Chapter 3

Sadie wantedto grab the wires and tubes connected to her, jerk them away from her body, and run.

She tried to sit up, but the nurse gently pressed her back in bed. “You need to lie still. Your body has just been through a traumatic event.”

A traumatic event?

She held up her hands and studied them. Then she touched her face. Moved her legs.

She was stiff and sore. Had cuts and bruises. But other than that . . .

The man beside her said she was in a car accident.

Then why didn’t she have anything other than minor abrasions? Or maybe she did. Maybe she just couldn’t see or feel anything else yet.

She tried to make sense of things—but it was useless.

The man beside her leaned closer, his eyes narrow with concern. “Do you remember what happened?”

She studied his face. Studied the chiseled features of his cheekbones and nose. His blond hair. His trim, muscular build.

The man was handsome. Probably in his early thirties with an air of mystery about him.

Why was he in the room with her? He didn’t appear to be a doctor. So who was he? A detective maybe?

Why couldn’t she remember?

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to dredge up some type of recollection.

But her mind only contained blank spaces.

How could that be?

Did she even know her name? Had the nurse called her Sadie?

She searched her thoughts again, waiting for them to stop somewhere.

They didn’t.

More panic welled inside her.

She sucked in a breath and opened her eyes again.

“Who am I?” The question came out as a whisper.

The man’s eyes widened.

He looked at the nurse, who exchanged a worried glance with him.

“You don’t recall your name?” Nurse Kate peered at her with concern in her gaze.

“I . . . I don’t remember anything. Nothing at all.” Nausea grew in her gut.

The man and woman exchanged another worried glance.

“Your name is Sadie Carrington, and you’re thirty-three years old,” the nurse finally said. “That’s what your driver’s license says. Does that ring any bells?”

Sadie shook her head, which she instantly regretted as a throb began.

Bad idea. She couldn’t move her head anymore. She must have hit it.

Her gaze went back to the man. “Who are you?”

Something strange passed through the man’s gaze. “I’m Trevor McGrath.”

Before he could say any more, the nurse jumped in. “He’s the man who found you in the parking lot and called 911.”

“In the parking lot?” Sadie tried to put the pieces together. “After my car accident?”

“It was a car accident, I suppose,” the nurse said. “But you were a pedestrian, and you were hit by a car.”

“What?” Her voice wavered with uncertainty. “Who hit me? What happened?”

“We’re still trying to figure all that out,” Nurse Kate said. “The doctor will be back in a moment and maybe he can explain more.”

A sense of despair swelled inside her.

Sadie Carrington.

The name didn’t sound familiar.

No new memories had emerged. Only more blank spaces.

What did this mean? Was anyone out there looking for her right now? Family? Friends? A husband or a significant other?

Where would Sadie even go when she left here? Did she have a house or an apartment? Could she drive?

The uncertainties quickly began to rip away at her, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

* * *

Trevor opened his mouth to offer some kind of assurance to Sadie. But there were no words to make this better. Instead, he pressed his lips together as regret filled him.

He wanted to reach for her. To offer her some comfort. To wipe those tears away.

But he didn’t.

Besides, she didn’t remember him. Doing any of those things would be awkward and possibly unwelcome.

He studied her face another moment, looking for any signs her memories were slowly returning.

There was nothing, only confusion and panic.

Sadie truly didn’t remember anything.

Dr. Conroy rushed into the room. He quickly introduced himself to Sadie, explained how long she’d been there, and gave a recap of what they’d found. As he spoke, he took a light from his pocket and shone it into each of her eyes. Then he listened to her heart.

None of those facts seemed to comfort Sadie. Instead, her eyes widened even more as quiet tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I know you’ve been through a lot.” The doctor paused, his expression growing grim. “We’ll send Dr. Evans, the hospital psychologist, to talk to you about your amnesia.”

“Amnesia?” Sadie’s voice pitched higher. “How long will it last? Will I ever regain my memories?”

The doctor’s expression remained pinched. “Dr. Evans should be able to tell you more. I’ll also send in a referral to a neurologist. In most cases, these memory issues are simply post-traumatic amnesia that can last a few minutes to several weeks or months.”

“And in other cases?” Her throat burned as the question left her lips.

His frown deepened. “Other times these things can have more long-lasting effects. But that’s generally not the case, so let’s not think in worst-case scenarios quite yet.”

Trevor swallowed hard. In other words, sometimes people never regained their memories.

Silence stretched as Sadie seemed to let that sink in.

Finally, she cleared her throat, her gaze focusing back on the doctor. “How long will I stay here?”

“You’ll stay here as long as you need to.” Dr. Conroy patted her hand. “Leaving is the last thing you should worry about right now. We just need to work on getting you back on track.”

Sadie nodded quickly before scrunching her eyes and reaching for her temple.

“With your head trauma, you should move slowly,” the doctor said. “The good news is you seem healthy otherwise. But we do need to monitor you. In the meantime, a detective is on his way up to talk to you. Is that okay?”

“I guess so.” Her voice sounded soft and uncertain, however. “Maybe the police can tell me more.”

Just then, Trevor’s phone buzzed—his burner phone.

Who would be texting him? Sadie was the only one he’d given this number to—and Sadie clearly wasn’t the one texting him right now.

His shoulders tightened as he pulled the device from his pocket.

Right away, he recognized the number on his screen.

Larchmont.

How did his boss even get this number?

Meet me in the hallway.

The hallway? Was he referring to the hallway outside this room?

Trevor’s chest muscles pulled taut.

He should have known better than to think he could keep secrets from his boss. Larchmont was the master of subterfuge, often called the All-Knowing One by Trevor’s colleagues.

Now Trevor would need to face the consequences of his choices.

But that didn’t matter at the moment.

Only Sadie.

Who had done this to her? Why did she have blood on her hands and arm? And what was up with that list of numbers he’d found near her bag?