"But then wouldn't there be two of us in the same place and time?"
"That would be a paradox and I don't believe the universe would permit that to happen. Of course, that's just my opinion, but I'm the one writing a time-travel suspense at the moment."
Jack rubbed his chin and squinted thoughtfully. "What happens to the first timeline? In your opinion?"
"It disintegrates from the moment you touch back down in 1965."
"You're giving me a headache."
"Sorry. Would you like to hear what I did while I was out?"
He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of soda. "Sure. What did you do today besides laundry and replenish my supply of calamine lotion?"
"I stopped by the O'Neill plantation this afternoon."
His relaxed posture stiffened immediately. "I thought we agreed to do this together."
"We did and we will. I only meant to drive by to see the house but then his housekeeper came home. She said she's worked for O'Neill for almost fifty-two years, which means she's a prime source of information. She appeared to be in her late sixties or early seventies so she was probably a teenager when Ginger was killed. Her light brown complexion made me think she could be of mixed ethnic backgrounds. Her first name is Hannah. Does that ring any bells?"
Jack shook his head. "The description could be any number of women but I don't remember anyone named Hannah."
She related the brief conversation they'd had. "Hopefully O'Neill will be intrigued enough to give me an appointment and a green light on the bio idea so that we'll have a clear path to everyone else."
"And if he doesn't?"
She shrugged. "If he doesn't give me his blessing, we'll just have to move on to plan B."
"Do we actually have a plan B?" he asked with a grin.
"Of course," she replied indignantly. "And I figure we'll know what it is right after we finish going through the newspaper's archives tomorrow."
* * *
"Ya have ta meet with her, Reid, an' the sooner the better. Put a stop ta whatever the bitch has in mind right off before she starts stirrin' folks up with questions about your past."
Reid O'Neill stopped pacing in front of the library window and took a sip of his bourbon. Though Beauregard Ramey was nearly a century old and had stepped down as Imperial Wizard over a decade ago, he still had the power to manipulate the lives of those around him, whether they were part of the Klan or not. For that reason alone, Reid had felt compelled to tell his old friend about the lady author's message. Their shared secrets made it mandatory.
Usually he agreed with Beau's advice but in this case his ego needed more convincing. "A biography could be very good for my business. If it was handled carefully—"
"No!" Beau interrupted with a shaky wave of his hand. "It could still go bad. We can't control the media like we did in the old days. Your business is good enough as 'tis. It's best to let sleepin' dogs lie."
Reid knew he was right. There was too much at stake to take a chance. "But what if I ask her not to write about me and she goes ahead with it anyway, without my authorization?"
Beau brought his crystal snifter of brandy up to his mouth and slowly inhaled its heady aroma. "If the bitch can't mind her own business, Ah guess we'll just have ta teach her some manners. Ah'm sure Junior and some of the other boys would be delighted to help convince her to go back to Atlanta where she belongs."
Reid kept his thoughts about that to himself. Junior Ramey and the others were a long way from being boys. Despite having to wear a diaper and rely on a walker to get around, Beau refused to acknowledge they were all getting on in years. Unfortunately, none of them had been blessed with forgetfulness.
Chapter 8
"Ginger!" Jack pulled her into his apartment and closed the door before taking her into his arms. "Are you all right? You look like you've been crying."
She smiled softly and shook her head. "Hay fever. Kiss me and make it all better."
The fact he hadn't expected her had no effect on his delight that she was there. He planted sweet little kisses on her eyes, her nose and cheeks before settling his lips on hers.
Within seconds, her body was melting into his. It was always like that with him. Through several layers of clothing, she felt his instant response to her submission and knew there would be no talking until they burned off their built-up need.
Her fingers went to work on his belt buckle as he unzipped her sundress and pulled the straps off her shoulders. When he saw that she was wearing a strapless bra, he gave a little whistle of appreciation before burrowing his face in her cleavage. She stopped her task of removing his pants only long enough to let him peel the dress the rest of the way down.
He laughed out loud when he saw the other surprise she had for him—she wasn't wearing panties! They had joked about how she should save them both time by not wearing them but actually doing it was a sign of just how far she had come under his guidance. Quickly abandoning her breasts, he dropped to his knees and showed his appreciation for her surprise. In no time at all, his skill had her gasping with pleasure.
Assured that she was momentarily satisfied, he rose and held her tightly against him. His fingers combed through her hair as he waited for her to catch her breath.
"That was incredible," she murmured. "As always. And now it's your turn." She got him out of his clothes but when she started to guide him toward the bedroom, he tugged her in the opposite direction. She watched him pull a chair away from his kitchen table and waited for instruction.
As soon as he sat down with his hands behind his head and a broad grin on his handsome face, she understood. Tonight she wanted to give him everything she could and he really liked it when she moved slowly.
She stepped forward, straddled his hips then lowered hers just a bit.
He groaned. "It's been too long, baby. Don't tease."
Bracing herself on his shoulders, she eased down, sheathing his erection inch by inch, then eased up again. She repeated the little move twice before he lost patience.
