In such a scenario, everything that had happened last night…had happened before. That would explain why Jack Maddox seemed so familiar to her.
Claudia didn’t necessarily buy into that premise, but no matter how he came by the ability, she didn’t see how any of this could be random. Jack Maddox had shown up here for a reason, and she would do well to swallow everything he told her with a healthy dose of skepticism. He’d almost had her convinced last night that he was, in fact, her savior, but now in the cold light of day, she realized how foolish she would be to accept his word at face value.
Something was definitely going on. She hadn’t figured it out yet, but whatever his motive, she had to believe she’d been better off before he came into her life and she would be better off still when he left. The last thing she wanted was to be pulled back into the nightmare she’d fled from in Chicago.
Unlocking the door, she peeked out and saw that he was still sleeping. He lay on the floor in front of the fireplace, facing the front door, and at the moment, he seemed dead to the world.
Some guardian, Claudia scoffed as she retreated back into the bedroom and snatched clean clothes from her closet. Then she headed for the bathroom where she locked herself in again and had a nice, long shower. By the time she finally came out, she expected to find him up and about, but he hadn’t moved a muscle since she’d checked on him earlier.
Tiptoeing past him, she hurried out to the small laundry room and retrieved his clothes from the dryer, including the canvas shoes. Folding everything into a neat pile, she carried them into the house and carefully placed the stack on the floor beside him.
As she bent over him, she took a daylight appraisal. He still looked young, late twenties at the most, and in such deep repose, utterly devastating. What was it about him that tugged at her heart so?
He had several tiny round bruises on the right side of his neck. Some of them had faded to yellow, but one was still a fresh, prominent purple. Claudia leaned in to get a better look, but when he stirred and rolled onto his back, she scampered away like a frightened squirrel.
When he finally opened his eyes a few moments later and sat up, she was in the kitchen, nonchalantly making coffee. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that he didn’t look around to get his bearings as one might do when waking up in a strange place. Instead, his gaze fastened like a laser on her.
Such an intense focus made her clumsy and she ended up spilling coffee grounds all over the counter. “Damn.”
He started to get up, seemed to remember that he didn’t have any clothes on and pulled the blanket around him.
“Your clothes are dry,” she said as she nodded toward the stack on the floor. “If you want to get cleaned up, I left fresh towels and a spare toothbrush in the bathroom. Just help yourself.”
“Thank you.”
Claudia turned back to the coffeemaker as he got to his feet, but she couldn’t help sneaking another quick peek from the corner of her eye.
Give the man some privacy, for goodness sakes!
Not that she could see much with that blanket wrapped around him anyway. And besides, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t already seen the whole package, so to speak. No wonder there was a strong sense of familiarity about him. Nothing about him had been left to her imagination.
That wasn’t his fault, of course. She was the one who’d partially stripped off his wet clothing the night before.
Enough!
Just stop thinking about it, she chided herself. All this excitement and drama over a naked man. She really had been alone too long.
Her one-track mind was so annoying, especially considering there were many more important things to focus on. Like who might have sent him and why. Like how quickly she could get him out of her house.
But…first things first. Food and coffee and then she’d kick him out.
BY THE TIME HE EMERGED from the bathroom, showered and dressed, Claudia had breakfast ready. “Hungry?”
A slight hesitation. “Yes.”
“I didn’t know what you’d want so I made a little of everything. Bacon and eggs, toast, coffee…”
“Thank you.”
So unfailingly polite.
She nodded toward the small table by the window. “Have a seat. I’ll bring you a plate.”
“I can…serve myself,” he said, and that curious pause made her wonder about him all over again.
Who are you? Where did you come from and why are you here?
And what am I going to do about you?
When she set a heaping plate in front of him, he waited until she was seated before he picked up his fork. He ate with a kind of studied restraint that suggested his first inclination was to devour the food before it could be taken away from him. At one point, he even curled an arm around his plate, as if guarding it from a hungry interloper, but then he seemed to catch himself and from that moment on, ate with impeccable manners.
Claudia tried to follow suit, but she couldn’t seem to stop staring at him. Now that her initial fear had abated, she found him endlessly absorbing. Everything about him was just so curious.
And he really was gorgeous. Not that looks mattered all that much to her. Some of the friends and colleagues she’d admired most back in Chicago were quite ordinary in appearance, but Claudia had found them no less interesting or desirable. Intelligence and a strong sense of self worth had always been primary attractors for her, but she was only human, after all. And she’d been on her own for a very long time. She wondered how much her loneliness contributed to her current fascination with the stranger.
To be fair, though, the situation was truly bizarre. Neither her solitude nor her imagination had conjured up the intriguing enigma that called himself Jack Maddox.
“You never asked how it was that you came to be here,” she said as she reached for her orange juice.
“You brought me here.”
“Yes, but don’t you want to know why?”
He stopped eating and glanced up.
When their eyes met, she quickly glanced away. “Do you remember what happened out there on the road?”
