Memory Lapse: A Slater Vance Novel (25 page)

The show,
Charleston at Sunrise
, was actually
being aired tomorrow, but she’d gotten a preview copy of the show. Without
looking at Slater, Janet clicked the remote, and after a moment of snow, the
set of
Charleston at Sunrise
appeared
on the flat screen. In the background, the set had a panoramic picture of the
city of Charleston with the sun rising up behind its tall building. There was a
round, raised platform in the forefront of the set with a glass table which
served as a desk with two burgundy chairs sitting adjacent to it. The host of
the show, Adrian Myers, sat behind the glass desk in his dark blue suit and
white shirt with coordinating tie. His blonde hair was perfectly combed and his
smile was professional and sincere. He introduced the show and welcomed the
viewers.

He introduced the topic
of the segment entitled
Memory Lapse
.
He first brought in an expert on the subject of memory loss and they discussed
its causes and then its effects – short-term and long-term. Then he introduced
Janet. She walked onto the set wearing the same yellow shift dress Slater had
seen her wear before. She nervously sat down and ran her hands against her
thighs, smoothing out the material.

Adrian Myers gave a brief
synopsis of her story and then began to question her. While it was evident she
was nervous, she answered his questions, no matter how probing.

“What’s the hardest part
of having no personal memory?” Adrian Myers asked toward the end of the
interview.

Janet looked down at her
hands in thought. “It’s all hard. Not knowing who you are; who you were; who
you loved; who loved you; not belonging anywhere. It’s all hard.”

“What do you miss most?”

“My life,” she replied
softly.

Adrian Myers spoke for a
few more minutes, and then directed the viewers to contact the station if they
had information regarding Janet Jackson. The flat screen went black.

Everyone seated in the
den seemed to understand the ramifications of what Janet had done, and silence
prevailed.

Finally, Slater asked
quietly, “What happens when people call in? What will the station tell them
about you?”

“I’m not sure,” she
answered just as quietly, looking down at her hands.

“They tell them nothing.
Do you understand?
Nothing.
Everything runs through
me, is that understood?” Slater said tersely.

With her head bowed, she
only nodded.

Standing abruptly, Slater
ran an exasperated hand through his short hair. “Dammit,” he said with force.

Spinning back to her, he
asked, “Why would you do this? Why put yourself at so much risk? Of all the foolhardy,
stupid things…”

“I have no choice,” she
whispered still with her head bowed. “I can’t leave her out there fending for
herself. What if she’s afraid? What if she cries for me? I… I can’t bear it any
longer. I had to do it… I had to.”

Tucker slid over to her
and wrapped an arm around her while shooting Slater an admonishing look.

“Everything runs through
me, you got that?” Slater said as he stormed out of the room.

Going into his room, he
began chucking his clothes and
unwrapped
his ribs. He
walked into his bathroom and climbed into his double-sized glass shower and
stood beneath the hot, stinging needles of water as it rained down on him.

How could she have been
so stupid? Why would she take such risks? He understood her need to move on
with her life, but not at the risk of losing it. He leaned into the water and
rested his forearms against the tiled shower wall. How was he going to keep her
safe?

Slipping on some sweats
and a T-shirt, Slater went to his office and booted up his computer. He was surprised
to have a response from Vanessa Sanderson. Clicking on the email, she’d typed
simply:
Hope this helps
, with an
attachment. Clicking on the attachment, Slater wished he was surprised to see
the face that appeared. It was the same face which had torn his office into
shreds.
The face of the man who’d supposedly been killed in
action nine years prior.
Nevin
Justaine
.

As he promised, he saved
the attachment then forwarded it to Bridge’s inbox as well. Exhaustion washed
over him as he sat in front of the computer. Leaning back in his chair, he ran
a hand over the stubble on his face. His eyes fell onto the crystal paperweight
with the honeybee encased within. He reached out a hand and ran his fingers
over its smooth surface. He didn’t know how, but he had to keep her safe. He
thought if he could do just this one thing, it would somehow negate his role in
his wife’s, daughter’s, and Celia’s senseless deaths.

He turned his head at the
tap on the door and saw Tucker bring him a plate with a sandwich and chips.

“Thought
you might be hungry.”

“Thanks, Tuck. Just like
old times, huh?”

Tucker smiled as he set
the plate down, but it faded as he said, “You were a little harsh, don’t you
think?”

