by Curry, Edna
“Both, I think,” she said with a little smile. “I want you, you know I do, Mel. But what about tomorrow? I mean, if I find out I’m already married?”
“It’s a possibility,” Mel admitted. “Sheriff Ben wondered if you were a battered wife.”
Her stomach clenched. “Battered wife?”
He nodded. “It happens pretty often, he says.”
She looked at him and knew it was time to tell him. No matter what happened, she wanted him to know how she felt now. “I love you, Mel. Whatever happens when I get my memory back, remember that, will you?”
“I love you, too, Jane. I hope we can solve the mystery of your past, so we can have a future together.”
She swallowed and met his eyes. “Mel, I—I care about you, too, but I have no idea who or what my former life held. I can’t get involved with anyone until I know who I was and what my life was like. Can you understand that?”
“Perfectly. We’ll take one day at a time and deal with things as we meet them, okay?”
“Love me, Mel. Let’s make memories tonight, even if this is the oddest place to make them. Even if it’s our last time together.”
“Good idea. You’re so sweet.” He reached out and took her in his arms again and kissed her.
“Whatever happens, I love you.”
“I love you, too. No matter what we find, I know you’re a wonderful person. You could never be anything but that to me.” He unbuttoned her top, kissing each breast and perky nipple as he uncovered it. She shivered in pleasure and pushed his robe off to explore his bare skin.
His robe and then her pajamas disappeared onto the floor. He knelt in front of her and ran his tongue along her belly, then spread her legs and moved lower to tease her clit.
“Mel!” She grabbed his hair trying to pull him away, but he only tightened his grip on her legs. “Oh, my God, Mel!” she screamed and bucked in a glorious spasm.
He released her legs and slid inside her. She contracted tightly around him and met his thrusts faster and faster.
She couldn’t believe the hot spasms that had barely relaxed a bit could build again so fast. And again burst into stars as he shouted her name and joined her in release. Then he rolled to her side without leaving her body and pulled up the blanket, cuddling close.
~ * ~
When she awoke the next morning, she heard the shower running in the bathroom. She stretched, remembering the special, hot lovemaking they’d enjoyed last night, in spite of the small, too soft bed. But today was another day—the day they might succeed in discovering her identity. She knew they’d found enough clues to be close to the truth, now.
But would it mean the end of their relationship?
She couldn’t stop the images the sound of Mel’s shower brought to her mind. She closed her eyes, yet she could easily imagine him naked, water sluicing down his muscular chest, making his dark hair mat against the tanned skin. His long fingers holding the soapy washcloth and moving along his arms and down his long thighs. She wanted to join him, but if she did, they’d end up back in bed again.
Heat simmered along her veins and her mouth went dry. She opened her eyes and looked around the tiny motel room, but there wasn’t a drop of liquid in sight to slake her thirst. The only water was in the bathroom, with him.
She swallowed and moved her tongue around in her mouth, trying to start her salivary glands working. The sound of the shower stopped and she imagined him drying himself, which made heat rise to her face. He’d be coming out in a minute and she was still in bed.
She got up and grabbed her robe and slipped into it and found a fresh set of clothes to wear for the day.
A few minutes later he stepped out; she was half disappointed, yet relieved to see he was dressed.
He grinned at her and gave her a quick kiss. “Bathroom’s all yours, Sleepyhead.”
“I won’t be long.”
“Good, because I’m starving.”
She escaped into the bathroom. His eyes had said he was hungry for something besides food! She had to resist him even if she did love him.
But did she have a right to love anyone? If only she knew. Maybe today would give them some answers.
~ * ~
Jane felt Mel’s tension throughout breakfast. He said little and smiled less.
As they finished their coffee, she ventured to ask, “Where do you want to go first?”
“Where do you think we should go first?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. I thought you would have a suggestion.”
“How about just driving around the college and seeing if anything seems familiar? Then I think we should go to the college library and page through yearbooks looking for your picture.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They drove up the hill to the college campus and all around the area. Mel watched Jane out of the corner of his eye, hoping for some excitement, for some reaction.
He’d thought yesterday that he’d seen some flicker of recognition when he drove up to the unusual and spectacular chapel. The sunlight had sparkled off the many windows, and Jane had smiled in delight.
On second thought, he realized her exclamations of surprise and pleasure had been comments anyone might use on seeing the wonderful building, not of recognition.
They found the library and went inside. They got yearbooks from the librarian and settled down at a table to look at them.
After an hour of paging through book after book, Jane said with a sigh, “Mel, I don’t think this is going to work.”
“Yes, it is,” Mel said stubbornly. “Just keep looking.”
Three books later, he found her.
“Here you are,” he said, sliding the book over to her. “Cara Maddet. See?”
Jane’s face paled and she leaned over to look at the picture. “It does look a little like me, though the hair is shorter and permed,” she said doubtfully.
“It’s you,” he returned. “I’m sure it is. Your name is Cara. Doesn’t it sound familiar to you at all?”
“Well, yes, a little familiar, but it feels more like it’s the name of a friend that I can’t quite place, you know?”
