by Dana Mentink
* * *
The ambulance arrived and took Ashlee to the hospital for evaluation. She clung to her wallet despite the paramedics’ attempts to take it from her. She needed it. She needed it to remind her who she was. They finally relented and let her keep it with her as they arrived at the hospital and she underwent an examination.
How could she not know her own name? And why did it sound so foreign to her ears even when she stared at it on her driver’s license—or when that deputy had said it?
“Lawson” was more familiar to her than her own name. Something about the kindness in those blue eyes settled her. He seemed familiar, but she didn’t know why. Maybe because you used to be engaged to him. Then why couldn’t she remember him?
He knocked on the door of her hospital room and peeked his head inside as the doctor finished up his exam. “Do you feel like talking?” Lawson asked.
She was glad to see him, glad to have someone around that she—sort of—recognized. But when he entered, a woman walked in behind him.
“Ashlee, this is Cecile Bradley. She’s an investigator with the sheriff’s office. She’d like to ask you some questions.”
Ashlee folded her arms over her chest. She didn’t want to answer any questions, mostly because she was positive she didn’t have any answers. She didn’t know what had happened to her.
But Cecile’s tone was kind and understanding. “Tell me the last thing you remember.”
She tried to recall, but the only memory she had was of waking up in her car and hearing Lawson’s voice calling to her. She’d been comforted by his presence despite the fear of not being able to remember what had happened to her or even her own name.
But something was terribly wrong. A sense of dread crawled up her neck and tears pooled in her eyes. She didn’t know what had occurred or how she’d ended up in that car, but she knew something awful had happened.
“We’re inspecting your car, Ashlee, and there are bullet holes in the back, like someone was shooting at you as you drove away. Do you remember anything about that?”
She tried to push past the block of nothingness, but she couldn’t. “I don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“Well, we’re still examining it. Maybe we’ll find something that helps.” Cecile glanced at the doctor by the bed. “How is she, Doc?”
The doctor looked to Ashlee and raised his eyebrows, silently asking for her agreement to share her medical results. She nodded. “Physically, she’s fine. A small gash on her head, a light concussion, but no other injuries. If she was in the car when those shots were fired, then whoever was shooting at her didn’t hit her.”
“Why can’t she remember anything?” Lawson asked.
The doctor looked to Ashlee again, and this time, she decided to answer directly. She may not know much about herself, but she was already pretty sure she didn’t like having others discuss her situation as if she wasn’t even there.
“They’ve told me it’s probably psychological—a result of emotional trauma from whatever happened to me,” she said. “My mind has blocked it out in order to protect itself.”
“What are the chances of her remembering?” Lawson asked the doctor.
Ashlee felt a little frustrated that he seemed so determined to have this conversation about her, but not with her. Was there a reason he didn’t want to engage with her directly?
Engage. Suddenly, she remembered his words from earlier. Considering we used to be engaged, yeah, you know me. Okay, so maybe he did have reasons to avoid talking to her.
“I really can’t say. That’ll take some time.” The doctor nodded goodbye to them all. “I’ll check in on you later, Miss Taylor,” he said, then walked out.
Cecile turned back to her. “Ashlee, we want to check into your background and your financials to try to see if we can figure out what you’ve been doing and why someone might want to hurt you. Is that okay with you?”
She gave her permission. She, too, wanted to know, and hoped they’d uncover something that would help her piece together whatever was going on.
Lawson and Cecile left and Ashlee leaned back into the pillow and tried to think. This was all so confusing. She didn’t understand what was happening—but she knew she didn’t like it. Bullet holes? Amnesia? What was going on with her?
She felt the sedative the nurse had just given her start to take effect and sank deeper into the covers. The nurse had turned down the lights and left Ashlee alone to rest, but her mind was racing too fast to relax. All she could think of was Lawson and the soft lift of his voice as he’d called her name when she’d first awoken.
How could she have been engaged and not remember it? Not even remember the man she’d once loved. Still loved? No, he’d said they used to be engaged—making it clear that they weren’t anymore. Something must have happened to break them up. Maybe she didn’t even want to see him. That made her feel even more alone. She didn’t like it.
The door opened, but she didn’t react to it. In the few hours since she’d arrived, nurses and medical assistants had been in and out on a regular basis. That’s what happened in hospitals. Great. She could remember what a hospital was like, but not even if she’d ever been in one before. It wasn’t fair.
The light flowed in through the door, breaking into the darkness that soothed her. She hoped the nurse or whoever was there left soon. She felt someone reach over her head to her pillow. It didn’t need fluffing and she almost angrily said so, her nerves were so on edge. She opened her eyes and cold, hard ones looked back. She didn’t recognize the man who stood over her, but instantly registered him as a threat.
He grabbed the pillow from behind her and shoved it over her face before she could react. Fear ripped through her as she realized she was being attacked. He was trying to kill her!
