Cindy shook her head but clamped her lips together. A tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped it away.
“Tell me.”
Cindy’s voice was barely above a whisper. “He was here again.”
Aaron grabbed Cindy’s hand. “Are you okay? When?”
“Last night, after you left. I’m fine, just very frightened, as he wants me to be. He’s not a figment of my imagination. He’s real. I know that now.” Cindy broke down. “I’m so scared!”
Aaron moved to the side of her bed and pulled her into his arms. “I will put a stop to this. Do you hear me, Cindy? I will make it stop.”
Cindy nodded her head as she leaned against Aaron as if soaking up his strength.
Before Aaron left the hospital, he gave every nurse and nurse’s aid what for. He didn’t want to hear of Cindy being alone, not for one minute. If she were, Nurse Nancy would have their head.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It didn’t take long to get to Cindy’s grocery store. Aaron pulled into the parking lot and stared at it. Amy’s Healthy Food. It was right where Cindy said it would be.
Aaron returned to the main road and drove two more blocks. On the corner sat a condo development, the outside walls covered in stone and wood. A water effect ran down one side of the building. Cindy hadn’t mentioned that, but there was no mistaking the rest of it. It was old-world, even the name harkened to the past, Berkinshire House. Aaron pulled up the circle drive to the front door. He got out and looked around. Though the parking lot was full of cars, it was deserted of people. The massive glass front door needed a key card to enter. Aaron peered through the glass, but any employees were not on standby.
A tenant directory was imbedded into the rocky wall to the right of the main door. Aaron walked to it and scanned the list. He hoped to find Cindy Ellerd listed but wasn’t surprised when he didn’t. That would have been too easy.
The next day after work, Aaron went back to the hospital and hunted down his aunt. After giving an obligatory hug, he launched into everything that had happened the last twenty-four hours. “I just don’t know what to think, Auntie. I was sure Cindy was lying, but why would she tell me all these details that check out? Cindy could’ve said she was from anywhere, a place I couldn’t check out. Instead, Cindy sent me directly to her supposed home and friends.”
Nancy frowned. “I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen with head injuries. It’s not that surprising.”
“Well, you’re the expert. I was wondering if there’s a clue somewhere in there, something we could tell the detective.”
Nancy agreed. “Yes, we should. You never know what might be a clue. I’ll call him.”
“That’s another thing,” Aaron said as he rubbed his hand over his chin. “The receptionist said Pearson had been there. Why didn’t he mention that?”
“Uh.” Nancy patted her nephew on the shoulder. “I’m sure the detective knows what he is doing.”
Aaron grunted. He wasn’t so sure of that.
He went from his aunt to Cindy. Once there, he told her the news before he even got seated. “It was there, Cindy. The store and the condos.”
Cindy lifted her hands to her mouth and half-breathed her reply. “It was? I had hoped, but was so sure it wouldn’t be.”
“You’re surprised?”
“It’s all still so… blurry.”
Cindy frowned. “You seem mad you found them.”
“No. Why would I be angry?”
“Then what?”
Aaron was eager for more. He wanted the story, but he couldn’t tell her that. “Nothing. It’s nothing.” Aaron plopped in a chair against the wall.
Cindy was still for a moment. “Aaron.”
Aaron sighed. “I want to know what happened to you. Tell me about that night.”
Cindy twisted her fingers. “I can’t tell you what I don’t remember.”
Aaron shifted in his seat. He needed to say much more to her, but he couldn’t. Not yet. Instead, he shrugged his own needs away and chatted with Cindy, making sure everything had gone well today.
He tried to calm himself, to quiet the questions, as they conversed, but it didn’t work, and they both knew it.
When Aaron made his excuses to leave, Cindy grabbed his hand. “Please, come back. Whatever I did, I’m sorry. I’m getting my bandages off soon, maybe tomorrow. We’ll be able to see each other when we talk.”
Aaron looked over her upturned face. Despite the confusion he felt, he couldn’t help but feel for her. “That will be nice. Don’t worry, I’ll be back tomorrow night.”
Cindy sagged with relief, then smiled and nodded. Aaron turned and walked away. He may have reassured her, but he was not confident about anything at this point.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Prince hummed as he worked. This was his favorite part, deciding how he would present them. If he did it right, money would pour into his bank account.
Briar Rose. Of course, Rose needed red hair. He would have a few pink dresses, and unique jewelry made up just for her. The girl would shine.
Presentation not only helped a princess become a favorite, but it also sold copies of her unique items. Prince couldn’t begin to guess how many Cinderella necklaces he’d sold, but it was enough to retire on, he imagined.
Prince berated himself once again. Why had he let Cinderella get to him? They all had their moments, even once he thought they had settled in. He shot a glance at Rose laying on her new chase lounge when she groaned. This one would give him trouble too.
He’d let it become personal with Cinderella, and he shouldn’t have done that. This was a business. If Prince would have remembered that, Cinderella would still be here enchanting her guests.
Why couldn’t she see how loved she was? The little ones missed her. Is Cinderella here today? Can I have tea with her? A picture?
No! No, you can’t! She is gone!
