Before Now

by Hope E. Davis

  RAYNA

  NOW

  The apartment is filled with police officers as they poke around, trying to figure out what happened to Remi. They were quick to separate John and Rayna. She’s currently sitting on the couch in the living room, while John is with a male officer in Remi’s bedroom.

  “So, how long has your sister been missing?” The female officer has her cell phone sitting on the coffee table, recording everything they discuss.

  Rayna tries to calculate in her head. “Uh, well, the last time I saw her was around one in the morning, and now it’s ten in the evening, so I guess twenty one hours.”

  The officer raises one eyebrow. “So we are under the twenty-four hour mark where we typically start to investigate. But on the phone the gentleman—” she checks her notes on the iPad she carries, “—John, said the two of you suspect foul play?”

  “You don’t know my sister,” Rayna tries to explain. “She never goes anywhere besides this apartment and work. Her and John don’t even go out to dinner, they always order in, or he picks up takeout.”

  “And John is?”

  “Remi’s boyfriend,” Rayna clarifies.

  “Where does Remi work?” the officer asks, obviously trying to get the basic questions out of the way.

  “Johnson Finance,” she answers, glad she figured out the answer an hour before.

  “And does she like her job?”

  “Very much so. My sister is a math geek.” In fact, Rayna has never heard her sister say anything bad about her job at all. “John and I tried calling her work earlier, to make sure she wasn’t there, but the office is closed.”

  The officer nods. “I’ll have one of my officers double check. Just in case she had a key or something and went in to do extra work.”

  That doesn’t sound right to Rayna. “I don’t think my sister has a key.”

  “Why not?” The officer peers at her.

  “Remi’s really junior in her firm. She only started about three years ago, straight out of college. I doubt they trust her that much.”

  “Are you saying your sister isn’t trustworthy?”

  “Wait—No! That’s not what I’m saying at all,” Rayna feels her frustration flare. This cop is twisting her words around. “Remi is the most trustworthy person I know, it’s just that she’s the most junior person in the finance department. I highly doubt she’d be the one the get a key. It’s a large firm.”

  The officer types out a few notes and is silent for a minute.

  “Do you have a picture of her?” The officer looks around the apartment.

  Rayna notices for the first time that her sister doesn’t have any pictures of herself anywhere. In fact, all the decorations are very neutral pictures of black and white scenery.

  Ah well, not an issue. “She looks just like me. Remi and I are identical twins.” She motions to her face. “And yes, people have issues telling us apart.”

  The officer sets down her iPad. “Tell me about when you last saw your sister.”

  “Last night.” Rayna shakes her head in shame. “She didn’t want to go out, but she’d had a bad night so I insisted.” She glances at the ceiling as she pictures herself the night before. “I told her she had to meet me at this nightclub by my house. I live in the suburbs, so all the clubs out there are pretty lame, but I wanted her to forget.”

  The officer continues making notes in her iPad, not saying anything.

  Rayna crosses her legs nervously, but continues. “So she got there probably at about eleven and then I started stuffing her full of booze.” Realizing how bad that sounds, she quickly elaborates. “Remi doesn’t drink much, or ever really, so it doesn’t take much to get her drunk. I bought her a drink or two and then we did a couple rounds of shots. She was pretty drunk by twelve thirty.

  “She wanted to leave, which was fine by me, I don’t really like to party anymore anyways. And at one we got an Uber and headed back to my house, which was maybe a ten minute drive. We got to my place and I tucked her into my guest room and—” Rayna takes a deep breath as the implications of her words strike her, “—that’s the last time I saw her.”

  “And you didn’t worry about her until now?” the officer asks, observing Rayna with suspicion in her eyes.

  “No, I was, uh…just as drunk as my sister and didn’t wake up until ten am. When I did wake up, the door was closed to the guest room so I assumed she was still sleeping.” She pinches her eyes closed, trying to remember what she did in her hungover stupor that morning. “I went downstairs because someone was banging at the door—”

  “Who was banging at the door?”

  “Uh, John. John was banging at the door. Then I headed back upstairs and fell back asleep.”

  The cop sets down her iPad, obviously becoming more interested in the story. “Why was he banging on the door?”

  “He and Remi had a fight last night and he wanted to talk to her. That’s why we went out in the first place.”

  “A fight about what?”

  Rayna grimaces at the mental image of her sister sobbing as she told her the story over the phone. She doesn’t realize it, but she subconsciously shakes her head.

  “That bad?” the officer asks, waiting for a response.

  Rayna’s head jerks up, she forgot the cop was there for a second. “Yeah,” she replies. “My sister found out that her boyfriend John is currently married.”

  REMI

  NOW

  Time draws on. At first, thinking of escape is enough to keep her mind busy, but soon, it isn’t enough. Her thoughts begin to drift to all her recent mistakes and the events that led to her going out with Rayna in the first place.

  She begins to rock back and forth and sob as the memories from last night flash through her mind.

  John texted her and asked if she wanted to pick up dinner for them. She asked for her favorite order from a local Mexican joint. He said he would be right over.

