know what was real and what was...fear of the unknown. She shook her head. “I still don’t remember who I am.”
Gail slid her hand into her pocket. “I have something of yours. I was going to give it to you when I brought your medicine later.” She withdrew a gold heart locket and passed it to her. “You were wearing it when you came into the hospital. I put it in a safe place so when you got better you could have it. It’s beautiful. There’s a name carved into it.”
“There is?” She took it from the nurse and held it in her palm.
“I hope it helps you to remember. Sometimes an object will spur a memory.” Gail started for the door but paused before leaving. “I’ll make sure the other member of housekeeping assigned to this floor will take care of you. She’s an older woman. You might feel more comfortable with her.”
As the nurse left, she stared at the locket with intricate etching in it. She opened it and saw a picture of a young woman with long blond hair, probably around eighteen. Heidi was engraved in the other side. Touching her own blond hair, she wondered if this was a photo of her. From the vision she’d seen earlier that day in the mirror, it could be.
What did she call herself? Jane Doe? That didn’t sit well with her. It made her seem like she was nobody—not worthy of a name. That, more than anything, bothered her. She couldn’t form any kind of picture in her head of who she was. Did she like steak, going to the movies, reading books? What were her likes? Dislikes? The black hole her memories were lost in terrified her.
She made her way to the bathroom again to study her reflection and then reexamined the photo in the locket. There were similarities in what she saw in the mirror and the woman in the picture. Was it her when she was younger? How old was she now?
Is Heidi my name?
“Heidi,” she said, and liked how it sounded. A sense of comfort surrounded her. She needed a name, and Heidi could be it.
Just the effort of walking into the bathroom sapped her energy, especially after spending the day wondering why the police officer had left her bedside to go back to the Lost Woods where they’d found her. Leaving the bathroom, she nearly ran into Officer Lee Calloway, dressed in casual clothes, not his uniform.
He stepped back to let her pass him. “The nurse said you were up.”
“Yes.” She stated the obvious because she didn’t know what else to say. As she shuffled toward the bed, she felt his dark gaze on her and, surprisingly, it didn’t bother her. She needed answers and hoped he could tell her more about his finding her. Maybe something would trigger her memory.
He stood back while she perched on the side of the bed. “I wanted to ask you some more questions.”
“I still don’t remember who I am, but the nurse gave me a locket she’d kept for me with a picture inside it and the name Heidi engraved on it.”
“Is the picture of you?”
She flattened her palm to show him the necklace that she’d gripped in her hand. “It might be when I was younger.”
His fingers grazed across her skin as he picked it up and opened it.
A tingling from his touch zapped her, further surprising her.
He studied it, then her. “Maybe. Or a member of your family? A sister? Your mother?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to use the name. I need one, and it’s better than Jane Doe. I’m pretty sure it isn’t my daughter.” She attempted a smile, and the gesture seemed alien to her. “I’m probably between twenty-five and thirty.”
Again, he scrutinized her. “If I had to guess, closer to twenty-five.”
When was her birthday? Where was she born? Questions she couldn’t answer flowed through her mind in a steady stream until she had to shut them down or scream in frustration. “What do you need to ask me? I’ll help if I can.” She really hoped she could. This officer was being so nice to her.
“Describe the man you saw in the woods.”
“I saw a man in the woods?”
“When I found you hiding, you said something about a man.” Lee pulled out some photos. “See if you can recognize the one you were talking about.” After spreading out four pictures, he pointed to each one. “Take your time. Study them.”
She examined the four men, and nothing clicked for her. “I don’t know them.”
“So you haven’t seen these men?”
She shook her head. “Not that I remember.”
He held up one of a dark-haired guy with a thick neck and bushy eyebrows.
“No. Maybe.” The bushy eyebrows niggled her memory for a few seconds but nothing concrete came to mind. “I don’t know.” How many times had she said that since she woke up?
“This one?” Lee indicated another man, red hair with thin lips.
“No. Nothing.”
She laid her finger on the man with the bushy eyebrows. “Who is he?”
“Don Frist.”
“Could he have been chasing me before you saw me?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t see him pursuing you. But you were definitely running from something or someone.”
“Where is this man?” She examined him again, wanting to be able to identify him—to know someone.
“In jail.”
“What did he do?”
He has quite an extensive rap sheet...which includes kidnapping Brady Billows.”
“The little boy you told me about this morning? I don’t understand why anyone would harm a child.” The idea that someone would kill or hurt a little boy knotted her stomach. Did she have a child? The more she thought about the question, the more she didn’t think so.
“I agree. But Brady will be fine, thankfully. He was scared but between his mother, Eva, and Detective Austin Black, another K-9 team member, he’ll be safe.”
“Did he find the little boy?”
“Yes and he will soon be his stepfather.”
A happy ending. Relief unraveled the knots. “I’m so glad.” Peering down, she touched her left ring finger, but there was no sign she’d ever worn a wedding band. For some reason she felt in her heart she loved kids. Not liked. Loved.
“Do you remember something?”
“Yes. I love children.”
“Do you remember if you have any?”
“I don’t think any of my own. It doesn’t feel like it. I don’t think I’m married.” She held up her ringless finger on her left hand.
“Maybe you
