When he believed she was no longer in danger of succumbing to hypothermia, he pulled the plug and lifted her from the water. Laying her back on the bed, he dried her with a towel. He slipped her beneath the sheets, covered her with several heavy blankets. It hadn’t taken as long as he’d imagined it would to get her body temperature up. Which could only mean she hadn’t been in the car that long.
Max carried his veterinary supplies back to the clinic at the front of the house. He’d done all her could for her for now.
A forlorn howl pierced Max’s senses. That damn wolf was still outside. Max didn’t want that scary beast in his house. But he couldn’t let the poor thing freeze to death out there. It was injured. Max couldn’t turn away an injured animal.
Lucky whined when Max entered the clinic. “I know, buddy, I know. I’m hurrying. Let me get the lady comfortable first. Then the wolf, okay?”
Lucky followed at his heels as he headed back to the guest room.
After he checked on the woman again, he’d tranquilize the wolf and fix it up too.
It had been a long time since he’d been able to save anything.
A long time since he’d felt useful.
His hand shook as he leaned over the woman and peeled the blankets away from her injured shoulder, checking it one last time. The sutures looked good. He checked her pulse one last time. Strong and steady.
He hoped she would survive. She had to survive.
She wasn’t a dog or a cat or a horse or a cow.
But dammit, he would save her.
If it was the last thing he ever did.
CHAPTER TWO
Her head throbbed, a fierce pounding that made her brain rattle. She groaned and sat up, clutching her head. Her fingers encountered a huge tender lump on her forehead. She winced. Ouch. What happened?
She glanced around.
Tan walls. White baseboards. A dark cherry wood dresser with a matching nightstand. A lamp with a bucking bronco on the shade. White blinds were drawn closed over a window outlined with white trim. Light trickled in around the edges of the blinds. She was in a bedroom. Hers? If so, it didn’t seem familiar. Nothing seemed familiar. Where was she?
She glanced down at the bedspread. Deer and pine trees. Definitely not a girl’s room. Too manly. This couldn’t be her room, could it?
Her head throbbed again. She moaned. Why couldn’t she remember anything?
The door opened. A tall, bearded man entered the room, pausing on the threshold when his gaze landed on her.
“Oh, you’re awake. Good. I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever wake up. How do you feel?”
She stared. Wavy dark hair that grazed the collar of his blue sweater, a thick beard that was lightly dusted with gray, high cheekbones, dark, coffee-colored eyes. Broad shoulders, a wide, muscular chest, a trim, narrow waist. She guessed his height at around six foot or a little more. Definitely good looking. Age? Mid to late thirties.
Did she know this man? She didn’t think so. Certainly she’d remember a hunk like him.
“Who—” Her voice came out weak and raspy. She cleared her throat. “Who are you?”
“Dr. Montgomery.” He motioned to her left side. “How does your arm feel?”
She glanced down, noticed the bandage around her left shoulder. She centered on it for a moment, but felt only a dull throbbing. It didn’t hurt nearly as bad as her head. “It’s fine. What happened to me? Where am I?”
He took a few more steps into the room. “I was hoping you could tell me. Someone shot you.”
She jerked her gaze back to his. “What? Why would someone shoot me?” She glanced at her shoulder again. Oh. Was that what that was from? A bullet?
He raised a dark brow. “You don’t remember?”
Her head throbbed again as she searched her jumbled brain. But no memories surged to life, nothing but empty space. A black hole. The throbbing in her head increased. She forced back a moan. “No. I can’t remember anything.”
Dr. Montgomery paused at the edge of the bed near her feet. “Anything at all? What’s your name?”
“My…name?” She stared into his dark eyes, tried to remember...but again came up blank. “I…uh, I don’t know.” Panic swept through her. Who was she? “I don’t know! I don’t know my name!”
He stepped toward the head of the bed. “Calm down. You suffered a head injury. It’s possible you’re experiencing temporary amnesia.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Amnesia?”
