Remember Jamie Baker (15 page)

I shrugged. “We can go with that. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it makes me sound cool, so sure. Why not?”

Carter frowned again. “So you really have no idea at all where you’ve been, how you ended up in Las Vegas, or why you were attacked?”

“Didn’t we just go over this?”

“You must have at least known your attackers,” Carter said.

“Why would I know my attackers?”

“You’ve been held hostage for six months. Didn’t they at least look familiar?”

This interview was completely pointless, and Ryan was right: This guy was getting on my nerves. “Are you listening to me at all? I just said I don’t remember anything. No, my attackers didn’t look familiar. No one looks familiar.
He
doesn’t even look familiar.” I pointed at Ryan. “If he didn’t have a bunch of pictures of the two of us together on his phone, I wouldn’t even believe that we used to know each other.”

As much as I was trying to keep control, I was getting pissed off and a blast of energy shot out of me, making the power blitz. The cameraman flinched back and tapped his equipment. Carter shot him a worried glance. “Are we good?”

The guy gave a thumbs-up. “We’re still rolling.”

While Carter apologized to the world that we were experiencing some technical difficulties, Ryan slipped his hand into mine. “Hey, Jamie, try to relax. You’re doing great.”

“Relax?” I asked. “This guy’s an idiot.” Carter’s head snapped to me, so I repeated myself. “You’re an idiot. Quit asking me questions you know I can’t answer. Do you understand how amnesia works? It’s memory loss. It means
I don’t remember
anything
. That’s not going to change, no matter how many asinine questions you ask me. Stop making me repeat myself.”

That finally cracked Carter’s professional façade. A flash of annoyance crossed his face so fast I was probably the only one to notice it. There was some sick satisfaction in knowing that I was annoying Carter as much as he was annoying me.

“Very well,” he said through gritted teeth. “Why don’t you just tell me what you
do
know?”

I groaned. “I already told you everything I know. I know I was missing for six months. I know some guys tried to kill me yesterday, and I know this guy”—I pointed to Ryan again—“thinks I’m going to marry him and is annoyingly persistent about it.”

“She means
amazingly
persistent,” Ryan said. “And romantic.”

I rolled my eyes again. “That’s everything I know in the entire world. If you want any more answers, you’ll have to ask them.”

This time I pointed at both Ryan and Major Wilks. To my relief, Carter nodded and focused his attention on the major. Then began a long string of questions I didn’t care about, and watered-down vague answers.

The interview with Carter
was not going well. Forgetting the fact that I’d lost my temper and called Carter an idiot, once the questions were directed at Major Wilks both he and Carter turned into five-year-olds, each trying to act like the bigger tough guy.

Before long, I’d zoned out completely and Ryan had given up paying attention for playing with my hand in his. I didn’t start listening again until voices were raised. “Major, give the people more credit than that,” Carter said in response to some brush-off answer Major Wilks had fed him for some question I hadn’t heard. “We know there is more to the story than you’re telling us. Kidnappings fall under the FBI’s jurisdiction. Not the military.”

Major Wilks ground his teeth so loudly I cringed. “Miss Baker’s attackers were detained, but the people who took her and held her hostage for six months are still out there. We have reason to believe they will try to take her back. She’s in protective custody.”

Sounded good to me, but Carter gave Major Wilks a flat look. “Also generally the job of the FBI, Major. What is the military’s
true
involvement in this case?”

I wanted to kill Carter. And from the looks of it, so did Major Wilks. We’d talked about this. Carter was supposed to focus on my tragic memory loss and love story so that the nation wouldn’t think to ask the very questions Carter was now demanding answers to.

The two of them got locked in a staredown that wouldn’t have shattered if World War III busted out in the room around us. The temperature dropped a good ten degrees. Major Wilks broke first, and as annoyed as I was with Carter for deviating from the plan, I had to hand it to the guy. He had some serious nerve going up against the major.

Major Wilks’s face turned purple, and when he spoke it was in a clipped tone. “Very well.” He grunted. “We have reason to believe that the people who abducted Miss Baker were part of a secret organization that poses a threat to national security. They are highly sophisticated, well funded, and well armed.”

Carter, for his part, looked genuinely surprised. “A terrorist group?”

Wilks’s eyes burned now. He did not like that word being thrown around. “Of sorts,” he said, glaring at Carter for all he was worth. “Miss Baker is a key witness and could be the piece to the puzzle we’ve been missing. The information she has locked away in her head could be what we need to take down the entire organization.”