She pushed at his arm, but her efforts didn’t move him. Panic mixed with fear as she knew her time was limited. She struggled and flailed, but nothing helped. He easily outweighed her.
Her life didn’t flash before her eyes. Nothing flashed before her eyes. Everything was still blank and she didn’t understand why this was happening to her.
God, please help me!
She was going to die, after all.
* * *
Lawson headed toward Ashlee’s hospital room. He shouldn’t have come back here. He shouldn’t even care what happened to her...but he couldn’t just dismiss her after what she’d been through, could he? He’d loved her once. He’d almost married this woman. He couldn’t leave her to face alone whatever she’d gotten into. There had to be a reason she was in his town. A part of him hoped she’d been coming to see him—that she’d known that despite their broken engagement, he’d still do whatever he could to help her combat the danger she now faced.
The hairs on the back of his neck shivered a caution before he even reached her room and his anxiety kicked up a notch. He pushed open the door. A man standing at Ashlee’s bedside was holding a pillow over her face. He was suffocating her.
“Stop!” Lawson shouted, reaching for his weapon as he approached, only to realize it wasn’t there. He’d left it in his locker back at the sheriff’s office once his shift had ended.
The man spun around and Lawson grabbed him, pulling him off Ashlee. The attacker stumbled backward, the pillow still in his hand, and Ashlee sat up, gasping for breath. The man tossed the pillow, then shoved Lawson against the wall, slamming his head against the window blinds. Lawson heard glass break. Momentarily dazed by the impact, he wasn’t able to react quickly enough as the assailant bolted for the door.
Lawson scrambled to the bed to check on Ashlee. Another few moments and that man would have killed her.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
She couldn’t speak, but nodded in response to his question.
He hit the nurses’ emergency call button, then turned and ran from the room, chasing
after the guy. He hadn’t gotten a good look at him, but the man had been wearing a white doctor’s coat. Lawson hurried down the hall, but didn’t see him. He checked in the stairwell, only to find the lab coat tossed on the floor. The guy was gone and he’d shed the only item Lawson could list in a description.
He rushed back to Ashlee’s room where a team of nurses was already helping her.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stay outside,” one of the nurses said, trying to push him from the room.
But Lawson refused to be budged. “I walked in and found a man smothering her with the pillow. I chased after the guy, but he got away. Is she okay?”
The nurse nodded. “Looks like you found her in time.”
He couldn’t believe it. An attack on her right here in the hospital. He shook his head as the full realization of what was happening sank in. Ashlee was in serious trouble. Someone wanted her dead.
At a nurse’s insistence, and only after she’d promised someone would stay with Ashlee at all times, he went downstairs to the emergency room for an examination, since his head had slammed into the glass window. He texted Josh about the attack, and his brother was at the hospital in a flash, yanking open the curtain to the exam room and demanding to know what was happening.
“I’m fine,” Lawson insisted once he told his brother about confronting the attacker.
The doctor who’d examined him concurred. “I don’t see any evidence of a concussion and nothing that needs stitches. You’re free to go, Deputy.”
Lawson thanked him, then stood up. His head was aching from the bump, but he was more concerned about Ashlee and discovering who was after her than he was about the pain.
“Can you give a description?” Josh asked him.
Lawson felt his neck redden as he shook his head. “Not really, no. It happened so fast and the room was dark. He was a big guy.”
“What about the victim? Could she identify him?”
“I haven’t had the opportunity to ask. The nurses and doctor are still with her.”
“Okay, let’s head down to the security office and have them pull the video. Maybe they captured an image of him. Then we’ll go back upstairs to get her statement.”
He went with his brother and waited while the security guard located and pulled up the footage.
“There he is,” Lawson stated confidently when he spotted a figure in dark clothes heading toward the exit after the attack. The man kept his face hidden as he walked and had his hat pulled low over his face. He pushed through the front entrance doors and disappeared into the parking lot.
The security guard pulled up another image of the parking lot and they watched the guy get into a car and drive off.
“Can we get another image of that car?” Josh asked.
The security officer shook his head. “Our equipment isn’t that sophisticated. That’s the best image we have. That’s visitor parking, too, so it’s not assigned to anyone in particular.”
“We can’t get a license plate, but I’ll issue a BOLO for the make and model,” Josh stated, referring to the be-on-the-lookout bulletin.
“Can you pull up the video of the hallway from before the attack? Maybe we can catch an image of him entering the room.”
The security guard nodded and pulled up the requested video.
Lawson spotted the man, wearing the same dark clothes, but without the hat and, this time, wearing the white doctor’s jacket. “That’s him.”
The figure on the screen kept his head down and his face hidden as he approached the door to Ashlee’s room. They wouldn’t capture an image of his face from this angle, either, but Lawson did notice the man didn’t hesitate as he entered Ashlee’s room to kill her.
Josh turned to Lawson. “This image isn’t much, but we’ll send it out, anyway. Maybe someone will recognize him. Let’s go talk to the victim.”
