June 4, 2017
Addison Augustine is projected back into the Safeway supermarket in Barnaby, shortly after Ben Song had arrived in the parking lot. The supermarket looks like a typical supermarket, with aisles packed with food and other things. Right now, her hologram is only a few feet away from Corey Hooper, who is pushing a cart full of food right near the market's deli section.
"If you so much as misbehave, Ben will call the cops," she says.
She takes a look at the man- early thirties, with light brown hair, short beard, wearing a red plaid shirt, Levi's denim jeans, and work boots.
Corey turns the shopping cart into one of the aisles, which is marked as having condiments and salad dressings.
He then comes to a stop as his cart collides head on with another cart.
Addison looks and sees Ben, pushing an empty shopping cart.
"Watch where you're going, old man," calls out Hooper.
Ben stays silent for a second. He then frowns.
"What did you call me?" he asks in a challenging, menacing tone, as if he was trying to get the other man to attack.
Hooper has a stone-cold look on his face.
The observer glances between the two men.
And then Corey Hooper simply pulls back the cart, and then passes right by the leaper. The observer follows him, and Corey lines up behind another shopper.
After the shopper is done, it is his turn. The young lady at the cash register leaves. Another young lady appears, wearing the Safeway shirt like other employees, except that a cloth covers her head.
Hooper pulls back the shopping cart. "Towelhead," he mutters. He then chooses another lane.
Addison sticks close by, and Ben watches from a distance. Corey Hooper simply checks out what he bought and pays for it using a credit card. He glances at the lady wearing the niqab, and then goes out to the parking lot. He loads the groceries into a Toyota Tercel and drives off.
The observer follows him. She wonders if he will stop by another public place, get into a fight or cause trouble, something that would make sure eh will be in jail the night of June 5th.
Instead, Hooper simply drives home, and unloads the groceries in his house.
Oooooooo
Tiring of spending most of his leap staring at a screen, having read web sites and watched Yitzhak Haddad's YouTube videos, as well as YouTube videos of 1990's music videos like those by Nirvana and Snoop Doggy Dogg. , Ben goes out to eat. He had noticed this cafe across the street from the mosque. It is not a full service restaurant. There are several tables, and food is ordered at the counter. A young lady wearing a hijab and the uniform of the place is behind the cash register. Fro the look at her eyes, she clearly recognizes him- al Naari. Ben orders something interesting- roasted lamb poutine. He waits a few minutes at the table before the lady brings a stainless steel tray.
He glances outside. Even though it is 8:30 P.M., it is still daylight outside, due to the time of year and Vancouver's latitude. He looks down at his poutine, which is French fried potatoes covered in gravy, goat cheese curds, and roasted seasoned halal lamb meat. The leaper makes sure to savor every taste. More often than night, he is often on the move during the leap. Quiet moments are a luxury.
He wishes he can have a quiet moment with Addison, in the same time frame. From his personal time, it must have been nearly nine months since they last touched.
Addison is projected back into here. The observer glances at her holographic surroundings.
"Ben," she calls out.
Ben puts Hassan's iPhone next to his ear. "Any updates on Hooper?"
"He's in his car. He's actually very close."
Ben eats another French fry. "How far?"
"Less than a mile. Ziggy actually pulled up an old police report from this time. It might have to do why he is driving in this area." Addison presses the handlink and disappears.
Addison appears out the street. She sees the midnight blue Toyotas Tercel with British Columbia license plates park on the street, just a few feet away from the mosque. Corey Hooper steps out and retrieves something from the back seat.
Pressing a button, the observer is projected back into the cafe across the street.
"Hooper's across the street!" she exclaims. "He's gonna vandalize the mosque. Listen, we don't want to interrupt him; we just want to make sure he gets caught. "
Not even glancing at the four-fifths finished poutine, he runs outside. Addison presses the handlink so Ziggy projects her right in front of the mosque.
Hooper steps out to the side of the building. Taking a can of spray paint from the bag, he starts spraying the side of the building. Addison reads what he scrawled "Terirists"
He then reaches into the bag, and the observer can see it is a red brick. He throws the brick through the window, causing glass to break. He then throws another brick. One bounces off the brick wall of the mosque, while a second one successfully shatters a window. He walks around the building, throwing bricks through the window.
"You must have been here before," says Addison.
Hooper walks to another window. He still has plenty of bricks left. Taking a brick, he throws as hard as he can and less than a second later, he hears the shattering of glass.
And then he looks at someone who appears to be a bespectacled man, holding what is clearly a smart cellular telephone.
"You!" yells Hooper. Hew grabs a brick and throws it at the leaper from the future. Ben sidesteps, causing the brick to miss, and then runs.
Corey Hopper runs after him, murder on his mind. Addison can see him taking something out of the bag.
It is a brick.
Addison knows that the thug can end Ben's life with a single throw.
She projects herself in front of Ben, who is running along the sidewalk.
Hooper is running after him.
He holds the brick in his hand.
He swings with his arm.
And lets the brick go.
Addison observes the brick.
She looks at Ben.
"Duck!" she yells, diving to the ground.
The leaper does the same, and the brick flies right over him.
It bounces on the hod of a car, and then bounces off the windshield, creating a spider-web pattern.
Hooper sees what he had just hit.
It is a police car from the Vancouver Police Department!
A police officer steps out. "Don't move!" he yells. "Hands on top of your head!"
The flashing lights turn on.
Less than a minute later, Corey Hooper is handcuffed, sitting in the back seat of the police cruiser.
"That was him," Ben says to the Vancouver police officers.
"I know you!" yells Hooper. "You were at the Safeway! You're stalking me. You must be one of those towelhead terrorists!"
"And your answer is to break windows at a mosque?' asks the police officer who arrested him.
"I wonder what happens next?" asks Ben.
"I guess the Crown Prosecutor will decide," answers the police officer.
"Corey goes to jail and is sentenced to imprisonment for a year by the Crown Court for vandalism and aggravated assault," says Addison. "And get this. He was still in custody when Yitzhak Haddad was supposed to be murdered. I'm guessing in the original history, he went to vandalize Bridge to Heaven tomorrow night, but Haddad caught him an the act. And he was never suspected for vandalizing this mosque because cops focused their attention on Haddad's murder."
Ben puts the iPhone next to his ear. "It won't happen anymore. I can leap now. Wish I could have finished the poutine, though."
The observer presses buttons on the handlink. "This..doesn't make sense," she says.
"What?"
"Yitzhak Haddad is still murdered, still beaten and stabbed to death. His body was still found at Bridge to Heaven the morning of June 6th. His killer is still at large in our time."
