Page 28 of Amnesty

“Why the hell didn’t I think of that?” I swore. “Damn.”

I felt her wide stare. “So it’s true?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they do it a lot.”

“She called the town dentist,” Am said, and I butted in. “Dr. Shaw.”

“Yeah, him.” She agreed. “He has to dig through twelve years of records in some storage unit to find Sadie’s so he can compare them to me.”

“How long is that gonna take?” I asked, impatient.

“A few days.”

“Promise you’ll tell me when you go. I want to be there,” I said seriously. “And not because I care what your old name used to be, but because I want to be there for you.”

“Cross your heart?” she asked.

I smiled. “Hope to die.”

She whispered the rest. “You will be forever mine.”

“Forever,” I echoed. At the truck, I tugged her around to face me.

“It’s going to feel like forever waiting for that dentist to find those records.” She frowned. “Waiting sucks.”

Wanting to see her smile, I wagged my eyebrows. “I can think of a few things to do to pass the time.”

“I’m sure you can.” Amnesia laughed.

Surging forward I scooped her up, tossing her body over my shoulder as though she weighed nothing more than a huge sack of potatoes at the store. Amnesia’s squeal carried on the wind, and I smacked her ass, which was right beside my face.

“Hey!” She squealed again, then smacked my ass.

“Get it, woman!” I said, sticking my butt out so she could whack me again.

Her laughter was a beautiful sound, but as fun as this was, I was ready to take her inside. The up-close view of her ass was turning me on.

“Put me down, Eddie,” she demanded, even though she wanted nothing of the sort. The view of my ass was too pleasant for her to want free.

“I’m going to.” I agreed readily. “Soon as I get into the bedroom.”

Starting toward the house, I figured I’d just leave the truck where it was for the night. It was my yard. I could park anywhere I wanted. I was too anxious to get inside with Am. I felt like a weight had been lifted that had been pressing in on us both.

Thank fuck she finally opened up.

“Wait!” she called out, sudden alarm in her voice.

I stopped immediately. “Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she hurried to say, then scrambled around me, staring out toward the water. “But look!”

Her pale hand was like a neon sign in the dark, pointing out to Rumor Island. The light was back. It bounced around, almost in slow motion, the light so far out it was nearly faded.

“You see that, right?” Her voice was hushed.

“Yeah, I see it.”

“I saw it the other night, when I came outside after my nightmare. I thought I might have imagined it.”

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