He snorted and dropped his feet from the railing, his boots thumping against the wood porch. Most of his life was missing right now, and if he wanted it back, he’d be well-advised to keep taking his meds and going to his sessions with the shrinks. Shrink. Shrinky-dinky.
Where had that come from? He shook his throbbing head. The stuff that popped into his mind sometimes convinced him he’d already gone off the deep end.
A flash of light glinted from the trees, and Asher squinted. As far as he knew, no roads ran through that part of the property. A new symptom, flashes of light, had probably just been added to his repertoire of strange happenings in his brain.
He rubbed his eyes, and the light flickered again, glinting in the weak winter sunlight. He cranked his head around to survey the buildings behind him. Most of the patients here napped after lunch and the staff took the time to relax. He had the place to himself—as long as his spies were on break.
When the third flash of light made its way out of the dense forest, Asher pushed back from his chair and stretched. Investigating this would take his mind off the jumble in his brain.
He zipped up his jacket and stuffed his hands into his pockets. This felt like a mission and his fingertips buzzed, but he felt stripped bare without his weapon. He wouldn’t need it for what would probably turn out to be something caught on the branches of a tree, but at least he had a mission.
He strode across the rolling lawn, scattered with chairs and chaise lounges, abandoned in the wintry chill of December. He glanced over his shoulder, expecting someone to stop him, although he didn’t know why. He wasn’t a prisoner here. Was he?
Hunching his shoulders, he made a beeline for the forest at the edge of the grass. When he reached the tree line, he tensed his muscles. His instincts, which seemed to have been suppressed by the drugs he got on a regular basis, flared into action.
He stepped onto the thick floor of the wooded area, his boots crunching pine needles. Where had the light gone? It had flashed just once more on his trek across the lawn, like a beacon guiding him.
The rustle of a soft footstep had him jerking to his right, his hand reaching impotently for a gun. “Come out where I can see you.”
A hint of blue appeared amid the unrelenting greens and browns of the forest, and then a head, covered with a hood, popped out from behind the trunk of a tree.
“Asher?”
He swallowed and blinked. Had the docs chased him out here, too?
The figure emerged from behind the tree and the hood fell back. A tumble of golden hair spilled over the woman’s shoulder, and Asher had a strange urge to run his fingers through the silky strands.
“Asher, it’s me.” She held out a hand, keeping one arm around the trunk of the tree and leaning out toward the side as if approaching a wild animal. “It’s Paige. Do you remember?”
Paige? Her voice sounded like cool water tumbling over rocks in a stream. A sharp pain lanced the wound on his head, and he rubbed his fingers along the scar to make it stop.
She hugged the tree with one arm, her other arm stretched out toward him in a yearning gesture that made his heart ache.
“Are you in pain, my love?”
His mouth gaped open. “I-is this a joke?”
Her eye twitched, but her smooth face remained impassive. “No joke, Asher. I’m your fiancée.”
“My fiancée? But...”
A million emotions coursed through his brain in a tangled mess. Ivy. Shrinky-dinky. He tried to latch on to one, but something stung the back of his neck. As he clapped his hand against his flesh, the beautiful face before him melted away and he sank into darkness.
Chapter Two
As Asher hit the ground, Paige gasped and lurched forward.
Loud voices and a crashing noise had her jumping back behind the tree.
“What the hell, Granger? Did you have to shoot him with a dart?”
Paige backed up and scrambled for cover behind a clump of bushes and a rotting log. She flipped up her hood and smashed her face into the mulch, the smell of moist, verdant dirt filling her nostrils.
“Don’t give me that, Lewis. If that guy gets away, it’s your ass and my ass.”
“I don’t think he was running for the hills or anything. Where would he be going? Besides, he’s got enough drugs pumping through his veins that he wouldn’t get far, anyway.”
Paige held her breath as two sets of footsteps marched closer to her hiding place. She couldn’t see the two men and she hoped to God they couldn’t see her.
