Stolen Memories

by Liz Johnson

  Zach pulled into the parking lot at the police station. “I’m looking for a guy named Frank Adams. Ever heard of him?”

  “Nope. He a dealer?”

  “I don’t think so, but I don’t really know much about him. I just need to find him. Could you put out a couple feelers for me? See if anyone has any information on him?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He debated if he should say anything about the breakin the night before. He didn’t want to spread it far and wide that he hadn’t been able to protect his charge, but he couldn’t get info if he didn’t ask. “And would you mind keeping an ear open for anyone talking about breaking into a cop’s house last night?”

  “Your house?”

  “Yeah.”

  LeRoy took his time responding. “You want to tell me what’s happening?”

  “Not really. I just need you to have my back on this one. Let me know if you hear anything like that.”

  “Sure. Always.” LeRoy paused for a long second. “And say hey to your sister for me.”

  “Samantha is out of your league, and you know it.” He liked LeRoy almost as much as he liked Reese and Keaton, but a brother was obligated to protect his kid sister from anyone interested.

  LeRoy chuckled. “Hey, a guy can dream, right?”

  Right. A guy could dream. But where would those dreams take him? No place safe if Julie Thomas was concerned.

  Zach trudged through the bull pen, wishing that he was at the mall with Julie, wishing that he could see her face alight with the flash of another memory. Wishing that memory might be the one to break this case wide open.

  Ramirez met him at his desk. “Phil is still in lockup.”

  “Has he asked for me?”

  “Not by name, but he keeps saying he knows people here and that we need to let him out.”

  Zach smirked. “Let’s go pay the little guy a visit.” Clapping Ramirez on the shoulder, he led the way toward the detention area.

  When they were finally seated across the table from the handcuffed informant, Zach leaned his elbows on the Formica and pressed his hands together, pointing directly at Phil’s chest. “Looks like you got into a bit of trouble last night.”

  Phil’s muddy face dropped toward the makeshift cast around his hand. Lifting his shoulder, he shook his head and jangled his handcuffs. “Not bad. Just these—” He swore, and Zach cut him off.

  “Tell me why you won’t give me something on Frank Adams.”

  Beady eyes shifted back and forth, as though the man in question might appear in the corner of the room. Sweat popped out on Phil’s forehead. “No reason really. Just don’t know the guy. Never heard of him.”

  “Who did that to your hand?” Ramirez asked. He swung his nearly black hair off his forehead with a smirk.

  “No one. I fell.”

  “Why are you trying to protect this guy when he’s got nothing but contempt for your type?”

  “My type?” With a squeak in his voice, Phil glanced back up.

  Zach didn’t make eye contact. He purposefully looked toward the double-sided glass and the empty room beyond. “You know. The type that will roll over on a friend. The type that will turn in anyone for a… What was it? A sleeping bag? You think you might meet some guys you’ve turned in on the inside?”

  Phil watched them, tiny eyes wide. He worked his jaw like he was chewing gum, his teeth grinding in the silence. His nose quivered like a rat’s. “You think—you think there might be some of those guys still in there?”

  Ramirez shrugged. “We’ve got no problem finding out. How ’bout you? Want to risk it?”

  Shoulder twitching, Phil looked at the ceiling and then back at his hands. “I don’t want to— I mean, what do you want from me?”

  “Tell us where we can find Frank Adams.”

  Like a dead man walking, Phil hung his head low. “Rather face the inside.”

  Zach’s gut clenched. Who was this man that those who knew him would rather face a jail full of angry men than reveal his whereabouts?

  *

  Julie’s knees just would not stay still. Pressing her hands against them as she sat in front of the television didn’t do anything more than make her think about how much she didn’t want to be stuck at the house. Doing nothing. Helping no one.

  In her dream Lonnie had been so scared.

  And she’d wanted to help, wanted to do anything but sit on a couch and wait. But she’d been unable to reach Lonnie in time.

  She couldn’t fight the feeling that this moment wasn’t unlike her dream.

