Page 18 of Cassidy

“I know, and I wish now that I had.” His brow furrowed. “At least then we’d have a clue as to what’s going on.”

Sensing there wasn’t more to be gained from this line of questioning, she slid in behind the wheel of the Jeep and waited for Gabe to get settled beside her. She let the engine run for a moment to warm up, before backing out of the parking space and heading northeast to White Gull Bay.

“Have you heard from Zeke?” she asked.

“Who?” Gabe glanced at her in confusion.

She mentally kicked herself for bringing it up. “Never mind.”

“No, really, I should know the people I work with.” His gaze was earnest.

“I can’t list them all, as you do work for every cop in the entire precinct. But those you work closest with are Rhy, whom you already met. He’s our captain. Joe Kingsley is our lieutenant and Rhy’s brother-in-law.” She hoped rattling off the names wouldn’t make Gabe feel worse about being unable to remember. “We have Steele Delaney, Brock Greer, Raelyn Washington, Grayson Clark, Roscoe Turner, Jina Robertson, Zeke Hawthorn, and Flynn Ryerson. Zeke was shot in the line of duty and has been off work since early October.”

“So many,” Gabe said. “It feels wrong not to be able to put faces with names.” He glanced at her, and added, “Except for yours.”

“It’s fine; you’ll remember soon.” She did her best to sound positive. “Don’t stress. You remembered putting something in the freezer, and that’s a start.”

“It’s not even a clear memory,” he groused. “Just an undeniable need to check the freezer for something that doesn’t belong.”

She still thought it was odd that he’d have put anything electronic in the freezer, but what did she know? She eyed the rearview mirror glad she hadn’t noticed a tail. Then again, she hadn’t noticed one last night either, and a shooter had still shown up at her condo. The thought made her realize she’d need to make arrangements to have the window repaired.

As she continued driving, another possibility struck her. “Does this have anything to do with your dad?”

“My dad? I don’t think so.” He looked thoughtful. “Last night you mentioned I inherited the house from him.”

“Yes, he passed away two years ago, but you never explained in detail what happened. I always assumed he died of natural causes.” She waved a hand. “Never mind, it was just a thought. The fact that you were attacked late at night and your home was ransacked has me thinking along the lines of this being a personal vendetta. But there was that virus at the station, too, so maybe not.”

“Don’t downplay your instincts, Cassidy.” His tone was serious. “You’re a good cop and should be asking questions. I just wish I had answers for you.”

“Hopefully soon.” She slowed as they approached White Gull Bay. “Look around, Gabe. This is your neighborhood. I need you to let me know if you notice anything suspicious.”

“I’ll try.” He didn’t sound confident, but she knew he wasn’t giving himself enough credit. He had good observation skills. Maybe not like a cop, but better than the average citizen.

She found Gabe’s place without difficulty. Cass decided to drive past the house first, without stopping, just to get a quick glimpse of the area. As she’d noticed last night, most of the houses around Gabe’s were brightly decorated, which made it difficult to figure out if people were home.

“See anything unusual?” she asked. After going the length of three blocks, she turned to head back.

“No.” He was still looking around with interest. “I don’t remember growing up here. Makes me wonder when my dad bought the place.”

Since she had no idea where he’d grown up, she didn’t respond. She pulled over to the side of the road on the block behind Gabe’s home. She killed the engine and turned to face him. “We’re going to approach the place from the back. You don’t have a fenced-in yard, so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Okay. Hopefully, the Landons won’t call the police.” He pushed open his car door and slid out.

The Landons? She found it fascinating the way some memories popped out of his mouth without his realizing it. Granted, she’d have preferred he remembered something better, like who had assaulted him and why, but she was hopeful this was a good sign.

She followed him along the side of the neighbor’s driveway until they were cutting through the Landons’ backyard. When they reached Gabe’s property, she put a hand on his arm to stop him.

“Hold on,” she said in a hushed tone. “Take a moment to look around. Do you see anything unusual?”

He frowned but did as she asked, carefully scanning the backyard. The snow from the night before had melted, and the only prints left behind were from small animals, rabbits or squirrels. “No. But you’re making me nervous that I’m missing something important.”

“You’re not. I just want to be sure.” She had thought that seeing his backyard in the daytime would bring more memories to the surface. “Looks like there’s a keypad on the back door. Is it the same code as the garage?”

“I guess we’ll find out. I’m not even sure how the code came to me last night, considering I wasn’t even able to remember my last name.” He took another moment to look around before crossing the backyard. The grass was still damp from the melted snow, and when she looked behind them, she noticed their footprints had left an obvious trail for anyone who cared to look.

Couldn’t be helped. It was always a problem sneaking around in the winter. At least it was daytime, so they’d be able to see any potential threat clearly.

She watched as Gabe entered the key code. It took her a moment to realize the digits were her birthday. Had he done that on purpose? Or had he simply chosen the digits of 1014 randomly?

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