Wrong Memories

by Edna Curry

  “Oh, my God! Were those yours?” she gasped. I knew that money wasn’t mine.

  ***

  Roscoe smiled. She thought they were his? Was this part of her memory loss that Buddy had told him about? Maybe he could avoid paying her off after all. He decided to run with it and see how it went. “Yeah, and I want them back, sweetheart.”

  “I…I spent a lot of them. And the rest are in a bank account. I…I can get those for you. And I promise I’ll pay back the rest. I have a job…”

  He grinned and pulled her to her feet. Nose to nose, he growled at her, “You’d better, or you know what will happen?”

  She cringed, trying to pull away. “No, what?”

  He leaned over her. “I’ll break a few of your bones, sweetheart.” He leered at her, grabbing her blouse front and shaking his fist in her face. Buttons popped as she tried to pull away.

  “Leave me alone or I’ll scream,” she told him.

  He shoved her away from him, hard.

  She fell, hitting her head hard on the pool’s cement edge and lay there, knocked out.

  He glanced around. No one saw that. He’d heard her tell her mother she couldn’t swim, so she’d probably forgotten how to do that, too. Besides, if she was out, she’d probably drown. No one knew he was here, so they’d assume it was an accident.

  Quickly, he rolled her into the water.

  Then he slipped out the way he’d come, by the side gate, and ran back to his car.

  Chapter 14

  Dave heard a car start outside.

  Had Lucy left? “Lucy!” he called, going out to the pool area and looking around. Where was she?

  She’d said she didn’t remember how to drive.

  “Dirk! Tom!” he yelled.

  Bright lights flashed on as someone flipped a switch. And then he saw her floating in the water, face down.

  “Oh, my God! She’s in the water!” he yelled. “Call 9-1-1.” He yanked off his shoes and dived into the pool, anxious to pull Lucy out. He’d almost reached her when she suddenly began swimming toward him.

  “Dave, I’m okay,” she said.

  But when he helped her out of the pool, she coughed and sagged against him, totally weak and unable to keep her balance. He eased her down onto the lounge chair.

  “Sit here,” he said. “What happened? I thought you said you couldn’t swim.”

  “Of course I can swim, Dave. I’m a champion swimmer,” she said.

  Betty and Tom crowded around her. Betty grabbed a large towel from a nearby cupboard and wrapped it around her. “Are you okay? I called 9-1-1, the paramedics will be here soon.”

  “Don’t fuss, Mom. Of course I’m okay. I…I…” she vomited water, then leaned back in the chair again, shivering. “Oh, that SOB, Roscoe was here. Where did he go?”

  “What? Roscoe was here?” Marla asked, coming up behind them.

  “Yes, he shoved me and I hit my head on the cement. Oh, God, I’m going to have a big lump there,” she said rubbing the back of her head. “But how did I get into the water?” She coughed some more, leaning forward to vomit more water and her dinner. “I’m sorry, Mom. Oh, I’m making a mess. He must have pushed me into the pool.”

  “Don’t worry about the mess, darling,” Betty said, patting her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “I’ll get a bucket and mop,” Marla said, going back into the house.

  “You remember Roscoe?” Tom asked, eyeing his daughter. “Who am I?”

  “Dad, my head hurts. Please, let’s not play games, now, okay? Ooh, those sirens hurt my ears.” She leaned back against the chair, squeezing her eyes closed, and covering her ears with her hands.

  Betty and Tom hugged each other with big smiles.

  “Can you believe it? She knows us now!” Betty said, tears of happiness flowing. “We have our daughter back!”

  “Thank God!” Tom said.

  Lucy opened her eyes as the paramedics hurried over to her, Tom guiding them to her.

  “I’m fine, really. I just hit my head and swallowed a bit of water,” she insisted.

  “Humor us, lady. I’ll just check your vitals,” the young paramedic said, sticking a thermometer under Lucy’s tongue and strapping a blood pressure cuff onto her arm. “You’re sopping wet.” She wrapped a warm blanket around Lucy.

