Chapter 15
My physical therapy appointment went well. I was told to take it easy though. I think they could tell I’ve been pushing myself. But they aren’t the ones trying to get their life back.
Hendrix took me to lunch with my parents, and we pretended it was all okay for my mother. But my dad studied me like he could answer the burning question we all need answered…which twin am I?
Hendrix had to go home and sleep after lunch because he works again tonight, but I asked him to drop me off at the cemetery so I could visit my sister’s grave. He called Dash and made sure he was on his way. They both want someone with me at all times.
I’m sitting on the ground silently in front of the stone with Lennon’s name carved in it when it dawns on me; I’m going to text this coward back.
Me: What do you want from me?
Unknown number: You think you’re brave by asking, don’t you? I want everything.
Me: Why are you hiding behind a screen and in the shadows, then?
Unknown number: I’m here, watching your back like I said I would. Like no one else can. Are you?
I glance all around and almost scream when I see Dash walking toward me while staring down at his phone. A chill runs up my spine as a horrible suspicion starts to form.
I struggle with my cane to stand up, and when Dash sees, he rushes to my side. “Hey, Valkyrie. I got you.”
I stare at him and shake the doubts from my mind. There’s no way he’s my stalker. It’s a coincidence he was on his phone and I got chills when I spotted him. I wouldn’t fall in love with a stalker. Would I?
“Thanks. You never told me what your police friend said,” I blurt out.
His brows furrow in concern as he pockets his phone. “He wants to take you to the crash site, but I told him I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. He also wants to see the notes to check for prints.”
“Why? Don’t you want me to remember?” I ask quickly.
He reaches for me. “Of course, I do. Why would you ask that?”
I step back and almost fall over the headstone as he catches me. The movement makes me glance back toward the hill where I thought I saw someone the other day.
“Uh, can you give me a minute?” I ask.
“Sure. I’ll just got wait by the car,” he says with a worried expression on his handsome face. I think everyone around me keeps their brows furrowed in a constant state of concern.
I pull my phone out and call Hendrix.
“Hello? You okay?” he asks immediately.
“I’m fine. Can amnesia cause paranoia?” I ask getting to the point.
“Uh, sure. Especially after a traumatic event. Why?”
“Nothing. Just wondered if it might be why I feel like I’m being watched sometimes is all,” I admit.
“London, what do you mean? Please don’t be anywhere without one of us with you. Is Dash there yet?”
“He is,” I say while glancing in his direction. Just as I’m about to turn back toward the hill, the creepy sensation climbs my spine again as I get another text.
“I gotta go. Thanks, Hendrix.”
I hang up before he can say anything else and read the message.
Unknown number: Am I in your head yet? Because you’re always in mine.
I’m about to look in Dash’s direction again when I catch a glimpse of someone or something on the hill just behind the trees. At least, I think I do. Am I losing what’s left of my mind?
“Valkyrie, are you ready?” Dash calls from where he’s waiting.
“Yeah,” I say without taking my gaze off the hill, but whoever was there, if anyone was, is long gone now.
Dash reaches for my hand as we drive back to the evidence garage. I tug it back, not knowing what to do after what happened with Hendrix. I almost slept with him right after sleeping with Dash. What the hell is wrong with me?
I don’t need to confuse the way they make me feel physically with what’s in my heart. Rooting for myself to be one twin is almost like saying I hope the other is dead, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I want us to both be here and with the men we love…with all the people we love.
This stalker has already taken everything from me, but they seem to think they can take more. I’m not sure what could be worse than losing your twin sister, your memory, and your identity with the jerk of a steering wheel.
Dash pulls his hand back and rests it on the shifter as his jaw works. “What was that?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do or how to feel right now,” I admit while glancing outside the window to the buildings we’re passing.
“Did Hendrix do something or say something to change your mind about what we did last night?”
“Dash…” I trail off but it’s enough to insinuate the answer for him.
His nostrils flare as he pulls into the parking lot to the evidence garage where Lennon’s car is still being held. Dash was ready to tell Jimmy to back off, but I insisted on coming back. I need to take a closer look and hopefully I won’t have another episode when I do.
