River of Secrets (10 page)

“No one knows that better than I do,” she whispered.

Juan narrowed his eyes. “Okay, you don’t want to let the police in on this little adventure. I guess it’s understandable that you might consider the report a waste of time, but do you mind clueing me in?”

“Look, I appreciate you helping me out. But…” She frowned. “Wait a minute. How did you know I needed help?”

“A little birdie told me.”

“A little birdie named Anna?”

He shrugged.

She sighed, rubbed the spot above her left eye as though it ached. “I’m…looking for someone. Someone who doesn’t want to be found.”

Eyes narrowed, he studied her face. A partial truth. “Who?”

“I’d rather not say.”

His jaw clenched. “Fine.” Stubborn woman. He could tell she was on the verge of another meltdown, so he quit pushing. There would be time for that later. “Are you ready to get in the jeep?”

She nodded, wearily accepting his grudgingly offered hand.

Even as he pulled her to the jeep, his jaw clenched against the pain each step sent rushing through his body. He wondered how she’d managed to land herself in so much trouble. Who was she looking for? Why did that person think that Amy was a threat?

Without another word, he opened the door for her, then shut it behind her. Walking around to the driver’s side, he crawled in and kept his silence. He’d let her be the next one to speak. He’d also let her actions sink in as they drove home.

Four minutes later, she asked, “Why can’t I stop shaking? M-m-my teeth won’t stop ch-ch-chattering.”

Even though he knew he’d sweat bullets, he flipped the heater on high. She was in shock and as mad as he was with her for being so careless with her life, he had to do what he could to help her feel better. “You’ll warm up in a minute.”

“Th-thank you. That was a really dumb thing to do, wasn’t it?”

“I hope you’re not expecting me to disagree.”

She was getting her wits back. “No, I guess not. I’d better call Anna and let her know I’m okay.”

Juan focused on the drive back to the orphanage while Amy assured and reassured Anna that no harm had come to her, thanks to Juan’s quick actions. She flipped the phone closed and leaned her head back against the leather seat. The jeep hummed along nicely, even though it bounced often on the pitted road.

“Nice jeep,” he said.

Amy shrugged. “It seemed the least I could do.”

“Why’s that?”

Eyes still closed, she asked, “Do you remember anything at all? About who you are? Anything about your past?”

He glanced over at her. Why was she asking? “I have flashes. But the problem is, sometimes I’m not sure if they’re truly memories or just wishes.”

“What do you mean?”

Tense fingers clenched around the steering wheel. Did he really want to tell her? Confide in her? After she’d cut him off and refused to tell him about what she was doing messing in dangerous business tonight? He gave a mental shrug. Why not? Maybe if he opened himself up a little, she’d do the same. “I get these…movie trailers, I guess would be the best way to describe them. They come without warning, sometimes in my dreams. Other times I’m awake and they just hit me. Like today. I had a clip of what I thought was a memory, but I’m just not sure it’s real.”

Her eyes came open at that statement. “Why?”

“It was really weird. I was at this huge house, a mansion, and we were having some kind of pool party, a cookout and my family was there. At least I think they were my family. And then a helicopter landed. Everyone was really glad to see each other and we all had a great time swimming, joking around. You know. Anyway, I’m afraid that because I want something so bad, I’m forcing my mind to…play tricks…or something.”

“Oh.” The sound was a whisper.

He gave a self-conscious laugh. “I know, like I said, weird.” He shook his head. “I’m just questioning everything going on in my head and it’s making me crazy.”

Her satellite phone vibrated, indicating a missed call. She hadn’t felt it vibrate with the actual call. Of course she had been otherwise occupied for the last half hour or so. Looking at the screen, she groaned.

Cassidy. Oh, boy. She had to get to a place to call the woman back. But she was in a place where she could tell Micah a few things…like his name. It was time to do some serious explaining. “Okay, so…I need to…um…tell you some things.”

He flicked a glance at her, then back to the road. “How about starting with what you were doing meeting scum all by yourself?” His phone rang and with a sigh, he held up a hand. “Hold on a minute. My turn.” He pulled it out, opened it, listened intently for a few moments, then closed it. “That was the chief. He couldn’t find any fingerprints on the bomb. He thinks whoever built it wore gloves.”