Carter frowned. “But as Jamielynn so graciously pointed out earlier, she has amnesia. She
says
she doesn’t remember anything.”

Was he seriously calling me a liar? “I
don’t
remember anything,” I growled. “And I don’t appreciate your tone, jerk. You think I would make this up? I’ve been missing for
six months
. I’ve had my entire
life
stolen from me. I want to find the people that did this to me a lot more than you. If I had any information, I would tell Major Wilks everything I knew in a heartbeat.”

When I glared at Carter, ready to fry
him
and not just his precious camera, he gave me a subtle playful wink, as if this were all just part of the plan. My eyes narrowed, and the lights flickered again. I was so going to kill this man.

“Miss Baker doesn’t
remember
any of the information,” Major Wilks said, clearing his throat to regain Carter’s attention. “That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have it locked away in her head somewhere. She has quite graciously agreed to undergo some special medical testing to see if we can restore her memories.”

“
Special
medical testing? You don’t mean
experimental?
That could be dangerous.” Carter, looking surprised again, sounded legitimately concerned for me. The guy was apparently so used to shoveling bull that he’d mastered the art of acting. He deserved an Oscar. “After you’ve just been found?” he asked me. “Wouldn’t you rather go home and meet your family? Rest and recover from this traumatic experience? Maybe get to know your fiancé again?”

I took a breath. And then I took five more. He was pushing my limits. “Of course I want that,” I hissed.

“Me too,” Ryan chimed in cheerfully. “Especially that getting-to-know-her-fiancé-again part.”

Carter chuckled, but I had to take another breath. Ryan had warned me that Carter would annoy me, but he hadn’t said a word about himself driving me crazy. “I want more than anything to put all of this behind me,” I said, doing my best to ignore Ryan’s stupid, charming, beautiful smile. “But I can’t. It’s bad enough those people stole my past from me, but right now they control my future, too. They’re still after me. I’m not safe. I can’t just go home. I’ll never be able to let any of this go until we stop the people responsible for this. So yes, I’ll take all the tests I have to in order to get my memories back—experimental or otherwise.”

“That’s very brave of you, Jamielynn,” Carter said softly. “I wish you luck, and I think it’s safe to say that you’ll have the whole nation praying for you.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. I didn’t know how to respond to that. Carter’s harsh demeanor had vanished, and his smile melted into a proud and compassionate one. It was almost believable. As if the man really did care about me.

Carter, either deciding I’d had enough or that he’d gotten everything he was going to get from us, thanked us again for the interview and wrapped things up. The second they were off the air, Carter’s staff all cheered and congratulated him. He’d gotten the scoop of the year, and apparently the interview was a good one. Personally I wasn’t impressed, but whatever. It was over.

“You’ve got some nerve,” Major Wilks hissed after Carter escorted us out of his building.

Carter shrugged, as if he couldn’t care less what Major Wilks thought of him. “I did exactly what you asked me to.”

“It was supposed to be a human-interest story about a girl with amnesia and her fiancé that she can’t remember. It was supposed to catch the nation’s attention and make them want to follow their every step, not induce a nationwide panic over a possible new
terrorist
group.”

Carter shook his head. “I had to push you, Major. I had to make both you and Jamie squirm a little. If you didn’t, the interview would have looked scripted and your Visticorp guys would have seen right through it. As it is, Jamie’s passionate speech about wanting whatever testing necessary to get her memory back was quite convincing. As was your desperate need to get her knowledge from her. Donovan will never question Jamie’s desire to be tested, or your presence now. And as for the nation getting caught up in Jamie and Ryan’s story?”

He laughed. “I didn’t have to dwell on their relationship. Ryan’s a heartthrob without even trying. He and Jamie are too easy. Push her buttons, she mouths off; Ryan says something charming, and the nation falls in love. Trust me. They’ll be the tabloid king and queen by bedtime. Hollywood will probably want to make them a reality show.”

I really hoped he was kidding.

“Carter,” Ryan said, offering his hand to the man, “your powers of manipulation are astounding. Thanks for the help.”

Carter gave Ryan a big, cheesy smile. “Anytime. I tend to get promoted after interviewing you two.”

I snorted. “You’re shameless.”

Carter came over to me, shaking his head. “Not completely. I haven’t sold you out yet, Angel.”

“Yet,” I repeated, though I was teasing. He may have made me wary, but I knew I could trust him. It seemed odd, though. “Why haven’t you ever given me up?”