They got on the elevator and Lawson knew he had to tell his brother the full story of what was happening before they reached Ashlee’s room.
“There’s something you should know about her, Josh.”
“This is the same lady you found on the side of the road, right?” It was obvious he had no idea who he was about to encounter.
“Yes, it is.”
“Well, this just confirms that someone is after her. Has she said anything else about what’s happening to her?”
“Not as far as I know—last I heard, she still doesn’t remember anything.”
“Well, this attack may have shaken something loose. Maybe she recognized the guy.”
The elevator doors opened and they both stepped out. Josh headed down the hall, but Lawson didn’t follow him. His brother turned back to him. “Are you coming?”
“Josh, the woman who was attacked... The victim...”
“What about her?”
“It’s Ashlee Taylor.”
He saw his brother’s demeanor change as recognition sunk in. Josh gave a long sigh, then stepped back toward Lawson and leaned against the wall. “Ashlee. Are you sure?”
Of course, he was sure. “I think I’d know her when I see her.”
“Sure, but... She has a twin, doesn’t she? And from what you’ve told me, it’s not like she remembers her name.”
“She was carrying Ashlee’s identification and driving a car registered to Ashlee Taylor. It’s Ashlee. I’m sure of it.”
Josh gripped his shoulder. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m okay. I’m dealing with it. I just wanted you to know before you walked into that room.”
Josh slapped him on the back, then morphed into cop mode and headed down the hall. By the time Lawson caught up to him, he’d walked inside and greeted Ashlee.
She still looked pale, but her color seemed to be returning with the assistance of an oxygen mask.
“You probably don’t remember me,” Josh said, pulling up a stool, “but I’m Lawson’s brother, Josh. I’m also the sheriff now.”
She stared at him a moment, then slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t recognize you.”
A part of Lawson was relieved. If she had known his brother and not him, that would have awoken jealousy inside him. It made no sense, but he was glad regardless. Yes, it was petty, but he couldn’t help it.
“That’s okay,” Josh told her. “Let’s talk about the man who attacked you here. Did you know him?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t really get a good look at him, but he didn’t seem familiar.”
Josh pulled out the photo he’d gotten from the video surveillance and showed it to her. “Take a look at this. Are you sure you haven’t seen him before?”
She shrank back at the image, but shook her head. “I don’t know who that is.”
“But you believe he’s dangerous, don’t you? You flinched when you saw him.”
“Well, he did just try to kill me.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“I was trying to sleep. He came in and grabbed the pillow and put it over my head. I thought I was going to die until Lawson grabbed him and fought him off. Once the pillow was gone, I was too busy trying to get my breath back to notice much of anything. I heard a struggle, but I didn’t look up. I didn’t even see him run off.”
“And you’re certain you haven’t seen him before?”
“I haven’t—not as far as I can remember, anyway.” She glared at him. “You think I’m faking? I’m not. I honestly don’t know why this is happening.”
Josh stood. “Okay. Well, I’m sure you’ll be released soon. Do you have somewhere to stay? Where can we contact you if we have more questions?”
Fear rustled through her eyes as she seemed to realize that she had no plans.
“Don’t your parents still own property in town?” Josh suggested.
“That house isn’t livable,” Law
son said. “It’s been abandoned for nearly ten years.” Nature, he knew, had taken it back after her parents and sister had moved away. Though Ashlee had remained in town, she hadn’t liked staying in the house alone and had found an apartment closer to town. The plan had been for her to live there until they’d married and she moved to the ranch. That, of course, had never happened.
“It’s fine,” she told them both. “I’ll just go to a hotel.”
A hotel was a sensible solution. His instinct had been to take her to the ranch, but that wasn’t a good idea. Josh and his other brothers would surely have had something to say about that.
And they were all home now, having taken time off while their father recovered from a heart attack. Lawson’s sister had already left to return to her job. Miles would leave next to return to the Marshals Service and Colby would be heading out in a few days to return to his job with the FBI. But no matter where they were located, they would have opinions on his letting Ashlee back into his life—and they would be right. Ashlee may be a blast from the past, but she was a painful one and he wasn’t so sure he was ready to deal with that 24/7.
Josh stood. “It’s good to see you again, Ashlee. Don’t worry. We’ll figure out what’s going on here.”
She thanked him and he walked out.
Lawson followed him out and Josh stopped to ask him a question once they were outside the closed door. “Do you believe her about the amnesia?”
“I do.” He’d seen no hint of recognition in her face about anything. She’d blocked it all out. “The doctor concluded it wasn’t a head injury. He thinks it’s caused by an emotional traumatic event. She saw or experienced something that was so terrible she had to block it out to survive.”
Josh put away his notebook. “We’ll figure it out. I’m going to start digging into her financials and GPS on her car. Maybe we can sort out where she’s been.”
He nodded. “I’m sure Cecile is already on top of that.”
“Okay, I’ll check with her.”
The elevator dinged as they were heading toward it and Cecile stepped off.