Holiday Amnesia Read online

  Robin staggered away from the burning building, blinded by the smoke and desperate for clean air. The sirens and red flashing lights registered. She pressed a bleeding hand to her pounding head and finally found herself at the edge of the parking lot. She staggered into the trees and retched.

  The world continued to spin, and she fell to the ground, her cheek pressing into the pine needles. She had to run.

  But why?

  She should know why but couldn’t bring the reason into focus.

  Oh, because of him.

  He’d tried to kill her.

  His eyes closed. Then opened. Her head continued its hammering and her ears rang with an annoying high-pitched frequency.

  Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the swirling trees while she tried to figure out what had happened. There’d been an explosion. Something had hit her, and she’d fallen.

  Voices reached her. Instinctively, she scrambled to her knees and crawled behind the nearest tree while she made out the words “...find her. Get rid of her.”

  “There’s no way she survived that,” another voice said. “You barely got out alive and she was still in the building when it exploded.”

  “Maybe.”

  “No maybe about it. You said she ran into the bathroom just before the first explosion went off. She’s dead.”

  “Make sure!”

  “Fine, I’ll make sure.”

  They had to be talking about her. Tremors set in. Shock? She curled her arms around her knees and pressed her aching forehead against them. They wanted her dead? Who? Why? No, she’d seen him. In the lab. His face blurred, and she was sick again. When her stomach calmed down, the world still spun while she tried to force her mind to work.

  She had to leave. To run. She stood, using the tree to help pull herself to her feet, ignoring the pain in her hands.

  As she stepped in the opposite direction of the men who wanted to kill her, a hand slapped over her mouth and pulled her back to the ground.

  TWO

  When Robin went limp in his arms, Toby lowered her to the ground and watched the two men stomp away from their meeting spot.

  He’d been bolting back to his truck, mind whirling, grief slashing his heart to shreds, when he’d heard a loud crash behind him. He’d spun to see a figure emerge from the broken window and stagger across the parking lot and into the trees. The smoke had kept him from seeing clearly, but he’d followed, praying it was Robin but willing to help whoever it was.

  He’d been almost upon her when he’d heard the faint voices but couldn’t hear their words or see their faces. The fact that they seemed to be hiding, whispering and unconcerned about the burning building behind them, triggered his internal alarms.

  Since the person who’d escaped the building was staying hidden and quiet, he’d done the same just a few feet behind her. When she’d turned, he’d caught a glimpse of her silhouette and relief had pounded through him when he’d realized it was definitely Robin. But he’d stayed silent, only moving when it looked like she might inadvertently reveal her presence.

  And then she’d passed out in his arms.

  “...kill her. Tonight.” The faint order given by one of the men he could no longer see reached his ears. He didn’t recognize the voice, but now knew why he needed to act with caution.

  They were trying to kill Robin?

  Once the men were gone, he checked her pulse. Her eyelids fluttered but didn’t open. “Robin, it’s me, Toby. Can you wake up?”

  No response. The gash on her forehead worried him.

  “Robin?”

  Her lashes lifted, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Come on, there’s an ambulance over here. Let’s get your head looked at.”

  “No. They’ll find me,” she whispered.

  “I’ll stay with you.”

  “No!” She rolled her head back and forth, clearly agitated. “Can’t trust...anyone. Got...to...get away...please...”

  “Robin, it’s okay, I promise. Just let them check your head.”

  But she didn’t answer. She’d passed out again. He suspected she had a concussion, he just prayed it wasn’t anything worse. Great. Now what?

  The fact that she could move her neck without apparent trouble or pain decided for him. If she didn’t want to risk being examined here at the scene, then fine. Now that he had a second chance to keep her safe, he wasn’t about to fail her.

  The hospital wasn’t too far. He shrugged out of his heavy coat and tore the long sleeves from his T-shirt. He wrapped one around his nose and mouth, then covered her face with the other one. He lifted her into his arms and rose to his feet.

  Under cover of the smoke that now blanketed the wooded area, Toby made his way back to his vehicle at the edge of the lot and loaded her into the back seat. Once he had her covered with the blanket, he climbed behind the wheel and made his way out of the parking lot.

  Emergency crews were too busy putting out the blaze to bother noticing him. Law enforcement and campus security were on-site, but until they figured out the reason for the explosions, they would have no cause to stop him. He hoped.

  Once they started their investigation, if there was foul play involved—and after overhearing the conversation in the woods between the two men, he was pretty sure there was—they’d watch security footage and see him leaving in his truck. And they’d want to talk to him. Which was fine, but for now, he wanted to get Robin to a safe place where she could receive the care she needed for her head wound.

  * * *

  Robin woke with a start and bit back a groan, swallowing the nausea that clawed at the back of her throat. She lay still while trying to get a grip on the pain that came from every part of her. She finally registered the gentle movement beneath her. The hum of the engine, the low volume of the radio. No Christmas music on this one, but someone saying something about a fire at the university lab?

