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  “God, Seffy, your hair!”

  “So you're real Trent?”

  He walked up to her and stared at her, his eyes full of disbelief. “Of course I'm real Trent.”

  “How did you get here? Did you come from—no wait, which state did you come from? Hint, it's northeast of here.”

  “Eugene sent me from the compound just like he did you,” he said with a fulminating expression.

  “Why?”

  “It was Fenn's idea.”

  “What, Fenn is done puking and now sending you on errands?”

  Trent flushed. “We have some problems, Seffy.” He paused and swallowed, then shook his head. “One of which is your hair.”

  Seffy ran her fingers through her new short locks. “What's wrong with it? Bruno is a master.”

  “Well, it doesn't look bad, exactly. I mean, it's so different. It's just a shock. I liked your hair long!”

  “It was two-tone!”

  “But it was soft and silky!”

  She rolled her eyes. “What is with guys and long hair?”

  “Same reason guys like boobs. You got 'em, we don't!”

  “Uh, have you forgotten what town we're in?”

  He smirked. “You have a good point there.” Then his eyes narrowed and he leaned close. “You smell good. Really good.”

  Seffy snorted and closed her eyes for a moment, realizing her forty-eight hour idyll was over after only two.

  He cocked his head. “Anyway, your hair makes you look a little like Fiona.”

  Seffy got in his face. “Why are you here?”

  “I already told you Fenn sent me.”

  “Why?”

  “Why? Are you kidding? You have a sacred trust to perform. Fenn needs medical supplies, and what did you do but get your hair cut first thing!”

  “Don't forget the new tracksuit and shoes,” she mocked. “People thought I was a druggy! I couldn't be seen the way I was!”

  “We have a limited amount of time. I'm here to make sure our mission is accomplished, not for you to go all extreme makeover.”

  “I still don't get how you're here at all. What's your flippin' artifact?”

  “You.”

  “That doesn't make sense.”

  “Think of it as me using your vapor trail, okay? Now it's time to get a move on.” He took her arm.

  “Hey, let go of me!” she said, shaking him off. “You are not going to hound me the whole time. I have a plan, you know.”

  “Which is?”

  “Which is to make myself presentable enough to go to the clinic and see if I can find that information.”

  “We'll do that tonight while they're closed.”

  “There's an alarm system and night watchmen, you dolt. Go back to Montana!”

  “And you have a security card, right?”

  “No, I don't have my purse. And even if I did, the guards still wouldn't just let me waltz in.”

  “Oh, I think they will.”

  Seffy turned and walked away. This was unbelievable. The sliver of pleasure she'd had here evaporated with Trent's presence. “Why you? Why not Gareth? Or one of the girls?”

  He caught up to her. “Gareth is needed for the science stuff. No one else knows I'm here and I won't be missed.”

  “Great.”

  “Hey, you should be relieved. Maybe you haven't noticed, babe, but there's a glitch in the matrix.”

  “Speak English.”

  Trent jogged ahead and stopped in front of her, making her halt. “We're not in the right universe, Seffy, we're in a parallel one.”

  Chapter Seven

  “What the hell just happened?” Gareth looked through a haze of smoke at Fiona, who stood with a satisfied smile curving her lips.

  “Your friend just traveled through time.”

  “What kind of dog and pony show is this? You and I both know that didn't happen.” He turned and saw Eugene and the others staring at him. “C'mon, I went along with the joke to see where it would end.”

  “Do you mean Seffy's still here at the compound?” Lani asked, her brow wrinkled.

  “I'm missing something here,” Addison said. “This was just a set up?”

  Gareth got up from the computer and walked over to where Seffy had stood moments before. He kicked aside a rubber mat on the floor, revealing a trap door.

  Fiona watched him, unfazed. “She's not down there.”

  “Give me a break. Where did the smoke come from? That was classic misdirection.”

  “I can assure you. Seffy is gone from here. Open the trap door. See what you find.”

  He pulled on the tab and wrenched it open. A thick metal grate covered the opening. Gareth looked up to find Fiona watching him with a smirk.

  He sent her a hard look. “You've played us once, and it won't happen again.”

  “Feel free to search the compound. She's not here.” She glanced at the scientists. “Congratulations, boys. You did it!”

  Eugene cleared his throat, twisting a pen in his hands. “Actually, there is a small problem.”

  ***

  Seffy stared at Trent, deciding she should've paid more attention to what Eugene had tried to explain. “I don't remember what that means.”

  “It means we're not in our own world.”

  “Oh, now I remember, parallel universes don't exist.”

  “Of course they do. You're standing in one.”

  “I'm in West Hollywood. There are new faces here every day. Just because I don't recognize anyone, doesn't mean diddly.”

  Trent raised a brow. “You said you didn't have your purse. I'm assuming you tried to retrieve it?”

  “Actually, I got a little sidetracked when I found strangers living in my house.”

  “Aha!”

  “They said I was riffraff, hence the 'extreme makeover'.”

  “Someone else lives in your house because you don't exist here, babe.”

  “Sure I do.” She leaned back her head and yelled, “I exist here!” Cars honked in response as they drove by. People on the street raised their brows. One guy walking past gave her a fist bump. She turned to Trent. “See?”

