“If you did, I had the same dream.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Lou asked around a mouthful of pancake.
“Nothing.” Journey winked at Reno. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, girl.”
After breakfast, while Lou and Reno cleaned up the kitchen, Journey took care of her chores. She tended the dogs, watered Myra’s plants, and spent a few minutes at her workstation in the sunroom mixing up a recipe of oils for toenail fungus. Just the thought of the malady made Journey shiver, but the icky condition was a problem for some – and she did have a solution. For every dropper bottle, she mixed in 15 drops each of clove, cinnamon, tea tree, and wild oregano essential oils, then finished filling the bottle to the top with a carrier oil. This time she used grapeseed. After tightening the lids, she decided to write out the labels later. She didn’t want to keep Lou and Reno waiting any longer.
When she rejoined them, Journey found Lou at work on the computer and Reno standing at his normal post, looking out the window toward Enchanted Rock. “Sorry, it took so long.”
“You’re fine,” Reno muttered. “Gave me a few minutes to think.”
Journey started to ask him what he’d been thinking about, but Lou stood and stretched. “Well, let’s get this ball rolling.” She indicated opposite chairs at the dining table. “Join me, please.”
Reno helped Journey into her chair, then went around to find his own seat. “We’re ready.”
“Good.” She stood for a few more seconds, then sat down to thrum her fingertips on the table. “Don’t mind me. I’m not nervous, just anxious. Okay, like I said yesterday, I want to use the both of you as a sounding board to start off with. My brain works in a weird way, I have to look at things in an orderly fashion. Plus, hearing myself talk seems to help my problem-solving process. In addition, you two are closer to the situation and might see something I don’t.”
“I seriously doubt that, Lou. You know I didn’t even attend college and you’re a genius.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself, love.”
This comment came from Reno and gave Journey the boost she needed. “All right, I’m ready to listen.”
“Okay.” Lou pressed her lips together into a thin line. “As I was telling Journey last night, Reno, the topic I have chosen to write my thesis on is the phenomenon of missing people and the effects this has on society. When I first began my research, I was shocked to learn how many people vanish each year. NamUS is the national information clearinghouse and resource center for missing persons. The organization is managed by the University of North Texas and funded by the National Institute of Justice. Their resources are provided at no charge to law enforcement, medical examiners, forensic professionals, and of course – family members of those who are missing.”
“Well, I’m not missing, Lou.” Reno couldn’t help but point out the obvious.
“Well, you are. Actually,” Lou pointed out with a smile. “Just not on this end. You’re very much missing to those who knew you in the past. They have no idea where you are. Am I right?”
Reno nodded, looking toward Journey for emotional support. “You’re right. I’m sure Cole and his lawyer are beginning to wonder why I haven’t shown up by now.”
Seeing Lou looked confused, Journey pointed out what they’d concluded. “We think time is running parallel. The date he went through in the past is the same day of the month that he came through in 2019.”
“Interesting.” Lou made a note. “I should’ve realized that.” Lou flipped the page over in her notepad and drew a straight line. “The Centre for Time at the University of Sydney, Australia has put forth a theory called the Block Universe. This theorem holds the past, the present, and the future are all happening simultaneously.” She drew three X’s on the line. “Traveling between those three points could be done through a wormhole. Got it?” Lou looked at the other two like a football coach who’d just drawn a familiar play on the chalkboard.
Reno seemed to come out of his trance. “Wait a minute. I’m not sure I understood all of that, but I do know I didn’t come through no damn wormhole.”
There was silence in the room while Lou digested what Reno just said. Suddenly it dawned on her that he would think a wormhole was just what it sounded like – a hole made by a worm. Diplomatically, without cracking a smile, she quickly explained, “A wormhole is a shortcut through space, a tunnel which connects two distant parts of the universe via a very short path.” Lou smiled then, her explanation pleasing herself if no one else. “See? This is working. Good process.”
Reno and Journey shared a look and Reno smiled when Journey winked at him.
Back in her chair, Lou continued her observations. “According to NamUs, approximately 600,000 people go missing in the US every year.” She waited a moment for that huge number to settle into their consciousness. “Granted, most of those folks are found, come home, or are accounted for in some way. Some have come to harm, but their bodies are located. A fraction of that big group, however, defy explanation. They are literally missing without a trace. Some in the most mysterious of circumstances. Now, that’s not to say each case has the same cause. No, there are several theories being bounced around to account for these strange cases. I won’t go into them all now, because we’re only interested in one of those theories.”
“Time travel,” Journey filled in the obvious blank.
“Well…” Lou shifted in her chair, hunting a more comfortable position. “They give it a more scientific name. It’s referred to as going through a
