Into Dust

She felt her stomach turn at the sight of it and tried to still her trepidation at the thought of what might be hidden in her memory. Since Dr. Venable had shown up at her door, he’d kept promising that he would help her remember. But he’d put her off time and time again, saying they had to take this slowly. Today he’d promised that he would provide her with what she needed before Buck got home—only because she’d dug her heels in.

She had to know why she’d tried to kill herself all those years ago. She had to know the truth. Bracing herself, she would face whatever memories were locked away. She couldn’t keep putting Buck off. Just as she couldn’t let Dr. Venable keep giving her the runaround.

“I have some photographs I’d like you to look at first,” Dr. Venable said as he motioned Sarah into a chair at the table. He sat across from her and waited.

As she took a chair, he pushed half a dozen snapshots across the table to her. “Is this necessary?” she demanded. The last thing she wanted to do was look at the photographs he’d shown her once before—right after he’d shown up at her door.

Her patience had run out. He still hadn’t helped her remember her past. And yet she’d kept him a secret just as he’d asked—because of his promise to help her.

More and more she thought about exposing the man. She couldn’t tell Buck, but there was one person she trusted to help her whom she would call if the doctor didn’t do what he’d promised. And soon. She would call the man who’d found her when she’d literally been dumped off near an isolated road outside of town—retired rancher Russell Murdock.

Over the months she’d been home, she’d grown to not just trust Russell, but also to love him. That was why she’d agreed to marry him when it looked as if Buck would never be free. With the death of Buck’s wife, though, she’d had to break her engagement, telling herself she belonged with Buck, the father of her children.

Looking up now, she saw that Dr. Venable was studying her intently. “I promise that today you will have answers,” he said as if reading her mind—or accepting that she wasn’t going to wait much longer.

“Now, please,” he said. “Look at these.”

Sarah took the photographs he handed her and thumbed through them. “I don’t know any of these people. I told you that before.” She started to hand them back.

“Look at them again.”

She did, more slowly this time. There was one woman in the photographs and half a dozen men. None of them looked familiar. They all looked young and eager and maybe a little too bright eyed. She had no idea who they were, but something about them gave her an uneasy feeling.

“Does the woman look familiar?” he asked.

Sarah looked at the redhead in one of the shots. “She has a slight resemblance to me, is that what you mean?” Her hair was dyed an awful red color. With a small jolt of memory, she realized that she’d seen a photo similar to this some time ago, but couldn’t remember when or who had shown it to her. How odd that she couldn’t remember something that had to have happened since she’d returned.

She frowned, the beginning of one of her headaches starting. Pushing the photos away, she rubbed her temples. “You’re giving me a headache.”

He nodded. “Let me take care of it.” He removed the tie he’d been wearing and tossed it aside as he picked up the small golden pendulum on the slim gold chain. She felt her eyes widen, a sliver of fear piercing her skin, making her shiver as if she had reason to be fearful.

“It’s all right, Sarah. You want answers. I can give them to you. Trust me.”

She wanted answers, but she didn’t think she should trust this man. All her instincts told her that once he gave her back her memory, she needed to get as far away from him as possible.

“I want you to relax. I can make you feel better.” He began to move the pendulum back and forth, back and forth. The shine of the gold caught the light. His voice was low and soothing. Within moments, she was transfixed. Somewhere in her subconscious, she knew this was not the first time Dr. Venable had hypnotized her.

“Listen to my voice, Sarah. I am going to help you remember everything. You do want to remember the past, don’t you? You want to go back to where it all began. You want to remember that strong, intelligent, capable woman who could conquer the world. You are that woman. There isn’t anything you can’t do. You are a leader. Within you are all of the answers. Within you is a bright, beautiful tomorrow. I’m going to take you back. Back to another time. Back when you went by the name Red.”

* * *

“YOU’RE PUTTING THE ranch up for sale?” Destry Grant West sounded as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Dad, why? I know you haven’t been happy since...”

Russell Murdock could see that his daughter didn’t even want to say Sarah’s name. “Since Sarah broke our engagement?”

