Pinch Me [Suncoast Society] (Siren Publishing Sensations)

by Tymber Dalton

  He pointed down the hallway. “We think since he knew you had a back door, he probably scoped out the place beforehand.”

  “Why would he attack me if I have neighbors?”

  “He might have thought all your neighbors were either gone or wouldn’t hear anything. The neighbor on the other side is a snowbird. They’re not here. And Tom Edwards and his wife were gone for two weeks and returned that Friday morning.”

  She stared at her hands, the implication slamming into her. “I would have died,” she whispered. “I would have died if they hadn’t come home.”

  Rob protectively draped an arm around her shoulders. “Laura—”

  “No, it’s okay.” She stared up at him. “I need to hear all of this. It happened. Not hearing it won’t help me.” She returned her focus to Thomas. “You think he came around before he attacked me. He thought I’d be alone.”

  Thomas nodded. “Likely. According to Rob, neither of you noticed any suspicious activity. If the guy knows where your shop is, he might have followed you home, watched for a day or two for patterns, and then struck when he thought you were alone.”

  “Wouldn’t he see their car was back?” she asked.

  “They said they took an airport limo home.”

  “Oh.” She had a thought. “Is my car out there?”

  “Yes, it’s the Toyota,” Rob said. “The truck. On the other side of where I parked.”

  She disengaged from his arm, went to the door, and opened it. There, next to Rob’s Explorer, sat a silver Toyota Tundra with a double cab and a matching topper on back.

  “That’s mine?”

  “Yeah.”

  She felt no recognition.

  Disappointed, she closed the door and turned to them. “I don’t remember anything.”

  * * * *

  Rob struggled to keep his own emotions in check as he watched Laura walk over to her bookcase and study the contents. They were filled, floor to ceiling, with DVDs, CDs, and books. “You’ve got several boxes of books in storage that you didn’t have room for.”

  When her parents had died in a car wreck a little over a year earlier, Rob had suggested she move in with him. She’d politely refused, not because she didn’t want to, but because she said she was afraid of making the decision out of grief.

  She was always strong and independent, two of the many things he loved about her. There was never any ego involved in their relationship. They were as comfortable together as they were secure apart.

  She trailed her fingers over some of the spines. “I like a lot of different authors, huh?”

  “That’s an understatement.” Her taste in books was as eclectic as her taste in music. She loved everything from Stephen King to Charles Dickens, and from Mozart to Meat Loaf. Her movies ranged from Dirty Dancing to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Alien.

  She was, before, unpredictable and indescribably unique. Willing to try almost anything once, both in their vanilla and kinky lives.

  She stopped in front of a picture of the two of them with Doogie. “You said he’s okay?”

  “I decided to leave Doogie at my place. He’s still a puppy, but he’s a moose. I was afraid he might hurt you and didn’t want to distract you right now.”

  “He’s definitely a moose,” Thomas said. “I’ve met him.”

  She stared at the picture. “In case it distracted me from maybe remembering something about the attack.” She glanced at him.

  He nodded.

  Doogie was definitely a momma’s boy and missed her terribly. Any time Rob mentioned her name, Doogie’s ears perked up and he would run to the door, looking for his mom.

  After a couple of minutes, Laura sat on the sofa and looked around. She sat like that for a while before speaking. “I can’t remember any of it. Only what I already told you.”

  “That’s okay,” Thomas assured her. “If it comes back, it comes back.”

  “But you need me to testify.”

  “Believe me, we’ve got enough physical evidence, we can make a DNA conviction stick with no problem.”

  “If you find him.”

  “We will find him. There has to be someone out there who knows who he is. You put up a hard fight. He took a hurtin’.”

  “I didn’t fight hard enough, apparently.”

  Rob walked over and knelt in front of her, taking her hands in his. “You are not to blame here. I want you to stop thinking like that.”

  “But I let the guy in, didn’t I?”

  “Laura,” Thomas said, stepping closer, “we don’t know who he is. He might have been someone you know. He might have worn a disguise, like a pizza man. It doesn’t matter why you opened the door because he was here on a mission.”

  She took a deep, shuddering breath and let Rob help her to her feet. “Can you show me the rest of the place?” she asked.

  It broke his heart how she sounded. Tentative, afraid. Weary.

  Defeated.

  “Yeah, sweetie.”

  It took her half an hour to make her way through the entire three-bedroom condo. One bedroom was her office.

  He watched as she suppressed a shiver as she looked at the desk, and computer.

  “Something?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I saw this in a dream.”

  There was a third room, a spare bedroom where her brother or other friends or relatives stayed when visiting. Her bedroom had a master bath, and she spent several minutes in there going over the items on the counter and in the medicine cabinet.

  Before, she was a fairly plain dresser. Jeans, T-shirt or blouse, slacks, shorts. She wanted fast and functional, something she could wear around the shop. But she loved bright, wild nail polish.

  Rob watched as she examined the various bottles with names like Smokestack, Passion Flame, and Indigo Dreaming.

  “You said it was like having tattoos you could take off when you got bored with them,” he offered when she didn’t speak after several minutes.

  She looked shocked. “I have tattoos?”

