Page 93 of Echoes

“The energy,” Felicity said. “Yeah, I thought about that, too.”

“What do you mean?” Violet asked.

“That note said something about the trauma of someone’s death impacting the device. The thing doesn’t seem to need to charge, and it takes people into time and space somehow. I’d go with science fiction, but I don’t think that’s it, either,” Rachel said.

“You think the same thing I do, then,” Felicity shared. “Something in the energy.”

“Paranormal?” Rachel checked.

“Paranormal?” Violet asked.

“Just guessing here, but, yeah, maybe,” Rachel replied. “Either way, you can go get it, and Eliza and Lydia can take it. We got all we’ll ever need from it, babe.”

“Yes, my love,” Violet said, smiling down at her.

The four other women in the room all made different sounds at that. Felicity chuckled a little and looked at her wife. Rosie smiled back at her before she laughed lightly. Eliza gasped a little, and Lydia pulled air through her teeth before she nodded.

“What?” Violet asked.

“Have you always called Rachel there your love?” Rosie asked.

“Since we got together. Why?”

“That’s something we call each other.”

“Us too,” Lydia shared. “Her dad used to call her mom that, so she does it with me.”

“Did you ever call anyone other than me that?” Rachel looked up at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever asked you that.”

“No,” Violet said, realizing it at the same time. “I didn’t. Babe, baby, honey, and–”

“Okay. I get it.” Rachel tapped her on her butt. “Don’t need to knowallthe nicknames you used, sweetheart.”

Lydia laughed and said, “She callsmethat, too.” She pointed to her wife. “Weird. Not really common nicknames these days.”

“I’ll be right back,” Violet said and walked through the kitchen and into the laundry room.

In the garage, she unlocked the cabinet they’d locked as well when they got back from Greece the first time, pulled out the case, and walked back inside the house. She set it on the floor in the middle of the room and watched all four women stare at it.

“I have the keys to the padlock. They’re just upstairs.”

“We’ll use bolt cutters. Don’t worry about it,” Lydia told her.

“The faster we leave here, the better,” Eliza added. “We left our phones at home so that it’s harder to track us while we do this, and the old car you saw in the driveway was bought in an all-cash deal with someone two towns away from us, but we should still get going.”

“Us too,” Felicity said as she stood.

“Let’s carry it out through the back just to be safe,” Rosie suggested.

“Actually, can we crack it open and put it in something else?” Lydia asked. “Less conspicuous that way.”

“I’ll get the key, after all, and find you a bag to put it in,” Violet said.

She nodded toward Rachel and walked up the stairs, finding the key quickly and rummaging through their closet for a bag. She found a purse that would fit the device and headed back down the stairs. After the case was opened, all six of them stared down at the object that was still so mysterious for at least a minute before Lydia picked it up carefully to avoid pressing the button. She placed it into thepurse top-up so that the button wasn’t pressing against anything and handed the purse to Eliza.

“Be careful,” she told her wife.

“I will,” Eliza replied. Then, she looked at Violet and Rachel and said, “Thank you.”

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