Between Now and Always (The Forever Trilogy Book 3)

by Dylan Allen

  My father’s eyes widen in shock before he slumps over in his chair.

  My grandmother starts to scream, a blood curdling sound that makes the hairs on the back on my neck stand up.

  “Shut up, you old bag of bones,” Fiona snaps at her, walking over to where the old woman is crouching next to her son. “I’ve been waiting for you to keel over and die like a regular old person, but it looks like even the devil needs a little motivation before he’ll call you home.”

  She aims her gun at the woman’s head and I look away just before the sound of the gun firing explodes in the room. My ears ring, but I’ve got a surge of adrenaline from the commotion.

  I struggle with my wrist binding again, my mind hyper focused on Cameron and getting away.

  Duke stalks over to Fiona and screams at her.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” he shouts at her.

  “What I should have done a long time ago,” she bellows in his face. “That little girl if we’re going to need to prove her paternity to get any money out of her.”

  My heart stops, and I freeze in place as I realize they’re talking about Cameron.

  And then I force my mind back to getting out of here. Don’t panic. Focus on staying alive. Focus on getting Cam out of here.

  “Fiona, she’s a baby,” Duke whines.

  “She’s probably better off dying now…the planet’s melting. It’s a cruel world to raise children in. This will be kinder. And I’m his widow, I’ll get the money and you’ll share it with me.” She purrs and I watch, disgusted as they kiss.

  My hands come free and I take advantage of them being distracted to stand up and run toward the open door.

  The gun’s loud report pulls a scream from my lungs, but I don’t stop until blinding sears my leg and I fall, unable to support my own weight any longer. I fall onto my stomach, landing on my elbows and a terrible pain rips through my arm. My head swims, but I force myself to move and manage to run over. I look down at my leg, and whimper at the sight of a small hole in my calf, where blood pours out.

  Pours, not gushes. If I can get out of here, I might be okay.

  “Oh, Beth. I’m sorry, you can’t leave,” Fiona’s sinister sing song voice draws my eye over to her.

  She standing next to Dina, pressing the gun into her hand and curling her fingers around it. She stands, her expression full of smug victory.

  “You will not get away with this.” I promise

  She chuckles. “When they find you, they’ll think you came here to get revenge on your friend for stealing your man. And that she, in a fit of greed and rage, shot your father and your grandmother, and then you before she set fire to the house.”

  “Of course, she wasn’t able to get out before it burned down around her.”

  “Fiona, come on, let’s just get her to sign and get out of here. They’ll think she did it.” Duke cajoles.

  “Duke, shut up. We can’t let her leave here.”

  “Fiona we didn’t talk about killing anyone.”

  She turns to him, strokes his face soothingly “Shhh. Calm down. Remember, we’ve been planning this for a long time. We are so close to having everything we want. And if you decide you don’t want to do your part, well, just look at Drew over there and imagine that as your future.”

  He pales and draws back from her. But he nods, “Fine. Let’s just get out of here.”

  “As you set that fire,” she says and shoves him out of the door.

  She walks over and stands over me.

  “I wish I could say it was nice knowing you, but it would be wrong for the last words you hear to be a lie.” She smiles unpleasantly.

  God, I hate her I want to tell her to eat shit and die, but Cameron is upstairs and if seeing me crawl, will make her do the right thing, I’ll do it.

  “At least take Cameron. She won’t know anything that happened here. She’s your daughter.” I plead in a scream when her face remains unchanged.

  “I’ll weep for her when they come to tell me the news of how she was caught in the fire set by this diabolical woman who everyone saw steal her best friend’s man,” she informs me.

  “Please don’t do this. Phil will take care of Cameron if you don’t want her.” I scream again when Fiona just looks dispassionately me.

  “I have goals, Liz. You wouldn’t understand that. Your sentimentality is a weakness. Too bad you lived just long enough to learn that.”

