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She shook her head but did take a few gulping breaths. After a long two minutes, she finally straightened without getting sick. “We need to head over to my father’s farm.”

“I agree, but we don’t know where it’s located.” He abruptly frowned. “Unless you’ve remembered that.”

“No, I don’t.” She looked upset. “I’m so angry with myself for allowing this to happen.”

He wasn’t following. “Allowing what to happen?”

“This!” She threw her arm wide, generally pointing toward Lexington. “All of this. Instead of arguing with my father and simply leaving, I should have gone straight to the police!”

He drew her into his arms, wishing there was more he could do to make her feel better. “Maybe that was your intent, only the gunmen came after you before you could get there.”

“Maybe.” She rested her head in the hollow of his shoulder. Her voice was muffled against his shirt. “I’m so tired of running. Tired of hiding from bad guys. I want to go home, but not if that means returning to my father’s house.”

He didn’t have a good response for that. It was looking more and more as if Fiona had been living in the lap of luxury before everything fell apart. An existence that was the opposite of his isolated former bootlegger’s cabin.

Loosening his grip, he eased back. This wasn’t smart. He couldn’t allow himself to become so emotionally involved with Fiona. This relationship wasn’t real.

“I’m sorry.” Fiona must have sensed his withdrawal. She scrubbed her hands over her face and took a couple of steps back. “I know you didn’t ask for this. Maybe it’s time to go to the police.”

He wasn’t quite ready for that. “How about we find your father’s farm first?” He glanced out at the cars streaming past on the highway. “We went to the race today primarily to help your memory return. And it did, at least a little. The next logical step is to take you to a place that would hold even more memories.”

She met his gaze. “You’re right. This is the perfect time to go. We know my father is at the racetrack.”

It was another good point. Rather than heading all the way back to the rental house, he decided to call Rex.

His boss answered on the second ring. “What’s up, Doc?” There was a hint of humor in Rex’s tone as he recited the line from the old Bugs Bunny cartoon shows. A joke his teammates never seemed to get tired of.

“I need you to do an internet search to find the location of Liam Murphy’s horse farm.” As he requested the information, it occurred to him that Fiona and her father might not live in Lexington. Just because Kentucky was the heart of horse racing didn’t mean every owner lived in the state.

“Okay, let’s see.” Computer keys clattered in the background as Rex entered the information. “Looks like Murphy’s Estates is about halfway between Lexington and the town of Winchester.” Rex paused, then asked, “Has Fiona remembered her father?”

“To an extent.” He didn’t want to go into detail with Fiona listening intently to his side of the conversation. “There was an attempt on her life at the hospital last night, then again today at the race.”

“What?” Rex sounded alarmed. “Why didn’t you mention that sooner?”

“There wasn’t anything you could do from Chicago. Besides, we handled it.” Only by sheer dumb luck with the dress, but whatever. Maybe Fiona was right about God looking out for them. “Attending the race helped Fiona remember a few things. We’re hoping seeing her father’s horse farm fills in the rest of the gaps.”

“I think I should head down,” Rex said. “Sounds like you need backup.”

“It’s a six-hour drive,” Doc protested. He didn’t want to add that this entire mess could be over by the time Rex arrived. He wanted to ask about running Fiona’s name through the DMV but hesitated to make the request in front of her.

“I’m coming.” His boss sounded stubborn now. “Maybe hold off on heading to Murphy’s Estates until I get there.”

“We’ll just do a drive-by.” Doc figured arguing with Rex was useless. “That might be enough for her to remember some key information that we can then take straight to law enforcement.”

Rex was silent for a moment, and Doc pictured his army captain heading out the door of his high-rise Chicago office. “Fine. But call me if she does remember something useful.”

“Will do.” That was an easy promise to make. “Drive safe. And if you change your mind, I’ll understand. It’s a long way to go for nothing.”

“Your safety isn’t nothing.” Rex’s tone was underlined in steel. Doc knew his boss also suffered with guilt over the way they’d lost more than half their team five years ago. Rex was their leader, while it was Doc’s job to patch up the wounded. Yet neither of them had been able to stop the bloodshed. “Stay safe.”

“You too, boss.” He lowered the phone and turned toward Fiona. “Rex is on his way, but it will easily take him six hours or more to get here. The new plan is to do a drive-by of the farm, then return to the safe house to wait for Rex.”

“Unless I remember who committed the crime.” She angled her chin. “If I do, then we go straight to the police.”

“That works for me.” He wanted her to remember, even if that meant putting an end to their time together. He’d miss the woman she was right now, the one without her memory who was content staying in low-budget rental houses.

But the truth was, he didn’t know the real Fiona Murphy.