Sins of the Past

by Dee Henderson

  He froze when he saw her, his eyes wide, mouth a perfect O. Then he was clamoring into the passenger seat, his buddy taking the driver’s side.

  “What are you doing here?” Tyler yelled as the tires squealed from the curb.

  “What are you doing here? Robbing houses? I heard a gunshot! Did you kill someone?” She barely managed to contain her hysteria.

  Collin cursed and pressed the gas. The Jeep surged, and he headed away from the neighborhood. A left, a right, a left, squealing tires. She lost track of the twists and turns.

  “What are you doing?” she screamed.

  “Shut up!” Collin ordered. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number while he continued to drive. She heard him talking to someone about meeting him.

  Then they were on the curve. On the one road her parents forbade her to drive on because of the steep drop-off. She wanted to put her seat belt on but didn’t dare let go of the door handle to do so. She refused to look out the window.

  A loud pop sounded, and Collin cursed when the car jerked. “A tire blew, hold on!” He fought with the wheel but lost control, and they spun in a one-eighty.

  Macey slammed against the door, heard Tyler scream, felt the impact against the guardrail, and then they were airborne, upside down. She crashed against the top of the vehicle, felt a searing pain in shoulder.

  She heard her cries of terror mingled with theirs. Then they were upright once more for a mere second before the vehicle jolted to a sudden stop. The collision dislodged her once again and her head bounced off the window.

  Then darkness.

  SIX

  Chad blinked when the sun hit him full in the face. He squinted and saw Lilly pushing back the curtains to his sliding glass doors.

  He sat up and rubbed his cheeks. His head pounded a harsh rhythm from the knock it had taken a few hours earlier, and all he wanted was coffee and some Ibuprofen. In that order.

  Lilly stared down at him. “Rise and shine, beautiful.”

  He groaned. “You’re mean.”

  “You’re a baby.”

  He rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?”

  “Time for you to either start cooking or make a biscuit run.”

  “I’ll cook,” a new voice said.

  Chad turned to see Macey standing in the hallway, still dressed in his sister’s sweats and T-shirt. She had her blond hair pulled up in a ponytail and her feet were bare. “Naw, you don’t have to do that. Besides, I can’t remember the last time I went to the grocery store so I doubt there’s anything edible in the fridge. Lilly’ll go get us something, won’t you?”

  Lilly rolled her eyes then shrugged. “Sure. What do you want?”

  “I’m not picky,” Macey said.

  “I want a chicken biscuit.”

  Macey nodded. “That sounds good. Make it two.”

  Chad sniffed and turned a sour look on Lilly. “You couldn’t start the coffee?”

  “You really want me messing with your coffee pot?”

  “Good point.” He looked at Macey. “She blew up my other one.”

  Lilly clicked her tongue. “You really do have the gift of exaggeration.” She looked at Macey. “It was really just a fault in the coffee maker, but he blames me because I was the one making the coffee at the time of its demise. I can’t help that the plate got too hot and caused the glass to . . . ah . . . break.”

  “Break? It exploded. I’m still cleaning coffee off my ceiling.”

  “Like I said, you have a gift.” Lilly smirked and tossed him a pill bottle. “I called the boss and told him what happened and that you got conked on the head. He said for you to take the day off. I’ll be back.”

  Once she was out the door, Chad decided the Ibuprofen could come before the coffee. He downed three dry then walked into the kitchen, Macey following slowly. She settled herself into one of the kitchen chairs while he got the coffee started.

  “Could I use your phone to send my sister a text that I’m going to be out of pocket for a while?” she asked. “At least until I get a new phone?”

  “I might have a phone you can use. Who’s your carrier?” She named a popular one and he smiled. “Hold on a sec.” He finished pouring the water into the coffee maker then walked down the short hallway to his bedroom. He rummaged in his nightstand drawer and found his old phone. When he returned, he showed it to her. “We’ll program it with your number for now.”

  “Thanks, I’ll put in an order for a new one and give yours back when it comes.”

  Chad nodded and pulled out his own phone, already dialing the station. “Give me your information and I’ll have our tech guy at the station program it for us.”

  Once finished, he handed her the phone, and she slipped it into the pocket of her sweatpants. “That was easy.”

  “It comes in handy to have friends in high places sometimes.” He poured a cup of coffee then glanced at her. “You sleep okay?”

  “I actually did.”

  “You look better.”

  “Thanks?”

  He smiled. “It was a compliment.”

  “Well, I can’t remember the last time I had five consecutive hours, so I imagine anything would be an improvement.”

  “You want to finish telling me your story now?”

  She rubbed a hand down her face. “I’ll tell you. I don’t know that it will do anything but put your life in danger, but—”

  “Look, I’m a cop. I can take care of myself. Who died trying to help you before?”

  “My brother-in-law, David Chastain. He was killed two months ago.”

  He leaned against the counter with a sigh. “Oh wow. How did he die?”

  “Someone ran his car off the road. At least that’s what I think. I can’t prove it.” She clasped her hands together on the table. “The police ruled it an accident, but I don’t believe it was. Neither does my sister.”

