Sapphire Nights (Crystal Magic Book 1)(23)

“Some of them may be Wiccan,” he said, “but that’s a religion, not a magic service. Where were you going?”

“I’m looking for plants I can bring into town.”

“Do you mind if I walk with you? Do you need a strong back for digging?” He fell in step as she continued up her chosen path.

“Possibly, eventually. Right now, this is an observational expedition. You’ve come looking for me for a reason,” she said without accusation, uncertain how—or if—to start this conversation.

“You can’t tell me you don’t remember the death of your parents and walk away without my wondering.” He didn’t seem perturbed but scuffled the dirt around a rock as if to see if it could be moved.

“That’s just the tip of a very large iceberg. I’m not certain if it’s a good idea to reveal more, but I’m approaching desperate. How much can I trust you to keep what I say quiet?”

He pondered. “If we’re talking criminal activity, then I have to report it. If it’s personal, then I already carry more secrets than anyone knows. I can add another.”

She’d suspected that. He was more than an underpaid rural deputy. An intelligent man of confident authority should be sheriff or mayor by now, if power was his career path. She ought to be afraid of what he concealed, but anxiety made for sleepless nights.

“I have no memory of me,” she said, testing his ability to understand.

He considered that for a minute as they climbed. “You have memory of other people?”

“The ones I’ve just met. I don’t remember my parents, so I assume I won’t remember anyone from my past. I am currently living very much in the present.”

“But you remember how to drive and what plants are what and the basics of everyday life like etiquette and how money works.” He stated that as if it were fact, which it was.

“Exactly. I don’t remember if I take cream or sugar in my coffee, or even if I drink coffee, but I remember coffee. I keep waiting for something to jog my memory free, but it’s been gone since the night I arrived in a fugue state that semi-lifted when I entered town.”

“That sounds like something one of the witches would say,” he said in disgust. “I hope that doesn’t mean you’re expecting me to accept that if Cass is found dead, that you don’t remember murdering her?”

She glared at him. “Thanks for that. That’s not a possibility I’ve considered until now. All I mean is that I arrived the morning before last after following directions from a GPS, and when I got here, I abruptly woke up and realized I had no driver’s license, no phone, no purse, no nothing to tell me who I am—except textbooks with a name in them and a certificate of graduation.”

He whistled. “You need to see a doctor. You could have been mugged. A concussion is nothing to mess around with.”

“I don’t have a concussion,” she said irritably. “No bumps, no bruises. No explanation. And who steals my purse and ID and not my car? Then programs in directions?”

“Admittedly, that’s odd, unless it was a new GPS and you added it yourself. Maybe you were drugged. We could have toxicology reports run. Were there any other addresses in the GPS?”

Sam took a seat on a boulder on the outskirts of what appeared to be a natural amphitheater, with rock ledges forming seats in a circle around a depressed area. She dug her fingernails into her palms and tried to form a reply. “I have no insurance that I know of. I imagine blood tests cost more money than I have. Unless you want to charge me with DUI, I’m not seeing that happening. And there was one other address in the GPS for a restaurant down in Monterey. That appears to be where I began this insane journey.”

“Give me the name and I’ll start there.” He pulled out his phone and jotted down what she told him. “But I still think you need a blood test. You might have a tumor.”

“Oh goody, one more thing to worry about.” She sat in morose silence, absorbing the heat of the rock. Realizing she had no family left her heart as empty as her head.

“C’mon, you have to know that medical science is the best path, unless you want the witches to read your past and future.”

That was exactly what they’d been doing, Sam realized, shoving her unruly hair back. And she’d let them, because her instincts required a connection to real live people. “I just have this superstitious notion that I’m meant to be up here for some reason, as if I can prevent something that’s about to happen. I know, that makes no sense.”

“Finding the skeleton reinforced that feeling. It’s not valid. You didn’t find it. The others did.”

She shouldn’t be irritated by his logic. She simply wanted. . . more. “I know. I apparently know enough psychology to understand I’m grasping at straws. But part of it is also feeling vulnerable. How can I go to a doctor with no insurance, no money, and no ID?” She glanced up at him with a glimmer of hope. “If you found my old address, would that be enough to ask the DMV to replace my driver’s license? Can you find my social security number?”

His stern visage offered no expression. “You would need to be a suspect in a crime for me to access your personal history. And DMVs require birth certificate, passports, or the equivalent these days before they’ll issue a license. Name and address alone won’t do it.”