Memory Reload

by Rosemary Heim

  “We know what we saw when we got in there. I made salvaging the audio Matt’s priority.” John tried to stare him down.

  “Appearances can be deceiving. We need to know what’s on that tape.”

  Reluctance etched into every line of his face, John lifted a phone and dialed an internal number. “Matt, do you have the security camera tape from the gallery? Right, put Casey on it.” He hung up. “Do you really think it’ll show us anything?”

  “We owe it to Alex to check it out, don’t you think?” He pushed himself up from the chair. “Where is she?”

  “They’re bringing her up to interrogation.” John stood. “Let’s take a walk.”

  They walked in silence as John led the way through the halls. The door to the interrogation room was swinging shut as they rounded the corner. They slipped into the cool dimness of the adjacent observation room.

  Through the large one-way mirror they could see Alex standing with her back to them, just inside the door of the next room. A female uniformed officer stood beside her.

  “Someone’ll be in before too long.” The officer’s voice came over a wall-mounted speaker.

  Ryan stepped closer to the window. This was the first time he’d seen her since the shooting.

  He rubbed his arm, but the ache he wanted to ease was located more in his chest, in the vicinity of his heart.

  “D’you want anything?” The officer spoke again.

  Alex shook her head. Ryan squinted through the smudged glass, studying her, wishing she’d turn around. He couldn’t summon up much emotion looking at her back.

  “You sure?” the officer asked. “You’re gonna be in here for a while.”

  When she didn’t respond, the officer shrugged and left. Alex turned then and looked straight at him through the mirror.

  Dark crescents beneath her eyes revealed how little sleep she’d had since the arrest. Her shoulders sagged and her hair…he swallowed around the rock in his throat. Her hair hung dull and lifeless, like her eyes.

  His heart fell to the pit of his stomach. He didn’t want to hurt, dammit, not like this, like he was six years old again and losing the only woman who loved him.

  She looked away and he could finally breathe. His pulse pounded in his chest. He turned his back to the one-way mirror, sagging against the cool glass for support.

  Her image still burned in his mind’s eye. He knew what the evidence said. Her own words condemned her.

  None of that mattered, because he knew something else. He pushed away from the window.

  John stood, arms crossed over his chest, watching him with narrowed eyes. “What are you going to do?”

  “Talk to her.”

  John stepped in front of him, blocking the way. “She’s a criminal, Williams, charged with blackmail and two counts of attempted murder. That’s so far. It will be a lot worse before we’re done.”

  “You’re telling me this because…”

  “Don’t fancy yourself in love with her, because if you do, you won’t like the road it takes you down.”

  “Tell me something, John. When you realized you were in love with your wife, could anyone have said anything that would have changed your mind?”

  John scrubbed one hand over his face and shook his head. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” Ryan pushed past John. “Whatever hell she’s headed for, I’m not letting her go alone.”

  When he entered the interrogation room, Alex stood in a corner of the windowless room. Her eyes were closed, her head leaned back. She looked as if she was trying to push herself into the wall and disappear.

  He turned to close the door and came face-to-face with Casey, holding a videocassette. She stepped closer and he shut the door on her. What he needed to say to Alex would be said without an audience in the room.

  No audience at all would be better, but he knew there was little hope the other team members would allow them any privacy. They would have to work mighty hard to hear anything, though.

  Ryan crossed the room to stand in front of Alex, blocking her from the observers behind the one-way mirror.

  It didn’t seem possible, but she hunched tighter into the corner. He wanted to touch her, but he needed to talk to her more.

  “I doubt any cracks in the wall will be big enough to hide in.” He kept his voice soft, tried to put a smile in the tone, but it hurt too much.

  She flinched but didn’t open her eyes.

  “I will admit to wishing we could slip away somewhere.” His voice cracked. He stopped, wet his lips, then continued. “Together, just the two of us.”

  Her eyes fluttered open and she finally looked at him. When she saw his arm in its sling the last bit of color left her cheeks. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  His throat ached. Evidence be damned. He saw the truth in her eyes. She’d been fighting for her life. And his.

  She touched his arm with trembling fingers. “I tried to remember what you taught me about shooting but it happened too fast. Will you be okay?”

  He nodded, not trusting his voice for a moment. “I lead a charmed life, remember?”

  “Is Sullivan…” She bit her lip. “Did I kill him?”

  “No, you didn’t hit anything vital. You’re not a very good shot.”

  Some of the tension left her body.

  “Not that he doesn’t deserve it.”

  She shook her head and looked away. “No one deserves that.”

  He touched her chin, drawing her gaze back to him. “Baby, what did he do to you?”

  “He came here because of me. He had Justin and David killed because of me. He was going to kill you. Because of me.”

  “You’ll testify against him?”

  She nodded.

  “You’ll be given full immunity.” He brushed her hair over her shoulder. “I’ll get you a lawyer and work out—”

  A hammering knock on the door interrupted him. They turned to see John standing in the open door.

  “Williams, we need to talk.”

  “Come on in, John.”

  “What the hell are you doing?” John slammed the door shut.

  “Alex is going to provide her complete testimony in exchange for immunity on any charges.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “I just did.” John could scowl all he wanted, it wouldn’t change Ryan’s course.

  “Blackmail, attempted murder, that’s just in Hawaii. Add in the California charges and she’s going away for a long time.”