  “I’ll kill you. I will. You will not ever breathe free air again after today, Fiona. I swear to God.” I rage.

  She laughs.

  My heart, which has broken more times than I can count in my life, breaks now for my sister and my brother and for Carter who’s going to get here too late and find me. I can’t finish the thought. It’s too painful.

  “Here, watch this, it will make you feel comfort to know she slept through it.” Fiona places the baby monitor on the floor beside me walks out.

  I pick it up and stroke the screen, wishing I could be with her.

  “It’s okay, baby. I will not let you die in here,” I promise her. Even as I know it’s futile.

  I glance at Dina, who’s still unconscious. I wonder, again, if she’s already dead.

  I drag myself, ignoring the pain in my leg, half away across the room to her. Maybe it’s the blood loss and the pain, but when I try to move again, I can’t.

  And then, I smell the smoke and I know it’s too late. I visualize the curling, grey and white tendrils, and in them, I see all of my dreams, all of my hope, and everything I love.

  I’m going to die.

  People say that at the end, your life flashes in front of your eyes. Mine feel so heavy and I take one last look at Dina and close my eyes.

  I will the memories to come. My life has been so beautiful. Especially the end of it. I want more time, but I cloak myself in the knowledge that the time I’ve had was more than most people can hope for.

  It’s like I’ve passed into the eye of the hurricane. Around me, everything is falling apart, but I’m standing in a moment of grace and calm where my wildest and most improbable prayers seem close enough to touch.

  In the clutches of this I can feel Cam’s arms around my neck, trusting me to keep her safe and knowing that I would die to see it so. She’ll know it when she wakes up. Carter will save her. He may be too late for me, but there’s no way that child is going to die.

  I see James smiling at me before he pulls me into one of his incredible hugs…and I feel safe.

  I can’t wait to be with him.

  Phil came back to give me the last six months to live exactly as I wanted. To live free before I died and I never got to thank him properly, but he knows my heart.

  The family I found when my I finally let my heart decide…Joe, Porhsa, Penn, Nadia, Ryan. My students, my art. I have had so much and I’ve given so much.

  But nothing has been sweeter than the journey I’ve been on with Carter… My heart twists, and I cough as the smoke starts to build in the room. The eye of the hurricane starts to move, letting the danger come. But I’m not afraid, because I loved a man who gave me wings.

  He showed me love strong enough to pull down stars and reshape galaxies. I feel my body lift, the pain from my leg and arm as the rise up kill me.

  “I’m flying.” I whisper and open my eyes to see Carter’s face.

  “I must be in heaven,” I tell him, reaching up to touch his sweaty, sooty cheek.

  “Most people would call this fucking inferno hell, baby,” he says irritably

  And the last thought that passes through my head before the world falls away is how disappointing it will be if Carter’s grouchy even in heaven.

  I’d Do It Again

  DINA

  “Hey, can I come in?” I knock and hold my breath as Beth turns to the door where I’m standing. I brace myself for the scorn I deserve and instead, I see relief fill my friends eyes.

  “Of course,” she says, her eyes damn near bursting with happiness as she
hold out her good arm to me.

  I rush over to take it and squeeze it and look into her eyes so she can see my sincerity.

  “Oh Lizzy, I’m so sorry,” I say the words I was afraid I’d never get the chance to.

  Her expression cools, but she doesn’t let go of my hand.

  “I don’t understand Dina, how did this happen?” she ask, that steel spine of hers showing in her unwavering gaze.

  I have been in awe of this woman since we were sixteen years old. She was the only person who was nice to me when I moved to this god forsaken town. I figured it was because she was a loner who recognized another loner. It wasn’t until James told me the truth about her home life that I knew the extent of her loneliness. She should have been a bitter, covetous, resentful jerk. And instead, she was kind and curious and grateful.

  What I did, even though it was all for her and James, was hard because I hated that she would spend one second thinking that I’d betrayed her.