He seemed to reflect on the question for a moment. “I saw your headlights.”
“Yes, and then you somehow ended up in the middle of the road right in front of my car.” She took a sip of the juice. “I may have even hit you.”
“You didn’t hit me.”
“Then why did you collapse in front of my vehicle? You were pretty out of it when I brought you here.”
“I—”
He didn’t finish his thought and Claudia glanced over with a prompt, “Yes?”
Something in his eyes sent a shockwave through her nervous system. For a split second, he looked as frightened and panicked as a deer trapped in a headlight. Then he caught himself and shook it off.
But Claudia had seen that look of abject horror on his face. She’d witnessed something in his eyes that she was almost certain he’d never meant to reveal.
My God, she thought on a breath. What had been done to him?
Images of Dr. Lasher’s mutilated body floated up through the dark layers of her memory, and she had to swallow hard to keep from revealing her own inner terror.
“Did…someone hurt you?” she asked tentatively.
He glanced down at his plate. “I’m not hurt.”
That didn’t answer the question. “But you are,” she insisted. “You have amnesia. Even if my car didn’t hit you, it’s possible you struck your head when you fell. You need to see a doctor.”
“No doctor!” He jumped to his feet so quickly, the chair toppled over with a crash.
His vehemence startled Claudia. It was the first time he’d raised his voice and fear rocketed through her veins. His outburst was a graphic reminder that she could be dealing with someone whose mental state was precarious at best. Extreme caution was definitely warranted.
She was suddenly very glad for the comforting weight of the revolver in her sweater pocket. Her fingers it
ched to close around the grip, but she remained still as she stared up at him.
Then she said as calmly as she could, “I understand how you feel. I don’t like doctors, either. Can’t stand them, in fact. All that poking and prodding…” She gave a little shudder. “Sometimes they’re a necessary evil, though, and this may be one of those times. We really do need to get you checked out.”
When he started to protest, she said quickly, “It’ll be all right. We’ll just go and get it over with. I would have taken you last night, but a tree fell across the road and it was too large for me to move by myself. That’s why I brought you here. But the road’s probably been cleared by now, so after breakfast, we should head into town.”
“I don’t need a doctor. I’m not injured.” At least he sounded calmer now. He picked up the chair and sat back down at the table. After a moment, he resumed eating as if his previous eruption had never happened. He glanced over at her. “I’m sorry.”
“No harm done.” Claudia shrugged, but her heart was still thumping against her chest. She wasn’t sure how to proceed. Obviously, he had a thing about doctors. Okay, fine. But he couldn’t stay here. She had to somehow get that point across without setting him off again.
“Please don’t be afraid,” he said.
It was hard to stay agitated when he looked at her that way. So concerned. So innocent. So…genuinely earnest.
Who was this guy?
Claudia mustered a smile. “Look…I appreciate your situation. I do. But you have to see a doctor. Amnesia doesn’t just happen out of the blue. You may have a head injury and I’m not…equipped to handle any of this.” Although there was such a thing as hysterical amnesia and he’d certainly seemed agitated a moment ago.
But, whatever, she wasn’t equipped to handle a mental breakdown, either. She would leave his diagnosis to the professionals. Right now, she needed be done with this whole uncomfortable situation. The longer he stayed, the easier it was to get drawn into his back story, whatever that was.
As if reading her thoughts, his hand crept to the side of his neck where Claudia had spotted the series of bruises earlier.
She watched him for a moment, telling herself not to ask but finding she couldn’t resist. “Does your neck hurt?”
“Hurt? No…”
“Is it sore?”
He shook his head.
She bit her lip, wondering how far she should push it. “I saw the bruises on your neck. Is that where they stuck the needles in?”
“Needles…?”
“You said last night that the needles hurt. I assume you meant from injections. It’s possible you’re on some sort of medication.” Another thought struck her. “Or you may have been drugged. That could explain the amnesia, and it’s all the more reason why we have to get you to a doctor.”
He looked on the verge of arguing with her again, then he subsided with a brief nod. “If that’s what you want…Claudia.”
But the look he gave her was vaguely reproachful, as if he knew she planned to abandon him as soon as they got into town.
Well, so what? she thought defensively. What did he expect from her?
“It’s for the best,” she said, refusing to feel guilty about her decision.
She also refused to meet his gaze for the rest of the meal.
Chapter Twelve
After breakfast, Jack asked if he could take a walk before they headed into town. Claudia was a little suspicious but didn’t see how she could forbid him from going outside. And, anyway, even if he did take off, would that be so bad? Wasn’t the plan to have someone else take him off her hands as quickly as possible?
While his disappearance might solve her immediate problem, she still had the big picture to consider. Chances were good the mysterious organization that had ordered the hit on Dr. Lasher was still gunning for her. She’d seen the killer and she’d also been privy to a good deal of her mentor’s research, although not as much as the bad guys might think. Still, as far as they were concerned, she was a loose cannon and would probably remain a hunted woman for the rest of her life. Getting rid of Jack Maddox wasn’t going to change that.
