Page 18 of A Future To Remember

Cash studied my second scrawl; his brow furrowed deeply. “I can’t make out anything recognizable.”

“I want it too much,” I said. “I’m too self-conscious to make it happen naturally.”

“Okay, but at least we have something that might come together later.”

“You’re a glass-half-full kinda guy, ain’tcha, Sheriff?”

He chuckled. He had a rich laugh. It was nice. Holding up a hand, he said, “Guilty as charged. I get it from my grandma. She was the biggest optimist I ever knew. I always used to tell her that she could find a silver lining in a hurricane.”

“She sounds great.”

“She was a keeper. She practically raised me from the age of fifteen. She made sure I was fed and clothed, at least. Speaking of which . . .” Cash turned away from me and walked over to the chair in the corner of my room. There were a couple of shopping bags that I hadn’t noticed there before. “These are from my auntie’s church,” he said, bringing the bundle over. “My aunt had the volunteer at the church’s thrift shop pull together a few things in your size.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “How’d you know my size?”

He had the decency to blush. “I got it off the tags in the clothing you were wearing when you came in.”

I pawed through the first bag, which had a large, gray crewneck sweatshirt, a white T-shirt, a pair of dark green sweatpants, a pair of jeans, a light blue tank top, a bralette, a pack of unopened white underwear printed with daisies, four pairs of socks, and a pair of sneakers.

“This is great,” I told him. Everything in the bag—save the undies—looked used, but it all appeared and smelled freshly washed. Plus, I wasn’t about to thumb my nose at free, not-caked-with-blood clothing right now.

The second bag held a dark blue blanket and some white cotton sheets that’d been washed so many times that they were now as soft as a cloud. The third bag had a large mustard-colored bath towel.

“It feels like Christmas,” I said, offering up a smile. “Thank you.”

“I got you a pillow too. It’s a firm one. It’s an extra from my house. I’ve got it out in my truck. You can take it with you when I drop you off at Wanda’s.”

My smile widened. I was truly touched by the generosity this town was showing me. “Perfect. When do we leave?”

Cash looked at his watch, the fatigue finally showing on his face. “I’m gonna head home and get a little shut-eye. I can be back around two to drive you over to the diner to meet Wanda. She’ll take it from there.”

“Great,” I said. “You guys are really kind. When I figure out who I am, I’ll pay you all back. I promise.”

Cash smiled, but his eyes looked sad. “No need. We take care of our own around here, Maddy. And now that you’re here, you’re one of our own.”

I smiled, but inside I could feel my heart breaking, and that’s when I realized that I didn’t belong to this town. I belonged to someone else. A person. A man. Someone I missed more than I could say. Someone I loved with all my heart. Someone I knew loved me back.

I just couldn’t remember who that “someone” was.

CHAPTER 6

Him

Sid’s Auto and Body Shop wasn’t much to look at. Just a circular dirt driveway with a large, one-bay garage and glass-enclosed office at the midpoint. Next to the garage were a dozen cars, all in various stages of rusted decay, and still on the back bed of the tow truck was the Tahoe they’d pulled from the river. The driver’s side front door hung open at an odd angle, which told me it’d been wrenched open by the Jaws of Life. I could feel both my anger and frustration building.

The Tahoe should’ve been covered with a tarp and sealed until a team of CSI could carefully pick it apart, hunting for clues. It’d been here for at least twenty-four hours, and anybody could’ve strolled by, stopped, and rooted around inside, not to mention whatever scavenger hunting Sid might’ve done before we got here.

Seeing the Tahoe like that made my blood boil. “I’m gonna kill this Sid asshole for leaving that door open and the interior exposed.”

Oscar withdrew his weapon. “Shoot first, ask questions later. Got it, sir.”

I stared at Oscar.

He stared back.

“…”

“…”