Alternate Soul

Chapter 12

One week later

"Terry will be here in about an hour his plane just landed," Emma told Jared. "Make sure you are at the venue by 6 tonight. You go on at 8." Emma rushed out the door as she talked she still had a ton of last minute preparations to take of. He closed the door behind her and went to look out the window to try to clear his mind, instead he just ran over all the things that had happened in this short amount of time.
Jared had flown back to LA to do the charity concert. Shannon hadn't healed enough to play yet so Jared was going to do an acoustic performance. It was only 4 songs. Afterwards, he would get on a private jet and go back to the campground that was now their compound.
Shannon was out of bed and moving around but he was still weak. It was very frustrating for him because he wanted to go find Haley so bad. Someone had to stay with him all the time to make sure he didn't try to sneak off. He was so angry understandably, and finding her was agonizingly slow. They had been able to track the movement of the group that took her through Florida so far. But that was just the first few hours that they had her. They were fairly certain they had gotten on a plane in Jacksonville. It was taking forever for their contact in the FAA to get any information on the planes and owners that took off around that time.
He had been so busy with the Knights of the White Shadow and planning what they were going to do he hadn't been able to spend any time with Doc. She had been with Shannon taking care of him anyway, but still, that wasn't really an excuse. The truth was his feelings for her scared the shit out of him. Since they had been together on the plane all he could think about when he was near her was how much wanted to be with her, he was craving her touch constantly now.
Terry had information for him but he wasn't sure he wanted to know what it was. He had his suspicions about her. If he was right would it change how he felt about her? He didn't know for sure. There was a knock at the door. Jared looked through the peephole. It was Terry. He opened the door.
"Hey, Jared!" Terry embraced him in a hug.
"Terry!" He hugged him back.
"Times are a changing bro. You doing ok with everything? I know you've had it rough recently and it's not going to get any better." Terry gave him a look that let him know he was worried about him.
"You know me. I just keep on going one day at a time. It is tough and I have some decisions to make that will affect a lot of lives. I hope I make the right ones."
"You will. I have faith in you. A lot of people have faith in you."
They talked about other things for awhile. Jared told him how Shannon was doing and that turned the conversation to Doc.
"Ok, Terry you came all this way. So what have you found? Must be important, otherwise, you would have told me over the phone." Jared said nervously. Terry considered Jared for a moment. "Come on Terry out with it. It doesn't matter what it is, I'll deal with it."
"Ok" Terry sat forward. "30 years ago Jessica Chambers died. She and her twin brother were both killed in a car accident."
Jared held his head in his hands looking down.
"21 years ago she comes back to life with some very impressive forged medical degrees and licenses. She began working at the urgent care clinic where you met her. Over the next 3 years, while she's with you guys, she managed to go to school and do her internship in between tours and get the real degrees. She's has a genius level IQ. She got her doctorate in 4 years, Jared. You know the rest of her story."
"Is that all you have Terry?"
"There are unsubstantiated rumors too. But they are really out there Jared." Jared looked up at Terry.
"What are they?"
"Well, she talks to some scientists sometimes about time travel. They have talked so in depth about it and they claim she knows so much about it, that they joke she must be a time traveler herself. They have asked her many times to come work with them on their projects but she has refused every time."
Terry watched Jared's reaction. Jared ran his fingers through his hair then got up and walked around the room ending up in front of the glass doors that led to the pool.
"That's what you wanted to hear, isn't it? You didn't care about her schooling or life growing up. You wanted to hear about the time travel shit."
"Terry you are one of my most trusted friends."
"Don't give me that bullshit, just tell me what's going on Jared."
"I never really questioned Jessica about her past. Yeah, I had her checked out when she first started working for us. I trusted her for some reason so I let all the discrepancies go." He paused. "Then Haley appeared in our lives. I knew right off something wasn't right. Shannon fell for her too fast, she wouldn't talk to us, when we got her name it came back she didn't exist. The last few days she was with us I put up hidden cameras. I didn't watch the footage until all hell broke loose." Jared went to his laptop and pulled up a video. It was Haley and Jessica talking. Haley was talking to her about her home and someone named Robert and how he missed his sister and wanted Haley to find her.
"Do you see her reaction every time Robert's name comes up? She jumps a little. Her eyes react and she acts like she wants to say something." Terry nodded. Jared pulled up another clip. "Here they are talking about a genetic marker. Haley has it and so do others. Jessica did tell me about this marker recently as the reason the A2 might be taking people." He pulled up another video. It was of Haley in a venue shower area. It looked like she was getting ready to take a shower... She starts dancing around and singing. "2 things here, Terry. One she claims she can't speak. Yet she's talking to Jessica and she's singing. The second thing is the song she singing is ours." You can hear the music in the background. You could tell it was coming from the stage area.
"I haven't heard it before."
"I know that's because we haven't recorded it yet. It's going on the next album. We are just practicing it. You can hear that it's not polished yet." He showed Terry more clips of her singing their songs. "She knows every word to every song I have written to put on our albums."
"Come on Jared, she must have heard you play them before."
"No this is the first time we ever played it in an arena. It's also the first time we allowed her to leave the bus to go inside the venue."
"So you're saying she's from the future?"
"I don't know what to think Terry. But I can't think of another explanation."
"Have you talked to Shannon about this? Maybe he knows something that would explain this. Do you think Doc is in on it and that's why Haley is talking to her?"
"I don't know for sure. I don't want to believe she's from the same place as Haley but her reaction...." Jared looked away from Terry. He looked tired and confused. Like he was torn. "well, she knows more than she's telling me."
Realization hit Terry. "Jared, did something happen between you two?"
Jared didn't say anything.
"I know that look man. I've known you a lot of years through a lot of women. What did you do?"
"We had sex, Terry." He finally answered softly.
Terry was stunned for a moment.
"Well, it's about goddamn time!" Terry slapped him on the shoulder. Jared looked confused. "Jared you dumbass. You both look at each other like you want to swallow the other whole. You have been in love with her for years and she with you. Everyone can see it but you. Every time your with another woman Doc is crushed and that's why she goes on her trips. Cause she can't stand to see you all up on someone else. And your relationships never seem to work out why do you think that is?" Terry grinned from ear to ear.
Jared's phone started to ring it was Doc.
"Speak of the devil. It's her."
"Well talk to her. Don't fuck this one up Jared. It doesn't matter who she is or where she is from. You know her. You know her heart. She's been here and in love with you for 20 years. She's never let you down. I'll see you after the show." Terry walked out of the house. Who would have thought it? Jared was in love. Terry smiled and got into his rental car.
Jared hit answer on the phone but took a second to say anything. He was trying to get his mind back together.
"Hey what's up?" He could hear people in the background. "Everything ok?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to wish you luck tonight."
"Thanks. What's going on over there? I can hear everyone talking."
"They think they got a lead. They aren't sure if Haley is still there but it's confirmed that she was there a week ago." Doc said. "Jared, Mark wants you to give the signal during your performance tonight. He wants the Knights of the White Shadow activated." She let out a breath. "He wants to start attacking the A2's bases. Even though we don't know that Haley is still at the base. He still wants to take that base out."
"Why don't you sound convinced?" He needed her opinion since he wasn't there. He couldn't see or hear what was really going on.
"Because I don't know if it's a good idea to do it. If Haley isn't there it might provoke them into killing her. Plus it will mean starting a war."
"If she is there they could still kill her. If she's not there they can use her for leverage or bait. Which we can use to our advantage because we know how they will use her."
"I'm scared Jared."
"I am too." He was quiet for a moment while he thought about what to do. What would be the best move for everyone?
"Tell Mark I will send the message but that doesn't mean we will use them yet. Nothing is to be done until I get back there. I'll get on the plane as fast as I can after the show."
"Ok, I'll tell him."
"Oh and Jessica. You and I need to talk." He gave her a second. "I'm giving you a chance to really think about things before I get back. I know you and Haley share something in common. I would like for you to tell me the truth but if you can't I'm giving you the chance to come up with a lie that we will both have to live with for the rest of our lives."
"Jared, I don't......"
"Don't say anything right now. Just think about it. I promise either way my feelings for you won't change."
"Jared I...."
"I have to go, the car is here to pick me up. I'll see you later. Bye." He didn't give her the chance to talk because he didn't want to hear it right now. He really did want to give her a chance to think about things and decide for herself.
He went out and got into the limo for the trip to the venue. He poured himself a drink and downed it. Then lit a cigarette. Shit, this stress is killing me. It's got me drinking a smoking again. This isn't me anymore. I stopped doing this years and years ago. But I've never had this kind of stuff to deal with before either.

