“It might be a while before I remember.” Jennie tried to put her fears to rest.
“I hope not.” Rocky sat back in his chair.
“You said the police found some evidence linking what happened to me to these bank robberies? Finding my car and knowing I was abducted doesn’t necessarily mean it was the bank robbers, does it?” As much as she hated thinking about her ordeal, she had to know what the police had found and how she’d become involved.
“We found some prints on your car that match a set the Vancouver police lifted from a car that was abandoned near Vancouver Mall. They have witnesses who say it was one of the getaway cars. Also, we’ve been able to link a string of stolen and abandoned cars to this ring of bank robberies.”
“Then I don’t need to remember, right? Won’t the prints tell you who did it? And you said there were other witnesses.”
“So far we haven’t been able to come up with a match on the prints. We’re still working on that. As for witnesses, the guys were always in disguise.”
“What if I don’t remember?”
“Oh, I have no doubt we’ll get them eventually. But we want them now, before …” He hesitated. His concerned gaze met Jennie’s eyes, and she knew.
“Before they come after me?”
“That is a concern. Your dad wants around-the-clock guards put on you, but we just don’t have enough officers or time for that. But don’t worry. We have it covered. I’ve offered to keep an eye on you when your dad isn’t around. Your grandmother and J.B. will help as well. I guess they’re here for a few days to help out.”
“That’s really nice of you.”
He shrugged. “Not really. We’re just covering the bases.”
Knowing she’d have around-the-clock guards lessened her fears. Still, she wouldn’t be able to rest until the criminals were caught and in prison. “I just don’t understand why you haven’t been able to catch them yet.”
“They’re resourceful. In each case they leave so many rabbit trails it’s almost impossible to follow up on the leads. Finding their hideout was a big break for us. If the Graham girls hadn’t found you, we’d still be going in circles.”
Jennie touched the still-tender lump on the back of her head. “I’m sure glad Corisa and Brandy showed up when they did.”
Rocky’s sincere blue gaze met hers. “So am I.”
He cleared his throat and went on. “Besides the bullet hole and prints, we found a couple twenty-dollar bills in the trunk. The serial numbers match those taken in Friday’s robbery.”
“Have there been any more robberies?”
“There were two last Saturday up north. Nothing since. We’re thinking they either left the area or are waiting for things to cool down.” Rocky looked pensive.
“You don’t think I had anything to do with the robberies, do you? I mean … it couldn’t have been me. I was at the falls waiting for …” Jennie swallowed back a newly formed lump.
A woman in a lab coat paused at the door to Jennie’s room. Her gaze drifted from Rocky to Jennie. She took a couple of steps inside and stopped.
“Did you need something?” Rocky asked.
The woman came closer. “Hi, Jennie. I … um … I’m Julie Larson.” She pointed to her name badge. “I was working in the ER when Jennie was brought in. Thought I’d stop and see how things are going.” She smiled. “You certainly look better.”
“Thanks, I think.” Jennie didn’t remember seeing her in the ER, but her memory wasn’t exactly reliable. Julie had straight blond hair cut in a shag that framed her thin face. She was in her forties. There was a toughness about her that Jennie found unsettling.
You find everything unsettling, she reminded herself.
“No problem. I like to follow up on my patients.”
She smoked, Jennie realized as Julie neared the bed. That disturbed her even more than the toughness, but she wasn’t sure why. The scent wasn’t overpowering, just present as it was in several of the hospital staff who’d cared for her. In fact, Julie had apparently tried to hide the smell with a mint. You have to stop being so suspicious.
“I heard you were regaining your memory,” Julie said.
“Some.”
“That’s great. Your nurse says there’s a good chance you’ll regain all of it.”
“I hope so.”
Julie glanced at Rocky. “I’ll bet you’re anxious for her memory to return since she can identify the bank robbers?”
He raised an eyebrow and eyed her suspiciously. “How did you know about the connection?”
“Heard it this morning on my way to work. The sheriff’s department finally gave in to the press and held a news conference. Pretty disturbing. Did you know Jennie’s considered a suspect?”
“The sheriff said that?” Rocky asked.
“Not exactly. The reporter did. Apparently some woman called in to the news station with an anonymous tip. They recorded her and played it on the air. The witness said she’d seen a red Mustang at her bank during the robbery and thought it might have been used as a getaway car.” Julie looked back at Jennie. “She described you as the driver.”
“Jennie was at the bank that got hit last Friday,” Rocky informed her. “She’d gone in to make a deposit.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that bank. It was the one up in Woodland on Saturday.”
“Has to be a prank call!” Rocky ran a hand through his sandy hair. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more. Just thought you might like to know.” Julie tipped her head, offering Jennie a sympathetic look. “I’m sure once you regain your memory, you’ll be able to set matters right.”
Rocky left later that afternoon when her father arrived. Since the visit with Julie, she’d been stewing about her possible involvement in the holdups. Though Rocky tried to tell her the witness was mistaken and that there were a lot of red Mustangs out there, the insinuation that she might have been one of the bank robbers haunted her.
What kind of life did I lead before? Was I leading a double life? Could she trust those who told her she was innocent of wrongdoing?
“What if I am one of the bank robbers?” Jennie asked Dad.
“You are not!” her father said emphatically. His mood sullen, he’d listened to her relate her earlier conversation with the ER nurse and Rocky. “The woman was wrong. There is no way you would take part in a bank robbery.”
“Are you sure I didn’t do it?”
“Jennie, how would you feel if I agreed and told you that you actually were capable of such a thing?”
“Terrible, I guess.”
“Right now if I told you to go rob a bank, would you do it?”
She scrunched up her face. “Of course not.”
“See? You wouldn’t because you are not now, nor have you ever been, a criminal.”
“The doctor said that after a head injury a person’s personality can change.”
Dad placed his hand over hers. “Princess, look at me.” She met his gaze, then looked away. She wanted more than anything to believe him. But how could he know for sure? Even the sheriff doubted her. He’d come in while Rocky was there. “The sheriff asked me all kinds of questions and acted like he didn’t believe me. He said I’d previously been arrested for possession.”
Dad covered his eyes and rubbed his forehead.
“It’s true, isn’t it?”
“The drugs were planted in your car. You were completely innocent, and those charges were dropped. You don’t have a criminal record.”
“Are you sure, Dad? Are you absolutely sure?”
“Yes,” he said reassuringly. “We don’t have all the answers yet. The sheriff’s department has search teams out there now combing a five-mile radius around the campground where you were supposed to meet Lisa. They’re hoping to find the car your abductor left behind. Like I said, I don’t know exactly what happened. But I do know this, princess. You were a victim. I looked over the place myself. They kept you locked up in a closet. You were beaten and taken into the woods …”
A scene flashed in Jennie’s head. Terror shot through her like a bolt of lightning.
Her dad was on his feet and at her side in an instant. “What happened? Are you in pain?”
She gasped for air and gripped his arm. “Another flashback. I saw him, Dad. I saw his face.”