Forgotten Memories

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“Fine. Hungry,” she added as the events from the night before came rushing back. Staring into his mesmerizing blue eyes, she visualized everything with distinct clarity. Had she really allowed Shane to carry her into the hospital like some fairy-tale damsel in distress? What was wrong with her? She hadn’t gotten to where she was, the youngest trauma surgeon on staff at Trinity Medical Center, by being weak. Her colleagues would never respect her if she continued to allow that sort of behavior to happen.

Time to get back on track. She wasn’t the timid, vulnerable girl she’d been as a new resident. Damon had taken advantage of her innocence, but no way would she allow that to happen again.

“Let’s grab some breakfast,” Shane suggested.

The thought of sharing a meal with the strikingly handsome deputy filled her with a strange sense of panic. “Oh, I’m sure you have work to do, and so do I,” she hedged.

“I don’t have anything pressing and we need to talk,” Shane said, his expression grim. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Someone broke into your house last night.”

“What?” She’d assumed he had been with her the entire time since Nate had driven them back to the hospital. “When? What happened?”

“Let’s eat, and then talk,” Shane said, placing his hand in the small of her back. “Which way to the cafeteria?”

She didn’t appreciate his evasiveness, but she was too hungry at the moment to argue with him. “Follow me,” Gabby said, heading down the corridor and then taking a series of turns. She knew all the shortcuts and took a back staircase that came out right near the cafeteria.

The place was busy since it was eleven-thirty in the morning and the lunch crowd was already packed in. She longed for breakfast, her favorite meal of the day, but the hospital cafeteria stopped serving bacon and eggs by nine-thirty, so she settled for a grilled-chicken sandwich and a salad.

Shane ordered a roast beef sandwich and then followed her to the checkout line. He pulled out his wallet, but she waved him away. “I’ll put this on my ID badge,” she murmured.

“No, I’m paying,” Shane said in a clipped tone. He pinned the cashier with a stern look and of course the woman was happy to accept his cash.

Gabby grimaced, belatedly realizing she must have offended his pride, although that certainly hadn’t been her intention. In the world of medicine, she was accustomed to colleagues paying for each other regardless of gender.

Besides, she didn’t want to give Shane the impression that this was personal.

“Thanks,” she said when they carried their trays to one of the few empty tables in the back of the room. “I really appreciate it.”

Shane gave a curt nod, glancing around as if looking for somewhere more private. Unfortunately, there weren’t many open spaces, much less anything offering privacy.

They took their seats and Shane closed his eyes and bowed his head for a moment before he picked up his roast beef. She was a little surprised by his quick prayer but didn’t say anything as she dug into her salad with gusto. Neither one of them spoke as they concentrated on their food.

Once her stomach was full, she eased back in her seat, feeling like her old self. Amazing what sleep and food could do. She pushed her empty plate aside, grimacing when she realized that she’d finished her chicken sandwich and her salad, while Shane was still eating his roast beef. Working in health care, she tended to eat at warp speed in case she was interrupted by a trauma call.

“Did you come up for air?” Shane asked, flashing a wry grin. His smile transformed his rugged features and it occurred to her that this was the first time she’d seen him smile.

“Probably not,” she admitted, hoping her fair skin didn’t betray her embarrassment. “I’ve learned to eat fast or skip meals.”

“I understand—trust me, it’s the same thing for us. Seems that the minute we sit down to eat, we get called out for one thing or another.”

She nodded, pushed her empty tray aside and leaned forward. “Okay, so tell me what happened last night,” she said in a hushed voice. “How do you know my house was broken into?”

“I was there,” he said, his expression turning serious. “But I’d rather not talk here, it’s too crowded. Give me a few minutes to finish up and then we’ll head over to your place. I need to know what, if anything, is missing.”

Patience wasn’t one of her strengths, but Gabby nodded and tried not to tap her fingers restlessly on the table while he finished eating. The thought of someone going through her personal things bothered her deeply.

Had he stayed here at the hospital all night because of the break-in at her home? She was oddly touched that Shane had felt it necessary to sleep on the floor in front of her room. She couldn’t imagine what the staff had thought about that. He couldn’t have been very comfortable, and she hoped he wasn’t putting his job in jeopardy by spending so much time with her. After all, his boss, Lieutenant Vaughn, hadn’t seemed too happy with Shane last night.

“Do you want anything else?” he asked, rising to his feet.

“No, I’m fine, thanks.”

He took her tray and stacked it on top of his before making his way over to the conveyor belt near the exit.

“I’m parked in the structure,” he said as she led the way back to the ER.

“Me, too,” she admitted. “I’ll meet you at my place.”

“No, we’ll drive together,” Shane said, an underlying edge of steel lacing his tone. “You can’t stay there, Gabby.”

She had to tamp down a flash of temper. Of course she knew that staying at her house wasn’t an option. “Thanks, I appreciate your advice.”

“This isn’t advice, it’s nonnegotiable,” Shane said bluntly as he held the door open for her.