  “Right before the wedding, Serene approached me. She knew that I’d been working on a story about the corruption in Winsome.”

  “But— Phil said you were never enrolled at UT.”

  I flush, shame almost staying my tongue. But I can’t keep it from her.

  “I was, but only for one semester. I dropped out because Wes gambled away the surplus of my student loan - the portion they refund for living expenses after your tuition is paid. It was how we were going to pay our rent, because Lord knows he wasn’t going to.”

  “Dina…oh my god. Why didn’t you tell me?” she breathes.

  I laugh, the bitter residue of that period of my life, dries and hollows it. “Because, you were stuck here and I felt like if you knew I’d failed. You’d lose all hope. Also, I was embarrassed. But, I wasn’t lying about my job. I did get a job with this publisher and I did go to Paris for the summer. I was a research assistant because I didn’t have a degree. I was going to use this research to launch my career and root out all of that corruption. Serena got wind of what I was doing because we had the same source in the states records office and he told her I was sniffing around. She approached me, told me about their investigation and asked me if I would get information on Duke from you.”

  “From me?” She frowns.

  “Yes, I was your friend. You’d be living with him. And I said yes. I’d done everything I could to dissuade you. You were still going to marry him. Since I couldn’t stop the wedding, I figured I’d get you away from him by helping the FBI take him down.”

  “Oh my God,” her eyes are wide with intrigue.

  “Yeah, and when I saw Carter in the church, I thought maybe he would stop it, but he didn’t. You did.” I let my pride show for a second.

  “They thought, without you there to get close to Duke, we didn’t have that angle anymore. But when I found out what he did to James, I decided he would pay. No matter what it cost me. I went to Duke, and pretended to want him. He’s a fool. Flattery was all it took and I was in his bed.”

  She closes her eyes as if she’s in pain.

  “I’m sorry, Lizzy, I know he was your…”

  She wrinkles her nose is disgust. “He was my nothing. I don’t care about that. But you hated him…how could you… sleep with him?”

  My expression hardens, and I shove down my self- loathing and the sorrow of it all. I shrug, not able to meet her eyes. “I’ve fucked a man I didn’t love for years out of guilt. To avenge the man I loved, I would do anything. Even now, I’d do it again,” I say when she looks like she’s about to cry.

  I want to tell her to save her tears for someone who deserves them.

  “I gained access to information that helped them break the back of the corrupt police in Winsome and the trafficking ring your grandmother was running.”

  “Trafficking?” She pales, and I realize that there’s so much still she doesn’t know.

  “Mostly for slave labor - unpaid domestics, nannies, farm hands…She’s dead and won’t face justice, but I’ll make sure history remembers her accurately,” I say, drawing satisfaction for that knowledge.

  “So, how did you end up in the house yesterday?” she asks.

  I shake my head in amazement that all of that was only twenty-four hours ago.

  “Duke found out I was working with Serene, I don’t even know how or when. When I realized he knew, I tried to reach Serene, sent her a message. But Phil went out of town. They’d been waiting for him to leave so they could do what they’d been planning. With him around, they couldn’t have lured you here. They always planned to use Cameron, they knew you’d come if it was her.”

  She shakes her head sadly. “It was terrifying. I thought we were all going die. Fiona is such a bitch. I have never hated anyone, but I hate her,” she says in a burst of anger. She sags in her bed as if it took all of her energy.

  I squeeze her hand, trying to soothe her.

  “She imagined herself Lady Macbeth. She found the perfect pawns in your father and Duke.”

  “I’m just glad she’ll never touch Cameron again,” she says, her eyes drooping.

  “Yes, thank God for that.”

  She smiles weakly. “So, what’s next, Dina?”

  “I got a job with a law firm in Houston. A big one, Remington Wilde is a legend and he’s opening a new pro bono practice to help the people seeking asylum after being trafficked and he hired me to do research for him.”

  “Wow. That’s amazing,” she says, but it’s clear she’s flagging.

