“Only you, kid.”
Replacement pushed him back then pulled him even closer than before.
Chapter 41 ~
I Got This One
The Impala cruised down the highway toward Fairfield. Replacement stretched her legs out onto the dashboard, and Jack winced. Her ankles were bruised from the restraints. Her jaw was swollen, and her eyes were black and blue. He frowned and looked forward.
He looked in the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of himself.
I won’t be winning any beauty contests, either.
“Replacement?”
“Yeah?” She turned her head to look at him.
“What’s your favorite color?”
“What?” she asked as she wiggled around in her seat.
“What’s your favorite color?” he repeated.
“Green.”
“Green?”
“Green like my eyes.” She perked right up. “What’s yours?”
“Black, like my heart.” He laughed.
“Seriously, what’s your favorite color, Jack?”
“Pink.”
“Hey. You’re the one that started this.” She crossed her arms.
“Fine. Red.”
“Okay. I start next.” She sat up and turned to look at him, clearly enjoying the game.
“What’s your favorite movie?”
Jack smiled. “Rocky.”
“That boxing movie that you made me watch?” She rolled her eyes.
“It’s a great movie. It won an Oscar.” He saw her making a face. “Whatever. What’s yours?”
She wrinkled her nose as she thought. “The Wizard of Oz.”
“The flying monkeys didn’t freak you out?”
“I just like it.” She sighed. “It’s like my life.”
“Your life?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “And who are you, Dorothy?”
“Yes.” She impishly grinned. “You’re in it too.”
Jack sat up. “Me? Who am I? The tin man?”
“Nope.” She shook her head.
“If you say the cowardly lion . . .” Jack scowled.
“Nope.” She giggled.
“The scarecrow?”
“No brain? A possibility but . . . nope.” She hugged her legs to her chest.
“Who then?”
“Toto.”
“The dog? I’m like the dog?” Jack looked at her in disbelief.
“Yeah. You’re always running around barking at me. You follow me everywhere but . . . you’re loyal too.”
“Seriously?”
“See. There you go getting yappy, but if I give you a pat on the head you’re all loveable again.”
Jack frowned.
“Why do you think I gave you that ringtone?” Her hands shot up.
“The stupid barking dog one? Because I remind you of Toto?”
She burst out laughing. Jack shook his head, but he still smiled.
Jack winced as he shifted his legs.
“Do you want me to drive?” she offered.
“No.”
“Fine. Sport?”
“Baseball,” Jack replied.
“Football,” Replacement shot back. “Superhero?”
“Ironman.”
Replacement closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them, they glistened. “Batman.”
Jack swallowed and looked at Replacement. He remembered how she thought Chandler was Superman, and he was Batman.
“Thank you for coming back.” She smiled. “TV show?”
“The Rifleman.”
“The what?” Replacement laughed.
They kept playing the game until they reached Fairfield. As they drove into the town, they both drifted off into their own private thoughts. The silence that followed ended the game, but not in a bad way.
Jack parked the car and looked at Replacement. Her eyebrows rose, and he understood the unspoken question. Jack started to get out of the car.
Replacement reached out and grabbed Jack’s hand. “Do you want me to do it?”
“No, I got this one.”
He looked down as he walked slowly. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders avoiding looking around. He was not looking forward to this, but he knew he had to do it himself. A few moments later, he stopped and stared at his feet unable to look up.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he muttered. “I put off . . . coming to speak with you. I didn’t want to . . . you know,” he inhaled deeply, “but I need to tell you what happened. They caught the people responsible for Michelle’s murder. It was this guy who worked at the psychology center with Michelle. It was him and Michelle’s roommate. They’re both dead. The sheriff’s department is opening cases looking into the other people they murdered too. They’d been killing people for years and the victims’ families should know what happened.” Jack cleared his throat. “Replacement should get the credit. If it wasn’t for her . . .”
He stopped talking. He wrung his hands together and waited. He was nervous when he heard nothing but silence.
