Magnum Force Man

by Amanda Stevens

  “Good morning.”

  He responded with a murmur, but he seemed barely aware of her presence. He didn’t even bother to glance up as she moved around him to the kitchen. She tried not to take it personally. Maybe he was feeling a little awkward about the night before. More likely, though, he was just absorbed in the program, and Claudia freely acknowledged that she was no match for Farrah, Jaclyn and Kate. But then, who was?

  As she cracked eggs for an omelet, her gaze kept straying to the living room. Jack had donned some of his new clothes—jeans, boots and a long sleeve gray T-shirt that she imagined would do incredible things for his eyes, if she could see them. She liked to think her pale green sweater did great things for her coloring, too, but for all Jack’s interest, she may as well have been wearing a paper bag over her head.

  But she couldn’t help smiling. His weird fascination for old TV shows was both ridiculous and utterly endearing. And yet another intriguing piece of the Jack puzzle.

  She turned from the stove and there he was, stealthy as always.

  Luckily, nothing was in her hand or she most certainly would have dropped it. But, of course, he would have anticipated her clumsiness and come to her rescue yet again.

  “I wish you’d stop doing that! My nerves can’t take it! If I don’t have a heart attack while you’re here, it’ll be a miracle.”

  He didn’t smile. As always, he seemed to take everything she said very seriously. “I’m sorry. I came to see if I could help.”

  “No, everything’s ready.” She tried to calm her stomach flutters, but when she looked up at him, her heart skidded against her ribcage.

  Oh, boy, had she ever been right. The gray T-shirt did amazing things to his eyes. Made them look deeper, darker, bluer. And so magnetic she almost felt a physical pull.

  Turning abruptly, she divided the omelet and stacked each plate with toast and orange slices. “Here,” she said. “You can take these to the table. I’ll bring the coffee and juice.”

  When they were seated, she gave him a tentative glance as she unfolded her napkin. His head was bowed, and as with every meal, he seemed to concentrate intently on his food, which made Claudia wonder again about his incarceration at the Facility and how he’d been treated there.

  I can hear him screaming again.

  I can’t get out. The cage is locked…

  She took a fortifying sip of her juice. Dear God, what the poor guy must have been through…

  Her eyes slid to him again and this time he was staring back at her. His focus was so direct, so intent, she felt her nerve endings tighten like vibrating piano wire. She held his gaze for as long as she dared, then glanced away.

  “Tell me more about your life in Chicago,” he said.

  “I thought we covered that last night.” Amazing how normal her voice sounded when her insides were doing all kinds of alarming things, like quivering and fluttering and flip-flopping all over the place.

  “You told me about your job. I’d like to hear about other things.”

  She looked up with a frown. “What, you mean my personal life?”

  He shoved his plate aside, folded his arms on the table and leaned in. His single-minded focus was still unsettling.

  Claudia dabbed her mouth with the corner of her napkin. “What do you want to know?”

  If possible, his eyes grew even more intense. “Did you kiss a lot of men there?”

  She lifted a brow in admonishment. “That’s not something you should ever ask a woman.”

  He looked nonplussed. “Why? There’s nothing wrong with kissing is there?”

  “No, not at all. It’s the ‘a lot of men’ part that some might find objectionable,” she said dryly, then shrugged. “But to answer your question, not really. Some, but not a lot. At least by my definition.”

  “What about sex?”

  She just stared at him for a moment. “Uh, what about it?”

  “Did you have sex with some of those men?”

  If he hadn’t looked and sounded so completely nonjudgmental, Claudia might have been tempted to slap his face. However, physical violence was never her first choice, and besides, he just seemed so darned innocent and genuinely curious, she couldn’t muster up enough outrage to hold it against him. “Let me just turn that question around on you,” she said. “What about you?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “You don’t remember having sex? Well, lucky for you it’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget how. Unless…” A thought struck her. Dumbfounded her. “You’ve never…uh…” She made an involuntary gesture with her finger. “You know.”

  She almost expected him to sputter an indignant denial or turn away in embarrassment, but instead his gaze remained steadfast and completely unfazed. “I can’t remember.”

  Wow. Just…wow.

  This was not something Claudia had let herself contemplate. But she supposed it made sense, if he’d been held against his will since childhood.

  A part of her really wanted to question him further, but mostly, she thought it a subject best left alone for the moment. She wasn’t ready for a conversation that personal, no matter how rampant her curiosity.

  Hopping up from the table, she started grabbing dishes. “We can talk more about this later if you want. Right now, I have to get to work. I’ll just clear the table…”

  “Here, let me do that.”

  Their hands brushed when they reached for the same glass, and Claudia drew back, startled. Such a small, insignificant touch, and yet her skin still tingled from the contact. “Okay, we can both do it,” she said breathlessly.

  Their gazes met again, he smiled slowly and Claudia felt the bottom drop out of her world. She tried not to stare, but it was like a moth to a flame.

