Unsanctioned Memories by Miller Julie

Author:Miller, Julie [Miller, Julie]
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2004-06-24T05:00:00+00:00

FROM ACROSS THE PARKING LOT, Sam watched Jess standing on the porch, waving to a retirement-age couple who was driving away with a child-size sleigh and Santa Claus doll they’d bought from her shop. She looked for all the world like the classic beauty, friendly nature girl and successful businesswoman she was.

Amnesia?

Sounded like a damn convenient excuse to avoid dealing with reality. Her gaze connected all too briefly with his before whistling for the dog and disappearing inside the cabin. She’d explained what little she did remember—up to the moment she’d left the museum fund-raiser in angry tears, and then after the moment she recalled running from an alleyway with only a ratty blanket to cover herself as she hailed a cab and went to the hospital.

Everything else in between? A blank.

Sam knew his resentment and disappointment weren’t fair. Jessica Taylor had dealt with a reality as harsh as any he’d faced. Harsher, according to the explanation her therapist had given her. Whatever she’d seen and experienced the night of her attack had been too horrible to bear for some reason, so her mind was protecting her from the pain by blocking it out.

Most of it, anyway. He’d witnessed two flashbacks himself, once with the sheriff’s first visit, and then at the auction. She might not be ready for it, but her brain was trying to force her to recall something. He intended to stick around long enough to find out what that was. He just prayed she figured it out before the bastard leaving those hideous messages robbed her of the chance.

“This is the last one, Sam.” Work and heat and tireless energy—unfortunately, not his own—brought him back to the job at hand.

Derek Phillips was a strapping eighteen year-old, well suited to the defensive tackle position he played on his high-school football team. They had a chance to win their district and play for the state title in their class for the second year in a row, Derek had told him. Several times. Sam grinned. Jess’s teenage neighbor was the kind of person who never met a stranger. The kid had worked hard all afternoon and struck up one friendly conversation after another, despite Sam’s distracted mood.

“It’s about time,” Sam answered, grabbing his end of the railroad tie Derek had pulled off the back of Jess’s pickup and carrying it over to the edge of the parking lot. “I never thought we’d finish this job. Looks nice, though. I appreciate the help.”

“No problem.”

Sam set his end of the railroad tie and stood up straight, stripping off his work gloves and pulling the navy bandanna from his jeans to mop the sweat from his forehead. Damn. This air was too still, too hot for September. He hadn’t seen today’s weather report, but there must be a storm brewing. A doozy of one if the dark green-gray line of clouds gathering in the west was any indication.

He smoothed the hair back from his forehead and tied the bandanna around the top. But he saw that even better relief from the heat was on its way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.