Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Matt turned to see that Polly Kramer, one of the nurses, had come into the room behind him.
“Dr. Delano.”
“Yes,” he answered, relieved that someone else had intervened to break up the intensity of the encounter between himself and Elizabeth, but also wondering how much of the conversation the nurse had heard.
She must have picked up on something, perhaps the tone of their voices, because she asked, “Is there some problem?”
He was wondering what to say when Elizabeth answered from the bed. “Basically, still my missing memory.” She cleared her throat. “But while Dr. Delano was examining me, a name popped into my head. I think it’s my real name.”
The woman’s face lit up. “Why, that’s marvelous. What is it?”
“Elizabeth.” She waited for a beat. “I only got the first name.”
“But that’s a start.”
“I was hoping that Dr. Delano could help me dredge up some other facts about myself.”
Kramer looked at him. “Can you help her?”
“I’m afraid not. The name came to her. It wasn’t anything I did,” he protested, not sure that he was telling the truth but totally unwilling to explain. Something strange had happened when he touched her, but he wasn’t going to do it again.
The nurse nodded, then changed the subject. “Is Elizabeth ready to be discharged?”
“If I knew where to send her,” Matt muttered. “Nobody’s come forward looking for her?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Do you have any suggestions for what I should do?” Elizabeth asked.
“I might,” Nurse Kramer murmured, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Matthew waited for her to say what was on her mind.
After a long pause, the nurse said, “I have a spare room that I haven’t used since my daughter got married and moved away. I was thinking that … Elizabeth might want to stay with me until she remembers who she is.”
In his Dulaney Valley mansion, Derek Lang leaned back in the comfortable leather chair behind his desk. He was a tall man, and the expensive chair was specially designed to give him a comfortable headrest. A four-hundred-dollar haircut tamed his dark hair. His well-muscled frame was clothed in a thousand-dollar suit. And he was currently having a facial massage administered by Susanna, one of the gorgeous young women he kept around the house. He liked them to have a skill he found useful, in addition to being good in bed. And Susanna was a perfect example.
When she finished and stepped away, he picked up a hand mirror and inspected his face. At forty-five he still looked fit—because he took good care of himself with daily sessions in the gym on the weight machines and ellipticals. And he’d also had some of what he called nips and tucks by one of the most expensive plastic surgeons in the city.
“Thank you, honey,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Lang.”
He gave her a long look as he thought about asking her to take off her halter top and miniskirt. As per his instructions, she wouldn’t be wearing anything under either one, and she could stand in front of him while he ran his hands over her. Then, he could pursue a couple of interesting alternatives. Like having her kneel in front of him. Or having her sit with her legs open at the edge of the desk.
Enjoying her intimate services was a tempting prospect, but he had some urgent business to take care of. He flicked his eyes to her face, knowing she was following his thoughts and waiting for him to make a decision. He liked the power he had over her and everyone else who worked for him—either voluntarily or involuntarily. Susanna was one of the latter, of course.
He repressed a sigh. Business before pleasure. “Tell Southwell to come in.”
“Yes, sir.”
As she turned away, he ran his fingers over her ass, then pulled his chair up to the desk as she stepped out of the room. Moments later, one of his best men entered and stood respectfully in front of the desk.
Gary Southwell had been a high school football star, and Derek had recruited him at the end of his senior year because of his bulk and menacing appearance. Since appearance wasn’t enough, he’d sent him for special training both in martial arts and on the firing range. The man was adept at hand-to-hand combat and an excellent shot. And he was grateful for the good salary he earned, the comfortable accommodation, and the women he could shag anytime he wanted. All of that made him loyal to a fault. And anxious to please.
“Do we have a report on the Elizabeth Forester situation? Is she still in the hospital?” Derek asked. He’d been having his men keep tabs on her for weeks, and he’d been closing in for the kill when she’d wrecked her car. Before Patterson, another one of his top operatives, could whisk her away, a crowd had gathered at the accident scene. With a whole slew of witnesses, Patterson had decided to cut his losses and disappear. Derek didn’t like it when his plans went sour, but under the circumstances, he understood the decision.
“She’s still in the hospital,” Southwell answered. “Her physical condition is okay, but they’re keeping her because she’s lost her memory.”
“You think that’s true?”