  “Seffy, this is serious. I know you feel glad to be back, but technically, you're still lost.”

  “You're a buzz-kill, do you know that?” She pushed past him, fury making her shake. “See you later, babe.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I'm hungry and I am going to Pink's to get a hot dog.”

  “That's several blocks away. We don't have time.”

  She stopped and turned. “Tell you what, if Pink's isn't there because we're stuck in a parallelogram, I'll do whatever you say. But if it is, you have to back off.”

  Seffy didn't wait for an answer. She headed toward La Brea, desperately hoping he would just go away. But his muffled groan and footsteps sounded behind her. She grimaced and continued on, her mouth already watering at the idea of a bacon chili cheese dog.

  Tears of happiness squirted from her eyes as she approached the legendary hot dog stand. Not only was it here, but the smells wafting from the order windows made her stomach do gastronomical cartwheels. After ordering, she glanced over at Trent. “Do you want anything?”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I'll have the same.”

  “Is that your favorite?”

  He nodded, though he looked annoyed.

  When they received their food, they wandered down the street, eating their dogs. Seffy finished first and had to admit she could've easily eaten another. Was it the gritty smog that whetted her appetite? She tossed her napkin and wrapper in a nearby trash can and tried to think of what to do next. Remembering the watch, she glanced at the time. A little after eleven. They had hours and hours before they had to leave. She had to convince Trent to make the most of it. “Let's get the medical stuff and after that, hit a club or two.”

  Trent nearly choked on his last bite of hot dog. When he could breathe, he said, “Are you joking?”

  She shrugged. �
�I'd rather go alone anyway.”

  “You're not going alone anywhere.”

  “You don't run my life, Trent. I can do what I want.”

  His face became mulish.

  Seffy was pretty sure if she squinted, she'd see steam coming out of his ears. “I need a place to stash my bags. And we need a place to stay. Oh, the Banana Bungalow would be fun! I've always wanted to stay in a hostel.”

  Trent walked up to her and stuck his nose in her face. “This isn't a vacation, Sef. This is a mission. I already have all the details attended to and it doesn't include the Banana Bungalow.” He took her arm. “Now, you better come with me or I'll be forced to make a scene.”

  “You already are making a scene,” she said, yanking her arm away. “Where are we going?”

  “I know of a place nearby.”

  “A place? What kind of place?”

  “Trust me, your bags will be fine.”

  Seffy followed him, but only because her bladder was beginning to complain. He led her away from the business strip into a nearby ratty neighborhood, down a series of back alleys (naturally) and stopped at a leaning wooden fence lined with trash cans.

  “You've got to be kidding. You lived in WeHo, right? Why don't we at least go and check out your place?”

  “This is my place.” He opened a narrow door under a fire exit stairwell on the side of a stucco apartment building. Trent dragged her into a tiny space inside and closed the door.

  Seffy looked down the tight corridor. Several doors led off the hall, but of course Trent didn't choose one. That would be too mundane. Instead he slid his hand along some wood paneling, which opened to a door. Pushing her inside, he closed the door after him and pulled on a chain above their heads. A naked bulb came to life, illuminating a grungy inner stairwell.

  “Good grief. How did you know this was here?”

  “I didn't exactly, but since it existed in my previous building, I thought it was worth a try. The previous landlord used to have a little drug running operation and he built some false walls to set up hidden rooms before he got caught. The new landlord told me about them.”

  “Now I see where you got your thing for secret passages.”

  They headed up the stairs. Trent opened a small door and peeked inside. He looked back at her. “It's safe.”

  Seffy entered the room and saw a narrow twin bed, a dresser, desk, and another door that presumably led to a bathroom. “God, don't tell me you lived here.”

  He shrugged. “It's all I needed, plus the rent was cheap.”

  “You, with all your pick-up-chicks Benjamins couldn't pay rent?” She dropped her bags onto the floor.

  He snorted. “Priorities, babe.”

  “Well, I don't want to stay here. There's no place to sleep.”

  “Do you not see the bed?”

  “I'm not sleeping on it with you.”

  “Fine, I'll sleep on the floor.”

  “Ew, with the cockroaches that call this place home? Even I can afford better than this.”

  “Seffy, it's for two nights. I actually have a lot of cash on me, several thousand in fact, but I'm not wasting a dime of it on some fancy hotel.”

  “It was a hostel, and why do you have so much money on you?”

  “For medicine, equipment, whatever. Fiona gave it to me.”

  “Well, you should probably not brag about it. This place is probably crawling with real riffraff.”

  “Honestly, it's a decent building.”

  “Whatever. Is that a bathroom?”

  He nodded.

  “So if I flush, won't anyone hear the pipes and realize there's a hidden room?”

  “There are pipes crisscrossing this entire place. It's not a big deal.”

  “Fine.” She gingerly opened the door, expecting to find the fixtures covered in creepy crawlies. It was surprisingly clean and looked like no one had ever used it.

  Seffy almost jumped when she saw the stranger in the mirror. She wasn't used to her new self yet. She scrutinized her reflection. I do not look a thing like Fiona.