  “I see.”

  She gave him a sad smile. “No. You don’t.”

  “Then make me see.”

  She pursed her lips and looked past him, but he had a feeling she wasn’t seeing anything in the kitchen, she was gathering her thoughts. “David was a psychiatrist,” she finally said. “He and my sister, Valerie, were married three years ago. They lived here in Greenville. Valerie is seven years older than I and was already working as a nurse when my parents moved me to Myrtle Beach my junior year of high school. When David heard about my issues with being unable to remember anything after the crash the night of the wreck, he insisted he could help me.”

  “And did he?”

  She shrugged. “For a while, nothing seemed to happen. But then about six months ago, I started getting flashes of memory. David was really excited. He said he thought in time I’d remember everything.”

  “But you haven’t.”

  “No. But I do seem to be having more ‘flashes,’ if you will.”

  “And when did all of your troubles start?”

  “When I defied my parents and caught a bus to surprise my boyfriend.” She grimaced. “But if you mean lately, everything bad started happening when I started remembering.”

  “And you don’t think it’s coincidence that the man who was helping you remember was killed in a car wreck.”

  “Would you?”

  He rubbed his chin. “Probably not, but if the police ruled it an accident . . .”

  “I suppose it could have been. I mean, accidents happen all the time, right? I should know, I’ve worked enough of them.” She pulled at her lower lip then frowned. “But shortly after David died, someone tried to run me off the road. It was that incident that made me think maybe David’s accident . . . wasn’t.”

  “What else has happened?”

  “Well, after that, I got a little more cautious, started watching my back. I noticed someone following me a couple of times, but before I could do anything about it, like go up and confront him or snap a picture, he would disappear.”

  “Did you recognize him?”

  “Maybe.�
��

  Chad lifted a brow. “Okay, who?”

  “My ex-boyfriend. Tyler Norwood.”

  “The one who broke into the Benjamin house. Why him? Why come after you now?”

  She shrugged. “The only thing I can come up with is because he knows my memory is coming back, and for some reason he doesn’t want that to happen.”

  “So what is it that he doesn’t want you to remember? And how would he even know you’re starting to remember things?”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, there was a depth of sadness there that he could only imagine feeling. “I don’t know. He went to prison six years ago when he was convicted of being an accessory to the murder of George Benjamin. But three months ago, just before David was killed in the car accident, Tyler was released.”

  “Well, the timing certainly fits.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What about Collin? What happened to him?”

  “I don’t remember the details, but he died the night of the accident.”

  Chad nodded. “I’m sorry.” He fell silent while he thought, then asked, “Has Tyler tried to contact you?”

  She nodded and looked down at her fingers. They’d twisted the edge of her shirt into a knot. “He tried to call me from prison but I wouldn’t take his calls after the first one. He was very rude and blamed me for everything, so I hung up on him. He kept calling and I would just disconnect the call when I saw it was him. Every time I thought about talking to him, I got sick to my stomach and a migraine would lay me out for a couple of days. So I finally wised up, changed my number, and the calls stopped.” She drew in a deep breath. “The day he got out of prison, he showed up at my work. I wasn’t there, but I got word that he’d come around asking about me. He didn’t give his name, but the security cameras caught a guy that looked like him. At least the him that I remember.”

  “You checked the cameras?”

  She rubbed her eyes. “When I heard someone was asking about me, I figured it could only be one person. I asked my boss if he would look and see for sure. He’s a great guy and was happy to check it out for me. I couldn’t be one hundred percent positive, but it sure looked like him.”

  “He have on a mask?”

  “No, a hoodie. I caught a flash of a goatee or a beard. I don’t remember Tyler ever having facial hair as a teen, but in prison? Who knows? All that to say, I warned my boss and my partner about him and told them to keep an eye out for him. I got a restraining order on Tyler the next day and haven’t heard from him since.”

  “When was this?”

  “About three weeks ago.”

  “That’s enough to make someone mad, furious even, but is it enough to kill for?” He shrugged. “Maybe. I’ve certainly seen people killed for less.”

  Her eyes met his. “Well, it was also my testimony that sent him to prison.”

  Chad lifted a brow and poured himself another cup of coffee. “Ah yes. That would probably do it.”

  SEVEN

  Lilly returned with the food, and they ate while Chad and Lilly planned their day, Lilly continuously fussing at Chad for working when he should be resting. Macey had to smile at their rapport. They were like brother and sister. Which was good. She sure didn’t want them to be like a couple.

  She frowned. Why would that idea make her stomach twist? She knew exactly why, she just didn’t want to admit it.

  “I’m fine,” Chad said. “I don’t need to take the day off. I want to hit this case while it’s hot and the trail is still warm.” He grimaced. “No pun intended.”

  Chad had convinced Macey to bring Lilly up to speed on what was going on. “She can help. She needs to know.” Macey had finally agreed, and Chad had filled Lilly in. He glanced at Macey. “Anything else you want to add?”

  “Just one thing.”

  “Go for it.”

