Escaping Memories

by Amanda Siegrist

  "About what?"

  "I get why you're a bit uptight lately. Worrying about Doni and all. Makes sense. I'm letting your little attitude slide for the moment. Bolt's, however, not gonna let slide. He's acting a little too arrogant for my tastes. Do you know he's already been out in the woods again this morning taking another look around? He states with the utmost certainty he missed absolutely nothing. And if there's a shred of evidence, he'll be the one to find it since he found that hidey-hole. He swears he can find more evidence to bring down the bastard who took her. I don't like it."

  He took another sip of coffee while he sat there pondering how to respond. "Am I missing something, Charlotte? I'm okay with him being persistent. He did find where Doni was held."

  "I'm not an idiot. Don't you trust people around here?" she demanded.

  "You lost me."

  "You locked your door yesterday. I needed to get a file from your office and I couldn't get in. You never do that. Bolt's acting funny. Do you suspect him of something? Because, honestly, I'm not really liking his attitude lately. It's suspicious. You and Derek searched that woods like nobody's business, and out of nowhere, he magically finds that little hidey-hole. Now he's out there searching again with a fine-tooth comb. I swear, if he comes back with so much as a teeny-tiny, micro-spec of evidence, I'm going to consider him guilty."

  He closed his eyes as he ran a tired hand over his face, breathing in a bout of strength and patience. He didn't leave the house tired this morning. In fact, he left today feeling much better than the day before. Especially after last night. He had loved Doni several times, showing his apology first, then how much she meant to him. Right before he got up to shower, she decided to show him how she felt. Why couldn't the morning continue in such beautiful bliss?

  "I'll be honest here, Charlotte. I don't know why I locked my door. I just felt the need. Right now, I'm taking Bolt's enthusiasm as a good thing. I can say I don't trust the people in this town, but if I can't trust the people I work with, well, we're in a shitload of trouble."

  "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you," she said, shooting him a stare that would get any other man to drop to his knees in pain. Logan didn't even bat an eye.

  "Thank you for the warning, Char-Char."

  "Don't get that attitude. I just might make you prepare the coffee in the mornings. And we both know how much you like my coffee," she said, nodding her head as if he should agree.

  "Now that we had that wonderful talk. I do need you to do something for me. Since you're such a wiz on the computer and all."

  "Oh, now you're trying to sweet talk me. Such a typical man. Back and forth."

  "I can't have your illusions falling short on how us men behave," Logan said with a wink.

  "Cut your crap. What do you want?"

  "I need you to get me the contact information for the FBI. I'm calling in for help," Logan said, as he started to organize his desk from the clutter he let pile up in the two short days of work.

  "Excuse me? Can you run that by me again?" she asked, shocked.

  He glanced up with no expression for her to decipher. "I need the contact information for the FBI."

  "The FBI?"

  "Yes, Charlotte. The F. B. I. You know the federal agency that swoops in when local law enforcement can't handle it anymore on their own and need some assistance," he replied, hating to admit he needed the help. But he refused to worry about his pride. The only worry he had room for was Doni and her well-being. Kat had been right last night. He needed to ask for help. He didn't think she meant to this extreme, but what the hell. With more resources at their disposal, the likelihood of identifying Doni became larger. That's all that mattered. She needed this.

  "I can't believe you want to call in the Feds. You got this. You're almost there."

  "Almost where? We have shit to go on, Charlotte. I have no suspects unless you want to count Wayne, who hasn't been documented anywhere in the last two years. Or how about Evan, who happens to be my brother's best friend, and I've known the damn kid almost my entire life considering he was at our house more than his own home. Or, yeah, his dad, who still thinks his wife is around and can't wait to tell her every little thing I did while on his property. It's not going to hurt to have some outside help. Doni needs it. This isn't for me. This is for her."

  She stood there a moment, wanting to huff and puff a bit more on the insane notion he wanted the FBI's help. In the end, she decided to give him a nasty look of disgust. "Well, don't expect me to welcome them with open arms. I'll be half-cordial, and only, for Doni's sake." Without another word, she turned around, slamming the door on her way out.

