Amnesia

Chapter Twenty-One - Mallory

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Mallory

His laughter filled the air, and I felt my lungs tighten. I couldn’t breathe.

“Help me! Please, someone help me!”

“No one is going to hear you, so scream as loudly as you like,” he whispered against my ear. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter.

“Please let me go! Please!”

He laughed again and my entire body shook with fear.

I jumped when I felt him touch my face. “I stumbled on you, beautiful girl. I may have to keep you around a bit longer to enjoy my prize.”

“No!” I cried out as I pushed him away from me. “Get away from me! Leave me alone!”

Strong, warm arms engulfed me, and I no longer felt afraid. I was safe. I was finally safe.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe with me, Mallory.”

My eyes fluttered open and Liam was the first thing I saw. I smiled. “Liam.”

He smoothed the hair from my face as he said, “You were having a nightmare.”

“I was back in the basement, and he was there. I still can’t see his face, but that laugh.” I closed my eyes and sighed.

“We’re going to find him, Mallory. I promise you.”

I nodded. “I just wish I could remember something. Anything. I feel like it’s right there…out of reach, and if I could only just remember something, it will all come back to me.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Food sounds good,” I stated as I forced myself to get out of the warm bed and followed Liam into the kitchen. When I looked into the living room, I paused. “Are those my boxes?”

Liam followed my gaze. “Yes. They were delivered not that long ago. The furniture is in the storage area of the barn. I didn’t want to wake you up and ask if you wanted it in the house, so I just figured we could store it there until you know what you want to do with it.”

Smiling, I reached up and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Thank you for getting this all here to me, and so quick!”

“Let me make us some sandwiches and you can start going through things.”

“Okay,” I softly said as I made my way into the living room. I sat down on the floor and opened the first box. It looked to be boxes that contained papers, legal-type papers.

“I found the sale of the house!” I called out.

“Speaking of,” Liam stated as he walked into the living room and set my sandwich and chips on the coffee table.

“I spoke with Georgia, and she talked to her friend who works for the state of Illinois. If we can find your birth certificate, we can get your license. The only problem is, they need an address, and since you don’t have one, I’m thinking you should just get a Montana license. ”

My brows raised. “Do you now?”

Liam grinned. “I do. Once we get your license, you can get the money out of your account in Chicago when we find out what bank your account is at, and you can open up one here. That is, if you still want to live here and work for me.”

“I want that more than anything.”

He winked. “Good.”

I took a few bites of my sandwich and started looking through the box again.

I frowned and reached to the bottom and lifted a photo.

It was of me and another girl. We looked like we were good friends.

Behind us stood a man. He wasn’t with us, that was clear.

He was off to the side, and most likely wasn’t aware he was in the photo.

Frowning, I stared at the photo. He seemed so familiar, but I couldn’t place him. I closed my eyes and attempted to search through my memory.

“Mallory, are you okay?” Liam asked, gently touching my arm. I jumped and looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

I slowly shook my head. “This guy, in the photo. I feel like I know him.”

“You must if he’s in the photo with you.”

Shaking my head, I said, “No, he’s not…he was standing off to the side…”

My voice trailed off as a foggy memory came to mind.

I was in the deli. He was standing off to the side watching me. He smiled. I politely smiled back.

“He’d been there before. I’d seen him multiple times but hadn’t placed him yet.”

Liam looked confused. “What are you talking about, Mallory?”

I closed my eyes. “The day in the deli. He was there. Then…”

Snapping my eyes open, my entire body started to shake. “He was in the hotel room. I told him to leave, and he grabbed my arm. Told me if I didn’t shut up, he would shut me up.”

Liam was in front of me, holding both of my hands. “Who?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know his name. He punched me. I…I woke up in…a car.”

Burying my face in my hands, I started to cry. “Oh my God! I was in the backseat, scared. I was tied up and…”

Liam wrapped me up into his arms. All at once everything came back to me. My head pounded, the room spun and soon darkness took over.

##

The sound of voices woke me from what felt like a deep sleep. I sat up in bed so quickly I got dizzy. I looked around and panicked for a moment, until I realized I was in Liam’s bedroom.

My hand went to my racing heart as I closed my eyes and exhaled. “You’re safe. You’re okay.”

Swinging my legs to the side of the bed, I glanced over to see Piper looking up at me from where she was lying on the end of the bed.

