Page 19 of Solid as Steele
“There!” Owen shouted. “That’s the area I remember. And the rock.”
He dropped his pack and ran toward the butte, but pain forced him to slow to a fast walk. He skirted clumps of desert vegetation and rushed toward a large boulder that was burned in his memory. Dried blood caked the rock. Exactly like he’d remembered.
Flashes of memories peppered his brain as he walked. Pictures of him trudging through the wilderness. Alone. No one chasing him. Tiring. Wanting to quit. But something kept pulling him forward. Step after step until he reached Mackenzie’s porch and collapsed.
What had made him keep going? And what had stolen his memory? Nothing terrible here other than the bloody rock, and that surely wasn’t traumatic enough to make him forget.
“Blood.” Mackenzie’s voice came from behind him.
He jumped. He’d forgotten she and Ryan were with him.
He looked at her. “Guessing it’s mine.”
Ryan joined them. “I brought containers to take forensic samples of any evidence we locate.”
“If I decide not to notify the police, what good will that do?” Owen asked.
“We could have a private lab analyze them,” Mackenzie said.
Owen nodded, his mind racing. “Law enforcement will want to take their own samples for chain of custody anyway. Wow. Oh wow. That’s weird. For some reason, I knew that. Couple that with the double-tap and maybe I really am a cop.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “A cop or guy skilled at breaking the law?”
Poof. Owen’s positive spin he so desperately wanted vanished.Thanks, for that.
“We need to get camp set up,” Ryan jerked his head in the direction of his backpack resting where he’d placed it on a large boulder. “If there’s still daylight when we’re done, we can check this out again. If not, it’ll have to wait until morning.”
Owen didn’t want to leave the spot, but the safety and comfort of Mackenzie was more important to him than anything. Even recovering his memory. Video flashes of this woman in danger popped into his brain. His gut hurt. Was his stress for her alone or did he want to protect all women? Another thing he didn’t know.
He followed Ryan, who stopped near a twisted juniper tree. “We’ll camp in the flat clearing near this tree. We should catch a breeze yet today, and the tents will receive full sunshine first thing in the morning.”
“Sounds good,” Mackenzie said. “We’re yours to command.”
“Wow, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that from you.” Ryan laughed. “I packed three individual tents. Since I know how to set them up and how to choose a good site, I’ll take care of that. But we’ll need firewood.”
“I noticed a dead tree back on the trail a bit.” Owen jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Will that work?”
Ryan nodded. “I’ll get my saw and the two of you can cut the branches into manageable pieces and bring them back.”
In Owen’s wounded state, he wasn’t terribly eager to saw wood and tote it back here. His body was about ready to collapse. He’d only gotten this far spurred on by the hope of finding the area he needed to see. And he’d foolishly believed that when he arrived, his memory would come flooding back and part of his trauma would be over.
Not so much.
Why God? Just why?
He waited for an answer.
Nothing came.
He knew in his gut that he’d asked the question many times in his life and hadn’t received answers. Maybe he was a believer but not a very strong Christian, so he didn’t know how to listen for answers. Or the right way to listen. Was there a secret to unlock God’s communication? A secret he didn’t know but would discover once his memory came back?
Ryan gave him a folding saw. “It’s small but mighty.”
“Like a mustard seed of faith,” Mackenzie said, as if she were able to read the doubt in Owen’s mind.
“Can move a mountain.” She paused and locked gazes with him. “Give our search for your memory time. We’ll figure it out.”
He didn’t know how to reply, so he set off for the tree, pondering her comment as he walked.
