by Jenn Vakey
“This is your desk,” Elise said, pointing to the one right next to them. “The one just on the other side that’s facing yours is Matthews’. Why don’t you sit down and have a look through some of your stuff while I go see if they’ve found anything.”
She sat down in the chair and watched Elise walk into the conference room. When she did, everyone inside turned and faced her. They each offered a supportive smile or nod, but she was glad none came out to greet her. When they turned their attention back to the board, she let out a gratified sigh and looked down at her desk. There were several pictures in frames on it, including the wedding picture her mother had shown her. In addition, there were several with her and different people in the office, and quite a few of her and Ben together.
“This one’s was always one of your favorites,” a man said when he walked over with a picture of his own. “You actually wanted this to become your new uniform. I think in the state you’re in right now, the department could absolutely make that happen as soon as you requested it. I could even help you get all of the paperwork together for it.”
She looked down at the picture in his hand and grinned. “Tylers or Steele?” she asked, looking back up at him. He looked shocked, but a large smile reached across his face.
“And everyone was so worried you’d forgotten all of us,” he said.
“Luckily I have a sister that prepared me well enough for this,” she said, leaning back in the chair and folding her arms in front of her. “I don’t need her to tell me that there’s no way I would ever want to wear a maids uniform on a daily basis, though.”
“Steele,” a second man said as he walked up behind him. “Did you tell her we’d help with her request for the uniform change?”
Elise was right; they could have been brothers. The only significant difference between them was their height, Tylers being a little taller.
“Et tu, Tylers?” she asked.
His face lit up at the sound of his name. “You remember me?” he asked excitedly.
She laughed. “Sorry, but no. Elise warned me the two of you might try to pull something like this, though.” She was actually glad they had. The fears and tension she had felt about being around so many people had all but gone. “Has anything turned up? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Their smiles waned as they both glanced back toward the conference room. “We haven’t found anything yet,” Steele said. “We went quickly through your house when Matthews called from the hospital, but there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. We were out there a few nights ago watching the game, and it didn’t appear that anything was missing or had been disturbed.”
“What about the car?” she asked. She wasn’t sure exactly where the questions were coming from, but they felt almost comfortable. She decided just to go with it. “Has anyone found it yet?”
They both shook their heads. “We’ve had every officer in the city out looking for it, even pulling over any that were the same make and model just to check and make sure the plates hadn’t just been switched. So far it hasn’t turned up. Wilcome put in a call for a statewide lookout in case someone took it and left the city. We also have a report running on the news asking for anyone to call in if they see either Ben or the car.”
“Has anyone called saying that they saw me?” she asked. “I was walking around with gashes in my clothes, no shoes, and covered in blood. If someone saw me, it isn’t likely they wouldn’t have taken notice. If we can track where I was, then it could help to determine where I was coming from.”
Tylers smiled. “I knew our girl was still in there,” he said. “And yes, we’ve had a few people call in saying they saw you, but so far the only locations were near the hospital. Matthews said the doctor was able to estimate that you walked at least a couple miles. Since we don’t know yet if you were just walking around in circles or if you made a straight path for the hospital, it doesn’t do much to narrow down the search area. In addition to the news, we have officers going door-to-door in the area of the first known sighting so we can try to back track. Wilcome also called in scent dogs, but it could be a couple days before they can get here. A group of kids went missing on a camping trip, so the state dogs are out searching for them. As soon as they can spare one, we can have your scent traced and hopefully find out where you were when you started walking.”
“Wouldn’t it just be easier if Addison Valley had a tracking dog?” she asked.
Tylers nodded in agreement. “With as often as we’ve needed them, that actually isn’t a bad idea. Wilcome was about talking that week about petitioning for one at the next budget meeting. Personally, I think it would be worth it just for tracking you down when we need to.”
The smirk he and Steele shared was more mischievous than amused. She looked curiously up at them, hoping one would explain. She didn’t have to wait long.
“The official story is you and Ben decided to take a camping trip right around the same time you were accused of murdering a suspect and an arrest warrant had been issued,” Steele stated. His emphasis on the word official left her with the feeling there was much more to the story. “Not that either of you ever admitted, but you took to the woods to evade being brought in before you could look into the case yourself. No one here actually believed you were guilty, but the district attorney was furious when you disappeared. She ordered Wilcome to have the dogs brought it to track you down.”
“I was accused of murder?” she asked. Her mind once again jumped back to the frightening thought that she could have done something to Ben. Maybe it wasn’t so crazy for her to think she had somehow hurt him.
“Yeah, but you were framed,” Tylers answered. If they traced her line of thought, neither showed any sign of it. In fact, they both seemed only too amused by the story they were telling. “The woman who actually did it ended up losing patience after we failed to arrest you and we ended up finding you tied up in a basement she was planning on killing the both of you in.”