She scowled but then ducked her head as they walked into the bright, blinding sunlight. She paused and blinked, giving her eyes a chance to adjust.

Shane waited at her side, keeping pace as she began to walk. As they approached the parking structure, she remembered that her car keys, cell phone and driver’s license had been in the pocket of her lab coat, which was buried in the dirt and leaves somewhere in the middle of the woods. With a sigh, she acknowledged she couldn’t drive her car right now, even if she wanted to.

“This way,” he said, lightly touching her arm to steer her to the right.

The deputy-issue vehicle wasn’t exactly inconspicuous, and as they approached the car, she winced when one of her colleagues strode past them, acknowledging her with a brief yet curious nod.

Personal news tended to ripple through the hospital grapevine at an alarming rate, and back when things had exploded between her and Damon, it seemed as if everyone had looked at her differently. In the years since, she’d tried to fade into the background, unwilling to jeopardize what she’d worked so hard to achieve. Healing patients was her calling. Her mission. Her life.

Shane, with his dark brown hair, broad shoulders and strong jaw, was far too big, muscular and attractive for her peace of mind. The sooner she figured out what Creighton wanted, or who he was really after, the better.

Because Deputy Shane Hawkins was a dangerous distraction she couldn’t afford.

* * *

Shane hoped that once Gabby saw the mess left behind in her home, she’d realize that she couldn’t stay there. He’d been forced to bite his tongue several times in the face of her stubbornness.

Yet, oddly enough, he was glad her feistiness had returned. He’d enjoyed the way she’d curled up beside him in the back of Nate’s car, and carrying her into the hospital hadn’t exactly been a hardship. But he liked how she stood up for herself and imagined that she’d had to do that often in her role as a trauma surgeon.

Shane pulled the passenger door open and waited as she slid into the seat. After shutting the door behind her, he rounded the car to climb in. Gabby didn’t say anything but twisted her hands in her lap as he backed up the vehicle and left the parking structure.

Once they were out on the road, she broke the tense silence. “Tell me what happened.”

He nodded, knowing she deserved the truth. “I went to your house after you fell asleep in the call room.”

“How did you know my address?” she asked.

“The nurse at the triage desk told me, which, by the way, isn’t good. I appreciate that I’m a cop so she no doubt felt I was trustworthy, but your coworkers shouldn’t be sharing your personal information with anyone else, and it’s better if you don’t confide in them, too.”

“I didn’t,” she protested. “You must have talked to Stacy Mueller—she lives close by and I’ve seen her around the neighborhood.”

“Yeah, Stacy.” Shane made a mental note to talk to the triage nurse again, to reinforce the need to keep Gabby’s information private. “Anyway, I went over to watch your place for a bit and saw a flicker of light inside. I made my way over to the neighbor’s house so I could keep an eye on your front and back doors. Sure enough, a tall guy dressed in black came out the front door. When I confronted him and identified myself as a cop, he took a shot at me and then ran off.”

“He shot at you?” Gabby asked, her voice rising in alarm. She reached out and lightly grasped his arm. “Were you hit? Are you all right?”

Once again, he was touched by her concern. He reminded himself that her worry over an injury wasn’t personal, she clearly took patient care very seriously. After all, she’d taken the risk of driving out to an isolated cabin to remove a bullet lodged in his shoulder. The IV antibiotics and fluids she’d given him had certainly saved his life. He wanted to believe the earnest determination in her eyes was only for him, but more likely the way she was with all her patients.

He needed to remember that she was someone he was trying to protect. Getting emotionally involved would only backfire, in a big way.

“I’m fine, but his shot was close enough that I hit the ground, which gave him the time he needed to get away. And since he had been wearing gloves, we don’t expect to get any fingerprints.”

“I can’t believe this,” she moaned. “What is going on? Why is this happening?”

He had the same questions, so he glanced over at her. “Are you sure you don’t know what this is all about?” he asked, trying to keep his tone nonthreatening. “You must have some idea what this guy wants from you.”

“I don’t,” Gabby insisted, clearly exasperated. “Why would I put my career, or more important, my life, on the line? This is crazy, my only hobbies are reading mysteries and running, my career is too demanding for anything more.”

Shane pulled into her driveway, letting the car idle as he turned in his seat to face her. “Gabby, listen, I can protect you if you tell me the truth,” he said in a gruff tone. “But if you lie to me and the truth comes out later, there won’t be anything I can do to help you.”

Gabby lifted her wide green eyes to his and he could clearly see the anguish reflected there. “I promise you that I have no idea what’s going on.”

Shane desperately wanted to believe her. “What about old boyfriends or maybe a former fiancé?” he pressed. “Surely you must have made some enemies over the past ten years.”

Gabby slowly shook her head. “I’ve spent the last decade completing medical school, finishing my residency and proving myself a capable trauma surgeon.” She hesitated, then continued, “There was one boyfriend during my residency, and I did break things off, but I can’t imagine he cares about that now all these years later.”