Jimmy stands out front as we park. I’m about to get out but Dash grabs my hand. “We don’t have to do this. We can wait.”
I squeeze his hand back this time. “Every moment that passes without me remembering who I am is wasted time we can never get back. I need to remember for all of us. Short of the guy who caused the wreck volunteering the truth, my lost memories are all we have.”
“Okay. I’ll be right beside you. But if you need to leave, tell me and we’re out of here at top speed.”
I grin at him despite the seriousness looming in the air. “Top speed?”
He blushes if you can call it that while rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, you know, like as fast as we can go.”
I arch a brow quizzically.
“It’s race speak. I think you know it even if you don’t remember.”
My eyes widen. “Yeah, maybe,” I tell him, a bit amused.
Once we’re out and standing in front of the garage, Jimmy opens the door and ushers us in. It doesn’t take long for my gaze to land on the totaled Hellcat. My heart begins to race, and I swallow down the lump forming in my throat.
Dash starts to follow me as I walk toward the wreckage of twisted metal which changed everything in an instant. “Let me,” I say softly over my shoulder.
He knows I want to study the car alone and hangs back with Jimmy. I hear the quiet murmur of their voices as I reach the car, and instead of a chill, I break out in a sweat as I run my finger over the outside of the car.
When I reach the driver’s door, I feel dizzy but keep going. This car, the accident is the key to unlocking my mind. I know it. The driver’s door is crushed and broken glass glitters in the seats and on the floorboards.
I reach out and touch what’s left of the steering wheel and my head starts to throb like before. Only this time, I don’t let it drive, I take control of this ride by breathing deeply until it begins to disappear.
I study the blood on the console and the passenger seat. The airbags from the steering wheel and dashboard are covered too. I stand up and rest my hands on the door but wince when I realize I cut my hand on a piece of glass still in the window track.
Blood beads on my palm and drips down my wrist as I hold it up in front of my face.
Then I hear it like someone pressed play on a movie.
Voices and the smooth sound of the Hellcat’s engine.
I close my eyes trying to shut out the present as if it will help me see the past more clearly.
But it’s fuzzy and more our voices than a vision.
“We’re like scary good at this, Lennon.”
Laughter.
“Yeah, we are. I don’t know what I’d do without you, London. I love him and I couldn’t keep seeing him if you weren’t willing to help me.”
“That’s what sisters are for, Lennon. I’d do anything for you. And Daddy will come around…eventually. He thinks he’s protecting you by trying to keep you away from Dash.”
“I guess he wants me with someone as perfect as Hendrix.”
Guffaws.
“You know what I mean, London. You and Hendrix are like the perfect couple. The doctor and the chef. Not like two race car drivers who compete against one another to chase a checkered flag. Dash and me, we aren’t safe, but you and Hendrix are.
It’s all Dad will ever see. He won’t ever see how Dash makes me laugh and supports my every dream. He won’t see how much I love him.”
“Oh, Lennon. You and Dash will make it. You’ve always chased after each other and I think it’s one race you’re both bound to win.
You’re both pushing the limits and breaking records.
This will be no different. Your love story is one right out of a romance novel.
Love will show up and show out. Trust it and trust your heart to know the way. ”
I almost feel her take my hand even though its empty and I squeeze so hard the glass digs in deeper. When I open my eyes again, I see the crimson trail running down my arm from where I’m holding my hand up.
I hear Dash’s footsteps nearing and I try to close my eyes and get my sister back one more time, but I can’t see anything past what I remembered, and I still don’t know whose eyes I was seeing it through.
I hear a scream and tires squealing. I reach my arm out toward my sister as I hear echoes of metal groaning and glass shattering through my mind as if it were playing out in real time.
“Hold my hand.”
My eyes fly open as I hear the whisper again. I frantically glance in the car to the passenger side and almost see a crumpled form. It’s transparent like a ghost showing itself and then it vanishes the moment Dash grabs my shoulder pulling me back to a cold, dark reality.
One where the nightmare from that night remains elusive, but true, nonetheless.