  Jumping up, Julie paced the confines of the small room. All of the curtains were closed, meant to keep her safe from prying eyes and would-be attackers. But it only served to make the walls close in around her.

  Samantha had ducked out for a run but promised to be back shortly. That left only Reese to look after her, and he hadn’t been out of his apartment all morning.

  Suddenly the creaking door echoed through the lower floors.

  Finally. He was up and around. His heavy footfalls clomped down the stairs. When he appeared, he went straight for the cold coffeepot in the kitchen. Pointing toward the wood panel covering the broken windows, he said, “You sure are some houseguest. You know a simple thank-you would suffice. No need to redecorate the whole house.”

  She offered an apologetic smile. Zach had definitely filled him in on the attack.

  He bit back a grin as he settled in with the newspaper at the breakfast table. “Looking to add a hole in our floor, too?”

  She looked down at her feet, still pacing the narrow opening at the end of the hall. “Sorry. Guess I just have some pent-up energy. Zach promised to take me to the Mall of America today, but he had to go to the station.”

  “Take a load off.” Reese threw the business section of the paper onto the opposite side of the table. “There isn’t much you can do from here, and you’re stuck with me until Zach gets back. Maybe we’ll get a visitor.”

  Her gaze shot toward the boarded windows, her stomach twisting painfully. “A visitor?”

  He raised both of his eyebrows. “My girlfriend said she’s going to drop by today.”

  She slid into the seat across from him, resting her hands on the black-and-white paper. “Girlfriend?”

  “Sure. You didn’t think the Jones boys were confirmed bachelors or something, did you?”

  “I don’t know. I just—” The full weight of what he’d said slammed into her, doubling the size of the stone in her stomach. Bending over, she hazarded a wheeze before catching her breath. “Is Zach dating someone?”

  Please say no. Please say no.

  Reese’s laughter filled the kitchen, his shoulders shaking to an unseen rhythm. “Not for a while now. Not since he joined Homicide.”

  A flood of relief rolled over her, almost washing away her follow-up questions. After a beat, she risked, “Why not?”

  “Maybe you should ask him that question.”

  “Oh.” She folded her hands in her lap and clamped her lips closed. He was right. She shouldn’t be prying into Zach’s life. She had no right to. “I’m sorry.”

  A dimple appeared below Reese’s morning beard. “Don’t be sorry. I think he’d like to know that you care.”

  “Please don’t tell him I was asking.”

  “I won’t say a thing.” Reese turned his attention back to the sports section, and for almost two minutes neither of them said another word. Finally he let out a little sigh. “I think Homicide is a hard job. Until you, I don’t think Zach ever had a live victim. It takes its toll on a man to work those cases day in and day out. A woman would have to be pretty strong to help him through, to let him share the things he needed to and to let him keep inside the things he couldn’t talk about. I think that takes a special woman, and he knows it.

  “Truth is, he’s never introduced any of us to a girl like that. I’m not sure he’s ever met anyone like that.” He looked at her until she held his gaze. “Until now.”

/>   Goose bumps exploded up her arms, and she hugged her sweatshirt even tighter around herself.

  He clearly meant her.

  But he was wrong.

  Zach thought of her only as a stray. Like Gizmo or any of the others he’d brought home. She wasn’t strong like Reese suggested. She wasn’t brave and she certainly wasn’t someone who fit that description.

  She was a lost puppy and Zach a kind stranger.

  A compassionate, strong, handsome stranger.

  Heat rushed to her cheeks. She shouldn’t think about him like that. She had to keep those thoughts at bay.

  The back door flew open, and her face flamed even hotter as the object of her thoughts walked into the house. “Ready to go to the mall?”

  *

  Julie couldn’t help but steal quick glances at Zach out of the corner of her eye as he drove them to the mall. With every passing moment of silence, a knot in her stomach grew a little tighter. Just how much of her conversation with Reese had he heard?

  She shouldn’t have been talking about his love life. It was none of her business.

  Still…she had no trouble conjuring images of his past girlfriends, wondering what they had been like.