Jessie wasn't really shocked that Jared knew about her. She had heard him tell Emma to call Terry. She knew Terry was really good at background searches and traces. And Jared is very smart so it wouldn't be hard for him to add everything up. It is just a matter of him believing it. Now she just had to decide to tell him the truth or not. He had given her a choice. He said his feelings wouldn't change but what were his feelings? She didn't know for sure.
"Hey Doc, you look like you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. What's wrong?" Shannon asked. She hadn't noticed him come in and sit beside her.
"Jared gave me a choice to tell him the truth or a lie. He would accept and live with either one. He said nothing would change." She looked at Shannon and shrugged. "I don't know what I should do."
"If he gave you a choice then he already knows the truth." Shannon took her hands. "It also means that he cares enough about you to let it go and forget about it no matter what you decide. He only does that with people he loves and considers family."
"Huh! I wish I knew exactly how he felt about me, Shannon."
"Shit! The two of you are the blindest people in the world." He laughed and shook his head. "He loves you, woman. And you know you love him."
"Yeah, I do love him. But he is another story. He doesn't love anyone Shannon. How many times has he said that he won't commit to a woman again?"
Shannon ate a mouthful of noodles before he asked her.
"What does he want you to tell him about?"
She just looked at him.
He held his hands up.
"Hey, you don't have to tell me." He held her hand for a second and looked in her eyes. "But I can keep a secret. I'm keeping all of Hayley's"
"What do you know about Haley?" She said with a yeah right tone.
"Everything. And that means I know yours too Jessie. And I haven't told Jared nor will I."
He knew something she thought. No one had called her Jessie in a long time. What had Haley told him? Probably everything. She was in love with him after all. But she hadn't told Haley who she really was.
"God, my world is falling apart Shannon." She curled up on the couch. "I don't know what to do."
"If you want my opinion. Tell him the truth. He isn't running from you now, so he's not going to. He might still be shocked for a bit when he learns the details but he's not going anywhere."
She just sat there thinking.
"Now hand me that remote woman." he said breaking the tension, "I want to watch Jared be a one man band."
Oh shit, she had forgotten they had to watch the performance. Not only to support Jared but to see the signal and make sure it hadn't been blocked.