Remember Love: Saints Protection & Investigations (19 page)

The farm began to fade away as dark trees came into view…

“Oh, Jesus, I have to get out of here! I have to go!” My car was hurling down the twisty mountain road, taking the curves too fast. “Gypsy, hang on, girl!”

The black night closed in on all sides with only my headlights beaming ahead…and the two yellow globes of the headlights following far behind…getting closer and closer.

The crash of metal. The loss of control. The downward plunge. “Aughhhhhh!”

“Grace, Grace. Wake up! Come on baby, wake up for me. Breathe, baby, breathe.”

She stopped thrashing as she felt the pressure of a heavy thigh covering her legs and hands rolling her toward a large, muscular body. The already familiar scent of Blaise filled her senses.

Panting, her throat raw from crying out, she blinked awake, orienting back to his bedroom.
Oh, God. A dream. A nightmare.

Blaise muttered soft, nonsensical words of comfort for a few minutes, holding her body tightly to his. His hand smoothed her hair back from her sweaty brow, kissing her forehead. Her body slowly stopped shivering, her heartbeat steadying. Rolling over, he turned on the lamp by the bed.

“I’m okay,” she whispered into his chest, her arms tightening around him as his warmth and the light chased away the last of the dreams. “I was dreaming.”

“You’ve been twitching for a while now, but I wasn’t sure if I should try to wake you or not. I’m sorry, babe. Next time, I’ll wake you up.”

Leaning back so she could gaze into his concerned eyes, she shook her head. “No, no, it was good. At least to start with. Blaise,” she gasped, “I remember my parents. I dreamed about a time when I brought home two kittens and, just now, I realize that was a memory.”

He listened to the nervousness in her voice and questioned, “Do you remember everything or just those times?”

He loosened his grip and she sat up, rubbing her hands over her face, sucking in great gulps of air. Her mind seemed a jumble of memories flooding back, but she attempted a smile. “I remember…I had a dog named Gunner. I remember hunting Easter eggs in the backyard and one of our dogs kept finding them first. Dad used to say that I should train dogs to hunt for things.”

Curling her legs up under her, her quivering voice stronger, “I remember happy times. It’s like an old movie is playing in my head.”

Blaise chuckled but did not get a word in before she continued in a rush, as though if she did not speak her thoughts, they would all go away.

“I remember my bedroom when I was little was green and yellow and that was why I painted my bedroom those same colors when I rented my apartment.” Her eyes, bright with tears, searched his once more. Grabbing his face with her hands, she whispered, “I remember…some things. But, Blaise…I can’t remember my parents dying.”

Her smile dropped and he instantly regretted her excitement being replaced with sadness. “It doesn’t matter,” he rushed. “It’ll come back. This is just a start. You’re safe now.”

Continuing to sit quietly for a few more minutes, she shook her head, wincing in pain. “I also can’t remember the night of the accident…other than the accident itself. I…I…can’t pull that up in my mind.”

“It’ll come back, babe.”

“But what if it doesn’t?”

“Well, if you remember some events in your life up to the accident night, then that’s really good. That means you’re claiming your life back. Just leave that night to us Saints. We’ll find out what happened.”

Tossing back the covers, Blaise swung his long legs over the side and stalked to the bathroom. Grace heard running water and watched as he came back to her, a glass of water in his hand.

“Here, drink this. You’ve been sweating and talking so much, you must be parched.”

She took it gratefully, downing the entire glass before handing it back to him. Looking up, she said, “Maybe I should go to the guest bedroom. I don’t think I can go back to sleep. My mind is racing.” He set the glass on the nightstand then climbed into the bed after tossing some pillows against the headboard. Leaning back, he settled her into his arms, comfortably.

“You stay with me, sweetheart. Do you want to keep talking? About whatever comes to your mind.”

Relaxing, she said, “I don’t know what to say. When I think of my childhood, I now remember so many things…they come to me in flashes.” Twisting her head up, her eyes capturing his, she added, “It feels so good to remember my parents…what they looked like. How they talked.”

His arm tightened in a gentle squeeze but he kept silent, allowing her to speak freely. Her voice, stronger and steadier now, continued to relate the memories she could recover.

Yawning widely, she snuggled deeper into his arms. He listened as she began to yawn more and more between her reflections until she finally grew quiet and he felt her body sink into his. Sliding down, bringing her with him, he once more tucked her into his embrace as he listened to her steady breathing. Sleep had claimed her once more and he wanted to be there if more dreams or nightmares crept into her slumber.

Thrilled she now had many memories back, his mind turned over to the night of the accident.
What happened? Where were you? And who tried to kill you?
Remembering his vow of earlier, he closed his eyes.
We’ll find out what happened.

*

The Saints sat
around the conference table the next morning reporting on their investigations as Mitch listened in.

“So, your feelings about Carter Boren?” Jack prompted after Blaise and Chad reviewed their interview.

“He’s got the motive. He’s competitive and envious of her skill with Gypsy. Grace was getting the job he wanted and the employment would get him out of his mother’s house and on his own. Means? I didn’t see any dents in the front of the two cars in the driveway but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t involved. He may have had repairs done.”

“I’ll check to see what his car registrations are and what work he’s had done…if he put it on a credit card or made an insurance claim,” Luke volunteered, turning to his bank of computers.