Southwell shrugged.
“If it is, I wonder if it’s because she’d rather not remember,” Derek mused.
“That could be part of it,” Southwell agreed. “And it’s good for us, isn’t it?”
“At the moment, but how long will that last?” Derek asked.
“No way of knowing.”
“If the memory loss were permanent, that would solve our problem. But I don’t want her suddenly remembering why she’s been so busy over the past few weeks and calling in the cops.”
“She didn’t do it before.”
“Because she knew that was dangerous, but getting hit on the head could have affected her judgment and made her reckless.”
Southwell nodded.
“You went to her house after the accident,” Derek said. “Anything I should know about?”
“We tore the place apart and didn’t find anything on paper, but there were computer files with information you wouldn’t want anyone to read.”
Derek sat forward. “And?”
“We took out her hard drive and smashed it.”
“Good. But that’s not enough. We have to find out if she uses cloud storage. Then we have to shut her up for good.”
Southwell waited for instruction.
“I understand why Patterson couldn’t get to her earlier,” Derek said, thinking aloud. “There were too many people around, asking her questions, trying to figure out who she was. Wait until the shift changes at the hospital. They don’t have as many people on at night.”
“Got it.”
He considered his options. “I don’t want you to take care of her there. I mean, she’s in a hospital, and we could get into trouble with the cause of death. Bring her to me. I’d like to find out why she’s been nosing around in my business, starting with what put her on to me in the first place. Maybe I can think of something that will jog her memory.”
“Yes, sir.”
Southwell left, and Derek leaned back in his chair, thinking of the methods he’d use when he got her into his basement interrogation room. In the movies, tough guys held out against torture. In reality, everybody ended up spilling their guts. And he was pretty sure that with a woman like Elizabeth Forester, it wouldn’t take long. After he got what he needed, he’d have some fun with her before he killed her.
Elizabeth’s heart leaped at the offer from Mrs. Kramer, but she still forced herself to ask, “Are you sure it wouldn’t be an imposition?”
“Of course not, dear.”
“Thank you.”
The woman had just solved one of her biggest problems—by offering a place to stay. But there was still the basic dilemma, with totally unexpected complications.
She’d been lying in this hospital bed trying to dredge up a memory—any memory—until the man standing across the room had put a hand on her, and everything had changed. At least for the few moments when they’d been touching.
She had a little sliver of herself back, courtesy of Dr. Delano’s touch. Now she had some memories—of the first day of nursery school, playing field hockey, what looked like a college classroom.
Of course, there was the little problem of the sexual arousal that had flared between them. His and hers. But she understood that he was a man with high moral standards, and he wasn’t going to let himself get dragged into an inappropriate relationship with a female patient, which was why he’d flat-out refused to touch her again.
He’d opened a door in her mind just a crack and slammed it shut again. She’d alternated between being angry that he wouldn’t help her and wanting to plead with him to give her more of herself back. But she understood where he was coming from and kept from embarrassing herself any further.
Then, that nice nurse who had taken care of her earlier showed up and threw her a lifeline.
Elizabeth heard herself say, “I’d be very grateful to stay with you, but I insist on paying you—as soon as I find out who I am. I mean, assuming I’m not indigent or something.”
“You’re too well cared for to be indigent,” the doctor said. “It’s obvious that you were living at least a middle-class lifestyle.”
She looked from him to the nurse, wanting to be absolutely sure the woman had thought through her offer. “You’re certain it’s all right?”
“I’d love the company.”
The doctor left, and the arrangement was settled quickly. Probably, the hospital was anxious to get rid of a patient who couldn’t produce an insurance card, even if she was living a middle-class lifestyle.
“I’m going off shift in half an hour,” Mrs. Kramer said. “If you get dressed, I can meet you in the waiting area near the elevator.”
“I have to be discharged, right?” Elizabeth asked.
“I’ll prepare the paperwork for you,” Dr. Delano said.
After he and Nurse Kramer were gone, Elizabeth climbed out of bed and stood for a moment, holding on to the rail. She’d been lying down too long, and her legs felt rubbery. Or maybe that was the result of having a concussion.
