Shattered Remnants of a Dream

23. Clefts in the Simulacra

Edward had been reading excerpts of files over the phone for the past few minutes, but every word he said just seemed to further complicate the issue.

"Frank, this doesn't make any sense. There's a chart here that shows all the digging activity that's gone on in the past two years. Half of these places should be completely devoid of any sort of natural resources. Why in the world..."

"What was that thing you read about the clocks?" Frank asked. "Is there any more information there? What are they?"

Edward tried to paraphrase the confusing text as best as he could. "It just says they must all be collected to grant the Daughter access to the Space-Time Continuum."

"What the hell?" Frank was stunned. He'd uncovered Grayson's secrets, yet he still had no idea what was going on. "I was expecting, you know, fraud, maybe money laundering, but...what's all that supposed to mean?"

Frank glanced nervously into the rear-view mirror. He could see Grayson's glasses gleaming at him through the tinted windshield.

"Ed," Frank began, "I'm going to have to hang up for a bit. I want you to keep looking around in there. Gather as much information as you can. Hopefully, I'll call you back again soon. For now, just keep doing what you're doing, okay?"

There was a pause on the other end, before Ed finally spoke: "Okay."

"Good." Frank dropped the phone into his lap and returned his hand to the steering wheel.

Frank swerved out of the dirt and on to the next highway he saw. It may have seemed random to Grayson, but Frank knew exactly where he was. He had been coming out to these oil fields for years, and although he was frantic, he'd never lost his sense of direction.

The highway curved to the left along a ridge that separated this plateau from the next. Below it, he could see Kern Road, China Grade Loop, and the other highways that led back into town. Few people used these dusty, old highways, and as a result, the guardrails were meager – and, in some places, completely nonexistent.

In a few seconds, the road would curve sharply around a ridge, creating the perfect blind spot between himself, Grayson, and the edge of a slope that had no guardrail around it. It was his only chance.

Frank turned sharply and twisted his car to the left. As soon as he cleared the corner, he immediately curved his car so that it would just nip the edge of the ridge if reversed. Then, as soon as he saw the hood of Grayson's car enter his rear-view mirror, he braced for the impact and made his tiny vehicle zoom backwards.

A horrible sound flooded his ears as the two cars collided. The left side of Grayson's luxury car caved in, devouring Frank's rear. Stomping his foot hard on the gas pedal, Frank stared into the rear-view mirror with furious eyes, only to see Grayson peering back from his mutilated interior with a crazed grin on his face.

Grayson's Benz was certainly the sturdier of the cars, but the force and angle of impact had left it without momentum – and more importantly, it was now wedged between Frank's car and a cliff. The odds may have been against him, but Frank Arazia wasn't about to give up. He'd been pushed to the limit, and now, the law-abiding family man was in a frenzy, desperate to destroy his enemy and survive.

"Drop, you son of a bitch!!" Frank shrieked. "Drop!!"

Frank stomped his foot hard on the gas, and then he felt something snap, followed by a monstrous metal lurch, and Grayson's car slid backwards. Feeling the tension lighten, Frank quickly switched his foot to the brakes and watched with a mixture of horror and relief as Grayson's car went slipping off the edge of the cliff.