Destry let out a breath of obvious frustration. “I’m sorry that you’re hurt, but, Dad, she was all wrong for you. Surely, you realize that now.”

He didn’t want to get into this with his daughter. Destry had forgotten no doubt what it was like to be so in love with one person that no one else would ever do.

“You understand then why I want to sell the ranch and move away,” he said. “Not too far. I have to be able to see my grandchildren.”

She nodded, her smile sad. It was clear that she worried about him. Her fear, though, was that Sarah wouldn’t remarry Buckmaster Hamilton. His was just the opposite.

He hoped that someday Destry would understand that Sarah was in danger as long as she was around Buckmaster. It was why he had to get her away from him for good. Why he still couldn’t leave her. It was all too complicated to explain to his daughter, but still he tried.

“I know how you feel about Sarah, but a quack doctor stole her memories, replacing them with ones that terrify her.”

“Dad, you don’t really believe—”

“I know it for a fact. At first I was as skeptical as you that a brain could be wiped clean of memories or that false ones could be planted, but it’s true. It’s modern science. I believe that Sarah’s husband did something so horrible that he had this doctor remove the memories and take her away from the past twenty-two years.”

Destry was looking at him with a mixture of love and pity.

“I know you must think I am the most gullible man in the world...” He smiled and nodded, knowing that was exactly what she thought. “But Sheriff Curry was able to track down the doctor—or at least where he was—and verify that he was experimenting with brain wiping.”

“Dad—”

“I’m the only person she can trust.” His voice broke and he saw that he wasn’t making any headway with his daughter. He looked to her like a man blinded by love for the wrong woman.

“She broke your heart when she gave you back the diamond engagement ring,” Destry said kindly, but firmly. “She chose Buckmaster. You have to let her go.”

He nodded. He was wasting his breath. “Which is why I have to sell the ranch. You and Rylan don’t need the property, so I’ve put it on the market.” He didn’t add that he was planning to use the money from the sale to relocate—with Sarah.

He also didn’t tell his daughter that the quack doctor, Dr. Ralph Venable, was back in the States. All his instincts told him that the doctor would be contacting Sarah—if he hadn’t already.

She was going to need him—and soon. She’d been having flashbacks of memory that scared her when she was with him. And now Buckmaster had won the primaries. He had the Republican nomination.

The only fly in the ointment would be if Sarah’s memory came back and she knew the truth about what had happened all those years ago—and did something...crazy.

* * *

THE RING WAS CONSERVATIVE, the diamond not too large, the setting classic and tasteful. Buck held it up to the light. The owner of the jewelry store seemed nervous. He kept watching the door as if he expected photographers to show up any minute.

“I’ll take this one. I’ll need it sized.” Sarah’s hands were small. “She wears a six.” At least she used to. Surely, disappearing for twenty-two years wouldn’t have changed her ring size.

“It will only take a few minutes,” the owner said and hurried to the back.

Buck walked around the jewelry store. This had been impulsive. Now he wondered if Sarah would be upset with him. He couldn’t imagine why. But then he couldn’t imagine why she hadn’t moved in with him already.

Except that she must feel that he’d been stringing her along for the past year and a half, first because he was married and even after Angelina’s death, keeping her living on the ranch—but insisting she move into he main house only recently—and all because of his presidential campaign.

But what choice had he had under the circumstances, he thought with a curse. He wasn’t the one who’d left, the one who’d driven into the river in the middle of winter trying to kill himself. He wasn’t the one who, failing that, had taken off for twenty-two years, leaving behind six daughters. Nor had Sarah gone alone. He thought about the doctor she’d spent those years with, an older man, a man who apparently dealt in making memories disappear. And planting false ones.

Buck shook his head. At times he knew he hadn’t forgiven Sarah for what she’d done. Even when he told himself that she might have been suffering from postpartum depression, that the crackpot doctor was to blame for Sarah not being able to remember the years she’d been gone, that he himself had to take some of the blame, it didn’t help.

