A Woman with a Mystery

by B. J Daniels

  Slade heard Inez say something about commitment papers and court orders, but he’d already swept Holly past the doctor and Inez. He hit the massive front door, half afraid he’d find it locked. It flung open, the cold and snow hitting him in the face as he grabbed Holly’s hand and bolted.

  He could hear both O’Brien and Inez call after them. And another voice. Female. He glanced over his shoulder, thought he glimpsed Carolyn Gray step behind a column on the outside edge of the building entrance, but his attention was quickly drawn back to Dr. O’Brien. The doctor reached for something. An alarm went off.

  “Run!” he yelled to Holly over the clamor.

  The sky had darkened to gunmetal gray, huge floating snowflakes fell around them like confetti.

  He and Holly reached the pickup before he let himself look back again. To his surprise no white-coated bodybuilder types had come exploding out of the Institute.

  Holly jumped into the cab and he slid in after her. The pickup started, almost to his amazement. He wasn’t sure what lengths these people would go to. He told himself they needed Holly back under their control. She was starting to remember too much, and by now they had to know that.

  He spun the pickup out of the parking lot, snow flying off the hood and windshield, and headed for the gate, expecting that would be where the doctor planned to stop them. Pushing down the gas pedal, he increased his speed as he raced down the narrow evergreen-lined road, pretty sure he could ram through the gate if it came to that.

  One glance at Holly told him she was braced for just that. She was buckled in, both hands on the dash, a look of incredulity on her face.

  But to his amazement, the gate was open when he came around the bend. No guard tried to block his exit. No big orderlies tried to jump them.

  Slade cruised out of the Institute’s grounds and onto the highway, putting his foot to the metal as he watched in his rearview mirror, unable to believe their luck. No, not luck, he thought as the pickup put distance between them and Evergreen Institute. Dr. O’Brien had let them go. But why?

  He glanced over at Holly. She too was looking back, obviously just as surprised. Then her gaze shifted to him and he had such a feeling of dèjá vu he almost drove off the highway. She was staring at him as if she’d never seen him before.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Holly?” Slade let out a curse as he met her gaze. They’d gotten to her. But how? The alarm? Or something O’Brien or someone else had said or done?

  “Holly, you remember who I am, right?” Wrong.

  She was gripping the door handle. He kept the speed up on the pickup, pretty sure she wouldn’t be foolish enough to leap out, but not really sure what she’d do.

  In his rearview mirror, he spotted a car coming up fast and swore.

  She glanced back at the winding two-lane highway, then back at him. “What’s going on?” She sounded only a little scared. “Rawlins?”

  He shot her a look. “You called me Rawlins.”

  “Yeah,” she said, still eyeing him strangely. “I’ve always called you Rawlins.”

  His heart hammered so hard in his chest he couldn’t breathe. He stole another look at her. What he saw almost floored him. He let out a laugh. “Everything’s just…fine now.” He stole another look at her. Wasn’t it?

  She gave him a tentative smile. “Did you just call me Holly?”

  The car was gaining on them, its cornering abilities far exceeding the pickup’s, especially in the middle of a snowstorm. He didn’t dare go any faster. He was having enough trouble keeping his eyes on the road in this storm—and on the rearview mirror and Holly.

  “You like the name?” he asked, praying he was right about who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him.

  She smiled. God, but he’d missed that sexy, teasing, full-of-life smile. “It had better be your new name for me—and not just a slip of the tongue. Holly? I guess it’s appropriate since you found me on Christmas Eve. Does have a nicer ring than Janie Doe.”

  He shook his head, grinning like a fool. Holly was back. His Holly. All he wanted to do was stop the pickup and take her in his arms. But that wasn’t an option at the moment. The car was right behind them now. Something silver and sporty, like the BMW Dr. O’Brien drove.

  “You know, I feel as though I’ve missed something here,” she said, glancing nervously back at the car, then at him. “You sure everything is all right?”