  Rob laughed. “No, hon, you don’t,” he assured her.

  The nurses had removed her nail polish while she was in the coma, after her nails had been scraped for DNA evidence. When Laura rubbed at her fingers, Rob noticed she had switched her engagement ring to her right hand.

  Thomas caught his eye and slowly shook his head at Rob, his message clear. Don’t say anything.

  Rob took some comfort that Laura was still wearing it.

  Thomas stepped out to give them a few moments alone. Laura looked at the other items—men’s deodorant, shaving cream, an electric shaver, another toothbrush. Then she looked at Rob.

  “I stay here a lot,” he explained. “Depending on my shift. You’ve got a lot of stuff at the house, too. We go back and forth all the time.”

  Laura nodded. “That makes sense.” He followed her back to the living room.

  Det. Thomas looked at his watch. “I’m not trying to rush you, but maybe we should take her over to the shop.”

  When both men looked at her, she finally realized they were waiting for an answer. “What?”

  Rob stroked her hand. “We’re wondering if taking you to the shop will jog anything.”

  “Oh.” She looked dazed, confused.

  Overwhelmed.

  Just when he thought his heart couldn’t break any more, it did. He’d do anything, including taking her place, to fix this for her.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t fix it. All he could do was swallow back his own emotions and provide the strongest support he could for her.

  She nodded. “Okay. If you think that’s best.”

  * * * *

  Rob handed Thomas his car keys and asked him to take her out while he used the excuse of closing the blinds and turning off the lights. He also phoned Steve and told him they were coming, and asked him to warn everyone to not react to how she looked.

  “I’ll prepare the staff.”

  “Prepare yourself.” He watched Thoma
s helped Laura into the Explorer.

  “Yeah.” He hesitated. “Carol said she looks pretty bad.”

  “Not as bad as she did.” He yanked the blinds closed. “We’ll see you in a few.”

  Laura’s father had founded the dive shop over thirty years ago. Eight years prior, she bought him out and added bait and tackle. Its success grew, and she added on to the original building. She had four employees in the store, two boats, and a full-time captain who also ran fish and dive charters in addition to Steve Moss. Carol, who was a retired accountant, worked part-time and helped with bookkeeping duties.

  Everyone stood waiting outside in the parking lot when Rob and Thomas pulled up. Before Rob could get out, Steve had already stepped forward and opened her door.

  “How are you, Laura?” he practically screamed as he reached in to help her out.

  “I got beat up, Steve. I didn’t go deaf.” Rob and Thomas both froze as they watched the interaction. Laura’s eyes widened as stepped out and looked up at Steve. A smile lit both their faces. “I know you!” she squealed.

  Rob felt a twinge of envy that her first spontaneous recognition of someone wasn’t him, but Steve was over thirty years older than her and had been her father’s best friend.

  Laura began crying. “I know you.” She wrapped her arms around Steve and sobbed. “I know you!”

  Rob didn’t intervene. If she had a memory, he didn’t want to interrupt in case it stopped her from remembering more. Carol walked over to him and patted him on the back.

  “He’s like a dad to her,” she whispered in his ear. “It’s okay. Don’t take it personally.”

  He nodded but didn’t reply.

  * * * *

  Laura’s spirits rose at the revelation, then quickly plummeted again when she realized she didn’t recognize anyone else. When she walked into the store with Steve, closely shadowed by Rob and Det. Thomas, she remembered different items for sale and their functions.

  Steve quizzed her about basic diving safety rules and she answered them all correctly. He moved into some more advanced areas and they discovered her knowledge remained intact.

  “Well, it seems you’re all right on your diving. At least you can teach,” Steve laughed. He realized what he said and turned to Rob. “Sorry, son. It’s just—”

  “I know, Steve. It’s a mixed bag. It’s okay. I’m just glad she’s alive.”

  Thomas patted Rob on the shoulder. “Call me if she remembers anything about the attack. You’ve got my cell. I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the night—call me.”

  “I will.”

  Rob ordered them all Chinese take-out for lunch. They ate it at a table on the dock behind the shop. When Carol and Steve finished they excused themselves and left Rob alone with Laura.

  Laura’s nervousness had abated somewhat in the quasi-familiar setting. At the condo, she felt like she’d walked uninvited into a stranger’s home. Here, at least, she felt connected in some small way. She still knew her business, to a certain extent. And she knew Steve’s name and a lot of things about him, even though some of her memories of him still seemed murky.

  She’d caught herself looking at his hands for any signs of recent injury. Over the last few days in the hospital, any time a man came near her she looked at his hands, wondering who the attacker was. It could be anyone, including someone she knew well.

  What scared her even more than the possibility of never getting her memory back was the thought that her attacker might be someone she dealt with on a daily basis. If so, as long as her memory was gone she could be exposing herself to danger.

  Can I ever trust anyone again?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Laura felt more than useless as she watched Steve and Carol go through closing procedures at the store. When there was nothing left to do except lock up and set the alarm, she looked to Rob.

  “What now?”

  “I figured we’d go back to my place and pick up Doogie. I’m sure he’d love to see you. Then we’ll go back to your place. Bill can drive you to work in the morning. He’s flying in late tonight.”

