Love Inspired Suspense June 2014 Bundle 1 of 2: Undercover Marriage\Collateral Damage\Forgotten Past (40 page)

“Did he live there?”

She remembered Ben had told her once he had an apartment downtown. “No.”

“Then how would he know if anything had been taken?”

“I think he stayed at the ranch quite often. I spoke with him shortly after the social worker took me home from the hospital. Their deaths were devastating for him.”

“We need to talk to him. See what he remembers. He might be able to shed some light on what happened. At least give us another perspective. How well do you know him?”

“We talked several times on the phone, but I never met him in person. I was still in the hospital at the time of Rachel's and Carl's funerals. Ben is very nice and I'm sure he'd be willing to do whatever he could to help solve his family's murders.” She still remembered those calls as if they were yesterday. Ben had wept over the loss of his family, and his outpouring of grief had left an indelible mark on her. She'd felt so helpless. If only she could remember something.

“Did the police give you any indication as to why they didn't think the calls were connected to the murders?”

She shook her head. “Like I said, they acted like I made the whole thing up.” She wasn't being totally upfront with JT. She hated talking about the detectives' innuendos. At first, they'd only hinted at the possibility of her involvement in what had happened to the Jennings. Later on, those hints had turned into accusations. The only reason they'd let her go was the lack of evidence against her. She'd lost her friends, her memory, her sense of security, and she'd been terrified she would lose her freedom as well.

“I don't get it. With everything that happened to you, you'd think they would have investigated the calls more thoroughly.” He thought about it for a minute and then asked, “What about Carl Jennings and his daughter? Was there any indication they may have been having trouble with someone prior to their deaths?”

Faith had gone over every possible scenario in her head a thousand times. Researched Rachel and Carl online, yet nothing out of the ordinary appeared to be happening in their lives. Certainly nothing that would have prompted someone to murder them. “No. Everyone loved them.”

JT ran a jerky hand through his hair. “What about Carl's business dealings? Anything unusual there? I'm thinking maybe one of his business deals put him in contact with someone dangerous.”

She didn't believe it for a second. Everything she'd uncovered about Carl Jennings indicated he was a well-respected businessman.

The most surprising piece of information she'd learned about him had actually come from the police. Even though she couldn't remember anything about it, they told her she had worked for Carl as his accountant shortly before his death.

Faith struggled to let go of those ugly memories. “Carl was a real estate developer at the time of his death, but his family made a fortune in oil before he sold the business after his son, who was a few years older than Rachel, was killed in an explosion on one of his rigs. At the time, the Jennings family lived in Midland. After Carl quit the oil business, he bought the ranch outside of Austin and started developing commercial real estate a few years later. Carl was responsible for building some of the most desirable shopping centers and hotels in Austin and—”

She stopped midsentence. How did she know about Carl's son dying? She couldn't recall the police ever mentioning it. Had Rachel told her about her brother's death or had she simply read it somewhere? She tried to remember the news reports concerning the Jennings family. There had been something mentioned about Carl's son, but nothing about how he'd died.

“What is it?” JT had seen her hesitate.

She shook her head. “Nothing.” What if those memories had nothing to do with Carl Jennings's past? Maybe she'd become so desperate she was conjuring up false memories.

JT covered her hand with his. His calloused thumb stroked over her fingers. She swallowed hard but the lump in her throat just wouldn't go away.

When she met his eyes she forgot about the danger she faced. The troubled past she couldn't remember. Awareness sparked between them again and for a second she thought he might kiss her.

He cleared his throat. “Thank you for telling me. I know it must be difficult to rehash those terrible memories, but now that you have, a lot of things make sense. I understand now why you've been so terrified.”

She struggled to achieve the same level of calm he'd found. “The doctors kept telling me my memory should return in time. I was even prescribed medication to help, but it didn't.”

Something she said got his attention. “Wait...what type of medication did they prescribe? Do you still have the bottle?”

“Yes. They're upstairs in my bathroom. The drug is called Zyban, but I stopped taking the pills last week because they weren't helping. In fact, they seemed to make things worse. I couldn't concentrate or think clearly.”

She could tell the name of the drug didn't ring any bells for him. “Who prescribed them?”

“The doctor who treated me at the hospital, Alex Stephens. Why? Is that important?”

“Maybe. I'm not sure. I'll check it out. At this point, we can't afford to dismiss anything. How did you get the prescription refilled when you moved around so much?”

“Online. I ordered the prescription through a website. They arrived in the mail every couple of months.”

“For two years? Wouldn't the prescription have to be refilled by then? Did you contact the doctor?”

She looked over at him and shrugged. “To be honest, I never really thought about it until now. Dr. Stephens always managed to have the prescription renewed for me before it ran out. I was just grateful that he was being so diligent.”

“That is odd. Most doctors would insist on seeing a patient before they refilled a prescription after so long. At the very least they'd have you check in with a local doctor.”

JT was right—it didn't make sense. “I'll go get them for you.” Faith ran upstairs and grabbed the bottle from her medicine cabinet. Less than a handful of the pills remained.

She handed them to JT once she returned to the kitchen.

“Thanks.” He examined the bottle for a second then stuck them in his pocket. “I take it since the night of the attack, nothing from your past has returned?”

She started to answer no, but then bit her lip.

“What is it?” he prompted.

“I'm not sure. It may be nothing, but there was something familiar about the roses and I've been trying to figure out what. I think at one time, they may have been my favorite flower, but something changed that. And what I told you about Carl selling the oil business after his son died on one of his rigs? That was never published anywhere. The papers simply mentioned he'd sold a successful business in Midland and started his own real estate development business a few years before his death. Then today, when Liz was here, I noticed the locket she wore around her neck...”