He feared he didn’t know this Sarah. That fear was like a small hard stone that had settled in his belly. Usually, it didn’t bother him, but sometimes...

Like when he crossed paths with Sheriff Curry, who had his own theories about Sarah. Curry thought Buck might have reason to fear for his life. The sheriff thought Sarah had returned home to harm either his campaign or him. Maybe even to possibly kill him once he was president.

“Your ring is ready,” the jeweler said. He was all smiles, as if he couldn’t wait to brag that he’d sold a diamond engagement ring to a future president.

Buck realized his mistake. He should have had one of his staff handle this. Now this would be all over the news before morning.

“Thank you,” he said and quickly left. He still had miles to go before he saw Sarah. Too much time to second-guess what he’d done or what he planned to do.

Buck used his hands-free phone to place a call to Ainsley, his oldest. He would tell her about the engagement, ask her opinion. He depended on her for advice. Her phone went straight to voice mail.

He started to call Olivia, but knew she was busy with the baby. Bo was pregnant with twins and hadn’t been feeling well. Harper had gone out of town with Brody. Kat might be around. But she wasn’t a good one to ask advice from. She didn’t have her sister Ainsley’s diplomacy. And right now he didn’t need an analytical discussion of the pros and cons.

All of his girls were busy living their own lives. He thought of Cassidy and had a strange feeling of foreboding as he tapped in her cell phone number. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to her. Worse, he had no idea even where she was.

The foreboding feeling was so strong that it scared him. He just needed to hear her voice, make sure she was all right. Her phone rang three times before her voice-mail message answered.

* * *

“YOUR NEW FRIEND AGAIN?” Jack asked as he drove and watched Cassidy check her phone out of the corner of his eye.

She shook her head. “It’s my father.”

Earlier the new friend who’d betrayed her had called. Jack had been right. Cassidy had been on her way to meet said new friend when she was almost abducted.

The friend had left a message. “Hey, where are you? We’re waiting, but getting really worried. Call me.”

“Do you think it’s possible she and her boyfriend weren’t in on it?” Cassidy had asked hopefully. “She says they’re worried. Maybe I should—”

“No, they want you to call because they need to know where you are,” he said. “Believe me, your friend and her boyfriend were in on it. Sorry.”

She nodded. “I guess I was just hoping it wasn’t true, you know?”

He did know. Just as he was hoping that his father wasn’t in on this either.

“You might want to turn your phone off or at least put it on vibrate.” He didn’t think anyone was tracking her via her cell phone. Not yet anyway.

She complied, her expression puzzled.

“Is it unusual for your father to call you?” he asked, guessing at what might be bothering her.

“I can’t remember the last time he called before today.” She looked up at him. “Odd, don’t you think that he should pick now to call?”

Jack did. He wondered if whoever was behind her abduction had jumped the gun and sent the candidate a kidnapping demand. Until that moment, he hadn’t really considered that this might be about money.

But it had to be about money. He couldn’t imagine what other demand his father might make, but then again, if Tom Durand was behind this, he never really knew his father.

Ahead, he could see T.D. Enterprises Inc.’s main building. He pulled the pickup over to the curb.

Cassidy sat looking out into the darkness of the warehouse district. “This is where we’re going?”

Jack felt jumpy, nerves like live wires under his skin. He feared what they were going to find. Worse, he felt as if he were getting Cassidy even deeper into this mess. Not to mention the lies he was telling by omission. When she found out... He couldn’t worry about that now. “The office is on the top floor. Are you sure you’re up for this?”

She nodded, her voice breaking when she spoke. “I’m good.” She wiped her hands on her skirt as if like his, they were sweating. That she was trying to act unafraid made him like her even more.

But as he climbed out, he couldn’t help but worry. This could go so badly. As they walked through the dark toward the hulking building, though, he wondered if this wasn’t merely a wild-goose chase. His father was too smart to leave anything for him to find. But then again, if his father really was on Catalina Island in the Pacific, he might not know that things had gone wrong yet. Ed might have put off calling him.

