Seconds after looking at the photograph of the young girl and the leather jacket dude, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and pressed the green button. "Hello?" I asked.
"Spencer." Chief Vick's voice came out of the other end of the line. "We have a missing person case. Get over here as quickly as you can."
"Yes ma'am," I told her. "Gus and I will be right over there."
Chief Vick set the file on the desk in front of me. "A woman came in here yesterday saying that her twelve-year-old daughter was missing. Called herself 'the Doctor', but she didn't give us a picture of the girl."
I placed my right middle finger on my temple. "Chief, I'm getting a very strong vision. This woman you're talking about had blond hair, right? Short, with black roots? I'm guessing she also wore a long gray coat with a hood. She also wore that with trousers, yellow suspenders, and combat boots."
She nodded. "You're right, Spencer. Wow. You're getting very specific."
"Also, did she at least describe the girl we're looking for?"
"Well, the Doctor said that her daughter had short brown hair, wore a denim jacket—"
"—and is incredibly quirky." I finished, dropping my hand down.
Chief looked at Gus's hands. "Guster, why do you have a textbook with you?"
I strained my brain to try and remember the page we'd seen the photograph in. When it came to mind, I held my finger up to my head again. "Chief, look at Gus's book and turn to page 45. It's the chapter on World War I."
Gus handed Chief Vick the textbook, and she turned to the page I stated. Pointing at the picture at the top of the page, I said, "I think we've either found this missing girl or her doppelganger."
"What are you trying to say, Spencer?" Vick questioned.
"Chief, I'm saying that either our missing kid just coincidentally looks exactly like the girl in the picture, or…"
Gus got himself into a weird stance, his hands held out in front of him.
I looked back at Chief Vick. "…we have a time traveler in our midst."
Just as Gus got out of the strange pose, a man rushed into the room. He wore a leather jacket, a light green shirt, black pants, and black shoes. The man had black hair that was barely visible, and his light blue eyes gave off that same alien vibe that the guy in the photo did.
That's when it hit me; they were the same guy.
"Sorry to barge in here," he apologized in a deep voice. "What year is it? Where am I?"
Chief Vick stood up and crossed her arms. "Why would you ask that?"
The man twirled a finger around the side of his head. "Say I was an idiot. What year is it? Where am I?" He repeated.
"The year is 2019, and you, sir, are in the Santa Barbara Police Department," Vick answered.
"What country?" The man inquired.
"The United States. Anything else I have to specify?"
He grinned from ear to ear. "The U. S.? Fantastic!" He dashed out of her office.
"Rose!" He called. "We landed in the U. S.! A whole different country!"
A blond woman, about nineteen years old, raced up to him. "Wait, we're not in Britain anymore?"
"No, we aren't!" He exclaimed. "We're on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, about fourteen years after your time."
Chief Vick walked over to him. "Sir, who are you?"
What he said next, without any hesitation, made me speechless.
"I'm the Doctor."