Page 3 of Cassidy

All her teammates were getting married or engaged. She was still the odd one out but tried not to focus on that. She had been engaged once, but the guy who’d claimed to love her abruptly decided he didn’t want to be married to a cop. Last she’d heard, Wade Morris was happily married to an accountant.

Goody for him, she thought with a sigh. Obviously, he hadn’t loved her as much as she had cared for him.

Reminding herself she was better off without Wade, she spied the exit for the Wildflower Motel. The gas station was located about a mile to the north, so she turned right after getting off the interstate.

She pulled into the parking lot of the gas station, wondering how Gabe had gotten there. There was no sign of his car, a tomato-red SUV. She hadn’t seen it in the motel parking lot either.

Had he taken a rideshare out there? Was that the person who’d robbed him?

She killed the engine and slid out from behind the wheel. Ducking her chin into her coat collar, she hurried inside the building. It reeked of tobacco, either from the stock of cigarettes or because the clerk smoked while on duty.

“Cassidy!” Gabe’s expression brightened when he saw her. “Thanks for coming.”

“What on earth happened?” Gabe’s brown hair and the side of his face was matted and smeared with blood. Her heart squeezed as she realized he’d been assaulted. “Who did this to you?”

“I don’t know.” A flicker of uncertainty darkened his brown eyes. It took her a minute to realize he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He’d recently gotten contacts but mentioned how he hadn’t liked wearing them at work. “Can we please get out of here?”

“Yes, of course.” She glanced at the clerk who was watching them suspiciously. She smiled and nodded at him. “Thank you for allowing my friend to borrow your phone.”

The clerk shrugged. “It is fine. Just please go now.”

“Yes, thanks,” Gabe added.

She took his arm and steered him toward the door. But rather than going outside, Gabe stopped, peering through the glass into the night. She frowned, wondering what was wrong with him, but then he moved forward to open the door.

“We need to hurry,” he said as they stepped outside. “I don’t like being out in the open like this.”

What?She glanced at Gabe, wondering what on earth he was talking about. This wasn’t the Gabe she knew. He was acting as if he was a cop who needed to track down a perp.

Not the tech team expert who supported her and her fellow officers while they were on scene facing adversity in their quest to protect the public.

“You’re worrying me,” she said as they crossed to her black SUV. “Where’s your car? Was that stolen too?”

“My car?” Gabe turned in his seat, looking confused. “I don’t know. What kind of car do I drive?”

Again, she felt as if she’d been dropped into an alternate universe. “You’re asking me what kind of car you drive?” She frowned, searching his gaze. “You know what car you drive. You were so happy to have the only bright-red SUV in the parking lot of our precinct.”

“Precinct?” Gabe clipped his seatbelt in place. “We’re cops?”

“I’m a cop. You’re our tech analyst.” As she put the SUV into gear and pulled out of the parking lot, she didn’t try to hide her frustration. “What is going on with you, Gabe? Why are you acting like this?”

He didn’t answer for a long moment. “I guess I should tell you everything.”

“Yes, you should.” Cass braced herself. “What have you gotten involved in?”

“I don’t know.” Gabe lifted a hand to his head, winced, then lowered it again. “I don’t know anything. I didn’t remember my name until you mentioned it on the phone. I don’t know why I was hit on the head and knocked unconscious. I don’t know why I woke up way out in the middle of nowhere without my wallet, phone, or any cash. I don’t remember anything.”

Seriously?She glanced at him, trying to understand.

“I wish I could tell you what is going on, but I can’t. I don’t remember anyone being with me or striking out at me.” He turned to meet her gaze, and the troubled expression on his face tugged at her heartstrings. “I only remember you, Cassidy.”

She blew out a breath, reeling from what he was saying. Part of her wanted to scoff at the idea that he had amnesia. That Gabe Melrose couldn’t remember his name or his impressive career within the tactical team.

But the man she knew wasn’t this good of an actor. Gabe might be big into gaming and unreasonably excited over technological advances, but he didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. He was up front and honest about his strengths and weaknesses.

A trait she’d found endearing.

She forced herself to think like a cop. Gabe had been assaulted and robbed. And as such, he was the victim of a crime. “Okay, you have a head injury and can’t remember anything. I’ll take you straight to Trinity Medical Center to be medically evaluated.”

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