Fractured Memory (12 page)

“Did you see your assailant?”

“Just part of the attack.”

“What’s best for you right now? Considering what’s happened—do you still feel like seeing the psychologist in the morning?”

“Absolutely, it’s time to stop this creep. I’ll do whatever it takes to end this.”

And Eli resolved to do whatever it took to keep her safe—even if it meant his life.

THIRTEEN

A
fter Eli settled Julia down enough for her to get a few hours of sleep in his guest room, Ben stopped by unannounced. In his hand was a grocery bag full of Julia’s clothes. He offered it to Eli as some sort of peace offering.

They sat briefly at Eli’s kitchen table. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, dispelling the darkness and evil that attempted to consume Julia in the night.

“There’s significant destruction to Julia’s home. Not a total loss, but she’ll be displaced for months. Water damage—mostly to the side that faced the home that exploded. Major roof damage. Windows blown out. Firefighters kept her home from burning to the ground, but...”

Eli sat and waited for him to continue. Even though Eli hadn’t been with the marshals’ service long, he’d never had so much go awry with a witness in such a short amount of time.

Ben continued. “I looked for the journal she kept, and found it in her nightstand table. It’s significantly water-damaged—hard to even see the words she wrote. I don’t know how useful it will be in offering clues about the Hangman and his other victims.”

“Where is it?” Eli asked.

“I put it in the FBI evidence locker. I figured that would be the safest place for it.”

Eli nodded. Ben was probably right on that account. Over the coming days, there’d be, at the very least, insurance investigators traipsing through her house doing a damage assessment.

Eli could only assess the physical damage Julia was suffering—the displacement, the loss of her home and belongings. Two Bibles that she had a deep personal connection with. The emotional and psychological toll was immeasurable. Every person had a breaking point. Where was Julia’s? Had they already crossed it?

“I might have a bit of good news,” Ben said.

Eli opened the grocery bag and was overwhelmed by a smoky odor. He’d have to get these in the wash before Julia woke up. He didn’t want her to suffer any more trauma.

“A neighbor had a security camera that shows a man entering the Joneses’ residence a few minutes before the explosion. We think it’s Ryder.”

Eli retied the flimsy plastic bag. “That doesn’t make any sense. What, he gets the wrong house?”

Ben shook his head. “It makes perfect sense to me. He knows we’re protecting her, so a full-on assault at the house isn’t going to work. Blowing up the house next door has the potential to kill two birds with one stone.”

“Which two?” Eli asked.

“Julia and the...” Ben paused and clamped his lips closed. “Us.”

“It’s so risky. Plus, it endangered the lives of two other people. By the way, how are they?”

“That’s the bright spot. The mother had a skull fracture, which caused the bleeding from her ears and unconsciousness, but she’s awake and talking. The son had an operation to remove that nasty piece of glass, but otherwise he did well. Both are expected to make a full recovery. Aurora Fire was investigating it as arson even before the video revealed someone entering the house. The husband is on his way back from a business meeting in New York.”

Another curious fact. The father, perhaps the only defense shield the family had, was out of town.

“What’s your plan?” Ben asked.

“Julia’s adamant about going through with this forensic interview. I got a hold of Kathleen, and she was able to move the interview to later today so Julia could sleep in—if she’s even sleeping.”

“Good. Hopefully, she’ll be able to remember something, because I feel like as long as this guy is out there, none of us are going to be getting any sleep.”

“I’ve got Julia covered today. Maybe Will or Jace can help me tonight so I can sleep. I want you over at Julia’s house eavesdropping on the fire investigation. Work with your FBI cohorts and do whatever you can to find this Ryder character and bring him in.”

“There’s a BOLO for Ryder. Every cop in the city is looking for him.” Ben headed to the front door. “I’ll keep you informed.”

Eli tried to get a few hours of sleep, but his restless mind caused the same reaction to his physical state. All he knew when Julia emerged from the guest bedroom was just how uncomfortable his couch was and how long it took a few clothes to be washed and dried.

“Tea?” Eli asked Julia.

“Absolutely.”

She sat at the table just as he left it. He warmed up the griddle and pulled the pancake batter out of the refrigerator.

