Chapter 6

Fiona checked her rearview mirror all the way to Maddie's to make sure she wasn't being tailed. When she got close, she dialed Sam's phone and was pleased that he answered on the first ring.

"Fi. Is everything okay?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Sam, I'm almost to Maddie's. When I get there, I need to park my car in the garage."

"You got it, sister. I'll be waiting for you to pull up."

She slipped her phone into her purse and counted down the miles until she turned the last corner. Sam sat in his vehicle with the engine running. The garage door was open. She swung into the driveway and pulled inside, and before she had the engine off, Maddie and Jesse were closing the doors. Sam parked his car in front of the garage.

"Okay, what's going on, Fi?" Sam asked her as she came out into the back yard.

"Jesse! It's nice to see you." She ignored the irritation in Sam's voice. "I thought you were busy."

"Just got off an assignment and Maddie called me, told me that Sam picked up something really...unique...while out fishing this morning. She thought maybe I could help."

Sam blocked the door into the house. "I've already briefed Jesse on what we know, so it'd be nice if you'd tell us why you're watching your back. And where's the dress?"

"Ricardo has it. Apparently, my bringing the dress into his shop raised some red flags." Fiona explained as she eyed their surroundings warily and pushed against Sam's chest to move him aside. She entered the house and everyone followed. "While he was having a little discussion with an armed man, I got a name for our mystery woman." In the kitchen, she turned and faced the small group gathered there. "Her name is Yvette. The woman I spoke with didn't know her last name, just that her name was Yvette, and she was a personal assistant or something to a Ms. Romana Roche."

"Roche... oh crap," Sam muttered.

"Is that ringing a bell, Sam?" Jesse turned and looked Sam in the eye.

"Yeah. I haven't heard that name in years, but I'd bet it's the same guy. Frederick Roche, he's a very wealthy man, and a total scumbag. He's made a lot of his money the old fashioned way...illegally. But he's good at what he does, and no one has ever been able to catch him in the act. His network of little guys do the dirty work for him, and it's such a complex net that nothing ever goes sideways on him."

"And you know about this because..." Jesse prompted.

"He was suspected of stealing some smart bombs from the U.S. back in my SEAL days, and I was part of a team that was supposed to try to stop him from getting them. We..." He looked uncomfortable. "Well, that's all classified yet, so I can't talk about it. Let's just say we didn't get 100% satisfaction on our mission."

"So what does this all have to do with...Yvette," Maddie asked with frustration in her tone.

"Maybe only Yvette knows that," Sam replied with a shrug. "One thing's for sure, she's not going to the hospital unless it's the very last of the very last resorts."

"Has she improved at all," Fiona asked with a hopeful lift to her voice.

"She seems to be fighting her way back to consciousness." Sam poured a glass of ice tea and headed for the bedroom. "Now that I'm armed with her name, maybe I can use it to help her wake up!"

It was dark in the room when Yvette awoke. She heard the sound of even breathing, but it wasn't coming from her. Her own came in quick short bursts registering her fear, and she tried to get her bearings. She expected the room to be rocking as if they were on the undulating waves of the ocean, but she didn't know why. She couldn't remember anything except that the last time she was awake, she was drowning, terrified, until a man appeared. He had a scruffy but kind face, and he was adamant about making sure she was safe. Carefully, she sat up. The mattress shifted with her weight, and a spring creaked. She cringed. A second later as she tried to flip the covers back and get out of bed, a small bedside light clicked on and she stared in shock at the face that stared back. A screech of panic stopped abruptly in her sore throat. His hand clasped around her upper arm, but at the sight of her frightened expression, his own expression softened and he let her go.

"You really shouldn't be up," he spoke softly.

Yvette sat frozen in place, and he smiled in a way that she suspected disarmed a lot of women. He was older and not very well groomed, but she was charmed nonetheless. Her muscles relaxed and she leaned into the hand he held behind her back as he helped her lay down again.

"I...I guess you're right. I feel a bit lightheaded."

"You should. You have a concussion, and you've been out for..." He stopped and consulted his watch. "Wow, almost 15 hours. We were getting pretty worried about you, Yvette."

"Yvette," she whispered. "Is...is that my name?"

He frowned. "You still don't remember anything?"

"No. I'm sorry, I don't." She glanced around the small sphere of the room that the light illuminated. Her gaze shifted to the line running into her arm. "Am I in a hospital?"

"You're in my friend's house. Well, actually, it's his mom's house. Don't worry, you're safe here." He smiled. "My name's Sam. Sam Axe."

A spark of recognition hit her features, and she gasped as she reached for the lapel of his clean shirt and held on weakly. "I remember you! You said you wouldn't leave me behind." Her eyes filled with tears. "And you didn't. You saved me. Thank you, Mr. Axe."

Sam grinned, uncomfortable with the formality. "You can call me Sam." He covered her hand with his and gently pried it away before laying it on the mattress.

"Oh, okay...Sam." Her brow furrowed. "For some reason, that seems strange to me, addressing someone by their Christian name."

"You did it at the beach, when..." He shook his head. "Never mind. Do you remember where you're from, Yvette? You have that sort of English accent, but a French name."

"How do you know my name is Yvette?"

"Another friend of mine, Fiona, did some digging with the little bit of evidence we had and she was told your name was Yvette." He paused, unsure of how much to reveal without upsetting her. "I think we better just leave it at that for now. You're suffering from a concussion, so you're going to be confused for a little while. We don't want to make it any worse." He reached toward her forehead, and she unconsciously flinched. He frowned and pulled away. "I'm not going to hurt you. You can trust me."

"I...I'm sorry. I wish I knew why I was...am...so scared." She chuckled, an inconsistent exhalation of breath giving away her unease. "But I shouldn't be afraid of you. That much I know." She turned her blue eyes up to him, conveying her trust.

Sam touched her forehead with his palm. "You had a fever earlier, but you feel cooler now. That's a good thing. Are you in any pain?"

"My word, I've got a splitting headache right now!"

He let out a soft, short sound of laughter. "I can imagine. I can give you something for that. Hang on, I'll be right back." He stood, left the bedroom and returned before Yvette could begin to panic. He held a glass in one hand and the other was out flat, palm up, bearing two capsules. "Okay, you can take these and wash 'em down with this. Can you sit up by yourself?"

She nodded and pushed herself up slowly. "The room is spinning, Sam."

"Okay, let's make this quick, then." He set the glass down on the nightstand, put his arm around her shoulders, and propped her up against the headboard. Then he retrieved the glass, dropped the pills into her outstretched hand, and gave her the glass after she threw the pills into her open mouth. She drained half the glass, and Sam took it and placed it back on the stand. "You can drink the rest later if your stomach keeps those down."

"I take it you've dealt with concussions before?"

He grinned. "Yeah, you could say that. Now, why don't you lay back down and try to get some more rest? I'll still be here in the morning."

"Okay. Maybe I'll remember something tomorrow."

"That sure would be great, Yvette. Otherwise, Fiona and Jesse will be out combing the streets for more intel."

"Friends of yours, Sam?" She pulled the covers up to her chin as she settled into the mattress.

"Yep. Great friends, Yvette."

"Tell them that I'm grateful for their assistance." She yawned and closed her eyes, and in no time at all she was asleep, and Sam could rest easy.

"They'll just be glad that you're going to be okay." He spoke the words, placed a protective hand on her shoulder, and crossed his ankles on the edge of the bed. He was beat and had drifted off sometime during the night, until Yvette awoke. The heavy cloak of sleep overtook him again, and he had no trouble falling into it despite sitting in the uncomfortable chair and the soft light shining from the lamp.