The Devil's Due (25 page)

He ran the towel over his chest once more, tossed it onto the bathroom counter and shut the light. Elizabeth was already in bed. Rolling up the far-too-long sleeves of their shared pajamas top, she sat propped up against the headrest. The smile on her face as she looked at him as he came into the room faded. Her eyes sought out the marks on his ribs and shoulder.

“Those look painful,” she said.

“They are,” Simon confessed as he turned off his bedside lamp and slid into bed with her.

Elizabeth frowned and eased the sheet down to his waist. She leaned over to examine his injuries. Her delicate touch along his skin made his breath catch.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No,” Simon said, but he stilled her hands anyway. “The bruises will heal. But…” He let out a breath and looked at her hand so small in his. “Losing you? Never.”

Despite the discomfort, he propped himself up on his elbow to face her. “You must promise me,” he said, “never to do that again.” He felt an echo of the surge of blind panic he'd felt when she'd agreed to give her soul for his life. “Never.”

Elizabeth touched the edge of his jaw and shook her head. “You haven't cornered the market on loving someone, Simon.”

“Elizabeth—-”

“I would do it again. You mean everything to me too, you know.”

He frowned at that. She leaned back into her pillow and turned her head to smile at him triumphantly, clearly thinking she'd put an end to it.

“If that's the case,” he said sweeping her hair away from her neck so he could touch the bare skin, “then my wishes should preclude your own. And I want you alive.”

She scrunched up her face in that adorable way she did when she was winding up and getting ready to unleash a wave of Elizabeth logic. “That's not fair.”

“Isn't it?” Simon said. “You love me more than anything—”

“But you love me more than anything too,” she parried. “Don't you?”

Simon chuckled and caressed her cheek. “You know I do.” His hand drifted down her cheek and over her shoulder.

“Then it seems we've reached an impasse,” she said firmly. “There's only one thing to do.”

His hand continued down her body until it slipped under the sheet and hem of her shirt and came to rest on the curve of her hip. “And what's that?” he asked. His long fingers gently brushed along her soft skin and then sloped down to her small waist.

“What's what?” she said.

“The one thing we should do,” Simon said, his hand lingering along the delicate skin at her side.

Her eyes fluttered and he loved the way they'd darkened when they focused on him again.

“Stay alive,” she said, trying to arch into his touch.

He leaned in just about to kiss her, his hand urging her closer. He whispered in her ear as he pulled her against him. “A very, very good plan.”

The following morning they called the studio and gave their notice before heading over to Alan Grant's one last time. Peter stood out front loading suitcases into the limousine. They found Alan inside standing at the window in his study. It reminded Elizabeth of the way they'd found him just a few days ago, but then the room had been filled with despair. Now, there was nothing but hope.

“Going somewhere?” Simon asked.

Alan turned around and grinned. “Yes, as a matter of fact.” He shook Simon's hand and kissed Elizabeth's cheek. “Considering the circumstances, Sam Roth has kindly agreed to let me out of my contract,” Alan said with a small laugh before turning to look back out of the window. “And that monstrosity of a picture.”

“I wish there was something we could do about him,” Elizabeth said. Sam Roth had been complicit in everything Thorn had done here. She hated the idea that he was going to get away with it.

“We saw Peter out front,” Simon said. “Going somewhere?”

“Taking a trip to Philadelphia. I have a new adventure waiting for me.” Elizabeth followed his gaze. His eyes were glued to his daughter, Grace, who was in the backyard, squatting down and touching the water in the pool. “I just hope I'm good enough for the part,” he added softly.

Grace shook the water off her hand and looked back to the house. She saw them in the window and waved.

Elizabeth waved back. “I think you're going to be a hit.”

“Role of a lifetime,” Alan said, his gaze lingering a moment longer on his daughter. He turned back to them. “And what of you? More souls to save?”

Simon and Elizabeth shared a look. “Something like that,” Simon said.

Alan looked out of the window again and Grace waved to him, asking him to come outside. He nodded and then turned back. Alan held out his hand again to Simon. “Thank you.” And then turned to Elizabeth. His pale blue eyes said everything he couldn't. She was going to miss this man. He took her hand. “Goodbye, my dear Lucia. Will I ever see you again?”

Elizabeth wanted to say yes. So much. “You never know.”

He smiled sadly. “I shall never forget you. After all, how often does a man get to meet his very own guardian angel?”

With that he kissed her hand, and then walked away. They watched him through the window as he went down the steps and walked over to Grace. She held up something for his approval. A flower. He smiled and tucked it into the buttonhole in his lapel. Then, he slipped his arm over her shoulder and together they walked away, along the edge of the pool and into the start of a new life.

Jack knocked on Betty's door, stepped back and braced himself. Going behind enemy lines in France had been easier than this. Risking his life for his country had been easy. Risking his heart for it was much harder. He took a few deep breaths and waited. A few moments later, he heard the lock turn and the door opened.

“John? I thought you…” Betty smiled and shook her head, shooing away whatever thought had taken root and then pulled the door open for him to enter. “Come in.”

Jack forced himself not to. “I can't.”

She leaned against the edge of the door and cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to kiss just one last time. “I'm leaving.”

She laughed, but it died quickly. “Leaving?”

It was hardly adequate, but all he had to offer her. “I'm sorry.”

That was all it took — those two little words. He could see her shutting down inside. He could
see
it happen.

“Yeah?” she said, her voice betraying the hurt she felt.

