Memory Lapse: A Slater Vance Novel (6 page)

“Did he say how long
before she could remember those personal items?” Slater asked as he made notes
in his notepad.

“He said it varied from
person to person. It could be a day to never.”

“Did you notice anything
that would help us identify who she is?” Slater asked.

“I don’t know if this
helps, but according to the x-rays taken of her body, she has suffered from
multiple broken bones over the past years. Once I was apprised of her… well,
chosen profession, it made sense to me. I mean, a working girl would get
knocked around, right?” Dr.
Groder
said salaciously.

“Dr.
Groder
,
one more question before I go, can you tell me if she ever had a child?” Slater
asked, ignoring his intense dislike of this man.

“If that was something we
were looking for, sure we could have identified whether she had a child or not.
But, we weren’t looking for that at the time. We were more concerned with her
broken bones and head trauma. Is there some issue with that?”

“No, no issue.
Just a thought.
Thanks for your help,” Slater said, standing
to shake the doctor’s hand.

Slater wanted to wash his
hands after leaving Doctor
Groder’s
office. The man
was so repulsive. Stepping into the elevator, Slater pulled the photo of Honey
and the baby out of his shirt pocket. He gnawed the inside of his mouth in
indecision. Upon reaching the third floor, he immediately turned and headed to
the stairwell. While he wanted this case closed, he couldn’t, in all good
conscience, march into the woman’s room and flash a picture that could cause
irreparable damage to her. He needed to see her shrink first. Because of his
experience with psychologists, he’d purposely tried to avoid this meeting.

The hospital’s
psychologist, Doctor Evan Brewer, was a small, wiry man with horn-rimmed
glasses. And while Slater didn’t want to, he found he liked Doctor Brewer. He
reminded Slater of Tucker in that, on the surface at least, he carried himself
with the same sincerity and innate calmness he’d witnessed in his brother.

“Good Morning. Slater
Vance,” he said, shaking the doctor’s hand

Grabbing Slater’s hand
within both of his own, Doctor Brewer responded, smiling.
“Evan
Brewer, nice to meet you.
I know your brother well. I’m a member of his
parish, in fact.”

Slater respected the fact
Doctor Brewer didn’t feel the need to introduce himself as a doctor.

“My brother, the Father,
is a good man,” Slater responded.

“We hear the same about
you…often,” Doctor Brewer grinned.

With a fake grimace,
Slater said, “Good thing we turn a blind eye to those we love, huh?”

Doctor Brewer laughed and
indicated a seat with a wave of his hand. “What can I do for you today, Mr.
Vance?”

“Slater, please. I need
to ask about one of your patients.” Lifting a hand when the doctor started to
speak, Slater continued, “Nothing about her case, I need to ask… or get
permission, I guess, before I show her something.”

“I’m assuming this is
about Honey Luscious?”

“Yes. As you probably
know, my brother has taken a special interest in her case. He’s asked me to try
and find her family.
 
During the course
of my investigation, I’ve come across a picture and I wanted your professional
okay before showing it to her.” Slater leaned forward and handed the picture to
the doctor.

Doctor Brewer studied the
picture carefully. “Wow, she was so young here.” Handing the picture back to
Slater, he continued, “By all means, show her the picture. There’s really no
easy way to predetermine reactions to things like this. It might spark her
memory, or it won’t and then she’ll be left feeling bereft and guilty for not
remembering. Of course, this picture doesn’t prove she had a baby, only that
she held one once, right?”

“You’re right, it proves
nothing. But I would bet my last nickel it’s her child. Now, what happened
since this picture was taken is anyone’s guess,” Slater said.

“Are you on your way to
her room now?” Doctor Brewer asked.

“Yes.”

Doctor Brewer lifted the
cuff of his suit coat to glance at his watch, “I have an appointment in two
minutes. Would you let Honey know I’ll be down right after?”

“Of
course.
Thanks
for seeing me.” Slater turned to go, but stopped at the door, “Doctor, is it
possible she doesn’t want to remember?”