Jack tried to keep going. “She’s going to stay with me now. I’m going to get a two-bedroom apartment. My landlady already offered me the apartment below mine. She said the people moved out because the guy above them was too loud.” Jack shrugged and faintly smiled. “That’s me. Anyway . . .”
He closed his eyes and exhaled.
“I miss you. Both of you. I’ll take care of Alice and Aunt Haddie. I promised her I’d stop by a lot.”
He walked forward and placed a flag in front of the left side of the tombstone and flowers on the right.
Jack looked up and sighed.
“I’ve been thinking about it. If it weren't for Replacement, no one would have known what happened to Michelle. More time would have gone by, and we might never have known. You can tell she’s your sister. She has your courage, Chandler. You should have seen her at The Pit.” Jack laughed. “Michelle, she said you taught her computers. She’s quite good at them. Anyway, I see both of you in her.”
Jack started to turn to go but stopped.
“Thank you, for everything,” he whispered.
He closed his eyes. He could almost see them. Michelle was riding her bike, and Chandler ran alongside her. They both waved and smiled. Jack laughed and waved too.
He opened the door and sat back in the seat.
Replacement turned and looked up at him, hopeful. “How did it go?”
Jack gripped the steering wheel. “Good.” His fingers tightened until the leather creaked, then he relaxed his hand. “Are you ready, kid?”
Replacement grinned and rolled down her window.
“Ready.” She smiled, and they headed down the road . . . together.
Epilogue
Replacement’s hand covered the phone as she tried to muffle the beep. She held her breath as she peered back at the couch. Jack was still sleeping.
She bit her lip as her eyebrows knit together.
He hasn’t slept the whole night through since the lab.
Jack moaned and rolled over again. She waited a minute until she was sure he hadn’t woken up. She picked up the phone and checked the email that set it off. It wasn’t her phone it was Jack’s. She tapped the display and the message opened.
Hi Jack,
Just checking in. Hope you’re feeling better. I just read about your exploits in the paper. Like to get together sometime?
Marisa,
P.S. If you need any nursing, I give great sponge baths.
“He doesn’t need your nursing,” Replacement muttered before she hit delete.
She turned back to the computer and continued her hunt. Every night for the last few days, Jack had woken up screaming and covered in sweat. He wouldn’t tell her what the nightmares were about, but she knew. She’d gone through his search history on the computer and saw what he was looking for—his mom.
As the case grew and the police found additional victims, he seemed to grow more and more restless. S
he wondered if all the victims who were prostitutes had something to do with his angst.
Replacement had wanted to help, but she knew he’d say no, so she didn’t tell him she’d started searching too. Every chance she had, she scoured through online records and hunted databases looking for clues.
She first found out that Jack’s adoptive father had to hire a private detective to track down Jack’s birth mother for the adoption. Reading through the court documents was frustrating because her name had been blacked out on every page. Replacement hit pay dirt when she discovered one page where the photocopy of the old records had bled through. His mother’s name was Patricia Cole.
After that, Replacement followed her trail through the police database. The mug shots told her tale. Prostitution and drugs had worn down the beautiful woman into a shell of what she once was. Replacement had compiled the photos into a sort of face smash. They showed Patricia’s descent into the void. It looked like one of those Scared Straight campaigns.
The arrest records stopped a few years ago. Replacement thought she might have died. It was as if she fell off the planet. Then she came across an address scribbled in the margins of the paperwork.
Replacement looked back at Jack and bit her lower lip.
How do I tell him?
He suddenly groaned and turned over.
She got up and walked to the window. Staring out into the darkness her resolve started to fade.
How do I tell him? Jack, your mom is alive but . . . she’s institutionalized . . .
She exhaled.
. . . and I think there’s more . . .
Be sure to read all the Jack Stratton novels:
GIRL JACKED
JACK KNIFED
JACKS ARE WILD
JACK AND THE GIANT KILLER
Looking for a Romantic Suspense series?