  “Yeah, what’s the last thing you remember?” The car was trying to come around him on a solid yellow line.

  “You in the shower.”

  He almost drove off the road.

  “Don’t tell me you don’t remember?”

  “Oh yeah.” His heart was threatening to burst from his chest. “Where were we getting ready to go?”

  “As if you don’t remember. Your sister Shelley’s. Dinner with Norma and the chief. You’d been grousing about going all day.”

  My God. She thought it was February 26 of last year, the day he came out of the shower not only to find her long gone, but his money and the files from his office gone as well.

  “Right,” he said, trying to keep the shock from his voice and his eyes on the road and the car behind them. The car made another attempt to pass, but backed off. A straightaway was coming up and Slade knew he wouldn’t be able to keep the car from coming alongside him.

  “You left the shower to dry your hair. The phone rang.” He looked over at her, realizing now that was when someone had gotten to her. “By the way, who was that on the phone?”

  She frowned. “That’s funny. I can’t remember.”

  The straightaway was just ahead. He reached across to the glove box and pulled out his weapon.

  “Okay, now you’re scaring me,” she said. She bit at her lower lip. “Rawlins, are those the people who are trying to kill me?”

  “Maybe, sweetheart. I need you to get down and stay down, okay?” He couldn’t help but take another look at her, afraid it might be his last. The irony of it poleaxed him. He’d finally gotten her back, and, in the blink of an eye, he could lose her again.

  He rolled down his window, snow pelting him. He squinted, one hand on the wheel, the other holding his weapon, as he watched the car come up his side of the pickup like a bullet, the driver hidden behind tinted windows. His trigger finger twitched. They weren’t taking Holly from him. He’d kill them all if that’s what it took.

  He started to raise the gun, but then realized it wasn’t Dr. O’Brien’s car. His car hadn’t had tinted windows.

  The car seemed to hesitate for one heart-thundering moment next to the pickup, then sped on past, disappearing into the snowstorm. He watched it go and slowed the pickup, realizing he was shaking all over.

  Whoever was behind this hadn’t come after them because obviously they’d accomplished what they’d set out to do. Zap Holly. Take away her memory. Again.

  But that meant they didn’t see him as a threat. Probably because basically, he had nothing. Some pills that Inez could say she knew nothing about. A blood typing that proved nothing. And a woman with a shaky mental history and no memory. He had zip and they knew it.

  But he had Holly. Or did he?

  “Holly?”

  Her head popped up from where she’d hunkered down in the seat.

  He pulled off onto the first side road, cut the lights and turned to her. She flew into his arms and he hugged her to him as if there were no tomorrow. The way things were going, there might not be.

  “RAWLINS, you act as if you haven’t seen me in weeks,” she laughed, drawing back a little to look into his face. It felt as if they were in a cocoon, the snow falling silently around them, covering the pickup in white.

  “Feels more like months,” he said, touching his fingers to her lips. “God, I’ve missed you.”

  “Rawlins.” She laughed, then sobered. “You’re serious.”

  He nodded. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  “It’s bad, isn’t it?” She braced
herself for the worst. “What did you find out about me?”

  “We can’t stay here,” he said starting the pickup.

  “Rawlins, tell me what it is.”

  “I’ll tell you on the way.”

  She listened, watching the snow fall hypnotically down from the heavens as he drove down the mountain. At first it felt as if he was talking about someone else. She would never steal files from him, let alone money. Nor could months have gone by. It was impossible.

  But on the outskirts of Dry Creek, she began to see the Christmas lights. Too many of them for February. And this was Slade Rawlins, a man she trusted with her life. With her love.

  “We had a baby together?” she asked in awe, her voice breaking. “A little girl?”

  He pulled over at the edge of town as if suddenly realizing he didn’t know where to go or what to do. “We can’t go back to Shelley’s. Or to my office or apartment. They’ll probably be waiting for us. We can catch a flight from Butte.” He started to turn the truck around.