When she felt steadier on her feet, she crossed to the small bathroom and turned on the light. She’d deliberately avoided looking at herself until she was ready. Now, she raised her gaze to the mirror and stared at the woman she saw there. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but the face that stared back might as well have belonged to a stranger. Disappointed and unsettled, she stood for a moment composing herself. Trying not to look in the mirror again, she washed at the sink and brushed her teeth with the toothbrush the hospital had provided. Doggedly, she focused on the simple tasks to keep from thinking about anything more stressful—like how she would figure out who she was and why she had crashed her car. The easy answer was that she’d been speeding. As she pictured herself driving, she realized she knew the part of town where they’d told her the accident had occurred.
That stopped her. She’d come up with another memory—this time on her own. Well, not a memory of anything personal.
The observation about Baltimore—that was the city she was in—brought up another question—what else did she know? Maybe not about Elizabeth Doe specifically, but about the world around her.
She stopped and asked herself some questions she imagined would be standard for someone in her situation. She couldn’t dredge up the correct date. But she knew who was president. And she knew. . . She struggled for another concrete face and came up with the conviction that she could make scrambled eggs that tasted a lot better than what the hospital had served her this morning.
“Your clothes are in the closet,” Nurse Kramer said through the bathroom door. “Do you need help?”
“I think I can do it myself,” she said because she wasn’t going to depend on other people if there was a chance for independence—even in small things.
By the time she stepped back into the room, Mrs. Kramer had gone back to her duties, and Dr. Delano wasn’t there either. She felt a stab of disappointment but brushed it aside. Probably, he was wishing he’d never examined her. Staying as far away as possible from her was probably the way to go, from his point of view.
After crossing to the closet, she took out the clothes that someone had hung up for her. Dark slacks. A white shirt and a dark jacket. A very buttoned-up look, except that the outfit was a little scuffed around the edges from the accident.
She looked at the garment labels. They were from good department stores. Not top of the line but good enough. Another piece of information that she found interesting.
She’d been wearing short stockings and black pumps with a wedge heel. Not the shoes she’d wear if she wanted to impress someone. These were no-nonsense footwear. Did that mean she walked a lot as part of her job? Or maybe she had bad feet.
There was also underwear on the hanger, and that was more interesting than the exterior clothing. She’d been wearing a sexy white-lace bra and matching bikini panties. Apparently, she liked to indulge in very feminine underwear. For her own enjoyment, she thought, judging from the personal memories that had surfaced when Dr. Delano had touched her. Or lack of same.
She brought everything back into the bathroom, then decided that she might as well take a shower before she left. After turning on the water, she adjusted the temperature before stepping under the spray. It felt good to get clean. Too bad she didn’t have a change of underwear.
She thought about her name as she stood under the shower. Elizabeth. A very formal name. Did people call her Beth? Betty? Liz? Or any of the other variations of the name? She didn’t know.
But she noted that she’d washed her hair before soaping her body, and it had been in the back of her mind that she’d better do that first—in case the hot water went off and she was caught with a head full of shampoo.
An interesting priority. Did it mean she lived in a house or an apartment where there was a problem with the hot water heater? Or had she traveled abroad like Dr. Delano?
She clenched her hand around a bar of soap, annoyed with herself for switching her thoughts back to him. He’d made it clear that there couldn’t be anything personal between the two of them, and she understood that. Yet, at the same time, she couldn’t stop thinking of him as her lifeline to her own past.
After turning off the water and stepping out of the shower, she dried off. There was no dryer, so she worked extra hard on her hair, rubbing it into fluffy ringlets.
Was that the way she usually wore it? She didn’t think so, but it would do for now. Her coiffeur was way down on her list of priorities. It didn’t matter what she looked like if she didn’t know who she was and how she’d gotten herself into deep kimchi. Because it was clear from the memory Dr. Delano had dredged up that she’d done something to bring trouble on herself. Was it something she deserved? Or something that wasn’t her fault?
She made a small frustrated sound as she tried to work around the holes in her memory, then stopped and started again. It was more like her entire past was a great void—except for the memories Matt Delano had brought to the surface. With that nagging side effect he hated, she reminded herself.
Well, that probably wasn’t true. She was pretty sure he didn’t hate the sexual pull between them. He’d responded, after all, but he was determined not to cross a line with her.
She clenched her fists as her own determination surged through her. If she couldn’t fill in all the blank places in her mind, they were going to drive her crazy.