“There’s a Tim Hortons in Pages on the upper level,” Valerie announced. She had no intention of buying a book. Heck, she
couldn’t
buy a book here for her courses. This was the university bookstore in the MacNaughton Building. To get books for any of her classes, she’d have to go to the Ontario Veterinary College Book Barn in the OVC Lifetime Learning Centre. Fortunately, Anders didn’t know a thing about the Ontario Veterinary College at Guelph University.
“Isn’t it kind of hot for coffee?” Anders asked as Valerie led him to the Tim Hortons counter.
She grimaced. He was right. The walk here from the car had left her hot and sweaty. “We can have iced capps then.”
“Iced capps?”
“Iced cappuccinos,” she explained.
“Which are?”
“You’ve never had them?” Valerie asked with surprise as she turned back to scan the name tags of the workers behind the counter. She didn’t have a clue what Billie would look like. Just that she’d had a high, sweet voice. She’d sounded about twelve, though she’d said she was twenty-two.
“No. Are they good?” Anders asked.
“Yeah,” she answered absently. “They’re kind of like drinkable ice cream. They’re made of coffee, sugar, cream, and ice cubes all put through a blender.”
“Hmmm. Drinkable ice cream sounds good,” Anders said cheerfully.
Valerie smiled absently and urged him toward the counter. “Why don’t you order us a couple. Two iced capps large,” she added when he looked uncertain.
Anders nodded and headed for the counter, and Valerie returned to searching the name tags. She had read every the name of every worker behind the counter without spotting anything close to Billie and was about to give up when a tall, slender brunette with her hair in a ponytail came from the back of the store. She was pulling a hat on as she approached the sandwich station. Her name tag read B
ILLIE
.
Valerie moved to the far end of the counter at once. “Excuse me.”
The brunette glanced up and offered a polite smile. Her voice was the high and sweet one Valerie recalled when she said, “I’m sorry. You have to place your order at the other end of the counter by the tills.”
It was her. That voice was just too recognizable. There couldn’t be two Billies with that voice working at this Tim Hortons. Valerie smiled. “I’m not placing an order, my . . . er . . . friend is,” she said, unsure whether she had the right to call Anders her boyfriend or not. Though, really, at thirty, were they even called boyfriends? She supposed she could have said
lover
, but that was just giving away too much information.
Putting aside the issue of what to call Anders, she said solemnly, “My name is Valerie Moyer . . . from the house of cages.”
Billie tilted her head. “Is that a bar or a band or something?”
“No.” Frowning, she shook her head. “Billie, I’m talking about the house where we were held captive in cages in the basement. Remember?” Valerie coaxed when Billie just stared at her. “The cages we couldn’t stretch out or stand in? Oatmeal once a day. The crazy guy and his boss who thought he was a—”
“Valerie!”
Pausing at Anders’s sharp voice, she glanced around with surprise when he took her arm and steered her away. “Wait. I wasn’t done talking to her.”
“Yes, you are,” he said firmly, forcing her forward.
“But Semmy, she was one of the girls. Maybe we can figure out how he picked us all.”
“She can’t help us. She doesn’t remember.”
Valerie jerked her arm out of his hold and turned on him. “Why?” she asked grimly. She knew he was right. She’d watched Billie’s face the whole time she was talking and there hadn’t been a lick of recognition or recall in her face. She hadn’t remembered anything. Just like Cindy. And while that shocked her, Anders wasn’t the least bit surprised.
Mouth tightening, she asked, “What do you know that you aren’t telling me?”
Anders’s gaze slid back to Billie, who was watching them curiously. Turning back, he urged the cardboard drink tray toward Valerie. When she automatically took one of the iced capps in it, he turned to urge her forward again and said, “Not here.”
Valerie didn’t protest or fight. She walked silently beside him until he paused on the main floor of the bookstore and glanced to her. “Did you really have a book you needed to buy?”
She hesitated, but then shook her head guiltily. Anders didn’t seem surprised, but merely sipped at his drink as they started walking again. They were silent all the way to the car, but once there, Valerie turned on him. “So?” she said. “Would you care to explain why Billie and Cindy don’t recall what happened to us?”