The other man, Granger, snorted. “You’re gonna count on that? This dude’s big, and even though his mind’s messed up, he’s still in Delta Force physical condition.”
“That’s exactly my point.” The underbrush crackled and rustled as if the two men were hauling a tree trunk. “You brought him down, and now we gotta carry him back. We coulda just told him the Ping-Pong tournament was starting or something.”
A bug crawled across Paige’s face and she squeezed her eyes closed, willing it away from her nose. These two men could not catch her here, as much as she wanted to save Asher from their clutches.
“We didn’t know what he was up to or his state of mind. I don’t trust any of these guys, and I’m not gonna lose my job or risk getting my ass kicked by any of them—especially this one.”
Huffs, puffs and curses replaced the conversation of the two men, and when the forest had gone silent once again, Paige raised her head and peeked over the crest of the log.
She crawled on her belly in the opposite direction, every cell in her body screaming at her to turn back toward Asher. Would he remember their meeting when he came to? Would he understand what they’d done to him? Would he know to keep her a secret?
By the time she reached the end of the wooded area and scrambled downhill to the access road, tears streamed down her face. What were they doing to Asher and why?
He was a hero who’d risked his life for his country, and that very country now held him captive, held his mind captive.
She hiked along the side of the access road, her boots scuffing the dirt. She couldn’t go to the police. She couldn’t go to the army. She might be putting Asher in danger if she did.
Before she hit the main road, she glanced over her shoulder at the hillside covered with trees. She’d be back.
She’d be back to get Asher and get him the hell out of that loony bin—after all, she was the fiancée of a D-Boy.
* * *
ASHER GROANED AND shifted to his side. His tongue swept his bottom lip and he tasted dirt. The forest. The woman.
A chipper voice pierced his brain. “Coming to?”
He peeled open one eye and took in the form of a sturdy nurse in pink scrubs. It wasn’t this woman—Tabitha—he’d seen in the forest. How come he could remember her so well?
“What happened?” He cupped the back of his head with his hand, flattening his palm against the scar.
“You got a little too ambitious.” She shook a finger at him and he wanted to chomp it off, but the sentiment floated away before it even registered.
“While everyone else was napping, you decided to take a walk across the lawn and collapsed midway.”
Asher ground his teeth together, mashing the dirt in his mouth. You’re lying, Tabitha.
“I remember heading across the grass.” He massaged his temple with two fingers. “I don’t remember much after that.”
As he struggled to sit up, Nurse Tabitha sprang into action and perched on the edge of the bed. “Let me.”
She curled a strong arm around his shoulders, hooked the other around his chest and helped him sit up. “There.”
“How’d I get back here?” He straightened up farther, hoping to dislodge her hand resting on his chest.
She curled her fingers, briefly digging her nails into his pec before
releasing him. “Granger and Lewis went out to move the lawn furniture and saw you sprawled on the grass. They got you back to your room.”
Asher ran his tongue along his dry teeth and recognized the cotton mouth associated with the meds they gave him—the meds he’d chucked this morning. His gaze wandered to the window, the curtains open to the dark night.
“Did I pass out? Have a seizure? It was daytime when I took that walk, or at least late afternoon.”
Tabitha’s translucent eyelashes fluttered. “Just a little overexertion, and because of your...brain injury, the doctors thought it best to medicate you.”
Of course they did.
Asher scratched the scruff on his jaw. “Thank God for Lewis and...”
“Granger.”
“Right.”
Tabitha hunched forward, her pink tongue darting out of her mouth. “I could shave you if you’d like.”
He’d rather grow a beard down to his knees. “I’m...”
“How’s the patient feeling, Tabitha?”
The nurse leaned forward and pressed a warm, clammy hand against his forehead. “He’s awake and feeling fine, certainly looking fine, and I’m sure he’s ready to eat. Are you hungry, Lieutenant?”
