A Man Worth Remembering

by Delores Fossen

  “Is it Philip?” she whispered.

  “Maybe. Don’t make a sound.”

  She hadn’t planned to do that, but it soon became apparent that if this was a would-be killer, then he or she was an inept one. The person made enough noise to wake the dead. There was a jangle of keys in the lock and a not-so mumbled string of profanity when the door didn’t open right away.

  “Get down, Toby,” the man yelled. Not an angry yell, exactly. He sounded more annoyed than anything. “Stop it. And don’t lick my face, for Christ’s sake. You got doggy breath.”

  “It’s Philip,” Gabe informed her. That realization, however, didn’t cause him to lower his gun.

  The door flew open, and the man walked in, still mumbling under his breath. He reached for the light switch but froze when he realized he wasn’t alone. “Holy freaking hell! What are you two trying to do—scare me to death?” Philip pressed a hand over his heart. “How about letting a guy know you’re in here before he comes walking in on you?”

  Leigh couldn’t manage to say anything, but Gabe greeted her brother. “Hello, Philip.”

  “Gabe.” As greetings went, it was rather frosty, but Gabe’s had been none too friendly either. “Well, I see you finally found her,” Philip commented. “Not that it surprises me. I knew it was just a matter of time.”

  Philip tossed his keys onto the table and aimed his attention at Leigh. Even though the room was dark, she could still see the concern on his face. “Ever hear of a telephone, sis? It’s an amazing invention that allows you to keep in touch with people who are worried sick about you.”

  Before Leigh could say anything, Philip put his arms around her and pulled her to him. “Now, start explaining,” he said in a much softer voice that Gabe probably couldn’t hear. “Just what are you doing here with Gabe? And I’m not talking about what you were doing immediately before I walked in. I can figure out that part. What I want to know is what you’re really doing here with him.”

  God, where should she start? This wasn’t a ten-second explanation. “We have to talk,” Leigh simply said. She reached around him and flicked on the light switch.

  “Yeah, well, that’s what I had in mind, too. A long talk where you do a lot of expla—” His eyes lifted toward the bandage on her head. “What the hell happened to you?”

  “It’s a long story.” She took a deep breath. “Gabe says you’re my brother.”

  Philip stared at her a moment and then made a yeah, right sound. She looked at Gabe, silently pleading with him to help with the explanation.

  He helped. Gabe spelled it out. “Leigh has amnesia. She doesn’t remember much about her life.”

  Her brother volleyed confused glances between Gabe and her. “Is this some kind of sick joke? Because if it is—”

  “It’s no joke,” she verified.

  “Hell.” Philip opened his mouth several times as if to add something to that. He finally leaned against the wall and blew out several quick breaths. “Is it temporary?”

  She shrugged. “Hopefully. I’ve started to remember a few things.”

  “But not me?” Philip tapped his chest. “Not your own brother?”

  “No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

  “But you remember Gabe—”

  “No,” Leigh interrupted. “I can recall bits and pieces, but I don’t remember much about anyone or anything.” She took a step closer. “Listen, Philip, how much do you know about what I’ve been doing for the last two years?”

  “A lot. You’re my sister, for Christ’s sake.”

  “Then maybe you can answer a few questions. Someone tied me up and tossed me in a lake near New Orleans, and I wondered if you knew anything about it.”

  His eyes widened significantly, and he cursed. “Someone tried to kill you?”

  “Yes. Any idea who might have wanted to do something like that to me?”

  “No, of course not.” Philip pushed his hand through his sandy-brown hair and made his way to the sofa so he could sit down. “Good God, are you all right?”

  “I’ve been better.” At least, she was pretty sure she had been.

  Gabe maneuvered her to the chair in front of Philip. “Did Leigh say anything about going to New Orleans?” he asked her brother.

  “No. When she came by the club in San Antonio where I work, she told me she had to take a trip, but she didn’t say where she was going.”

  Leigh jumped on that right away. “I was in San Antonio?”