“I guess so.” Mel said. She didn’t really seem pleased at the discovery. Or was she just feeling nervous and wary?
“So, now what do we do? Does it give my home address?”
“It should be listed here somewhere.” He paged through the book until he found her home address in the back of the book. “You lived in Edina. Chances are your folks either still live there, or someone there will be able to tell us where they live now.”
She shivered and her face was still very pale. “So, we just go drop in on these people and ask them if they know me?”
Mel put his arm around her. “Don’t worry. If they’re your family, chances are they’ll be thrilled to see you. They must be worried sick, not knowing where you are.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. If they were, why didn’t they report me missing? Why wasn’t Sheriff Ben able to find me on the FBI’s missing person’s list?”
He shrugged, looking away. He’d certainly wondered the same thing himself.
Jane said stubbornly, “Maybe they don’t love me. Maybe I don’t even have a family anymore.”
He hugged her close, and said comfortingly, “Well, at least we’ll know what your life was like before. Even if we don’t find your family, with your name, now Ben can find out where you were living through your driver’s license or passport, if you have one.”
“Actually, I can check their name and address right on the computer.” He moved to the library computer, logged onto a search site and typed in the name and address he’d found. “It’s still a valid address for them,” he said. He printed out a map and driving directions and they left.
Halfway back to the Twin Cities, they stopped for lunch at a small restaurant. He ate his sandwich, while she only picked at the chef’s salad she’d ordered. He reached across the table and covered her han
d with his.
“You need to eat something, Jane. I mean Cara.”
She glanced at him and gave him a wan smile. “Jane sounds more natural, Mel.”
“Are you that nervous about this?”
She nodded. “So nervous I’m sick to my stomach.” She pushed her plate away. “I can’t eat any more.”
“All right, then, let’s go.” He looked at the bill the waitress had left, tossed some money on the table and took her hand. “Come on, let’s get this over with. You’ll feel better after we eliminate the suspense.”
They followed the computer directions to an obviously affluent neighborhood in Edina. “There it is,” Mel said, turning into the blacktopped driveway of a large house with a neat yard edged in flowerbeds. He eyed Jane as she stared at it. He couldn’t read the expression on her face. “Anything look familiar?”
She shook her head and turned to look at him. Her wide green eyes had darkened to pools of fear.
“Hey, it’ll be all right,” he assured her. “If we don’t learn anything worthwhile, we’ll just go back home and continue as we were. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, you know.”
That brought a little smile to her pale face.
He came around and helped her out of the car and kept her hand in his as they walked to the front door and rang the bell.
Chapter 12
A trim, middle aged lady answered the door and stared at them, then smiled and held out her arms in welcome. “Cara, darling,” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe?”
Jane stared at her, not moving into her embrace as she obviously had expected.
“In Europe?” Mel and Jane answered together.
The lady dropped her arms and looked confused. She wore a turquoise pantsuit and put up a manicured hand to smooth her red hair back. Mel noticed the lady’s hair was almost the same shade as Jane’s.
“Yes, Cara,” the woman said. “You emailed that you were going to be traveling around Europe with some friends for the summer. Now you’re back already? Didn’t you like it over there? Come in, come in. Who is your friend?”
Jane seemed numb and speechless, so Mel decided to take charge.
He stepped inside, his arm around Jane, urging her forward as well. “I’m Mel Jonner. Are you Mrs. Maddet?”
“Yes, of course,” she said frowning over her shoulder as she led the way into a family room. She waved a hand at the cream colored leather sofa. “Do have a seat.”
She stepped toward Jane and enveloped her in a hug. “Cara, dear, what’s going on?”
Jane flushed and stiffly tolerated the hug, then pulled away and moved to the sofa, perching uncertainly on the front edge of the seat.
Mel sat next to Jane and said, “I’m afraid this may come as a shock to you, Mrs. Maddet. Your daughter was hurt and has amnesia.”
“Amnesia? Isn’t that where you lose your memory?” She stared at Cara and settled into a stuffed chair opposite them. “Are you all right, Cara?”
Jane nodded stiffly. “I feel fine now, Mrs. Maddet. But I don’t remember you or anything that happened before I regained consciousness in the river.”
“In the river? Mrs. Maddet? Oh, dear.” She paled and put her hand to her throat, the large diamond rings on her fingers flashing.
A young apron-clad woman appeared in the doorway. “Shall I bring tea or coffee, Ma’am?”
Mrs. Maddet turned to her, looking a bit confused, then nodded. “Coffee, please, Martha.”
Martha nodded and disappeared.
Mrs. Maddet turned back to them and asked, “Something happened in Europe? What river? What happened? When? Where?”
Jane shook her head. “Not in Europe. Just an hour north of here in the St. Croix River.”
“In the St. Croix River? What were you doing up there?”
Jane flushed and murmured, “I have no idea.”
Mel said, “Perhaps I’d better explain.” He gave Mrs. Maddet an abbreviated version of the events of the past several weeks, ending with how they’d found her home through tracing facts from the dream about a tornado and the college yearbook.
