Beyond This Time: A Time-Travel Suspense Novel (46 page)

“I
want
to help, Lettie Ruth.”

“You can help by letting us gets on with it,” Taxi said.

Dreama stirred and turned around. “Your hands are dirty enough, Timothy. Get on out of the car now.”

Before he could respond, a car pulled in behind them, the light bar on top of the police cruiser flashing red and blue.

The Alabama State Trooper got out of his vehicle, adjusted his hat and holster, then marched toward them. He stopped several feet away from the De Soto driver’s side, his hand sliding down to his holstered weapon. Without speaking he pantomimed rolling down the window.

“What y’all doin on the road this early?” The trooper asked, capturing Taxi in his flashlight beam.

“My boy here is driving me, I’m Dr. Timothy Biggers.” Biggers opened the door and stepped out onto the shoulder.

“What happened to you?” the trooper asked, studying the doctor’s face.

“A tree branch blew off during the storm yesterday, caught me full on,” Biggers explained. “That’s why he’s driving. My jaw hurts like a bitch.”

The trooper played the light over Dreama and Lettie Ruth. “What about these other niggers?”

“The one in back is my nurse and the other is learning to be a nurse.”

“Why ain’t you in a white man’s car?” the trooper asked, his tone suspicious.

Biggers laughed. “My boy always drives when I need to take along my nurse.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Well hells bells, you think I want a bunch of niggers smellin’ up my Fairlane?”

The trooper laughed. “I sure wouldn’t. Where y’all headed?”

Biggers pointed down the road. “Back to Maceyville.”

“Y’alls pointing the wrong way.”

Biggers snorted. “My goddamn nigger ain’t got no sense of direction. I fell asleep in the back and next thing I know here we are. By the way,
where
is here?”

“Shit, y’alls getting real close to the Mississippi state line.”

“Mississippi? I shoulda known better than to bring three of ‘em along,” Biggers grumbled. “Well, since we’re this close maybe I’ll keep going and have breakfast over there.”

“There’s good place about twenty miles ahead, called Bubba’s.”

“Bubba’s you say? We got a bar in Maceyville called Bubba’s Julep Junction, I hope this place is better.”

“It is.” The trooper shined his light on Taxi again. “You best learn to read a map, boy.”

“Yes, sir.

Biggers climbed back in the De Soto, his eyes on the floor. “Y’all understand why I did all that don’t you?” he asked.

Dreama waited until the Trooper’s tail lights disappeared over the ridge then she jumped out of the car and ran around to the back door. She yanked the handle, reached inside and planted a wet kiss on the startled doctor’s mouth.

“Of course we do, Timothy,” she said, between smacks. “You was as good an actor as that Gregory Peck.”

=THIRTY-FIVE=

Kat waded through
the flooded intersections. With each successive block her mood darkened. Defeated, she sat on the curb and allowed her tears to mix with the rain on her cheeks.

Dangerous for you. Stay away. Don’t cross.
The warning mocked her despair. Arrogance and her refusal to listen had led to this disaster. Six days ago she’d embarked upon a great time-travel adventure which ended up a nightmare. Only now the nightmare extended beyond her own person. Mitch, seduced by the malevolent power of foreknowledge, would move heaven and earth to right what he perceived to be wrongs. Regardless of the outcome.

Not once in the last five years had he mentioned a sister. And for one to suddenly appear, caused her nerves to dance. Mitch’s sister was like the Lettie Ruth mystery. Whether by accident, or on purpose, something had happened to the child. And that something was the catalyst that started this crazy scheme bubbling in Mitch’s head. He believed getting rid of his father would save the baby.

But he’d overlooked one thing. Getting rid of Billy Lee also got rid of James Mitchell. She buried her face in her hands as a strange emptiness filled her heart. Overcome by sadness she didn’t hear the approaching footsteps until the person was only a few feet away.

Her heart rate increased tenfold as she raised her head. Turning slightly toward the sidewalk, her muscles tensed, ready to take flight at the slightest hint of danger. Her ginger-haired partner strolled toward her, head down and unaware of her presence. She waited until he was an arm length away before standing. His startled expression made her laugh.

“For a cop you sure don’t pay much attention to what’s going on around you,” she scolded.

Mitch grinned and shrugged. “Too damn wet outside for the bad guys.”

“Where’s your ride?”

“Returned to its original owner,” he said, sitting on the curb.

She brushed a clump of matted leaves off a section of curb and sat beside him. “That’s not too smart, considering the weather forecast. You realize we gotta walk all the way back to the clinic now.”