  Remi closes her eyes, picturing vividly the final straw in her life that’s fallen apart over the course of the last month.

  She was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, deciding to lay work to rest for the remainder of the weekend. It was Friday night, after all.

  There was a knock at the door and Remi jumped up to answer it, ready to stuff her face with tacos.

  When she threw open the door, she found a young blonde woman on her doorstep, definitely not John.

  “Can I help you?” she asked the woman.

  The woman glanced around nervously. “I’m uh…Patrice…” She stuck out her hand for a handshake.

  Remi didn’t take it. “Okay, and how can I help you, Patrice?” She was confused as to why this woman was here and what she wanted.

  “I’m looking for John…” She tried to peer around Remi.

  “Um, why?” Remi noticed what the woman was doing and stepped out onto the doorstep, closing the door behind her.

  Patrice raised her eyebrows. “Because he’s my husband.”

  With those four words, Remi felt her world crashing around her. It took everything she had not to sink to the floor in a pile of tears. But she held it together, just barely.

  “John isn’t married. He’s my boyfriend.” Remi didn’t know why she said it, but it just came out automatically.

  Patrice shook her head. “John and I have been married since we were eighteen.”

  Remi couldn’t hold it together any longer. “I, uh, I have to go,” she stuttered, before she opened the door to her apartment, stepped inside, and closed the door behind her.

  She collapsed in front of the door sobbing, and that’s where John found her ten minutes later.

  “What’s wrong, babe?” he asked sweetly, helping her stand and walk over to the couch. Remi found her legs were so shaky that the minute he stepped away to go grab the food, she collapsed once again into a heap.

  “There was some woman...at the door...before you...” she huffed out between sobs, “she said...that you and her...married...at eightee
n.”

  John didn’t immediately say anything. He just sat down next to her on the couch.

  “Tell me…she…was lying…” Remi forced out.

  John shook his head. “I can’t.”

  “So you’re MARRIED??” Remi screeched in a voice she had never heard before.

  John nodded. “Babe, let me explain.”

  “EXPLAIN WHAT?” she yelled, hoping that Daisy was still at work and not overhearing this exchange.

  “Listen,” he said, reaching to brush her hair out of her face. Remi swatted his hand away. He placed it awkwardly back down at his side. “We were, or are, married but we’ve been separated for years.”

  Remi felt her eyes go wide. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better how!?”

  He looked at her sadly. “Trust me Remi, I love you, we were going to make the divorce final, we just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.”

  She had heard enough. “Get. Out.”

  John didn’t move.

  “Get out now! I don’t ever want to see your face again you FUCKING LIAR!” she screamed and pointed to the door.

  After looking at her for another moment, he slowly got up and walked to the door. So slowly, it was as if he wanted to say something more.

  But he didn’t. He quietly closed the door behind him and that’s the last time she saw him.

  Remi just can’t believe she’s wasted two years of her life on some guy she thought was perfect for her, when really he’s been betraying her trust the entire time. And he’s the one who pushed for them to be in a relationship.

  She continued to cry for a while after that, until finally, she calmed down enough to call the only person she wanted to talk to, Rayna.

  Not that it matters now. Remi is starting to think she’s going to die in this room. Her stomach is growling at unreal volume levels, letting her know she hasn’t eaten since lunch Friday, however many hours ago that was.

  The water is sure to run out again soon, and she doesn’t know when, or if, she’ll get more.

  Subconsciously, she knows she should be trying harder to find a way out of here, but her heart is too distracted by the scene from Friday night playing itself over and over, in an everlasting loop.

  All Remi knows is that, for once, she wishes she was her sister. Rayna would never let someone walk all over her like that. Rayna probably would have punched Patrice, and John, and a wall.

  She giggles at the thought. Rayna definitely would have done some damage. If only she didn’t move out all those months ago.

  REMI

  BEFORE

  It’s a dreary day, and Remi barely felt like coming to work this morning. But she did. And now she’s wishing she called in sick.

  Lyle and Jared have barely spoken to her since she was in Jonathon’s office last week. Although she doesn’t think anything has been mentioned to them, she’s sure they suspect something.

  Remi’s surprised she hasn’t heard anything back from Jonathon yet. She thought for sure he would want to put a stop to the theft as soon as possible. Maybe it’s more complicated than she thought.

  She’s looking down, typing on her computer, when she hears Lyle clear his throat. She looks up in time to see him motion something to Jared. Great, now they’re communicating using a secret language. Maybe they really are in on the theft together.

  Glancing at the clock, she notices it’s almost noon and heads for the break room to eat the lunch she packed. John brought over steaks last night, and Remi wasn’t able to finish hers, so she brought the rest for lunch.

  She opens the communal fridge and reaches for her box of food on the middle shelf. When she picks it up, it feels lighter than she remembers it being. She closes the fridge and flips open the lid to the box.

  Her steak is missing.

  So maybe that’s what Lyle and Jared were snickering about.

  Rather than let them see a reaction from her, which is exactly what they probably want, Remi transfers the mixed veggies and half of a baked potato to a paper plate and sticks it in the microwave. Ah well, she can stand to lose a couple pounds anyway.

