Bound to the Past (Starville Series Book 1) (40 page)

***

After three nerve-racking days of interminable working hours, sleepless nights at the office, and long interrogations, Frank secured Jack’s official release from prison.

Everything had happened so quickly that Jack was still having a hard time processing everything. Sometimes he had to pinch himself to make sure that it wasnʼt just a dream. At first heʼd even feared that no one would want to move a finger to help him, anyway, and that Wayne, Hank, and Lucy might retract their words. But they didnʼt. Brent was able to collect the official testimony of at least ten diners whoʼd seen him ride his motorcycle through Starville right at the time when Carrie was killed.

Jack raised his head when the key turning in the lock resounded through the cell.

“You all packed yet?”

“Ha ha.” From his bunk, he grinned at Brent, whoʼd just walked inside. “Waiting for you to hurry and get me the hell outta here.”

He sat beside him. “Nickyʼs finishing up your paperwork, then youʼll be free as a bird.”

“About time. No offense, Hayden, but I canʼt stand this crappy place anymore.”

“None taken. Just do me a favor and try to stay out of trouble for a while.”

“Iʼll do my best. In fact, Iʼm thinking itʼs time I go back to Chicago. Itʼs not like Iʼm accomplishing much in Starville, anyway—except getting innocent people killed because of me,” he added contritely.

Brent nodded, but Jack didnʼt miss the concern in his eyes. “What about Sara?”

“I donʼt know.” He sighed. “My original plan was to leave by myself, but… Hell, maybe Iʼll ask her to go with me for a while. If I can convince her to leave this damn place, that is.”

“Yeah, right. You know sheʼll follow you to the moon and back if you ask her.”

Jack forced a smile. “I just want to take her away from Starville for a while, you know—until the water settles a bit. Things are getting a little too dangerous, and after what happened to Charlene and Carrie…” He inhaled sharply. “I canʼt risk anything happening to Sara, Brent. And Iʼm afraid that sheʼd be an all-too-easy target right now.”

“I know,” Brent agreed gravely. “But, hey, I think leaving is a great idea. Getting some distance from all this crap will only do you guys good. And you never know, seeing the place youʼve lived for the last few years might help with your memory.”

Jack shot him a doubtful look. Before he could comment, there was a light knock on the door, then Nickyʼs head peeked in.

“The paperworkʼs all done. Ready to go?”

He sprang up. “Never been more ready in my life.” He didnʼt look back as he followed Brent and Nicky through the same dreary, narrow corridors heʼd walked back and forth so many times in the last couple of weeks. He thought that somehow they looked much brighter today. Well, everything would look brighter to him right now. A week ago he was sure heʼd end up in the electric chair, and now he was about to be free again. Sara was probably waiting for him outside, and soon heʼd be back home with her. That thought alone was enough to make him increase his strides so much that Brent shot him an amused look.

As they reached the lobby, Frank walked toward him with a big smile.

“Thanks again for everything,” Jack said, trying to keep emotion at bay. “I donʼt know what I wouldʼve done without you…again.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just get the hell outta here.”

He chuckled. “Are you sure you donʼt need a ride to the airport?”

“Nah. Brent already offered to drive me, and I donʼt want to deprive him of that pleasure. Right, son?”

“More like, I want to make sure you really get on that plane.”

Jack grinned, but his expression was serious as he shook the lawyerʼs hand. “Iʼll see you in Chicago soon.”

“Absolutely. Remember you only have a few months of leave left, then Ray will come and get you no matter what.”

“Fair enough.”

Nicky rolled her eyes and pushed Jack through the front door. “Go already! Thereʼs someone outside whoʼs about to have a heart attack if you donʼt get out there immediately,” she joked, pointing at the parking lot.

Jack followed her gaze—and the world stopped existing as he saw Sara running toward him. Emotion tightened his chest so much that he could hardly catch his breath. And then, in a flash, she was throwing herself in his arms. Jack nearly lost his balance and staggered backward, but he didnʼt care. He was too busy holding her tight, soaking in her warmth, breathing in the sweet, delicious scent of her that had haunted him every second of the last week.

“We did it,” she whispered.

Jack pulled back just enough to look at her and cupped her face in his hands. “I told you Iʼd do my best to get outta here.”

