Part 7 (1/2)
As Kane Macgregor led her into his apartment, that realization swirledin Faith's mind, baffling, frightening. What could it possibly mean?
He didn't know her, yet her response to him had been immediate andintense. She knew he could feel her shaking, and she was afraid the heatin her skin would also betray her. His voice, his touch, his face, allwere utterly, painfully familiar, a small pool of bright, clearcertainty in the ocean of blackness all around her, and she feared itwould kill her if she had to turn away from that, from him, and plungealone into the dark unknown.
But she would have to. There was only one explanation she could think ofto account for the dreams, one thing that made a certain kind of senseto her, and if what she suspected was true, then those dreams, thatconnection she felt so vividly between her and Kane Macgregor, were yetanother thing someone else had given her. Not hers at all.
She had no sense of herself, and it was terrifying.
He introduced Noah Bishop as his friend, and she vaguely recognized himas the man who had been with Kane on television. The angry scar down hisleft cheek didn't bother her, but his pale, watchful eyes made heruneasy; they were more silver than gray, and peculiarly reflective. Shehad the disturbing notion that he could see all the way to her soul.
”Some security building you've got here,” Bishop said dryly to Kane.
”It's just electronic security on the front door at night,” Kanereplied. ”Easy enough to get into the building if one of the neighborsis buzzing 'in a visitor.”
”That's how I came in,” Faith confessed, not needing to explain thatshe'd been unsure of her welcome.
Bishop sighed. ”An armed guard or two would probably be a good idea.”
”I'll add that to my list of things to do,” Kane said.
”Sit down, Faith.”
She did, at one end of the couch, grateful to be off her feet. She stilltired easily, and just getting up the nerve to come here had beenexhausting.
Kane frowned down at her. ”You're frozen. How do you take your coffee?”
She had no idea, and tried to choke back the bubble hysterical laughtertrying to escape her throat. ”Ijust any way. It doesn't matter.” At least he'd misread her shaking andher flushed cheeks, a.s.suming both to be due to the chilly evening.
”I'll get it,” Bishop said, and went around the corner into the kitchen.
Kane joined her on the couch, no more than a foot away and half-turningso he could watch her. ”I'm glad you came, Faith.” He added almostapologetically, ”Do you mind my using your first name? It's the wayDinah spoke of you, and-”
Faith shook her head. ”No, I don't mind.” Maybe it'll start to soundfamiliar.
”Good. Thank you. I'm Kane. As for my friend, most people call himBishop.”
Everybody but you,” Bishop called from the kitchen, proving that eitherhe had very good ears or the walls were thin.
Kane smiled slightly, then repeated to Faith, ”I am glad you came. Wewanted to talk to you, even though Dr. Burnett said you couldn'tremember any- thing.” There was the faintest questioning lift to thestatement.
”Nothing of my life,” she confessed. ”Nothing ... personal. Not who I amor where I came from. I'm still not used to the name, the face I see inthe mirror. It's ... disconcerting.”
”I'd think it would be scary as h.e.l.l,” he said bluntly.
”That too.”
Bishop returned to the room with coffee and handed her a cup. Theirhands touched as she accepted it, and she was suddenly conscious of amoment of intense stillness. His eyes seemed to bore into hers, and shewas acutely aware of his warm fingers touching hers. The connection wa.s.so powerful, it was as if he held her physically in an inescapable grip.
Then, even as she became aware of it, the moment pa.s.sed. His fingersdrew away and he straightened, his gaze calm and cool once more. Shaken,Faith sipped the coffee and tried to think only of the drink. He hadfixed it with plenty of cream and sugar, and since it tasted pleasantshe a.s.sumed this was indeed how she took her coffee. ”Thank YOU.”
He nodded and chose a chair across from the couch. Very conscious thathe was watching her closely, she turned to Kane.
”I was obviously Dinah's friend,” she said to him.
”I didn't know you?”
”We never met. I-went to the hospital after Dinah disappeared, to talkto the staff about her visits, and saw you briefly, but that was all.”
She was afraid her hands would shake and betray her growing wearinessand fear, so she set her cup on the coffee table and laced the fingerstogether in her lap. ”Do you have any idea how long I'd known Dinah, orwhere we'd met? Any- thing like that?”
He shook his head. -Dinah and I didn't meet until about seven months ago. I know a lot about her, but certainly not everything. And if youwere in any way connected with her work, I'd be even less likely to knowabout you.” Bishop said quietly, ”Were you connected with her work?
”From what I gathered from news reports, she's a journalist?”
”Right.”
”Then I don't see how. According to the pay stubs I found in my
apartment,” she said wryly, ”I worked for the city. I called and spoke
to my supervisor.
Apparently, I was a small cog in a very big wheel. I did routine office work.”
”Which office?” Kane asked.
”Building Inspections and Zoning.” She grimaced. ”About which I know
nothing. Or at least nothing I remember. My job involved typing and filing.” She considered for a moment. ”I think I know how to type.”
There was something forlorn in her voice, and Kane acted instinctively.
He reached over and covered her tightly clasped hands with one of his
own. ”The doctor said your memory will eventually come back to you,
Faith. You have to believe that.”
She looked down at his hand, her eyes wide; and Bishop, watching her, was reminded of a deer frozen in a car's headlights, paralyzed and unable to save itself from certain death.