He didn't know what to say. What could he possibly say? He'd tried to think of a way. He'd lain awake all night trying to think of some scenario that kept them together. But, try as he might there was no changing the fact that she couldn't leave and he couldn't stay. One more sacrifice.

“I've gotta leave town. I don't know when I'll be back.”

“Weeks? Months?”

“Longer,” he said. Forever. The look on her face made his stomach clench. “I should have just walked away—”

“Looks to me like that's what you're doing.” Her pain was mixed with anger now. He deserved it all and more.

“I knew it was wrong from the start.” He wanted so badly to come clean, to walk away from his knowing he'd finally been honest. But the truth wouldn't come. It couldn't. He was a man made of lies. It was who he was. It was who the world needed him to be. “I just hoped…I just wanted….”

“Oh, you got what you wanted alright,” Betty said bitterly, but her eyes were filled with shame. He'd done that to her. “So, this was all some game to you. Some…fling? I'm surprised you even had the guts to come back.”

Tears glistened in her eyes and Jack clenched his hands at his sides to keep from reaching out to her.

“I wanted to see you.” His arms ached to hold her again.

As if she'd heard his thoughts, she held out her arms, but it was not an invitation. “Get a good look,” she said, angrily.

“Betty—”

“Save it. Just…” She started to close the door in his face, but stopped. “You know, I should've known nothin' in this town was real. You're just another shadow.”

She slammed the door in his face, but he barely heard it. The words “another shadow” hit him like a punch to the gut. She'd said that before. She'd say that again. It all fell into place and Jack felt sick.

It was him. He was the man who'd betrayed Betty. The man who still haunted her in the future. The man who'd broken her heart. It was him.

Jack stood on her doorstep as it all sank in, as the truth of what he'd done kicked him in the face. Someone in Betty's past had kept them apart in 1938. The man who'd been just a shadow.

Jack barked out a quick, harsh laugh. He'd done it to himself. The other man he'd hated all those years was him. What a fool he was. What a sad, lonely fool.

Everything had played out just as it had before and would again, time and again. He would lose her in 1938, go to war, find Simon and Elizabeth, come back here and lose her again.

In a daze, he looked at her front door. He would give anything to change things. But he couldn't. Not now.

Not now, he thought as he slowly made his way down the path away from her home. Not now, but some day. Some day, he would find her again. He didn't know when or how. His past might be written, but his future was not.

Some day, he thought. Some day.

Simon and Elizabeth waited in their hotel for Jack.

“We could still go to the studio,” Elizabeth said.

Simon sighed heavily. They'd been over it before, but she couldn't let it go. “And do what? Accuse Sam Roth of introducing people?”

Elizabeth hated leaving him and Thorn unpunished. But, Simon was right, there was nothing they could do. “I know. Sometimes I wish we hadn't saved his hide at that party.”

“You don't mean that.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “No.”

Simon rubbed her shoulder comfortingly and gave it a squeeze. “I know it's frustrating. We won't always be able to know exactly where everyone stands. All we can do is our best.”

Just as she was really starting to get her umbrage on, he had to go and be all logical and reassuring.

“We came here to save Alan Grant,” he continued. “And I'd say we did that rather well.”

Elizabeth had to agree. Seeing Alan with his daughter had made it all worthwhile, even if they had made what could be a formidable enemy in Thorn.

One thing was bothering her though. “What movie did you see that in? The thing about the Rule Against Perpetuities?”

Simon cleared his throat and, was that a blush? “Body Heat,” he said quickly and looked at the watch impatiently.

Elizabeth's smile could not have been any broader. “And you don't watch movies.”

Simon fiddled needlessly with the watch. “Where is Wells?”

“He'll be here,” Elizabeth assured him.

Right on cue, there was a knock at the door. Elizabeth opened it. Jack looked terrible. His eyes were red and the tension coming off him was palpable. “Are you all right?” she asked.

Jack set his jaw and nodded. “Let's just get the hell out of here.”

Simon looked to Elizabeth for confirmation and then put the key into the watch. The electric blue light took them home.

A strong wind blew open the French doors of Edgar Thorn's study. Papers on the desk in the empty room rustled in the breeze. Another gust came, stronger than before. Papers whipped up caught in the current and the glass from a large case on the wall behind the desk rattled until the latch worked itself loose.

The door to the case flew open with such force it crashed into the wall and shards of glass fell to the floor. Inside, the butterflies' wings started to quiver. A single pin fell to the floor hitting a shard of glass with a sharp tink. One large butterfly flew from the case. It started to fall to the floor, but its translucent wings caught in the wind and it rose up and began to fly. Another pin fell and then another, until they'd all rained down onto the floor mixing with glass.

Another butterfly flew from the case and then another and then another. The wind swirled inside the room and then slowly died. But the butterflies still flew. They dipped and rose in that awkward, beautiful way butterflies do and fluttered through the open doors and out into the world again, free.

Thank you for reading The Devil's Due; I truly hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I know that was a cruel twist of fate Jack had to endure, but don't worry! I have a feeling he and Betty will find each other again some day. Life has a lot left in store for him, and, of course, for Simon and Elizabeth.

Monique was born in Houston, Texas, but her family soon moved to Southern California. She grew up on both coasts, living in Connecticut and California. She currently resides in Southern California with her naughty Siamese cat, Monkey.

She's currently working on an adaptation of one of her screenplays, several short stories and novels and the next book in the Out of Time series.