Forever In Time

by Charlie

  His fingers twitched nervously on the gun he still held tightly in his hand. He’d have to get rid of it somewhere, but right now, he needed it to keep his prisoners in line. Damn, but everything was going wrong. He’d planned on breezing into town, making a little money, settling his score with Stephanie and then heading on his way. Now he’d killed that guy and his body was out in plain sight. There were three witnesses, too. Four, if he counted Murray. He’d have to do something about them. A shudder ran through him. He hated it when things got messy like this. Thinking on his feet wasn’t his strong point, but now he’d have to. There were all these women to kill, and maybe Murray too if the man proved to be skittish.

  The van turned a corner sharply and they all had to brace themselves to keep from sliding. “Slow down, Murray! You want us to get pulled over for speeding? And turn up the damned air conditioner, it’s hot back here.” Jarrod wiped the sweat from his upper lip and glanced out the window. “Dammit Murray, you took the wrong exit! Now we’re headed for the highway. Use the next off ramp and get this thing turned around. Geez!” Murray muttered something back at him, but Jarrod decided to ignore it for now. He’d settle his score with the other man later. Soon they’d be back at Paula’s house. His car was there and he needed to make a few more phone calls. The loot he’d stolen had to be quickly liquidated. He’d take a hit on the price he’d get for it but that couldn’t be helped. He needed immediate cash now, if he was to put as much distance between himself and Weston as possible.

  Thoughtfully, he considered the women. Originally he’d only planned on taking Stephanie, but he hadn’t been able to decide what to do with the others so he’d opted for bringing them all along. Now he realized that three people would be too much trouble. He’d have to get rid of them somehow. Maybe he could arrange some type of accident. A car crash? A gas explosion? A break-in gone bad? Yeah, that would work. He could make it look like Paula and her friends came home and found a thief in her house. The robber shoots at them, Paula shoots and kills the guy but not before he shoots them. They all bleed to death… He eyed Murray speculatively and shrugged. They hadn’t known each other long and he didn’t want to have to pay the man anyway…

  *****

  Stephanie sat frozen within Paula’s arms, aware that others were around her, but too taken up with her own grief to really register what was going on. Jake was dead and she felt this awful emptiness inside her. He’d been killed trying to defend her, yet just hours before she’d been thinking such bad thoughts about him. She’d thought he was a stalker, but he wasn’t; he was really a wonderful man who had just happened to come into her flower shop one day and now she’d never see him again.

  The van hit a bump and she jostled in the seat, her head bouncing against the wall. She winced slightly and reached up distractedly to rub the bump. Her hand encountered the stickiness of blood and she stared at it, wondering where it had come from. Oh, right, Jarrod had hit her and cut her head. Feeling around she frowned. There was no tender spot, no pain… Hmm… Jake had said he could heal people. Had his last act been to heal the cut on her head? She recalled his fingers moving over her face and felt fresh tears welling up in her eyes. He should have been trying to heal himself rather than worrying about her. ‘Oh, Jake!’ She thought, picturing him lying on the ground…

  ‘Stephanie… ’ A voice whispered in her ear. It sounded like Jake!

  She jerked and sat up straight, looking around the van in surprise. No one else seemed to have heard it. Ella was glaring at Jarrod. Jarrod was looking at the driver and Paula had her eyes closed. Stephanie blinked several times. Okay, she was upset. Perhaps she just thought she’d heard Jake’s voice. Jake was… dead. Swallowing hard at the unpalatable thought, she tried to make her body relax.

  ‘Steph? Are you there?’

  “What?” She spoke out loud and everyone looked at her. Paula squeezed her hand and Jarrod stared at her, a muscle twitching in his jaw. Ella gave her an encouraging nod. Stephanie smiled wanly at her friends and then turned to stare unseeing out the window, her mind racing. It was Jake’s voice, she was sure of it, but Jake was gone. It couldn’t be…

  ‘Steph, don’t say anything. Just know that I’m here with you. I’ll never leave you. Everything will be fine once you get to Paula’s. Just stay in the van.’ A feeling of warmth filled her, chasing away the darkness that had consumed her just moments before. She sat up straighter, confused but positive that she wasn’t imagining things. In some inexplicable way, Jake was here and she felt comforted by the fact that his spirit was with her.

  Stephanie began to take in her surroundings with a critical eye. They were almost at Paula’s. She didn’t know what fate awaited them, but she was ready to respond in whatever way was needed. She reached over and squeezed Paula’s hand. The two friends stared at each other and Stephanie nodded imperceptibly. Paula nodded back. Ever since they’d met, there had been a bond between them, an understanding of the other that went beyond words. Neither knew what was going on, but they were both ready to act as a team, if needed.

  The van pulled up in front of Paula’s. Jarrod grunted instructions at the driver. “I’m going to the car to get my stuff. You take the women inside the house.” The two men climbed out. Jarrod walked towards his vehicle and Murray circled toward the back.

  Knowing she had but a moment, Stephanie quickly whispered instructions. “Don’t leave the van. “

  “Why?” Paula asked.

  “I’m not sure… Something is just telling me that we should stay in here.”