Crap.
“But…how?” Urgency swept through her but she couldn’t explain why.
“You were in a car accident. You went into the river. It’s twenty below out there and you would have frozen to death in minutes if Lucky hadn’t found you when he did. Do you remember where you got that car?”
Her head spun. A car accident? A river?
“I-I have no idea. I don’t remember.” She groaned as another wave of pain sliced through her skull. “Who’s Lucky?”
A soft bark came from the doorway. A black and white dog leapt up onto the bed and lay down at her feet, gazing at her with inquisitive brown eyes.
“Lucky no!” The man pointed to the floor. “Down!”
The dog lowered its head and slithered off the bed.
“It’s…” She cleared her throat. “It’s okay. He can come up. I like dogs.” She paused. “I think.”
“You must,” Dr. Montgomery said. “You had a giant wolf with you when we rescued you. It was very protective of you.”
She felt her eyes grow wide. She was almost positive she didn’t have a pet wolf. She was terrified of big dogs. She only liked little ones. Right?
She groaned as another wave of pain flashed through her skull. Why had she known that when she couldn’t even remember who she was?
The pounding in her head increased. Why couldn’t she remember anything?
“I don’t have a pet wolf. You must be mistaken.”
Dr. Montgomery didn’t look convinced. “When you’re feeling better, I’ll take you back to the clinic to see the wolf. I’m sure the animal would like that. Hasn’t been the easiest patient. Someone abused the poor thing pretty badly. An embedded chain in its neck, a bullet in its hip. I had to amputate its left leg at the hip joint. The animal will recover in time. Most canines do well on three legs. I don’t suppose you remember who abused the wolf, do you?” His gaze narrowed on her.
“You think I would abuse an animal? You’re crazy, mister.” She waved her uninjured arm at him. “Obviously whoever shot me shot him too. We must have been trying to escape.” She paused as her words sank in. Good God, escape from what? Her stomach churned. “I don’t even remember my own name.”
He motioned to her neck. “You’re wearing a necklace that has the name Jennie on it.”
She glanced down, lifted the silver heart from her throat. She stared at the letters. Jennie. Jennie who? Why couldn’t she remember her own damn name? She flipped the heart over. Love, Dad.
Her father had given her the necklace. Who was her father? Why couldn’t she remember her own dad? Frustration swelled in her chest.
She groaned as another wave of pain slammed through her skull.
“Can I get something for the headache, please? Hydrocodone?”
“All I’ve got here is Tylenol and Ibuprofen. No Hydrocodone.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “What kind of doctor are you if you don’t have any prescription painkillers?”
Color crept into his neck and spread upward. She watched, fascinated, as it slowly overtook his entire face. Had she embarrassed him? Why?
He cleared his throat. “I’m a veterinarian. I can’t prescribe human medications.”
Oh, right. The wolf he’d fixed up…of course. He was a vet.
She hissed out a breath as her head continued to throb. “Then take me to a real doctor. I need drugs. Now.”
He walked over to the window and yanked up the blinds. Bright light spilled into the room, nearly blinding h
er. She turned away with a curse.
“Why’d you do that?”
“Look outside, Jennie. It’s been snowing nonstop for twenty-four hours. It’s not supposed to let up for another two days. We’re not going anywhere in this weather. Once the storm passes, I’ll take you into town to the sheriff’s office. Until then, sit tight and try to recover, okay?”
The sheriff? Why the sheriff and not the hospital?
A chill crept down her spine.
Because she’d been shot. And so had a big wolf. A wolf that couldn’t possibly be hers. Why would someone shoot her? What had she done?
She glanced out the window at the swirling snow. Where were they? In the woods somewhere? She leaned back against the pillows with a groan.
“Can I have some Tylenol then? Please? Lots of it. And some water.” Her throat was dry as dust.
He turned from the room. “Be right back.”
He returned a few minutes later with three Tylenol and a large glass of water. “Only three?” She snatched the pills from him and gulped them down. “I’m gonna’ need about fifty more.”
