Montana Secrets. Charlotte Douglas

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СКАЧАТЬ years of amnesia would place his usually ice-cool commanding officer in such an apprehensive state.

      The colonel leaned forward, seeming to hold his breath for Ryan’s answer.

      “No, sir, not everything. I can’t remember the last few days before the bombing.”

      “Damn!” Barker slammed his fist on his desk.

      Since threats hadn’t gained him the response he wanted, Ryan decided on a new tack. Politeness.

      “May I use an embassy phone, sir? When I told Prince Asim my memory had returned, he refused to let me place a call and demanded I report to you first. I have to call my fiancée.”

      Barker shook his head. “Sorry, Trace, you’ll have to be debriefed before you can contact anyone.”

      “But Catherine—”

      “No calls. That’s final.”

      Ryan slumped in his chair in exasperation. Earlier, when his memory had returned, his first thought had been of Catherine Erickson, his beautiful and endearing Cat, his Kalila with eyes the color of Montana’s big sky, hair the hue of aspen leaves in autumn and contagious laughter that made his heart sing. He’d had no contact with her since before the bombing, and he couldn’t wait to hear her voice again.

      Abandoned at birth, shifted from one stranger’s home to another throughout his childhood, Ryan had never felt he truly belonged anywhere—until he fell in love with Cat. Her acceptance of him with all his flaws, her unfailing ability to make him laugh, the dreams and goals they had shared together made him realize that wherever Cat was, was home.

      At this minute, he’d never been so homesick in his life.

      “If she’s waited five years,” the colonel said gruffly, “she can wait a few more hours.”

      “If she’s waited?” Ryan glanced sharply at the officer. “Doesn’t Cat know I’m alive?”

      Baxter leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers across his barrel chest. “You’re not going to like what I have to say, but if you’ll hear me out, you’ll understand.”

      A premonition shivered down Ryan’s backbone. He’d already suffered one severe shock this morning, learning he wasn’t the man he’d thought he’d been for the past five years. What if something had happened to Cat?

      “Cat’s okay, isn’t she?”

      “As far as we know,” Barker replied, “but we’ll get to her later. First, tell me exactly how much you remember from before the bombing.”

      Ryan sat back in his chair, took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. Among his recovered memories was his awareness that Colonel Barker had his own way of operating. Ryan would have to allow events to unfold at his commanding officer’s pace. As much as he wanted to know about Cat, to place that call and hear her voice, to reassure himself that she was all right, he’d have to answer Barker’s questions first.

      Ryan closed his eyes and tried to remember. “My last clear memory before the bombing was the day you met with Marc Erickson and me to alert us to a possible terrorist attack. You feared someone inside the embassy was in league with the terrorists and you wanted us to identify them.”

      “As it turned out, I was right. The attack was an inside job.” Barker rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That meeting was about ten days prior to the bombing. You don’t remember anything after that?”

      “There’s a huge gap, sir. My next memories are of hospitals and doctors. But Marc can tell you everything about those missing days before the attack. You know how closely we worked together.”

      Barker grew ominously still. “I’m afraid Marc can’t help us.”

      A sudden foreboding filled Ryan with dread. “Why not?”

      “Erickson’s dead.”

      Pierced with grief for his friend, Ryan sank deeper in his chair and closed his eyes, but he couldn’t block out the pain. He forced himself to meet Barker’s sympathetic gaze. “Killed in the bombing?”

      Barker shook his head. “Assassinated.”

      “What?” The officer’s response took Ryan by surprise, and he jerked upright.

      The colonel rose from his chair with obvious effort, as if the world lay heavily on his shoulders. He circled his desk and perched on its edge in front of Ryan. “The day of the bombing Erickson was in the bazaar. He called on his cell phone to alert me to clear the building. Said he’d fill me in on the details later.”

      His expression grim, Barker stared past Ryan toward the windows that overlooked the desert. “We began the evacuation instantly, but we didn’t have enough time to get everyone out before the bomb, already planted in the embassy, blew. It undoubtedly was an inside job. Those closest to the ambassador’s office suffered the highest casualties.”

      Ryan nodded. He couldn’t remember the event, but he’d read the news reports. Ninety-eight people had died that day, and scores had been seriously wounded.

      “In the chaos that followed,” Barker continued, “I temporarily forgot about Erickson, but three Marines who’d been off duty when the bomb exploded stumbled across him as they were rushing to the embassy. He was lying in a deserted alley, and he’d been shot in the back.”

      “So he never had a chance to tell you what he’d learned about the terrorists or how he knew about the bomb?”

      “He spoke briefly to the men who found him before he lost consciousness.” Barker fixed Ryan with a probing stare. “His last words were, ‘Ask Ryan. He knows who did this.’”

      Ryan fought to speak past the lump in his throat. “He never regained consciousness?”

      “He slipped into a coma, and even though he hung on for over a year, he was never able to tell us anything more.”

      “And I’d lost my memory and couldn’t name the traitor, either.”

      Barker nodded. “That’s why we forged you a new identity as Trace Gallagher. Prince Asim gave you a home and a job as a bodyguard in the palace. We wanted to keep you safe until your memory returned.”

      “But that’s crazy,” Ryan said with a laugh. “I’ve been living openly in Bahira and wandering freely throughout the city ever since my rehabilitation from my injuries. Anyone from the embassy would recognize me immediately.”

      Barker’s keen eyes filled with sadness. “Have you looked in the mirror since your memory returned?”

      Ryan shook his head. “I haven’t had time to do anything since I told Asim I’d remembered. His bodyguards rushed me here.”

      Barker pointed to a door off his office. “There’s a mirror in the bathroom. You’d better take a look.”

      With trepidation, Ryan shoved to his feet and entered the bathroom. Bracing himself for an appearance maimed from injuries, he faced the mirror head-on.

      A stranger stared back at him.

      Not СКАЧАТЬ