  "Oh, boy, what a great day this is going to be," Logan muttered as he heard his phone ring with a piercing annoyance. He threw an exasperated look at the phone, catching Brittany's file out of the corner of his eye. Ten years old. Already gone. He blew out all of his frustrations with one heavy breath, telling himself, life wasn't so bad. He picked up the phone.

  ***

  Tampa, Florida

  FBI Field Office

  Violent Crimes/Trafficking Division

  9:38 AM

  He sat munching on his cold, day old fries, eyeing the crime scene photos that were scattered across his desk. He popped another fry into his mouth when a long shadow covered his mess he liked to call home these days.

  "You are the only person I know who can eat and look at grotesquely, horrifying pictures at the same time and not throw up," Agent Deke Sumnter said. He stood directly in front of the tall lamp that gave off just enough light to help him see everything splattered around his desk.

  "Can you move, please? I can't see my grotesquely, horrifying pictures when you're standing in the way."

  "No, I can't move. How about you act like a normal person for once, open the damn blinds and let some light in. Or better yet, turn on the actual office light. I know it's been a rough three months. And you have every right to act the way you do, but you're starting to turn to the dark side and it's a bit concerning, Danny."

  Agent Daniel O'Rourke looked up finally at his partner of five years, friend for ten, and waved a hand in his face. "Move, Deke, I can't see."

  "Alright, moving this conversation along. A call came in to Quantico—"

  "Good for Quantico. We're in Florida."

  "Knock it off. Just listen for once. A call came in to Quantico from a small town I've never heard of. Lucky, Minnesota. The sheriff found a woman in the woods, injured, lost, and absolutely no memory of who she is, what happened, nothing, nada. He's asking for assistance."

  Danny shoved another fry into his mouth, chewing loudly just to piss off Deke. "Don't care. We have plenty of cases we need to solve right here, right in front of me. It'd be great if I could see to continue my work."

  The shadow moved away as did the pesky footsteps. Danny almost smiled, something he hadn't done in the past three months, until a bright light illuminated the room, making him cringe and close his eyes. "What the hell! Do you mind, Deke?"

  "The only reason I know this is because Laurel, you remember Laurel? Tall blonde with to-die-for legs and tight little ass we always enjoyed gawking at. Well, never mind, that's besides the point. This request came across Laurel's desk and she immediately called me with the information. She has a damn good memory. I mean, we haven't been to Quantico in how many years. Very good memory."

  Danny opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light that he wanted off with a passion. He couldn’t stand the light. It made him see how pathetic he was, how much of a failure he turned into. He needed the light off. "Turn the damn light off!"

  "No, you need to get used to the light. You need to snap out of it. You need to put back on the Danny face I once knew. You need to start acting like an FBI agent instead of a dead man walking."

  "And what, pray tell, do I need to do all of this for?"

  "Because we are flying to Lucky, Minnesota to help out the local sheriff."

  "Get out. I'm not flying
anywhere. I'm busy trying to solve this serial case sitting in front of me. Butchered women. Gotta get this serial killer off the streets," Danny said, waving his hand around the desk, grabbing another fry as his hand hovered near that area.

  "I thought I could talk you into it, nicely, of course. I see you're going to make me do this the hard way. With shock value." Deke grabbed the folder that he had tucked underneath his arm, opening it slowly, and went to lay a photo over all the other photos littering his desk. "Here's the woman the sheriff found."

  Danny's hands started to shake as his eyes zoomed onto the photo. His brain couldn't understand or decipher what his eyes were seeing. A pale face, bruises, scratches, and the most forlorn look he could ever imagine stared him down. His hand reached for the photo.

  "Aubrey."

  ***

  Lucky, Minnesota

  Logan's house ~ Outside on the porch

  3:45 PM

  Doni felt the cool breeze sweep through her hair as she watched a rabbit scamper across the yard. Her lips curled up in delight as she watched nature in its finest. How could you not appreciate the simple things in life? Just sitting here enjoying the quiet afternoon made her think back to the cabin and those days her and Logan sat outside enjoying nature. A memory. A memory she would never forget.