  Philip nodded. “Of course. That’s where you live. You have a house there.”

  A house. She finally knew where she lived. Leigh wanted to ask him more, but there were more important things to discuss. “I don’t think I’m the only one in danger, Philip. I think you might be in danger, too.”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s to do with those computer searches someone’s making.”

  “You know about that?”

  “Sure. That’s all you’ve talked about lately. In fact, you said if you hadn’t come back from your trip in three days, I was to call Gabe. I planned to call him this morning.”

  So, she’d made contingency plans. That meant she had at least considered the possibility that something would go wrong. And it obviously had.

  It seemed as if Philip was about to say something else, but the phone rang. He got up from the sofa and checked the caller ID box. “I’ll take this call in the bedroom. Nothing critical. Just a friend. I won’t be long.”

  Leigh actually welcomed his departure. She wanted a few moments to regain her composure.

  “Are you okay?” Gabe asked. He pulled her into his arms.

  “Not really. I have a headache.”

  “Maybe coffee will help. Come on. I’ll make some.” He led her into the kitchen and had her sit at the table. Gabe had no sooner reached for the coffee-maker when she heard another car outside. He pulled back the curtain and glanced out the window. “We have company. Get your gun.”

  Her heart sank. The emotional upheaval of seeing her brother had already drained her, and Leigh now had to force herself to respond to yet another threat. She snatched her gun from the table and faced the door. Gabe did the same.

  “Did you see who it is?” Leigh asked. The dog started to bark again.

  “It’s a woman, I think. Philip’s friend, Jenny. Hopefully.”

  Yes, Leigh hoped that, too. For a moment anyway. But the hope soon vanished, and what felt like the onset of a panic attack followed. She had no idea what this sudden surge of emotions was all about, but she didn’t want Jenny to come through that door.

  “Something’s wrong,” Leigh mumbled.

  Gabe glanced at her. “Christ. You’re as pale as a ghost. Take a deep breath.”

  “It won’t help,” she managed to say. She felt her throat tighten. “Something’s wrong.”

  “Get in the bedroom with your brother. Now! I’ll be in there as soon as I’m finished here.”

  The front door flew open, and because there wasn’t time for her to get into the bedroom, Gabe pushed her behind him.

  “He stripped off his clothes again on the way over here,” the dark-haired woman called out.

  She backed through the door and held open the screen with her shoulder. From that angle, she couldn’t have possibly seen Leigh or Gabe. Nor did she immediately notice them. Leigh figured that’s because the woman had a squirming, nearly naked child in the crook of her arm, and her attention seemed focused on putting a shirt over the child’s head.

  “I swear, Philip, this kid definitely takes after you,” the woman continued. “Are you—”

  She turned toward them, her startled blue eyes going from Gabe to the gun he had aimed at her. She reacted quickly, and in a clatter of motion, she tried to swing the child behind her and open her purse.

  She wasn’t successful at either.

  “Who are you?” Gabe asked.

  “A friend of Philip’s. What have you done to him?” The woman’s frightened gaze moved from Gabe to Leigh, and she let out
a noisy breath of relief. “Thank God, Leigh, you’re here. I didn’t even see you back there. You scared me to death.”

  “Are you Jenny?” Gabe, again. Leigh couldn’t seem to make herself speak.

  The woman nodded. “And you’re Leigh’s husband, Gabe. I recognize you from some pictures she has at the house. I didn’t know you were coming back with her. I wish I had. I nearly wet my pants when I saw you here with that gun.”

  “Sorry.” Gabe lowered his weapon. “I didn’t know I’d be coming. Things just sort of happened that way.”

  The child began to squirm again, and Jenny placed him on the floor. He broke into a run around the coffee table and stopped right beside Leigh.

  “Hi,” he said with perfect clarity, and he moved his chubby fingers as if waving at her. With the exception of a diaper, the child was naked.

  He tilted his head, causing the loose, dark curls to bounce haphazardly. His wide green eyes held just a hint of mischief. That grin, however, held more than just a hint.