“Iʼll make sure you donʼt regret it, Turner.” Sara chuckled through the tears as he claimed her mouth.

“You better.”

***

They had driven a little over a mile when a shiny black Hummer came up behind them and passed Saraʼs car so fast and close she had to veer sharply to the side to avoid hitting its side.

“Irresponsible jerk!” she cursed through gritted teeth, sending a sideway glance at Jack. “You all right, hon?”

“Yes,” he muttered absently, his eyes fixed on the Hummer, which now wasnʼt more than a black dot in the distance. “That car―”

“I know. Can you believe that? Heʼs such an ass, he almost hit us!”

“You mean, you know who’s driving it?”

“Of course. Itʼs Max.”

“
Max?
That car…belongs to Max Lacrod?”

Had Sara not been so focused on slowing down to take the next exit, she would have noticed how the color had suddenly drained from Jackʼs face. But she didn’t.

“Yep. Big and useless, just like him,” she commented, shaking her head in disapproval.

He swallowed hard. “Are you sure it was him?”

“Oh, yeah. Nobody else owns a Hummer like that in Starville. I always wondered why he got such a huge vehicle, anyway, since he canʼt even drive it properly.” She made a disgusted face, but Jack wasnʼt looking anymore.

His head was spinning, and he had to close his eyes for a moment to regain control. Maybe he was losing his mind, but he could have sworn that car was the exact same one he kept seeing in his nightmares, the same one that had chased him through the darkness, forcing him off the road. And Sara said it belonged to Max Lacrod. A million questions started racing through his mind again. Had the sheriff truly caused his accident, as heʼd always suspected? Max had never even bothered to conceal his hostility toward him; but would he go as far as almost killing him? And why?

After taking the turn to her house, Sara slid him another glance. “Honey, are you sure youʼre all right? Sorry I mentioned that idiot to you,” she apologized, clearly misinterpreting the reason for his distress.

“Itʼs okay.” Jack took her hand and raised it to his lips. There would be time to think about everything. But not tonight. Tonight was his and Saraʼs. “Letʼs just go home.”

Chapter 28

Jack jerked up in bed, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
It was just another nightmare
. Trying to calm the furious pounding of his heart, he glanced at the clock: barely three a.m. The same time heʼd been waking up every damn night in the last week.

If heʼd had any hopes that the nightmares would stop after he got out of jail, he had lost those hopes a long time ago. Instead of going away, in fact, they were becoming more and more vivid and all too realistic for him to keep thinking of them as simple nightmares.

Too restless to stay in bed, Jack slid out of it, careful not to wake Sara up. Once in the bathroom, he locked the door and stared at his reflection in the mirror, trying desperately to find some answers in the eyes staring back at him.

There was none.

With a weary sigh, he leaned his forehead against the mirror. God, he was tired. Tired of not knowing the truth about himself, tired of feeling so confused all the time, tired of everything. His thoughts kept racing back to the nightmare—or whatever the hell it was―he’d just had. The nasty fight with J.T. by the large, open window. In his mind, he could still see the sad, heartbreaking expression on the older man’s face as he listened to the nasty things Jack was spewing at him. But had that fight actually happened, or was it just a trick of his imagination?

And most important, had he killed J.T. because of it?

***

“Jack? Could you come get me, please?”

His grip tightened around the phone at Saraʼs anxious tone. “Is something wrong? Where are you?”

“I…” She paused, and he heard her take a long breath. “Okay, donʼt freak out. Iʼm at Parkland Hospitalʼs emergency room.”

“
What?
What happened? Are you all right?”

“Yes, yes, Iʼm fine. Please, just come get me. I-Iʼll explain everything when you get here.”

“Give me the address and Iʼll be there as fast as I can.”

Two hours later, Sara was sitting in her living room, a cup of hot tea in one hand and the other hand resting on her lap, a white bandage wrapped around the wrist. Nicky sat beside her on the couch, Brent in the chair opposite from her. Only Jack stood, pacing nervously.

“Thank you again for coming, guys. I told Jack there was no need to disturb you, but―”

“
No need to disturb?
” Jack stopped his pacing to scowl at her. “Sara, are you fuckinʼ kidding me?”

Nicky shook her head. “Now, Jack, letʼs not get too agitated.” His burning gaze moved to her and locked with hers until Nicky had to drop her eyes.