  Her thoughts turned darker with the knowledge that she had so few memories. She needed to start remembering. She didn't like seeing the stress, the worry cross over Logan's features as it had the night before. She understood his reasoning for apologizing, but it hadn't been necessary. She's the one who should be sorry. If she remembered what happened, he wouldn't be having such a difficult time. Perhaps she would be able to point him directly to the perpetrator.

  If only she could remember. And not freak out in a manner that made him think she would harm herself. That had been an accident. Nothing but a dumb accident that she would never repeat again. Ever. One minute she was staring at her face so intently into the mirror, and the next minute, she was slamming her fist into her reflection. She just wanted to remember.

  She smiled again as the rabbit came shooting across the yard in the opposite direction. She had no idea what the rabbit found so entertaining, but she could see the enjoyment the rabbit had with each hop it displayed. The rabbit seemed rather small, in her opinion, not that she knew the average size of a rabbit. But it didn't look like its small stature was holding the rabbit back from doing what it wanted to do. So why in the world was she sitting here holding back? She had no memories. She should be doing something about that.

  She stood up with a renewed sense of direction, a fresh outlook on where to proceed. She needed to talk to Logan. She already knew he wouldn't like what she had to say.

  ***

  Lucky, Minnesota

  Sheriff's Office

  3:48 PM

  Charlotte looked up from her computer when the door opened. A chill swept in with the two gentlemen in dark suits, making her cringe that colder weather was upon them, and the last people on earth she wanted to deal with.

  "I'd ask how can I help you, but I can guess just by the doom and gloom outfits and slicked back hair why you're here," Charlotte said without remorse. She still couldn't believe Logan made the call to the FBI. He didn't need the help. She didn't want these outsiders in her town.

  Deke had an urge to touch his hair at the comment, but refrained as he and Danny walked to the counter. As his hand rested on the counter, his black hair, a bit on the longer side, took that moment to slide down the side and hang over his forehead. Just seeing the fire in this woman's eyes had him combing it back in one smooth move.

  "We would like to speak to the sheriff," Danny said, ignoring the byplay between the two.

  "Let me see some badges first. Just because you look like FBI, talk like FBI, and smell like FBI, doesn't mean I'm just going to believe you are with the FBI," Charlotte said with a sweet smile.

  "And just exactly how does the FBI smell like?" Deke asked curiously, leaning closer to her.

  She sniffed once, cringing after the fact. "Like that."

  Her head snapped to Danny, who smacked his badge on the counter. "I want to speak to the sheriff."

  She grabbed his badge, glancing it over with the eyes of a hawk. The entire time she did that, her other hand extended towards Deke waiting for him to offer his badge as well. Satisfied, but still irritated, she wrote their badge numbers down on her notepad. "Just in case you do something worth reporting. I won't need to ask. I can just call your supervisor like that." She snapped her fingers with a flick of her wrist and laid their badges on the counter for the taking.

  "I'll have you know, you called us, not the other way around," Deke said with a charming smirk.

  "Correction, Agent…Sumnter, was it? The sheriff called you. I would never do such a thing," Charlotte said, raising a brow with disgust.

  "Again. I would like to speak with the sheriff," Danny said, his patience close to spilling out in rage.

  "Well, if you will—"

  Just then, cutting Charlotte off, Seth barreled through the doors with a harried expression. "Where's Logan? I need to talk to him."

  "He's busy," Charlotte said, pointing to Seth to take himself back outside.

  "His office, then. Thanks, Char-Char," Seth said with a wink to further irritate her and continued down the hallway as she hollered at him.

  "Seth, you get back here." She stood up with her fists clenched and the anger quite visible. She looked at the two men still waiting for the sheriff with an evil eye. To her surprise and irritation, the light brown haired guy looked back at her with an evil eye as well, his anger and irritation pouring out in huge waves. The other one, Agent Sumnter, just gave her a sultry smile with a raised brow in mockery. "Don't move. I will go get the sheriff."