What if he really had been sent to protect her? Maybe something had happened along the way to cause him to lose his memory. In which case, Claudia would be a fool to send him away.
On the other hand, he could be one of the bad guys and for whatever reason, was playing her until the time came to kill her.
Good guy, bad guy. Guardian, killer.
Mental patient.
Which was he?
She put a hand to her forehead. All the back and forth emotions were eating away at her confidence, and that was the last thing she needed—to doubt her own instincts. The only safe course of action was to follow through with her initial plan. Take him into town and make him someone else’s problem.
Besides, Jack Maddox as protector made about as much sense this morning as it had last night. How could he have been sent here to guard her when no one knew where she was? Her parents were dead, she had no siblings and she’d cut off all ties with friends and colleagues. Not even the police knew where she’d fled to.
Claudia supposed he could have used his precognitive abilities—if he truly had them—to track her down, but the question remained as to how he’d even known about her. The logical—and far more disturbing—explanation was that he had some connection to Dr. Lasher and his research. And that brought her straight back to the men who wanted her dead. Was he one of them?
By this time, her nerves were so tautly strung, she felt as if she might fly into a million pieces as she watched him from the window. He stood at the bottom of the porch steps with his back to the cabin, head cocked and tilted skyward, as if listening intently for some distant sound or signal.
Claudia thought of the voice inside her head the night before and shuddered.
Did he hear that same, silent command? Was he trying to communicate with someone?
That notion was not at all comforting and Claudia quickly scanned the countryside. Like creeping paranoia, a layer of fog slid down from the hills, providing excellent ground cover for whatever predators might lie in wait.
So acute was her sense of dread at that moment, her breath quickened and a cold chill descended over her. She swallowed hard and forced herself to draw a few relaxing breaths as she turned away from the window.
Stay calm. Just think this thing through.
She’d eluded Dr. Lasher’s killers for two whole years because, even in her darkest hours, she’d managed to keep a clear head. Panic was her enemy. It could make her careless and irrational. Right now, her greatest ally was a calm resolve. That, and the revolver in her sweater pocket. A little information wouldn’t hurt, either.
Maybe instead of pondering endlessly on the situation, she should get proactive, do a little research. And there was no better place to start digging than the Internet.
After she logged on, she checked her e-mail to see if there were any client emergencies. Even in the face of her current predicament, she took her job very seriously because it was her only means of support. To stay hidden, one needed a steady source of cash. She had savings, but those funds would quickly get eaten up if her income was cut off.
Satisfied there were no crashed servers or hacked e-mail accounts to deal with, she went to her favorite news site and scanned the local headlines for any mention of an accident the previous night. She searched for anything that might give her a clue as to where Jack Maddox had come from and where he’d been going when he ran out in front of her car.
She found nothing. No accident. No escaped mental patient or convict. Nothing. Even a Google search of his name proved fruitless.
Claudia stared at the screen for a moment, then typed in Coronet Blue, the phrase he’d mentioned the night before. When she hit the search button, the number of links that came up surprised her. Clicking on the first link, she anxiously skimmed the page. Then she scrolled to the top and read the content more thoroughly. Aft
erward, she sat back and stared at the screen some more.
At least one question about Jack Maddox had been answered. Claudia now knew the significance of Coronet Blue.
It was beginning to seem as if the man really did suffer from a mental disorder. Delusions of grandeur, perhaps.
Delusions of some sort, for sure.
Chapter Thirteen
The fog rolling down from the higher elevations was cold and damp, but despite his lightweight clothing, Jack barely noticed the chill. He tilted his head skyward and closed his eyes as the mist settled like gossamer over his face. The morning was so still and silent, he could hear the slight rustle of leaves as a hawk took flight from a treetop.
So this was freedom.
He drew a deep breath. Clean. So clean. He wanted to drink it in forever.
The moisture on his face was cold and bracing, and he held out a hand to collect water droplets in his palm. He had no memory of mist and yet he knew what it was.
Tilting his head, he listened to the babble of a nearby brook. He couldn’t remember ever having waded in a mountain stream, and yet he knew the sound of trickling water over rock, knew the icy nip against his bare feet.
What did he remember?
His hands clamped around metal bars. The sting of the needles in his neck. The voice of his tormenter goading him.
“You should be grateful for everything I’ve done for you. I raised you as my own, gave you the opportunity for greatness, and what do I get in return?”
Jack pressed his fingertips to his suddenly throbbing temples.
“Because of me, your abilities have been maximized to the fullest.”
“But I just want to be normal.”
“Normal! Don’t you understand? You’ll never be normal. There’s no going back. You’ve become a member of a very elite group. You’ve been given an extraordinary opportunity and for that you repay me with betrayal. Well, we’ll see how you like it at the Facility. No one has ever escaped from there…”
Magnum Force Man Page 5