  She stopped him, shocked that he’d think she would run away. “We have to find her. We can’t leave until we do.”

  “Holly,” he said, killing the engine to turn to her. “You don’t know what these people are capable of.”

  “Don’t I, Rawlins? They stole our baby. They drugged me. They made me marry some crazed scientist. They messed with my mind and memory. I’m not about to let them keep my baby.”

  “Holly, they could have already—”

  “They wouldn’t hurt her,” she said, believing it. “They went to too much trouble to get her.”

  She could see he wasn’t so sure about that, but she couldn’t doubt it. She had to believe their daughter was alive. “I have to remember the birth—the voice you said I recognized. Take me to this Dr. Delaney. You said he worked for Evergreen. If they took my memory away, then he should know how to bring it back.”

  “Or completely erase it. Do you realize what you’re asking me?” he demanded. “I just got you back after all these months. Holly, we can’t be sure our baby is still alive. You’re asking me to jeopardize your life, your sanity. I can’t do that.”

  “Rawlins, listen to me,” she said, reaching over to grasp his upper arm. “I know you, remember? You’re not the kind of guy who runs away. It’s just not in you.”

  “Holly.” His voice cracked, his eyes filled with pain. “I’m not the same guy, not after a year without you. I want our baby as much as you do. But just the thought of never being able to hold you, to make love with you—” He was shaking his head, but she knew he could no more run from this than she could.

  She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “Trust me, Rawlins. We will make love again,” she whispered. “I promise you that.”

  He closed his eyes and pulled her to him with a groan.

  “God help us,” he whispered.

  Silently, she echoed his words, more afraid than she would ever let him know. But equally determined never to be the woman Rawlins had described to her, the woman it seemed she’d been for almost the entire last year.

  SLADE WOULD RATHER have cut off his right arm than do it, but he started the truck and headed for Dr. Delaney’s house.

  “Why would someone want to brainwash me?” Holly said beside him. “I’m an artist, right? Who in their right mind would want to brainwash an artist? That would be even more useless than brainwashing a private detective.”

  He knew what she was trying to do. She’d always joked when she was scared. And she had to be running scared as hell right now. “You’re a great artist.”

  He wanted to argue that they should drive to Butte, find a hypnotherapist, see if the guy could get her memory back. But he knew he’d be wasting his breath. Holly was too smart not to know that time was of the essence. And Dr. Delaney might be the one person who knew how to get her memory back quickly. But would he? Even at gunpoint.

  “So you’ve seen my work?” she asked, looking nervously at the road ahead.

  He thought of the painting she’d done of the birth. “You have real talent, trust me.”

  “Sounds like you’re not the first man to say that to me,” she said. “Tell me about Dr. Allan Wellington.”

  He was saved by the ringing of his cell phone. “Rawlins.”

  “Slade, man, have I got news for you,” Charley said. “Dude, don’t go near this Evergreen place.”

  “Too late for that. What have you got?”

  “The place was started by a guy named Dr. Allan Wellington as a fertility clinic—”

  “Got that.”

  “Then you already know about Dr. August Wellington, the headshrinker?”

  Slade frowned, trying to remember where he’d seen that name. Inez’s. A plaque on the wall. Some award. “No.”

  “Man, he was just one of leaders in mind control during World War II, and he was Allan Wellington’s father.”

  Slade looked over at Holly. “That makes a lot of sense. Was the old man connected with Evergreen?”

  “You bet your best sneakers he was,” Charley crowed. “But unofficially, of course.”

  So Allan could have learned the techniques from his father. “Did you find out anything on a Dr. O’Brien?”

  “Not yet. Still checking. But if he’s bad news, I’ll get the dirt, man. You can count on me.”

  “What about Inez Wellington?”

  “The headshrinker’s daughter?” Charley asked. “Word I got, she’s an old maid with an attitude.” That about covered it. “Flunked out of medical school. But she did work with her father and brother, unofficially. Not much on her. Still digging.”