Be sure to check out Katherine Greyson’s:
EVERYONE KEEPS SECRETS
Acknowledgments
I would like to personally thank you. Thank you for taking the time to read this story. It was my goal to tell the story of Jack and Replacement and to take you along for the ride. I am so grateful for all the words of encouragement I have received. Thank you for spreading the word via social media and spending time to go back and write a great review. THANK YOU! Your efforts keep the characters alive and give me the encouragement and time to keep writing. I can’t thank YOU enough.
Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed Girl Jacked, please consider leaving a review at Amazon, even if it is only a line or two; it would make all the difference and I would appreciate it very much.
PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW HERE
I would also like to thank my wife. She’s the best wife, mother, and partner in crime any man could have. She is an invaluable content editor and I could not do this without her!
My thanks also go out to; My two awesome kids, my dear mother, my family, two fantastic editors: Karen Lawson and Janet Hitchcock, the unbelievably helpful Beta-Readers, and Stuart and Rachel.
About the Author
Hello. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Christopher Greyson and I am a storyteller.
Since I was little boy, I dreamt of what mystery was around the next corner, or quest lay over the hill. If I couldn’t find an adventure, one usually found me, and now I weave those tales into my stories. I am blessed to have written the best-selling Jack Stratton mystery series. The collection includes “Girl Jacked”, “Jack Knifed”, and “Jacks Are Wild.”
My background is an eclectic mix of degrees in Theatre, Communications, and Computer Science. Currently I reside in Massachusetts with my lovely wife and two fantastic children. My wife, Katherine Greyson, who is my chief content editor, is an author of her own romance series, “Everyone Keeps Secrets.”
My love for tales of mystery and adventure began with my grandfather, a World War I decorated hero. I will never forget being introduced to his friend, a WWI pilot who flew across the skies at the same time as the feared, legendary Red Baron. My love of reading and storytelling eventually lead me to write “Pure of Heart” a young adult fantasy that I plan to release later in 2014.
I love to hear from my readers. Please go to ChristopherGreyson.com. I plan in the next coming months to add free content including side stories and vignettes involving the characters from the series. Please sign-up for my mailing list and receive periodic updates on this and new book releases. Thank you for reading my novels and I hope my stories have brightened your day.
Sincerely,
Christopher Greyson
GIRL JACKED
Copyright: Christopher Greyson
Published: August 1st 2013
The right of Christopher Greyson to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and didn’t purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at www.christophergreyson.com
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 ~ The Boar’s Butt
Chapter 4 ~ Fish Out of Water Dance
Chapter 5 ~ You Will Know Pain
Chapter 6 ~ Perpetually Weird
Chapter 7 ~ Mommy
Chapter 8 ~ Inking
Chapter 9 ~ She Slimed Me
Chapter 10 ~ The Downs
Chapter 11 ~ Try to Out Shout Me
Chapter 12 ~ Killer Reindeer
Chapter 13 ~ Anyplace Can be Dangerous
Chapter 14 ~ Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’
Chapter 15 ~ Chicken Head
Chapter 16 ~ It Was Me
Chapter 17 ~ Sometimes… We All Do
Chapter 18 ~ First Dibs
Chapter 19 ~ Good and Bad
Chapter 20 ~ So Much for Green
Chapter 21 ~ Homecoming
Chapter 22 ~ The Void Beckons
Chapter 23 ~ Aluminum Foil and Other Kitchen Stuff
Chapter 24 ~ Ask a Better Question
Chapter 25 ~ But by the Grace of God go I
Chapter 26 ~ Dirty Dancing
Chapter 27 ~ Iron Man
Chapter 28 ~ Drunken Grasshopper
Chapter 29 ~ The Tape
Chapter 30 ~ Following the Bread Crumbs
Chapter 31 ~ Girl Jacked
Chapter 32 ~ Speed Kills
Chapter 33 ~ Loose Ends
Chapter 34 ~ The Pit
Chapter 35 ~ Stupid but Brilliant
Chapter 36 ~ Pendulum
Chapter 37 ~ Box Full of Memories
Chapter 38 ~ Under the Rocks
Chapter 39 ~ You Are Sick
Chapter 40 ~ The Beast
Chapter 41 ~ I Got This One
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Preview from Jack-Knifed
Girl Jacked Page 28