Silent Vows (2 page)

“I’m here to take a report on today’s incident.”

He remained standing while he removed a tablet of parchment, or paper as Tara had called it, and a 6

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writing device. Thank goodness Tara schooled her in modern day writing and reading before her journey.

Otherwise, the simple acts of the people in this time would have been quite foreign to her.

“I’ve gone over this already.” She counted off the number of people who heard her story. The daunting man from the theme park asked her everything twice, the medic in the ambulance on the way to the hospital asked once, an emergency room nurse, an emergency room Doctor as well as a Neurologist.

Myra wondered if anyone in this time spoke to one another.

“Not for us, Miss.” He flipped the pages to an empty spot. “I’m told you ‘woke up’ at Magicland.

Can you tell me what happened?”

Officer Blakely breathed suspicion. She couldn’t tell if her Druid’s blood told her this or his body language did.

“I woke up on the small island surrounded by a moat.”

“Atlantis Island?”

“That is what the man who found me called it.”

There were so many questions she had about the place she’d landed after her trip through time. Why were there ships in a moat? Where could they possibly go? Why had the beautiful village been abandoned? Where were the people who lived there?

But she didn’t ask.

Keep it simple!
Tara’s mantra for Myra’s visit to the twenty-first century repeated in her head. “I think I hit my head. Although the doctors are not finding any injury to correlate with my lack of memory.”

“You don’t remember going to Magicland?”

“Nay.”

“How long were you there?”

“I don’t know. I woke up and found a kind man who called others to help me. They asked questions 7

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like you, but I couldn’t give them any answers either.”

“What do you remember?”

“I woke up, met the kind man who called the people from the hospital who eventually brought me here.”

“Uh-huh.” He turned the page. “Okay, let me just fill in a few blanks for my report.” He sat down.

She relaxed slightly.

“Are you married?”

“No,” she said automatically.

His eyes shot up, catching hers. “How can you be sure, if you have no memory?”

Her stomach twisted. “I’m not sure. It just doesn’t seem right.” She watched her fingers clench.

“Maybe I am. I should remember something like that, shouldn’t I?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he stared.

“I do remember a name,” she said quickly, trying to divert his attention away from her slip.

“Whose name?”

Myra fumbled with the blankets. The fluttering, which wasn’t all together unpleasant only a few minutes ago, now felt like a lump in the back of her throat. “I’m not sure.” She took a breath. “I remembered the name Lizzy McAllister a short time ago.” He scribbled the name on his notebook. “It isn’t your name?”

“I don’t think so, but I thought maybe if I said the name enough it would assist my memory as to who she is.”

“Has it?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“I’ll check out the name, see if your picture pops up in any missing persons reports. Is there anything else you’d like to add?”

“No.”

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He blew out a breath before he stood. He placed his book in his pocket and prepared to leave.

“You don’t believe me do you?” Now why had she asked that? She knew he didn’t.

“It isn’t for me to believe or not, Miss. I only have to write the report.”

“Why don’t you believe me?”

He walked over to the room’s window, pulled back the shade, and exposed the skyline of the city.

She hadn’t noticed the sky grow dark, or how the lights from the surrounding buildings glowed.

The sight was awesome, mystifying to the point where Myra didn’t hear his next words until he repeated them.

“I said, the world is full of opportunists. Any person found
hurt
on property owned by a corporation as large as the Magicland theme park is going to be under suspicion.”

“And I am under that watchful eye?” She pulled her gaze from the panoramic view and met his.

Opportunist?
He thought she was after something from him, or whoever owned the land she’d been found on.

He didn’t believe her lies. She would ponder the irony of that later. “Why should I care if you don’t believe me? ‘Tis the truth.”

“Sitting in this deluxe hospital suite on someone else’s dime would certainly give one that feeling.”

“What do you mean?”

“Who do you think is paying for all of this?” He spread his hands at the room. “You’re sitting in a private room in an overcrowded hospital. These cherry wood furnishings and plush blankets aren’t exactly standard hospital issue.” He walked over to a bank of electronic devices. “There’s even a CD player in here,” he mumbled.

The comfortable room was small by her standards. Her room at home was three times as 9

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large. Perhaps she was receiving special treatment and didn’t know it.

If someone else paid her way, he or she might not be able to care for themselves or their family. In her time, one would be happy to care for the sick or injured if able, but Myra wasn’t sick and instantly felt guilty for her lies.

“Perhaps, I should leave.” She tossed back the blanket to get out of the bed and noticed her bare thighs and naked feet, then quickly covered herself back up. “If you’ll excuse me?”

Officer Blakely held her gaze, his emotions masked. A slight tremor went through her when he didn’t budge.

“Where will you go?” he asked.

She opened her mouth only to shut it without uttering a word.

“Listen, lady, I’m sure your overnight stay in the hospital isn’t going to break anyone’s bank.” He moved closer to the door. “Twelve hours will give me time to look up this name, maybe something will come up. Or you’ll remember who you are in the morning.”

She wasn’t listening. Her eyes gazed beyond him. “So are you staying?”

She closed her eyes. “Do I have a choice?”

“I’ll be back tomorrow. If you remember anything, call this number.” He took out a card, walked back to the bed, and handed it to her. His fingers barely brushed hers.

A vibration went up her arm at the contact. The lump in her throat eased into submission.

He pulled his hand back in alarm. His surprised expression met hers the instant their fingers touched. “If I’m out, the department will contact me.” She studied the card.

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When he turned to leave, she stopped him.

“Officer Blakely?”

He peered back with a thoughtful stare.

“I truly have no idea where to go.” She spoke the truth.

The blue in his eyes glistened, his gruff expression shifted. She peered closer, her Druid gift sought his thoughts. For a brief moment, Blakely believed her. He said nothing, nodded, turned and left the room.

