing up there in the City of
Angels, all by his lonesome.” She grinned. “Or maybe I
should. I mean, he is really hot and all.”
I rolled my eyes and play swatted her with the mic. “Your
pathetic attempts to stir me to a jealous rage are
completely in vain,” I informed her. “If I’ve told you
once, I’ve told you a thousand times. Nick and I are
through. Forever. Finito. End of story.”
“Bah,” Jenny scoffed, shaking her head. “Have it your way.
It’s none of my business anyway, right? I’ll just shut up
and take the pictures.”
Grr. Great. Now she was going to go all sensitive on me. I
drew in a breath and reached over to pat her on the
shoulder.
“Look Jen. I know you’re trying to help. But you don’t
know the whole story. What Nick did to me Valentine’s Day
last year--it was unforgivable. And not a day goes by when
it doesn’t hurt.” I glanced down at the ugly scar on my
forearm and thought about the one I couldn’t see, running
down the side of my face. It was amazing the station hired
me to be on air--me channeling the Phantom of the Opera
and all.
Yup, it still hurt all right. Maybe not physically. But
the mental pain. The fear. Stuff I knew would never
completely go away.
Not that I wasn’t trying to move on. After all, I’d left
Iraq--quitting my high profile career as a foreign
correspondent to take on the most innocuous, non-dangerous
reporting job on the planet (albeit the cheesiest). I
spent the last year healing. Living one day at a time.
Creating a life for myself. One without fear and danger
and heartbreak at every turn. And I had to admit, I was
pretty proud I’d gotten as far as I had. Not that I didn’t
have a long way to go.
Seeing Nick again would just hurl me backwards. And I
couldn’t afford that. I just wasn’t that strong yet. I
might never be.
“Okay, okay, I get yah,” Jenny agreed, punching me lightly
on the arm. Luckily she knew when to quit. “Let’s go find
some under-sexed San Diegans.”
I smiled and together we walked down the open air corridor
of the Southern California mall where a good number of
people were wandering about, carrying big bags of stuff
they’d accumulated in their afternoon of shopping
hedonism. Unfortunately, no one looked particularly
interested in wasting five minutes of their life to get
their fifteen seconds of local news fame by exploiting the
secrets of their sex lives. (Or in this case lack of sex
lives, which technically was worse.)
No one, that was, until an elderly woman with the
stereotypical helmet of wispy blue hair hobbled over to
me. “Can you interview me?” she asked, leaning on her
knobby cane. “I want to be on television.”
Hm. I gave her the once-over. It was funny how some people
were dying to be on television, while others avoided it
like a Ben Affleck/J-Lo movie. (If I wasn’t a reporter,
I’d so be in the second category!) Of course, granny here
wasn’t our target demographic--at News 9 we only cared
about the sex lives of 25-49 year old women with a lot of
disposable income--but it was nearly three p.m. and I was
getting desperate.
“Okay,” I said, giving her Big Reporter Smile. I pointed
the microphone at her. “Do you ever feel you’re too
stressed for sex?”
She stared at me a moment, her wizened blue eyes wide, as
if in shock at my brazen question. I felt my face heat. Of
course. What was I thinking? Granny probably hadn’t gotten
it on in the last twenty years or so. Ever since her
precious Wilber died back when Reagan was President.
Sigh. Too bad my story wasn’t “Too Senile for Sex.”
“Too stressed for sex?” the old woman repeated, following
the phrase with a tinkly laugh that sounded a little like
Christmas bells. “My goodness, no. In fact, ever since I
started using this female Viagra I got off the Internet,
I’ve been having multiple orgasms at the drop of a hat.
Henry loves it!” She beamed at me and then turned to look
directly into the camera. “My sex life is great!” she
informed the lens.
Hmph. Evidently these days even Granny was getting more
action than me. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Okay,” I said, lowering the microphone. She obviously
wasn’t going to help with my story. “I appreciate you
taking the time to answer.” Not that you gave us anything
we could use, my little senior sex kitten.
The woman gave me a disapproving look over her
bifocals. “You young people,” she scolded. “You need to
stop working so hard. Start enjoying life. When you’re on
your deathbed, you won’t look back on your life and
think, ‘Why didn’t I work more?’ Trust me. But you might
wonder why you didn’t have more orgasms.”