He shook a finger at her. “And put yourself in a coma from a drug overdose? I don’t think so, lady. For all I know, you may have been a drug addict before, but as long as you’re under my roof, you’re not.”
Her mouth dropped open. The man couldn’t have been more insulting. “A drug addict! I’m not a frickin’ drug addict!” Was she? God, she hoped not.
“You’re skin and bones. Take a look at yourself. Bruises and cuts. Various other interesting scars…if not a drug addict, then a woman who was badly abused. And starved.”
His words sent another chill down her spine. She lifted the covers, peering down at herself. It was not a pretty sight. Her stomach roiled. Her gaze snapped back to his.
“Where’s my clothes?”
“In the garbage. They were disgusting. I can only guess at how long you’d been wearing them.”
She lowered her gaze. The man had obviously seen her naked. She didn’t stink, so he must have given her a bath too. She should be offended, but instinct told her he’d only been trying to help her. He didn’t seem the lascivious type.
“I brought some of Laura’s clothes up from the basement this morning.” His voice softened. “She was about your size, just a little shorter. They should do for now. They’re sitting on the dresser over there.” He pointed at the top of the dresser where women’s clothes were stacked in a neat pile. Something that looked like pain flashed across his face as he turned back to her. It was gone as quickly as it appeared.
Who was Laura?
She didn’t ask.
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “Can I have some food, please, too? I’m starving.”
The Border collie slipped around to the side of the bed. Jennie reached a hand over and patted the dog’s head.
“I was just getting ready to fix dinner. I’ll bring you some when it’s ready.” He glanced down at the dog. “Lucky, come.”
“Leave him, please. I want some company.”
Dr. Montgomery’s gaze settled back on hers. Those dark coffee-colored eyes with their endless depths probed hers for a moment, searching…for what? Answers? She had none to give.
He turned away before Jennie could ask him what he was searching for. She sensed secrets hiding behind those intelligent eyes.
“If you feel well enough, you’re welcome to get up and join me in the kitchen.”
He walked out, closing the door behind him.
She sighed, wondered what Dr. Montgomery looked like underneath that beard. Did he have a weak chin he was trying to hide? A strong, handsome jaw? Who was Dr. Montgomery? What kind of man was he? Why had he risked his life to go out in a winter blizzard to save her? She had the unexplainable urge to learn more about him.
Lucky whined. He lifted a paw and placed it on the edge of the bed.
“Thank you for rescuing me, Lucky.” She stroked the dog’s fur. “I owe you and your master, big time. Someday I’ll find a way to repay you.”
Lucky whined again. He jumped up and licked her face. She giggled.
For some reason, it felt strange to laugh. As if she hadn’t laughed for a long time. A very long time.
Her blood chilled. She didn’t have to remember to know that something terrible had happened to her and the wolf. They’d obviously been fleeing from something.
Something evil.
And she was terrified to find out what.
CHAPTER THREE
Good Lord, what had Lucky gotten him into?
The woman was obviously running from someone. And where had she gotten that car? It was possible it only resembled the one he’d had. But Max didn’t think so. That car had disappeared three years ago with his daughter inside. For it to turn up now like it had…Max’s heart clenched. It couldn’t be good.
He had to get to the bottom of this. He needed Jennie to get her memory back so she could tell him what had happened. He needed answers. She might know where Emily was.
The breath hitched in his throat. What if Emily was still alive somewhere out there? What if this woman, this Jennie, had somehow been involved in Emily’s abduction? The thought made his blood run cold.
If Emily was alive, he would find her, he vowed.
With Jennie’s help. Whether she liked it or not.
She wasn’t going anywhere until he got some answers from her. If that meant not notifying the sheriff for a couple of days, so be it. If he had to abduct her temporarily, he would. Right now the weather was on his side, because they couldn’t leave in a raging snow storm. The roads would be impassable until the plows came out, which might not be for a couple more days. Jennie was essentially his prisoner until then. But he would make her as comfortable as possible. She would have no idea she was his “captive”.
