Link to beginning of story:

https://steemit.com/fiction/@justephen/justin-time-chapter-1-an-original-novel

Link to Chapter 27: Justin Remembers

https://steemit.com/fiction/@justephen/justin-time-chapter-27-an-original-science-fiction-novel

Chapter 27 Review:

When Justin returned to the present, he recognized a piece of fabric that Katie had. It was from his favorite sweater which recently was ripped. Justin deduced that he was the stranger in his bedroom when he awoke from a dream at seven years old. He also realized that he was the man he saw as a young by at the zoo. Dr. Filbrick and his company Genochronology hire ex CIA agent Frank Knuth to spy and get as much information as they can on Justin and his time traveling device. Justin and Kirstin find out that Kirstin's roommate, Connie, was nurse Connie Latresky who helped Katherine during Justin's coma days in the hospital. They also found that it was her who gave Justin the note during his book signing.

Chapter 28: Expert Witness

Kirstin and Justin spent the whole day together. Throughout the day, Kirstin was persistently pestering Justin to show her his laboratory basement. He kept telling her that he would do it soon. Justin had fun helping Katherine practice her role as Desdemona on her Othello play. He played the part of Christian Moore.

"The following Friday will be the first day, where paid customers and even more talent agents will be in the audience.", said Kirstin who was excited and anxious at the same time.

“That should be exciting.”, exclaimed Justin.

“It is, however it is also very nerve racking. Tell me more about your time traveling.”, she said changing the subect.

So, they discussed some of Justin's time traveling journeys. Kirstin knew that the purpose for now, was to go back to the past as an attempt to repair his tumor and that things got complicated. He did his best to fill her in on the details. He also admitted that he was being given information in small intervals, like Connie had. After a few hours, they decided to drive to Justin's house. Kirstin was very excited because Justin finally agreed to show Kirstin his laboratory in his basement.

"In your expert opinion, would you say that this irrevocable trust is a forgery and was not signed by the deceased?", ask attorney Lindberger.

"There were many areas on this document that required the deceased's signature. I have concluded that this irrevocable trust has been forged and I will tell you why.", explained Blair Windham. "To begin with, the ink that was used with this pen is of very high quality which the deceased, Mr. Mondosa, would have used. It was no secret that whenever Mr. Mondosa had important documents, he would use this ink. This ink takes a couple seconds to dry once applied."

Pointing to a couple areas on the projector screen, Blair continued. “However the deceased Mr. Mondosa, was left handed. Being left handed, Mr. Mondosa would leave smudges here and here as he signed because his hand would lightly brush up against the ink. Secondly, notice the 's'. This 's' was written from the top down. Mr. Mondosa made his 's's from the bottom up. You can tell if we, enlarge this portion. You can see the pen mark is slightly heavier at the beginning and tails off towards the end."

Then Blair grabbed a pen, and started writing on the projector.

"Here are the two examples when I write it. This is what it looks like from the top down and this is what it looks like from the bottom up."

If the jury had any doubt regarding Blair's credibility before, that dissipated when they saw that his writing of the 's' look identical to Mr. Mondosa's.

"Thank you Mr. Windham. Your witness?", asked attorney Lindberger to the defendants attorney.

"No further questions.", was his reply.

"You may step down." , ordered the judge.

As Blair stepped down, he noticed the attorney for the defense was scrambling and thinking of how to recover.

When Kirstin and Justin arrived, they found Katie sleeping on the couch. Usually Katie wakes up when Justin arrives home. When he approached the couch, he shook Katie.

"Are you alright?", he asked.

Katie didn't respond immediately, but finally gestured that she was not feeling well. Something with her head bothered her. She couldn't describe it well enough for Justin to interpret it.

"Maybe you need a little more rest.", Justin said as he grabbed her hand and put her to bed.

"I hope she's okay.", said Kirstin.

"I think she will be fine.", replied Justin.

"Are you ready?"

"For the laboratory. Yes!", she said clapping her hands together. "Why are we going into the kitchen?"

Justin opened the pantry door and revealed the hidden compartment. "Climb on in. I will lock it up behind us."

As Kirstin descended, her eyes and mouth grew wider and wider.

"Wow. I had no idea it was this elaborate." There must be a million dollars worth of equipment in here. This is amazing. What is this thing here?", she said pointing.