  “No. She is a member of our team. She did what she had to do, the best she could do, same as any of us would have in that situation.”

  “Pela and Walker are pinning her.” John braced his fists on the table and leaned toward them.

  “Yeah. They’re a reliable pair.”

  “The tape—”

  “Is incomplete and misleading.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I was there.” He turned and looked at Alex. “I know.”

  A glass-rattling door slam witnessed John’s departure.

  “That boy’s going to break a window if he’s not careful.”

  Alex sighed, relief clear in the relaxing of her shoulders. “I was so scared. I thought it would be just my word against the others.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “You were conscious and heard—”

  “Nothing.” Ryan shook his head. “I was out the whole time, right up ’til the end.”

  “You didn’t hear any of it?”

  “No.”

  “You lied.”

  “Did I?”

  She shook her head. “But you don’t know that.”

  “I know what’s here.” He rested his hand over her heart. “You’re ready to sacrifice yourself because you think that will make up for someone killing your friends. The better choice would be to make sure the people who are really guilty are put away. You need to be free to honor Justin’s and David’s memory by living the life they brought you here for.”

 
She turned away.

  “Don’t forget your cat. Someone’s got to be around to take care of Ansel. I like him and all. I’ll even admit to having grown kind of attached to him, but when I’m gone on assignment, he’s going to need you.”

  She looked at him with a puzzled frown.

  “There’s something else.” He threaded his fingers through her hair, cupping her neck and drawing her close. “When I come home, I’ll need you.”

  That got her attention. “Home?”

  “I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work.” Hope began to grow. Maybe he could make this happen. “I’m gone for months at a time. But there’s an opening in the Honolulu office, and I was thinking of posting for that. It would make maintaining our relationship a lot easier.”

  “Relationship?”

  “Yeah. It seems, if we love each other, that’s pretty much the start of a relationship.” His heart beat with an unsteady rhythm.

  “Love?”

  “I’m not claiming to have much experience, but I’m pretty sure I do.” His throat closed around the words. “Love you, that is.”

  He pulled her close, wrapping his good arm around her. The silence nearly killed him. Had he misread her? “The hoped-for response is…”

  “I love you.” Her words were a mere whisper.

  “Yeah.” He nodded, took a deep breath.

  She nodded. Her arms wound around his waist.

  They stood in the interrogation room, holding each other, words no longer necessary.

  Epilogue

  Ryan ran along the water’s edge, reveling in the sensations of sand, sea and wind surrounding him. The sun hovered above the horizon as though reluctant to leave the comfort of the night.

  Jamie’s house came into view as he rounded the bend. As usual, Jamie stood on the patio, waiting with a towel and a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade.

  Ryan hesitated for a moment, torn between returning to the guest cottage and hearing the latest news from Jamie. News won out. He trotted to the patio, accepting glass and towel. “Good morning.”

  Jamie nodded. “It would seem that all is right with the world today. Indictments came in late last night.”

  Ryan lowered the glass. “That was fast.”

  “The gallery security tape provided rather compelling evidence when combined with other testimony. Mr. Sullivan and his cohorts will be out of circulation for some time to come.”

  Ryan blew out a sigh of relief.

  “How is Alex?”

  “Sound asleep when I left this morning.”

  “I must admit being surprised to see you up this early.”

  Ryan smiled. “It’s easy enough when you never went to sleep in the first place.”

  Jamie raised an eyebrow.

  “Alex was so wound up after the opening last night she kept me awake sketching out plans for her next show.”

  “The show went well then?”

  Ryan smiled with unashamed pride. “More than just well. She sold a number of pieces. I have a feeling several more will go before the week is out.”

  “And you?”

  Ryan looked out across the ocean. “I finally understand why you stay here when so much of your work is on the mainland. This is as close to home as I’ve ever come.”

  A movement at the edge of the palm grove caught Ryan’s eye. Alex was walking toward them, a cell phone to her ear. When she reached the patio, she handed the phone to Ryan and slipped her arms around his waist, snuggling in close. He wound his free arm around her, the action automatic, the need to hold her unfailing.

  “Williams?” Jacquelyn’s voice demanded attention.

  “Yes, Miss Jackie?”

  “Your posting for the Honolulu office has been approved. Is there anything you need before you can begin?”

  “No, ma’am. I reckon I’ve already got pretty much everything I could possibly want. Thanks.” He ended the call.

  “She was very insistent that I bring the phone to you. What did she want?”

  “She was giving me my new assignment.”

  Alex went stone still in his arms. He hugged her closer, before she could even try to pull away. Over her head he met Jamie’s questioning look. “Looks like you’ll finally have your guest cottage back. I’ll be needing a more permanent place to call home.”

  He loosened his hold on AJ, just enough that he could look into her warm gray eyes. “I’m kinda hoping you and Ansel might be willing to share yours.”

  “Really?” A smile lit her eyes.

  He nodded. “I’ve got a permanent assignment here. The woman I love is here. Seems logical to have a home here.”

  “How would you feel about finding a new place, together? Something that’s ours and not a friend’s hand-me-down?”

  “Yeah. I like the sound of that.” He lost himself in her smile.

  The where didn’t really matter. For him, home would always be Alex.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-3757-5

  MEMORY RELOAD

  Copyright © 2004 by Rosemary Heim

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