“I got a little glimpse of the future.” Nick smiled. “Now, about starting that family,” Nick pulled Julia into his arms, kissing her deeply.
“Funny you should say that.” Julia sat on the bed and laid the two gift-wrapped packages in Nick’s lap, the teddy bears smiling up at him.
“Presents?” Nick picked up the first gift. “Mmm, feels like a book.”
Julia smiled, barely able to contain herself. “Do me a favor, open the other one first?”
Nick felt like a kid. “What is this, Christmas in July?”
“Better,” Julia said as she took hold of Nick’s hand squeezing it the way her mother used to squeeze hers when she was a child.
Nick tore open the wrapping paper on the other gift,
pulled out the frame,
and…
EPILOGUE
JULY 28
10:13 P.M.
SHAMUS, ZACHARIAH, AND PAUL Dreyfus stood in the parking lot of the hospital holding their respective keys. The two mahogany cases were the sole objects in the open trunk of the BMW. The locks on each had been released. Both cases were custom-designed and built by Paul; the box on the left was the final product, while the one on the right, identical in its construction, was the prototype.
Shamus reached out and lifted the lid of the dark wood case on the left. The dome light of the car’s trunk was absorbed by the black velvet compartment of the open box. Dreyfus reached into the case and withdrew the gold watch, staring at it, admiring it.
Nash’s brow furrowed in curiosity, as if he were a child who had just witnessed Houdini conjuring a rabbit from thin air.
“If that’s the watch we prevented from being stolen,” Nash stopped himself as he looked upon the closed mahogany case on the right, “what did Nick have?”
“The watch you gave him,” Shamus said, as if it was obvious.
“But I never gave it to him,” Nash said.
Shamus smiled. “Actually, you did, just not in our time line.”
Shamus lifted the lid of the case on the right, the one they had just carried down from the hospital room, and placed in the trunk of the car. Laying his cane against the car, he reached in and withdrew an identical gold watch.
“This one?” Nash pointed to the watch in Shamus’s outstretched hand.
“This is the watch that you gave Nick,” Shamus said. “The one that he used to prevent a horrible future, the one that he used to remove the reason to ever give him the watch in the first place. They are one and the same, a paradox brought on by violating the laws of physics.”
“So, you’re saying…?”
Shamus flipped open the watch cover to reveal the engraving. Fugit inreparabile tempus. “It’s identical, down to its smallest particle, as if it were the offspring of the original timepiece.”
“So, does this mean…?”
The three of them looked back and forth between the identical watches.
Shamus finally looked up… “Now there are two.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
LIFE IS FAR MORE enjoyable when you work with people you like and respect. I would personally like to thank:
Gene and Wanda Sgarlata, the owners of Womrath Bookshop in Bronxville, NY, for their continued support and friendship.
Peter Borland, for your inspiration, guidance, friendship, and enthusiasm. I’m beyond thrilled to be working together. Judith Curr, the most forward-thinking professional in the publishing world, and Louise Burke, for her unwavering support and belief. I could not be in better hands. Nick Simonds, for keeping it all together. Joel Gotler, for once again doing the impossible. Mike DeLuca, Alissa Philips, Meredith Finn, and everyone at New Line Cinema, for creating the initial excitement.
And heads and shoulders above all, Cynthia Manson. First and foremost, for being such a good friend. Everything else aside, it is a rare day when we find a true friend in this world, and finding one to work with is magic. Thank you for your innovative thinking, your continued faith, and your unlimited tenacity.
Thank you to my family: Richard, for your creative, intellectual mind, your strength of character, and sense of humor in the face of adversity. Marguerite, for your tenacious approach to life, your warm, caring heart, which reminds me of everything that is good in this world, and your never-ending sense of style and beauty no matter how dark the day. Isabelle, for your laugh that fills my soul, your sense of adventure, and your constant curiosity about the world around you.
My dad, for always being my dad and the voice of wisdom that forever rings in my ear.
Most important, thank you, Virginia, for putting up with my upside-down work habits. You are my muse, my laughter, my joy; you are the reason for everything good in my life. Your beauty, smile, and personality inspire every word I write. You have given me life, you’ve given me hope, you’ve given me love. You make my heart dance.
Richard Doetsch
Richard is a respected expert in the field of commercial and residential real estate, having served as the president, managing director, and owner of several large national real estate firms. He currently runs his own investment firm with offices in New York and Connecticut.
While many authors choose to write about thrills, Richard has lived his life experiencing them. He is a triathlete, expert skier, scuba diver, an erratic golfer, and an extreme sport enthusiast who has jumped off bridges, cliffs, and 200-foot cranes with rubber bands around his ankles, parachutes on his back and sometimes just enjoying the hundred-foot freefall into water with nothing to slow his descent.
Richard combines the adrenaline rush of his life with his imagination to bring out the best in his characters. He finds his inspiration in the love for his wife, Virginia, and how far he would go to protect her; it is what helps him fill his stories with heart and hope.
Like his main character, Michael St. Pierre, Richard does much of his work under cover of darkness where distractions are few and his creative juices flow best. A highly disciplined man, he does his writing from 9 pm until 12 am and rises everyday by 6 to work out and tackle his real estate business.
Richard is an accomplished musician, playing and composing for both the guitar and piano. He has scored the soundtracks for several independent short films and his music has been featured on MTV, VH1, and various television commercials.
He has been married for 20 years to his childhood sweetheart, Virginia. They are the parents of three children ranging in age from 7 to 19.
Richard's first novel, The Thieves of Heaven, was published in 2006 and has been purchased by 20th Century Fox. An international bestseller, The Thieves of Heaven is published in 28 languages and available in 33 countries. His second novel, The Thieves of Faith arrived in stores December 26th and is already garnering praise as a tour de force as it climbs the bestseller lists.