“The human mind is so
complex, who can say with any certainty. She may very well be repressing
memories, but there are no tests which would tell us that specifically. We just
have to try to provide her with a safe enough environment that she feels secure
in, and hope for the best. Is that clear as mud?” Doctor Brewer said smiling.

“Thanks again,” Slater
said with a wave of his hand.

Slater headed back to the
bank of elevators and again punched the button for the third floor.

◊◊◊

Slater wasn’t
particularly surprised to find his brother in the room with Honey Luscious.
Slater stood just inside the threshold as both Honey and his brother had their
heads bowed together in prayer. While Slater indulged his brother’s profession,
he didn’t actually believe in a greater power particularly. With what he’d
experienced during his time in the Special Forces, as well as what he’d
experienced in his life, Slater believed you made your own way. It would have
pissed him off to think that some higher entity could have prevented the
senseless things he’d seen and endured. Life… well, was just life. You lived,
you died, and you just tried to survive the time in between.

Slater straightened when
he heard Honey say, “Thank you, Father.”

He cleared his throat to
let them know he was in the room. Both their heads turned in his direction.

“Tucker, Ms. Luscious,”
Slater gave a nod of his head in greeting.

“Hey, Slate.
 
Have you found anything?”

Honey Luscious made no
comment but met Slater’s eyes with cool determination. He knew she was still
angry from their last meeting. He also knew she’d not said anything to Tucker
about his threat or he’d have already heard about it from his brother.

Stepping forward into the
room, Slater said, “Well, I’ve found a couple of things, but nothing to tell us
anything more than we already know.” Looking directly at Honey Luscious, Slater
said, “I don’t guess you’ve had a complete breakthrough since we last spoke?”

She simply shook her
head.

Tapping the side of his
thigh with his fingertips, Slater hesitated before approaching the seat across
from Honey Luscious.

While Slater wasn’t in
the market for a woman except in the most basic way, nor held any particular
regard for them, he wasn’t coldblooded by any means. He knew once he showed her
the photo, there’d be no going back to the way it was before; this photo would
be indelibly etched in her mind.

Setting the bag
containing the teddy bear aside for now, Slater leaned forward, placed his
elbows on his knees, folded his hands together, and rested his chin on his
fingertips. Silently, he contemplated her, and again she met his eyes steadily.
She had backbone; he’d give her that.

“What is it, Slate?”
Tucker asked perplexedly.

Slater decided to
approach in a more roundabout way rather than direct. So, instead of beginning
with the photo, he asked a different question.

“I went by the police
department and spoke with Bridge. He said the paramedics said you kept asking
about a pet. Do you remember that?” Slater asked Honey.

Slater watched her eyes
closely. She blinked rapidly several times before slowly shaking her head.

“Bridge said the police
officers looked around but didn’t find any stray pets in the vicinity.”

Slater looked at Honey
Luscious with her bruised face and casted arm and leg. He had to give her props
for holding it together as well as she had. Here was a woman who had no memory,
was about to kicked into the street, didn’t have any place to go or anyone to
turn to, and she still met his eye with confidence.

Still holding back the
photo, he leaned forward instead and pulled the sealed plastic bag holding the
dirty teddy bear out of the brown grocery bag it was concealed in.

Handing the bear to her,
Slater asked, “Does this look familiar to you?”

Slowly her eyes fell to
the object he’d sat on her lap. With her hand, she lifted the plastic enclosed
bear and turned it over and over again on her lap. Slater saw her throat
muscles work as she swallowed repeatedly. Her chest rose rapidly with quick,
shallow breaths. He saw her eyes glisten with tears she refused to let fall.
Finally, her hand lay still on top of the bear and she lifted her eyes to stare
out the window. As before, she slowly shook her head.

“Where did that come
from? What does it mean?” Tucker asked him.

Slater leaned back in his
seat and glanced over at his brother. “I found it in the ravine by the accident
site. It could mean nothing. It could have been there for a day, a week; months
even. I also found a suitcase which I have down in my SUV filled with women’s
clothing. I believe it may belong to Ms. Luscious. There was nothing to
identify who it belonged to.”

