The Many Lives of Jack Wells Read online

  The Many Lives of Jack Wells

  Michelle Files

  Published by BookLovers Publishing

  Contents

  Introduction

  Novels

  Copyright

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Part 2

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Part 3

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Part 4

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Part 5

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  INTRODUCTION

  Jack Wells is executed for a crime he did not commit. Then things get worse.

  After his execution, 42 year old Jack wakes up as a 19 year old, and he remembers everything from his past life. The only thing he doesn't know is who committed the murders.

  The murders have yet to be committed. Can Jack save them in time, and his own life in the process?

  Over several lifetimes, Jack races through time to find the answers. This is one fight to the finish you won’t want to miss.

  Get your copy of this gripping time travel series.

  The Ivy Mystery series:

  The Many Lives of Ivy Wells

  The Many Lives of Sam Wells

  The Many Lives of Jack Wells

  Novels by Michelle Files:

  TYLER MYSTERY SERIES:

  Girl Lost

  A Reckless Life

  WILDFLOWER MYSTERY SERIES:

  Secrets of Wildflower Island

  Desperation on Wildflower Island

  Storm on Wildflower Island

  Thorns on Wildflower Island

  IVY WELLS MYSTERY SERIES:

  The Many Lives of Ivy Wells

  The Many Lives of Sam Wells

  The Many Lives of Jack Wells

  STONE MOUNTAIN FAMILY SAGA:

  Winters Legend on Stone Mountain

  A Dangerous Game on Stone Mountain

  Deceit on Stone Mountain

  For information on any of Michelle’s books:

  www.MichelleFiles.com

  Copyright ©️ 2020 by Michelle Files

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form, without prior written permission of the author.

  Published in the United States by BookLovers Publishing.

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to actual people, places or events is purely coincidental.

  1st Edition 2020

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  There were protesters. And there were supporters. The parking lot was full of them. They wore hats and comfortable shoes, and passed around sunscreen.

  Watching them out my prison cell window, I couldn’t tell the protesters and the supporters apart. And when I thought about it, I didn’t care. None of it mattered anymore. I was beyond all of that.

  It was my 42nd birthday. It was also the day that I would be executed for a crime I did not commit. None of those strangers marching around the parking lot with signs were going to change that fact.

  “Wells, you have a visitor,” the booming voice of the guard announced.

  I looked up to find the one person in my life…no, the one person in the entire universe, that I despised the most. Sheriff Patrick Dunne. I loathed that man with every fiber in my body. If I was ever going to kill someone, he would be that someone.

  The man hadn’t aged well. He looked to be roughly 70 years old. He was a good 50 pounds overweight and his complexion was ruddy. It looked to me like every step for him was an effort. His breathing was labored and wheezy.

  I was not a bad man. I never hurt anyone in my life. But, if Sheriff Dunne was struggling just to get through the day, I was perfectly fine with that. He was the reason I was in prison in the first place, and I would never forgive him for that.

  “Damn, it’s a hot one out there.” I watched as he pulled a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and wiped his forehead. “It’s not even 10 a.m. and the air is already thick with humidity. I don’t know why anyone lives in this god forsaken place.”

  “What do you want, Dunne?” He was getting no respect from me. Not now, not ever.

  He straightened his stance. “Now, Jack, is that any way to greet an old friend?”

  His sparse gray hair was plastered to his head with a layer of sweat. Despite his attempt at stopping it, beads of sweat turned into drops that seemed to ooze down his pudgy face.

  “Don’t call me Jack. We are not friends.” I was not mincing words. Who did I have to impress anyway? Being on death row could bring out the worst in a guy.

  The look on his face turned from indifference to a visible scowl. His voice turned mean. “You know what? It’s about time that you paid for your crime.”

  Was there any point in arguing with the man? Probably not. No…definitely not. But, I had nothing to lose. I was going nowhere.

  “You, of all people, know that I didn’t do it.”

  There was no emotion in my voice. I didn’t feel the need for that. It was just a matter of fact statement. A statement that the sheriff knew was the absolute truth.

  Then I saw it. The smallest flicker on his face. Was it surprise? Maybe. Was it hatred? Probably.

  “You didn’t do it? Is that still your story? Then tell me this, who is it that killed those boys all those years ago?” He narrowed his eyes at me, daring me to name someone.

  “How the hell should I know? I’ve been sitting here in prison for over 20 years.” My voice got louder as I stood, facing the sheriff. “It was your job to find the killer, not mine. Those boys deserved justice for what happened to them. Hell, they still do.” I moved as close to the sheriff as I could get. The prison cell bars were the only thing separating the two of us. “You framed me and you know it. You will not get away with this.”