  “He’s a beautiful child,” Leigh said softly, wondering if this was her nephew. But Jenny probably didn’t hear her. The woman dropped onto the sofa and closed her eyes, undoubtedly recovering from the fright she’d just had.

  Leigh couldn’t resist touching those curls, but when she reached out, she remembered that she still held her gun. She quickly lowered it to her side and brushed her fingers through his hair.

  The boy pointed toward the bandage on Leigh’s head. “Ouchie. Boo-boo. Up, up.” He held out his arms for her to take him, and Leigh did, after she put her gun on the bookshelf. She could only guess that he knew her well to go to her so easily.

  “What’s your name?” she asked, wondering if he was even old enough to tell her.

  “Bitty bitty pider,” he chattered, repeating the syllables so that they ran together. He gave her a wet, noisy kiss on the cheek.

  The kiss made her smile. She didn’t know why, but it seemed to be the exact thing she needed. It felt…right.

  So incredibly right.

  Leigh pulled in her breath and stared at the boy’s face. Something was familiar. Something—

  “He wants you to sing ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider,’” Jenny clarified. The woman placed her purse and the child’s clothes on the coffee table. “It’s his latest obsession. He’s already had me sing it to him at least three dozen times this morning.”

  Leigh wasn’t sure she remembered the words to that particular song, but it didn’t matter. Philip came barreling into the room.

  Her brother gave each of them a wild-eyed glance before his attention settled on Jenny. “Did you tell them?”

  “Tell them what?” Jenny asked.

  “Tell them,” Philip emphasized. He gave a series of awkward nods.

  Jenny threw her hands up in the air. “I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about. I just got here and found Leigh and her husband. Why didn’t you tell me she was bringing him back with her?”

  “They don’t know, all right?” Philip practically shouted. “Leigh has amnesia.” And with that, he turned to her. “I didn’t want to tell you this way—”

  “Tell me what?” Leigh hated that look of fear she saw in his eyes.

  “Bitty bitty pider,” the child repeated. He caught onto Leigh’s cheeks with both hands and tried to force her to give him her attention. She would have if she hadn’t instinctively known that Philip was about to tell her something she needed to hear.

  “You honestly don’t have any memory of this?” Philip asked.

  “Of what? Just tell me what’s wrong.”

  Philip gulped in a huge chunk of air. “He’s your son.”

  It took several moments for those words to have any meaning whatsoever. It took even more time for Leigh to sort out that Philip had referred to the little boy in her arms. “My son. This is my son?”

  “Your son?” Gabe put his hands on his hips and gave her a scalding look. “What the devil’s going on here? You had a baby?” But he didn’t wait for her to answer. His gaze swept in Philip’s direction.

  “Your son,” Philip clarified. “Yours and Leigh’s.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Oh, God.

  Leigh didn’t have the energy to become hysterical. Nor the inclination. That probably had something to do with the child she held. Leigh felt only an odd sort of rightness. Something deeper and stronger than a memory. Love, definitely.

  Immediate, unconditional love.

  One glance at Gabe, however, and she knew he didn’t feel that sense of rightness. He looked well past furious, and he was no doubt about to aim all that fury at her.

  “Start explaining,” Gabe said through clenched teeth.

  She cleared her throat. “I take it you don’t know about this?”

  “No, and so help me, Leigh, you’d better have some answers. Is this my son?”

  But Leigh guessed he already had the answer, and it was a definite yes. The boy was a miniature version of Gabe. His hair, his coloring, the shape of his face. Her eyes, though, those green eyes were a genetic copy of her own. She didn’t know why she hadn’t noticed that when he first came through the door. Or maybe she had. Maybe that’s what all those odd feelings were about.

  “He’s your son.” Philip stepped between them. “His name is Houston Gabriel Sanchez.”

  “Houston,” Leigh repeated. She immediately thought of the message she’d left on Gabe’s answering machine. If something goes wrong, get to Philip in Houston. Except she probably hadn’t said in but rather and. She must have wanted Gabe to protect her brother and her son.