“You don’t know that for certain,” Shane said brusquely. “Anyone else?”

“Well, there were a couple of residents in the past ten years who resented me, basically making my life miserable, but I highly doubt either one of them is still holding a grudge.”

“Why don’t you give me their names anyway,” Shane said. “Including the guy you dated. It wouldn’t hurt to touch base with them.”

Gabby pressed her lips together in a frown. “It’s ridiculous to think they’re involved,” she reiterated.

“Then what’s the harm in doing a background check, and validating where all three of these guys were last night so we can cross them off the list?” There was a long pause before she conceded. “Fine. The man I dated briefly was Damon Keller—I have no clue where he is now. Eric Ambrose was the resident who resented me the most. I was chosen to be the chief resident over him and he did not take it well. But I heard he relocated to the East Coast somewhere.” She released a sharp breath, then continued, “Joe Chasco was another resident who didn’t appreciate the fact that I was given the position, either, and he and Eric made my life extremely difficult. Joe relocated to Chicago, I believe.”

Shane wrote the names down, intending to follow up on both of those guys. “Chicago isn’t that far away,” he said as he scribbled in his notebook. “Any other residents who resented you?”

“No, those two were by far the worst.”

He tucked the notebook back in his pocket, wondering at the adversity Gabby must have faced during her career. Was it always like this for female surgeons? Or had she been a target because of her genius IQ?

He could see why some of the physicians she worked with might be intimidated by her eidetic memory, but weren’t they all supersmart? So why pick on Gabby? His mouth hardened into a tight line. He didn’t like the thought of people, especially men, treating her badly.

Shane pulled himself up short, reminding himself that his interest in Gabby wasn’t personal. He wasn’t about to risk opening himself up for another misguided relationship. Besides, Gabby was clearly not interested in him that way, either. He’d noticed the way she shrank away when she’d tripped over him at the door to the call room. And not once had she flirted even the littlest bit.

He needed to keep his distance from Gabby.

Once they figured out who this creep was and arrested him, they’d both go their separate ways. Leaving mutual respect and friendship remaining between them.

* * *

Her house didn’t look any different, Gabby noted as she slid out of Shane’s vehicle and headed for the garage. “I have a spare key,” she said over her shoulder when he joined her.

“That’s good, because the lock on your front door was broken by the intruder, so we nailed it shut.”

Hearing that made her nervous, but she kept her chin steady as she punched a code into the keypad mounted on her garage. When the door opened, she ducked inside and found her spare key. Then she headed over to the door along the side of her house.

“He left a mess,” he warned as she unlocked and pushed the door open. Full of apprehension, she crossed the threshold.

Gabby thought she was prepared for what she’d find, but as it turned out, she wasn’t. The kitchen was a mess, although it didn’t look as if anything was broken, but each drawer and cabinet was open and had obviously been thoroughly searched.

“Your office is the worst,” Shane said his hand resting on the small of her back.

“I didn’t expect to feel so violated,” she murmured as they made their way through the living room, which wasn’t too badly messed up, to the hallway where the bedrooms were located, one of which she’d turned into an office.

She gasped when she saw the chaos on her normally neat desk. “What in the world was he looking for?” she asked helplessly.

“I don’t know,” Shane admitted. “I didn’t see him carrying anything out, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have something tucked away.”

For a moment panic gripped her by the throat and she bolted past Shane to head over to the bedroom. Dropping to her knees, she pulled out a small cedar box, roughly six inches by six inches wide and three inches deep. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest as she gingerly lifted the cover.

She let out a whoosh of relief when she surveyed the contents. “It’s all here,” she said, moving the precious items around to make sure she wasn’t missing something. “He didn’t take it.”

“What’s in there?” Shane asked, kneeling beside her.

She shrugged, not willing to go too much into depth. “Personal mementos, that’s all. Nothing of monetary value. Costume jewelry, like this charm bracelet that my father gave to my mother before he died, photographs of us together as a family. The necklace Leo, my godfather, gave me. Just sentimental things...”

Shane peered over her shoulder and tapped the picture on top where she stood proudly in front of her parents, who were grinning widely for the camera. “You look adorable in that dress,” he said, his breath tickling her ear.

His compliment made her flush, and she quickly replaced the cover of the cedar box, knowing that looking at the old photographs might bring back the crippling headaches that she’d suffered throughout her childhood. “Thanks,” she whispered, scooting away from him, “but this isn’t important right now. I’d better go through my office.”

“Sure thing.” Shane stood back and let her pass. She carried the cedar box with her, setting it aside. Then glanced around at the mess, wondering where to begin.

“If you’re able to tell me what’s missing, that would help,” he said.

“Lucky for you, I’m extremely organized,” Gabby said, gathering papers together. She collated her medical school stuff first, and then the paperwork she’d saved from her residency. She took her time with those, wondering if it was at all possible that Damon Keller, Eric Ambrose or Joe Chasco could have done this.