  “All right… ” The other two hesitantly agreed, exchanging puzzled glances.

  The man called Murray was pulling the rear door open when suddenly Jarrod could be heard shouting and the sounds of a scuffle filled the air. Murray turned, leaving the door partially ajar. Stephanie promptly forgot she’d been told to stay in the van and quietly crept forward. In passing she wondered what was happening to her usually timid self. A week ago, she would have been cowering in the corner…

  Through the crack in the door, she could see Murray pulling out his gun. Biting her lip she wondered what to do. She wasn’t sure what was happening outside, but if she managed to incapacitate Murray, it could only improve their chances. Suddenly, Paula was beside her. They exchanged glances and in unspoken agreement grabbed the rear door and swung it out as hard as they could. It hit Murray in the back with a satisfying thud, sending the man sprawling onto his face.

  “We did it!” They congratulated each other with high fives and then, gesturing for Paula to wait, Stephanie cautiously stepped out of the van, peering around the edge of the door to see where Jarrod was. Spotting his body lying on the ground near his car, she had just moved away from the relative protection of the door when strong male hands grabbed her and spun her around, causing her to cry out.

  “Steph?” A deep voice spoke her name. She looked up and gasped. It was…

  “Jake!” She launched herself into his arms, raining kisses on his face while running her hands over him, hardly daring to believe that he was actually there. “Oh Jake, I can’t believe it’s you. I was sure you were dead.” Tears of joy were streaming down her face as she looked up at him.

  He cradled her face, looking deeply into her eyes, his own full of light, joy and… ? Before she could decide on a name for the emotion, he pulled her to him, kissing her thoroughly, his mouth devouring hers while his hands roamed through her hair then over her body before pressing her tightly against him. Lost in the wonder of the kiss, her tongue darted into his mouth as she ground herself against him. She’d thought she would never again feel him, taste him, see him… Pulling away, she smiled up at him, his name coming out on a heartfelt sigh. “Oh Jake… ”

  Suddenly he was pushing her away, his hands gripping her shoulders and giving her a little shake. “What the hell did you think you were doing? I told you to wait in the van, not play superwoman, and try to catch the bad guys.”

  “What?” Her pleasure at seeing him alive
rapidly evaporated under his accusing stare. “What do you mean, what was I doing? I was trying to save myself and Paula and Ella… ”

  “I told you, I’d take care of everything. What if I hadn’t managed to knock out Jarrod? It could have been him grabbing you instead of me. You need to learn to listen—“

  “Excuse me? I don’t take orders from you!” Stephanie felt her temper rising. She seldom got mad but when she did, the heat of her ire matched the red highlights in her hair. “So what if Jarrod was still out there? At least we got rid of one bad guy and improved the odds.”

  “That’s not the point. What if you’d been hurt? I might not be strong enough yet to help you! It was a foolish risk. You can’t just go rushing headlong into dangerous situations—“

  “Foolish! How dare you—“

  “Umm, don’t mind us.” Paula tapped both of them on the shoulder and in unison their heads swivelled to look at her. She grinned at them impishly. “Before the fireworks start, Ella and I are just going to go into the house. We’ve tied up the bad guys with some duct tape we found in Jarrod’s car. Once you’re done, you can come inside and explain to us why Jake’s not dead and where the cut on Stephanie’s face has gone.” With that, the two women walked away.

  Stephanie and Jake watched them disappear with equally stunned expressions, then looked from Jarrod’s body to Murray’s. Sure enough, they were trussed up like turkeys, duct tape neatly binding their arms and legs. Finally, they looked at each other, eyes narrowed, considering…

  Jake ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Reaching out, he gently put his hand on Stephanie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Steph. I guess I’m still recovering from our recent scare and I’m a bit angry at myself too, but I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. If I’d been home this afternoon instead of trying to hunt down Jarrod on my own, you wouldn’t have been alone and found that file or gone running off.”

  His hand was warm and heavy on her shoulder, a comforting weight. She let it rest there a moment while he spoke, but then stepped back, suddenly unsure of how she felt. A million questions raced through her mind. Paula was right. Why wasn’t he dead? And why did he have a complete file on her? In all the excitement, she’d forgotten about that.

  She was just going to ask the first of many questions, when the screeching of tires drew her attention. Two police cars had come to rest in front of Paula’s house, little bits of debris stirring in their wake. The officers quickly exited, took up protective positions behind the vehicles, and drew their weapons, pointing them at Jake.

  “Step away from the woman and no one will get hurt.” One of the officers said in an authoritative voice.

  Looking from the police to Jake and back again, Stephanie started to explain. “No! There’s been a mistake.” She reached out to grab Jake’s hand.

  “Step away.” The stern, uncompromising voice had Stephanie jerking her hand back. “Stay back, ma’am. You’re safe now. We’ve got him covered.”

  Slowly Jake raised his hands and Stephanie stepped back, still sputtering in protest even though her words fell on deaf ears. The police cautiously approached Jake, guns trained on him. After being issued orders to kneel and to put his hands on his head, he was cuffed and dragged to his feet.