“I don’t think I was
harsh enough. Doesn’t she realize what’s
she’s
opened
herself up for?”

Sitting down across from
him, Tucker said, “I don’t think she feels she has a choice at this point.”

“She should have just
been patient. I was working on it. Things have just been… crazy lately.

“Maybe.
But, Slate, put
yourself in her shoes; if you had the chance to find your daughter, wouldn’t
you do about anything within your power to do so?
No matter what it cost
you personally? And who knows, maybe things aren’t as bad as we think. Maybe
there is someone out there frantically looking for her.”

Slater shrugged his
shoulders, not convinced of the saneness of her actions.

◊◊◊

The next morning, Slater
rose early to catch the ‘live’
Charleston
at Sunrise
. He wasn’t surprised when Janet came in and sat next to him on
the couch. They watched it in silence. As much as he wished her segment had
somehow been deleted or had exploded into some outer stratosphere, there it was
– and there she was – in all her glory. Slater felt the burn of dread in his
belly. They watched in silence until it ended and the weatherman began to speak
about cloudy skies and sixty percent chance of rain.

He was surprised to look
down and find his hand clasped tightly with hers. Softly he heard her say,
“It’ll be fine, Slate, I promise. I’ll be careful. It’s… it’s for my daughter.
Please try to understand. Please don’t be angry at me.”

Exhaling deeply, he
turned to look into her sad, apprehensive, dark chocolate eyes. “I’m not…
angry. Worried, yes,” raising his other hand to run the back of his fingers
across her cheek, he said softly, “Promise we’ll take it slow from here, okay?”

Slowly, she nodded her
head.

Chapter 19

Janet had been at work
for only an hour when the calls began to roll in regarding her and her segment.
As she’d promised, she didn’t answer or return any of the incoming calls, but
forwarded them all to Slater. Feeling overwhelmed with all the activity and the
stress of the day, she grabbed her purse and walked across the street to a
little bistro, which had sidewalk seating. Fortunately, the weatherman had been
wrong with the forecasted rain. The sun was shining high from a cloudless sky.

Sliding a hand underneath
her flowing green skirt, she sat in the café chair. She slid her sunglasses up
into her hair as the waiter handed her a menu. She glanced at it quickly before
deciding on a side salad and setting the menu down. She folded her hands
together and placed them on the table. Her stomach churned with the possibility
of things to come. Had she made the right decision? She didn’t know, but now
she just had to persevere through whatever came of the television segment.

She didn’t hear the man
approach, and with her head bowed, she didn’t notice when he sat across from
her. She didn’t know of his existence until he reached across the table and covered
her hands with one of his own.

Softly he said, “Ellis?”

Gasping, she snatched her
hand from underneath his and raised her startled eyes to the man across from
her. He was nice looking in a polished way, had olive-colored skin,
professionally short, dark hair, and the most startling blue eyes she’d ever
seen.

“I’m sorry, do I know
you?” she asked nervously.

The man jumped up from
his chair and pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. Placing his lips
against her temple, he murmured, “I’ve been so worried. Where have you been?
I’ve looked everywhere.”

Pulling away from him,
she licked her lips nervously. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

She watched something
flash across his face but it was gone before she could identify what it was.

“I’m your husband.”

She stumbled back and
tried to swallow the bile in her throat. Fear coursed through her body causing
her to tremble. With her hands fluttering nervously, she asked, “Did you see
the television show? Is that how you found me?”

Placing a hand gently
against the small of her back, he urged to sit back down. Once she did, he
returned to the chair he’d vacated.

“Yes. I couldn’t believe
it,” giving her an encouraging smile, he continued, “I almost choked on my
coffee. I couldn’t get here fast enough, then lo and behold, I saw you sitting
here… waiting for me. Petra is going to be so happy.”

“Petra?” she whispered.

“Our
daughter.”

The air expressed from
her lungs. “Our daughter,” she murmured.

Keeping his eyes on hers,
he reached into his suit jacket and removed his wallet. Glancing down he
flipped through the plastic photo-holder and withdrew a picture and handed it
to her. With trembling hands, she reached across and took the picture from his
fingers.

Tears blurred her eyes
when she looked into the face she knew as well as her own.
Petra,
her ‘Pet.’ “Where is she?
Is she okay?”

