Jeff jerked awake on the seat, breathing hard, just as the vehicle he was in came to a stop. He half expected both his arms to be there. He let reality rush back as memories dissipated. Pain. Hospital rooms.
He could remember grasping that phone a second longer, just so he could hear her voice in his ear. Two seconds later, his whole world had exploded.
He would rather remember her voice. Not what happened because he’d waited around too long. Jeff had tried to convince her to leave with him. She’d refused, and he’d had to let her go to fend for herself, and she’d died while life, as he knew it, essentially came to an end. Who he’d been was gone forever. And the life he had made since might not be much, but he would make the most of it.
“Hey, are you awake?”
He jerked upright and groaned as pain sliced through his side. He didn’t recognize that voice—or it was simply not the one he wanted to hear. Wrong accent.
A hand touched his chest. “Easy.”
He swiped the hand away and grasped her wrist. Hard.
She hissed out a breath. “Jeff.”
He let go, blinking. Before he could comprehend much of anything, she shoved the door open and was gone.
If he went after her, she’d have definitely shut the door in his face. Instead, he flopped back onto the bench seat. Toni.
Jeff stared at the ceiling of the truck until the door opened again. It was Tate. “Do you think she’ll let me walk that back. I wasn’t in my right mind.”
“She looked pretty heated up when she stormed into the house.”
“At least she went into the cabin. She could’ve headed off back down the road.”
“And you’d have had to let her, because she can go wherever she wants to.”
“It’s not safe.” Jeff shoved himself over to the open door and got out. “I know she can go wherever she wants, but there’s a guy out there looking for her.”
“You found him?”
Jeff said, “Let’s get inside. I want Toni to hear this as well.” Then she would know that leaving wasn’t the best course of action. She wasn’t a captive here. If she didn’t want to stay, then she should think seriously on talking to the police about protective custody.
Tate shut the door.
Jeff found her by the kitchen counter, rubbing her forearm, the huge sleeve of his sweatshirt rolled up. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
“Thank you.”
He squeezed her shoulder, which caused the skin along his graze to pull. He winced and tugged off the jacket. The whole side of his T-shirt was damp with blood.
She eyed him. “That doesn’t look good.”
Tate didn’t comment, he just headed for the sink and pulled out the medical kit from underneath.
Toni said, “Your mother had one exactly like that. She bandaged my knee.”
“You saw her?”
She nodded. “She misses you. I know that, and I was only there ten minutes. She’s beautiful, and so sad. It broke my heart.”
Jeff ducked his head. The graze needed to be dealt with, so he pulled off his shirt one handed and rounded the counter so Tate could do whatever it was that needed to be done.
His friend eyed him. Jeff didn’t want to talk about his mother or he’d wind up in a spiral of depression over the fact he could never see her again. It was good that Toni had gone there. She’d been taken care of and had been in good hands. Not to mention she was the exact kind of person his mother tried to help.
He held the shirt bundled against his front while Tate wiped and dabbed at his side without the need for Jeff to lift his arm. Toni probably stared at the stub where his arm should’ve been. Maybe she downplayed it, but he’d found everyone to be interested, and she likely wasn’t an exception to that. He didn’t mind because there was no point in caring.
Jeff just didn’t want every part of his life to be lived through the lens of a missing arm. As though it had to permeate all he was, and said, and did. There was more to him than one appendage, blown off by a terrorist with an IED. She could get her look, and then they could get on with their lives. He wasn’t going to hide it, and he wasn’t going to let anyone accommodate him because he had this clear deficiency.
Tate leaned in and pressed down a butterfly bandage. He used six more, then covered the wound with gauze that he taped down. “You’re going to keep bleeding if you don’t get stitches.”
Jeff didn’t see the point in stitches unless the doctor was coming here for another reason. That seemed like a waste of time. “I probably need a shower.”
Tate grunted. “You were right, though. It’s just a graze.”
He heard Toni’s audible sigh, as though she’d been worried about him. “I’m so glad you didn’t find him.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “I did.”
“You saw the guy who shot you?”
“Followed him back to his truck.”
She gaped at him. “Why did you follow him? He could have shot you!”
Tate shut the lid of the medical kit and made himself scarce. Jeff briefly wondered if he should get a clean shirt, but he needed to stick around to diffuse her fear if he could. Panic wasn’t always irrational; often it was founded in a deep worry and concern. He could tell she cared about him. She’d been scared for his life. But that must have gone hand in hand with having to keep his secret from his mother.
This was a woman on his side.
His mind took him back to that last tragic phone call and the voice that would forever fill his dreams. Would Toni have listened to him in that same situation? If he told her on the phone that it wasn’t safe anymore and that she needed to get out, would she? Or would she stay to help just a few more people and end up dead in a terrorist attack.
