Free Joe by Jacqueline Druga Page A

could do was jam it in present day.”
    “How did you find out when he sent it?”
    “Joe told me on the 19 th .”
    “So you went back to the 19 th , left the 19 th , went to the day he sent that message, then returned to the 19 th .”
    “And don’t forget my other self was there and had to use his HG Wells to leave and go back to the future. Too many trips in one time frame. It jammed.”
    “Ok, so you got rid of the other ‘you’.”
    “Yes.” Roy nodded. “And then hard decision had to be made.”
    “Changing the date.”
    “Yes. But I still didn’t know how that would affect Jason’s message to himself. I jammed it. So the moment we changed our plan, it could change his message. And the fact that I jammed it changed everything. Because at that point Jason brought in help. Once they deciphered that Joe was going to die they put a guard on him.”
    “Making things more difficult.”
    “So, hating to do so, just in case the message came though as a March 21 st death, we moved it up to Frank’s wedding day. That night at rehearsal Joe told Andrea to make sure that the wedding took place. He knew if Frank got married it would help everyone's mind.”
    “But the moment you set the explosive time …”
    “We didn’t.”
    Robbie looked at him curiously. “Then how.”
    “Joe built it. Set a timer, yes. But we knew your phone call was the indication that the message was solved and Frank was on his way.”
    “The radio.”
    “After I removed Darrell safely from the room, present Joe in the suit and myself stood outside the door. When we saw Frank, we radioed Joe and walked away. Joe pressed the button ensuring Frank wouldn’t run in.”
    “Which explains how Jenny’s field trip caught you on video calmly walking away.”
    “Exactly.”
    “Wow.” Robbie sat back. “That told a lot.”
    “Now, hopefully, Frank will make the right decision. And the future will be bright.”
    “I can tell you this, Roy.” Robbie hands folded leaned in toward him. “Your HG Wells wasn’t jammed. I accidentally got it restarted when I found it. A while back, Hal, Frank, and myself went to the future and it was bleak. I repeated that trip. Everything is on track. We may have a lot to go through, still, and things may change. So far, so good, things are bright.”
    “Oh, thank goodness.” Roy closed his eyes. “That is such a relief. Such a burden lifted. I want to dance a jig.”
    “Go ahead. Yeah, all that trouble,” Robbie said. “Now you know it may have worked for the future.”
    “Oh no. I’m not elated about that. I’m glad the future appears bright. But, like you said, things could still change.” Roy smiled. “I’m happy my machine works.”
    *****
    Her legs said it all... Mangled from the knees down. Her feet, or rather what was left of them, were mere pointed stumps. The bite marks, chew marks were more than obvious. Her hair, a huge chunk of it, led Frank to her discovery. Most of her hair was still intact except for the portion on the left side of her face. Her right arm was twisted and broken, three fingers were gone from her left hand. Her face sported scratches and her wide eyed look gave her an appearance that she was oblivious to what had occurred. She never saw it coming.
    Finding her body was a shock to Frank. He didn’t recognize her at first, she was new. He shook his head when he bent down to her. “Who did this to you?” He asked out loud. Still holding the clump of hair in his fingers, he gently lifted her body. When he did. When he stared at the destruction of her feminine form, answers started to come to him. What happened, who did it, and how.
    It made sense.
    So close to home.
    Ellen’s voice, in her approach from behind, snapped him from his stare of the missing fingers. “What happened to Alex’s new Barbie Doll?”
    “I don’t know. It’s fucked up.” Frank lifted the doll. “You didn’t see this doll like this before?”
    “No. Where did you find