  Their son.

  A son she obviously hadn’t told him about.

  Oh, God.

  “All right, we have some volatile issues to discuss,” Philip started. “I want everyone to take a deep breath and calm down.”

  Following his uncle’s instructions, Houston took a loud, exaggerated breath and giggled. He gave Leigh another of those sloppy kisses, and despite the turmoil going on inside her, she returned it.

  “I don’t want to calm down,” Gabe informed Philip. “I want answers. Now, I know Leigh can’t remember why she’d mess me over this way, but you know why, Philip. Tell me why you two did this to me.”

  “I knew it!” Philip aimed a finger at his sister. “Leigh, I don’t know how many times I told you this would blow up in your face. And was I right? Obviously.” He fired his gaze back to Gabe. “You know how stubborn she can be. I begged her to tell you, and she wouldn’t.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Leigh asked, praying there was a reason she’d understand.

  “Because you didn’t think it was safe to come out of hiding. You made me swear not to tell him, or you said you’d disappear. Well, I swore to keep your secret and look where it got me, huh? Gabe is about ready to rip out my internal organs. And you know what, Leigh? I don’t blame him one little bit for wanting to do that.”

  That prompted another round of the song from Houston.

  Leigh suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Her son’s cheerful song certainly wasn’t congruent with what she’d just learned.

  Gabe looked ready to yell, but the child must have stopped him. Gabe’s mouth twitched. His eyes narrowed to slits. But still he didn’t yell. “Leigh told me the pregnancy was a false alarm,” he said to Philip.

  “That’s because the test at the hospital was negative. So, Leigh left thinking there was no baby. But she kept having these symptoms and finally went to another doctor. He confirmed that she was indeed pregnant.” Philip huffed. “But before you jump down my throat, Gabe, I didn’t know about any of this until almost a year later. Not until Leigh showed up here with Houston.”

  Gabe took one calculated step toward Philip. “And at that point you didn’t think to call me to let me know that I had a son?”

  “Of course I wanted to call you, but Leigh said she would just disappear again. And she could have, too. She was scared, Gabe. She said someone was trying to kill her.”

 
And that was still apparently true. However, Leigh didn’t care much for the way she’d handled this situation. Obviously, Gabe didn’t either.

  She looked at her son’s face. “I don’t remember anything about him. I don’t even know how old he is.”

  “Eighteen months,” Jenny provided. “He was born on Valentine’s Day.”

  That got Gabe looking in the other woman’s direction. “I take it you work for Leigh?”

  She nodded. “I guess you could say I’m a bodyguard-nanny. I was a cop for six years, and Leigh wanted someone who could protect her son if it came down to that.”

  So, according to Philip and Jenny, she’d been concerned about safety. Leigh had already known that, since she’d disguised herself, but it was a chilling reminder to realize she’d feared for Houston as well.

  Gabe glanced around the room, his gaze landing on her. For a moment. That razor-sharp glare dismissed her and moved back to Jenny. “Do you, Leigh and, uh, Houston all live here?”

  “No, we stay at the house in San Antonio.”

  “But your voice is on Philip’s answering machine,” he reminded her.

  “Leigh had me do that because of those computer inquiries about Philip and her. Just a precaution, she said.”

  Leigh glanced down at her son, but Houston had his attention solely on Gabe. She saw Gabe glance at the child several times.

  “Who?” Houston asked, pointing toward Gabe.

  No one said anything, but their attention all turned toward Leigh. “It’s Daddy,” she answered, the word sticking in her throat.

  It apparently stuck in Gabe’s throat as well because he didn’t utter a word. Houston did. “Da-dee. Da-dee,” he repeated and clapped his hands.

  Gabe motioned for her to get up. “We have to talk.

  Now. Let’s go outside.”

  “Here, I’ll take him,” Jenny offered, already holding out her hands for the child. Houston went right to her.

  “You want me to go with you, sis?” Philip asked, obviously concerned about Gabe’s mood.