  She nodded and remembered her thoughts. “I guess I’m a morning person, huh?”

  Steve, Carol, and Rob all looked at each other before breaking into laughter.

  “What?”

  “You hate mornings,” Rob said. “You’re so used to getting up early that your body pretty much goes on auto-pilot, but you are definitely not a morning person.”

  “You don’t get to the store until eleven on a lot of days,” Steve said. “You usually close up. The only mornings you work are weekends when you have to go out on dives with us.”

  Rob helped her back into his Explorer and they headed over to his house. It felt familiar driving there, but didn’t trigger any memories.

  He helped her out of the SUV and to the front door. “Let me go in first,” he said. “He’s going to need a walk. Carol’s husband came over and walked him, but he’ll be excited to see you.”

  He slipped in through the front door, shutting it behind him. She heard a dog’s happy barking and Rob’s voice.

  “Guess who’s home? Mommy’s home! That’s right—whoa, hold on. Hold still. Doogie—ow!”

  She’d started to reach for the door when he called out, “Okay, it’s safe.”

  Cautiously, she eased the door open and peeked through. Rob had a large black Lab at the end of a leash, and seemed to have trouble holding him back.

  “Are you sure they took stuff out when they neutered him?”

  He laughed. “We’ve been wondering that ourselves.”

  “What happened?”

  “He got me in the nuts.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  The dog whined, his club-like tail frantically swishing back and forth at light speed as he tried to gain traction on the tile floor to reach her.

  “Easy, Doog,” he said as he took another wrap of the leash around his hand. “Let me get him outside real fast and then bring him in. Go ahead and sit on the couch. We won’t be here long. I need to grab a couple of things.” He headed toward the front door after she’d cleared the way. “Come on, puppy. Let’s go.”

  She walked into the living room. It felt more familiar to her than her own condo.

  Like she belonged here.

  Rob said we spent a lot of time at each other’s places.

  Maybe that was the answer.

  On the shelves flanking his flat-screen TV were an assortment of pictures. Quite a few were of the two of them, or of her, or her and Doogie, or her and other people. And a lot of the pictures were duplicates of ones she had in her condo.

  She reached out and picked one up, the two of them walking along a beach near sunset. They’d been looking at each other.

  If that wasn’t love on both of their faces, she didn’t know what was.

  The front door opened. “Ready or not,” Rob called out, “here we come.”

  She put the picture back and made her way over to the couch as Rob walked in with him, apparently throwing his weight back to hold onto the dog.

  “Easy, Doog!” Rob let the dog approach.

  She reached out for his head, and he quickly settled down and laid his head in her lap while she stroked his velvety ears. His large brown eyes flicked from Rob to Laura, happy to be back where he belonged.

  “Labbybrat?” she asked.

  Rob laughed. “Yes, that’s what we call him. Sometimes he’s the—”

  Emotions and memories flowed through her, overwhelming. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes as the word came from somewhere. “Labbybratamooseasaurus.”

  * * * *

  Rob couldn’t help the bittersweet thought. But she can’t remember my pet name for her, or how I proposed to her. He nodded. “Yes. The moose.”

  She buried her face in the dog’s neck and breathed deeply. “He smells like oranges.”

  “The vet’s groomer bathed him.”

  For his part
, Doogie held perfectly still, just the very tip of his tail rapidly moving back and forth to indicate his pleasure.

  “You gave him to me for Christmas.”

  She wasn’t done, and Rob didn’t interrupt her. How close was she? “No. Not Christmas,” she corrected herself. “New Year’s. You gave me a box with a rubber toy and dog cookies in it on Christmas day.”

  He knelt next to her and touched her shoulder. “Yes.” He felt hope blossom inside him.

  “And a piece of newspaper…”

  She closed her eyes. It looked like it almost hurt her to think that hard, but maybe the memory was there, teasing her, resisting her efforts to pry it out of hiding.

  “The classified section. With a breeder’s ad circled in red ink.” She paused. “He wasn’t old enough to pick up on Christmas, and you wanted to make sure I wanted him. So on New Year’s Day, the litter was eight weeks old and you took me there and I picked him out.” She sat up in surprise. “He was the runt!”

  He laughed. “You felt sorry for him getting stomped by his brothers and sisters.”

  Doogie scooted closer to Laura and pushed his nose against her hand, wanting more attention. “He got into the bathroom garbage that first night,” Laura continued, “and I told him he was an oogie little doogie. And that’s how we named him.”

  She cradled the Lab’s head in her hands and looked into his eyes. “And you tried to hump the Edwards’ poodle, you little gigolo! That’s when I knew I needed to get you snipped!”

  * * * *

  With Doogie now settled, Rob let him off the leash and went to grab a uniform for the next day. While he was gone, Laura stroked the dog’s head. He was content to sit there staring into her eyes.

  “I wish you could fix all of my memory.”

  His tail continued swishing nonstop.

  A few minutes later, Rob was ready to go. “I have your phone, if you want it.” He handed it to her. “The cops went through it to see if there were any clues.”

  She stared at it. “Were there?”