Asher threw back the covers, realizing for the first time he was naked beneath a hospital gown that gaped open in the front. Who’d done the honors of taking off his clothes? He sure hoped it wasn’t Nurse Touchy-Feely.
His gaze darted around the room, looking for his missing clothes. “I am ready to eat. Too late to grab something in the mess hall?”
“Not so fast there, Lieutenant Knight.” Dr. Evans stood by the bed, hovering over him. “I’d like to run a few tests and then bring Dr. Goshen in to see you.”
“The shrink?” He swung his legs over the side of the bed, almost taking out Tabitha. “I’m fine. I passed out. I didn’t have a hallucination.”
Did he? Was Paige, his fiancée, all an illusion? Nobody had said anything yet about finding a woman in the woods. If she hadn’t been a dream, he hoped she got away, because he had a feeling she wouldn’t be welcome here.
“Your passing out could’ve been psychological. We don’t want to take any chances.” The doctor jerked his thumb at Tabitha. “While we’re poking and prodding your body and mind, Tabitha can go down to the kitchen and put in an order for your dinner.” The doctor adjusted his glasses. “You can have dinner in bed and we’ll give you something to ensure you have a good night’s sleep.”
Asher’s blood boiled and his hand clenched into a fist. Then he closed his eyes, dragging in a deep breath. If he kicked up a ruckus now, they’d never let him out of their sights again.
“You know, that sounds good about now.”
“Of course it does. Tabitha, help the lieutenant back into bed. I’ll do my thing and go round up Dr. Goshen.”
Tabitha reached across him, her right breast brushing his arm, and fluffed up his pillows. “We had some delicious pork chops and mashed potatoes tonight. I’ll have the cook fix you up a special plate and have him add an extra dessert.”
“That’ll work.” He eased back onto the bed, his gown hitching up to his thighs.
Tabitha tugged on the edge of the material, her fingers dangerously close to his crotch, and then twitched the covers back over his legs. She tucked the covers around his waist, and her hands lingered next to his hips.
“Anything else I can get you before ordering your dinner?”
“I’m fine, Tabitha. Thanks.” He even managed to crack a smile in her direction.
Wrong move.
The nurse turned pink up to her strawberry blond hair. “We’re going to make sure you stay that way...Asher.”
When Dr. Evans returned with the psychiatrist, Dr. Goshen, Tabitha squeezed Asher’s thigh and gave him an encouraging nod.
He endured their invasion of his body and mind with a smile on his face and an agreeable tone in his voice. When Tabitha returned with a tray groaning with steaming food, Dr. Goshen shook out two blue pills next to the plate.
“Take these when you get some food in your stomach, and you’ll be back on track.”
Back on track to crazy town? The only track he wanted to be on was the one back to the forest...and Paige.
* * *
PAIGE RAN HER fingers through her damp hair and collapsed on the hotel bed. He really didn’t know her. His dark green eyes had been vacant when he looked at her. Maybe he suffered from more than memory loss.
She’d worked with enough people suffering from PTSD to know it could take many forms. Maybe he was a danger to himself and others and that was why the army had him stashed away here—captive. Maybe he’d been trying to go AWOL, like Major Denver. Maybe they were just holding him here until he got better before they court-martialed him.
She rolled over onto her stomach and pounded the pillow with her fist. No way. She had a hard time believing Major Denver turned, but apparently Asher himself had confirmed it. He’d been the lone survivor of the disastrous mission that had resulted in the death of an army ranger, the defection of Denver and Asher’s fall and subsequent amnesia.
If Asher were in trouble with the army, wouldn’t they just tell her? That would be enough to keep her away. Her inside army source, Dad’s friend and now Mom’s confidant Terrence Elder, hadn’t mentioned anything about an arrest or court-martial. Terrence had pulled in a few favors to find out where Asher had been sent after Germany. That was how Paige had tracked Asher down to the convalescent facility, Hidden Hills, here in Vermont.