“Your pumpkin spice creamer is a little out of season, but I thought caramel had your name all over it.”

“You’d be right,” Julia said. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. I would have been fine with cereal.”

Eli set a steaming mug in front of her. “After the night you’ve had, I think you deserve to be spoiled. Bacon and eggs?”

“Even better.”

That was what Eli liked—a woman with a good appetite who wasn’t shy about eating in front of a man. He spooned a full ladle of batter onto the grill, cracked a couple of eggs and put the already cooked bacon in the microwave to heat up.

“Ben stopped by a few hours ago.”

“I figured,” Julia said, pulling on the front of her shirt. “I have to give him marks for putting together clothing ensembles better than you can.”

Eli laughed. “True, but he didn’t wash, dry and fold them like I did.” It was also good to see she could maintain a sense of humor in the middle of a crisis. “We each have our gifts.”

“Do you like Ben?” Julia asked.

Eli flipped the pancakes over. Why would she ask such a question? Was she picking up on some of Eli’s suspicions about his team? “We haven’t worked together very long. It’s a unique partnership. After your case is wrapped up, we’ll go our separate ways.”

“So you’ve said. It’s partly why I’m asking.”

“What do you think of him?”

Julia shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I doubt that.” Eli plopped the pancakes and an egg onto her plate adding a couple of pieces of warmed bacon from the microwave. “You’re a woman and a nurse. Your intuition must be off the charts.” He placed butter and syrup on the table before setting their plates down in front of them.

As he grabbed his fork, Julia put her hand over his to still it. “Do you mind if I pray? I just—”

Eli set his utensils down. “No, I’d like that.” Folding his hands he lowered his head even though what he wanted to do was keep his eyes on her. Something so foreign to him strangely felt right in her presence.

“Father, I thank You for keeping me, Ben and Jace safe last night. I pray for Deanna and Levi—that You would bring them to a full recovery. I thank You for Eli. For his keeping me safe and for...”

Her voice trailed, and Eli snuck one eye open. What was she censoring herself from saying?

“Amen.”

Eli clenched his eye closed so she wouldn’t catch him stealing a glance. “Amen.”

Julia tore into her pancakes with a vengeance. “I’ll take your statement about women as a compliment. As far as Ben is concerned, I just have the feeling he’s not totally on the level.”

“In what way?” Eli asked.

“I feel like he’s hiding something.”

“Everyone has their secrets.”

Julia set her fork down and grabbed her cup of tea. “I’m starting to wonder if those secrets have any bearing on my case.”

* * *

Dr. Kathleen Powell’s home was a master’s-style bungalow eerily similar to the one Julia had been attacked in. Her color choices were vastly different from Julia’s taste, which made it easier to be there.

Eli stayed a protective two feet behind her. After he put his suit on, earpiece in and wrist mic on, it was as if his persona changed to the überprofessional agent. All he needed was the reflective sunglasses, and he’d fit the stereotype of the government law enforcement officer on TV.

Kathleen’s gray hair was cut short in a smart pixie style. Her blue eyes, a shade darker than Eli’s ice blue, portrayed warmth that immediately put Julia at ease. After giving Eli a grandmotherly hug, she took Julia by the hand and escorted her into a cozy room with two overstuffed chairs and a small love seat.

“Julia, please make yourself comfortable.”

She sat on the love seat, and Dr. Powell took a seat across from her on a chair.

“I’m just going to do a quick house and perimeter check. I’ll be right back,” Eli said.

Julia watched him until she couldn’t see him anymore. It unnerved her to not have him in her line of sight.

Kathleen cleared her throat to pull Julia’s attention her way. “Julia, I understand from Eli you had a very rough night.”

Julia folded her hands tightly in her lap. “You know, under normal circumstances it would probably be more than I could take, but in light of recent incidents...”

“Like crashing into a river and saving two people?”

Julia smiled. “It’s all about your perspective. I’ve lost a lot of things in this past week—mostly physical things that can be replaced, but I’m alive, my grandfather is alive and that’s what matters most.”

“You said
mostly
physical things.”

“Yes.”

“That would leave room for something you’ve lost that doesn’t match that criteria. I’m just wondering what that is.”