  As the police holstered their weapons, Stephanie grabbed one of the officers by the arm, pleading with him to listen. “What’s going on? He hasn’t done anything wrong. Look over there, those are the bad guys.” The officer glanced towards where Jarrod and Murray lay. Other police were now dragging them to their feet and a general sense of confusion seemed to be filling the air. Ella and Paula had come back outside and were now standing on the porch, watching the proceedings with concern.

  “Ma’am, we’ve had a report of an armed man, a possible hostage situation, and a stalker all at this address. Apparently this man, Jacob Sinclair has been stalking a local woman and threatening her with bodily harm.”

  “But that’s me! I’m the woman he’s been stalking!” She shouted in frustration while gesturing wildly. The officer raised his eye brows and realizing how that had sounded, she tried to back pedal. “No. What I meant was that I’m the woman that was being stalked, but it wasn’t this man who was doing it. I’m Stephanie Fields and the stalker is that man over there, Jarrod Simpson, except he’s been going around calling himself Jack Simms.”

  The police officer looked from Jake to Jarrod and then back at Stephanie, obviously not sure what to make of things. Another police car pulled up and Stephanie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when she saw Officer Carter get out and walk over.

  Frowning as he was briefed on the situation, Officer Carter scratched his head then began to question Stephanie. “Miss Fields, you left a rather frantic message for me this afternoon, claiming that Mr. Sinclair was the stalker. Do you care to explain that?”

  Stephanie stared at Jake for a moment. He seemed to be holding his breath. After a brief pause, she responded. “Did I say Jake? I guess I was so upset that I didn’t know what I was saying. I meant Jack, my friend Paula’s new boyfriend. Jarrod Simpson has been in town for the past few months posing as Jack Simms. He struck up an acquaintance with my friend and assistant, Paula.”

  “And how did you determine that he was the stalker?”

  “I, ah, recognized his voice on the answering machine.”

  “I see. And how did you end up over here?”

  Stephanie thought quickly and began to give a much edited version of the day’s events. “Well, once I realized that it was Paula’s boyfriend, I hurried over to her house to warn her. After talking to her I got back in my car and Jarrod, or Jack, was hiding in the back seat and forced me to go to Ella’s, then Jake and Paula both arrived, but Jarrod had a gun and shot at Jake, then took us hostage and brought us back over here.”

  Carter raised his eye brows and Jake jumped in to continue the story.

  “I was actually only nicked by the bullet and a bit stunned from falling off the porch. Once I got my wits about me, I got in Stephanie’s car and came over here, remembering that Jarrod had said he needed to get some things from his vehicle. I found Stephanie’s cell phone on the floor of her car and called the police to meet me over here. Then I waited in the bushes for Jarrod to arrive and managed to disarm him.”

  Stephanie added a few more details. “I was inside the van with Paula and Ella and saw that Murray—that’s the fellow who was helping Jarrod—was distracted so we, Paula and I, knocked him out by hitting him in the back with the van door. Then Ella and Paula tied them up with duct tape so they couldn’t escape.”

  “Hmm… I guess that makes sense.” Officer Carter looked up from the notepad he’d been rapidly scribbling in.

  “Of course it makes sense young man!” Ella spoke from behind them and they all started. Stephanie wondered how long she’d been there and how much she’d heard. “Now let this poor man go and do what you’re paid for—gather up the bad guys and haul them off to jail.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” The younger officer jumped to do Ella’s bidding. Officer Carter nodded and flipped his notebook shut. “I might have further questions for you later but for now, you’ve all had a hard day, so I suggest you head home.”

  Inwardly breathing a sigh of relief, Stephanie watched as they removed the cuffs from Jake’s wrists. She held his hand tight as the Jarrod and Murray were taken away. Jarrod kept looking over at Jake, his face white as a sheet, almost as if he thought he’d seen a ghost. Jake took half a step towards the man and then gave an amused grunt as Jarrod all but dived into the back of the cruiser.

  Stephanie gave Ella a hug and they fussed over each other, offering words of reassurance and relief that this particular ghost from their past had been dealt with. Laughing at a comment Ella had made, Steph glanced at Jake and noted that he was standing very alert, his eyes sharply studying each of the remaining policemen. Finally his gaze rested on an officer that was walking over towards Paula. His eyes narrowed… Frowning, Stephanie wondered why Jake
seemed so interested in the man. Did they know each other from somewhere?

  Just then Ella grabbed Jake’ arm and with a start, he looked down at her, apparently losing his interest in the policeman. Ella poked him in the chest. “You sure looked dead back at my house and I’ve seen dead before.”

  “Umm… I just bleed easily.” Jake smiled at her disarmingly, but Ella remained unmoved.

  “Humph! Right. And I’m Grandma Moses.” Ella grabbed his chin, turning his face this way and that.

  “Ella! What are you doing?” Stephanie asked in a shocked tone. Ella was usually so affable.

  “I’m just checking to see if his nose is growing from telling all those lies.”

  “It was all the truth… Mostly.” Jake said sheepishly, shifting about a bit. Stephanie bit back a smile. Having been on the receiving end of Ella’s brand of interrogation, she knew just how he felt. .