  She was in a vehicle—a large one since she stretched the length of the back seat without any trouble. But who was driving? And why was she sleeping in the back? And why did her entire body hurt?

  Sitting up required effort so she stayed still, her pounding temples convincing her that moving would be a mistake. She forced her mind to work. Or at least she tried to. But it rebelled. She simply couldn’t remember where the headache had come from.

  Get rid of her.

  She’s dead.

  The words echoed, bouncing in her brain but unable to take root and tell her what they meant.

  Cold fear enveloped her and the desire to run, get away, nearly strangled her. All she could see was the back of the driver’s head. Who was he? Someone who wanted her dead? Was he taking her somewhere to kill her?

  Get rid of her.

  She’s dead.

  Her head rested behind the passenger seat so when the truck slowed to a stop, she reached up, popped the door and shoved it open.

  “Robin! Stop!”

  No, she had to get out. In an awkward half crawl, half lunge, she managed to propel herself from the back seat onto the asphalt.

  But she couldn’t move fast enough. The pain was too much, the nausea overwhelming. She lost whatever she might have had left in her stomach.

  Gentle hands held her head while she dry-heaved. “You have a concussion,” a man said. A white tissue appeared in front of her face. She took it and wiped her mouth. Then a water bottle replaced the tissue. She took that, too. Rinsed and spit. “Who are you?” she whispered.

  “Look at me.”

  She did. Familiarity flashed, but no name came with it. “Who are you?”

  He blanched. “I’m Toby, Robin. Toby Potter.” His hand went to the wound on her forehead. “We need to get you to a doctor. We’re almost to the hospital.”

  “I... I’m scared. Why am I scared?” Tremors shook her, and Toby’s look of c
oncern deepened.

  “Someone tried to kill you,” he said.

  Get rid of her.

  She’s dead.

  She blinked. “Who?”

  “I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me.”

  Robin raised a hand to her head. “I...can’t think. Everything’s a jumble. Why can’t I remember? You’re acting like I should know you. But I don’t!” Panic clawed at her.

  His warm hands gripped hers and she flinched. He turned them over to look at her palms. “What happened?”

  She stared at the cuts. “I don’t know. Why don’t I know?”

  “It’s okay. Shh...” He pulled her to him and for some reason she let him. She needed to believe him. To believe that he wouldn’t hurt her, and he was there to help her. “You’ve had a really traumatic experience,” he said. “Give it some time and it’ll all come back to you. But for now, let’s continue on to the hospital.”

  She had no words or energy left to argue. The pain was constant, and she just wanted it to go away. If Toby was out to harm her, he could have just done it. Instead, he was loading her into the front passenger seat this time. Probably so he could catch her if she tried to nose-dive out the door again.

  Once she had her seat belt on, he rounded the front of the vehicle and climbed behind the wheel. “You ready?”

  “I’m ready.” Ready for what, she wasn’t exactly sure, but Toby seemed to know what he was doing. And for now, that was going to have to be enough.

  * * *

  The remainder of the drive to the hospital didn’t take long and was, thankfully, uneventful. When Toby pulled into the parking lot, Robin was asleep, her head propped against the window. “Robin?”

  She didn’t move.

  “Robin, can you walk?”

  She groaned and pulled away from him.

  Toby rubbed his eyes, then the back of his neck. Just as he’d decided to simply carry her inside, his phone rang. Ben. “Yes?”

  “Are you all right?” his friend asked.

  “I’m at the hospital. I’ve got Robin with me.”

  “They know she’s alive.”

  “What? How?”

  “The same way I know. The broken bathroom window. It’s obvious she got out.”

  “It could have been anyone in that bathroom.” Toby sighed. “But they’re going to rightly assume it was her since no one else was there at the lab.” He paused. “At least I don’t think so. There were two guys in the woods where we were hiding. They were talking about making sure she was dead. I’m not sure if they were actually in the lab when it exploded, but I got the impression that they weren’t.”

  “Got it.”

  “And, Ben?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t remember seeing any other cars in the parking lot except Robin’s, but that doesn’t mean someone didn’t park elsewhere and walk over. You’ll need to scour the security footage from different areas on campus.”

  “Okay. Local police are already here. They’ve requested FBI presence and resources, so they made it easy for us.”

  “Meaning you’re already looking into it.”

  “We have a team of local and federal agencies questioning people who were on campus at the time and near the lab. So far, no one’s come up with anything useful.”

  “Okay. Let me think.” Toby drummed the steering wheel for a moment. “First and foremost, Robin’s got a head wound that needs to be checked out.”

  “Anything else besides the head wound?”

  “Some superficial wounds to her hands. What worries me the most is the confusion and memory loss.” He paused. “She doesn’t know me.”

  “Oh no. That doesn’t sound good.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Okay, get her checked out but don’t linger. They’re probably going to be checking the hospitals. I’m going to be gathering information on this end and see if I can figure out who’s behind the blast. You just keep her safe.”