Carter thought for a moment. “I guess because even though you can be a giant pain in my butt, I’ve grown kind of fond of you, kid.”

He punched me in the shoulder lightly as if to prove he was well aware of the corny cliché he’d just used. It was horrible and endearing at the same time. Sobering up a little, he said, “It’s good to have you back. Take care of yourself, Jamie.”

“Are you telling me you won’t be among the sea of reporters following me around tomorrow, begging for a statement?” I smirked, but my heart wasn’t in it this time.

“Not unless you want to give me an exclusive of the moment you meet your parents.”

He was only partially kidding. “Shameless,” I said again.

I forced a smile, but my stomach twisted into knots at the mention of my parents. I was both excited and terrified. I wished I could meet them without the cameras, the military, and the possibility of putting them in danger. If Donovan sent superthugs after them because of me, I’d never forgive myself.

Ryan noticed my mood swing and was instantly beside me with his arm wrapped firmly around me. Sinking into his embrace, I found Major Wilks’s eyes. “They’ll be safe, right?” I hated how small my voice sounded. “We’re not making a mistake, involving my parents in this?”

The major’s hard face softened in a rare moment of compassion. “If we don’t bring them, Donovan could try to kidnap them and use them against you.”

I let out a breath. He was right. They were safer with me.

“We’ll keep them safe, Angel. And you, too.”

I hoped so, but I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in my gut.

Ryan cleared his throat, pulling me from my thoughts. “Major Wilks, sir?” Both Major Wilks and I looked at him curiously. “It’s going to take a few hours for the ACEs to fly to Boston, and we don’t want Jamie on the plane, right?”

Major Wilks raised an eyebrow. “Your point, Miller?”

“Well, we’re going to have some free time while we wait for the team to catch up with us, so I’m requesting permission to have the rest of the day off, sir. I’d like to take my girlfriend on a second first date.”

The major’s look of surprise was nothing compared to mine. “Excuse me? Your
girlfriend?
”

Ryan flashed me a smile. “Positive thinking. I’m hoping that if I say it enough times, it’ll become true.”

He was hopeless. I sighed, unable to even get annoyed anymore.

Major Wilks opened his mouth to say something, but Ryan beat him to it. “Tomorrow is going to be a really hard day for Jamie for a lot of different reasons. I think it will help her keep her emotions—and her powers—in control if she relaxes a little this evening and prepares for it. If she gets to know me a little better, and learns more about her past, she might not feel so alone tomorrow when she has to face the firing squad.”

“There are still superthugs out there looking for her.”

“And they’ll be expecting her to be near the hospital with the ACEs. I’ll take her someplace quiet, away from everything, where they’ll never think to look for her.”

Major Wilks surprised me when he nodded without giving it much thought. “All right. Just check in periodically.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Hang on a second.” I stepped between the two men who’d just planned my evening without asking me. “Do I have a say in this? Who said I
want
to go on a date with him tonight?” I was only being stubborn now—arguing because Ryan ignited a sense of righteous indignation in me. I wouldn’t really say no to an evening alone with him. The thought of going on a date with him terrified me, but it thrilled me, too.

Ryan, Major Wilks, and even Carter stopped their conversations to look at me. The smirks on each of their faces only aggravated me more.

“Jamie.” That one word, when said the way Ryan said it, was shiver inducing. It should really be illegal for him to use that tone of voice. Especially when there was so much heat in his eyes. He gripped my elbows gently and reeled me in close. Then he trailed his fingers down the back of my arms and tangled them in mine. The confidence in his actions smothered any willpower I had in resisting him. “You’re wearing the sparkly skirt.”

Still reveling in the warm tingles his touch caused, I had to ask him what he was talking about, because I couldn’t think straight. “What?”

He grinned. “The skirt I told you I liked. You wore it for me.”

I scowled down at the skirt in question, suddenly annoyed that I had it on. It was no wonder the guy had such an ego with me; I kept playing right into his hands.

Ryan let go of me and hooked his fingers into the front pockets of my skirt. He wet his lips as he pulled me against him and slipped his arms around my waist. There was no holding back my chills this time. Ryan not only noticed when I shivered; he smiled as if he’d made it happen intentionally. “We both know you want to go out with me, Sunshine. So stop being stubborn and let me take you on a date.”

My answer came out breathless. “Okay.”

I had the feeling this was not the first time I’d given in to him, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last.