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Nina was quiet for a moment. “He wants you to remember.”
“Does he think I don’t want the same thing? It’s all I’ve wanted for a year now. It’s all anyone wants.” Sienna squeezed her eyes shut. “Why is this such a big deal?”
“You’re not ready for that, either.”
“Well, you have to give me something, because I feel like I’m going crazy!”
Sienna took a breath to pray Aunt Karen and Jackson Parker hadn’t heard her. The last thing she needed was for them to look at her like she was something to be pitied. That wasn’t who she was. She was a fighter. How else would she have lasted living this long in a cloud of confusion with no way out and not go crazy?
“I can give you a way out of that house, but that’s all I can do. Karen was right about one thing, you do have to remember on your own.”
“How do you know she told me that?”
“It was the plan.” Nina paused. “Do you want an out or not? Because I’m in your neighborhood, so if you want space to figure this out I can help you. I’ll pick you up.”
Sienna wanted to say yes. She wanted to jump at the chance to see this woman she was clearly deeply connected to, if the way her chest was twisting was any indication. Did people really feel like that about those they were closest to? She might have that with Parker, if she allowed herself to find out how deep the well of her feelings for him went. And if they really did know each other like he claimed.
But something about Nina told her their bond had been forged through weathering hard times together. The kind of connection lifelong friends have. A bond that surpassed a blank memory. Her heart knew this woman, just like her heart knew Parker. But which one did she choose?
“This offer has a time limit. I’m not supposed to be here, but I received word from a contact that something was going down tonight. By the time I got to the scene, I heard the suspects were either dead or had already been arrested and you’d escaped. So I came to see if you needed anything.”
“I appreciate that.”
“But you don’t want to come?”
“I need answers. Coming with you isn’t going to give them to me any more than staying here will.”
Nina said, “Then I suggest you take another look at that shoebox you have under your bed.”
* * *
Karen calmly took a sip of her coffee. “Sienna hid something.”
Parker ignored his. “What happened to her?”
“You mean why did my best asset wind up in a coma for a year before she woke up with no memory of who and what she is?” Karen tutted. “She was supposed to retrieve some merchandise and switch it out with a fake so that the seller didn’t pass on anything sensitive when he made the sale. We think she made the switch, realized she was in danger and hid the original. Somehow the seller found out he had a fake and gave Sienna to the buyer so he could get the location out of her.”
A second of silence was the only indication Karen felt anything for Sienna’s well-being. “The extraction team found her unconscious in a bathtub of water. She told you the rest.”
Parker’s mouth went dry. He tried to swallow. “Is this the reason she didn’t meet me?”
Karen shook her head like it was a dumb question, but Parker didn’t regret asking. She said, “It was weeks between you and this mission. The two are unrelated.”
“And yet Sienna, and you, are here. In my town. Why is that?”
“It’s because of her.”
Parker didn’t say anything. How had she known to come here?
“She was convinced this was where she lived. For whatever reason—” Karen eyed him, like it was his fault “—she had some kind of tie to this place. I found her staring at a map online, trying to see if anything looked familiar. This is where she picked.” Karen paused. “Out of the entirety of the continental United States, Sienna picked the tiny town where you live. I could hardly tell her she was wrong when she was so convinced she should come here.”
Parker didn’t want to gloat, but it was hard to hold it back. He’d told her at length about his hometown. As a woman with little to no geographical ties, she’d soaked it up.
“I see.”
Karen glared.
“I’m sorry about your injuries.”
She sniffed. “It’s not as bad as it looks, but it did serve a purpose. Sienna has had plenty of time to remember who she was.”
“But she hasn’t, and now someone tried to kidnap her. You think it’s the buyer or the seller?”
Karen shrugged.
“Who are they?”
“We’re not sure. Sienna knew. We’re blind on this one until they make enough of a move that we can find out who they are. We’re tracking the chopper, but the two dead and the one in your custody had no IDs and no cell phones on them. One had a British military insignia tattoo, but aside from that we have no clue as to their identities.”