Also, if his father really was miles away, he hadn’t been able to come back here and hide anything he might have forgotten. There was a chance that Tom Durand thought he had nothing to worry about when he’d left for LA.

All it required at the back door of the facility was a sleight of hand in the dark. Cassidy hadn’t seemed to be paying that much attention anyway as he palmed his key and pretended to pick it up from a ledge near the door.

She was looking up at the fifth floor. He followed her gaze. A light was on—one they hadn’t been able to see from the street.

Was it possible his father had lied about being on a boat on his way to Catalina Island? He didn’t know why that surprised him—if true—since being a liar could be the least of his father’s deceit.

CHAPTER FIVE

CASSIDY FOLLOWED JACK into the huge old building. For a while, this had seemed a game. The new haircut, the clothes, the disguise, being with this Texas cowboy. Now, though, it felt way too real. She’d done her best to forget about what had almost happened to her earlier on the street.

But the memory was still there, ambushing her when she least expected it. Like right now. She suddenly felt vulnerable. What was she doing here with a man whom, until a few hours ago, she’d never laid eyes on before?

She couldn’t help questioning herself as their footfalls echoed through the emptiness of what appeared to be a warehouse. She’d always been too trusting. She hugged herself as their footfalls echoed through the hulking building.

There were huge containers and wooden crates everywhere. Only dim after-hours lights lit their way. They wound through them to a door marked STAIRS. The stairwell had even less light and a funky old-building smell.

“You’re sure there’s no one here?” she asked in a whisper as she heard something clank overhead.

“We’re about to find out. But I think it’s probably just old plumbing.”

Old plumbing? Wondering what she’d gotten herself into, she followed him up the stairs to the fifth floor, where he pushed open the door cautiously and peered around it. Her heart in her throat, she listened and heard nothing.

“Come on.” Jack stepped into the empty hallway and she followed. All the doors were closed except for one at the far end of the hall where the light was on. That door was partially open, a few inches of light spilling out into the hallway.

Cassidy grabbed Jack’s hand, stopping him. “There’s someone in there.”

He shook his head and motioned for her to follow quietly.

She hadn’t realized that she’d been holding her breath until they reached the office to find it empty. The light apparently had been left on by accident. Either that or the person was in the building and would be returning soon.

* * *

JACK MOVED QUICKLY to his father’s desk. He was about to open one of the drawers when he spotted the plaque sitting on the desk with his father’s name printed on it. There was also a photo of him and his father from a fishing trip they’d taken years ago.

He glanced at Cassidy. She’d come part way into the room and now stood looking around nervously. He quickly turned the plaque and photo facedown and began opening the drawers.

The top drawer had nothing interesting in it. Nor did several of the other drawers. His father fortunately was very organized, so it made the search easier. When he got to the bottom drawer, he found it locked—just as he remembered.

“How did you know there wasn’t anyone here?” Cassidy asked. She’d moved over to a wall of photographs. He felt his pulse jump in concern until he realized they were all snapshots of his father with dignitaries, politicians and even one with the latest president.

“No cars outside. Nor did I see anyone moving around up here.” He opened the middle drawer, hoping to find the key. No such luck. “I could have been wrong, though.” He shrugged when she turned to look at him.

“Find anything?”

“The bottom drawer is locked. I’m going to have to break the lock.”

She raised a brow at that.

He had hoped to get in and out quickly and not leave any evidence that he’d been here. Reconciled, he quickly stepped to the door and closed it. His father had hired a security firm that checked the building several times during the night. They came by at midnight and 3:00 a.m. Jack glanced at his watch. It was only a little after eleven.

Back at the desk, he took his father’s letter opener and began to pry at the lock. Cassidy, he noticed, had moved to another wall of photos. For a moment, Jack worried that his father might have a snapshot of him. But apparently he didn’t have to worry.

The lock finally gave and he pulled open the drawer, surprised to find it held only one item—a large metal box. He took it out, a little taken aback by how light it was. If his father kept a little spare money in here, it wasn’t much. Something inside it gave a metallic rattle. Like the drawer, the box was locked.