  “I’ll call you okay? When I’m settled.”

  She nods and then yawns. “I think this pump thing just gave me another dose of pain meds, I’m so tired.”

  “Sleep. You need it. I have to go anyway.”

  “Dina, thank you. I’m sorry that you had to do that and I’m sorry about Wes,” she says.

  “Hush. Let’s look forward. I’m ready to leave all that behind and you and Carter. You did it. I’m so happy for you.” My heart, cold and cracked and broken sighs in relief at the small flare of warmth. If I couldn’t have it myself, I’m glad she does. No one deserves the fairytale more.

  I kiss her forehead and walk out of the hospital. My debt to James will never be paid, but at least, I’ve done something he couldn’t.

  Given his sister peace.

  Justice

  CARTER

  “How is she today?” my mother asks as soon as I answer the phone.

  “She’s okay. They’re going to let us take her home tomorrow. But everything will depend on us getting the emergency guardianship approved.”

  My mother lets out a relieved sigh.

  “Joe is out of his mind. I can’t believe you asked us not to come,” she scolds.

  “It wouldn’t have been helpful for Beth and honestly, it’s been a heavy couple of days without guests to worry about,” I rub a weary hand over my face.

  A scream from the other side of the door carries out into the hallway and I wince and hold my breath, hoping my mother didn’t hear it.

  No such luck.

  “What was that? Carter, I thought you said she was okay? Who’s screaming?” she demands.

  “It’s another patient. You talked to her yesterday, and you know she’s fine. But, I do have to go. I’ll call you as soon as we get the all clear to travel. Love you, Bye.”

  I hang up, and drop my phone into my pocket. I grimace at the blood smeared on the front of my shirt before I head back into the room.

  When we got to the house five days ago and saw the smoke billowing from the windows, I had nearly lost my mind. I jumped out of the car before it had come to a complete stop.

  I ran into the house without thinking. Phil and Serena followed me. Thank God, because I don’t know how I would have found Beth’s room without her. The fire hadn’t spread to the upper floors and the stairs were passable. We burst into the room and found a scene that was something out of horror film.

  The dead Wolfes, Dina who looked dead, lying on the floor with a gun in a her hand and
my Beth, my baby, was lying broken, bleeding, on the floor.

  I picked her up. Phil got Dina and Serena went up the nursery and got Cameron. When we got out of the house, the paramedics were there.

  I handed her over and they told me she was breathing. My legs gave way under the weight of my relief. I lay there, sobbing like a baby, staring at the bright blue sky, smoke clogging my lungs. And then we heard that Fiona and Duke were both missing, that they had been responsible for what happened in that house, my rage nearly consumed me.

  I didn’t let it. Beth was in bad shape. Her lungs were damaged from the smoke she inhaled. She had to be intubated to help her breath and to keep her choking on the extra mucus her lungs were making in a desperate attempt to heal themselves. Yesterday she came off the machines and is breathing on her own.

  Her arm was broken at the elbow and she needed surgery to repair it. The least of her injuries was the gunshot wound to her leg. It was a clean through and through that only needed stitches.

  I’ll never forget the things she said when I found her. She thought she was dying, she was saying goodbye and crying.

  I haven’t slept since well since that day.

  Because Duke Tremaine was still at large.

  He tried to kill Beth and Cameron. Then the yellow bellied coward tried to run from what he’d done.

  The police tracked Fiona to Waco the morning after the fire. She put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger when they knocked her door down of the hotel she checked into to hide.

  It took us more five days to find Duke. He’d made it all the way to Etta’s house. She welcomed him in and called Phil, to let him know where he was. She found out that week that she was Susan Kendicott’s daughter. And since then, she’s been eager to help in the efforts to bring Drew Wolfe and his cohorts down.

  She let us in and showed us to the room where he was fast asleep, lulled by a false sense of security. I woke him and told him I was there was to kick his ass. Man to man, with our hands as our only weapon.