Parker wasn’t even going to ask how the CIA knew anything about the men from the scene. Whatever his team learned from the man in custody, the CIA had discovered minutes later. But if it protected Sienna, who was he to complain?
“So what did Sienna intercept? What was this ‘seller’ trying to pass off?”
“That’s classified information, and until I get a reply as to your security clearance, I can’t tell you much more than I have. Suffice it to say, what she hid was highly sensitive. It cannot fall into the wrong hands.”
“You realize I won’t leave this alone.”
Karen sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
“I was there. I saw the danger she was in, and they knew me. I’m convinced they did. Likely now they’ll think Sienna and I are working together. It may even be why they moved in.”
“They moved in because they found her.”
“Then she needs to be relocated. Immediately.” Parker would book vacation days and sign up for that detail first thing tomorrow...from a highway two states away, if that’s what it took to keep Sienna safe.
His heart was tied up in this. It was impossible to deny that fact. When Sienna remembered who she was and who they were to each other, then he’d know where he stood. Until then, there was nothing he could do about that. But he could keep her safe.
Karen sent him her stern schoolmarm look again. “The CIA are the ones calling the shots in this, Jackson Parker. Not you.”
The gasp was audible. Parker turned and saw Sienna in the hallway, her eyes wide.
“The CIA?”
FOUR
Sienna stood frozen in the kitchen doorway. Why hadn’t she just gone to her bedroom—to the shoebox under her bed that Nina had told her about? She should be in the shower. Anywhere, doing anything other than being slammed with information.
Something in that shoebox was important enough that Nina thought it would help Sienna figure this out or at least provide answers on something. But she wasn’t in her room, looking through it. No, Sienna had given in to the curiosity of knowing whether Parker was still here.
“The CIA?”
Karen didn’t move.
“Am I really supposed to believe the CIA has something to do with me?”
Karen’s face was flat. Like always. “You are supposed to remember on your own. The doctor said...”
“That you can’t just tell me. I know.” Sienna bit down hard. “I guess now I know why.” She turned to leave the room while her thoughts spun like some amusement park ride. But there was nothing fun about this.
“Sienna, don’t walk away!”
She turned back to her aunt, who was now red faced. She probably shouldn’t be getting worked up. Sienna doubted that was good for her health. But she didn’t know, because Karen never talked about it.
She lifted her hands and let them fall to her sides. “Am I supposed to be, what...freaked out? Because I am. Seriously? The CIA? I’m very curious why you think the Central Intelligence Agency is relevant here. Because as far as I can see, I have nothing to do with spies or any of that.”
Karen didn’t say anything.
“That’s it? You drop a bomb and you have nothing to say?” Sienna waited, but her aunt still didn’t offer up anything. “Not even to confirm or deny?”
Even Parker said nothing, intently watching the interplay between Sienna and her aunt.
This whole night had been like the bad dreams she had. Dreams where she fought against an unknown attacker who was bigger and stronger. She always woke drenched in sweat and out of breath—like she’d been fighting for her life. But the question lingered. Had it been real, a memory or simply a dream?
The CIA and a fight to the death?
“Now I know why you didn’t want to tell me.”
Karen flinched. “I wasn’t allowed.”
“Someone tried to kidnap me tonight. If the CIA is part of it I’m obviously in danger. And you thought the best course of action was to keep this information from me? When knowing would have kept me safe, instead of putting me in danger.”
“Deputy Marshal Parker was there.”
“He was shot.” Sienna felt hot tears gather in her eyes. “If he hadn’t been wearing his vest, he would be dead right now.”
Sienna took a step back. Not a retreat, more of a calculated move to give her time to reformulate her plan. Everything had changed tonight. Her. Nina. Parker. Karen. The foundation of her life had shifted, leaving her adrift and trying to grasp something steady to hold on to.
She slipped her fingers in her front pocket to grasp the folded paper that she’d kept there every day since she left the hospital. She’d never told anyone about the verse she had found in her own handwriting on a tiny folded strip of paper tucked in her wallet.
The only real connection to her past.
“I’m going to take that shower. Too much has happened tonight. I need time to process before I can decide what I’m going to do next.”
