Stolen Memory. Virginia Kantra

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ safer perhaps, if he stayed in safe isolation on the island until his memory returned.

      But his mind remained a stubborn blank. Sometimes he had a flash, a moment’s hope. Last night he’d reached for his nail clippers, and his pleasure at finding them in the drawer he’d opened so automatically had been embarrassingly acute.

      He couldn’t count on such moments. They were frustratingly rare in any case. His business, his life, even his own character were like a puzzle he had to assemble without all the pieces or any real idea of what the finished picture was supposed to look like.

      And yet his business and his life might depend on his ability to fit it all together.

      Every day that slipped away took with it another chance to compile the pieces and make sense of the puzzle. Who had attacked him? Who had betrayed him? Who could he trust?

      “Simon? You still there?”

      Simon collected himself. “Yes. I’ll be back in the office soon. A day or two. I’m close to something here.”

      He wasn’t close to anything, he thought bleakly.

      Or anyone, apparently. The only person he felt a connection with had just told him flat out there was no reason for them to ever see each other again.

      At least Laura had been honest with him.

      “Great,” Vince said. “I’ll see you then.”

      They said a few more words and disconnected. Simon set the phone beside his plate.

      Dylan leaned forward, stabbing his lettuce with a fork. “So what did the old bastard want?”

      “What do you think he wanted?” Simon countered.

      Dylan swallowed a mouthful of salad. “He probably told you to kick me out before I talked you into funding my foolish, evil schemes.”

      “I can’t kick you out. You’re my brother. And a vice president of the company,” Simon added.

      Dylan grimaced. “That’s always been an afterthought for you, hasn’t it?”

      Had it? Simon wished again, desperately, he could ask for an explanation. He went fishing for one instead.

      “You’re still my brother.”

      “Half brother,” Dylan said.

      It was another puzzle piece. Simon seized on it. “We still grew up together.”

      Dylan gave him an odd look. “If that’s the way you want to remember it.”

      Simon didn’t remember his childhood at all. He had a sudden image of wedging himself on the floor between his bed and the wall to read, and a shelf full of books. But no house. No yard. No memory of friends. Not even an impression of his mother’s face.

      Why were there no pictures of his mother in the house? No family at all, except the girl upstairs.

      He wanted to ask, but he was afraid to show any weakness.

      Laura would have asked. No one would have counted it a weakness. No one would be suspicious if she was around asking questions. It was a function of her job, a component of her character.

      Simon needed answers.

      He wanted an ally.

      He needed Laura.

      He wanted Laura.

      Chapter 4

      The apartment door jerked open a crack, and Laura Baker scowled past the security chain at Simon.

      He was so glad to see a familiar face—even half of a familiar face—he decided to overlook the scowl. The walk through town had been a nightmare. He kept imagining people were looking at him, that they knew him or at least knew of him, and he hadn’t recognized a soul. Not the straw-haired waitress smoking in front of the diner or the man in the checkered shirt cleaning the windows of the hardware store or the redheaded woman waving through the window of the camera shop. It had been a relief to turn onto Laura’s tree-lined, residential street and into the quiet courtyard of her brownstone apartment building.

      “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

      “I want to talk to you. Please,” he added, because she didn’t seem nearly as happy to see him as he was to see her, and he needed her help.

      The door didn’t budge. “How did you get here?”

      “Quinn brought me. In the boat.”

      He could tell from Quinn’s reaction that that had been a mistake. But by the time Simon realized he knew how to pilot the boat, it had been too late.

      “Well, I didn’t think you walked on water.” Laura’s smile erased the sting from her words. The security chain rattled. “How did you know where I live? I’m not listed in the phone book.”

      He shrugged. “My computer’s working.”

      She didn’t cite antihacking statutes at him or protest his invasion of her privacy. Instead she swung open the door. “As long as you’re here, you might as well come in.”

      Relieved, he stepped inside the cramped and airless apartment. “Nice place,” he said, even though it wasn’t. The stingy light from overhead barely illuminated the scarred woodwork and worn carpet.

      Laura shrugged. “It’s a dump. But it’s convenient. I wanted to be close to the station. And it’s got good bones.”

      He looked at her, her narrow face and straight shoulders, the way she stood with her fingers tucked into her back pockets, and the knots that had been twisting tighter and tighter in his gut relaxed. “Yes.”

      Did she color faintly in the dim light?

      “You want something to drink?” she asked, walking away from him into the living room.

      Throws and bright pillows failed to disguise the shabby furniture. The plant hanging by the window needed water. An empty glass decorated the coffee table, and a pair of sneakers lay kicked off by the couch. But Laura’s home was still warmer, or at least more personal, than his luxury mausoleum.

      “No drink. Thanks,” he said.

      She pivoted, her hands still in her pockets. The angle of her arms thrust her breasts forward. “Why are you here?”

      He looked her carefully in the eyes. “I need a favor.”

      Her expression shuttered. What would it take, how would it feel, to have her look at him with openness? With warmth? “Yeah, I figured,” she said.

      “You said you wouldn’t work for me,” he reminded her.

      “That’s right.”

      “And you don’t want us to be involved—romantically involved,” he clarified.

      The СКАЧАТЬ