Flirtinis with Flappers Read Online Free Page A
Author: Marianne Mancusi
wasn't? Just because they didn't have TimeTravel.comkiosks at the local 7-Eleven didn't mean the government hadn't secretly developed the technology. After all, they'd been hiding aliens in Area 51 for fifty years. I was sure they had tons of crazy stuff we average citizens knew nothing about.
But still. A time machine? I had a hard time wrapping my head around that one.
"Look, ma'am, I know this is hard to grasp, but if you can just accept the fact that this technology exists, we can move on to briefing you for your mission." Man in Black #1 looked at his watch. "We're almost out of time."
"Uh, right. Well, why don't you cook up some new time then? If you've got a time machine and all."
Man in Black #2sighed deeply, my sarcasm evidently making him extremely weary. "It doesn't work like that, Ms. Duncan. The XR-2300 burns a complex plutonium blend. One trip back in time costs more than Bill Gates' monthly earnings."
"Wow. I guess time really is money," I quipped, unable to resist. I looked from man to man. None even cracked a smile at what I considered a pretty clever joke. Tough room.
"Um, fine then. Go on. Don't let me hold you back," I said with a wave of my hand. After all, the sooner they got through their spiel, the sooner I could be on my way.
"As we were saying, the Time Warriors got their machine through the black market. And they've been using it as an expensive toy. Going back in time to experience different historic events through the eyes of those who lived them."
"Uh, like that guy in that old Quantum Leap show?" I asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"Something like that. Except they can return to their twenty-first-century bodies anytime they choose,"
Well, that was convenient, now wasn't it?"What kind of events?" I queried,all Question Girl as usual. Not that I believed these morons for one minute. But I figured I could play along.
"Battles, mostly. They seem to really enjoy those. And we do know one of them went back as Joe DiMaggio. To play baseball and sleep with Marilyn Monroe."
Ah, right. Sex and violence and sports. All the important stuff to the male gender.
"And by doing this they messed up history?" I asked.
"We believe so, though of course it's hard to tell, since we're living the current version. But we suspect they may be to blame for mom jeans, twerking, and even the man bun."
I shuddered. "So, um, what does this all have to do with me?" That was, of course, the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. I doubted they wanted me to expose this group on local TV news, so there had to be some other purpose for dragging me in here and revealing this earth-shattering secret.
If, of course, this wasn't just one big reality show setup. And I wasn't at all convinced it wasn't. Though, if it was, they were totally wasting their time. I was so not about to sign a waiver.
"We've been after this group for years," Man in Black #3 explained. "But it's difficult. We usually don't know where they're going—what time period they're jumping into and whose body they're invading—until it's all over." He cleared his throat. "But this time we've got a tip."
Man in Black #1 glanced at the projection of Nick and then back at me. "We have intelligence that says your ex-boyfriend, Nick Fitzgerald, has traveled back in time to 1929—to witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre."
A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. How ironic. Nick taking part in yet another Valentine's Day massacre. After what happened last year, it seemed all too appropriate.
"Do you find this humorous, Ms. Duncan?"
I cleared my throat and threw on what I hoped appeared an abashed face. "Um, no. Sorry. Go on."
"I'm not sure how familiar you are with the event. Basically, it's believed that Jack 'Machine Gun' McGurn, a known mobster of the time, ordered the murder of rival North End gangster Bugs Moran on Valentine's Day, 1929."
"On V-Day, huh? What a Hallmark moment that must have been."
"Yes, evidently McGurn cared enough to send the
But still. A time machine? I had a hard time wrapping my head around that one.
"Look, ma'am, I know this is hard to grasp, but if you can just accept the fact that this technology exists, we can move on to briefing you for your mission." Man in Black #1 looked at his watch. "We're almost out of time."
"Uh, right. Well, why don't you cook up some new time then? If you've got a time machine and all."
Man in Black #2sighed deeply, my sarcasm evidently making him extremely weary. "It doesn't work like that, Ms. Duncan. The XR-2300 burns a complex plutonium blend. One trip back in time costs more than Bill Gates' monthly earnings."
"Wow. I guess time really is money," I quipped, unable to resist. I looked from man to man. None even cracked a smile at what I considered a pretty clever joke. Tough room.
"Um, fine then. Go on. Don't let me hold you back," I said with a wave of my hand. After all, the sooner they got through their spiel, the sooner I could be on my way.
"As we were saying, the Time Warriors got their machine through the black market. And they've been using it as an expensive toy. Going back in time to experience different historic events through the eyes of those who lived them."
"Uh, like that guy in that old Quantum Leap show?" I asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"Something like that. Except they can return to their twenty-first-century bodies anytime they choose,"
Well, that was convenient, now wasn't it?"What kind of events?" I queried,all Question Girl as usual. Not that I believed these morons for one minute. But I figured I could play along.
"Battles, mostly. They seem to really enjoy those. And we do know one of them went back as Joe DiMaggio. To play baseball and sleep with Marilyn Monroe."
Ah, right. Sex and violence and sports. All the important stuff to the male gender.
"And by doing this they messed up history?" I asked.
"We believe so, though of course it's hard to tell, since we're living the current version. But we suspect they may be to blame for mom jeans, twerking, and even the man bun."
I shuddered. "So, um, what does this all have to do with me?" That was, of course, the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. I doubted they wanted me to expose this group on local TV news, so there had to be some other purpose for dragging me in here and revealing this earth-shattering secret.
If, of course, this wasn't just one big reality show setup. And I wasn't at all convinced it wasn't. Though, if it was, they were totally wasting their time. I was so not about to sign a waiver.
"We've been after this group for years," Man in Black #3 explained. "But it's difficult. We usually don't know where they're going—what time period they're jumping into and whose body they're invading—until it's all over." He cleared his throat. "But this time we've got a tip."
Man in Black #1 glanced at the projection of Nick and then back at me. "We have intelligence that says your ex-boyfriend, Nick Fitzgerald, has traveled back in time to 1929—to witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre."
A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. How ironic. Nick taking part in yet another Valentine's Day massacre. After what happened last year, it seemed all too appropriate.
"Do you find this humorous, Ms. Duncan?"
I cleared my throat and threw on what I hoped appeared an abashed face. "Um, no. Sorry. Go on."
"I'm not sure how familiar you are with the event. Basically, it's believed that Jack 'Machine Gun' McGurn, a known mobster of the time, ordered the murder of rival North End gangster Bugs Moran on Valentine's Day, 1929."
"On V-Day, huh? What a Hallmark moment that must have been."
"Yes, evidently McGurn cared enough to send the
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