Page 21 of Hunted in Hope Town

“Possibly, or a way to infiltrate the system.”

“But they’d have to know…what they were looking for to infiltrate any system, right?”

“It depends. How much did they know about there being an investigation into them? And what access did they have to the people, the admin organizing that investigation? These are questions I’ve never been able to answer, and it’ll take too long to go back to the beginning when we have a threat here. Now.”

He probably knew what he was talking about, but it just felt all wrong. How could you figure out the end if you didn’t know the beginning?

But he knew the beginning. And the middle. He knew it all. And even when he answered her questions, she could feel all the things he wasn’t saying. Not that he was lying, but that every answer was so careful, so…vague.

He wasn’t lying. He was just keeping a big part of the picture obscured. Was it simply because her doctor had told him to? Or was it something more?

“Why would you go undercover, be away for an undetermined period of time, if you were married?” Was he trying to get away from her? He’d said they loved each other, but maybe that was some kind of…kindness. Trying to soften any blows for the poor amnesiac woman.

“It was an important case,” he said stiffly. “Based on my record, my boss wanted me. It would have been a big gold star.” He shook his head, a kind of disgusted look on his face she didn’t understand. “I wanted something big to end my undercover career on. It was a mistake, but in the moment, all I could see was glory right within my reach.”

“For what?”

He looked at her then, a frown drawing his mouth down and his eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

“What’s the glory for?”

“I… Personal satisfaction. A positive note to end that part of my career on. I don’t know.”

“You weren’t trying to impress me?”

He laughed. Bitterly. “You weren’t impressed.”

She looked back at the wall. Something didn’t add up. “That doesn’t feel right. This is all very impressive.”

He shook his head. “Look—”

She held up a hand to stop him. “I know. I know. I don’t remember. I don’t know. But…why were you going to end your undercover career if it meant so much to you?”

He inhaled, a little sharply. Like she’d pressed on a wound. For a long silence she thought he wouldn’t answer. When he did, his voice was…strained.

“We were going to start a family.”

“Oh.” Well. That felt…so private and intimate. She understood now, at least a little, why Dr. Leigh didn’t want her wading through this. It wasn’t just uncomfortable to know she was this woman he’d been planning on starting a family with, it was a mix of other emotions. Embarrassment and discomfort and confusion, along with the underlying and constant frustration she didn’t remember. While questioning every errant thought and feeling—wondering if they were real or fiction.

But remembering would solve it all. She just needed to remember. “What did I do? For work.”

“You were an English teacher. You’d… You hadn’t renewed your teaching contract for the next school year because I was probably going to have to transfer once I retired from undercover work.”

“An English teacher.” She considered it, tried to find some memory in that knowledge.

“High school. That’s why Zach thought you’d be good at working at the bookstore.”

Okay, she supposed that felt right. Even not knowing anything about herself, books had made sense. Stories and characters and themes. Book club night was the night she felt most…comfortable, most real. Sure, not everyone talked about the books they’d read, but she usually got in a few topics before things skewed toward the other women’s personal lives.

But she didn’t remember anything about a classroom or students or what books she might have taught. The blank remained.

“You don’t have to push yourself,” Ellis said gently. “Zach and I are going to handle this threat. You’re safe. All you have to do is let us protect you.”

ELLIS STUDIED HER profile as she absorbed that. He wasn’t exactly expecting her to just say, yeah, okay, as much as he’d like her to.

But he didn’t understand why she looked angry.

She turned on him, dark eyes flashing with temper. A temper he recognized but also knew was rare. Kirsten had always been even-tempered. Slow to anger, and even when it bubbled up, she worked very hard to keep it from exploding.