  Virgin or not, he had her wound up in knots. This new persona of his exuded mystery and confidence and all kinds of crazy sex appeal.

  Good thing he’s been locked up in a cage all these years, she thought.

  A smile like that could spontaneously impregnate every adult female within a ten-mile radius.

  AFTER BREAKFAST, CLAUDIA set Jack up with her laptop, showed him how to use Google and then settled in at her desk to get some work done.

  Every now and then, though, she would glance over to see what he was doing. As with everything, he seemed wholly absorbed in the task at hand, surfing from one site to another, apparently soaking up information like the proverbial sponge.

  She could watch him for hours.

  But her hopeless fascination wouldn’t pay the bills so she forced herself to concentrate on her own task at hand. When she looked up again a little while later, Jack was still sitting with the computer on his lap, staring at an image on the screen. Claudia thought nothing of it at first and went back to her own work. Then her gaze returned to Jack. He remained focused on that image. And he wasn’t moving. His utter stillness was eerie and unsettling.

  She got up from the desk and walked to the couch to stare at the screen over his shoulder. It was a strange eight-sided star, a design Claudia had never seen before. And the image had been animated in such a way that the center of the star appeared to pulse against the black background.

  Claudia stood mesmerized by the movement. “What is that?”

  Nothing but silence.

  An uneasy chill skittered up her spine. She tore her gaze from the image and moved around to perch on the arm of the sofa. “Jack?”

  He didn’t answer, didn’t move, didn’t so much as blink. He appeared completely entranced by the image.

  She snapped her fingers near his face and he didn’t even notice.

  It’s like he’s in a trance or something.

  Her hands were dry and icy as she rubbed them along her jeans.

  What if he’s hypnotized?

  How was she supposed to bring him out of it? What if she said or did the wrong thing? What if she sent him into an even deeper stupor?

  “Jack?” She spoke in barely a whisper. “Can you hear m
e?”

  Slowly, his gaze lifted from the screen. He must have heard her, and yet his eyes looked distant, vacant.

  Like no one’s at home.

  Her heart sped until it was slamming against her chest in painful little strokes. “Jack?”

  He blinked twice.

  Oh, thank God, Claudia thought in relief. Maybe he was coming out of it on his own. “Are you okay?”

  Another blink, then he moistened his lips. “Yes. No.” He drew a shuddering breath. “I remember now.”

  She could feel her pulse all the way down to her fingertips. “What do you remember?”

  Another breath. He glanced back at the star and seemed to lose himself in the undulation for a moment. Then he looked up and his eyes were filled with a sort of hopeless dread that was terrible to witness.

  “Everything,” he said. “I remember…everything.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jack stood shivering in the cold. He’d left Claudia and all her questions behind in the cabin because he needed some time to process the storm of memories flooding through him. He knew who he was now. He knew where he had come from, where he had been, what he was supposed to be. He also knew why the “voice” calling to him inside his head the day before had seemed so familiar. It was his twin brother, Jared.

  He lifted his head to the sky and closed his eyes as he tried to open his mind. Where are you? Where are you?

  Nothing came through. No sound at all but the wind in the trees, the flap of a hawk’s wing, the trickle of the creek behind Claudia’s house.

  And the memory of those screams.

  He put his hands to his temples and pressed. Where are you? Where are you?

  “Jack?”

  He whirled. Claudia had come up behind him, all bundled up in her parka. She handed him his coat and gloves. “I thought you might be cold.”

  “Thanks.” He took the garments and drew them on.

  “Do you need anything?” she asked hesitantly. Her eyes looked very dark and very worried. He wanted to put her at ease, but he didn’t know how he was supposed to do that when his own mind was in such torment.

  “I’m okay,” he said.

  She nodded. “I’ll be inside if you change your mind and want to talk or something.” She turned and started toward the cabin.

  “Claudia?”

  “Yes?”

  When he didn’t say anything, she waited. Her expression seemed guarded but also a little hopeful, he thought. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking because at the moment, he desperately needed for someone to care.

  “Don’t go.”

  Myriad emotions flashed across her face. Hope. Fear. Worry. Relief. “Are you sure? Because I understand if you need some time alone.”

  “I need—” He wanted to say “you,” but he wasn’t sure that was appropriate, considering. After all, what did he have to offer a woman like Claudia except protection? He couldn’t give her love, long-term companionship. Those things were not for someone like him.

  “What do you need?” she asked softly.

  He gave a little shrug. “Maybe we could go for a walk or something.”

  She lifted a brow in surprise. “Walk? Sure, why not. I like to walk.”

  Although Jack had made it a point to familiarize himself with the surrounding terrain, he let Claudia take the lead. He followed her around to the back of the cabin where a narrow trail led into the woods.

  They walked single file and after a while, he began to relax. The spell of the forest was potent. Everything was so still and silent, and the air smelled of pine needles and the earthy scent of moss and lichen that clung to the bark of the trees and the northern side of the rocks. Clean smells. Comforting smells.