"Funny girl." He grasped her hips and used his greater strength to push her all the way down and hold her there.
She felt him pulsing deep within her and giggled. "So now what are you going to do, big boy? I can sit still here for hours."
His smirk told her how wrong she was. Meeting her heated gaze, he licked his thumb and used it to seduce her back to wanting what she came to him for. Jack was too horny to make it last but still managed to bring her to a second climax along with his.
"I'm going to miss you so much," Ginger blurted out before thinking.
He chuckled. "You always say that. Though it's usually on your way out the door."
The real reason she had come to see him tonight prevented her from smiling back. "I have to go."
Jack frowned at her. "Already? What's going on?"
"Please get dressed. Then I'll tell you."
He grasped her arm. "No. We've done plenty of talking naked before."
"Fine." She pulled free of him and picked her sundress up off the floor. Despite his refusal, he got back into his jeans while she struggled with her own zipper.
"Okay. We're dressed. What's this about?"
She took a deep breath and felt her heart break in two. There was only one way to do this. Bluntly. "I'm married."
"Kelly! Wake up."
She opened her eyes and blinked up at Jack's worried face. "What... what's the matter now?"
"You were sort of gasping for air. At first I thought you were just having a good dream but then it sounded like you were crying. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."
The dream was still hovering in the back of her mind. It was like the other sex dream in that it was eerily lucid and again, she had the feeling she was seeing it through Ginger's eyes. "I know this is going to sound crazy but I have to ask. The last time you saw Ginger alive, was there, um, a chair involved?"
His eyes opened wide and he stepped back. "How do you know that?"
; "I think I just dreamed about that night."
"Well, I did tell you about it."
"You didn't tell me that the two of you had hot sex on a chair seconds before she gave you the bad news."
He turned on the table lamp then sat down and stared at her for several seconds before talking. "Is it normal for you to have dreams like that?"
She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. "No. Not at all. Most of the time I don't even know if I dreamed. But I did have one other one like this... the night before you showed up.
"Tell me everything."
Kelly managed to relate both dreams with minimal blushing by focusing more on her feelings and impressions than the specifics of the sex. "So, what do you think?"
Jack rubbed his temples. "I feel like I've entered The Twilight Zone. You just described some actual details of what happened the first and last times Ginger and I, uh, were together. I have no idea how that's possible. But a week ago I would have said time travel wasn't possible either."
"Okay, we can't explain how but if the details of the dreams were accurate, maybe the feelings were too. Ginger had been crying. She lied about the hay fever. And when she left she was struggling to hold back tears. I was, I mean, she was really upset about breaking it off with you. From the first dream, I would swear she had hoped you would ask her to marry you.
He shrugged as though her words didn't change anything. "Maybe she just got tired of waiting."
"Maybe. But I think we've been given some clues." She held up her hand before he could question that. "I don't know how that could be either but I'm not ignoring anything. Anyway, now I'm leaning even more toward the plot where the husband found out and somehow threatened you if she didn't break it off."
"And I still think that's way too simple. So now tell me about the sex. Were you just observing or did you feel that too?"
She made a face at him. "You are such a man."
"And you didn't answer the question. I'm only asking for scientific reasons. You know, to further analyze the clues in the dream."
She squinted at him and noticed a glint of mischief in his eyes. Perhaps it was time to show off her romance writing skills. "I see. Well, in both dreams, it was like I was in Ginger's body, not just her mind. When you circled her nipples with your tongue, I felt a spear of pleasure shoot straight down to my sex. By the time you kissed your way down my stomach, I was so wet you could have slid right into me without doing another thing. However, that wasn't your style. You used your mouth and hands on me until I exploded with an orgasm so powerful that I was still feeling it when I woke up in the morning. But even better than that was when you were on that chair and I straddled—"
"Okay, stop. I'm sorry I asked." He reached over and turned the lamp off before standing up. "We should try to get a little more sleep."
She couldn't hide the smile in her voice. "Gee, Jack, did I say something to offend you?"
"You're a brat," he said with a chuckle. "If it wasn't for my electric personality..."
"Ooh, I'm shaking. What terrible thing would you do to pay me back for making you a little uncomfortable?"
He was quiet for a moment then said, "I'd make you forget every other man who has ever touched you."
* * *
"I found it!" Jack exclaimed, tapping his finger against the microfiche screen. "Here's the article I wrote just before the Klan threw me that private party."
Kelly rolled her chair from her station to his and scanned the newspaper article he referred to.
On the drive into Atlanta that morning, they had decided to split their research. He would review everything he'd written for the Atlanta Journal and she would pull any articles regarding the O'Neill's, the Lake Sidney Lanier rapist and Beauregard Ramey, Jr. In this instance, their separate tracks had crossed paths.
"I thought his name sounded familiar," Jack said. "Junior Ramey was one of the teenagers whose names were given to me in connection with the beating of a colored man who tried to buy—"
"Black," Kelly interjected.
He acknowledged his slip. "Anyway, now I remember what else I'd been told but couldn't confirm in time to turn in the article. Junior Ramey was supposed to have been the son of the Imperial Wizard, the Klan's local head honcho."