Jeff shook his head. The two situations were different, and he shouldn’t project his mixed-up feelings of grief from that horrific situation onto this one. It wasn’t fair to any of them.
“You’re not immune to bullets. He could’ve killed you.”
Jeff figured that was debatable. “I was careful. I waited until he gave up looking for you and then tracked him.”
In the kitchen, Tate started the oven and pulled a package of bacon out of the fridge, along with a loaf of bread.
“I have a license plate number for you.”
Tate nodded. “I’ll get it before I leave.”
Jeff didn’t want to be glad he wasn’t staying. It had been a crazy last few hours, and he was exhausted. He figured Toni needed rest, too, when she squeezed the bridge of her nose, looking like she was about to cry.
Jeff pulled her in for a hug. She avoided his wound, wrapping her arms around him high on his chest. She pressed her hands on his shoulder blades as though she was hanging on for dear life.
He touched his cheek to her hair. “It’s okay. I’m fine, and you’re here where it’s safe, and you can take all the time you need to work on your memory.”
He wondered if she was simply exhausted—physically and emotionally—or if she couldn’t let go of the fear for some other reason. She could be reacting like this without knowing why, simply because she didn’t remember. Who knew how amnesia worked? Perhaps her instincts were correct, and they just had insufficient information to give an explanation. Either that, or she was feeling the latent fear from the night before and running to his mom’s shelter had brought it all back.
He rubbed his hand between her shoulders. “You should go sit down.”
She nodded against his chin. “I want ketchup in my bacon sandwich.”
He glanced back at Tate as she padded off to the kitchen. The private investigator shrugged. “Did you get enough of a look to give a description of the guy?”
Jeff nodded. “I don’t know how much it will help without a look at mug shots or a photo to show you.” Given Tate lived in town, he knew more people than the two Jeff saw on a regular basis. Toni made three. His sphere was practically double at this point.
He pulled a can of cat food from the shelf above the dryer and peeled the lid open. Professor Mittens wandered over, as though this was expected. Food was his due, and Jeff the minion to serve him.
“I’ll take whatever you’ve got,” Tate said. “I checked with the police, and there have been no reports of missing persons. No crimes called in early yesterday morning jive with your version of events. Not even a mystery 9-1-1 hang up.” He glanced over at Toni. “Without a photo of you to circulate, I may not get too far trying to figure out who you are.”
He saw the fear in her. A visceral need to keep her identity quiet, the way he did. But how could that be? Who was this woman that she didn’t want a photo to get out? It seemed like she would rather hide up here with him.
Before she could object to Tate’s request for a photo, he said, “The guy I saw might not be much help either, except for the way he moved through the woods.”
“The same guy who shot at Toni last night?” When Jeff nodded, Tate said, “Tell me your impression of him.”
“Dark hair. Mid-forties. He can’t shoot, but he moved like…a hunter. Not the kind with a license who takes down a deer as a hobby. He had an elemental need to find Toni.” He didn’t exactly want her hearing this when she was already so scared, but it was a good indication as to why she should stay here where it was safe. “He’s either obsessed, or it’s some other kind of compulsion.”
“I’ll see what I can do about mug shots.”
Jeff nodded, though he figured if he could somehow obtain access to admissions for the psych ward at the hospital, or talk with a local counselor, it would more likely turn up a result. Guys like that could fly under the radar with the cops. He could likely, in all ways, appear as a completely normal guy. There was no way to figure out who he was without an image, even for someone like Tate who knew practically everyone in town.
“Hopefully we get something from the license plate number.”
Jeff grabbed a piece of scratch paper from his junk drawer and wrote it down before he forgot.
Tate pocketed it. “I’ll head out. Enjoy your breakfast.”
“Thanks. For everything.” Jeff just stared after his friend and shook his head. He didn’t understand the guy. He was thankful Tate came to bandage him up, but leaving without waiting for the bacon? That was just crazy.
Tate let himself out.
Jeff saw there were eight minutes still on the timer for the bacon so he went to the couch and sat beside Toni. She’d changed back into his shorts and shirt. When she shivered, he pulled the blanket from the back and unfolded it for her. She pulled it up to her chin, tucking it around herself and under her feet.
The shell-shocked expression never left her face.
“I’m going to find out what this guy wants, and I’m going to make sure the police get a full report of all this guy’s done.” Jeff knew it was a promise he might not be able to keep, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do everything in his power to make it happen. “He’s not going to touch you. I’m not going to say there’s nothing to worry about, because we all know that’s not true. What I am saying is that I’m here, and I’ll keep you safe.”
She might be the first person he’d met in the years since he lost his arm who could understand his life and the way it had to be. There was no going back. He was all-in to help her figure out who she was and take down the guy who’d been hunting her. Jeff needed to let the past go and embrace what was right in front of him.
The man hunting her might have given up today, but Jeff knew he would be back soon enough.