“Really. My girlfriend almost gets run down by a damn car and I shouldnʼt get agitated? She could have been
killed
!”

Brent slanted him a warning look before turning to a very pale Sara. “Why donʼt you tell me what happened, hon?”

“Iʼm not sure.” She tried to take a sip of tea, but her hand was shaking so much she put the cup back down with a sigh. “I went to the Central Library in Dallas to do some research for my new book. I spent a few hours there, and by the time I walked out, it was raining like crazy. My car was parked across the street, and I started toward it, but as I stepped off of the curb, a pickup truck almost ran me down. I leaped back fast enough to avoid impact with it, but I slipped on the wet concrete and sprained my wrist. A nice family drove by afterward, stopped to help me, and insisted on calling the ambulance for me. Thatʼs it.”

“Thatʼs it,” Jack scoffed, but everyone ignored him.

“Did you see who was driving the truck? A man, a woman? How many people were inside it?” Brent urged as Sara kept shaking her head.

“No, I… It was going too fast.”

“Do you remember what kind of pickup it was?”

Sara shook her head again. “It was raining hard, and I could barely see ahead of me―but I swear it seemed to appear out of nowhere. I mean, of course I looked before I started crossing the street, but one second there was nothing there, the next the truck was speeding toward me. All I know is that it was white.”

Jack groaned. “Great. Thereʼs only a million of those ʼround here.” He raised his arms as Brent shot him another stern look over his shoulder.

“Jack is right, though,” Nicky interjected. “Thereʼs not much to go on.”

“Iʼm sorry, thatʼs all Iʼve got,” Sara apologized in a low voice.

“Itʼs okay, hon, weʼll see what we can do with the little information we have.” Brent patted her leg encouragingly. “Iʼll ask a few questions around the neighborhood. Maybe somebody saw something.”

“Thank you. It could have been just a coincidence, anyway. I mean, I donʼt even know anybody in Dallas, and certainly nobody who would want to hurt me. It was raining so hard, Iʼm sure the driver didnʼt see me any more than I saw the truck coming.”

“Iʼm sure youʼre right.” Brent turned to Jack, who had resumed his nervous pacing and looked ready to explode. “Turner, would you put on some coffee, please? Iʼve had a long shift and could really use some right now.”

Jack hesitated, glared at him, but took the hint. “Fine.”

In the kitchen, he took a few long breaths. Brent was right; he needed to get a grip. His own agitation was only making Sara more nervous. Yet all kinds of awful thoughts kept racing through his mind as he absently scooped the coffee from the canister into the pot. His hand was shaking so much it was a shock that he didnʼt spill any. How the hell was he supposed to keep his cool? Coincidence or no coincidence, Sara could have been killed today. He could have lost her, and there was not a damn thing he could have done about it.

But you didnʼt lose her
, he reminded himself, trying to calm down. Sara was fine. She was in the living room, sipping tea.
Safe.

***

Sitting down at one of the booths by the window, Jack looked suspiciously around The Cove. Heʼd purposely chosen that table because it would give him a good view of everyone driving by and parking before they entered the diner, but he didnʼt like the crowd inside all that much, either. While Starville had started to warm up to him since he’d been released from jail, he still didnʼt trust anybody. Not when he saw everyone as a potential threat to Saraʼs life. And now that she had left to use the ladiesʼ room, every muscle of his body was on alert.

“Dude, relax, will you? Nothingʼs gonna happen here.”

Jack tore his gaze from the door and shifted it uncomfortably to Brent. “I still donʼt know what the hell weʼre doing here. We shouldʼve stayed at home.”

“Sara needed the distraction, Jack. And, honestly, youʼre driving her crazy with your attitude.”

“I know, I know,” he admitted, waving his words away with a hand. “So, what have you got for me?”

“Not much, Iʼm afraid.” Brentʼs gaze darted abound briefly, as if to make sure nobody was listening. “So far, all I know is that Hank, Wayne, Susan, and Bob own  white pickup trucks. Oh, and my mom, too. Of course, though, none of them happened to be in Dallas this morning.”

“Dammit.”

“Seriously, Jack, you need to calm down. Saraʼs right, thereʼs no reason to get all worked up about this. It might have simply been an accident.”