JT appeared lost for a second. “Oh, right. Sam gave her the locket when Ellie was born.”

Faith remembered JT mentioning his niece before. It was easy to see he adored the child. She was drawn to JT's strong sense of family. For someone with no family connection, she yearned for it. “When I saw it, I remembered...something. I don't know if it's real or just something I've imagined.”

“I know this is hard.” His eyes met hers and she forgot what she'd been about to say. His expression grew serious and he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you up to trying something?”

She agreed with a shake of her head because forming words was hard to do.

He smiled gently. “Good. I don't want you to try to analyze what you're about to say, just tell me what you remembered.”

She closed her eyes against the disturbing distraction JT represented. However, he didn't seem to suffer from the roller-coaster ride of emotions that she did. Had she imagined this attraction between them? “I think it was my sixteenth birthday. My father gave me a locket similar to the one Liz wore. It had a photo of my mother in it.”

“It's something, anyway,” JT said.

She opened her eyes and stared at him. “But that's just it. My parents died when I was a child. That memory couldn't be mine.”

“That's a very detailed memory to not have some importance in your life, even if it's not exactly as you recalled it. It could mean you're regaining your memory and it's definitely something to go on. I take it these are the first ones that have come back to you?”

She desperately hoped JT was right. “Yes. Everything else is still blank. You have no idea how frightening not remembering who you are can be.”

“Tell me what it's been like,” he prodded gently.

“Well, before the hospital would discharge me, they were trying to find a relative or friend, someone who could check in on me from time to time, but there wasn't anyone. The social worker they assigned to me was very nice. She took me home and made sure I had food in the apartment.” Her voice shook and she fought back tears of frustration. “But I'll never forget how surreal it felt when I stepped through the door for the first time. I knew this was where I lived, and yet nothing was familiar.”

JT shook his head. “I can't even imagine. I'm sorry you've had to go through this.”

In truth, the unknown had been paralyzing. She couldn't sleep. Couldn't leave her apartment. Couldn't banish the fear no matter how many lights she turned on. She'd become a prisoner to it.

“What was your life like after that?” JT asked.

“I felt as if I lived in a country where I didn't speak the language. Everything was foreign. There were very few personal items in the apartment for me to get any real sense of what my life was like. I found a couple of photos taken of Rachel and me but little else. It was almost as if I hadn't existed before.”

“You must have been terrified. And then, a week later, when those phone calls started coming...” There was a long pause. “You said the guy's never spoken until tonight?”

“That's right.”

“Did you recognize his voice?”

If only it were that easy. “No. I've never heard it before. His voice sounded muffled on the phone.”

JT's mouth tightened. “I'm not really surprised. Apparently, he was trying to disguise his voice by holding a cloth over the mouthpiece, which tells me you probably do know him.”

What little bit of hope she'd been holding on to evaporated into thin air when she saw the truth in JT's eyes. He was a professional. He'd seen dozens of similar cases. She knew she could never run far or fast enough to escape the person stalking her. One way or another, one of them was going to die.

* * *

Bit by bit, as JT listened to Faith's story, the facts about the case proved his initial theory to be correct. While this might have started as a stalking case, something changed along the way, and then culminated in two murders. What didn't make sense was why the killer hadn't taken Faith's life that night. Perhaps the guy had an infatuation with Faith that prevented him from killing her. Or it could be something else entirely. All JT knew for certain was that, up until now, the stalker had been content to manipulate her through fear into doing his will. This seemed to indicate the perpetrator knew about Faith's memory loss and wanted to keep it that way.

But JT's and the police's involvement had been a game changer. If she regained her memory, she could identify the killer. Still, JT had a feeling there was something more to the story. What piece of information did Faith have locked away in her memory that had cost two people their lives?

He made a mental note to have Derek check into the medication prescribed to Faith. Something about that didn't add up, either.

Shoving his thoughts aside, he looked into Faith's troubled blue eyes. “I'll call Will. Let him know everything you told me. It should be a tremendous help. I'm also calling in my security team. They're the best when it comes to finding information others have missed.” JT's heart went out to her. She had lived through years of torment and it wasn't close to being over. He had a feeling they were in for some rough days ahead.

“I'm not sure what good any of this will do,” she told him in a flat tone. “The case is still open and the police haven't exactly been cooperative. How do you plan to get them to give you key information on an unsolved murder case?”

She was right. It wouldn't be easy. “Let us worry about that. If anyone can get the information, Will can. I just need you not to give up. This could take some time.”

The hope in her eyes scared him to death. She trusted everything to him. He couldn't let her down.

“I promise, but only if you agree to one thing.”

He was curious. “Anything.”

“If you find out something...no matter
what
you find out, whether it's good or bad, you'll tell me about it.”

He squeezed her hand then pulled her to her feet. “I promise. No matter what I discover, I'll tell you everything.”

JT decided Faith had been through enough for one day. She needed to rest. “I'm going home for a bit to shower and take care of some business. I'll let the officers outside know I'm leaving. If it's okay with you, I'd like to take your phone with me on the off chance he calls again.” JT took out his phone and handed it to her. “Here, keep mine with you. If you need me, call my home number.”

She nodded and walked him to the door. “Lock up behind me.” He leaned close and stroked her cheek. “Try not to worry. You're safe.”

He waited until all three of the locks engaged before heading over to the police car parked a little ways from the house. JT hadn't wanted her to see, but all his old doubts had resurfaced. What if he'd made her a promise he couldn't fulfill? He hadn't been able to save Emily. What made him think he could save Faith?