Asher’s own teammates had been no help at all. If they’d returned her calls, and only a few did, they denied any knowledge of Asher’s whereabouts and weren’t too concerned about finding him. They’d viewed his accusations against Major Denver as the supreme betrayal of the man and the team.
But Asher would always do the right thing. With his father in federal prison for bank robbery, Asher followed the straight and narrow path. If he saw any wrongdoing, he’d report it—no matter who it was or how much it pained him to do so. She had firsthand knowledge of that.
If Asher said Major Denver killed that army ranger, pushed Asher off a cliff and took off, that was what happened.
But Asher had amnesia. How did he remember all that and not remember his fiancée? And if he didn’t remember her, he didn’t remember...
Her cell phone rang on the nightstand and she swept it off and answered. “Hi, Mom. Everything okay?”
“We’re fine. Everything okay there? Did you see him?”
“Sort of. It’s a long story.” She tapped her phone’s display. “You’re not using FaceTime. Is Ivy still awake? It’s three hours earlier there.”
“I’m sorry, honey. Ivy went down for a nap right after dinner. Do you want me to do the face thing when she wakes up?”
“That’s all right, Mom. I’m exhausted.”
“I-is Asher okay? Do you think you can help him?”
Paige scooped in a big breath. “I do. I think I can help him.”
“All by yourself? Maybe you should come home, Paige. You don’t need this stress. Let the army handle it.”
“I can handle the stress, Mom. Don’t worry about me. It’s Asher who needs help this time, and I’m not going to abandon him.”
Her mother clicked her tongue. “Don’t push yourself. You don’t do well under pressure.”
After that comment, Paige ended her call with Mom sooner rather than later and stretched out on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
She’d better start doing well under pressure, because the only way to help Asher was to get him out of that hellhole and restore his memory of her...and their daughter.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING after breakfast, Paige shook out a clean pair of jeans. She’d wear the same hooded jacket as yesterday, since it seemed to have kept her hidden in
the forest. Those two goons had no idea she was hiding in plain sight.
Asher had been on that porch by himself after lunch, so she’d aim for the same time again. Would he follow her signal? Would he rat her out—just like he’d ratted out Denver?
At least nobody had come into the small town of Mooseville looking for her. If she could get back to that wooded area again, she’d be safe. She just needed Asher to trust her.
Could he trust a...stranger? She clutched the jeans to her chest and bowed her head. She and Asher could never be strangers. Her love for him soaked every pore in her body.
When he found out she was pregnant, he’d swept her up in his arms and swung her around and around, even though the pregnancy had been a surprise and she wasn’t quite...ready. He’d wanted nothing more than a family of his own...and now he couldn’t even remember he had one.
She wiped the back of her hand across her tingling nose. She had no time for tears and no time for Mom’s doubts. She had to rescue her man, if he’d let her.
After lunch, Paige parked her rental car in a turnoff on the main road, tucking it away and out of sight. As she hiked up the road to the access trail, she tilted back her head and studied the sky. The sun still shone through the clouds, enough for her to catch its beams with her mirror and signal Asher, as she’d done yesterday.
She ducked onto the access road and pumped her legs up the hill as the terrain grew more challenging. A steep angle and a few bushes didn’t faze her. She’d hike through fire and brimstone to get to Asher.
The trees became denser, but Paige had marked her way the day before and those bits of blue yarn guided her back toward the compound perched on the hill.
She located her lookout tree and jumped to catch the lowest branch. She swung herself up and clambered from branch to branch like a clumsy monkey to reach her perch.
She shrugged off her pack and pulled out the binoculars. She scanned the desolate lawn. Maybe the action perked up in the warmer weather months...or maybe this retreat kept its patients drugged up and chained in the basement. Clenching her teeth, she shivered.
Fifteen minutes later Asher rewarded her patience by appearing on the porch, taking the same chair as yesterday. She focused the lenses on him, and her heart filled with joy. He looked healthy, if...lackadaisical.
Delta Force Daddy Page 2