“Cindy?” he asked sharply.
“She happened to be in the vet clinic,” Valerie said grimly. “She didn’t recall me either, or the house and Igor. She didn’t remember anything. And neither did Billie.” Valerie paused briefly, and then asked, “What’s going on?”
“Not here,” Anders repeated, and when she opened her mouth to protest, he added, “I need to concentrate on driving . . . at least until we get somewhere we won’t be interrupted.”
Blowing out a breath, Valerie sank back in the passenger seat and did up her seat belt. She then turned her attention to her iced capp, sipping at it slowly to avoid a brain freeze. She thought he’d take them back to Leigh and Lucian’s, but when he stopped the car some time later it was at a farmhouse. It looked new, built during the last ten years by her guess, a large, red brick house with a couple of outbuildings, including a stable and paddock with half a dozen horses in it.
“Where are we?”
“My place,” he said and got out of the car, leaving her to follow.
Valerie stared after him, unsure what to do. She was no longer certain she could trust him. She had no doubt he could explain, but that was because he was probably involved in whatever had happened to make the other women forget.
Should she be worried? Her gaze traveled over the man in front of the car as she tried to work out if he could be a threat to her or not. Valerie wanted to think no, but she had so many questions that had not yet been answered. What was this enforcement team Anders, Bricker, and Lucian worked on? Why had she been treated in a private home rather than in a hospital? They’d said to keep her safe because their kidnapper had escaped, but surely a police guard would have kept her safe? And besides, if it was so dangerous, why had Anders suggested coming out to pick up the pills? Why hadn’t Leigh protested? Hell, not only had she not protested, but she’d requested they make an additional stop.
So, Valerie thought unhappily, was she in danger or not? And if she wasn’t, why was she the only one at Leigh and Lucian’s house? And the only one who still retained her memory? Well, if she
was
the only one. It was possible Laura and Kathy still retained theirs, but she suspected they didn’t.
Valerie stared at Anders as her mind twisted itself in loops trying to sort things out, but in the end she had to acknowledge that the only way to get any answers was to let Anders explain. And the only way to do that was to have enough trust in the man to get out of this vehicle and ask him the questions. That shouldn’t be so hard. She’d been naked, with this man inside her body, just hours ago. She had trusted him with her body, surely she could trust him with her well-being, for God’s sake?
A
nders sipped at the last of his iced cappuccino while he waited for Valerie to decide if she trusted him enough to get out or not. Whether she did or not was important. He needed her trust, and knew that right now it was a bit shaken. But Anders needed to know just how shaken . . . and if he could regain it.
Sighing, he pushed away from the truck and moved the ten feet to the paddock fence he’d parked in front of.
The day had started so well and with such promise. He’d thought he had more time, but Valerie’s encounter with Billie was forcing his hand. Well, her encounter with both Billie and Cindy. His mouth tightened as he thought of Cindy. He had suspected something had happened when Valerie had come out of the clinic. She’d seemed . . . off. Different. He couldn’t have guessed, though, that one of her cage mates from the house had been inside the clinic. What were the chances?
The sound of the SUV door opening reached his ears and Anders sighed with relief. She still trusted him a bit, now he just had to hope it was enough.
“I’m surprised you live on a farm,” Valerie said quietly as she reached the fence and leaned against it next to him.
“Most people are,” he acknowledged with a faint smile. “For some reason everyone seems to expect me to have a condo in the city or something.”
Valerie nodded. “I can see that. It’s because you’re so sleek and sexy.”
Anders blinked and glanced to her sharply. “Sleek and sexy?”
“Like you didn’t know?” she asked with amusement. “I’m sure I’m not the first gal who threw herself at you.”
“You didn’t throw yourself at me,” he said solemnly.
“Hmm,” Valerie murmured.
Anders watched a small smile claim her lips and then just as quickly fade.
“Why don’t they remember what happened to us?”
Straight to the point, he thought wryly and said, “A couple of the women were traumatized badly by their time in that house. Lucian thought it was in their best interests to remove those experiences from their memory and allow them to live a normal life without those experiences haunting them.”
“And they were willing to let that happen?” Valerie asked.
