In Between

by Beca Lewis

  “Connie’s in trouble. Bryan needs help. There is no time to get back to Bryan’s house. I will have to help from here.”

  “Help how?”

  “Dang. Too bad I can’t call the police in the past to go to Bill’s house right now.”

  Rachel watched as Johnny’s face turned pale.

  “Oh geez, this is bad.”

  “Are you there watching in the past?”

  “Yes, along with Bryan and Ava. One of us will have to go back in the past to stop this.”

  Rachel just stared at Johnny, not understanding what she could do to help.

  A moment later, Johnny added, “Okay, it will be me. Bryan has been keeping Connie calm, but doesn’t have enough energy to pull this off.”

  Rachel shook her head, not understanding him at all, but willing to do whatever he needed.

  “Just tell me what to do.”

  “Pull further away, back into that corner where the trees are. We don’t want anyone to notice us. It might pull me back from the past.”

  Rachel backed up into the parking lot and then drove to the furthest end of the lot and parked under a stand of maple trees.

  Johnny reached over and grabbed Rachel’s hand. “Promise me you won’t let go?”

  As Rachel promised, Johnny’s grip loosened, but hers remained firm. She knew exactly what to do.

  *******

  Theo didn’t bother ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door, and although Connie had run to the front door to lock it, she was too late. Theo slammed his way into the foyer and pushed Connie up against the wall, his hand on her throat.

  “I thought I told you to get lost, you little bitch,” he hissed into her face.

  As Bill and Terrance came around the corner, Theo turned to them and said, “Don’t come nearer, you fags. Did you think I didn’t know? I always know. Shocked? You shouldn’t be. Now, if you move, I’ll push so hard that I’ll crush her windpipe.”

  The two men held up their hands and took one step back.

  Theo reached around Connie and pulled her arm behind her back, twisting her, so she was facing away from him and, keeping his other arm across her neck, started pushing her towards the room he had seen Bill and Terrance come from.

  “Go,” he said to Bill and Terrance. “Go, or I break her arm.”

  Once they got to the study, he directed the two men to sit on the chairs stationed in front of Bill’s desk, pushing Connie into the desk chair. When the men didn’t move, he reached behind his back and pulled out a gun.

  “Sit!”

  Addressing Bill, he added, “Throw me your necktie. Might as well do something with that little fairy piece of cloth.”

  Bill took off his necktie and tossed in on the desk.

  “No, bring it here and tie this bitch’s hands behind her back.”

  When Bill didn’t move, Theo waved the gun at him.

  “Move. It would be easier to shoot her than tie her up. So if you care about her, do what I said. Then use your belt to tie up your boyfriend there, too.”

  Once he had tied Connie and Terrance’s hands behind their backs, Bill returned to his chair. Theo stepped back, keeping the gun pointed at the three of them, but looking at Connie.

  “I suppose you told them what happened? Now I have to decide what to do about the three of you, not just you. So if something happens to them, it will be your fault. I told you to keep quiet, or I would hurt someone, but no, you didn’t listen. I didn’t think you would. It’s why I had you followed.

  “You have been a pain in my ass from the beginning. Edith is the perfect wife for me, as long as you are not her friend. Now, you have caused your own death and your friends’ because I will not let you ruin my perfect life.

  “You think I don’t have a plan? I do. I always have a plan.”

  Outside the window, Connie could see the branches of the dogwood tree glowing green as the sun shone behind them. A squirrel ran across the branch, causing a shower of rain to drop off, glinting gold. It was beautiful. So simple. Not confusing. Just a tree, a squirrel, the sun, and drops of water.

  Why did people have to make life so complicated?

  Looking up at Theo, she said, “There is no way to get rid of us, Theo. If you kill the three of us, people will notice. They will figure out it’s you. You might as well run.”

  “I can’t run, and you know it. My parents control my life, my money, my future. I need them. I need Edith. I don’t need you.”

  Theo’s gaze traveled to where the safe lay open.

  “What were you getting out of the safe, Bill?”

  Seeing a manila envelope on the desk, he handed it to Bill.

  “Open it, show me what’s inside.”

  Bill’s hand shook as he took out the papers and put them on the desk.

  Theo picked up a photocopy of a newspaper clipping. A picture of a missing girl stared out at him. Connie knew he recognized the girl. His face turned pale and then red. He rummaged through the rest of the papers. Some of them had his name on them.

  “What is this? What the hell is going on?”

  Shoving the gun into Connie’s face, he said, “Tell me, or I will shoot you one body part at a time.”

  Connie shrugged, what could she lose?

  “I’m not the Connie you raped a few days ago, you ass-hole. I am from the future, come back to stop you.”

  Theo stared at her and then pulled back and laughed. “You think that story will distract me? How stupid can you be, trying to pretend that you are crazy, and from the future?

  “Yea, right! Does your future self know how I will kill the three of you?”

  “Well, if I am not from the future, how do I know that there is someone at the door right now?”

  Theo paused. The doorbell rang, and he laughed.