“Did you hear that?” Cassidy said, suddenly next to him.

He hadn’t heard anything but the noise he’d been making himself. He listened for a moment. This time it definitely wasn’t the old plumbing. He knew the sound of the old freight elevator only too well. It banged and clanked and whined. Which meant someone had pressed the button on the ground floor and was now on his way up.

Jack tried to gauge if they had time to make a run for it. Unfortunately, the stairwell was at the opposite end of the hall. He couldn’t take the chance.

He quickly closed the drawer with the broken lock. With luck, whoever it was wouldn’t notice—assuming this office was where they were headed. It hit him that if his father had been lying about where he was, he would be the one coming up here right now.

The elevator came to a noisy stop, the doors groaning open. An instant later, Jack heard the sound of heavy footfalls headed in their direction.

* * *

SARAH OPENED HER eyes and stretched, surprised to find herself lying on the couch. Her body ached as if she’d been curled up in the fetal position for a very long time.

“How do you feel?” Dr. Venable’s voice was soft and soothing. He had put the pendulum away. She had the feeling that time had passed, but she couldn’t remember it passing.

She nodded, not wanting to speak, just wanting to stretch and breathe. Her headache was gone and she was thankful for that. Remembering it, though, she recalled that he had promised to restore her memory. She sat up abruptly.

“Easy,” he said. “You might feel a little dizzy.”

She searched her memory. She couldn’t even remember how she’d gotten from a chair at the table to this couch.

“You are going to give yourself a headache if you try to remember everything at once. Take it slow. Start here.” He handed her the photographs again.

“I already told you. I don’t know those people.” At his insistence, she took the snapshots again. She knew the headache was only an instant away if she kept trying so hard to remember even the simplest things. She closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them, she glanced down at the top photo and felt shock ricochet through her.

It was a candid shot of a handsome young man. His name came to her in an instant. Joe Landon. She felt her heart do a bump against her ribs. Her mouth went dry and she couldn’t speak. The memories swept over her. Tangled sheets, bodies damp with sweat, skin dimpling as a breeze stirred the curtains and washed over their nakedness.

The memories brought goose bumps that raced over her as she recalled the feel of her long-lost lover’s warm flesh against hers.

“Joe,” she said after a moment and her eyes filled with tears.

“Yes,” Dr. Venable said and smiled.

“Is he...?”

“Alive? Yes. He is most anxious to see you,” he added, sounding pleased that whatever he’d done to her, she now remembered.

She looked up at him, shock rocking the already cracked foundation of her life. Earlier she would have sworn that she didn’t know these people, had never seen them before.

Now she looked at the other photographs. With a start, she realized she recognized all of the people in the shots. The most terrifying was when she recognized herself. She was the woman with the dyed red hair, she was— Dropping the photos in her lap, she hugged herself against the horrible truth. “I’m Red. I was a member of The Prophecy. I was...”

“The leader. You still can be.”

She shook her head and stumbled to her feet. It all came back to her. She’d been part of the anarchist group back in college that had led to the death of innocent people. What was even more shocking was that she had believed in what they’d hoped to accomplish. She’d come up with the plan. How was that possible?

“You were the leader. You and Joe. It’s true.”

She took a few steps away from him, hugging herself and shaking her head. Her skin felt clammy and cold. Her head whirled. She felt weak and sick to her stomach. But she remembered the names they’d used instead of their real names. Dr. Venable had been Doc. She’d been Red. Joe... Joe had been Achilles, the strongest and most fearless warrior in the Greek war against the Trojans.

A more current memory slammed into her thoughts. “John Carter and Warren Dodge tried to kill my daughter Kat!”

Doc looked sorrowful, but nodded. “Your daughter had to be stopped. She was getting too close. As it was, Joe had to scramble to protect you when they were caught. Sarah, you are still Red. You are still their leader. The Prophecy is depending on you.”

“No.” She turned to face him. “No.”

“You owe the others. They have sacrificed for you. They got Virginia Handley to confess to being Red to save you.”