Page 120 of Amnesia

“Oh, would you?” she asked, very relieved. “I’ll pay you for the time and for any parts the boat needs.”

“Of course,” he murmured. At my side, he glanced back at her. “Just let me get a shirt and some shoes. I’ll be right back.”

Eddie took my hand so I would go down the hall with him.

The second we were in the room, the door pushed around, I glanced at him incredulously. “You’re going to take her out onto the lake? Now?” My stomach churned just thinking about it.

His face and voice were grim. “It’s better than offering her the couch for the night.”

I shuddered. Staying under the same roof as that woman was a horrendous thought. But so was the idea of him out on the lake. At night.

“I don’t want you to go.” I worried, chewing my lower lip.

With his boots and hoodie on, he crossed the room, cradling my face between his hands. “I won’t be long. Lock the door after me.”

Panic gripped my chest. It felt like bone-chilling fingers that squeezed so hard my ribs felt they might snap. Gasping for breath, I trembled all over. “Please don’t go out on the lake,” I begged. “The last time…” My teeth started chattering, making a sharp snapping sound each time they smacked together.

“Oh damn.” He groaned, yanking me against his sinfully warm and cozy chest. His hand stroked the back of my head, and I clutched him close. “All right, baby. It’s okay.”

I pushed back, my eyes pleading. “Please don’t go.”

He nodded. “I won’t go out on the lake. I’ll just walk next door, see if Tom will take her. Or let her use his boat.”

“Promise me.” I urged.

“I promise, Am.”

A tear tracked down my cheek. Relief so strong flooded me. I felt momentarily dizzy. Suddenly, my body was drained, as if I’d just sprinted ten miles. Dr. Kline warned me of the possibility of panic attacks, especially as memories began to resurface, but I wasn’t sure if how I was feeling just now constituted as such.

“Thank you.” I sighed.

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” He kissed my forehead. “C’mon. The sooner I take her to the neighbor’s, the sooner I’ll be back in bed with you.”

My eyes scanned the living room as we walked down the hall. The room was still dimly lit because there were a few glowing embers left in the fireplace. Widow West wasn’t standing where we left her, though.

“Where is she?” I whispered, worried.

“Kitchen?” Eddie guessed.

Instead of going straight into the living room, Eddie started to move left, through the wide archway leading into the kitchen.

A blur of sudden movement startled me, and a low cry ripped from my throat. Eddie saw it, too, tensed immediately, and reacted.

He shoved me hard to the right, so hard I stumbled and fell back onto my bottom. But I barely noticed because I was too horrified by what was happening.

“Eddie!” I screamed.

The sound of thick wood connecting to the side of his head was sickening and ear splitting. I gasped and my hand flew up to cover my mouth as his body dropped from his upright position to a crumpled heap on the floor.

“Eddie!” I screeched again, scrambling on all fours toward him, dread clawing at the back of my throat.

“Leave him!” the widow demanded, her voice sharp as a nine-inch nail.

Leaning over Eddie, I gazed up at the older woman who was standing fiercely, a crazed look in her eyes, over his prone body, a giant wooden boat oar clutched in both her weathered-looking hands. Behind her and farther into the kitchen, the door leading outside was wide open, the blackness of the night like a void ready to suck us all away. Wind whipped in from the opening and caused her overly long, gray hair to fly around her shoulders as though she were a witch on a broom.

“Oh my God!” I yelled. “What the hell are you doing?”

Without a reply, she lurched forward. Her boney, icy fingers wrapped around my wrist and yanked. I half rolled over Eddie’s body as she dragged me forward.

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