  Sheriff Dunne turned his head left, then right, looking down the long hallway. I followed his gaze. The guard had walked down toward the end, giving us privacy. I was sure that was at Dunne’s request.

  He turned back and stared me straight in the eyes, unblinking. “Looks like I already have.”

  I stepped back as a barely perceptible smile crept into his lips. It did not extend to his eyes. They were as dead as I would expect a man of his caliber to be.

  Turning around so that my back was facing him, I stifled the urge to cry out. I would not give him the satisfaction.

  We both turned toward the window as the din from the parking lot grew. The arguing and shouting seemed to be getting louder, the closer we got to my execution. For just a moment I wondered how many were on my side. Were any on my side? Or were they all there to show the world their support for my demise.

  Truth is, if I was the parent of one of the boys that was killed, I would probably be right there, sign wielding, along with the crowd.

  I said nothing.

  “Looks like you have a few fans out there,” Sheriff Dunne remarked with a ch
uckle.

  Turning back to face the man who was responsible for my current situation, “Did you just come here to torment me? Or is there an actual purpose to this visit?”

  “The families of those boys you murdered are all here. And there are a lot of them. The looks on their faces are telling me that given the chance, they would tear you limb from limb.” Dunne smiled.

  “I would expect nothing less.” No point in arguing any further with the man.

  “Your family is here. Did you know that?” he announced with just the right amount of glee I would expect from him.

  I shook my head. “No, I didn’t know that. I don’t want my family here. I told them that. My mother and sisters don’t deserve to see what is coming.”

  “I have already had a conversation with them. Ivy, and your sister, Harper, are upset, as to be expected, but they are holding their own. They want to come in and visit with you before…well, you know.”

  It was interesting to me that the mighty Sheriff Patrick Dunne couldn’t even say the word.

  “Before I’m executed? Is that what you can’t say? Feeling some guilt there, Sheriff?”

  “There’s only one guilty person here, and it ain’t me,” he replied with a bit of a snarl.

  We both turned in response to the approaching footsteps echoing off the concrete floor.

  “The pastor is here to see you,” the guard said directly to me.

  I watched as his eyes flicked briefly over to Sheriff Dunne, and then back to me. In just that brief moment, I could see that the sheriff had another person in his presence who was no fan of his.

  “I’m not a religious person, so I don’t really see the need,” I told the guard. “Thanks anyway.”

  He nodded toward me, and without speaking, turned and walked back the way he had come, his departing footsteps once again echoing off the walls.

  “Why not talk to the man anyway?” Dunne asked. “What could it hurt?”

  “Don’t tell me you are actually trying to be nice. Too late…much too late for that. Now, if there is nothing else, I would like to see my family,” I told him.

  “I thought you didn’t want to see them?” he asked with raised eyebrows. “The thought of being all alone while dying finally getting to you Wells?” His eyes scanned the wall above my head. “Oh wait, you won’t be alone. There will be a couple dozen people watching the needle go into your arm.” He smiled at the thought.

  “Everybody dies alone. It doesn’t matter how many are watching,” I told him.

  He nodded. “So do you want to see your mother and sister or not?”

  “I didn’t want them here, but since they are, then yes, I want to see them.”

  “Alrighty then.” He turned and walked away.

  Ten minutes later, I turned when I heard my sister’s sobbing moving closer and closer up the hall. She and my mother were following the guard toward my cell. I stood to greet them.

  The guard opened my cell door and locked it behind my family. My sister almost knocked me over as she latched onto me and sobbed into my shoulder. I looked over her shoulder at the sad face of my mother.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Harper continued to wail.

  After another couple of minutes, I gently pulled out of her embrace. Walking over to my mother, I hugged her tightly.

  “I’m so sorry, Mom,” I told her, doing my ever best not to cry along with my sister. “I didn’t do this. I swear I didn’t.”

  “This isn’t your fault, Honey. I know that deep in my soul. You are not a killer. I’m just sorry that we haven’t been able to find the person that did that horrible crime.” My mother was always the rational one.

  “Where’s Georgie?” I asked, looking into the sorrowful eyes of my mother.

  My mother looked down at her feet and back up to meet my eyes. “Your sister couldn’t do it. Georgie just couldn’t come here and face all of this.” My mother spread her arms wide, indicating the cell, the prison, me, my execution. You know, all of it.