“Tylers,” Matthews snapped as he walked up behind them. “When I suggested having her here might help to snap her out of this, I didn’t mean that you should fill her in on all of the traumatic events she suffered. That little ordeal might have actually contributed to some of this, seeing as it provided one of the blows to her head the doctors were talking about. Why don’t the two of you find something useful to do. And I recommend putting that picture up before she remembers how much she despises it and tears it to pieces.”
Both men laughed as they turned and made their way back to their own desks. After watching them leave, Rilynne turned back to Matthews.
“I really haven’t led a quiet life, have I?” she asked.
He offered a weak smile of his own and shook his head.
“Why don’t I take you up to the lab,” he said, reaching down for her hand. “That’s where Ben works. Then I think you should probably go back to your house. The doctor said to make sure you get plenty of rest.”
“I don’t want to rest,” she said. “I want to fix this.”
He helped her to her feet and they walked back down the hall to the elevator. “I know you don’t want to rest,” he said. “Even with your amnesia, I didn’t figure you would be able to shake that part of yourself. That’s just who you are, though. Before you and Ben got together, Wilcome had to practically force you to take time off. Even then, you ended up investigating a murder case while on your honeymoon. I can’t honestly say any of us were surprised about that.”
Rilynne didn’t know exactly what to make of his statement, so she didn’t try to think into it. She had a feeling it would only make her head hurt. As they stepped into the elevator and watched the doors close, she turned to him. “Can I ask you a question?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said, mildly amused by the eagerness ringing through her voice.
She reached out for the buttons and triggered the emergency stop, wanting to be able to get her thoughts out without being interrupted. Matthews didn’t argue,
but instead laughed and slowly shook his head.
“What kind of person am I?” she asked bluntly. “My mom and sister have been telling me about myself and my life with Ben, but they’re family.”
“And you’re worried they will gloss over anything unpleasant in an attempt to try and protect you,” he said, finishing the thought for her. “I don’t think you really have to worry about that. But for what it’s worth, you’re the best partner I’ve ever had. You’re quick and you can make connections ten steps before anyone else sometimes. You hit a bit of a rough patch before moving down here, so you were cautious about dating anyone. There isn’t a person here who didn’t see you and Ben coming from a mile away, though. I think we even saw it before the two of you did. Like you, he had some tough times in the past. The way you are together, though, seemed to make up for all of that. And as for you personally,” he smirked again. “You are one of the clumsiest people I’ve ever met. You seem to always find yourself in the middle of something or another, almost like you’re a magnet for trouble. Even with all of that, you are one of the strongest and most loyal people I’ve ever known. There isn’t anything you wouldn’t do for someone you cared about.”
“Could I... is it possible that I could have done this?” she asked. She looked down at the cast holding her right wrist, not wanting to meet his gaze.
“There isn’t any part of you that would even be capable of it,” he said. There wasn’t any hesitation or doubt in his voice. “I can promise you that you love Ben and you wouldn’t dream of hurting him. Every person in that office is just as certain; so much so that you weren’t even considered as a suspect. I don’t know how much you know about these types of investigations, but...”
“You always look at the spouse first,” she finish.
He grinned almost pridefully at her statement. She didn’t want to burst his bubble by informing them she had seen it on a crime show that had been playing on the television at the hospital, so she just offered a quick nod. His words did more to settle her questions than anything else had, but she still couldn’t get over the lingering feeling that this was somehow her fault.
Still not wanting to look him in the eye, Rilynne reached out and pushed the button again, sending the elevator back into motion.
“We’re going to find him,” he said when the doors opened back up to the fourth floor. “He’s out there somewhere, and we’re going to find him.”
The lab was surprisingly empty. Although she wasn’t exactly sure why, Rilynne had expected to see a dozen people rushing about, using their big machines to process anything they could. Instead, there were only two people sitting at tables, both with their eyes pressed up against microscopes. While it wasn’t at all relevant, Rilynne was actually pleased she knew what the microscope was. Then, as she thought about the fact she was made happy by such a simple thing, she laughed quietly to herself and followed Matthews into the room.
“This is Ben’s station,” he stated. “I’ve already had the guys comb over it to look for anything he might have been working on that could be related. With him being the supervisor, that could really be any case we’re currently investigation, along with a good deal of the closed ones. We’ve started looking into any cases he’s testified on, and then we’ll branch out from there.”
Matthews looked around at the two techs still in the room, then nodded for her to follow him out. It wasn’t until they reached the elevator again that he finally spoke.
“When Ben was in college, his...” he hesitated for a moment. It was clear he was uncomfortable with the subject, which seemed silly to her. With them being married, she was nearly certain he wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. Or at least the her before all of this started. “His fiancé was murdered. A young man from their school had become obsessed with her. When he finally approached her and confessed his love, she shot him down. She and Ben had been close friends growing up and they were planning their life together. He didn’t handle the rejection well.”