Julia bit her lower lip.
Now I know why Eli likes Kathleen so much—she can delve deep without really seeming to.
“I lost my Bible in the river. And a journal I kept for years, I’m presuming, was destroyed by water damage last night. Since I have amnesia, it’s painful to lose things that can replace the memories I lost—especially of my parents.”

Kathleen grabbed a piece of paper. “That must be very hard.”

“I’ve been through worse. I’ll get over it.”

Kathleen nodded and made a few scrawls on the notepad she kept. “Let me explain what our purpose is here today so we both have the same expectations.” She set her pen down and squared her gaze on Julia. “Eli tells me that you want to undergo a forensic interview to help you remember details of your attack.”

“Exactly.”

“Have you ever been through anything like this before?”

“No.”

“You didn’t partake in any sort of counseling after your attack?”

Julia shook her head. “I didn’t have any memory of it, and I was too busy trying to rebuild my life to take the time to do it.”

“Eli tells me you think you’ve remembered some details.”

“He’s right, but I can never really see the attacker’s face. That’s what I’m hoping you can help me with.”

“Before you started to get these flashes of your assailant, do you think you’ve had any mental health issues that pertain to this traumatic event in your life? Anxiety? Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder?”

Julia’s neck ached. Was she truly ready for this? “I don’t like to be restrained or confined. Really tight places give me the creeps.”

“That makes sense to me on several levels.”

Julia settled her hand over her throat. “Can we just focus on why I’m here?”

Kathleen set her pen down. “Considering your circumstances, I am willing to do that, but I want to encourage you to see someone when this crisis is over—and it will be over. I have every faith in Eli that this man will be brought to justice. But I think for you to be whole again, it would be helpful for you to confront what’s happened. Even though your memory is patchy, this incident had a heavy emotional impact, and managing that will only make you stronger.”

Julia considered her statement. Health-care professionals were the worst at caring for themselves, and Julia was no different. “I will. I promise.”

Eli returned to the small living room. “All clear. Where’s the best place for me to be?”

“Can Eli stay?” Julia asked.

“Yes, with your permission, but I’ll only allow it if you don’t censor what you’re going to say. If you feel like Eli’s presence will inhibit our goal for today, I’ll put him elsewhere.”

Julia knew in her heart that she could be open in front of Eli. Above everything else, she didn’t want to hide anything from him. “It’s better for me if he’s here.”

Eli bowed his head and took the chair next to Kathleen.

“And, Eli—you need to be silent. I don’t want you putting any extra pressure on Julia to come up with an answer. We don’t want her mind filling in any details that aren’t true in an effort to be helpful to the police.”

“Understood.” He smiled at Julia. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

“Great. Julia, what I’m going to do is walk you through the attack, but we’re not going to start on that right away. I’d like to start with the week before this incident. Let’s get your memory warmed up, primed to this time frame. What do you remember on the days leading up to this event?”

Julia snuggled into the corner of the couch and grabbed one of the throw pillows to hold in front of her body. “I remember it was a hard week at work.”

“How was it difficult?”

“I was working in the pediatric ICU then. We had a run of deaths. Some odd things had been happening in the unit over the last several months and there was a feeling among the nurses that we had a black cloud hovering. We were waiting...”

Julia’s voice trailed, her mind drifted back to those beds. The children she had cared for. “Waiting for what?” Kathleen asked.

“For the third death,” Julia said.

“What does that mean?” Kathleen asked.

“Deaths usually come in threes.”

Kathleen nodded. “So there were two previous deaths close together?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. We had our
usual
code events. Children we tried desperately to save but, in our hearts, knew the probability of their survival was nil. These incidents, though hard, were expected and easier to deal with. But we’d also had a run of what the hospital terms sentinel events.”

“Explain that to me.”

“A sentinel event is a patient death that occurs in the hospital as the result of a medical error.”

“And there had been two such deaths?” Kathleen clarified.

“Yes. All this is confidential, right?”

“Absolutely. You can talk about your patients here.”

Julia glanced Eli’s way. “Same here,” he said.

“One patient, a preteen around twelve, died from equipment failure.”

“What type of equipment?” Kathleen asked.