  She eats her lunch in silence while surfing her phone. She isn’t much for social media, but no one else is in the break room to chat with.

  After she finishes, Remi heads back toward her desk, but is intercepted by Jonathon. He motions for her to follow him.

  He leads her back to his office, closing the door behind him.

  “How are you today, Remi?” he asks politely as they each take a seat on opposite sides of the desk.

  “Good, and yourself?”

  “Good, good,” he responds. “So, I’ve been looking into this theft.”

  Remi scoots to the edge of her chair. “And?”

  He shrugs. “I can’t quite narrow down who it is, because you all access the same database for receipts, etc. I have one of our tech guys trying to narrow it down, and to find where the money is going, but it’s going to take more time.”

  This is not the answer she was hoping for.

  “In the mean time, I’m having the tech guy come in later tonight and install desktop spyware to monitor activity on each computer. Yours included.”

  “Okay?” Remi isn’t sure where he’s going with this.

  “Have you noticed any suspicious activity since our last talk?”

  She shakes her head. “Nope. Jared and Lyle are suspicious of me, but I think that’s always been a thing.”

  “I meant in the database and spreadsheets.”

  “Oh, no, but I haven’t really been looking.”

  “Okay, well I just wanted to let you know I’m working on this. Didn’t want you to think I forgot—it’s just a slow process.” Jonathon stands and holds the door open for her. “Let me know if you notice anything odd, okay?”

  “No problem,” Remi replies. She exits and heads back to her desk.

  Luckily, it looks as if Lyle and Jared have taken their lunch, or the liberty of visiting the water cooler. Either way, their desks are delightfully vacant.

  Remi is a little confused as to why Jonathon hasn’t approached Jared or Lyle yet. Wouldn’t employee questioning be one of the first orders of business?

  Maybe she’s wrong, maybe the sneak attack that Jonathon is orchestrating will catch whoever stole the money red handed. She will just have to wait and see.

  Her thoughts are interrupted when Jared slides into his desk, making eye contact with her. “Well, if it isn’t the teachers pet,” he scoffs.

  So they did see her go into his office. Remi rolls her eyes, not offended in the slightest. “What is this,” she asks, “high school?”

  Jared makes a face at her but doesn’t respond. Lyle chooses that moment to reappear as well. He doesn’t say anything; he just raises his eyebrows at Remi in a silent accusation.

  “So, want to update us on what Mr. Jonathon had to say?”

  God, their lack of English skills is appalling. “First off,” she corrects, “Jonathon is his first name. So it would be Mr. Tidwell. And secondly, what goes on between myself and Jonathon is none of your business.”

  “You know office romances aren’t allowed here,” Lyle pipes in.

  “You guys never let that stop your water cooler flirt fests,” Remi fires back.

  “That’s different,” Jared sneers. “That’s just flirting. No one is doing anyone else any favors.” He winks at Lyle as he says the last word.

  “How do you know I’m not just flirting with Jonathon?” she asks.

  “Flirting with the door closed…hm?” Jared raises his eyebrows.

  Remi’s over this juvenile dialogue. “Whatever. I’m getting paid to work, so if you need me that’s what I’m going to be doing.” She turns her attention back to her computer with gusto.

  “I think I need one of your favors,” Jared says in a voice that Remi knows is meant to annoy her. She chooses to ignore him.

  Lyle snickers from his desk. Obviously he’s enjoying the show.

  The rest of t
he afternoon passes fairly uneventfully. Remi actually manages to finish the majority of her work, even with Jared making snide comments and mocking her every few minutes. Really, what do they think she is, twelve?

  Finally, as the clock strikes five, she grabs her stuff and heads straight for the door. She’s in such a hurry and so annoyed at her coworkers she’s forgotten to investigate what happened to her steak. Oh well, it isn’t that big of a deal.

  Remi steps on her train to commute back to her apartment, happy to see there’s a seat available for her today. She sits down and pulls out some of her notes on a client’s account, intending to work through the twenty-minute ride home.

  She’s about halfway there when her phone vibrates in her pocket. She picks it up to see “private caller” on the screen.

  She considers ignoring it, but then realizes it could be the IT guys at work. Maybe they need the password for her computer to install the spyware.

  “Hello?”

  There’s no sound on the other end.

  “Hello?” she tries a second time.

  She thinks perhaps she hears heavy breathing. A sense of déjà vu hits her as she remembers the call from a week ago, when Daisy moved in. Maybe someone’s prank calling her.

  “Can you please stop calling this number? Thanks,” she halfheartedly demands as she hangs up the phone. She wishes there were a way to block this private caller without blocking them all. But then, she supposes that would defeat the purpose of being a private caller.

  Remi slides the phone back into her pocket, her mind drifting away from the documents in front of her. She’s never received prank calls before this, and she wonders what the person on the other end of the phone wants. Is it just to annoy her? Or is there something more sinister?

  As she steps off the train, she hopes today’s calls will be the last of the strange empty line prank calls. But she knows she’s probably not that lucky.

  RAYNA

  BEFORE