Karen’s eyebrows rose. “Next? You aren’t going to do anything but stay here. Until you start to remember, you can’t leave.”
Parker’s voice was low and lethal. “And exactly what will happen if she does leave?”
Sienna had thought Karen’s words a veiled threat, also. Was her aunt going to give a straight answer this time?
“I only meant I need her here.”
Did she really? There was a whole lot below the surface to Aunt Karen that she wasn’t sharing. Meanwhile, Sienna was expected to give regular updates as to what she might be remembering and what was only her imagination while she slept. Like Karen was some kind of licensed psychotherapist.
The CIA?
Sienna’s life had taken a bizarre turn. She didn’t want to even think about whether or not that might be true. She wanted her quiet life. She liked her quiet life. Aunt Karen’s declaration was a disturbance. Jackson Parker’s presence was a gigantic disruption she wasn’t comfortable with at all. She didn’t need him, and he could take care of himself. But when those warm blue eyes stared at her, she couldn’t help feeling there was something more between them she was supposed to remember.
Friends, he’d said. But she wanted to rush to him, to bury her face in his chest and let him hold her. Was that the type of friends he was talking about? She couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t been more than that to her.
That was why he was so dangerous to her peace of mind.
She needed to remember the truth about her past, not be distracted by the possibility of a romance that may or may not have been. What if he’d wanted to be friends and she’d wanted more? That would be humiliating to remember.
She shot him a look. “You should probably be going. It’s late.”
* * *
She was dismissing him. Parker had hoped that when the truth came out, she would seek his help. Trust him to keep her safe through whatever this was. He didn’t want the man who’d sent that team to kidnap her to try again, but he had to consider the possibility they wouldn’t stop.
Parker didn’t want to stop, either, and he didn’t want to leave.
She’d ditched him for her job and then gone and gotten herself hurt. But his heart couldn’t get past waiting at that airport for her—and coming to terms with the fact that she wasn’t going to show up. She might need him, but she didn’t want him.
He pushed off the counter. “I’ll go, if that’s what you want me to do.”
Karen’s eyes widened, but Parker didn’t care if she was surprised by him. He was only doing what Sienna wanted.
He crossed the space between where he stood and Sienna. The phone on the counter rang. Parker swiped it up in frustration as he passed and barked out a “Hello?”
Sienna’s jaw dropped. In a cartoon, this would have been where smoke poured from her ears along with a whistling sound.
“Oh, great,” the woman said. “It’s you.”
“Excuse me?”
The female voice on the phone laughed. “The boy-wonder navy SEAL now a deputy-marshal-famous-fugitive-catcher. I did my homework. Don’t think I don’t know everything about you. And don’t underestimate me.”
Parker fought the urge to smile. “Is that supposed to be intimidating?”
“Just promise me you’re going to keep her safe.” The woman sighed. “If she won’t leave with me, then I need you to make sure she’s okay.”
Sienna was supposed to have left, to be protected by this woman? If Parker had to guess, he figured this must be Sienna’s best friend. He looked at Sienna then. She motioned frantically for him to give her the phone. She did look sort of guilty—about the fact that she’d considered ditching him and meeting up with her friend, maybe?
Parker didn’t give up the phone. “Tell me, why does Sienna need your help?”
If this woman had more information than what Karen had told him, then he wasn’t going to overlook her as a source. Or an ally. Too bad he couldn’t remember what her name was. Natalie... Nellie. Something like that.
The woman said, “They want whatever she hid from them. Karen wouldn’t tell me what it was, just that Sienna doesn’t remember anything, least of all where she hid it. They will try and abduct her again, and then they’ll torture her for its location before they kill her. But if she doesn’t even remember who she is, or what it is, then how can she tell them? I don’t even want to think what they’ll try in order to jog her memory. Last time, when the CIA found her, she was barely alive.”
“Understood.”
Sienna stepped closer. “Give me the phone, Parker.”
He shook his head and then turned away. “Can we trust you?”
“Are you willing to risk her life if I’m not telling the truth?”
“No.”
“Then yes, you can.”
Karen’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you talking to?”