  “Listen, be careful. At least one person is dead and another missing and I suspect it’s all connected.”

  “Always careful, man. That’s the name of the game. Later, dude.”

  “Who’s dead?” Holly asked the moment he clicked the phone off. “You haven’t told me everything, have you?”

  “Your midwife. She was killed in a car wreck just before you gave birth. Supposedly, it was an accident.”

  “So she wasn’t one of the monsters,” Holly said thoughtfully.

  “No. But it’s quite the coincidence she died before she was to assist your birth.”

  Holly nodded, still looking stunned by the news, but stronger than the Holly who’d stumbled up to his office on Christmas Eve.

  And Carolyn Gray was missing, it seemed, but he suspected she hadn’t gone far. In fact, he’d sworn he saw her outside the Institute just minutes ago.

  Dr. Delaney, it appeared as they neared the house, was home, and with luck, the doctor would be alone. Dr. Delaney lived just outside of town on a small hobby ranch. As Slade pulled into the drive, he noted that only one vehicle was parked out front. The doc’s black Suburban.

  A mongrel dog came out to meet them, barking as it ran alongside the pickup. Slade parked behind the doctor’s car and asked, “You’re sure about this?”

  “Positive,” she said and gave him a smile. “After everything you told me, Dr. Delaney must realize Evergreen’s house of cards is falling fast. He’ll want to help us.”

  “Yeah,” Slade said checking the clip on his weapon. “Or kill us.” Or kill him and zap Holly into another state of mind.

  And yet, he still had no proof that anything was going on. Nor was he ready to involve the police. But he wasn’t fool enough to go to Dr. Delaney without letting at least someone know where he was.

  He dialed Chief Curtis’s private number and got his answering machine. “I’m at Dr. Delaney’s house. He has some tie-in with Evergreen and might be one of the people who has been using mind control on Holly. We’re about to find out. Just want you to know in case you don’t hear from me again.”

  Dr. Delaney opened the door before they reached it as if he’d been expecting them. Not a good sign. He didn’t seem surprised to see them—or the weapon Slade held in his hand.

  “Are you alone?” Slade asked.

  Del
aney nodded.

  “You knew we were coming?”

  “Heard all about it on the police scanner.” Delaney pointed into his den.

  Slade could hear the chatter, turned low. “Why would we be on the police scanner?”

  “Someone broke into Evergreen Institute, stole confidential information and destroyed the lab. You were seen leaving the Institute. There’s a warrant out for your arrest and a court order for Holly Barrows’s re-commitment. I just had a feeling I’d be seeing you.”

  Slade couldn’t believe what he was hearing. And now Chief Curtis knew exactly where to find the two of them.

  “We took nothing from Evergreen, and we certainly didn’t destroy any lab,” he said. “It’s a lie.”

  “That’s why you’re waving a gun around.” Delaney didn’t seem upset though. Or worried that Slade would shoot him. The doctor looked questioningly at Holly.

  “I understand we’ve already met,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m one of the casualties of Evergreen Institute’s mind-control program, the Genesis Project, but I have a feeling you already know that as well.”

  The words had the effect Holly had obviously been shooting for. Delaney looked more than surprised.

  “Look, we know you’re involved with the Evergreen Institute and the Genesis Project,” Slade said.

  Delaney didn’t bother to deny it.

  “To make a long story short,” Slade said. “We were just at Evergreen. Someone zapped her. She can’t remember the past year. Convenient, huh?” He waved the weapon in his hand. “Now you’re going to help her remember the birth of her baby and the monsters who stole it. Then you can tell us about the Genesis Project and why you used to take my mother to Evergreen.”

  Delaney looked at Holly. “What do you mean by ‘zapped?”’

  “Mind control. It seems I’ve been taking Halcion mixed with equal parts hypnosis,” she said.

  “Halcion? Unless it was a very low dosage, you wouldn’t have even been able to function.”

  “It sounds as if I just barely could,” she said. “But then someone else was controlling me so I didn’t need to think much.”