For the first time in three years, he had hope. He clung to it and refused to let go.
Max removed the steaks from the counter where they’d been marinating in a soy sauce mixture. He turned on the burner, set the steaks on to cook. While the meat cooked, he tossed two potatoes in the microwave. He opened a can of mixed vegetables and dumped it into a glass bowl to heat up once the potatoes were done. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he’d somehow survived since Laura died. Hell, he’d survived on his pathetic cooking since way before then.
He sighed.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
His thoughts returned to the woman Lucky had rescued. Damn, she had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Like a clear winter sky on a late afternoon, filling with evening shadows. And when she was angry her eyes darkened, like the river at his favorite fishing hole, swirling with secret depths. That’s what she was: shadows and secrets.
Awake and talking, she looked and acted older than his original guess of twenty. He imagined her closer to thirty. He didn’t think she was in any serious medical danger anymore, not now that she’d woken. There was no urgent need to rush her to the hospital. Her “memory lapse” made him suspicious. It almost seemed a little too convenient. But he couldn’t deny she’d cracked her head. The huge purple lump on her forehead was real. He would just keep pressing her until she told him the truth. No matter how long it took.
She had to know something.
Lucky’s claws clicked across the hardwood floor as the dog entered the kitchen behind him. Max turned to see Jennie standing in the doorway, wearing Laura’s clothes. The jeans were a little short in the leg, but the black sweater was large and hung loosely around her hips. The bruises stood out on her pale face, and her eyes looked even bluer than before.
“How’s your headache?” Max asked.
She leaned against the counter. “Still hurts, but it’s more of a dull throbbing instead of a screaming pain.” She watched him in silence for several moments. Her bare feet moved silently across the floor. He felt her presence beside him before she spoke. “I never thanked you for saving me, so…thank you. And please tell Laura thank you fo
r the clothes.”
He flipped the steaks over. He removed the potatoes from the microwave and set the bowl of vegetables in.
“That’s what Lucky does…saves things. Here.” He handed her the plate with the potatoes. He saw no need to mention Laura was dead.
He motioned to the silverware drawer. “If you feel up to it, why don’t you set the table? Silverware’s in there. Plates are in the cupboard to your left. Glasses to the right of the sink.”
She took the potatoes from him and began setting the table. “Is Lucky some kind of rescue dog?”
He checked the steaks. Medium well. Perfect. He turned the burner off. Max removed the steaks from the stove. “You could say that. He’s clairvoyant.” His face burned. Now why had he mentioned that? The woman would think he was crazy now.
“Really?” She turned back to him with a fork in her hand. “That’s fascinating. So he just sensed I was out there and led you to me?”
“Not you,” Max said, coming toward her with the steaks and the vegetables. “The wolf. He senses when other animals are in danger.”
“Right.” She finished setting the table. “The wolf. Will you show me him after dinner?”
“Yes.”
They sat down to eat. Jennie laid into the meal like a starving woman. Max leaned back in his chair and stared at her. He ate much more slowly, setting aside his fork to look at her when she finished. There wasn’t a speck of food left on her plate.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman eat so fast.”
Her deep blue gaze swung to his. Her cheeks reddened. “I was hungry.”
Max pushed his plate aside. He wasn’t. Not anymore. This woman’s presence filled him with uneasiness, but he wasn’t sure why. She was somehow connected to Emily’s abduction, whether she knew it or not. He needed answers from her. He was growing impatient. Desperate.
“I don’t suppose you remember anything yet?”
He watched her closely, looking for subtle signs that might indicate she was lying.
She shook her head. “No. I hate this. I hate not knowing who I am.”
Max sipped his water as he studied her. He longed for a stiff drink, but knew the consequences wouldn’t be good. He’d come too far to go back down that road again.
Abducted (Unlikely Heroes Book 2) Page 2