  They were in no particular hurry, but Claudia had struck a fairly brisk pace. She was in good shape. Her legs worked like pistons as her arms swung beside her. He admired that about her. He admired everything about her.

  After a bit, she veered off the path and they began a gentle climb to a craggy summit that overlooked a purple valley ringed by thick, blackish conifers.

  The air was fresh and cold, and for Jack, cleansing. There, in nature’s cathedral, the cramped gloom of a ten-foot by ten-foot cage seemed more like a nightmare than an actual memory.

  Claudia perched on a flat boulder and after a moment, Jack sat down beside her. He knew she was curious about what he had remembered, but she was courteous enough not to press. He appreciated that. The memories were still too fresh, and there were so many things running through his head that he still didn’t understand.

  The one question he couldn’t get away from, though, was the fate of his brother.

  Where are you? Where are you?

  He looked up at the sky, searched the mountains and the valley.

  Where are you?

  Beside him, Claudia began to talk, her breath frosting on the cold air. “When I was a little girl, my father used to take me to Wisconsin on these camping trips. I wasn’t really the outdoorsy type, not back then, but I never could say no because those trips meant so much to him.” She halted as she looked up at the mountains. “He grew up in a small town and I don’t think he ever felt at home in Chicago. He probably wouldn’t have lasted more than a few months if he hadn’t met my mother.” She gave a little laugh. “She was really something.”

  “I can imagine,” he murmured, watching her.

  She smiled at that. “Actually, I look more like my dad. He and my mother were complete opposites. She was a city girl through and through. What we call high maintenance these days. She loved to shop, get her nails done, buy all the latest fashions and cosmetics. My dad was all about the basics. And yet they were so crazy about each other. I remember how they used to hold hands when we watched movies together and how they would look at each other across the dinner table. It was like they shared this amazing secret. I always wondered what that would be like.”

  “You’ve never…been in love?”

  She shook her head. “No, not even close. But I guess there are some advantages to going it alone. You can’t lose what you never had. My poor mother was devastated when my dad died.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Eleven. She was never the same. She was a beautiful woman and she had plenty of admirers over the years, but she never remarried. She just couldn’t get over my dad. She used to tell me that I looked just like him, and I sometimes wonder now how she was able to bear such a constant reminder.”

  “Maybe you reminded her of what she loved most about him. Maybe it was a comfort.”

  Her smile was wan. “I’d like to think so.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She died during my freshman year of college. Breast cancer. I never even knew she was sick until it was too far gone. But at least we got to say good-bye and that’s more than some people get.” She bent and plucked a brown leaf from the damp ground and gently traced the points with her fingertip.

  Jack felt a tug of sorrow as he watched her. He wasn’t sure if the sadness was for her or for him. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

  She released the leaf and watched it drift back down to the ground. “At least I have my memories. That’s a good thing.”

  He said nothing to that.

  She turned on the boulder to face him. “But your memories aren’t so good, are they, Jack?”

  “No.”

  “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to. But if and when you do need to talk, I’m here.”

  He watched a bird swoop down toward the treetops. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

  “Tell about that website you found earlier. You were staring so intently at that star. It was almost as if you were in a trance. Had you seen it before?”

  A thrill of unease raced up his spine. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you remember how you found it?”

  He thought about that for a moment, then shook his head.

  “Did you use Google? What di
d you type in the search engine?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Well, don’t worry about it. I can search the history. What I’m more curious about now is the affect it seemed to have on you.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. “I’m wondering if that star somehow triggered your memory. Maybe you were subconsciously drawn to that website for a reason, and the image of the star worked like a post-hypnotic suggestion.” She grew more and more excited as she continued. “Maybe someone out there is trying to reach out to you.”

  Or find me, Jack thought.

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Claudia insisted. “Think about it. You barely know how to use the computer. I had to show you how to use Google, and yet somehow out of the millions and millions of Web sites in cyberspace, you landed on that very one because you were meant to find it. And maybe there are others out there looking for it, too.”

  Others…like him?

  Claudia turned on the rock to face him. Her eyes were bright with excitement, her cheeks pink from the cold. Jack thought she had never looked prettier. “I hate to badger you,” she said, “but if you could bring yourself to tell me some of things you’ve remembered, maybe it’ll help figure all this out.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Tell me about the Facility. How long were you there? Since childhood?” Her voice was soft with compassion.

  He shook his head. “My situation was different from the others. I was raised by a man that I was told was my uncle. The only name I ever knew him by was Ken. We were instructed to call him Uncle, though after a while we realized he was no relation.”

  “We?”

  “My twin brother and I.”

  Claudia reacted in shock. “You have a twin brother? Where is he?”

  “His name is Jared and I don’t know where he is.”

  “Jared.” She murmured the name as she digested his revelation. “So how did you and your brother come to be raised by this Uncle Ken person?”

  “Our parents were killed in a car crash when we were five years old, and he showed up out of the blue to take us in.”