“They weren’t asked for permission,” Anders admitted reluctantly. He just knew that wouldn’t go over well and wasn’t surprised when her voice turned cold and hard.
“So, he just stole the memories without asking them if it was all right?”
Sighing wearily, he turned to face her and asked, “Do you really think they would have wanted to hold on to those memories? Do you enjoy the nightmares they give you?”
Valerie frowned and turned away, her face flushing.
Anders presumed she hadn’t thought he knew about those, but he’d held her in his arms through them just that morning in her room.
“So why didn’t they take my memories?” she asked sounding tired.
“They could, if you want them to,” he said quietly.
Valerie hesitated, biting her lip, and then asked, “What do they do? Hypnosis?”
“No. It’s more in-depth than that. They’d have to wipe out your memory of what happened in that house . . . and everything since,” he added solemnly.
“
Every
thing since?” she asked, turning on him with amazement.
Anders nodded. “Everything. Leigh, Lucian, their house . . . me. They’d put new memories in their place.”
“Why?” Valerie asked. “I mean, sure, remove the memories of Igor and the house of horror, but why you guys?”
“Because remembering us might lead to your reclaiming the other memories,” he said gently. “After all, you were brought to the house to heal and recover from the injuries you got there. And we hunt people like Igor and his boss.”
“Oh.” She was silent, working it out in her head. Valerie was a clever woman, he wasn’t surprised when she said, “So would that mean you and I . . .”
“We couldn’t see each other again,” he said what he was pretty sure she wanted to ask, but just couldn’t. “Seeing me might bring back the other memories.”
“But seeing me didn’t bring back Cindy and Billie’s memories,” she protested. “Maybe—”
“Cindy and Billie never saw you,” he interrupted gently. “From what I understand, none of you saw each other except as shadows and silhouettes in that dark basement. And, fortunately, your voice is normal so unlikely to spark a memory for them.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Normal?”
“I mean it isn’t unusually high like Billie’s, or sharp and measured like Cindy’s. It isn’t unusual enough to be memorable.”
“Thank you,” Valerie said dryly.
“You have a lovely voice,” he assured her.
“Just not a memorable one,” she said and before he could assure her that it was most memorable to him, Valerie continued, “So, Lucian called in the quacks to wipe the memories of the other women and then set them back in their lives. What happened to those supposed worries about the guy who kidnapped us? I thought that was why I was at Leigh and Lucian’s place?”
“We don’t really expect further trouble from the rogue who kidnapped you and the other women. If he’s smart, he’s moved on rather than risk our catching up with him,” Anders admitted.
“Then why am I at Leigh and Lucian’s?”
“You’re there to heal,” he said carefully.
“Ahh.” Valerie nodded. “Of course you couldn’t place me back in my old life minus the memories. The wound I gained in the house of horrors might spark my memory.”
Actually, they could. They simply would have had to give her memories of an accident to explain them, but she didn’t give Anders the chance to say as much.
“So I suppose they are waiting until I heal and then they’ll wipe my memory and place me back in my life. I’ll forget every moment of my time since being kidnapped.”
She was scowling and obviously angry, but he didn’t understand why until she added, “And all of this . . . whatever this is that’s going on between us won’t even have happened in my mind?” Valerie turned on him and accused, “So this is all just a short-term bang for you? No emotional entanglement, no clingy woman demanding to know what she means to you or expecting a relationship?”
Anders’s eyes widened as he realized where her thoughts were going, but again she didn’t give him the chance to respond, and barked, “Nice. How many women have you enjoyed such short-term affairs with? How many women have there been? Is half the female population of the GTA running around without a clue that they had mind-blowing sex with a hot hunk who—”
Anders shut her up by kissing her. It was the easiest way. Besides, he liked kissing her, and he really didn’t want to hear any more accusations of his having bedded half the Greater Toronto Area, or GTA, as it was called by locals. Especially when it had been centuries since he’d had sex before her. Ironically, he supposed it was fitting that his last name was taken from a monk.
The moment Valerie stopped fighting and kissed him back, Anders broke the kiss. He had to. Much more kissing and they’d be rolling around naked on the ground rather than talking, and right now, talking was more important.