Parker tucked the receiver under his chin. “I don’t know her, but she knows who I am.”
“Nina.” Karen didn’t seem to think much of this mystery caller.
He turned his attention back to the call. “Anything else I should know?” He wanted to ask this “Nina” about Karen, but not when she was in the room.
“Just don’t let anything happen to Sienna. I’ll help when I can.” She paused. “Give me your number.”
Parker rattled it off, happy to accept an ally in this. Even if he didn’t know her. Sienna had told him enough the first time they met.
“Got it.” Nina hung up.
“Stay in touch.” Parker set the phone back on its stand. Karen didn’t look happy, but then she likely wanted to reprimand Nina and couldn’t. Right now, Sienna thought Karen was only her aunt. She didn’t know Karen had been her CIA handler.
“What was that?”
Parker shifted to Sienna. “You should know. After all, you were planning to leave with her so she could protect you. She was making sure you’ll be all right.”
Karen gasped. “You absolutely cannot leave.”
Sienna set her hands on her hips. “I’m not a prisoner. So far as I know. That means I can leave if I want to, which I hadn’t actually decided on yet.”
Karen shot her a look. “You’ve stayed alive all the time you’ve been here, haven’t you? Why leave now?”
“Things have changed.”
Sienna strode out of the kitchen. Parker waved off Karen and followed her out. He caught her at the bottom of the stairs, stalling her with his hand around her wrist. He could snap her bones if he gripped too tight. Sienna was delicate, but she was also strong.
She looked at his hand, then up at his face. “Aren’t you leaving?”
“I do have to get back to work. There’s paperwork that needs to be done on the guy we arrested.”
She didn’t say anything. Her eyes surveyed his face, but aside from that she was completely still.
“Will you at least call me if you decide to leave?” She had to know he cared about her.
“I’ll put your number in my phone. Call me, Sienna, so I have yours.” Hopefully he didn’t sound desperate, but Parker wanted to be able to contact her.
Her lips curled up in a small smile. “You have to let me go now, Parker.”
His fingers loosened, but he shook his head. She had to know he wasn’t going to just walk away when she was in danger. There may not be anything between them, given her memory loss and the unanswered question of why she’d never met him at the airport. But that didn’t mean he was willing to risk not being around if she needed him.
* * *
Sienna knelt and pulled the shoebox from under the bed. Outside, she heard Parker’s truck start and the engine rev as he drove away.
A cold settled in her stomach as she realized she was here without him. Some part of her seemed to recognize him, as much as she didn’t want that to be the case. The last thing she needed was a man she had no memory of expecting her to say a particular thing or act a particular way.
That kind of pressure—wondering if she was still the woman he’d known and who that was—would drive her crazy. Sienna felt crazed enough already. The CIA? It was enough to send her running out the door. With no memory, she was more than in over her head; she was drowning. Those men had tried to kidnap her, and she’d had no way to fight them off beyond the basic self-defense techniques she’d learned at the gym.
Sienna removed the rubber bands that secured the box and sat back on her heels. She flipped the lid onto the floor to reveal the contents.
A collection of photos with curled edges had been fastened with a rusty paper clip. The one on top was a country house and barn. Underneath the stack was an old movie ticket stub, two postcards from European cities that were blank on the back and enough space for the Bible Sienna had removed when she’d woken from her coma.
Nothing new. Nothing that made her remember what she was supposed to be doing. Or anything about who she was.
Did Nina really think Sienna hadn’t looked in the shoebox before? And what in here made Nina believe Sienna would leave her aunt?
The Bible had been a solace to her in the months she’d tried to get her memory back. Sienna had scoured its pages, reading and rereading passages she had highlighted in her forgotten past. Notes she had made in the margins where it had spoken to her in one way or another. But none of that meant anything to her now—she had no frame of reference for it. She had read it as though for the very first time, soaked up the hope and peace found in those pages when so much of her life was upside down.
Sienna flicked through the photos, but there wasn’t anything tucked between them. She only saw images of people she didn’t recognize in places she’d never been.
With a cry of frustration she dumped the shoebox over. She wanted to smash the thing, but then she’d have nowhere to store the secret treasures of a woman who didn’t exist anymore. Maybe she never would.