“So that’s how she came to be called Jane Doe,” he ended. “She had only the one outfit she was wearing, and no ID of any kind, or even any shoes. She can’t remember her past or how she got into the river, either.”
“Oh, my God!” Mrs. Maddet said. To her credit, she’d stayed quiet and heard him out, though she looked pale and incredulous, seeming hardly able to take it all in.
Martha appeared with a tray and set it on the coffee table between them, then withdrew, casting them a curious glance.
Lydia served them, looking distracted, as though she were going through the motions on auto-pilot. She seemed to think of something, and then asked in a horrified tone, “You didn’t report this to the police, did you?”
Mel stared at the woman. How could he not have reported something like that? What kind of woman was she, anyway? “Of course I called 9-1-1 and reported it as soon as I saw her fall into the river,” he replied trying to keep his shock at her question out of his voice, but not succeeding.
Seeing her horrified expression, he bit out, “How else could we have launched a search and rescue to try to save her?”
Mrs. Maddet flushed and explained, “The papers will have a field day of gossiping about this for months, once they realize who she is. I mean that she’s a Maddet family member. They always do, when someone rich is involved in any kind of situation they can turn into a scandal.”
“Perhaps that’s true. But would you rather your daughter had been left to drown, without us trying to find her?”
“No, of course not.” She flushed and reached out a comforting hand to Cara. “Oh, darling, Of course I didn’t mean that! But you know how it’s always been with our family. The gossip columnists look for any excuse to harass us.”
“No, I’m afraid I don’t know, Mrs. Maddet.” Jane looked embarrassed and confused.
But as she heard the panic in her mother’s voice and stared at her mother’s upset face, she saw another time, another place.
She was in a dark, stuffy upstairs bedroom. Her sister sat on the bed beside her, crying. A woman wearing a nylon over her face told her to shush, and a man in the same disguise was talking on the telephone. He demanded money in small bills in a threatening voice, and then handed the phone to her. “Say hello to your mother,” he commanded.
Her mother’s panicked voice on the telephone asked, “Are you girls all right, Cara?”
“Mama! Come get us!” She’d begun to cry and the man grabbed the phone away. “No police or you’ll never see them again,” he barked and hung up.
Now Jane stared at her mother. “You don’t want the police involved because we were kidnapped when we were little,” she whispered.
Mel stared at her. “You remember that?”
She nodded and her mother looked pleased. “I’m so glad you remembered something. But that was such an awful time. We were so lucky that the kidnappers did take the money and let you go.”
Jane nodded. “They left us all alone. When we realized they were gone, we dared to phone you and the police traced the call to find us.”
Mrs. Maddet nodded. “You girls were so brave. Then you do remember me now?” she said, her voice hopeful.
Jane shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just remembered being in that house and talking to you on the phone. I don’t remember anything else. I seem to remember things in bits and pieces.”
Mel put his arm around Jane in a protective gesture. “She doesn’t remember the past,” he reminded Mrs. Maddet.
“Yes,” Lydia murmured. “I keep forgetting that. I mean, it’s so hard to believe.”
“I’m sorry,” Jane said quietly. “Sometimes little things come back to me, but most of my past is still blank.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Cara. It’s not your fault. I—I just need a bit of time to adjust to the idea. I’ll call our lawye
r and we’ll worry about damage control of the newspaper coverage later.”
Mel and Jane looked at each other. Mel was amazed at her attitude. Did she really care more about the family reputation than her daughter’s safety?
“Our family is someone the newspapers would be interested in writing about?” Jane asked.
Her mother nodded. “They love anything they can find about us to gossip about,” she said, bitterness coloring her voice. “Your father held several important local offices, and I’m involved in various charity functions. Tearing people down seems to be what our local columnists do best. They dearly love scandals of any kind. Apparently it sells lots of newspapers.”
“I see.” Jane could see now why Lydia wanted to keep things private. “I don’t want to cause anyone any trouble.”
“Don’t worry, Cara. We can handle it. I’m sure when you get your memory back, you’ll give us a good explanation for whatever happened to you.”
“I hope so,” Jane murmured, avoiding her mother’s eyes. She doubted Lydia was going to like the only explanation that made sense to her—that a lover wanted to get rid of her and had intended her to die in that river. She shuddered at the thought of trying to explain that to this polished and sophisticated woman. She pulled her mind back to what Lydia was saying.
“In the meantime, we’ll get you the best of care, Cara. I’m sure there are doctors who can help you regain your memory.”
Mel watched the older lady. She seemed confused, but genuinely concerned about Cara and unsure how to help or proceed. Obviously, she accepted Jane as her daughter, Cara, so he was sure they had found Jane’s true identity.
He wished he’d talked to Sheriff Ben more about this, to know how to proceed and what he needed to know or do now, if anything.
Uncomfortably, he shifted position on the sofa. “Mrs. Maddet, we still have no idea who pushed your daughter into the river. Remember that if someone tried to kill her once, they may try again.”