Amy blew out a breath, momentarily distracted. “Great. There’re latex gloves all over the orphanage for staff in case of emergencies, cleaning up after meals, in the health center, you name it. Now what?”

“Now, you hold on to whatever it is you were going to tell me, go inside and let Anna know you’re okay, then we’ll talk tomorrow, okay? You’re beat.” He trailed a finger along her jaw causing her adrenaline to kick in for the second time that night. Only this time it definitely wasn’t from terror.

His lips quirked in that smile that she remembered, and her heart shook with the fullness of her own memories. She remembered the pool party he’d told her he’d dreamed about. It had been to welcome him home on an extended leave from the Navy. Amy had looked forward to that day forever. She and her family had been on vacation in California, and Amy’s father had used his personal helicopter to fly them across the country in order to attend the homecoming.

Laughter had been the priority for the day and it was one of her fondest memories. Hurt zinged through her to realize that Micah couldn’t claim that memory. He couldn’t put the memories together to make sense.

Okay, change of plans. First, she’d go inside and call Cassidy immediately while she had a signal on her phone, then she’d find Micah first thing in the morning and fill him in.

She grimaced.
That’s a good plan. Right, God?

Micah pulled under the overhang in front of the orphanage. “I’ll move this later. No sense in leaving it out for someone to steal.” Vehicles were a coveted item out here and had to be kept locked up.

“Fine.” It was late and Amy was exhausted. Not only from her ordeal, but the tension between her and Micah. If she delayed talking to him much longer, she’d develop an ulcer. She’d try to reach Cassidy one more time, but if that attempt failed, she’d have to tell Micah everything. Including the facts about her mother.

Lightning flashed, thunder rolled and Amy groaned. Time for another storm. She could smell the rain getting ready to fall from the big clouds she knew were overhead. Micah said, “Go on in. We’ll talk later.”

Nodding, she pulled herself from the jeep, only to feel Micah’s hand on her arm. Electric currents flowed from his hand to her heart. She settled back into the seat and looked at him.

He narrowed his eyes, staring into hers as though searching for something. Amy swallowed hard, didn’t dare move. Finally, just as she was about to pull away, he said, “I…I’m not sure what happened tonight. And I know we’ll talk tomorrow. But, I’m…” Amy shivered hard, still focused on the feel of his warm hand against her skin.

He blew out a breath. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m enjoying getting to know you and…I’m not ready to say goodbye yet, especially not permanently. So, if you have any more dangerous rendezvous planned, could you let me in on them?” He looked at her, not pushing, patient, yet tense, obviously wondering what she would think of his admission.

Amy leaned over, pressed a kiss against his cheek and breathed in the smell of sweat and aftershave. Even battered, bruised and with amnesia, he exuded a strength. At that moment, she was incredibly attracted to him. She’d been in trouble and he’d arrived to rescue her.
Thank You, God.
“I care about you, too, Juan. And I’m eternally grateful that you showed up when you did. I was going to explain…but, no, you’re right. We’ll talk in the morning, okay? Come find me.”

“Sure.”

Scrambling from the car before she gave in to her emotions and said something she’d regret, she headed for the double doors that led into the main building. Anna met her in the lobby to wrap her in a bear hug, “Are you all right? I know you said you were fine, but…are you?”

“I’m all right. Let’s go into your office. I need to make two more phone calls.”

The two walked the short distance down the hall to Anna’s office. Anna shut the door while Amy pulled out her satellite phone. She dialed the police, got the chief and reported a watered-down version of what happened in the alley with Roberto. She left Micah out of it. The chief laughed at her while promising to “look into it.” Amy snapped the phone shut, her mind already on the next call she’d have to make—and dreading it. “I really don’t want to do this. He’s going to hate me.”

Anna sighed. “Maybe not. You’re building a relationship with him. Letting him see that you’re not your mother. And besides, you have to do it.”

“I know. You’re right. This isn’t about me. It’s about Micah and reuniting him with the family that loves him. I’ll just have to deal with whatever feelings he has for me later. Will you pray with me?”

Anna took Amy’s hand. “Absolutely.”

A sweet, short prayer later, Amy was ready. She clutched the phone, looked at it. The signal was strong, the battery at full charge. No excuses.

With a deep breath and a firm nod, she punched in Cassidy’s number. On the third ring, Cassidy answered. “Hello, Amy, is that you?”