Ah. Even better. Not only was Granny boinking like a
bunny, she was now offering up life lessons. Next thing
you knew, Jenny was going to tell her the Nick story and
the two of them would be tag-teaming for a sex-filled
reconciliation.
Can we say, no thank you?
“Thanks,” I muttered, stepping backwards to put as much
distance as possible between me and the hot flash ho. “Now
if you’ll excuse us...”
“Good luck, Sweetie,” she said, then smiled a patronizing
smile. “You’ll find your Prince Charming eventually.”
I swallowed hard and resisted the nearly overwhelming urge
to tell her I’d already found him. And that when I kissed
him, he’d turned into a total frog. I wanted to insist
that relationships--while perhaps good for short term,
crazy, hot sex--always ended in pain. Leaving you
vulnerable and wounded and crying in your tomato alphabet
soup. Alone.
Instead I channeled Self Protective Mode and turned to
throw Jenny a smirk as Granny hobbled away.
“Some people!”
Jenny shrugged. “She does have a point, Dora.”
“Oh, don’t start.” I groaned. The last thing I needed was
a lecture on relationships from an inexperienced twenty-
two year old. The girl had been dating her boyfriend since
the high school prom. She had no idea what was in store
for her future love life.
Jenny opened her mouth to speak, then looked behind me,
and closed it again. I whirled around to see what caught
her attention and actually achieved the nearly impossible
task of shutting her up, crossing my fingers it was a 25-
49 year old woman who looked way too stressed to do the
wild thing with her hubby.
Instead, my eyes fell upon a very tall man, dressed
entirely in black, standing before me, arms crossed
against his broad chest. He had mirrored shades, slicked
black hair, and a shiny Rolex that peeked out from under
his suit coat’s sleeve. The whole look screamed “Men in
Black.”
“Yes?” I asked, donning Indulgent Reporter Smile. He was
probably from mall security and was about to ask us to
leave the premises before he called the cops. Could this
day get any worse?
“Dora Duncan?” he asked in a clipped accent I didn’t
recognize. “Are you Dora Duncan?”
I felt my face heat into a blush. Not a security guard.
Maybe even a fan! A real life fan!
I always got a kick out of people recognizing me on the
street. Of course, back in the old days when Nick and I
rocked Iraq, this was a more regular occurrence. We were
network superstars then. A tag team everyone rooted for.
And now, only a year after escaping the network to take
this silly features reporter job in San Diego where I was
sure not to run face to face into a semi-automatic machine
gun, nobody even knew my name.
Nick, on the other hand, was still uber famous. In fact, I
didn’t understand how any normal human being could manage
to garner such a fan base without selling his soul to the
devil. (Which, of course, I wouldn’t put past him.) After
leaving Baghdad and taking a job as a network news anchor
in Los Angeles, he’d become more famous than ever. While I
labored in local news obscurity, he walked the red carpet,
schmoozing with starlets. While I covered craft fairs and
dog shows, he interviewed senators and got laws changed.
While I lived my life scarred and ugly because of his
mistake, he made People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful
People.
And Jenny wondered why I wouldn’t take him back?
I realized the man in front of me had his hand
outstretched and I should be shaking it. Had to be
gracious to the few fans I had left.
“Yes. Hi. How nice to meet you,” I said with a smile. I
wondered if my hair was covering my scar. I hated that I
always wondered that when meeting someone new, but I
couldn’t help it.
“I’m Special Agent Fredricks,” he said in response,
reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a badge,
encased in smooth black leather. He flashed it at me, and
I raised an eyebrow. Not a fan. FBI. Figured. “We need
your assistance, and I’ve been asked to have you come with
me.”
I furrowed my brows. The FBI needed my assistance? My
assistance?
“What could you possibly need my assistance for?” I
blurted out and then regretted a moment later. After all,
I didn’t want to come off as rude and uncooperative to the
FBI. But still...
“It’s classified,” Fredricks replied, tossing a glance at
Jenny. “Now if you could just come with me...”
I looked over at my photographer, then back to the man,
trying to decide what I should do. I had a story to get on
the air in a few hours. A story I wasn’t exactly making
much progress on. If I took time out to go with this man,
I’d never make my slot. But he was FBI. I couldn’t say no
to the FBI, could I? Plus, what if it was an important
story he needed my assistance with? What if it were an
inside scoop on a huge scandal? Even though I’d taken this
job to get away from the danger I’d faced in Iraq, truth
be told lately I was getting a bit sick of covering sex
and cellulite and celebrity c-sections for the evening
news.