  “Good guess. Okay, Bill, get rid of this person, or else they will join the three of you, and you will be responsible for their death. I know—goody two shoes that you are—that will kill you. Ha. As if you won’t be dead, anyway.”

  After Theo pushed Bill to the front door, the gun digging into Bill’s back, Connie smiled and whispered to the young man standing behind Terrance and asked, “Can you do it?”

  Looking into Terrance’s terrified face, she added, “Shh, don’t be afraid. A friend is here, and he has called the police.”

  Moments later, as he pushed Bill into the room, Theo shouted, “There was no one there.”

  Too late, he noticed that neither Terrance nor Connie were in their chairs.

  Fifty-Four

  “I’ll shoot him if you don’t come back!” Theo yelled.

  No one answered him.

  “I’ll shoot you anyway, you scumbag,” Theo whispered in Bill’s ear.

  Bill was just as confused as Theo about where Connie and Terrance had gone, but he was grateful they had gotten away.

  “It seems to me that you have two choices. Shoot me and run. Or just run. At the moment, no one but us knows what you have done.

  “And the papers you saw? Who will believe them? They talk about things that haven’t happened yet. You know the police. They need concrete evidence. Those papers won’t work.”

  Theo poked Bill in the ribs. “Sure. But you three are talkers. I already told Connie not to talk, and then here she is blabbing her mouth off.”

  “Let’s say we do. Who will they believe, you or us?”

  As Theo thought about what Bill said, two things happened at the same time. His grip loosened slightly on the gun, and something pushed him to the side.

  Then that something pushed him harder, knocking the gun from his hand, and it went flying across the room. Both Theo and Bill stared at the gun lying on the floor, stunned at what had happened. Theo reacted first. He started towards the gun, but then, hearing police sirens, turned, and ran to
wards the door.

  But Terrance was already there. This time he grabbed Theo’s arm and twisted it around his back and walked him back into the office. Bill had kicked the gun further away, and Connie was standing beside him.

  “Bill was right, you know, Theo. You might be able to convince the police you did nothing wrong. But, you see, I have evidence that you did. I know how to find those girls, I know how to point the authorities towards what they need to know to put you in prison.

  “You know how I know this, Theo? Because I am from the future. In the past, I made a mistake. I didn’t tell anyone. I let you live out your life destroying others. I never told Edith or tried to save her.”

  Connie grabbed a clipping off the desk.

  “Look. See. She dies. But she spends nine long years with you, first with you betraying her, and then punishing her for anything you didn’t like about her. You beat her, Theo, and I never stepped in to stop you.

  “I was a coward. I killed her, too, because I didn’t speak out. Well, not this time.”

  Theo spit.

  “I knew you were a bitch. I don’t care what you say. You aren’t from the future. I don’t know what kind of trick this is, but you won’t get away with it. I’ll destroy you and your queer friends here.”

  Connie laughed.

  “Ah, so I haven’t convinced you yet. Let me give it another try. I have a few friends here from the future. You can’t see them. Sorry, but I can. If you could see them, you might think they are ghosts. And usually, spirits, ghosts, people from the future, can’t deal with physical objects. However, in the future, when you learn about quantum physics, you find that sometimes they can.”

  Theo giggled hysterically.

  “Yea, right? Spirits, ghosts, people from the future. Just keep talking like that, and you’ll end up in the loony bin.”

  Looking at Bill, he asked, “You don’t actually believe this crap, do you?”

  “Afraid that I do,” Bill said. “Otherwise, who untied their hands? Who knocked the gun out of your hand?”

  Connie laughed again.

  “That was Johnny. You’ll never meet him, Theo. But another man named Bryan is here too. He’s the son of Edith’s friend, Jillyan. Oh, you probably never met her because Edith had to hide her friendships from you.

  “Perhaps they could give you a little demonstration?”

  Theo snorted, but when something slapped him across the face, and when the window flew open, he turned pale.

  “I don’t know how you did that, but it’s a trick.”

  “Okay. One last trick, then. Perhaps you would like to meet your son, Eddie? Eddie, the son, whose death you also caused. By mistake, it turns out, but still, he died.”

  “No. Not true.”

  “True, father,” Eddie said.

  Fifty-Five

  Back in Bryan’s living room, the women held hands. Edith had told them what they needed to do, and they were doing it without question.

  Grace was grateful that she could see Eddie, Jillyan, and Edith because it made it easier to send all her energy their way.

  Ava was directing what they all needed to do. Ava kept herself in the present while monitoring what was happening in the past.

  When Johnny and Bryan didn’t convince Theo, Ava was the one that explained to Eddie what he needed to do.

  At first, he had said, “Absolutely not.”

  But Edith confirmed what Ava said. It was the only way. He had to confront Theo, or all that they had been doing would fail.

  Things would change, but if they didn’t stop Theo, they would not be for the better.

  Finally, Eddie bowed his head and said, “Okay, I’ll go.”

  A moment later, Bryan woke to find his mother standing by his side.

  In the car in the McDonald’s parking lot, Johnny woke to find Rachel holding his hand.