“Hey, girl,” I said softly, petting her under the chin. “Thank you for staying with me.”

She whimpered and inched closer, placing her head on my lap. “I know, girl. I feel the same way.”

Looking out the window, I took a few more deep breaths and steeled myself to be strong. A light knock on the door caused me to look up.

“Hey,” Liam said quietly as he walked into the room. “Are you okay?”

Shrugging, I forced myself to smile. “It feels like my head has been hit by a cement truck. Did I pass out or something?”

“More like I think you were overcome with exhaustion. Both mental and physical.”

“It all just came rushing back to me. The guy in the photo.”

“Who is he?” Liam asked.

I slowly shook my head. “I don’t know.”

He nodded and sat down next to me. “Randy and Jonathon are here. MaryAnne and Billy are as well. She’s making tacos for dinner. I hope it’s okay I called them. I wasn’t sure if you would want anyone else here, but I thought maybe having a friend would help.”

Placing my hand on the side of his face, I felt my entire body warm. “That’s sweet of you, and of MaryAnne. I’m glad you called them.”

“How much do you remember?” he asked.

“I think everything, there might be a missing spot or two, but I remember how I got to Montana now.”

When his eyes met mine, I could feel all the emotions swimming around inside him. “I’m okay, Liam.”

He lifted my hand and kissed the back. “I hate this for you, but at the same time, it brought you to me.”

“You’re the only good thing that has come out of this whole nightmare.”

“Are you ready to talk to Randy and Jonathon, or should I tell them to give you some time?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “Now that I can remember what happened, I think it will be helpful. I can see the guy’s face clear as day in my mind.”

“Is he the one who kept you in the basement?” Liam asked.

“He has to be, but why would he bring me here? Back to Montana? And don’t you find it strange it’s back to the same area Chad lives in?”

Liam nodded. “I’ve already been thinking about that. I can’t let go of the fact that Chad might have something to do with this. And with Emily.”

I closed my eyes. “I hope he doesn’t, Liam. I really do.”

Liam stood and reached for my hand. “We’re in this together.”

“Together,” I replied.

When we made our way to the kitchen, MaryAnne was cooking meat and Billy was chopping up lettuce.

“What can I do to help?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady and strong.

MaryAnne stopped what she was doing and made her way over to me. She drew me in for a hug, holding me tightly. I nearly wept with the knowledge that so many people cared for me. I went from having no one, to having the most amazing people in my life.

She stepped back and used the pads of her thumbs to wipe my tears away. “You don’t need to do anything. Billy and I have dinner taken care of. Are you okay to talk to Randy?”

Smiling, I hugged her once more. “Yes, I’m good. MaryAnne, thank you for being such a great friend. I know we haven’t actually known one another for very long, but it feels like I’ve known you forever.”

She smiled. “I feel the same way.”

“Mallory, are you up to telling us what you remembered?” Randy asked as he approached, Jonathon not far behind.

Exhaling a long breath, I faced the two police officers and nodded. “Yes. Let’s do this.”

Liam took my hand, and we followed Randy and Jonathon into the living room.

“I’m going to record this, okay?” Randy asked.

Clearing the frog in my throat, I replied, “Yes, that’s fine.”

“Liam said you’ve gotten some of your memory back?” Jonathon asked.

“Yes. All of it, actually. I found a picture in the boxes that Liam had shipped to his house. The picture was from a going-away party at the restaurant I worked in. There was a man standing off in the background. He looked familiar to me, and then I remembered where I’d seen him.

He was in the deli the day I went missing.

He was smiling at me, and I thought at the time he was flirting.

I got my sandwich and went back to the hotel.

I decided that night that I was going to leave and move to a place closer to downtown.

The lady at the front desk, she told me her cousin was looking for a roommate.

I wrote down her name and number and I remember feeling excited at the idea of possibly finding a place to live.

I walked into the bathroom, forgot something, and walked back into the main area of my hotel room, and he was standing there.

I instantly remembered him from the deli, asked how he got into my room, and then realized he was there to do something bad.

I screamed and tried to get to the bathroom, but he grabbed me.

Then he punched me to get me to be quiet.

I fought him off as best I could, and I got free.

I nearly made it to the door before I felt something hit my head. Then everything went black.”