  She paused then shook her head. “Right before Tyler was released on parole, his parents demanded the case be reopened.”

  “Reopened? Why?”

  She rubbed her forehead. “They wanted to blame the entire thing on Collin and me. Said they had new evidence that I was involved in everything, that it was my idea to rob the house.”

  “What kind of evidence?”

  “A voice mail from me. Apparently, they were cleaning out their basement to donate some of their stuff to a charity auction and they came across an old answering machine. They plugged it in to make sure it worked, and a message was on there from me to Tyler.”

  “What did it say?” Lilly asked.

  “That I had a special plan to make his birthday a day to remember. That he didn’t need any money, I would take care of that. All he had to do was be ready for some fun.”

  Chad snorted. “That could mean anything.”

  “Yes, but they wanted to twist it to mean that I coerced him into participating in a robbery, that I lied on the witness stand, and that their son should have his name cleared.”

  Chad raised a brow. “Obviously he never got the message, though.”

  “Or he got it and just didn’t delete it.” Macey shrugged. “But I don’t think so. His surprise that night was genuine. I don’t believe he’d heard it.”

  Lilly nodded. “So are they going to reopen it?”

  “No. At least I don’t think so. Now that he’s made parole, I don’t see any reason for them to reopen it, do you?”

  “Not unless, like you said, it was an attempt to clear his name.”

  Macey nodded. “I’m sure that’s probably it. His parents aren’t wealthy, but they are considered ‘good people,’ and to have their only child incarcerated for a crime . . .” She shook her head. “They couldn’t handle it. They went to church every Sunday, and both of his parents worked, his mother as a nurse and his dad was in sales—pharmaceuticals—so Tyler’s actions really sent them over the edge. His dad especially.”

  “Why his dad?” Chad asked.

  Macey glanced away. “I had a bit of a reputation in high school. A party girl, wild and out of control. Tyler’s father and the principal were best friends. He turned Tyler’s parents against me before they even met me. One night when Tyler and I were at the bowling alley with a group of his friends, his father came in and made Tyler leave. He pointed at me and told me to stay away from Tyler.”

  “Wow.” Chad took another bite of his biscuit and brushed the crumbs from the table onto his napkin. “So his dad wasn’t happy with you.”

  “Right.”

  Lilly leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her. “Do you think he would do something like this? Try to get even for sending his son to prison?”

  Macey blew out a low breath. “I don’t know. Truthfully, he seemed so broken when the verdict was read. He just broke down and wept. They had to get paramedics to give him something to calm him down.”

  Chad exchanged a glance with Lilly. “Sometimes brokenness can morph into a desire for revenge.”

  Macey shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “I can check into it for you if you want.”

  Macey nodded and rubbed her temples. “Okay. Thanks.” Her borrowed phone buzzed. She glanced at it then sighed. “It’s my sister. Do you mind if I take this real quick?”

  “Of course not.”

  She pressed the button to accept the call then lifted the phone to her ear as she stood and walked into the den. “Hey, Valerie.”

  “Hey, have you seen the news?”

  “This morning? No. Why?” Although she had a sinking feeling she knew.

  “I just saw something on the news about a fire in your neighborhood. Caused by a bomb! Are you all right?”

  She grimaced. Great. “Yes, I’m fine and yes, I know.”

  Her words were met with silence. “It was your house, wasn’t it?” Valerie finally said.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh my—” A shuddering breath filtered through the line. “Mace, are you okay? What happened? First someone tries to run
you off the road, now this? Why?”

  “My memories have started returning, that’s why. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Someone doesn’t want me to remember that night.”

  “Come stay with me.”

  “And possibly put you in danger?” She laughed but there wasn’t any humor in it. “No way.” She paused. “I’ve got a police detective helping me. I’m okay right now.”

  “A detective? Well . . . that’s good. I guess.”

  “Yes, so I think it’s better if I just do things this way for now, okay?”

  “What if I come stay with you?”

  “Val, I don’t have a home right now and—”

  “We’ll get a hotel.”

  “Val!”

  “All right, all right. But text me everything. Let me know you’re okay on a regular basis.” Her voice cracked. “With David’s accident, I just . . .”

  Macey closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the wall. “I know.”

  Valerie sniffed and cleared her throat. “Okay. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Macey hung up and gulped back the tears that wanted to flow. She managed to get her emotions under control and shoved the phone in her back pocket.

  “You okay?” Chad asked.

  She looked up. He still sat at the table, sipping his coffee, but she had a clear view of him from her position in the den. “I’ll be all right and so will Valerie. She’s just hypervigilant.”

  “Understandable.”

  “Completely.”

  “And you have to work hard to keep it from making you crazy.”

  She stared at him then shook her head. “Stop doing that.”

  He smiled.

  “But yes.” Macey walked her coffee cup to the kitchen sink. “I appreciate any help you can give me. Just please, watch your back, because I can’t take another death on my conscience.” She drew in a deep breath. “And now I’ve got to go. I’ve got to get ready for my shift.”

  “You’re going to work?”

  “I am.”