  “What happened here?” a policeman asked, coming up beside the paramedic and eyeing her.

  Lucy frowned at the cop. “My asshole ex-boyfriend was waiting out here for me. He threatened to break my bones and shoved me down onto the cement. I hit my head hard and passed out. I woke up in the water with Dave here, coming to get me. I swam over to meet him and he helped me out of the pool.”

  “You remembered how to swim!” Dave said, smiling.

  “Yes, I guess I did.”

  “And that asshole’s name is?” the cop asked with a grin, pulling out his notepad and pen.

  “Roscoe Mattison.” When the cop raised an eyebrow, she added, “Yes, he’s the senator’s son. He’s an abuser and has hit me numerous times before. When he beat me when we were in the Bahamas, I broke our engagement, left and flew back home.”

  “Are you sure it was Roscoe?” the cop asked with a frown.

  “Of course I’m sure.” She sent him a nasty glare.

  “What does this dude look like?”

  “About six feet tall, blond short hair, smooth talking playboy, living on his grandfather’s money.”

  She leaned back against the lounge chair and looked at Tom. “He even had the nerve to pretend my travelers’ checks were his and wanted me to pay him back, Dad. Can you believe it? What a creep! What did I ever see in him?”

  Dave patted her shoulder.

  The paramedic finished her exam and asked, “Do you want to go to the ER to be checked out further?”

  “No, really, I’m fine. I just need some aspirin and sleep, okay?”

  “Are you sure, honey?” Betty asked. “You look awfully pale.”

  “Yes, Mom. Don’t fuss.”

  “Okay, then.” The paramedics left, with Tom escorting them out while thanking them for their quick response.

  The officer stepped closer to Lucy. “Ma’am, will you press charges against this Roscoe for abusing you?”

  “Yes, I will,” she said firmly. “He deserves it.”

  “Then we can put out an APB on him and pick him up.”

  “Good,” Betty said. “I never did like him.” Tom smiled agreement.

  Lucy gave her a little smile. “I know you didn’t, Mom. I should have listened to you.”

  “Thanks, honey. But oh, his dad is going to be furious! And the press will have a field day!”

  “That’s okay,” Tom said. “We’ll just take the landline phone off the hook for a couple of days. The press doesn’t have any of our cell phone numbers. I never did like those Mattisons either.”

  Lucy turned to Dave. “Oh, and that picture you had on your phone?”

  “What picture?”

  “The one you showed us at dinner tonight of Sally’s new boyfriend?”

  “Yes?”

  “That is Roscoe’s friend. He calls him ‘Buddy,’ I don’t know his real name, but he’s been at fundraising parties at Roscoe’s dad’s house several times. He was the guy driving the car that hit me in St. Paul.”

  “He hit you on purpose?” the officer asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. I’m sure he did. He drove straight at me and I couldn’t get out of the way in time.”

  “Why would he do that?” Betty gasped.

  “He was probably ordered to do it by Roscoe.” Dave pulled out his phone and showed the picture to the officer, explaining that the man had tailed them in Mankato and on the way to Minneapolis.

  “Let me e-mail a copy of that to my office,” the officer said, taking Dave’s phone and pressing buttons.

  “I think the Mankato police department is already holding him,” Dave said.

  “Good. That’ll make it easy for u
s,” the officer said. “I’ll get right on it, then. Here’s my card. If you think of anything else, give me a call. Goodnight, everyone.” He hurried off.

  Betty said, “Come on inside and get warmed up, dear. I’ll run you a hot bath, okay?”

  “Good idea. Thanks, Mom.”

  Dave helped her up and they went inside.

  “Well, if everything’s okay, now, I think I’ll head home,” Dirk said. “Keep in touch now, you hear, Lucy?” He gave her a hug and she hugged him back.

  “I will, Uncle Dirk. And thanks again for finding me.”

  “You’re welcome, honey. I’m so glad you’re back to normal. Nice meeting you, Dave.”

  ***

  At Lucy’s insistence, Tom and Betty agreed to fly back to Hawaii to rejoin their tour. “Provided you promise to rest here at home until you’re feeling better before you do anything else, okay?” Betty said as they packed to leave.

