Time Jacker by Aaron Crash (nonfiction book recommendations .TXT) 📕

The memories came back in a flash, of Jennifer, his friend and would-be girlfriend, coming out of the car, her dress torn, her hair mussed. The lightning showed the scratches. And the bite marks. The thunder roared, but there wouldn’t be rain. Just violence.

Jack’s life had ended at that moment, and he’d drifted on the outside of law enforcement. However, his moment on the darkside had given him a newfound understanding of Pinetree and his lawless ways.

Gabby covered her mouth with her hands. Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Oh, Jack, you and Pinetree have such love for each other. Paul does love you.”

The bartender swept off his hat and wiped sweat off his scalp. “Just like a friend. I mean, Jack and I go way back. He remembers me with hair!”

“We’re buddies,” Jack agreed. “And so he’ll get two percent of any sale he sets up.”

Gabby smacked his arm. “You will not try to haggle with your friend. Five percent, at least. Or I will...” She huffed, clearly unable to finish the threat.

“You’ll do what, Feathers?” Bailey asked.

“Or I will be very upset,” the angel finished. She sat with a troubled look on her face.

Jack would have to talk to her later, but for now, he addressed his friend. “So, PT, what do you think?”

The bartender shrugged. “Two percent is fine.”

“No, PT, five percent. The angel is right, and I’ve seen her fight. You don’t fuck with angels.”

“Language!” Gabby said with a gasp. “But I do agree with the sentiment.”

Pinetree lifted a goblet. “Do I want to know where you got this? Or how many women’s locker rooms you’ve been in? Or if you’ve robbed a bank yet?”

Both the angel and the demon jumped in to talk at the same time.

From the demon: “One women’s locker room, we killed an angel from some shithole place outside the timestream, and I would fucking love to rob a bank except they don’t keep a lot of cash in the branches anymore. Seriously. The average take on a bank robbery in the last ten years was two grand.”

“No shit?”

“No shit,” Jack said. If bank robbers did their research, banks wouldn’t need security at all.

From the angel: “No robbery, and it wasn’t Jack’s idea to go into the women’s shower, and I disapprove of such things. But, yes, we did have to kill an angel who had lost their way.”

Pinetree took it all in. “So, this shit got real. Are you quitting your jobs?”

“Looks like it,” Jack said. “Though it depends on how much I can sell this stuff for. Or if you have an idea on how I can use this time-stopping power to make money that doesn’t involve grand larceny. I’m also against circus acts.”

Pinetree sighed. “Yeah, if you don’t want to straight up rob people, then the whole time-stopping thing might not be a good money-making proposition. You can’t go forward and backward, right?”

“We all go forward, Pine. One second at a time.”

“Jackass. What about backward?”

“Nope.” Jack ate another wing, drank some beer, and thought he was in heaven. In the end, he was a simple man. He didn’t need much.

Gabby scowled. Talking about sinning had ruined her appetite and so there was a good portion of her onion rings still in the basket. “You know, Jack, the divine will provide for you. You don’t need to worry. You just need to do the next right thing. All of your needs will be provided for if you simply trust in the goodness of the universe.”

Bailey looked disgusted but didn’t comment. Her eye roll, however, was nearly audible.

Jack didn’t want to rain on the angel’s parade, but he was fairly certain that goodness and badness were of equal measure in the universe.

Pinetree took a rag and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Hey, Jack, can you start time again? I’m kinda getting freaked out in my own place.”

Jack thumbed time back on again, and Bailey returned to her human form.

The room was back to being filled with noise, chatter, and Johnny Cash on the jukebox.

The European man rose from the booth and came over, just as Jack stuffed his treasure haul back into the backpack.

The European had thinning blond hair and a flushed face. He spoke with a German accent. “Excuse me, sir. I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about the Enochian language. Was I wrong there?”

Jack wasn’t sure about this guy.

The angel, ever trusting, piped up. “Oh, yes, the Enochian language is the language of angels!”

“Yah, I know this.” The European nodded. “Actually, I am collector of the language, of artifacts, texts, et cetera.”

Pinetree sighed. “There goes my five percent.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Jack said to his friend. Then to the guy. “And what’s your name?”

“Heinrich Hofer,” the man said. He reached out a hand. “I’m from Vienna, Austria. I have been interested in angels since I was a boy.”

Gabby blinked and her mouth fell open. “Gosh, he’s not wrong. He saw an angel, actually. He’s telling the truth. See, Jack, Heinrich is here to help us.”

Jack glanced at Bailey. “Feathers isn’t wrong. Heinrich here isn’t German, so no weird butt sex stuff. Not that weird, anyway. Just your typical analingus type of guy. Respect.” The demon went back to eating her fish and fries.

The Austrian frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand what this beautiful woman said. However, I can’t argue that me being here is fortunate...if you do indeed have Enochian artifacts.”

Jack took the bracelets out of the backpack. “Hey, Pinetree, can you tell me what gold is selling at today?”

The bartender grabbed his phone. “$1,800 for an ounce.”

Each of the bracelets weighed a half pound each, but it wasn’t the gold that made them special.

The Austrian guy knew it. Heinrich read the scrawling script. “Meriton, a warrior in the Marianna Legion. A protector of the Eternity Cannon. Special commendation for loyalty and steadfastness. Special valor in the Battle of the Lost Hours. Yes. Yes.”

“You