Slater turned back to the
woman and hesitated before squaring his shoulders. He reached into his shirt
pocket to retrieve the photo. He waited until he met her eyes before handing
her the photo. She held his eyes even as she accepted it. With obvious
reluctance, as if she also knew there’d be no going back once she’d seen it,
she slowly lowered her gaze to the picture.

Slater watched her hand
tremble and saw the tears splash on her wrist as they fell. As before, she
swallowed profusely but was unable to contain the sob that ripped from her
chest. Almost immediately, Tucker was kneeling beside her with his arm wrapped
around her. Slater stayed still and quiet in his seat, watching her reaction.
After several minutes, she raised her tear-filled eyes to his and asked, “Is
this my… child?”

Contemplating her face
and her reaction carefully, Slater finally shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not
sure. It was in the lining of the suitcase I found. I only know it’s you in the
photo. I assume the child is yours, but I don’t know. It doesn’t spark any
memories for you?”

Again her shoulders shook
and her hand trembled. Whispering almost to herself, she said, “What kind of
mother forgets her own child?”

Tucker stroked her arm
comfortingly. “We don’t know for sure you have a child. And even if it is your
child; it’s not your fault. Don’t beat yourself up.”

Slater saw the woman had
no memory and it was obvious none were coming from seeing the items.

Standing, he placed a
hand on his brother’s shoulder, “Doctor Brewer said he would be up as soon as he
finished with his patient. I’m sorry for distressing you. I’ll let you know if
I find anything else. Okay?”

Without looking up at
him, and still clinging to the photo, she only nodded.

Tucker laid his hand over
the one Slater had placed on his shoulder. Looking up into his eyes, he said,
“Thanks, Slate. I know you’re doing all you can. I appreciate it. I’ve got it
from here.”

Slater nodded his
understanding of being dismissed and gave Tucker a grim smile before walking
out of the room. Slater had a bad feeling about that woman. All of his
instincts wanted to remove his brother from anywhere close to Honey
Luscious’s
vicinity.

Chapter 4

Slater was rudely
awakened from his hard-found sleep by the insistent beeping of an alarm going
off near his head. Sitting up quickly, he checked the panel located above his
bed. The alarm in his office was going off. Quickly, he grabbed his cell and
dialed the number for the building’s security office to notify them of a
possible break-in. He swiftly grabbed a pair of jeans and T-shirt, as well as
the weapon locked in his bedside table.

It took Slater twelve
minutes from the time he was dragged from sleep to make it to his office
building. Stopping by the security office, the rent-a-cop told him his partner
had gone up to check but hadn’t called back down yet. Slater yelled at him to
call nine-one-one as he ran to the elevators. The lights were off in the
hallway leading to his office, which was odd; even the red emergency lights
were out. Slater pulled out a small penlight, which he placed between his lips,
and pulled out his 9mm. Before slipping down into a crouch, he began inching
his way towards his office, and in the darkness, he stumbled over a body.
Pointing his light at the body, he saw it was the rent-a-cop. Slater placed two
fingers against his throat and felt a pulse. Clicking the penlight off, he
continued forward stealthily.

He’d made it almost to
the door when he felt, not heard, a bullet whiz by his head and plant into the
wood panel next to him. Rolling down and landing on his stomach, he raised his
gun and fanned it out in front of him but didn’t see anyone. Inching forward on
his stomach, he rose up to his knees and shoved himself against the glass doors
of his office. He fell back to his stomach when the glass door shattered. The
tempered glass blew into big chunks, littering the carpet both inside and
outside his office doorway. Slater could feel the glass bite into his flesh as
he continued to inch forward on his stomach. Darkness surrounded him totally.
He’d almost made it to Bennie’s desk when he felt a small gush of air, and as
he flipped his body onto his back with his gun poised to fire, he felt
something hard and solid slam into his head. He managed to fire one shot before
the spots, which flooded his eyes upon impact, turned black and he passed out.
He flinched involuntarily at the swift kick in the ribs he received.