  “I will, Mom.”

  Marla put in, “Don’t you worry. I’ll keep a sharp eye on her.”

  “I know you will,” Betty said. “Thanks, Marla. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

  The next morning, the detective who’d been there the night before called. Dave put the call on speaker phone so they could both hear him. He told them, “Buddy has talked. He told us everything in a plea bargain for a lesser sentence. He said he was paid by Roscoe and isn’t taking the blame alone. Roscoe paid him to hurt Lucy. She was supposed to have been killed by the accident, but saw him and tried to get away so he didn’t hit her directly.”

  “That dirty SOB!” Dave swore. Lucy nodded in agreement.

  “He said he went around the block, then parked and grabbed her cell phone and laptop which were lying on the pavement. Nobody paid attention because those trying to help were with Lucy and were talking on their phones. Then he slipped away.”

  “So that’s why she didn’t have them,” Dave said.

  “And he’s admitted to killing another former girlfriend of Roscoe, Dee Thomas from Edina. He’d made it look like suicide. So they’re both going to spend a long time in prison.”

  “Good. I’ll bet Roscoe’s dad is having a fit,” Lucy said.

  “My latest news is that he’s dropping out of the race,” the detective said.

  “I’m glad,” Lucy said, smiling. “I can’t wait to call Mom and tell her.”

  ***

  Dave and Lucy spent the next two days relaxing by the pool. Dave enjoyed seeing Lucy swimming laps. “Just like a fish,” he teased her.

  “I enjoy the water,” she said with a laugh. She climbed out of the warm pool and wrapped herself in a thick terrycloth robe, then sat next to him on a lounge chair.

  They sipped colas. Dave asked curiously, “Do you still remember all the Lucinda Johnson memories, too?”

  “Yes. Strangely enough, those are still there in the back of my mind, but they’re not as real to me anymore. They’re sort of fading. My life as Lucy Denton is becoming clearer all the time.”

  “I’m glad,” he said, but she heard doubt in his voice.

  She put out a hand to cover his. “I love you, Dave, and nothing’s going to change that.”

  His gaze met hers. “I love you, too, Lucy. I think I fell in love with you when we met on the bus. After I heard you’d taken a job at Mom’s restaurant, I told myself I had to keep in touch because I was afraid you’d upset Mom in some way, after you’d told me about your memories being from 1955, I mean. But in truth, I just couldn’t stay away from you.”

  “I’m glad. Do you mind that my family is rich?”

  “Well, it makes me feel a bit inferior,” he admitted.

  “Oh, you. You could never be that,” she scolded.

  “Well, I don’t know any big shot lawyers like your dad or Uncle Dirk. Or any senator and his son like you do.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You mean Roscoe. And I definitely wish I’d never met that asshole. You’re a good man, Dave, and I can trust you. That’s way more important to me.”

  “Thanks.” He was silent a bit, then asked cautiously, “So, what happens next?”

  She sipped her cola for a long moment, then eyed him. “What do you want to happen?”

  “I’d like to keep seeing you, if you’re willing.”

  “Only seeing me?” she pouted.

  “Well, it’s too soon to ask more of you, isn’t it?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Is it?”

  He stared at her, then swallowed hard and dared to ask, “Lucy, will you come back to Mankato with me?”

  “Why?”

  “To…to be my wife. And whatever else you want to be with your life,” he added. “I mean, I know you won’t want to keep being a waitress, now that you have your memory back. But Mankato is a good sized town. It has a state University, as well as lots of large businesses. You could do whatever you want there, using your college degree in computers.”

  “Oh, Dave, yes!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want me after all this.”

  “Nothing could stop me from loving you, Lucy. I’ll never stop wanting you.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  The End.

  About the author:

  Edna Curry lives in Minnesota and often sets her novels there among the lakes, evergreens and river valleys. She especially enjoys the Dalles area of the St. Croix Valley, gateway to the Wild River, which draws many tourists who give her story ideas. Besides non-fiction articles, she writes mystery, romance and romantic suspense novels.