  “Got it. Bye.” He gave her a gentle shake and frowned when she only blinked and closed her eyes again. He gave up and went around to the passenger side, hefted her slight form in his arms and carried her into the emergency department. With one eye behind him and one in front, he caught the attention of the triage nurse. “Got an emergency here.”

  She took one look at them and reacted. No doubt Robin’s bloody head was quite the attention-catcher. Within seconds, the nurse had them back in a room and was examining Robin. “She’ll need a CT scan and a number of other tests. You’ll have to wait here.”

  He caught her arm and pulled her to the side. “She needs police protection. She wound up like this because someone tried to kill her tonight. I don’t want to leave her.”

  She held his gaze for a few moments, then nodded. “Are you a cop?”

  “Not exactly. I’m working with the FBI. I can give you a contact number if you need proof, but I can’t leave this woman.”

  “No ID?”

  “No. Not for this assignment.”

  “I see.”

  He had a feeling she did. After several agonizing seconds of her scrutiny, she shot him one more look and nodded. “You can go.”

  “Thanks.”

  For the next six hours, Toby stayed with Robin, never leaving her side and monitoring those who entered her room with ID checks. The kind nurse who’d shown him grace by letting him stay with Robin stepped into the room.

  “How’s she doing?” she asked. “Has she regained consciousness yet? Is she talking and making sense?”

  “She’s in and out of consciousness and not making much sense when she talks.” He paused. “She grew up in foster homes and is talking about one of the families she lived with when she was around ten years old, I think. She doesn’t know who I am though.”

  “Did she know who you were before the knock on the head?”

  He shot her a tight smile. “Yes. I’m very concerned.”

  The nurse nodded. “You’re not the only one. We’d like to keep her overnight for observation,” she said. “The doctor’s not comfortable releasing her yet. The fact that she’s still not remembering anything that happened has him wanting to take extreme cautions and the neurologist concurs.”

  Toby blew out a breath. “Of course.” He rubbed his chin. “What about helping her remember?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know, telling her things that she doesn’t remember right now in an attempt to jar her memories loose.”

  “The doctor said good memories would be fine. Anything that might upset her or be a shock would be better for her to remember on her own.”

  “I see.” Well, that could work in his favor since he definitely didn’t want to tell her about their last few weeks together. Not yet at least.

  “I’ll be back to check on her shortly,” she said after adjusting the IV line.

  “Thank you,” Toby said.

  She left, and Toby settled into the chair next to Robin’s bed. He pulled out his phone and texted Ben an update, then leaned back to close his eyes for a few minutes.

  When the door opened, he blinked and straightened. His gaze went to Robin who was resting peacefully, eyes shut, lips parted slightly. A male nurse in his late thirties nodded at him and pulled a syringe from his pocket. “Good morning.”

  “Morning.” Toby frowned. “What’s that?”

  “Just a little more pain medicine. Want to keep her comfortable.”

  “I think she’s fine.” Toby’s gaze went to the man’s name tag. And found it missing. Toby stood. “Let me see some ID please. She just had some medicine not too long ago.”

  “I know. I read her chart. But the doctor wanted her to have this.”

  “What is it?”

  The man huffed and aimed the needle at the IV port. “Look, I’
m just following orders, okay? If you have a problem with it, take it up with the doc.”

  “I will.” Toby stepped forward and grabbed the man’s forearm. “But you’re not giving her that medicine until I do. Understood?”

  Fury flashed in the man’s eyes, but his lips curved in a cold smile. “Of course.”

  “Where’s your name tag?”

  “I forgot it today. Why?”

  Toby yanked the syringe from the man’s fingers in a smooth move and shoved him away from Robin’s bed. “Who are you, and how did you know she was here?”

  The man bolted for the door and Toby followed, stopping just outside the door. He couldn’t go after him without leaving Robin alone. He grabbed the phone and called security, describing the incident and where the man had disappeared, then turned back to find Robin sitting up in bed, blinking at him. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “We’re getting out of here.” He grabbed her filthy clothes from the bag on the counter. “You need to put these on.”

  She grimaced. “Why?”

  He went to the bed and took her face in his. Gently, so as not to cause her any more pain. “Look at me.” He waited for her eyes to meet his and focus. The nurse’s words flipped through his mind. Don’t tell her anything stressful or shocking. It’s better for her to remember on her own. He hesitated for a brief second. “Will you trust me?”

  “No. I don’t know you and I’m in the hospital, and I can’t remember anything. Why should I trust you?”

  At the edge of hysteria in her words, he made an executive decision. “You’re not safe here, understand?”

  “Why?”

  “Because—”

  “Wait a minute.” She pressed a hand to her bandaged head. “There was a fire.”

  “That’s one way of putting it. Someone set that fire, okay? In the form of explosives. And I’m pretty sure you were supposed to die in it.” She stared, unblinking. “When they discovered you survived, they sent someone to finish the job. I just chased him off. At least that’s the way it looks. Whether or not any of that is true, I’m not willing to chance it. We’re leaving.” Her eyes followed him, but he saw no sign of recognition in their depths. “Will you trust me? Please?”