Epilogue

Ryan

12:20 PM

Ryan closed the door to Bobby's hospital room, went to the nurse's station and dug through the box of Bobby's personal effects. Picking up the remains of the computer, he put it into his bag. Like last time, Bobby had already destroyed the code, but maybe his techs could salvage something. He'd been in a rush and couldn't have cleansed everything. When they tried the same thing with his computer from the bakery, Bobby had left a virus that set them back years. Ryan still had nightmares about that.

He'd have to arrange a backstage pass to the next secret Crue concert, but that wouldn't be too difficult. One call to Vince could make it happen. He stepped into the stairwell, took out a flip phone and dialled. If anybody had been walking by at that moment, they would have been surprised. Nobody used them anymore, but they were perfect for private, untraceable calls.

"Bobby's ready to move to the next place," he said, listening to the voice on the other end, nodding. He started drumming his fingers on the side of his leg. He'd use the wall, but the noise got him in trouble last time.

"No. Nothing is keeping him here. He hates his job and is looking for something else. He's not happy with Detroit, though." He listened and swung his tie back and forth. "Yes, I know. He said he erased it, but I'm not so sure this time. Yes, I understand. A Bobby that has this code is too dangerous," Ryan agreed. "We're already tracking the changes this time, but chaos is hard to map. Just to be safe, we'll keep him away from anything smelling like the code for a while. Besides, we have the computer, and it should have recorded the code. Sorry, Vlad got away from us. He has too many bodies in play, and we weren't expecting him to confront Bobby directly."

Ryan listened some more and nodded again.

"Barbie is gone. But you realize this is the third time. She's appeared twice, and she's getting closer to him. Soon, she may be able to kill him. If I hadn't returned early from my vacation, we wouldn't have gotten to him in time. He would have gone underground. We can't keep the Maker in the dark forever."

Silence.

"I understand. We'll continue with the current plan, Dr. Slazney. When we find Vlad, we'll contain him. He's gone too far off script."

Ryan hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. He pulled out a smartphone. He'd better give Vince a call before anything else happened to screw up the time stream.

Joe McCoy, You Know You Done Me Wrong (1932)

Joe McCoy: Vocals & Slide Guitar

Memphis Minnie: Guitar

Recorded in New York City, N.Y. Wednesday, February 3, 1932