Sudden Recall. Lisa Phillips

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СКАЧАТЬ The rifle popped off one shot, and the injured man fell to the ground.

      Sienna looked away from the carnage while the rifleman chuckled.

      “Let’s go.” The man holding her stepped over the dead guy, which forced her to do the same. “You have an appointment with the boss.”

      “I think you have the wrong person. This must be some mistake. I run a tiny ranch and I take care of my sick aunt. What could you possibly want with me?”

      “Not us, just the boss.” He chuckled. “Nice try, though. This whole ‘I don’t remember’ act is cute and all. I nearly busted a gut when I heard about that. But it’s not going to fly. The boss has ways of making people remember things.”

      Dread crested over her like an ice cold wave. She wasn’t going to suddenly get her memories back, not even with whatever horrifying method their “boss” came up with. The doctors couldn’t do anything about her amnesia, which was why she’d checked out of the hospital.

      A year later and she still didn’t recall one iota of her past. Aunt Karen asked her about it every few weeks, but other than that she just let Sienna go about her business.

      The whole thing was bizarre. And not just the situation she was in now.

      Aunt Karen was like an acquaintance living in her house. Sienna had figured she’d develop familial affection for the older woman at some point, but it hadn’t happened yet. What kind of niece didn’t even love her own aunt? And what had Parker said, about her not even having an aunt, just an uncle? How strange was that?

      It was like everyone knew more about her life than she did. Sienna wanted to grab her hair at the roots. All the tiptoeing around, all the side glances and making sure she hadn’t snapped. It was infuriating. She wanted to just get in her truck—if it actually worked—and drive off into the sunset. But every time she got ready to leave, it was like her aunt got needier.

      Now she was about to get a ride out of town when she really didn’t want to go.

      The gunman shook her arm. “Move. Now.”

      * * *

      Parker was pretty sure his rib was broken. He lay on the ground listening to the men walking Sienna to the van, then rolled over and did a push-up, getting his legs under him. Oh, that hurt. He jogged after them in time to see her struggle against the man holding her, desperate not to be put on the waiting chopper. Good girl.

      She was giving the fight a valiant effort, further proof that what she’d said was true. In fight-or-flight mode no one was good enough to keep up the pretense. She’d have done even better in this situation had she retained all of her previous skills, which meant they likely truly had been forgotten.

      At least these men didn’t seem to want her dead, or she’d have been killed already. No, they only wanted him dead—which was pretty much the story of his life.

      Since the single gunman had his back to him, Parker cracked the door on his truck and grabbed his phone, hoping they wouldn’t see the dome light. He sent a text to the duty phone at the marshal’s office that was manned 24/7, a code that meant, “Get everyone here. I’m in serious trouble,” along with his location. The team wouldn’t thank him given they’d also had a rough day, and were probably all home in bed by now. But they would understand.

      Parker clicked the door as quietly as he could while Sienna kicked and struggled against her captor.

      The helicopter pilot yelled through the open door. “Let’s go!”

      Parker took cover behind the truck, his gun aimed at the man. “US Marshals—let her go!”

      The gunman pointed his weapon and fired. Parker ducked for a second, then lifted up to shoot again—aiming for the far side of the man so there was less chance a miss would hit Sienna.

      She kicked out at the gunman so that the man’s shots went wide and missed Parker. Sienna grabbed the man’s head and ripped the wool balaclava from his face.

      Brown hair fell down across his forehead and surprise flashed on his face, distracting him enough that Sienna was able to slam his head back against the side of the helicopter. He dropped to the concrete, unconscious. Maybe she hasn’t forgotten everything.

      A boot crunched gravel at his back and Parker spun. He sideswiped the rifle with his forearm and punched the man. The fight was nasty, but Parker got him on the ground, arms behind his back. “Who sent you here?”

      The man didn’t answer.

      Sienna sprinted over and took cover behind Parker.

      Parker asked again, “Who sent you?”

      The man on the ground chuckled. The words he spoke were Italian, but Parker understood them nonetheless. He was going to kill himself. Before Parker could flip the man to his back and prevent the suicide, he’d already bitten down on what was likely a cyanide capsule in a fake tooth.

      Parker pulled Sienna away so she didn’t have to see or hear the man’s unpleasant death. The helicopter rotors spun faster and it lifted off the ground, those inside apparently fully prepared to cut their losses and bail on this whole endeavor.

      Parker held his arm around their faces while wind flicked his shirttails up and down. A convoy of cars pulled up and parked in the spot where the helicopter had been, surrounding the remaining living man. His team piled out, guns drawn, looking as perturbed as he felt.

      Parker turned Sienna so she could focus on him. “Are you okay?”

      She nodded. “Thank you.”

      He wanted to say, “Always,” but that would imply there was some kind of link between them, some emotional connection deeper than two strangers standing by a truck on a highway. He wasn’t going there again; he had to keep a distance.

      “You want to tell us what on earth is going on, Parker?” His boss, Jonah Rivers, was newly married and probably mad he’d been pulled away from precious time with his bride. Behind Jonah was US Marshal Wyatt Ames, a former police detective, and behind him the team’s married couple—Hailey and Eric Hanning. Jonah’s gaze was riveted on the front of Parker’s vest.

      Parker glanced down and saw the bullet lodged there. Jonah’s eyebrow rose.

      “Everyone, this is Sienna.”

      Ames grinned, but then he always was cocky. “Explains a few things.”

      Parker ignored him and pointed out everyone so she knew their names. “I was with Sienna when she was almost abducted by this guy.” He pointed at the man who’d killed himself with the capsule in his tooth. “And this guy.” He pointed at the man who’d been shot, though Parker was only responsible for the graze on his arm. “The one over there is only unconscious.”

      Eric and Hailey broke off to handcuff the last man alive.

      Parker blew out a breath while Jonah strode over and held out his hand. “It’s good to see you, Sienna.”

      Parker whipped his head around. “You know her?”

      Sienna said, “I watched some of the zoo animals at my ranch after the flood, up СКАЧАТЬ