Page 34 of Special Agent Joseph

“Sure you are. The fact that I have to stop you from napping… nope, not a worry. Or the bruise I see blooming on the side of your head… no biggie. Seriously?” He let out a loud hissing sound that she thought might have been the word Jesus. “You really believe I’d let you take that chance? Then you don’t know me very well.”

Frustration made Megan attack. “Really, Joseph? Nobody seems to know you well. One minute you’re the bad guy, only out for yourself, cheating the law, and making lots of money. And the next, you wanna prove to the world that you’re a respectable citizen, helping mankind from the goodness of your heart. Who is the real Joseph Marcus?”

“Damned if I know, Megan. And quit changing the subject. Hospital or Joe’s?”

“What do you think?”

Joe turned the car around and began heading to his house. He looked over to see Megan rubbing at her head with a trembling hand, and he heard her choke back a sigh that came unexpectedly. Seeing her vulnerability made him open up to her.

“Look, I had a memory earlier when I saw you on the ground. In my head, I heard loud noises all around me. Then I felt… hell, I don’t know. Excruciating pain I guess is the best way to describe it. Strangely, I knew what made me feel that way… because the guy with me got hit. I fell over the body to protect him, but I sensed it was too late. The rest is still a blur.”

“Got hit? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well where did this happen?”

His voice came out thick and filled with exasperation. “See, I don’t know that either. It was night… dark as hell, and Irecognized terrible danger everywhere.” To curb his growing agitation, he breathed deeply and lowered his voice. “Hell I can’t even say it actually happened… yet it felt so real. It might be a bit of my memory returning. Doctor’s said it could happen slowly, all at once, or not at all.”

Megan’s interest showed in her softened voice. “Is this the only time you’ve had these flashbacks?”

“Like that, yes. But I’ve had strong feelings of right and wrong… like not understanding how I could ever whip Jack for instance. And yet Maria, my housekeeper, swears I used treat him horribly. She said I had this idea of making him a vicious guard dog.”

Megan glanced behind them. “He doesn’t seem to be holding any grudges. I’d say he likes you.”

Hearing his name, Jack whined and leaned forward from the back seat, his head resting cautiously on Joe’s shoulder as if he made this move many times before. Without hesitating, Joe reached back to rub Joe’s snout gently and pat his head, murmuring, “Good boy.”

Seconds later, Joe pulled into his driveway and looked over at Megan’s unhappy expression. “I’m not trying to take away your choice, Megan, but I can’t in all good conscience leave you to be alone. And because I didn’t want to leave Jack in the car overnight, I came back here. But if you’d really rather us go to your place, we can drop him off, feed him, and I’ll drive us there. Or, if you have someone else who’ll stay with you at your apartment, get them to meet us, and I’ll wait until they arrive. Otherwise, we’re home.”

He waited for Megan to answer, watching as she took her time thinking about her alternatives. Finally, all she said was, “I need my stuff.”

“Okay. Give me a few minutes to feed Jack and grab my things, and we’ll go to your place. I can sleep on the couch.”

“Why are you being so accommodating?”

“And here, I thought I was being reasonable.”

“That’s what I meant. Don’t quibble my words.”

“Quibble?”

“Fuck you.”

“Now there’s my girl. You wanna wait inside? I can cook us something to eat before we leave. I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

“That’s another thing. How come you know how to cook? Earlier, when Maria brought me her outfit, she said you’d get her up all hours of the day and night and order meals… and other things.”

“What? What other things?” Joe didn’t like the innuendo in her words or her tone.

“Sexual services to put it bluntly.”

Joe whipped around to stare at her, his heart rate speeding up from the indignation he instantly felt. “No fucking way.”

“It’s what she said.”

Stunned, words slipped out before he could haul them back. “What kind of a freak am I? Christ.”

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