  Edna is married and is a member of the Romance Writers of America and two of its chapters: Kiss Of Death and Northern Lights Writers.

  Circle of Shadows (half of Deadly Duos #1) was a finalist in RWA's prestigious Golden Heart Contest.

  Visit her webpage at http://www.ednacurry.com

  Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/Edna.Curry.author

  Twitter: @Edna_Curry

  Blog:

  http://ednacurry.blogspot.com/

  ***

  Recent or upcoming books by Edna Curry:

  My Sister’s Keeper

  Best Friends

  Lost Memories

  Mirror Image

  Hard Hat Man

  Double Trouble

  Flight to Love

  Circle of Shadows

  Traveling Bug

  Secret Daddy Whiskey Creek Press

  Never Love a Logger Whiskey Creek Press

  I’ll Always Find You Whiskey Creek Press-Torrid

  Meet Me, Darling Melange Books

  Wrong Memories

  ***

  Short stories:

  5 Children’s Stories

  7 Short Stories

  Non-fiction:

  The Jam of all Jams

  The story of the world’s largest logjam ever.

  Lady Locksmith Series:

  The Lilliput Bar Mystery

  Body in the Antique Trunk

  Lacey Summers’ PI Mystery Series:

  Yesterday’s Shadow

  Dead Man’s Image

  Dead in Bed Whiskey Creek Press

  Eccentric Lady

  ***

  Excerpt:

  Meet Me, Darling

  By Edna Curry

  Chapter 1

  “She’s here?” The big man growled to himself. Heat surged up his neck and he fisted his hands. What rotten luck. Why hadn’t he killed her when he’d had the chance, twenty years ago?

  He stared at the Cameron Company payroll list on the computer screen in front of him. Then hope flared. Maybe it was only a coincidence. Maybe they hadn’t hired HER, only someone with the same name.

  Hacking into the company’s human resources database, he pulled up her file. Jolene Carson, twenty-five years old. Yep, the right age. Next of kin, parents, Sam and Nancy Carson. Damn, it was her.

  He liked it here in Minneapolis and didn’t want to move on again. Maybe she wouldn’t recognize him. They worked
on different floors and in different departments. Maybe he could avoid her, or maybe she wouldn’t remember him. He’d changed a lot, hadn’t he? Twenty years was a long time and she’d been so young then. He’d gained thirty pounds sitting at an office desk and no longer wore farmer’s jeans or had a dark suntan from working outdoors.

  No, he couldn’t take that chance. If she told, she could ruin everything for him. He’d have to get rid of her.

  ***

  “Ready to go for a drink, Sugar?”

  Bart Matthews cringed at the saccharine tone of his coworker’s voice. Didn’t she ever give up? He hated being called Sugar and he’d made it as clear as he knew how that he wasn’t interested in her, hadn’t he?

  He swiveled on his office chair. Lucy Barrows leaned provocatively against his doorframe, grinning at him. Long red fingernails flashed as she flipped her long blonde hair back. She’d unbuttoned her silk blouse halfway to her waist to show off a curve of bare skin of her large bosom. Her silicone enhanced bosom, he was sure.

  He knew she was trying to turn him on and he supposed most men would be. He wasn’t. Not that he didn’t like seeing women’s bare breasts. He did, on women who interested him. She didn’t, because he knew she came on to many men and that turned him off. His Christian upbringing made him want only an exclusive, meaningful relationship.

  He managed a smile. “Sorry, Lucy. I have other plans. You guys have fun.”

  Lucy’s full lips formed a pout. “You’ve always got other plans.”

  He lifted his hands in a ‘what can I do?’ gesture.

  “Okay. Your loss.” She made a face at him and left, swaying her hips provocatively.

  He didn’t have other plans, but spending time at a bar fighting off her unwelcome advances was not his idea of a fun evening. He turned back to his computer and worked for a while more to make sure she and her friends had time to leave. Then he closed up for the night. He felt privileged to have one of the smaller office rooms for hierarchy that ringed the main office cubicles area.