Seven Days in Between
The sheriff, Stan, of a slowly dying little town on the northwest coast of Florida, named Between, has been looking for his way out to a new life when it walks into his police station one night. The answer to his dilemma comes in the form of a Russian woman, Anitka, held captive by a mercenary, who is a friend of a tormentor and is involved in the smuggling of weapons. The sheriff's brother, Herbie, has a secret that has kept the sheriff in limbo for ten years, and it's eating him up inside, with the help of his best friend, Jack-who owns the local watering hole-while he slowly drinks himself into an early grave. The sheriff has a clerk working with him, Mary, who is an old friend from his high school days. He will be forced to trust her, and he is trapped into making her part of the his plan. Stan also has a deputy working for him, Jerry, but the deputy is covertly working for the mercenary, as is the owner of the local grocery store, a former bookkeeper for the mob in NYC, now running the store and living in Between. The little town of Between also has a hardware store that is run by lifelong resident Charlie, who is not really involved in the plan but gives an element of comic relief with his quirkiness and his silent Tourette's syndrome.The sheriff quickly recognizes the stage is set for his way out of Between and develops his exit plan, one that is hastened into implementation by the untimely death of his deputy. The plan works out well for the sheriff and his clerk but not so well for Herbie, Demitri, and Thomas. But the ripples from Stan's plan range out of the sheriff's control. While under investigation by the FBI, Stan is going to enlist the help of his old friend Jack, and once the master mercenary Hefe steps into the picture, what he thought was over will have another episode to play out. The players all rally together to an end they didn't expect, and while the story comes to a relatively happy ending, no one really escapes Between. Regardless of whether or not any of the players made it out, they will always remember those Seven Days in Between.
-- RL McCarty