  I nodded. Georgie had always been the sensitive one. Younger than me by several years, we never really had gotten to know each other very well. I was only 19 when the murders happened and I was arrested. She was still a child. My mother brought Georgie to the prison a few times when she became an adult, but the visits were stilted and uncomfortable. After a while, she just stopped coming all together.

  We sat there, talking and crying over the next hour. My father had died years ago. It was just the four of us now.

  “I really wish Graham could have been here to see you,” my mother told me.

  “I’m not. Even though he died young, and missed most of my life, I’m not sorry that he never had to know about my conviction. And what is about to happen today. At least he was spared all of this,” I told her honestly.

  “Still…” my mother began.

  Harper put her hand up to stop my mother. “No, Mom, Jack is right. Dad didn’t need to see this. Actually, none of us do. But it is what it is.”

  My time was drawing close. We all turned to the guard, clearing his throat, who none of us had noticed approaching.

  “Wells, it’s time for your family to go.”

  He had no sympathy on his face. He, along with most of the world, believed me to be guilty.

  “Noooooo!” Harper cried out, grabbing me around the waist. “Just a few more minutes, please?”

  “I’m sorry, Miss. I can’t do that. We are on a tight schedule and he has to be moved.”

  The guard opened the cell door and stood to the side to allow my mother and sister to exit. Both of them hugged me once more. It was the last time they would ever get to do that. I didn’t feel sorrow for myself. I had accepted my fate long ago. I felt sorrow for my family. My little, four person family. Soon to be only three. They didn’t deserve what was coming. They didn’t deserve to see me killed. I was thankful that Georgie had not shown up for the horror show. I begged them to go home and not watch my demise. They refused. I didn’t argue. I didn't want our last conversation to be a fight. They had made their decision and I had to live with that. Or rather, die with that.

  I was the first person to be executed in the state in almost ten years.

  Chapter 2

  I felt like I was drifting. Up, up, and away. It was so peaceful. Maybe this dying thing wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

  Suddenly, I felt shaking. Was that an earthquake or my imagination? Perhaps some sort of result of the drugs used in an execution? I was so tired and finally drifted off, forgetting everything. I was no longer to be.

  While still lying there, bright light hit my face. Even with my lids closed, it was almost blinding. What was happening? Was someone shining a spotlight on me? It almost felt like the sun was beating down on me, so warm and inviting. But even in my drug induced state, I knew that was impossible. I was still fully aware that I was being executed.

  Opening my eyes, I stumbled backward as my senses were assaulted. Tripping over what turned out to be a rock behind me, then over my own feet, it was all I could do to stay upright. Only the large elm tree, that I managed to grab onto, saved me from almost definite injury.

  I looked up, straight into the sun, slamming my eyes shut involuntarily.

  “What the hell?”

  Looking around, I realized that I was no longer in the death chamber, as I liked to call it, with family and enemies alike, watching me die.

  I was outside.

  “What is going on?” I said out loud to myself once again.

  I scanned my surroundings and found that I was completely alone. Not a soul in sight. There were trees and rocks, and even a ravine in front of me.

  Wait…a ravine? No, it couldn’t possibly be the very ravine that the murdered boys had been found in. Could it?

  I took a tentative step toward it. Then another. My heart was pounding in my chest, my breath shallow. Okay, I wasn’t dreaming. I could actually feel the sun on my skin, and the slight warm breeze ruffling my h
air. I was definitely no longer in the prison.

  Another step toward the ravine and I found myself standing on the edge. Straining my neck to see over without getting too close and slipping in myself, I did my best to look down into the depths below.

  No bodies. Thank god for that. Just the usual rocks, bushes, and other debris. I took a quick step back as the dirt under my feet began to give way, spilling over the side.

  I didn’t want to be caught anywhere near that ravine.

  “I really shouldn’t be here.” I turned quickly around to make sure no one had heard me. I was still alone.

  I felt the unrelenting urge to get out of the forest. And fast. Though I hadn’t been home in over 20 years, I still knew the way, and I headed in that direction. My mind was racing. How in the world did I go from being in the middle of being killed, to this spot? It wasn’t possible. Yet, here I was, back in Red Lake. The town I grew up in and the town that those young boys were murdered in.

  I stayed close to the trees and bushes as I walked. The last thing I needed was for one of the residents of Red Lake to see me and raise the alarm. I had no idea how I got there, but I didn't need to call attention to myself. I was big news in Red Lake. There was a pretty good chance that I would be recognized. My sister told me not long ago that the townspeople still talked about the crime.