Page 25 of One Little Memory
That put a whole new spin on things. Someone had gotten down to her car and didn’t help her before he’d gotten there. His shoulders tensed and lifted. Someone had wanted her to die. Or maybe someone just didn’t want to help. Those were two different things.
“Phoenix?”
“Sorry. Just thinking. Do you remember anything else about this person?”
“No. I can’t really see him. Or, at least, I don’t remember him clearly.”
Phoenix ran a hand through his hair. “And he took your purse.”
“That I remember. I kept wondering why. I didn’t have much money in it. Why wouldn’t he help me?”
He wasn’t going to comment on that because the truth would just scare her more. “Is there anything else you remember? Any small detail?”
She closed her eyes. “I remember the rain. It bounced off the hood and splashed me. I remember the pain. My head hurt. My shoulder…” She paused. “I remember you. At the door of my car. Reaching in and touching me. Talking to me. Asking if I was okay.” She opened her eyes. “Thank you for saving me.”
His heart gave a lurch. When she looked at him like that, like she really valued him, like she wanted him, he was powerless to say no to her. Anything she asked, he would do, and he knew it. Thank God, she didn’t know the effect she had on him.
He cleared his throat, but his voice still cracked a bit when he asked, “Do you remember how long it was between when the figure disappeared and I showed up?”
Her gaze roamed around the room. “Not really. A few minutes. Not more than, say, twenty minutes. It’s just a guess, but that’s what it felt like.”
She yawned and then winced when she slid her legs over the side of the bed.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Everything just hurts more now.”
“There’s some ibuprofen in the bathroom behind the mirror.”
She got up, padded across the room, and disappeared inside the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He rubbed his hands over his face. She was remembering, which was good, but those memories were all bad. Someone had been down at the car with her before he’d arrived. Someone took her purse. If she was right, that could really only mean one thing.
Actually, that wasn’t true. It could be that someone saw her go over the embankment and decided to go down to help. Then they thought she was dead, or at least not going to make it, and decided to steal her purse. It could’ve happened that way. But in his gut, he knew it didn’t.
Someone went down the embankment, and after seeing her, thought she was dying. With all the blood at the scene, it was an easy assumption to make. Then he took her purse and probably anything else he thought could identify her and left. He did not want her to be found, or at least not identified. He’d even ignored her pleas for help. That also meant the chances were excellent that he’d helped her over the embankment. Phoenix’s gut churned. There was no getting away from it. Someone had tried to kill Jo. But why? And why did they want to hide her identity?
The door opened, and she came back across the floor. “Do you mind staying with me? I’m kind of freaked out still.”
“I… No, that’s fine.” He helped her get situated again and then reached up and turned out the light. The darkness settled around them.
He knew two things. One, someone was trying to kill Jo, or at least had a vested interest in her not getting her memory back, and two, he was falling for the mystery woman in his bed.
CHAPTER 11
Jo woke with a start.She rolled over, but the bed was empty. It was light outside. She put her hand out, but Phoenix’s side of the bed was cold. How long had he been gone? She hadn’t heard him leave. Hadn’t woken up. She must have been exhausted. Usually, she was a light sleeper.
She froze. Was that true? Yes! It was. She knew that about herself. Her memories were starting to return. She tried not to get too excited, but it was hard. Being in this void, this blankness, was awful. She needed to know her own name. Know things about herself. Everyone took it for granted that they knew things about themselves. It was brutal when she couldn’t even answer if she liked tea or coffee.
She closed her eyes once more and breathed deeply and evenly. Maybe if she tried, she might be able to remember something else. She let her mind drift and her body relax.
It was dark.
Raining.
Fear. She was afraid. The sound of metal hitting bone. Metal hitting metal. Fighting with her car. Falling. The snap of the seatbelt across her chest as she plummeted down the side of thatembankment. The shock of pain as her head collided with the door.
Her eyes popped open as her heart rate soared. She was gasping for breath as she sat up and tried to make sense of what she’d remembered, but it wouldn’t come together. It was all in disjointed bits. She groaned in frustration.
The cell phone on the nightstand went off. She glanced over at it.Phoenix. The name appeared on the screen. She reached over, unplugged it, and answered. “Hey, Phoenix.”