"Wow. This is getting more convoluted all the time."
"Maybe not," Jack countered. "If Junior Ramey was the real Lake Sidney Lanier rapist and I was getting close to exposing him, big daddy would have had the motivation and the clout to orchestrate everything that happened to me. Ginger's death may have had nothing to do with our having an affair."
Kelly nodded. "Junior could have broken in, raped and killed her and her murder would have presented a very convenient way of getting rid of you. And everyone in the area would have obeyed his father's command to help with the frame-up.
"But here's where it gets messy again. I just read the one and only follow-up article about Junior Ramey's arrest. They whitewashed the whole thing, including the accusations that he was the real rapist all along. He confessed to breaking and entering but the attempted rape charge was dropped. After a psychiatric examination, Ramey's actions were reduced to a copycat stunt to gain attention.
"Apparently, Junior suffered a horrible facial disfigurement as a child, which made him an outcast. It was determined that he wouldn't have actually gone through with the rape even if he hadn't been interrupted by the husband."
Jack shook his head with disgust. "So, daddy got him off again. He and the others got away with that other assault also. They claimed it was a simple case of mistaken identity, that the colored—I mean, black man looked just like a man who had gotten fresh with someone's sister. They apologized and no charges were filed."
"Well, charges were filed this time but only for the b and e. Ramey's sentence was six months in a private hospital for psychiatric treatment and his intended victim and her husband were paid a settlement for their trouble."
Jack rubbed his chin. "Maybe the Rameys weren't just powerful, maybe they were also loaded. Wonder how we could confirm that today?"
Kelly returned to her station and forwarded the film to the next article. "You know what we really need now?"
"A time machine?" he asked with a grin.
"Besides that," she said with a return smile. "I was thinking more along the lines of an informant—someone who knew all the players then and wouldn't be afraid to talk now."
"Are you still thinking of that housekeeper?"
She shook her head. "No. She was definitely afraid of something. I was thinking of Mary Beth Nevers."
Jack's brows lifted sharply. "Ginger's girlfriend? How did you know her name?"
"You mentioned a Mary Beth the other night. Plus, I just read that someone interviewed her after Ginger's death. She seemed to like you and didn't believe you killed Ginger."
He sighed. "I know. She was supposed to have been called as a character witness at my trial. Unfortunately, it interfered with her honeymoon plans so she gave a deposition instead."
"Was it read?"
He laughed. "Oh yeah, they read it all right. Either she had a big change of heart about me or someone reworded her testimony. It didn't come straight out and accuse me but it was negative enough to add to the guilty picture they'd created."
Kelly had no doubt that someone had altered the deposition. Any woman who spent time around Jack would know he wasn't a rapist or a murderer. A lady killer maybe but only in the nonliteral sense. Mary Beth would not have had a change of heart about him unless she had wanted him for herself and he'd spurned her—"Did you say honeymoon plans?"
"Yeah. She got married while I was in jail."
"Was that already planned?"
Jack tried to remember. "She was engaged but I don't think they had set a date. I heard they suddenly decided to forego a big wedding and just elope."
"Doesn't that strike you as very odd? Her best friend is brutally murdered so she gets married in a hurry and goes away on a honeymoon rather than
sticking around to see if the murderer is convicted."
"Maybe Ginger's death made her worry about her own mortality and she didn't want to waste what little time she had left."
Kelly made a face at him. "Is that coming from the reporter or the amateur shrink?"
"A little of both," he replied with a chuckle. "But the reporter's nose says something stinks about it."
"I agree. If we could find her now, she might be able to shed some light into the shadows."
"That's a real long shot."
"True, but you seem to be on a lucky streak this week so maybe the odds are with us. Would you happen to know the name of the man she married?"
"Jimmy..." Jack furrowed his brow for a moment then brightened with a recollection. "Jimmy James or Joseph or Johns, something like that. It was two first names. He was away at college most of the time that Ginger and I were together. Now that I think about it, whenever Ginger mentioned him, she usually referred to him as Mary Beth's fiancé rather than by name. I thought it was her way of keeping engagement rings on my mind. Sorry. I've never been great at remembering names. It's why I always kept detailed notes, which, of course, I can't access now."
"That's okay. There was probably an announcement in the paper."
Twenty minutes later, Kelly not only confirmed that Mary Beth Nevers had married Jimmy Joe Johnson but that when they returned from their extended honeymoon cruise around the world, they planned to settle in Marietta, Georgia, where Jimmy was being made a partner in his father's car dealership. It was enough of a lead to give them hope that Mary Beth might still be around.
"I think you'll find this even more interesting," Jack said in a hushed voice, even though there was no one around to hear him. "The last piece of mine that was printed before Ginger's murder was the one where I interviewed a criminal psychologist regarding the profile that had been drawn up on the Lake Sidney Lanier rapist and added in a few assumptions of my own. Here, read it yourself and tell me what you think." He printed out a copy and handed it to Kelly.
Out of Time (Lovers in Time Series, Book 1): Time Travel Romance Page 11
