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Deadly Memories

Page 33

by Laura Scott

“Looks like it.” He clicked on the link and turned the screen so she could see better. “Does reading this spur any memories?”

The article was brief and didn’t say much other than after a four-week engagement to Tristan Crowley, Fiona Murphy called off the nuptials. What was more interesting was the engagement photo of her and Tristan. He was handsome enough, she thought, but not as attractive as Doc.

A flash of memory startled her. She had a clear memory of slapping the man in the photo across the face and storming out of a restaurant.

“Fiona?” Doc’s voice drew her attention. “Does this Tristan guy look familiar?”

“I slapped him.” She flushed, imagining the sting in her palm. “Hard to believe I would do such a thing, but I slapped him and walked out of the restaurant.”

Doc’s brown gaze sharpened. “Do you remember why?”

“No.” She sighed, unable to tear her gaze from the engagement photo. Maybe she was imagining it, but her smile in the picture didn’t seem genuine. Yet if she had reservations about the guy, why agree to marry him in the first place? “I wish I did, but I only remember the slap.”

“I’m sure he deserved it.” There was a hint of humor in Doc’s tone.

She managed a weak smile, yet the news that she’d been engaged was still a shock. Especially since he had called it off barely four weeks later.

What had Tristan done? She desperately wished she could remember.

“Do you think Tristan could have hired someone to hurt you?” Doc asked. “Is it possible you saw him doing something illegal and that’s why you ended your relationship?”

“I don’t know.” She dragged her hand through her hair. “Honestly, the slap makes me think he was cheating. Not that he was doing something illegal.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Doc agreed. “But a man who cheats on his fiancée might also cheat at other things. Like racing.”

There was no arguing his logic. And deep down, she believed he was right.

The man she’d once agreed to marry may very well have killed Calvin Jacobson in hopes of taking Savior’s Journey out of the race. Especially if he wanted Fiona’s Folly to win.

But could Tristan really be so cruel and callous as to send two armed gunmen after her? She swallowed hard, remembering how the neurology resident had mentioned she’d suffered a traumatic emotional event that had caused her amnesia. If she were honest, Tristan being involved in something so heinous would explain a lot.

And she would rather believe Tristan was responsible for sending gunmen after her rather than her own father.

Doc wanted to applaud Fiona for slapping the guy’s face, even though he had no idea what had caused the reaction. He didn’t know anything about the guy but instinctively despised him. Any man that would hurt a woman either by cheating or doing something else deserved to be punished. Fiona’s slap was probably more of a bruise to the smug guy’s ego than causing any real pain.

Yet he felt bad for Fiona. Her troubled expression indicated the thought of slapping him still bothered her.

“I’ll dig into Tristan Crowley’s background, see if we can learn anything useful.” He reached up to cover her hand on his shoulder with his. “I’m glad you remembered something, Fiona. I hope it’s the first of many memories that will return once we head to the racetrack.”

“I pray you’re right.” She flushed, then added, “I shouldn’t have slapped him. It’s embarrassing to think I resorted to lashing out at him like that. The Bible teaches us to turn the other cheek. Physical violence is never the answer.”

“Like I said, I’m sure he deserved it.” From spending the past two days with Fiona, he couldn’t imagine her losing her temper enough to strike out at anyone. That alone indicated that Crowley had done something pretty bad.

Was the guy just a cheater? Or had he crossed the line into murder?

“I hope I prayed for forgiveness,” Fiona said softly.

“I’m sure you did. More than once.” He had to admit to being impressed at how she stayed true to her faith, despite having lost her memory. “Don’t stress, Fiona. Let’s just be glad your memory is starting to return.”

“It would be nice to remember good memories, rather than bad ones.” Her brow furrowed, and she moved away from the computer. “I must have been happy at some points in my life.”

“You remembered jumping your horse over a fence.” He smiled reassuringly. “The rest of your memories, both good and bad, will return soon.”

She headed into the living room to sit on the sofa. Since he didn’t have anything else to say that would make her feel better, he went back to his task of digging into Tristan Crowley.

Unfortunately, the guy was clean, at least as far as having a criminal record. Performing a simple case search had not revealed any financial judgments against him, something he’d anticipated if Tristan was in debt due to a gambling problem.

Then again, borrowing money from a loan shark wouldn’t show up in a database. And maybe it was just his acute hatred of the man who had treated Fiona poorly, but he could easily imagine Tristan taking extreme measures to win back his cash.