A fist squeezed Jake’s heart at the anguish in her voice. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him.
She resisted, shaking her head. “He can’t be dead. I can’t lose him, too.” Then the tears came, but Emily continued to talk through them. “It’s not fair... every time I remember... someone... it turns out... they’re dead.” Emily doubled her fist and pounded it on Jake’s thigh, punctuating her words. “Why? Why can’t there be one, single, happy memory?” She leaned against Jake then and sobbed into his shirt.
He looked at Robert over Emily’s head.
Robert returned his gaze with a sober expression. He needed to tell Emily the rest, but Jake shot him a pleading look to wait a few minutes.
His brother either understood or he didn’t want to share the rest with her yet. Robert sat back and waited for Emily’s tears to subside, then he handed her the glass of water from the end table.
“Thank you,” she whispered, taking the water from him. “You knew I would need this, didn’t you?” She drained the glass, then set it on the end table again. “It’s crazy how fast c-crying dehydrates you.”
Robert leaned forward. “I know this is hard, Emily, but there’s more I need to tell you.”
She shook her head as tears filled her eyes again. “Not more bad news. Please.”
Her voice was so small Jake wanted to pull her onto his lap and never let her go. He wanted to protect her from every bad thing in the world. He settled for tightening his arm around her.
Robert cleared his throat. “Cameron was murdered.”
“Murdered?” Emily asked in disbelief.
Robert rushed on. “On the same day you were abducted. The Spokane Police think you may have witnessed his murder.”
“And they planned to kill me too.” Her voice, now flat, sounded as though she tried to distance herself from what she was hearing. From what she may have seen. She repeated the words she’d remembered a few days ago. “Find out what she knows, then take care of her.”
“Yes, they killed your brother, and probably planned on killing you.”
“Why? Why would they kill Cameron? He wouldn’t hurt a soul.” She pounded Jake’s leg again with her fist. “Why can’t I remember any of it?”
For a small woman, she had a deceptively strong punch. He’d let her continue punching his leg all day if it would take away her pain.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t. She needed comforting. But she had no one left to do that for her. Jake tightened his arm around her, pulling her toward him again. He clasped her hand in his, interlocking their fingers.
“This is likely the trauma Uncle James suggested might be affecting your memory,” he said.
“You think?” she said, her voice heavy with sarcasm. Then her tone softened. “It has to be, right? If I did witness it, I don’t want to remember it.”
Robert’s eyes met Jake’s, then he looked at Emily and cleared his throat. “You may know more than the identity of the man who killed your brother. The Spokane Police said someone searched your condo.”
Emily gasped again. “What were they looking for? What do they think I know?” She put her hand to her chest. “Was I involved in something illegal? Something that would get me killed but got my brother killed instead?”
“No.” Jake squeezed her hand. “You are a victim of circumstance.”
Robert gave Jake a sharp look—a warning.
Robert’s right.
Jake knew next to nothing about Emily, other than he loved the smell and feel of her hair, the taste of her lips, and the feel of her in his arms.
No, there was more than that. Something he couldn’t explain but he knew Emily was a good person.
Emily’s sudden gasp pulled him from his thoughts. “Maybe I do know something, except I don’t know what it is.”
Robert looked at her with raised eyebrows.
Emily scooted to the edge of the couch. “Jake, hand me my crutches.”
Jake helped her to her feet and handed her the crutches.