  The silence between them, all thick and heavy, like morning fog rolling off the river and nearly as cold, left her to scrounge for anything to fill it. He didn’t seem angry. Just distracted, his gaze never wavering from the white lines disappearing beneath the car.

  She’d never been so happy to see a parking lot as she was when he pulled between rows of cars, all pointed toward the monstrous building in front of her.

  As he stepped out of the car, he pointed to the sign affixed to a nearby light post. “Remember what row we’re in.”

  “Don’t worry. My short-term memory is great.”

  He bumped his elbow into hers with a low chuckle and without pause the tension in her middle vanished.

  As they walked through the open doors and stepped into the largest single entity Julie could possibly imagine, her head spun. The pure immensity of it, even at the entrance, overwhelmed her. It was surprisingly quiet for the number of people milling in and out of stores. A series of steps crisscrossed in front of them, people meandering up and down, their arms weighted with plastic bags filled with the day’s deals.

  Zach led the way toward the railing, which overlooked a courtyard of sorts. Rising up toward the industrial ceiling, a giant green roller coaster clacked toward the top, and as it swooped over the apex, the screams from its riders echoed until they, too, were swallowed by the sheer size of the structure.

  “Want to ride it?” He nudged her.

  Not even a little bit. Her stomach hurt at just the thought. “I don’t think my doctor would approve.”

  “All right. Anything look familiar?”

  It was too big to be recognizable. There were too many pieces, too many moving parts to focus on any one thing that might jostle loose a memory. All she could offer was a wide-eyed shake of her head.

  “Well, then maybe we should walk around?”

  Nodding, she trailed no more than two steps behind him, unable to stop her neck from rotating around and around as she tried to take in everything. As they walked past a perfume store, someone squirted something in her face, and she blinked and recoiled against the mist that burned her eyes.

  Zach’s hand found her elbow, gently guiding her out of the flow of traffic. She rubbed the heels of her palms against her eye sockets before blinking away the offending spray. As it cleared, the smell of pretzels and cinnamon rolls and all things fried wafted around them.

  “Better?” Zach asked.

  She nodded and began to assure him that she was, but her gaze fell onto a man about twenty yards away. His blond hair flipped out from under the sides of his red baseball cap. Crossing his arms over his plain white T-shirt, he leaned against the concourse railing and smirked at her, his eyes never wavering.

  Chills raced down her spine, and she grabbed for Zach’s hand. His long fingers wrapped around hers as worry wrinkled his forehead. “What’s wrong?”

  Heart in her throat, she couldn’t take her gaze off the man in the baseball cap. “I—I’m not sure. But that man. He’s looking at me funny. And…there’s something not right.”

  Zach followed her gaze with his own, but the man twisted away, blending into the crowd, his menacing stare suddenly lifting. Turning back to her, Zach dipped to look right into her eyes. “Do you want to leave?”

  Yes. But then she might miss her chance to find something familiar.

  The baseball cap guy might just be another shopper. She’d certainly had no difficulty creating illusions in her own mind. Maybe he was just another one. With Zach at her side, nothing was going to happen.

  “Let’s keep walking.”

  So they did. For fifteen minutes they strolled, weaving through the crowd, peeking into store windows, watching the crowds in line for the amusement rides. All the while, he kept his fingers firmly entwined with hers.

  And without that stabilizing force, she would have fallen to the ground when a broad shoulder slammed against her exposed arm. Crying out in surprise and pain, she jerked toward the man responsible, catching only his arrogant grin.

  One that showed off a chipped front tooth.

  Air vanished and the entire world froze.

  Fear seized her throat, and she heaved a great, silent sob.

  He’d followed her. And now that he’d found her, he was going to do what he’d failed to the night before.

  “It’s the guy from last night,” she finally managed to cry.

  THIRTEEN

  Zach held his breath while the man in the red baseball cap looked over the crowd and waved toward them. A signal to an accomplice.