“Uh, let me call the desk. See if it’s okay.” The
assignment desk was the den mother of the newsroom. If I
took off without checking in with them, I could be in big
trouble.
I reached into my purse to dig out my phone. The agent
placed a hand over mine. “No need, Ms. Duncan,” he
said. “We’ve already called your station. That’s how we
knew where you were.”
“Oh.” I looked over at Jenny. Should I believe this guy?
“We talked to a man named Mario. Your news director. He
said he could move your story to the eleven p.m. news so
you’d have time to finish it after we met with you.”
I raised an eyebrow. Wow. Guess even my boss Mario was
impressed that I’d been called upon by the FBI. Usually
the guy wouldn’t pull a story even as a personal favor to
the Pope. Go figure.
“It will only take a few minutes, Ms. Duncan,” assured the
agent. “Then we can return you here for your story.”
“Go ahead, Dora,” Jenny suggested. “I can hang here. Go
pick out a few thongs at Vicky Secrets. After all,
Robbie’s coming over tonight.”
“Uh, great. A bit TMI, but great.” I suppressed a shudder,
then turned back to Special Agent Fredricks. “Fine, fine.
Lead the way.”
I followed him out of the mall and into the parking lot,
where a shiny black car with heavily tinted windows sat
idling by the curb. A chauffeur type stepped up to open
the back seat door and I ducked down to crawl inside. FBI
Man entered after me and soon we were speeding away from
the mall.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Headquarters,” Fredricks replied not-so-informatively.
“And what is it you need my help with again?”
“It will all be explained to you in due time, Ms. Duncan.”
Of course it would be. I leaned back, settling into the
plush leather seat. Might as well relax for a few moments.
God knew I’d be scrambling the rest of the day to make my
news slot after this inopportune field trip. Still, my
pulse thrummed with anticipation. Relaxation was never my
forte.
About ten minutes later, the car slowed to a stop and the
chauffeur opened the door. I crawled out, looking around
at my surroundings. We were in an underground parking
garage. Agent Fredricks stepped out beside me and gestured
for me to follow him.
Soon we were walking down a featureless corridor, flanked
with even more featureless silver doors. It didn’t look
like anything I’d imagined the FBI offices would look
like. Not that my job had ever taken me anywhere higher up
than the local police barracks.
Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice would say.
Of course, my brain decided to take that instant to remind
me that I hadn’t really checked this man’s ID all that
closely. What if he was lying about being part of the FBI?
About speaking to Mario? What if he was really part of
some secret underground Iraqi syndicate that had been
looking for me this last year? What if I’d walked right
into their trap?
I felt the all-too-familiar wave of panic rise like bile
in my throat and attempted the breathing exercises the
shrink had taught me to prevent yet another full-on panic
attack.
Oh Dora, how do you get yourself into these messes?
I squeezed my hands into fists and struggled to regain
control of my rebellious wildly beating heart. Being
scared wouldn’t help me escape if I needed to. Besides, I
was being completely irrational. Why would the Iraqi group
be looking for me. Ridiculous.
“Here we are,” Fredricks announced, interrupting my racing
thoughts. He slid a card key into a slot by one of the
nondescript doors. It looked exactly like the other thirty
some-odd doors we’d passed and I wondered how he kept
track.
The LCD light above the slot turned green and the door
slid open, revealing a circular windowless conference room
with a large mahogany table at its center. Sitting at the
table were three more men, also dressed in the uniform of
black suit and mirrored shades. Which was odd,
considering we were deep underground and the lighting
didn’t exactly lend itself to sunglasses.
This was beginning to get super freaky. If they started
introducing me to any aliens like they did with Will
Smith, I was so out of there.
“Sit, Ms. Duncan,” said Man in Black #1.
I pulled out a chair and did as he requested. After all,
what choice did I have? Sure, I knew Tae Kwon Do, but it
didn’t seem quite plausible that I’d be able to kick four
men’s asses all at once. Especially ones who appeared to
be Platinum members in good standing at their local gyms.