  Seth didn't bother to knock and whipped open Logan's door, breathing a sigh of relief when his brother stood up from his desk with hope in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Logan. I was an ass. I'm done now."

  Logan rounded his desk as Seth stepped further into his office. "I know, Seth. I didn't want to do what I did. I just—"

  Seth held his hand up. "I know. Trust me, I know. You did it for Doni. It was thinking of her that made me stop being so dumb. How is she?"

  "She's fine, better."

  "I really should stop by the house and talk to her as well. I just had this sudden epiphany, or hell…I just saw Stacy and it made me think of Doni. I really acted like an ass. I just needed to clear the air with you."

  "Air's cleared. It doesn't matter. And you know Doni would enjoy a visit."

  Logan looked behind Seth as Charlotte walked into his office, the steam almost visible coming out of her ears as she glared at Seth.

  "Don't you ever walk past me without permission. I said he was busy and I meant it." Charlotte then shot a glare at Logan. "The FBI's here."

  "The FBI? Why are they here?" Seth asked, confused. "Those two suits in the lobby?"

  "I called them. Don't have much to work with here. I figured I could use all the help I can get." Logan smiled at Charlotte, trying to lessen her disposition just a little, receiving a deeper scowl in return. "Send them back, Charlotte, please."

  She turned around and stormed out of the office, her hips swaying with vigor. Seth watched her leave, wanting to appreciate the way she shot out of the office, but his mind focused on what Logan just said.

  "Do you really think you needed to call the FBI? You can handle this. I shouldn't have given you a hard time."

  "Seth, this isn't for me. It's for Doni. I want to catch this bastard and I want her to have closure. Maybe her memories will come back…" Logan's voice trailed off as he watched two men walk down the hallway.

  "Gentlemen, I'm Sheriff Caldwell. Thank you for coming. I didn't expect you this quickly," Logan said, offering his hand as they stepped inside his office.

  "I'm Agent Sumnter, and this is my partner, Agent O'Rourke. We have a good reason for coming quickly," Deke said, shaking hands wi
th Logan.

  Danny stood next to him, eyeing Seth briefly, then turned his attention to Logan. "Where is she?"

  Logan looked slightly taken aback at the tone and attitude coming off him. His appearance didn't speak highly of him either. While he was dressed in a nice black suit that only held flight wrinkles, it hung from him in a homely matter. His face looked tired, shadows rimming his eyes, with a hint of sadness that seeped out as he stared at Logan. Something familiar about this man rang in Logan's mind.

  "Well, she's not here, if that's what you're wondering," Logan replied.

  "I want to see her," Danny said, trying his hardest not to shake with anticipation.

  Logan stepped back and rested his body against his desk, crossing his legs and folding his arms. "I thought we'd have a chat about the case and what I have so far. Talking to her right now would not be the best thing. Maybe a brief summary of the case would be best."

  "No, Sheriff, the best thing right now is for me to see her," Danny said, his teeth clenching, making his gauntly face appear more menacing.

  "I think we are getting off on the wrong foot here. And I agree with you, Sheriff Caldwell, a brief discussion would be best," Deke said, trying to cut the tension that Danny was creating as he looked at Logan, who nodded that at least one of them was on his side.

  "Damn it, Deke! Do not start. I want to see her. I have to see her. And—"

  "Look, don't make me argue with you in front of these two because I will. Damn if we aren't. I know how you are feeling right now. I know how you've been feeling the last three months. A few more damn minutes isn't going to kill you. Settle down, Danny. I'm not sure how much more I can stand from you before I knock some sense into you. With my fist, I mean," Deke said, showing him a fist with the utmost respect.

  "Are you two brothers? You work together in the FBI?" Seth asked with mild curiosity, their actions, reminding him of how he and Logan acted on occasion.

  "Who are you?" Danny countered.

  "He's my brother. You're asking to see her like you know who she is. Do you know who she is?" Logan asked, standing up, his relaxed posture suddenly gone as tension started to take its place.