“So he killed her?” Rilynne asked, shocked by the horrible situation. She was unsure just how she should feel about it. Though she didn’t remember him, Ben was her husband. She didn’t know if she should be feeling anything other than sadness for him, but that’s all that was there.
Matthews nodded. “I looked into it myself, not wanting to involve anyone else unless I needed to. It turns out that the person responsible, a man named Jason Cornellus, was released last month from prison. Ben apparently went to testify at his parole hearing, but with the overcrowded facility and his good behavior, he was released.”
“So he could have come after Ben,” Rilynne stated, stepping into the elevator when the doors opened. “With Ben trying to keep him locked up and the fact that the girl chose Ben over him, Cornellus would have reason to want to hurt him.”
Rilynne thought back to the flash she’d had about the hours leading up to the incident, wondering if the anger she’d felt could have had anything to do with this man. While it was possible, nothing about it told her one way or the other.
“I’m looking into the possibility he’s behind all of this,” he said. She leaned back against the elevator wall and watched as he pushed the button for the third floor. “I have a call in to his parole officer and we’re looking in to his movements for the past few days. The problem is, he’s only about four hours from here, so it’s possible he could have slipped in to town without anyone knowing. I’m also working with local officials to see if he could have taken Ben out of Addison Valley and is holding him up there.”
Rilynne didn’t think she could feel more overwhelmed than she had been the last couple days, but she was wrong. Everywhere she turned, she was getting bogged down with even more horrible facts from their lives. It wasn’t really surprising anymore that she would want to forget some of it, if not all.
“I hate to cut this short, but Amber is going to throttle me if I don’t get her home soon,” Elise stated when the doors opened again. “Is there anything else you need from her tonight?”
“No, get her out of here,” Matthews responded. “Get some rest and call me immediately if you remember anything that might help us. And just to warn you, Katy might stop by to check on you sometime tomorrow. I managed to hide this from her as long as I could, but with it hitting the news and getting around the hospital, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before she finds out. Boy, is she going to furious with me for keeping it from her. With that, there’s not going to be any way I can keep her from going over to check on you.”
Rilynne chuckled. “That’s fine,” she said, remembering what Elise had told her about Matthews’ and Katy’s relationship. With as little she knew about him, even she couldn’t really picture him taking a stand against his wife. He actually appeared almost scared at the thought of how she was going to react to him keeping her in the dark.
No one else stopped them as Elise and Rilynne made their way out to the parking lot. The air was cooler than she had expected. It had been so hot on her walk to the hospital that she hadn’t even considered that it would be anything but the same outside. She was almost uncomfortably cold by the time she climbed into the car.
They had been in the car for several minutes when Rilynne realized she should be paying attention to exactly where she was going. The hope was that she would get her memories back, but in the event that she didn’t, she had no desire of being driven around by someone else just to get from place to place. By that point, though, there was no point. She had no idea where they were. Instead, she just looked at each house they passed, hoping to recognize one as they approach. When they reached the end of the block, Elise didn’t continue on to the next like she expected. Instead, she turned onto a driveway leading into the woods.
“Amber should be back by now,” Elise said, breaking the silence. “She went out to run a few errands.”
Sure enough, she was just climbing out of her car when they pulled up in front of the house. Rilynne was so concentra
ted on Amber that it took her a moment to see the house behind her.
“This is my house?” she asked, looking over at Elise skeptically when the car came to a stop.
She nodded and smiled. “Ben had it built for you as a wedding present,” she explained. “You actually designed it a few years ago, and he used those designs to build it for you. Come on; let’s help your mom get stuff inside. I’m pretty sure she said something about dinner.”
It wasn’t until she mentioned it that Rilynne realized how hungry she was. Elise must have been feeling the same, because neither had eaten since the small snack they had before leaving the hospital. Without waiting for her to take the lead, Rilynne stepped out of the car and climbed the steps toward the front door.
If she thought the outside of the house was beautiful, it was nothing compared to the inside. The dining room that was off to the right had a large mahogany table with ten chairs surrounding it. Behind it, she saw a matching china cabinet filled with elegant dishes. They continued further in the house, stepping through an arched doorway, and she found herself standing in a large kitchen, with a living room off to her right. She couldn’t really believe what she was seeing. When they said she would be going home, she had expected a cozy little starter house with mismatched furniture and little more than the essentials needed to be comfortable. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Am I rich?” she asked abruptly, walking toward the large fish tank that stood as a divider between the kitchen and living room.
Both Amber and Elise laughed.
“Not that anyone in town needs to know about,” Elise said. “Ben’s done a pretty spectacular job keeping that one under wraps. For all anyone knows, the two of you are simply comfortable. I’m pretty sure everyone thinks this was paid for with a life insurance check you received a little while back. Or at least that’s what I’ve picked up around the station.”