her eyes. “My aunt didn’t like it, either, but I told her it wasn’t like the animals were going to come in the house, so why should she be bothered by them?”
“That’s how I met Sienna.”
Parker didn’t like the smug look on Jonah’s face. He wanted to tell his boss everything he knew about Sienna’s past—her real past and not whatever story she’d concocted instead of telling people the truth about her bizarre medical case. Then he’d watch Jonah’s facial expression change.
Instead, Parker said, “How nice.”
Jonah chuckled, apparently not fazed by Parker’s belligerence. He never was, and Parker hadn’t been hired on to a fugitive apprehension task force because of his people skills.
“I’m assuming the helicopter reported in this area was on account of you?”
* * *
While Parker told Jonah all about what had happened, Sienna left him and strode to her truck. Her purse was still on the front seat, her phone inside. Nothing had been taken, which made sense since the gunmen hadn’t been there for that. They’d been there for her, and when they’d failed, the one in charge had...killed himself. Who did that? Her mind spun so fast she was dizzy from it.
Sienna had twenty-three texts and three voice mails from her aunt. She sent a text back that said, I’m fine.
Two seconds after it sent, her phone rang. She turned to sit sideways on the front passenger seat and answered.
“Yes.”
“Where are you? I’ve been calling you for an hour!”
Sienna gritted her teeth. “I got a flat tire, then three men with guns and a helicopter chased me through the forest and I barely got free before they could put me in the chopper and take me to who knows where.”
Silence. “Did you kill them?”
Sienna choked. She’d said the whole thing in her most sarcastic voice, like what happened was just another day at the office, and Aunt Karen only wanted to know if Sienna had killed them? “Two of them are dead, but it wasn’t me who did it.”
Why was her aunt worried about that, and not whether or not Sienna was okay? Because while she was fine physically, mentally was a whole other question. “Listen, Aunt Karen, I’ll be home soon to heat up dinner...”
“I already ate. Is someone there with you?”
“A marshal stopped to help me with the flat.”
“Jackson Parker?”
Sienna frowned. “How did you know that?”
“Have him drive you home. Tell him to come inside so I can meet the man who saved my darling niece’s life.”
It just didn’t ring true. Nothing about her life did except the feel of Parker’s hand wrapped around hers. Remembering it was keeping her sane when she wanted to drop to the ground and cry. Not just from fear. When she looked at Parker it was like all those feelings of loss surrounding what she couldn’t remember intensified.
Maybe he was right and they had been friends. She wasn’t big on trusting people on face value, but Parker made her want to believe it. It felt right. He felt right.
But there was nothing she could do about it when she didn’t recall a thing. She couldn’t make any kind of move when she didn’t know their history. What if there was something huge she was missing because she’d lost her past? If she jumped in now, she’d look naive. That was why she had to back off and not rely on Parker too much, even if it was the easy route.
Sienna hung up and rubbed her gritty eyes. When she looked up, one of the marshals was in front of her. He shot her a cocky grin and stuck his hand out. “Wyatt Ames.”
She shook it. “Sienna Cartwright.” As always, it sounded foreign. Like she was living someone else’s life.
“So you’re the one who has him all tied up in knots.”
“Excuse me?”
“Parker.” Wyatt glanced once in his direction and then back at her. “A man doesn’t look at a woman like that if it doesn’t mean something.”
“Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about?”
He grinned. “I guess not. Parker told us about the amnesia thing. That really happens?”
Sienna kept a straight face. “I wouldn’t know. I can’t remember.”
Wyatt laughed, which made Parker pause in his conversation and look over at her. “That’s exactly the look I’m talking about.”
Parker went back to his conversation, and Sienna shook her head. “It’s not like that. We barely know each other.”
Well, she barely knew him. The reverse might not be true.
“Listen, I really need to...”
She was interrupted when the gunman she’d knocked out started yelling as he regained consciousness. Parker raced over while the marshals struggled to restrain him. Sienna watched, wide-eyed, as he stuck two fingers in the gunman’s mouth. The man bit down. Parker winced but didn’t back off. He pulled out a capsule and lifted the man up. “Put this one on suicide watch.”
The female marshal nodded, and they hauled the guy to their car.
Parker walked to her then, giving Wyatt a side nod that made him stride away. But not before he glanced back at Sienna and mouthed, See.
She wasn’t interested in getting mixed up in the interplay between the marshals. That wasn’t her world. All she wanted was to get back to the ranch and hide under her covers until the sun came up.
“Are you okay?” The hardness of Parker’s features had softened. She steeled herself against it and glanced at the trees. That persistent feeling of being watched just wouldn’t go, even now that the immediate threat had passed.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to get home.”
“At last, a problem of yours I can actually solve.” The smile curled the corners of his mouth. “I’ll give you a ride. Okay?” Sienna nodded, and Parker strode past Wyatt, who handed him a set of keys. She glanced again at the dark forest around them as she followed.
There was definitely someone out there.
With the exception of telling him where she lived, Sienna had been quiet on the drive to her house. He’d tried to fill the silence with music and found out the painful way that Wyatt had changed all the radio stations to what he called “classics.” Parker wanted to reach over and hold her hand, but to her they were practically strangers.
Instead, he squeezed the steering wheel until he worried it would snap.
“Is there something wrong?”
He
