Fatal Flashback

by Kellie VanHorn

  Anyone? Even the rangers? Logan? She shook her head, closing the laptop. Someone had tried to break into her house last night, and there were only two possible items she could think of that they might have wanted. This laptop or the map she’d found in the guidebook.

  The map she would carry with her, but the laptop needed to be hidden. She left the case out in clear view but took the laptop itself and wedged it between the mattress and box spring in her bedroom, covering the gap with the sheets. It didn’t seem likely anyone would try to break in during broad daylight, but better safe than sorry.

  Ashley wanted to look at the map now, too, but she was out of time. Tucking it inside her shirt pocket, she walked the short distance to park headquarters.

  The receptionist took her directly to the superintendent’s office. Dick Barclay rose from his desk as she entered, shaking her hand.

  “Good morning, Ranger Watson.” He turned to the receptionist. “Sandy, please shut the door on your way out and see we’re not disturbed.”

  Ashley took the seat opposite him. Wherever this conversation went, she’d have to be careful how much she revealed—at least until she knew whom to trust. One thing was sure: she’d have to downplay the extent of her memory loss if she didn’t want to be sent packing.

  “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better,” Barclay said. “Have you remembered yet what happened?”

  “No, but I’m hopeful it will come back when we drive down to Santa Elena this afternoon. My older memories have almost fully returned.” Only a slight stretch.

  Barclay nodded, eyeing her thoughtfully. “Do you remember why you’re here, Agent Thompson?”

  Thompson. He knew she was undercover. That meant he must know about Jimenez, too. “Of course,” she answered smoothly. “To catch Rico Jimenez.”

  Whoever he was.

  Barclay sighed, pulling off his eyeglasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “This operation is a fool’s errand. I tried telling Morton that two months ago.”

  The name clicked into place. Special Agent in Charge Donald Morton, her superior at the Bureau. She wiped her sweaty palms against her pants.

  “I assure you, Dr. Barclay,” she said, injecting her voice with as much confidence as she could, “that I’m quite capable of doing my job. It won’t take long to apprehend Jimenez and bring him to justice.”

  Barclay leaned forward, elbows braced on his desk. “Agent Thompson, I don’t know what happened to you yesterday, but this park has an incredibly low crime rate. I’m not going to let that change on my watch.”

  Her brow furrowed. A threat? Clearly, he didn’t want her here. She forced a smile. “We’re on the same side, Dr. Barclay.”

  His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Let me be blunt. There’s no way Rico Jimenez or any other cartel leader is operating in this park under our noses. I didn’t want you here before, and now that you’ve managed to injure yourself in your first twelve hours, I still don’t want you here. My rangers are top-notch. We don’t need FBI intervention.”

  She swallowed but held his gaze. “It would seem the Bureau doesn’t agree. But I’ll do my best to stay out of your way.”

  “You’ll do more than that, Agent Thompson.” Barclay’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll give me solid proof of Jimenez’s activity, or else I’ll call Morton and tell him about your memory loss.”

  “He’ll send someone else.”

  He shrugged, one eyebrow rising over his wire-rimmed glasses. “But it won’t be you.” After a pause, he leaned forward in his seat. “Here’s the thing. I agreed to this scheme as a favor to Morton, but I don’t want any of you agents in my park. The sooner you get out of here, the better.”

  “Of course.” She smiled, trying to exude the confidence she didn’t feel. “I’ll get you something soon.”

  “Three days.” Barclay drummed his fingers on the desk. “I’ll give you three days.”

  Not long, especially given the true extent of her memory loss. But Barclay didn’t need to know that. She extended her hand. “No problem.”

  Barclay shook it firmly and rose. She stood, also. The interview certainly hadn’t gone the way she’d hoped—putting her in the hot seat rather than revealing the crucial information she needed.

  But as she turned to go, the superintendent held out a file. “Here’s everything we’ve got on Jimenez. I hope it helps.”

  Was that sarcasm? Ashley took the file, resisting the urge to start looking through it on the spot and keeping back the thousand questions bursting to get out. “Do any of the other rangers know who I am?”

  He shook his head. “Only myself and Ed Chambers.”

  “Thank you.” She reached for the doorknob.

  “Oh...and, Thompson? If you cause any trouble for me...”

  She nodded, letting the rest of the threat go unspoken. “I won’t, sir.”

  Do your job quickly, quietly, and get out. His eyes said all of it loud and clear.

  * * *

  Logan was working at his desk when someone knocked on the door. “Come in.” He didn’t bother to glance up.

  “Good morning.” Ashley.

  At the sound of her voice, his heart skipped. He gritted his teeth. Never should have carried her last night... Not that she had given him much choice.

  Erin had made his heart skip, too, almost from the first moment they’d met at headquarters. She’d been so young—twenty-three—cute and bubbly, full of energy. Fresh out of college. The world had held so much promise.

  Now wasn’t the time to dwell on the past, or the long years of heartache and loneliness Erin had left in her wake. Ed knew, but nobody else.

  Work. Training the new ranger. Doing his job—that was why he was here. Every time he requested reassignment at Big Bend, it was because of this job and this place. Not because he was hoping for another Erin in his life. One was enough.