Prince leaned on the dresser, now filled with clothes for his new acquisition and sighed. He needed to get Cinderella back, for them and his pocketbook.
Rose groaned again, and Prince walked to her, crouching down beside the long chair. What should her dosage be? Each girl was different, and it took a long time to get the mixtures right. It had to be enough for her to listen, but not so much as to be noticeable. Without his pharmacist friend, Prince would never get the concoction correct.
But Prince wasn’t without feelings, his princesses were frightened at first. He patted Rose’s arm. “It’ll be okay. You’ll learn to like it here. I promise.” He winced. Well, most of them seemed to get used to it. They didn’t fight it anymore.
Prince gave Rose another injection. He didn’t want her to wake until morning. Then he strode out of the room, turning out the light and plunging the room into darkness. He pulled the door shut and slid the heavy bolt into place. As he walked away from Rose’s room, his phone rang. He was needed at the hospital.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aaron and Nancy were just down the hallway from Cindy’s room when Detective Pearson exited the elevator. Nancy nudged Aaron and pointed to the detective. “Now you can tell him what you found out when you talked to the office workers.”
Aaron sighed. “Yeah, but Aunt Nancy, he talked to them too.”
“Then we’ll get this all figured out.”
He shrugged. He didn’t think Pearson would let them in on his case secrets, but Aaron was willing to do whatever he could to help. Aaron walked up to the man, exchanging a firm handshake.
“Nancy says you have some vital information that would help the case?” Detective Pearson asked.
Aaron cleared his throat as he shot a glance to his aunt. Since when were she and the detective on a first name basis? “Um, yes. I went to the office Cindy works at and talked to the people she listed as friends.”
The detective frowned. “I wish you wouldn’t have done that.”
Aaron bristled. “She wanted to see them. She misses them. Anyhow, I spoke with Ezra, and he cla
imed he didn’t know Cindy, that she had never worked there.”
Detective Pearson reinforced his firm stance when he crossed his arms. “Yes, I am aware of that.”
Aaron took a step back. “Then why haven’t you told Cindy that, asked her what is going on?”
“I’m working with her psychologist, who has asked me to wait for the right time before telling her none of her so-called friends know her. I’m doing my job, and you should do yours, which I believe has more to do with a hammer and nails.”
Aaron sputtered, and Nancy put a hand to his arm. She looked up at the detective. “I’m sure you know what is best in these matters, but there is no need for rudeness.”
Pearson had the decency to duck his head.
Aaron pressed on. “You need to talk to Cindy. I thought she was lying at first, but now I don’t. She is lost here without friends and family. She needs to know why she’s alone.”
“But we don’t know why her friends say they don’t know her. At least, I don’t. Do you?”
Aaron shook his head.
“Then there is little I can say to her,” said Pearson. “And I’ve already asked her all the questions I can think of. But maybe you’re right, maybe now is the time to delve into her work situation.”
Aaron took a step toward the detective. “No. Forget it. It will just upset her.”
“A lot of things are going to upset her. This may jog some kind of memory for her. It’s time.” The detective spun on his heel and walked toward Cindy’s room.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cindy smiled uncertainly as Nancy, Aaron, and Pearson entered her room. She ran a hand over her hair. Nancy came to her side of the room and rattled off who Cindy’s new visitors were. It would be so nice when the bandages were gone, and she would actually look at her visitors. She felt so helpless like this.
Aaron’s shoes squeaked to a stop inside the doorway. He was probably surprised to find Officers Branson and Wilderson had come by.
Detective Pearson exchanged pleasantries with the officers. As usual, Wilderson did little but mumble, and now that the others were here, Branson was less than clear, stumbling about his words.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” the detective said to Branson. “I had hoped we had this all hashed out.”
“We do, we do,” Branson replied. “We’re just tying up some loose ends. Paperwork, you know how it is.”
“Yes,” Cindy added, “they were only checking on when I’d be released.”
Pearson cleared his throat. “I see.”
“Not trying to step on any toes here,” Benson reassured Pearson.
Pearson’s tone lightened after that. “No. No problem. I just came in to ask Cindy a few questions myself.”
“Ask away. Don’t let us stop you.”
Pearson pulled a chair to Cindy’s bedside and seated himself. He slowly got to the matter at hand, asking about her health first. Nancy took a few vitals during the beginning of the conversation, and Aaron stood at the end of the bed, his tennis shoe creaking against the floor from time to time.
The officers tapped their way over to the corner of the room but stayed. One of them constantly fidgeted, their shoes brushing against the tile floor as they moved.
Finally, Pearson got to the manner at hand. “Cindy, we need to discuss something important.”
Cindy stiffened. Something in his tone set her on edge.
The detective continued. “During my investigation, I have discovered something a bit unusual.”
Cindy tipped her head. “Unusual?”
“When I questioned your office friends, they didn’t remember you.”
Cindy froze. “They don’t remember me? What does that mean?”
“They didn’t recognize the name Cindy Ellerd. They have never known anyone with that name.”