“What’s going on here?” I asked. “Did I do something
wrong?” Even as I asked the question, I knew that couldn’t
be the case. After all, my current life consisted of
reporting on new and improved microdermabrasion by day and
watching Sex and the City reruns by night. Not exactly the
stuff that trouble was made of.
Unless they wanted to know more about my prison days in
Iraq. I doubted it, though. I mean, I’d already been
through the endless questioning a thousand times with a
thousand military men. The case had been closed--dismissed-
-long ago.
Man in Black #2 shook his head. “No,” he said. “On the
contrary, we need your help.”
I shot a skeptical look from one to the next to the next.
What on earth could they need my help with? And FYI, I’d
retired from the helping business. I was a lowly features
reporter now. I had no remaining FBI Helper Girl skills on
reserve.
Man in Black #3 picked up a shiny silver remote control
from the table and pressed a button. A slide projection
illuminated on the far wall of the room.
My eyes widened and I gasped as I recognized the image on
the screen.
Nick. Nick the Prick to be exact.
“Do you know this man?” asked Agent Fredricks in a tone
that told me he already knew the answer and wasn’t going
to allow me the luxury of lying. Grr.
I gritted my teeth. Why was it that everything in my life
seemed to revolve around Nick? Why couldn’t the world let
me forget him and move on with my life? Allow me to meet a
nice, normal investment banker who wanted nothing more
than to transplant me to the suburbs and impregnate me
with towheaded, blue eyed suburban babies?
I stared at picture. At Nick’s bright green eyes. His
endearingly cocky, Dennis Quaid’esque smirk. My heart
squeezed and I reached up to brush the renegade tear from
corner of my eyes. Damn it, why did it still have to hurt
so much? Why did just looking at a picture of him serve to
flood my heart with nearly unbearable pain? He’d moved on.
He had a new life. Why couldn’t I do the same?
Why was I still, deep down, so pathetically in love with
this man? It didn’t seem quite fair.
“Yeah, he’s an anchor in LA,” I muttered, turning my gaze
back at the men. It was a bit unnerving to stare into four
blank mirrored sunglassed faces, but I’d sooner look at
the Cryptkeeper incarnate than that projected photo of
Nick.
One of them flipped through a legal pad filled with
scrawled notes. “And your ex-boyfriend, right?” he asked.
I sighed. I was holding out the inane hope that they
didn’t know that little fact. But of course they did. They
were the FBI. Also, there was that article in Star...
“Yes. We...dated.”
“And you broke up because of...?”
I shifted in my seat. “These are awfully personal
questions.” The last thing I wanted to do was hash over
what happened in Iraq. It was too horrible. And too
humiliating.
Man in Black #2 nodded. “Our apologies if we’re making you
feel uncomfortable, Ms. Duncan. Maybe we should explain.”
I nodded. “Good idea.”
My eyes involuntarily wandered back to the projection,
wishing the lump that had formed in my throat would go
away. I stared at the photo and it seemed to stare back at
me.
What on earth kind of trouble have you gotten yourself
into this time, Nick?
“We have reason to believe that Nick Fitzgerald has joined
an underground fringe group known as ‘The Time Warriors’,”
said Man in Black #1.
I raised an eyebrow. Uh, what? The Time Warriors? What
kind of group was that? And what’s with the tacky name? I
couldn’t imagine even Nick being that cheesy.
“The faction formed a few years ago,” Man in Black #2
explained. “A group of rich white men, sick of the golf
circuit, with nothing better to do. They bought
a...machine...of sorts off of the KGB back at the end of
the Cold War.”
“A machine?” I asked. He’d better not be talking about
some nuclear bomb type thing. I mean, I knew Nick was a
little wild, but I couldn’t see him going all terrorist on
me.
“An XR-2300 to be exact.”
Oh, right. An XR-2300. Of course. That cleared everything
up.
I cocked my head in question. “An XR--”
Man in Black #3 cleared his throat. “In layman’s terms,
Ms. Duncan, a time machine.”
A what????
A time machine?
A freaking time machine?
I stared at him. I think my mouth even dropped open for a
moment. Was he for real? This had to be some joke, right?
I glanced around the room, looking for peep holes. One way
glass. Where was the Candid Camera? Ashton Kuchner,
telling me I’d been Punk’d? Then again, Ashton only punk’d
celebrities and I wasn’t a celebrity anymore. Not by any
stretch of the imagination.
But still. A time machine? Give me a break!