11

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‘Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.’ That was a cop’s motto.

Todd had clocked out, changed clothes and drove to his favorite watering hole. He sucked down a longneck beer and pondered Jane Doe. Next to him, Jake sipped his Scotch and tried to get Todd to change the subject.

“Let it go until tomorrow. It’s not like she’s going anywhere.” Jake had a few years on Todd and one failed marriage under his belt. His two kids visited him every other weekend and for one month in the summer. Even with alimony payments, he still felt the need to find wife number two. Fortunately for Todd, no candidate was sitting in the seat at the bar next to them or Todd would have been talking to himself. With an eligible woman in the room, Jake’s attention span was nil.

“Something isn’t right,” Todd continued.

Jake rolled his eyes and shook his head. “What isn’t right?”

“Her story is bogus. Who wakes up in the middle of an amusement park? No one saw her go down. It isn’t like Atlantis Island is that big. Someone would have noticed an unconscious woman.”

“But someone found her there, right?”

“No, she was found wandering the streets near the Gods of Mythology attraction. She only said she 12

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woke up on the island. I’ll check their surveillance tapes tomorrow.”

“I’m sure the lawyers already have them. You might need to check with the boss and subpoena them.” Jake ordered a second round.

“Possibly.”

“So she was found in the park, no injuries and no signs of sleeping in the elements?”

“Right. No forced entry, she could have found a corner and hid in it until the park closed.”

“She would have been picked up on a camera somewhere. I know I wouldn’t be able to stay in one place all night long in the middle of that park. I’ve always wanted to climb on top of the T-Rex.”

Todd took a long drink, sat back and scratched his five o’clock shadow. “The thing is...I don’t think she has any idea about Magicland’s worth or influence.”

His partner grunted his disbelief.

“No, really. She threatened to leave the hospital when I told her someone else was footing her bill.”

“But she didn’t,” Jake said.

“Because she had nowhere to go. You should’ve seen her. Something in her eyes spoke the truth when her mouth didn’t. Weird and doesn’t fit with the rest of her story.”

“Could be a domestic violence thing, and she’s trying to get away from the old man.”

“Maybe.” Todd’s head started to pound despite the beer. After hours of investigative work, he was no closer to the truth behind Jane Doe.

“So, tell me about your date with Sheila.” Todd changed the subject.

****

“Good morning,” Myra pushed her plate of food 13

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away and diverted her attention to the woman at her bedside.

“I see they have chorizo today,” Keisha nodded toward the food. “Not the healthiest breakfast served in the hospital, but it is one of the better tasting.”

“’Tis quite spicy.”

“And terribly fattening, too, I’m sure. Not that you have to worry about that.”

“I suppose not.”

“The doctors aren’t ready to release you yet, but when they do I have a list of shelters in the area which might be of service.” She handed Myra a piece of paper with names and addresses on it. “There’s an abuse center on the list if you need it.”

Myra peered into the woman’s mind and sensed a lack of trust.

“The lawyers from Magicland agreed to accommodate you for awhile.”

“No. They have helped enough.”

The social worker gave her a puzzled look before she gathered her things. “Either way, there are people who can help you.”

Keisha stood to leave.

“Thank you for your concern.”

Keisha walked away shaking her head.

It took a lot of willpower to stay put. Every fiber of Myra’s being told her she had no right to stay in the hospital when someone else was paying her way.

Officer Blakely said he would return. Hopefully he would bring Lizzy and Myra would have her problems solved.

Over twenty-four hours had passed since she’d left 1576 and taken her first trip through time. The scared and lonely part of her needed to be battled down continually. The other part, the excited fraction of her brain, wanted nothing more than to jump out of her sickbed and explore. From the first ride in the ambulance to the gadgets surrounding 14

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her, everything was new and different. Having an uncertain future kept her from enjoying the pleasantries of this time. Well, not all of them.

Myra slipped out from under the cotton sheets, tiptoed into the bathroom, and enjoyed her second shower. “Oh, Tara. Ye were right to have Fin working on this luxury at home,” she murmured to herself. To shower indoors with heated water at the Keep would be heaven.

Later, she sat by the window and watched the people come and go. There were so many of them.

Some resembled her family and the people of the village outside MacCoinnich Keep, but others were simply different, from the clothes they wore to the girth of their waistlines.

The faces, dear lord, their faces with eyes shaped in small slits to foreheads flat and large.

Even their hair was different and shaded in every color of the rainbow. One woman even had a pink streak running through her blonde tresses. Myra did her best not to stare.

****

“How are you feeling today?” Todd asked.

“The same, thank you.”

“This is my partner, Officer Nelson.”

“Miss...”

“Doe,” she told him. “Apparently my name is Jane Doe number 33.” She fingered the name band she wore on her wrist. “Why so many numbers? Are there that many women who don’t remember their names in your village?”

“More like unidentified bodies...”

Todd shot Jake a disapproving glare.

Jane Doe’s smile fell. “Oh.” She stood and moved 15

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to the bed. “Please sit.”

Once they were all comfortable Todd started.

“We found the name Lizzy McAllister, well actually her name is Elizabeth McAllister.”

“And?”

“It appears that Miss McAllister is on vacation.

Her employer isn’t expecting her back for a few days.

We can question her then to see if she knows who you are.”

She let out a disappointed sigh.

“Her name appeared on a police report filed last summer,” Jake relayed. “Her sister went missing.

Does the name Tara McAllister mean anything to you?”

Todd watched Jane’s expression and noticed a flicker of recognition, which she quickly hid. He had done his homework. The woman sitting in front of him didn’t match the pictures of the missing woman, but he couldn’t help wonder if they were in some way connected. Missing persons and people showing up without an identity sounded related to him.