... and reappeared a few minutes in the past, at exactly 11:00 AM, in the front seat of the limo, on the other side of the driver partition.
The driver, catching the movement in his peripheral vision, glanced Nick's way in shock. At the next gas station, he drove in and stopped as Nick continued to struggle in his bonds. Concerned about the blonde that had appeared from nowhere and looked identical to one of his passengers, he removed her gag and helped untie the ropes.
Nick said, trying to whisper so he wouldn't be heard in the back of the limo, "I can't explain everything, but you're driving into a trap. That man in the back isn't Terry Sullivan, but he's not a criminal either. I need to keep him out of this. I'm going to write a note and I suggest you give it to the woman in the back who looks like me. Then take us back to the hotel and don't bother with Terry; he missed his plane."
"How did you get here? You appeared out of nowhere!"
"Could you please just do this? I'm trying to save lives here."
Maybe it was just that attractive women get attention paid to them, but the driver did agree. Nick wrote down a note and passed it to the driver along with a ten dollar tip, then waited.
The driver returned to the airport and let Nick out. She immediately ran off to the bathroom, remembering that the ladies' bathroom was the correct choice.
Meanwhile, Mike and fifteen-minutes-ago Nick had noticed that the limo was returning to the airport. "Hey, what's wrong?" said Mike.
The voice of the driver explained over the intercom. "I've been informed that Terry Sullivan is someone else. I'm going to have to let you off here. I'm being nice and not calling the police on you. By the way, the young lady dropped this here. The partition slid open just a bit and he passed a piece of folded paper to Nick.
Nick saw a note which said "Come to the ladies' room at the airport." In his own handwriting.
"Look, I'm sorry about all of that," said Mike as they left the limo. "I guess he really could have called the police. Is it grand theft auto when you're only stealing someone's ride?"
"Oh, I don't care about that," said Nick, as he walked off.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"Just to the ladies' room."
Nick figured out there was some time travel involved. He wasn't disappointed, either, to see himself--or rather, himself in Megan's body, making him a herself--with smudged makeup when he finally got to the bathroom. "You're me, right?" he said.
"Yes, but that isn't important," said the later Nick. I hope you can understand this because things could get bad if you don't. But I thought it up, so if I understand it, so can you.
"The guy Terry who hired the limo was in trouble with the mob. They took over the limo and were ready to kill me and Mike until I travelled to the past to warn the driver. When I warned the driver, I changed the past--the driver came back to the airport and you never even met the criminals. But I need you to do something."
"What?" said the other Nick(i).
"You need to be sure that it doesn't change back. In other words, we got kidnapped, so I went into the past, so we never got kidnapped... which takes away my reason for going to the past in the first place. I don't want to undo it or we'll all be dead. So here's what you have to do. You need to do just what I did. Go back to exactly 11 AM in the front seat and warn the driver that he has to go back, and then make sure you follow in my footsteps as much as you can. Even having this exact same conversation with your earlier self.
"I changed the past, so it won't be exactly the same. You won't be tied and gagged, for instance. But I'm hoping that it's enough to keep a time loop going, where you warn the driver because you warned the driver, so we all stay alive."
"And make sure it's 11 AM. If you arrive at 11:01, instead of replacing me, you'll come to a time when I'm already there."
The later Nick reached out to shake the earlier Nick's hand. The earlier Nick shook it and said "I can't ignore you, but this is hard to take... give me a few minutes, okay?"
"Okay, Nikki," said the later Nick. "It's been a pleasure, okay? Go ahead and keep us safe."
A few minutes later, the earlier Nick concentrated on her amulet, 11 AM, and the front of the limo, and disappeared... leaving the later Nick there. He left the restroom to see Mike standing there. It had been successful--he had proven that he could change the past, both in small and big ways, and he had prevented his best friend's untimely death.