"This is my time traveling device.", he said.

"This looks nothing like a time machine."

Justin said laughing, "Yeah. It is very different than what you see in the movies or read about. Quite simply this device does two things. It initiates a coma and it clones. The rest are just minor details.", he said sarcastically with a grin on his face.

"Yeah. Minor details I am sure. Can anyone use it?"

"It would be very dangerous for someone to attempt to use it without the proper training. It took me months of practice to acquire the skill set necessary. There would be people who would never be able to learn how to successfully travel as the mental exercise could be challenging."

"I see. So what would happen if I tried?", she said teasingly.

"You would probably land on Venus with your foot in your mouth.", he laughed. "That's a cloning joke."

"I know. I got it.", she replied.

Justin yawned looking at his watch, "I didn't realize how late it was. I really need to go to bed. I have a big day tomorrow."

“Are you going back in time again?"

"I don't know for sure. I will know in the morning when Blair and I look at the next instruction."

"Can I stay and see how it works?", urged Kirstin looking up at him.

Justin started melting as he looked into her alluring eyes, "How could I say no to that? Of course. Let's get ready for bed now."

He grabbed her hand and lead her upstairs.

There was a knock at the door.

"Sorry for bothering you, but I was wondering if you could help us."

"Sure. What do you need.", said a stunned Larry Van Morrison to the police officers.

"We are going door to door, hoping to find anyone who may of seen or heard of an incident that happened a couple weeks ago."

"What kind of incident."

"A man by the name of Mark Hannity was shot and killed near a local drug store. Did you see or hear anything about it?"

No. Not at all.", said Van Morrison calmly.

"Well, if you hear of anything, can you please let us know. Here is a number where you can reach us. We appreciate your time."

"Absolutely.", Larry said as he closed the door.

After closing the door, Larry started thinking to himself. 'I wonder if the cops know what I did and they are just playing with my head. This curse on me and nightmare to my restaurant will not go away until all three responsible people are dealt with. Eliminating Mark Hannity was obviously not enough. I need to be calm. It's okay. I am in no hurry. My friend, the Judge, said I should stay inside for a while. I will wait a little longer. But this curse will never rest until I deal with Katherine and William Time as well.'

Katie woke Justin and Kirstin when she opened the bedroom door. As they both sat up, Katie gave them kiss kiss jesters with her lips.

"What is that suppose to mean?", asked Kirstin. "She can't know what we did."

"You would be surprised what she knows.", replied Justin.

"How are you feeling today Katie? How is your head?"

Katie gestured that she is feeling better, but can't remember how she collapsed on the couch.

"Katie feels better, but isn't sure what happened last night.", interpreted Justin.

"I see. Well at least she feels better."

Justin and Kirstin had time to take a shower and have breakfast before Blair arrived. When the door bell rang, Katie again opened the door for Blair.

"Oh. Hi Kirstin. How are you?"

"I'm fine", she said.

"Hey, something seems strange around here.", commented Blair.

"What do you mean?, asked Justin.

"I'm not sure, but it feels different. Did anything unusual or different happen yesterday?

"The only thing I can think of is that Katie wasn't feeling well and I found her sleeping on the couch. She didn't wake up until I poked her. Normally she's up as soon I open the door."

"hmm" pondered Blair, "Was there anything else?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, anyway are we ready?"

"Yes. Kirstin is going to join us today."

"Okay", said an apprehensive Blair.

As they started going downstairs Blair mentioned again that something seemed off.

"Kirstin and I were down here last night.", commented Justin.

"I'm not sure what it is. But if feels different."

"What do you mean it feels different.”, inquired Kirstin.

"Blair has a real keen sense of intuition and more times than not, he is correct.", interjected Justin.

"I see."

Moving on, they approached the safe. As they opened the safe, the next envelope was quite thick. Opening it, they found many pages of instructions including a smaller envelope that he was suppose to keep. As Justin read the instructions. His mouth dropped. Ahead of him was the biggest task he ever had to do. It took him two hours to understand the instructions in its entirety. And more now then ever, he had to do everything precisely as it was written and there was no room for error. Once he traveled, time was of the essence. He was being put into a life or death situation. Both Blair and Kirstin understood the gravity of the predicament.