On an exhale, Sienna righted the box and restowed the items. When it was secure, with the rubber bands replaced, she went to the closet and tucked it in her duffel. Who knew what the night would bring? If she had to run, she wanted the hidden things with her.
Sienna glanced at her closed bedroom door. Did she want to face her aunt? Karen was keeping secrets from her. Why else would she have asked Sienna if she had killed her attackers? Now Sienna knew why her aunt had thought that. But was it real? Was she a killer?
She got ready for bed. She was done with this awful day where her life had upended. With a sigh, she closed the bathroom door and went to the window. The night outside was dark, but the only light came from the living room to her right. Sienna had turned off her lamp so she could better see the stars, but it was cloudy. Not a night to dwell on the magnitude of things around her.
The backyard was an expanse of damp grass from the rains they’d had the past week, but was now twice as green. Bad with the good, just like everything in her life.
The trees swayed in the breeze, though her barn was silent. The animals were fine.
The quiet just reminded her that no one needed her. At least, not until she recalled whatever it was she’d forgotten. Then maybe everyone would stop giving her indecipherable looks or walking on eggshells as they bypassed her to get on with their important lives.
A flash of motion by the barn.
She’d painted it herself, because every barn should be red. Plain wood was a travesty. Probably just a small animal foraging.
It moved again. Bigger than a critter. The size of a grown man.
FIVE
Parker swiped his card in the reader. The buzzer went off. He pushed open the heavy door and strode into the office. Despite it being way past midnight, at least half of those who worked there milled around. Their team and two others shared the floor, one of whom was in and prepping for an early-morning raid.
Wyatt sat behind his desk, peering intently at the screen on his computer.
Parker hung his coat on the back of his chair. “Did you lose your reading glasses again?”
Wyatt shot Parker a disgusted look that only made him laugh. They were all late thirties, and Wyatt bemoaned—constantly—the fact he’d been prescribed glasses for his headaches instead of less paperwork and more fieldwork.
Wyatt clicked his mouse. “Paperwork on the detainee is done. I put in a request for some background on him, but we likely won’t know who he is until we run his prints. Even then, given his accent, we may be looking at Homeland Security or Interpol. Who knows where this guy surfaced from?”
Parker slumped into his chair. “My guess, they’re going to show up as ex-military. Foreign, but the country won’t matter much. One was Italian. The others weren’t.”
“So why is a team of foreign mercenaries trying to kidnap your girl-with-amnesia?” Wyatt grinned. “Is she some kind of spy?”
Parker stayed quiet.
“She is?” Wyatt busted up laughing. “Seriously? Little Sienna Cartwright is CIA?”
Parker was too tired; otherwise, he’d have thrown a paperweight at his partner. “I fail to see why this is funny. My guess, whatever her last mission was, it went unresolved and that’s why she was almost abducted by foreign mercenaries.”
Wyatt’s smile dropped. “Whoa.”
It had happened a few times. Those moments where it became clear there was a world between Parker’s experience as a SEAL, traveling the world, meeting a CIA agent, and Wyatt’s experience being a city police detective. Sure, they were both small-town US marshals, but the roads they had traveled to get there were vastly different.
Wyatt swallowed. “Jonah’s on the phone with the judge. Mr. Italiano can sit in holding tonight. In the morning we’ll figure out who he is, and what’s next for him.”
Parker nodded. “Okay. Guess it’s time to go get some sleep.”
Wyatt waved off Parker’s comment. “Sleep is for sissies.”
Parker pulled his jacket back on and strode down the hall to find out from the duty marshal if their detainee had said anything. Any comment he made was a potential lead on whoever had targeted Sienna tonight. If they got something good, he’d be one step closer to walking away.
When he was sure she was protected, when she lost that shadow of fear in her eyes, then Parker’s heart would finally be able to let her go.
He’d seen it in his dad, the desperation that wouldn’t let him find peace after Parker’s mom had run off with another man. He’d been eight at the time, and for the next ten years he’d watched his father drink away the pain of her betrayal.