Mitch shook his head and pointed to the street sign: PARK STREET. “This is as far as we’re going, kid.”

Kat didn’t want to go where he was leading, but she also knew she didn’t have a choice.

“I bet it’s not even raining on the other side of the street,” he commented. “Why don’t you walk over there and check.”

“Not without you.”

“Kat, I won’t be crossing.”

Once he’d said the words, reality set in and a piece of her heart died. She stood and stared across the street. “Then I’m not going either. We’ll just stay here and make a new life.”

“You’ve got to go back and take care of your Pop. He’s expecting you.”

“He’ll be fine. In fact, I can guarantee that Lettie Ruth is taking care of him right now.”

“Then you completed a successful mission.” He stood and gathered her in his arms. “Now it’s time for you to go home.”

She held onto him, afraid if she let go he would disappear in a puff of smoke. “Come with me.”

“I can’t do that. Someone needs my help here.”

“The baby?”

He leaned back until he could see her face. “You know about Carolyn?”

“Lettie Ruth saw a woman and a baby with you in the car. And after what you told Timothy about the bus station, well, I put two and two together.”

“And came up with my mother and sister?”

“Yes.”

“I always said you were an observant cop.”

“Are they gone?”

“They’re on a bus to Pennsylvania.”

Kat’s heart skipped a beat. “Then everything is okay. You can come with me.”

“No. If I don’t change the past Carolyn will never grow up.”

“Maybe you’ve already done enough.”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve only made matters worse for them by convincing Mom to leave him today. Billy Lee knows about me but he’s connecting all the wrong dots.”

“He thinks you and your mother are…”

“Bingo. And he’ll hunt them down and probably kill them both this time. So I have to see this thing through.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat. Arguing would be futile. He’d already set the wheels in motion. It was only a matter of time.

“When?” she asked.

“In a few minutes. When he gets here you’ve got to cross, Kat. It’s going to get messy real fast.”

“What about you? What will happen?”

“Don’t worry about me. Just cross.”

Kat reached up and brushed the hair out of his eyes, her fingers lingering for a moment on his freckled forehead. “I always meant to tell you just how much you remind me of Howdy Doody,” she said.

Mitch laughed and tugged on one of her curls. “And you’ve always made me think of Shirley Temple.”

“This is too hard.” Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked rapidly, fighting the enormous wave of sadness threatening to sweep her away. “My heart hurts.”

“I know,” he whispered, “mine too. But the hurt won’t last forever.”

“Mitch, I don’t want to forget you.”

“Even if you forget in your head,” he touched her chest with one finger, “you will always remember in here.”

Kat placed her hand over his and squeezed. “There are so many things I wanted to say to you. Should have said to you.”

“Kathleen, each time I looked in your eyes I heard all those things. Our friendship’s been special from the beginning because deep inside we both knew it wouldn’t last very long. And because we sensed the ticking clock, I think we crammed an entire lifetime into each day.”

“Three hundred sixty-five time five … that’s one thousand eight hundred and twenty five days.”

“Not days,” he said. “One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five lifetimes.”

The Impala swung around the corner, capturing them in its headlights. Mitch leaned over and kissed her lips so gently it felt like butterfly wings brushing across her mouth.

“It’s time,” he said. “You know what to do?”

“When you…When Billy Lee…” The words stuck in her throat.

“When I pull the trigger, you cross that center line. Don’t stop, and don’t look back until you reach the other side of Park.”

“I can’t—” The rest of her sentence was cut off as Billy Lee Mitchell climbed out of the black Chevy.

Mitch gave her a smile and a shove, then walked toward his father.

=THIRTY-SIX=

APRIL 06

Kathleen Templeton stopped
near the curb, turned and looked back across Park Street.

“You’re right, partner. It’s not raining.” She closed her eyes and his wonderful freckled face floated inside her eyelids. It took all her strength to keep from returning. She didn’t want to be in this place and in this time without her friend.

Suddenly dizzy, she staggered and leaned against a Tupelo tree for support. A kaleidoscope filled with images filled her head. Events from her life, events she’d never experienced were suddenly very real.
My past has changed. The life I knewbefore never existed
.

She opened each new memory with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. For 29 years she’d been living in an alternate timeline. What other wondrous surprises would she discover? She saw birthdays and holidays with a family which now included Lettie Ruth.

But the joy was tempered by a sense of loss. Kat frowned. As her new past settled in, memories of Mitch slipped away.

“I have to hang on to him,” she said. I
will
never let him go.”