  “Good morning.” He forced himself to keep his eyes on his work a minute longer. Anything to help maintain a safe distance. “How are you feeling? Still up for a trip to Santa Elena?”

  “I am,” she said.

  When Logan finally let himself look up, he was rewarded with wide, staring eyes and long, dark lashes. Irrelevant. “How did you sleep?” He rummaged under a stack of papers to find his keys.

  “Better. I remembered my laptop’s password.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything else. Just casually shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Secrets lurked behind those eyes. Maybe he’d be able to get answers this afternoon.

  “The superintendent gave this to me for you.” He handed Ashley her holster and gun, lips tilting. “Don’t point it at me again.”

  A grin played at the corners of her mouth. “I won’t.”

  He led the way out to the parking lot and as they stepped into the front lobby, Will Sykes came through the door.

  Logan nodded in greeting, but Will stared at Ashley, the color leaching out of his naturally dark skin. Could Don Juan be nervous about meeting the new ranger, after all? Or did she remind him of Sam, too?

  Ashley obviously didn’t share his anxiety. She held out her hand, smiling. “Hello, I’m Ashley Watson.”

  Will recovered instantly, making Logan think he’d imagined it all. In fact, the younger man lavished such a warm smile on Ashley as he shook her hand that her cheeks turned rosy pink.

  He was holding her hand far too long for a polite handshake. Logan cleared his throat. “Sykes, Ranger Watson and I need to get going.”

  Will gave Ashley another suave grin full of excessively white teeth. “Hope I’ll see you around.”

  A few minutes later Logan steered the Jeep out onto the main road that would take them north and west around the Chisos Mountains and then south toward Santa Elena Canyon. Ashley stared at the landscape as if seeing it for the fir
st time. Right—it’d been dark when he’d taken her on this road before, and her memories of driving out there were gone.

  “Here, I brought you this.” He handed her a park map. “I thought you might want to see where we’re going.”

  “Thank you.” The paper rustled as she spread it across her lap.

  “So...what have you remembered?”

  She laughed. “What are you looking for? My life story or something?”

  “Sure, whatever you want to tell me. Maybe talking about it will help the rest of your memories come back.”

  “Maybe. I think I’ve got back everything up until about a year or so ago. After that, it’s still pretty fuzzy.”

  “What about your family? You remember them? And where you came from?”

  “What is this, Twenty Questions?” The sound of her laughter made his heart light. “Yes, I remember my parents. Ne—” She coughed, cutting herself short, almost as if she’d done it on purpose. But she picked back up almost immediately. “Never could forget them for long. One brother, too. His name is Sam.”

  “Older or younger?”

  “Younger.” She stared out the window for a long moment but when she turned back her eyes were bright. “He loves anything outdoors. He’d love it here.”

  Logan grinned. “Maybe you can invite him to visit sometime.”

  She smiled, but some of the excitement had faded.

  Why? Already contemplating her escape from Big Bend?

  They made the turn to the south, where the volcanic activity of ages long past had created what looked like a lunar landscape. Ashley stared out her window.

  “I take it you don’t remember seeing this scenery before?” he asked.

  “No. I had no idea this park was so vast.”

  “Mountains, desert and river all rolled into one area. You could spend a lifetime here and never be done learning about it all.”

  “How long have you lived here?”

  “It’ll be seven years this fall.” Five years since Erin had left. He hadn’t heard from her since. But why was he thinking about Erin again? That chapter of his life was over.

  “That’s a long time to live somewhere so remote. Don’t you miss civilization?” Ashley eyed him skeptically.

  He couldn’t help laughing at her expression. “Civilization’s overrated. Besides, I love it out here, and the work I do is meaningful.” God’s will for his life. The knowledge that God had prepared him for this work was what had kept him going when Erin walked away.

  “What about your family? Don’t they miss you?”

  “Sure.” He shrugged, taking a deep breath. No avoiding the spiritual nudge to share his faith. “But they’re glad I’m following God’s call for my life.” He waited for the awkward silence, or worse, the ridicule he usually received when he talked about his faith.

  But Ashley smiled. “You’re a Christian, aren’t you?”

  “Since childhood. Although I haven’t always walked faithfully with the Lord.”

  “Me, either.” She was silent for a long moment. “I wish... I wish it was easier to understand God’s plans.”

  “Sometimes things don’t make sense until we look back on them later. I guess that’s why so many people in the Bible were commended for walking by faith not sight.” A lesson he needed to remind himself about. Maybe even his broken heart would make sense one day.

  “Maybe.” Her voice sounded hard now, almost bitter.

  Was it because of the memory loss and her confusion over what had happened to her? Something else? Pain lingered there, but it wasn’t his business.

  Ashley stared back out the window. He wanted to ask her more questions, about what she had remembered, or whether she had requested this assignment at Big Bend. But the timing seemed all wrong. So instead he changed the subject, spending the next half hour teaching her about safety and survival in the desert. Barely the tip of the iceberg, but he’d keep going over it every day until he’d drilled it into her head.