Reaching a hand over to
calm her, he said, “She’s perfectly fine. In fact, right now she’s in school.
She’ll be so happy to finally have you home.”

With her head filled with
her previous visions/memories, and with her lips trembling, she whispered
fearfully, “Home?”

With his eyes gentling,
he said, “Yes, home. We’ve missed you so much. We didn’t know what happened
when you took off the way you did. Where have you been? The TV show said you
were involved in a car accident?”

Without answering his
questions, she asked, “Why did I run off?”

Pursing his lips, he
said, “Ellis, you ran because you got scared about something from your past.
Before we got together, you… used to live with a man who was abusive. We got
into a stupid argument and I raised my
voice,
and you…
kinda
freaked out, and then just like that, you were
gone.”

With trembling lips, she
replied, “I don’t even remember your name.”

With a sad smile, he
reached a hand up and tucked her hair behind her ear, “
It’s
Sy
.
Sylus
Trusworth
. And you’re Ellis
Trusworth
.
We have beautiful daughter named Petra. She’s wonderful and our life together
is wonderful. We’ve been devastated since you’ve been gone. When can we go
home?”

With her thoughts
swirling, she swallowed. “I don’t know… I have to be back at work by one…” she
finished lamely.

He placed a calming hand
to cup her face. “Please don’t be afraid. We’ll take things one step at a time.
I realized this is all weird and awkward right now. We just want you home,
okay?”

Her mind swirled, not
knowing what to do. If it weren’t for the fact her daughter was with this man,
she might have hesitated further, but slowly, she nodded her head.

“I need… to let my boss
know…”

Exhaling a breath he’d
obviously been holding, he knelt before her and leaned his forehead against
hers. “I promise you won’t regret this.” He leaned in to kiss her, but at the
last second she turned her face so his lips landed on her cheek instead. Once
again she saw something flit across his face, but again, she couldn’t identify
it before it was gone.

“Are you hungry?” he
asked.

She shook her head,
knowing she’d never be able swallow anything. Throwing money on the table, he
held out his hand to her. She rose on trembling legs and went with him across
the street. Her boss was disappointed to see her go, but happy things had
worked out. She asked Harold Moss to walk her… husband around while she packed
up her few meager possessions from her desk.

Once they were out of
sight, she quickly picked up the phone and dialed Slater’s cell phone. It rang
and rang and then went to voicemail. She didn’t know what to say in a
voicemail. There were so many things she wanted to say, things that were now
inappropriate in light of her… marriage. With trembling hands, she put the
phone down.

Taking a deep breath, she
dialed Tucker at his office.

“Hey, Tuck, it’s… me,”
for the life of her, she didn’t even know what name to use.

Tucker didn’t seem to
notice her hesitation.
“Hi, Janet.
What a nice
surprise. How is work going today? I bet it’s been crazy.”

Swallowing and with a
watery voice, she said, “Tuck, I… I… my husband showed up today. I’m leaving
now to go with him. My daughter is in school and I want to be home when she
gets out. Please… let Slater know,” she had to take a deep breath to contain
the sob which threatened. “Please tell him thank you for me. Tell him… I’ll be
in touch, okay?”

Silence met her words.
Finally Tucker said, “What do we call you? Where can we reach you?”

“My name is Ellis…
Trusworth
.
I have a beautiful daughter that I remember named Petra. I… don’t know any more
than that right now. I’ll call you though, okay,”

Silence once again met
her words. “I think you should wait and talk to Slater before you leave with
anyone,” Tucker said softly.

Not able to contain her
sobs, she said, “I have to be with my daughter. I’ll be fine. I… need to go.
I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” she said in a strangled voice.

“You’ve become very
important to us – me, Slate, and Tiger. Please know you can call us at any time
and we’ll be there for you. Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t. Goodbye,
Father.” Slowly she replaced the phone receiver on its base and wiped the tears
from her cheek. This was the right decision, the only decision she could make.
She hoped Slater would understand.

Chapter 20

Tucker sat back in his
seat for about one minute before calling Slater.
As with
Janet’s…
Ellis’s… his call went to voicemail. Unlike her, he left a
voicemail demanding Slater call him immediately.

When he called Slater’s
office, Bennie answered, “Exposed, Inc.”

“Hi, Bennie,
its
Tucker. Is Slater in the office?”