“Cassidy! I’m so glad you answered. I’ve been trying to get hold of you for days.”

“We’ve been at sea and there weren’t any cell towers around. Plus, I haven’t even bothered to turn my phone on. There’s some tropical storm stirring everything up around here. We’re going to be docked for a while. Why? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Amy ignored the question. “Is Gabe with you?”

“Yes, he’s right here. Why? You’re starting to scare me.”

“Sorry, I just have some…news…about Micah.”

“Micah?” Amy heard the shock in Cassidy’s voice. Should she tell her?

“Put your phone on speaker so Gabe can hear, too.”

A clicking sound came through the line, then Cassidy’s voice came back, although she sounded a little farther away, “Okay, now spill it.”

Should she just say it? Or dance around it and then ease on into it?

“Micah’s alive,” she blurted.

Twin, sharp indrawn breaths echoed in her ear. Amy bit her lip and glanced at Anna. The woman’s concerned expression touched her.

“He’s what?” Cassidy screeched. “What do you mean? How do you know?”

“He’s here at the orphanage.”

“Why hasn’t he called? Gotten in touch? Where’s he been for the last two and a half years? Tell me everything,” Cassidy demanded.

Cassidy’s voice held a hint of tears, and Amy had to swallow hard to get the next words past the lump in her own throat. “He’s here, but he’s got amnesia. He doesn’t remember anything…and I haven’t told him yet.”

“Amnesia?” Cassidy whispered. “Oh, no. Poor Micah.”

“He’s going by the name of Juan. Micah was in a coma for eleven months, Cass. But he’s doing really well, physically. He just can’t get his brain to work right, and there’s no medical reason for it. There’s a doctor here who practically raised him from the dead.” Amy swallowed hard. “Lucas, the doctor, thinks it’s probably emotional trauma causing him to block everything out. Then some other things happened—” she’d save those details for later “—and Lucas asked me to postpone telling him. But now I think it’s time.”

Cassidy wept, and Gabe’s voice came on the line. “Amy, you have to tell him who he is.”

Amy sniffed back her own tears. “I know. I was going to do that in the morning. Actually, I was going to do that today, but we got involved in a, um, an unexpected…adventure and I haven’t had the chance.”

“We’re going to cut our cruise short and fly out there. Maybe seeing all of us will jar his memory.” Excitement colored Gabe’s voice now that he was getting over the shock of finding out his best friend and fellow SEAL was alive.

“I’m still going to talk to him in the morning. I’ve got to tell him, although, to be honest, I’m afraid of what he’ll say when he remembers that it was my mother that…”

Gabe said, “Micah won’t hold that against you.”

Amy wasn’t so sure of that.

“We’ll call you when we finalize the details. I’m not sure what’s going on with this storm, so we may be stuck here for a while. We’re in Nassau, the Bahamas, and they’re calling for a hurricane.”

“Okay. I’ll go break the news to Micah. Pray for him…and me.”

“We’ll be praying, Amy. Bye now.”

“Bye,” she whispered and hung up.

“Well, that went well.” Anna’s voice startled her. She’d been so deep in thought she’d forgotten the other woman was still there.

“Pretty well,” she muttered. “Let’s just hope the same can be said after my meeting with Micah in the morning.”

Morning arrived in a blaze of glory and Juan decided to get to work on the wing while the sun was shining. Thoughts of last night crowded his mind, and he decided the physical labor would be cathartic even though it might be painful. He headed for the tool storage to grab a belt. Jonathas was already there, along with Salvador.

“Bom dia, senhor.”
Salvador greeted him with a solemn face.

“Good morning, Sal. How are you?”

The boy shrugged and Jonathas stepped up to grab the last belt from the shelf. “He is being a pain today. I don’t know what his problem is, but I’m ready to work.”

Juan shot the teen a warning look and Jonathas muttered, “Sorry.”

Juan patted Salvador on the shoulder and stepped into the wing under construction. A new shipment of lumber gleamed in the morning light. Stacked almost eight-feet tall and loosely roped together, the lumber would be enough to finish the project. He pounded the first nail into the wood, wincing from the pain of his rib. Okay, he thought, sitting back. Maybe he wouldn’t be pounding nails. He inhaled the scent of construction mingled with the smell of breakfast coming from the cafeteria. He’d stop by there in about an hour.