  They were nearing the road to the canyon, but first he turned into the parking lot at Castolon.

  “Why are we pulling in here?” Ashley asked.

  “We had your car towed here for safe-keeping. Rangers are stationed at Castolon, but Santa Elena is only monitored by patrols.”

  He parked the Jeep next to her black sedan, which had been left in the lot outside the general store, ice-cream stand and restrooms.

  “Apparently it didn’t work,” she said grimly, “because one of the rear windows has been broken out.”

  Logan frowned as he watched her get out of the Jeep. First her house and now the car.

  What did Ashley have that somebody wanted?

  SIX

  The backseat was littered with fragments of broken glass, bits of leaves and windblown sand. Ashley climbed into the driver’s seat.

  “Is anything missing?” Logan’s face was lined with concern.

  “I don’t know.” She opened the glove compartment and rummaged through the contents. Anything to shake this nagging sense of vulnerability. “I thought I took out all of my personal belongings when we left it behind, but maybe I missed something.”

  “The trunk was empty when we left it.” His brows pulled together. “Maybe it was the same person who tried to break into your house.”

  Probably so. But this wasn’t the kind of proof she was looking for to give Barclay. Although she couldn’t remember getting the car, it had to be a rental set up through the Bureau using her fake name. Now she’d have to explain the damage to Special Agent Morton, who didn’t even know yet about the incident in the river. A knot of frustration twisted in her stomach.

  Logan pulled out a handheld radio and made a call. Ashley only half paid attention as she walked around the car, inspecting it for other signs of damage.

  “One of the Castolon rangers is going to come take a look and talk to Jim at the general store to see if he’s noticed anything suspicious.” Logan nodded toward the west where, far off in the distance, puffy, white cotton-ball clouds floated on the horizon. “Storm’s coming this way. We should get down to the canyon while we still have time. We can pick up the car on the way back. Jim will make sure the window gets taped up.”

  “All right.” Wasn’t much they could do about the car anyway. Even if they picked over the interior with a fine-toothed comb and dusted for prints, she doubted they’d find anything helpful. Like the break-in at her house, there was no way of knowing who it was or what they wanted.

  “So—” he started the Jeep once she got in “—what were they after?”

  “Probably whatever they were trying to find in my house.” Like that map. Or maybe the truth about who she was? Did someone else in the park suspect she was an FBI agent?

  Instead of backing out, Logan scanned her face. “Do you have any ideas? Maybe something you brought with you?”

  She shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. My computer, maybe?”

  “We’re a little remote for petty theft, but maybe.” He kept those green eyes pinned on her until Ashley couldn’t bear it any longer.

  She stared out the window at the old, stucco ice-cream stand, its log roof beams protruding from nubby textured walls. He could see right through her evasive answers—see that she was keeping secrets—and even though she barely knew him, she hated the deception. But until she knew whom to trust, she didn’t have a choice.

  Finally he threw the Jeep into reverse and pulled onto the road. The sun was now high enough overhead that heat radiated off the asphalt in shimmering waves, creating a mirage around every turn. According to the map, they’d pass Cottonwood Campground next and then have another six miles or so to the Santa Elena parking lot.

  Probably the wrong time to pry for information, but she needed whatever she could get. Plus, the awkward silence was driving her nuts. “Can I ask you somethin
g?”

  “Sure. Anything.”

  He sounded like he genuinely meant it. He’d been nothing but kind, helpful and concerned, and she had only repaid him with silence and secrets. Guilt twisted her insides.

  She swallowed her self-condemnation. “What are the typical crimes we have to deal with here? If it’s not petty theft and breaking and entering.”

  “Thankfully we’re remote enough there isn’t much crime, but as you might remember from your dip in the river, it’s very shallow. The ease of crossing the border is the real issue. Even then, the most we usually see are a couple of Mexicans illegally crossing over to sell trinkets to tourists. We’ve had a few drug busts, but nothing large scale.”

  “What about illegal immigration? Human trafficking?”

  “Not so much. Most of the cartels operate to the west of here, where the terrain is less rugged. You’ve probably heard of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. The rangers there have constant issues with border crossings.”

  Ashley had heard of it—at least, somewhere in her memory, she knew there was a connection with ranger deaths there and something to do with her work here. Maybe later, when she had time to dig through the files on her laptop, she’d find more answers.

  Logan drove the Jeep over a dry streambed and pulled into the parking lot at Santa Elena. She followed him in silence across a flat plain toward the trailhead into the canyon. The air felt slightly less oppressive here, closer to the river, and a breeze danced through the stray bits of hair falling around her face.

  The Rio Grande had cut a deep canyon through a high plateau, leaving jagged cliffs on either side. Mexico was only a stone’s throw away, a sheer cliff face towering hundreds of feet above the water. On the US side, a narrow path had been carved along the edge of the river, with steps rising and then dropping to the river’s edge where the canyon widened. Vegetation grew here and there along the path, cactuses along the upper portion and tall grasses and brush down along the gravelly riverbank.

  They had walked a short distance into the canyon when Logan stopped. “Anything look familiar?”