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A breathy laugh escaped her lips. "Do you find it a bit overwhelming? I had to take a few pieces from my folks' place in Gables Estates, especially after Gabe...left."
Jack shoved his hands in his pockets. "This room has the variety and lushness of a rain forest, without the monkeys."
"Don't be so sure about that. Do you want something to drink? Water?"
"Water's good."
She crooked her finger, and he followed her into the kitchen. The onslaught of colors continued in this room with blue-and-yellow tiles charging across the counters and multicolored dishes lining glass cabinets.
She poured two glasses of water from a bottle in the fridge and slid his across the counter. At least she'd kept a lid on the tequila.
He downed half the water, and when he came up for air he met a glance from slivered eyes--brownish this time. Lola sipped her water carefully and dabbed her lips with her fingertips. "So do you think that attempted car theft was random?"
The same thought had crossed her mind. Might as well play devil's advocate. "You said it was a bad neighborhood, nice car like yours...awfully tempting."
"I've parked there before. Mario's known in the neighborhood for having a bad temper...and a .357 Magnum."
"Maybe this particular thief didn't know about Mario, his temper or his .357."
"Maybe." She clicked her water glass on the countertop. "Do you want Emilio's number?"
"Emilio?"
"Emilio Diaz, my father's associate. Name doesn't ring a bell, huh?" She pulled open a kitchen drawer and sifted through its contents.
"Nothing's ringing any bells." Except Lola's derriere in those jeans as she bent over the drawer. That rang his bells.
She spun around, pinching a card between two fingers. "Got it."
"It's a start. Maybe he can tell me if I have a home, a family...a wife."
Lola's long, dark lashes fluttered. "I doubt it."
He plucked the card from her fingers and slipped it into his back pocket. "You doubt I have a home, a family and a wife?"
"You may have a home and a family, but no self-respecting wife would allow her husband to go gallivanting around the world saving other people's families." Her jaw formed a hard line as if daring him to dispute her logic.
"I don't know about that." He held up his left hand. "But I don't feel married."
Could he be lusting after this hot doctor if he were?
"That settles it, then." She brushed her hands together. "Before you take off, do you want to see some pictures of Gabriel? Maybe they'll jump-start something for you."
"Sure." He owed her that much. He was trying to find himself, and she was trying to find her brother. He felt guilty for abandoning her cause for his. The two were linked, anyway.
She flipped open the laptop on the kitchen table. Her long ponytail hung over her shoulder as she hunched forward, biting her bottom lip. Just his luck the one person in the States who held the key to his identity had to tweak his libido in all the right places. Hell, he thought he'd lost his libido along with his memory until he'd laid eyes on Lola.
Tilting her head to the side, she waved him over. She pointed at the screen. "That's Gabriel."
Jack spun a chair around and straddled it. He peered at the screen displaying a dark-haired man with serious eyes, a white doctor's coat hanging on his lean frame. Dr. Gabriel Famosa.
Why would a group of terrorists kidnap a doctor and not demand ransom from his obviously wealthy family? If they wanted something other than money from the doctor...
A sharp pain sliced through Jack's head, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. The picture of Lola's brother swam before his eyes.
Dr. Famosa was kidnapped from the street in a planned abduction.
The words came at him through the pain, and he pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, willing more words to bubble from the floating strands of his memory.
"Jack, are you okay?" Lola's hand swept up his back, resting at the base of his skull. "Do you remember Gabe?"
"I--I--" he dragged a hand through his hair, digging his fingers into his scalp "--I remembered someone telling me Gabe's kidnapping was planned."
She twirled in a circle and then dropped into a crouch beside him. "You're remembering. I knew seeing Gabe's picture would help."