“What about opportunity?” Marc asked. “She was not near anything else, so the question still comes down to why was she on that road.”

“What other impressions did you get yesterday?” Jude asked.

Chad shook his head, saying, “Everyone had great things to say about Grace, but not one of them did a thing about her being missing…if they even knew. Douglas Wilkins from the K-9 Training Facility gave us info about her relationship with Carter and Jocelyn when they were there. Grace had already graduated by then, so he had no further contact. It would be unlikely for him to be involved. I was less impressed by Bernard Tanner and Preston Solter, from the RIA TSA office.”

“Neither of them seem to give a fuck that she just stopped coming to work,” Blaise growled. “Both talked about what a good trainee she was and how they were glad to get her. But when she stopped coming, they just made the assumption she was no longer interested in the job.”

“So they hired Carter?” Bart asked, his face registering his incredulity. “Without checking to see what happened to Grace? That makes no fuckin’ sense!”

“They claim that some of their trainees quickly learn the job isn’t very glamorous and the long twelve hour shifts are not what they want,” Chad said. “They’re also understaffed and overworked, so they claim, and that was another reason they just jumped to the next person on the list.”

“Carter,” Marc stated, shaking his head while muttering.

Mitch added, “I’ve been in contact with my TSA counterpart in DC, Carin Torgensen, and she is ready for us to continue this investigation with their approval. She’s not happy with what we’ve uncovered and wants us to find out how they lost a valuable drug dog handler and now know that an attempt was made on her life.”

“We need you to interview Jocelyn today,” Jack ordered, nodding to Blaise. “Take Chad with you again. Luke, you continue to follow up on those that have been met with already. Mitch, see if you can get a rush on the damage to her car that was from the other automobile hitting her. Marc, I want you and Blaise to go back up on the mountain and see what you can find.”

“So what are we looking for specifically?” Marc asked.

“She didn’t just wander up on that road leading to nowhere,” Jack explained. “She would have been there for a reason and my guess is that if we find that reason, we’ll find who tried to kill her.”

S
itting in Dr.
Saren’s office the next day, Grace relived the night before. “I’m so glad you could see me today! I woke with such fear, but the things started coming back to me. Then I tried so hard to remember about my childhood. Does this mean it’s gone forever?”

“No, no,” Dr. Saren assured. “Repressed memories can easily come back in bits and pieces. It’s usually not like TV where someone wakes up and suddenly their entire memory is back.”

Sighing heavily, she looked down at her hands, tightly squeezed together in her lap. At the counselor’s prompting, she admitted, “I remember so many good things about when I was growing up. But I don’t remember my parents’ deaths. Blaise said he could find out all the details.”

“Do you want him to?”

“I…I’m not sure. Right now, it just feels good to remember pleasant times.”

“Then I think you should write down all of the things you remember from your childhood and save the sadder occurrences for later. You may recall them on your own or maybe from another dream. Or you may decide to let him find out and tell you. But it needs to be on your time.”

The counselor peered at Grace for several long, silent minutes. “What else is on your mind?”

Lifting her gaze, she admitted, “I’m kind of lost.” A small giggle escaped, and she added, “I guess that sounds pretty dumb coming from someone who can’t remember hardly anything. What I mean is that I want to do something. But what? I know Gypsy and I trained as a drug dog and handler, but,” shrugging, “I don’t remember that right now.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Something. Anything. I’ve been at Blaise’s house for a few days and help with his rescue animals. But that doesn’t take long. He doesn’t want me out much because we don’t know who was after me.”

“And you’re bored?”

“God, yes!”

“You said that you had made some friends…a few former clients of mine.” Seeing Grace’s nod, Dr. Saren suggested, “Then why don’t you spend time with them. It’s fine to want your memories back, but you don’t want to waste time not building a new life.”

“I do like spending time with them. I can’t really go into the city right now, but one of them has a place in the country. Maybe Gypsy and I could visit and enjoy some time there.”

“I think that makes perfect sense.”

Standing to leave, Grace hesitated at the door. Turning back, she asked, “Do you think my memories will come back at night?”

“At night, your mind is relaxed and that is often when we have our clearest thoughts. So, yes, your memories could come from your dreams. Are you afraid to sleep? Afraid of the nightmares?”

Grace thought of the man who held her through the night, first with his body worshiping hers and then in care when he soothed her fears. Her lips curved into a slight smile as she shook her head. “No…no, I’m not afraid anymore.”

*

Arriving at the
Albert County Sheriff’s office, Blaise and Chad walked in out of the summer heat into the cool interior. Mitch had contacted the office, preparing the Sheriff for the Saints’ visit.

Showing no surprise to be greeted by Sherriff Antonio Montez, shaking hands, he offered a friendly greeting and escorted them back to a small conference room.

“Gentlemen, I understand you want to talk to Deputy Jocelyn Montez, my daughter. I’ve radioed for her to come in and she should be here shortly.”

Blaise expected to be questioned as to the reason for their visit, but the Sheriff was completely professional. Declining the offer of coffee, they exchanged pleasantries until Jocelyn entered the room.

Petite, with ebony hair sleeked back in a tight bun, the uniformed deputy confidently walked in, immediately shaking their hands. The Sheriff nodded at the assembly and left the room, closing the door behind him.