  And then Baseball Cap reached behind his back, a flash of silver appearing in his hand. The weapon wasn’t obnoxiously large or overly visible, but it was plenty big enough to bring Julie down—to finish the job that he’d started.

  All conscious thought vanished, instinct and ten years of training taking over. Zach pressed his arm into his side against the service weapon in his shoulder holster. But pulling it out might only escalate the situation, and with the assailant having an unknown partner somewhere in this crowd, his only option was to get Julie to safety.

  He offered her little more than a hand squeeze of warning before bolting into the oblivious crowd. He squeezed between two chattering women before tearing toward the nearest staircase, his pulse already topping the charts. The women both squealed, and then roared when Julie’s pursuer did the same.

  Blood rushing behind his ears muffled all the ensuing noise. The clicking of the roller coaster. The rustling of shopping bags. The laughing teenage girls.

  Everything except the beating of his own heart and the thudding of Julie’s footsteps behind him vanished.

  He toppled into a woman and murmured a silent apology, spinning to catch a glimpse of Baseball Cap. He was just steps behind them, his hand outstretched toward the hood of Julie’s sweater. Zach barreled forward, pulling her with him, keeping her close enough to feel her breath on his neck. Close enough to know she was safe. Her palm grew damp, but he only squeezed tighter, unwilling to risk even loosening it a fraction to readjust.

  Not until he had found a secure place for her.

  But in the moment he could focus only on the three feet in front of him. Just squeeze through the line here and dodge the cart there.

  Somehow they’d made it into the open, bolting across the concourse and falling through the line for some attraction that he couldn’t see. A man hollered at him to slow down, and he tried to make his heart rate follow the advice. It wasn’t the physical exertion that left his head spinning and eyes burning but the fear for Julie. And still the man with the chipped tooth followed them, his presence urging Zach forward, renewing his strength, keeping his feet running. Please, God. Help me find a safe place. A safe place. A safe place.

  Lungs screaming and arms pu
mping, he glanced up just in time to see their salvation. A sign announcing Mall Security pointed to a door barely ten yards away. He slammed into the silver handle, and the door burst open into a narrow hallway.

  Two uniformed security guards glanced up from their seats at a desk, and Zach heaved great breaths as he pulled his badge from under his jacket. “A guy with blond hair in a red ball cap was chasing us. He had a weapon. Just on the other side of the door.”

  Although wide-eyed and open-mouthed, the guards jumped from their seats and rushed toward the door, yelling into their radios.

  *

  When the security guards had disappeared, Julie’s shaking legs couldn’t hold her any longer, and she crumpled to the ground.

  Zach knelt before her, running his hands up and down her arms and neck and over her cheeks. “Are you all right?”

  Tears were the only answer she could offer as she gulped in great lungfuls of air against his neck. A damp spot on his collar spread as her shoulders shook in his embrace. “I’m sorry. I was so scared.”

  “It’s okay. You’re safe now. We’re still together.” He swiped at an errant teardrop with his thumb, the pad callused but gentle against her cheek. Tilting her face down, he pressed his lips against her forehead.

  A sob caught her off guard, and she pressed her face into his immobile shoulder. In fact, all of him seemed as steady as an oak on a windless day. How could he be so calm after such an ordeal?

  “I’m sorry.” Her trembling lip garbled her words. Or maybe it was the width of his shoulder, which she refused to pull herself away from.

  He made gentle shushing noises as he stroked her hair. “Everything’s going to be all right. I’m here. You’re safe. He can’t hurt you now.”

  “What about the man who was chasing us? He had a gu-un!”

  “I know. But he didn’t follow us in here. They’ll look for him on security cameras.” His voice dropped low. “But if a security guard on the ground doesn’t find him, he’s probably long gone.”

  Which meant he was still out there.

  But she was safe. In here. Wherever here was.

  She was safe in Zach’s arms.

  It wasn’t until the rest of her body had stopped trembling that she realized he wasn’t as unaffected as she’d assumed. His hands, too, shook from the tumult of emotions. Lacing her fingers through his uninjured hand, she leaned away far enough to look into his eyes.