  Grace watched as the scene in the living room shifted, and then she was alone with Bryan and Ava.

  “Are they gone?” she whispered.

  When Ava nodded, Bryan burst into tears.

  Fifty-Six

  By the time the police arrived, having received an anonymous call, Theo was no longer a threat.

  The police, having known Theo for years and having arrested him time and time again and never been able to charge him with anything, stoically did their duty, thinking that it wouldn’t matter, anyway. But in the past, Theo would threaten and charm, resisting. This time, he seemed frozen in place.

  Right before the police entered the office, the scattered papers from the future vanished from the desktop, and Theo had started to shake.

  “You,” he said, looking at Connie, hatred dripping from his voice.

  Turning to the two officers, he said, “That bitch is from the future. She came back to destroy my life.”

  One officer shook his head and looked at Connie, Bill, and Terrance standing quietly by the window. The other two officers exchanged looks behind Theo’s back.

  It was easy to see what they were thinking. The guy had gone crazy.

  Bill pointed out where the gun had slid across the floor.

  That made all three officers smile. A gun. This time they might be able to keep him in jail after all.

  One officer stayed behind to take their statement.

  Bill and Theo let Connie do the talking. She explained that Theo had raped her a few days earlier and threatened to permanently shut her up if she talked.

  It had taken her a few days to get the courage to speak to Bill. She hadn’t wanted to tell her best friend, Edith, about her husband. She still didn’t, even though she knew it had to be done.

  Theo had found out that she had gone to Bill’s house and figured it was because she wanted to tell Bill and Terrance what happened.

  “So, he threatened you with a gun?” The officer asked.

  “He did,” Connie answered.

  “Well, let’s hope his parents don’t bail him out of this one, but a gun and three witnesses should make our case this time. But how did the gun end up on the floor?”

  Connie explained that although she and Terrance were tied up, Bill wasn’t. Then the doorbell rang, and Theo and Bill had gone to see who was there. While they were gone, Terrance had managed to untie his hands—Bill hadn’t tied them very tight—and she and Terrance had slipped out of the room.

  When Theo saw that they were missing, he was so shocked that his grip on the gun loosened, and Bill was able to push him, so the gun slid away. Then Terrance came in, and the two of them subdued Theo.

  “Okay,” the officer said, “But who was at the door? And who called the police?”

  “I guess we were lucky,” Bill said. “It must have been a prank. No one was at the door.”

  “And Terrance called the police when we left the room,” Connie added. “But then came back quickly to help Bill.”

  “Well, I think that will do it. Do you have any reason why he thinks you are from the future?”

  Connie smiled. “No idea, officer. But I am pressing charges. Maybe Theo wants to make people think I’m crazy.”

  “Probably,” the officer said. Tipping his hat, he added, “We’ll need you later, but in the meantime perhaps you should talk to his wife, since she is your friend, before we do. It might be better that way.”

  “We’ll go with you, Connie,” Bill said, and Terrance nodded. “And I am calling my parents to meet us there too. I think we all need to face this together.”

  On the way over, Connie hid her terror the best that she could. She had been calm during the police interview, but that calmness was hiding her fear.

  She had done what she needed to do. Now what would happen? What would Edith say? Would she hate her forever for bringing this horror to her door?

  Plus, what had happened to the future now that she had put all these c
hanges in place? What would happen to her? Would she forget that she was from the future, or would she live out the rest of the life here now, with this new reality? Connie knew that Bill and Terrance were asking themselves the same questions. But it was too late now to worry about that part.

  From now on, it had to be about Edith and Eddie, and the baby she already knew would be a girl, and she would call her Karla.

  What would happen after that, she didn’t know, but what she did know was that she would meet everything life had for her by facing it and not running away.

  Bill and Terrance smiled at her in the rearview mirror, and she smiled back. She had a feeling that it would be a wonderful life, after all.

  Epilogue

  Connie was tired. It had been a wonderful life. Much better, the second time around.

  Karla poked her head in the room and saw her son Edward reading his favorite book, Charlotte’s Web, to his grandmother.

  Her mother was beaming at him, even though Karla could tell that she was so tired she just wanted to sleep. But Connie had said she would not waste a single moment with her grandson.

  Her uncles Bill and Terrance were on their way. They said they would hire a driver, and not to worry about them. Nothing would keep them away. Connie had asked to see them, and that meant they were coming no matter what.

  Karla ducked her head out of the room before her mother saw her crying. Besides, she had a small army of people she would have to feed. She couldn’t remember a time when her mother wasn’t helping everyone, and now they all wanted to say thank you.

  Connie said that when she died—well not died, but moved to another place—she wouldn’t be able to talk to her friends and tell them how much they meant to her. She had to do it now.

  It was funny, Karla thought. Mom always talked about these things as if she knew something about them. But how could she?

  “Karla, we’re here. Where do you want all this stuff?”

  Karla laughed as she helped her half-brother, Eddie, and her husband, unload all the supplies onto her mother’s kitchen table.

  She had never heard the entire story of how she and Eddie ended up having the same father, but their mothers had loved them both as if they were each their own.