Cindy gaped. How could that be? She was with them less than a week ago, sat with them as she worked, laughed with them at lunch. Why would they say they didn’t remember her? She vigorously shook her head, her voice firm. “That’s impossible. You didn’t go to the right place.”
Detective Pearson picked up her clenched fist and patted her. “I’m sorry, but I did, and so did Aaron.”
Cindy turned toward Aaron. “You did?”
“I did, Cindy. I’m sorry, but Ezra told me the same thing.”
“Ezra said that?” Memories of her friends flooded through Cindy’s mind. “He’s my friend. He wouldn’t say that.”
Detective Pearson’s tone softened as he moved on. “There can be reasons for this. Perhaps your head injury is worse than the doctors considered. We can have them look into that.” When Cindy started to deny it, the detective continued. “I’ve seen very strange things happen with head injuries. People can think all kinds of things are real.”
Cindy straightened her shoulders. “My friends are real!”
“Perhaps you knew them in a different capacity but now think they are your friends.”
Cindy scoffed. “That’s crazy.”
Nancy moved to Cindy’s side. “It’s like the detective said. The brain can do all kinds of strange things, dear. Don’t worry. We’ll talk to the doctor about it.”
Cindy’s mind swirled. “This isn’t right, it’s not. They are my friends. I’m not crazy.” When no one answered her, tears ran down her face. “I’m not.”
Cindy felt sick to her stomach. Could it be possible that her tenuous link to reality wasn’t a link at all? That every memory she had was false. That was impossible! Her first days here she seemed to drift in and out of consciousness, but each day Cindy had gotten stronger and more sure the things she remembered were real. Pearson would not take that away now. She couldn’t let him. Livid, she pulled her hand from the detective’s. “You’re not right. You’re not. Try again.”
“Do you think they are lying to me?”
Why would they do that? Lie to the police? Cindy shook her head. “I can’t think of why they would.” An idea popped into her head. Her name. It had never seemed right. Her mouth suddenly dry, Cindy swallowed. “Did you show them my picture?”
Detective Pearson was quiet for a minute. “No, I didn’t see a need for that. Do you?”
“I don’t know. I’m not the detective!”
Across the room, Aaron huffed. “You didn’t show them a picture?”
The chair squeaked as Detective Pearson turned toward Aaron. “No, did you?”
Cindy imagined a stare down between the two men.
Finally, Aaron spoke. “I didn’t have one with me.”
The detective turned back to Cindy. “Do you suspect you’ve gone by another name? One that your co-workers would know?”
Cindy couldn’t imagine why she would’ve done that, but she had to explore all possibilities. “How do you know Cindy Ellerd is my name?”
“Your driver’s license with your picture on it.”
Cindy flopped back against her raised bed. “It must be then.”
“Not necessarily,” the detective said, “they are easy enough too fake.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Maybe you didn’t. You didn’t set yourself up on that pile of glass. Maybe your attacker left the license behind to throw us off track.”
Cindy sat back up. “Cindy Ellerd has never seemed right.”
“I’ll take your picture to the office tomorrow and ask again.” Detective Pearson stood. “Perhaps we’ll have some answers then.”
Pearson stood as the two officers came over to take their leave. One of them patted her on the shoulder. Cindy got a whiff of familiar cologne, causing her stomach to turn. She bit the inside of her lip to avoid crying out and listened to their shoes as the three left the room sure that there were more questions now than ever.
Aaron broke her train of thought when he moved into the seat Pearson had deserted. “I’m sorry, I should have shown them a picture.”
Cindy crossed her arms. “Is this why things were — weird before? You assumed I was
lying?”
Aaron squirmed in his seat. “Yeah, I just —”
“I’m sorry, Cindy. It was confusing.”
“Welcome to my life. I guess I would’ve done the same thing. It’s not like you really know me.”
“I do, enough that it didn’t seem right.”
Cindy bowed her head. “Thank you.”
Aaron leaned toward her. “I will fix this. We want answers, and I’m going to get them. It’s still early enough someone might be at your office. Forget about tomorrow, I’m heading over there today.”
“I do want answers. Desperately.”
“Okay then.” Aaron jumped out of his chair and rushed to the door. “I’m on my way to find them.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
For the third time in two days, Aaron pulled into the parking lot of Paskel, Dylan, and Lindel, braking the car to a hard stop.
Aaron ran a hand over his face. He needed to come clean with Cindy. Tell her he was in this for more than finding answers for her, but that would have to wait until later. Perhaps if he was successful here, the news of what he’d been up to would go over easier with her.
Aaron sighed when he approached the office building and saw the same security guard as the first time he was here. The only thing that kept him from turning on his heel and walking way were the five cars still left in the parking lot.
The security guard shook his head when he spotted Aaron, and Aaron wouldn’t have been surprised if there was an eye roll in there too. Then the guard strolled over to the glass door and set his hand on his hips. “So, you’re back again.”
Aaron held himself in check. “Yes. Do any of those cars belong to the employees on floor three?”
The guard gave Aaron a deadpan stare before lifting his gaze to scan the parking lot behind Aaron. “No.”
Aaron threw his hand out toward the lot. “Come on. You just know that?”
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