Page 117 of Amnesia

“No. That was enough.”

Wrapping an arm around her, we started walking again. She tucked her hand back into my pocket, though she could have used her own. Tenderness swelled inside me; it matched the anger I was consumed with knowing someone had once treated her that way.

If I knew who it was, I’d destroy him. “Did you see a face in the memory, Am? Something that would help you recognize who did this to you.”

“No,” she answered, forlorn. “Even if I did, I probably wouldn’t recognize them.”

Still. A face was better than nothing. We could do police sketches, look at criminal profiles… something. Hell, anything to make this bastard pay.

We walked along a few moments more. Amnesia gazed out across the ever-fluent water and the shimmering reflection of the moon.

“Did they search Rumor Island after Sadie disappeared?” Even though she was right here in my arms, her voice seemed far away.

“They searched everywhere,” I told her. “Including the island. More than once.”

“What was out there?”

“Nothing. Just Widow West alone on the island in her old house. The police interviewed her a few times, wanting to know if she saw or heard anything that night. The island was looked at closely because that’s where we’d been going when the boat flipped.”

Amnesia glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. “She didn’t see anything?”

“No. They searched the entire island. It’s pretty wooded with old trees and bushes. There’s a small beach on the back side. That’s where the dock is and where she keeps her boat.”

“And the house?” She pressed.

“They searched that, too. There was nothing.” I’d been angry in the weeks following Sadie’s disappearance. Angry with the police for not being able to find her, angry with myself for losing her, even angry with my friends who issued the dare. Everyone in town looked at me with pity and accusation. Even though I was in a shit ton of trouble, I searched with everyone. I searched until I was so tired I nearly fell over, until my feet had blisters the size of silver dollars. “I kept searching, even after the investigation was called off. I was obsessed. I couldn’t understand how a person just vanished like that.”

“I’m sure you did everything humanly possible,” Am said softly, pulling her hand out of my pocket and reaching for mine.

It wasn’t enough. “One night I fell asleep on the lakeshore. When my parents found me, I was half in the water, half out. My mom was so upset. I still remember the look on her face.” A ghost of a smile tugged my lips. It wasn’t funny, not at all, but the way her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she demanded I stop searching was something I could look back on eleven years later and find a little humor in.

“She was worried about you.”

I nodded, clearing my throat. This wasn’t about me. What happened wasn’t about me. Gesturing with my chin, I stared out at the looming shape of Rumor Island. “So why all the questions?”

“There was something about her today. When she spoke to me, all the hairs on my body stood on end.”

“She normally doesn’t talk to anyone,” I said, thoughtful. “She just gets what she needs, tolerates me, and leaves.”

“I didn’t like her,” Amnesia said, fully committed to her aversion.

I turned my back on the water, facing her. “She scared you.”

Amnesia still stared out at the lake, in the direction of the island. Slowly, she nodded. “Yeah, I guess she did.”

I made a mental note to keep Mrs. West away from Am the next time she came in the store. This was the first time I’d seen her react this way to anyone in town. Usually she had a smile for everyone.

It made the already eerie quality of the island even more so.

“C’mon. it’s cold,” I murmured, tucking her into my side and steering her toward the house. We walked quietly along. Every few moments, the water would come so close it would splash my shoes.

“Amnesia?” I said, still thinking about what she said.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think the widow had something to do with what happened to Sadie?” What the fuck kind of universe would it be if that were true? That the truth to the town’s biggest mystery was actually here right in front of us all this time.

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No. The few memories I’ve had, it’s always been a man. There’s never been a woman with him.” She glanced up at me with a rueful look on her face. “Maybe she’s just not a likable person. Maybe that’s why she lives alone.”

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