  When she was done, Seffy found Trent sitting on the side of the bed, looking at his watch.

  She put her hands on her hips. “How come I didn't get any money?”

  “The plan was always to send me along with you.”

  “So the others didn't know anything about it?”

  “Eugene didn't even know until this morning. What did they give you?”

  “Some papers.” She felt in her pouch and panicked before she remembered she had a new suit on.

  “You haven't looked at them yet?”

  “No, I just got here.”

  “You've been in L.A. for over three hours.”

  “You know Trent, is it okay that I got a little excited to be home?” She rummaged through the bag containing her old tracksuit and grabbed the papers. When she opened them up, she found one had the address and time of the place where she had to end up. Seffy assumed it was still the tanning salon. The other paper had a list of medications and equipment. She didn't have a clue how they were going to get this stuff.

  “Let me see those.”

  Seffy reluctantly handed him the papers. “So where did you land, or whatever? And how did you find me?”

  “I landed in a park.”

  “Oh, did you see me?”

  “No. I was about a half hour behind you, time-wise.”

  “So, what, you just started wandering around, looking?”

  “No, I stopped and thought about what Seffy would do first. I knew you'd want a new tracksuit. So I asked someone in the park where to get 'em, and when I got to the store, the lady said someone matching your description had been in there sometime earlier.”

  “Took you long enough. By then I had already visited my house, was given nine hundred dollars by some nervous strangers, and bought a pair of new shoes.” She held them up for his inspection.

  He shook his head, his mouth quirked. “You're very predictable sometimes. Anyway, after that, I just went from shop to shop and found you in the salon.”

  She sniffed. “It wouldn't hurt you to find something new to wear. News flash: polyester is no longer 'in'.”

  “There are more important things at stake. Besides my shirt has some actual cotton it in. And Levis never go out of style.”

  Seffy wasn't about to tell him he'd look good enough to eat no matter what he wore. She stowed her bags under the bed. “Think there's any food in this room?”

  “We just ate.”

  “I know, but I'm hungry again. God, I haven't been hungry in forever.”

  “I can tell. And I can see why people took you for a junkie.”

  “Yeah, I had to buy a suit two sizes smaller than my last one. I should've made the second one bigger. If I go back to my normal size, it will be too tight.”

  “I wouldn't mind seeing you in skin tight pink velour.”

  Seffy kicked his shoe (where had he found authentic lace-up Vans?). “Okay, ground rules. Number one: You are not allowed to hit on me while we're here, Mission Boy.”

  “Don't worry, I'll wait until you get a few more hot dogs under your belt. I was never into the whole anorexia look.”

  She kicked him again.

  “And number two?”

  “Huh?”

  “Surely you have more than one rule.”

  “I will in a minute. And don't call me Shirley.”

  He laughed. “Is it possible you just made a pop culture reference?”

  “Seffy shrugged. “I don't get it.”

  “The movie Airplane?”

  “Never seen it.”

  “Wow.”

  “Okay, I'm feeling a second rule coming on. No mocking of Seffy.”

  He leaned forward. “It would never occur to me.”

  “That was mocking.”

  “Actually, it was more ironic. You need to learn to pick up on these kinds of nuances.”

  “Okay, nuance this. How are we going to get everything Fenn needs?
”

  Trent blew out a breath. “First, we need to steal a car.”

  Chapter Eight

  “If we go to jail, we won't make the rendezvous point,” Seffy hissed.

  “Seffy, we're only borrowing the car for a couple of days. We'll bring it back, okay?” He held two wires together and cursed under his breath when nothing happened. “Besides, I don't think anyone will miss this old beast. It probably hasn't been out of the driveway in a year.”

  “This looks like the car we spent the first night in when we ended up in the Montana desert.”

  “The Coupe de Ville? We saw that car.”

  “Is that what this is?”

  “This is a Lincoln. With a very stubborn wiring system.”

  “It doesn't take Jack Bauer this long to hotwire a car.”

  “Like you watch 24. Not enough sex.”

  “Yeah, well even I know who Jack Bauer is. He would never mock me.”

  “He's never met you.”

  “Silly, Trent. Jack Bauer isn't real. You really should lay off the TV if fiction and reality are blurring together.”

  He gritted his teeth and willed the stupid wires to spark. It did look a lot easier in the movies, but he'd hotwired cars before. He just didn't remember it being so hard.

  “Did you check the tags? If they're expired, we'll get pulled over. And does this thing even have gas? Maybe that's why it's not starting. Frankly, I think a long red land yacht will be kinda conspicuous if someone reports it stolen.”

  “Seffy, you're not helping.”

  She grunted and got out of the car.

  Finally, some peace. Trent angled a red wire to the brown wire then yelled as a shock zagged through his body. He dropped the wires and screw driver. A tapping on his window made him jump. He saw Seffy on the other side of the glass. “What?”

  “I got us a car.”

  He couldn't roll down the window because it was electric, and he couldn't get any electricity because he could not hotwire the damn car. “What?”

  She stepped aside and pointed to a green cab, then pulled some bills from her pocket. Trent opened the door and got out. “Cabs are way too expensive.”

  “I have a few hundred. That should work for two days.”