12.

*Katelyn*

The memories came while I was sleeping that night that Joe had left. I knew that they weren't dreams because no dream that I had ever had before was so vivid.

He was kissing me, one hand tangled in my curled hair and the other on my hip, holding me close to him. Both of my arms were around his neck and I was kissing him back. Slowly, he moved his hands up to remove my shirt and I let him, eagerly working the buttons of his shirt in return.

Another flash and I was lying beside him, my body folded into his. He was warm and I nuzzled into his shoulder, where I could smell his cologne lingering on his smooth skin. He kissed the top of my head. "I love you so much." And I smiled and looked up at him to place a kiss on his lips. "I love you, too, Joe."

And then suddenly I was fixing his hand, which appeared to have multiple cuts and fragments of glass in it. I was bandaging it and he was talking about some guy named Grant… And then I was apologizing and before I knew it, he was sweeping me up into a kiss.

Then we were outside somewhere and he was handing me his jacket.

He was escorting me out of the woods one day, his arm around my shoulders as he guided me expertly through the trees and into a clearing where a helicopter and a few other girls were waiting.

"I love you," I was telling him suddenly as I was lying next to him. The sheets were draped over us and underneath them, I was wrapped tightly in his strong arms. He was smiling easily and he kissed my temple before saying, "I love you, too."

I was sitting in a room, behind a desk, and he was talking at the front of the room. I wished that I could have seen my surroundings, but it seemed like I was only focused on him and what he was doing, which seemed to just be talking. He asked a question and a voice I didn't recognize answered. He asked another question and this time, I answered.

Another flash and I was walking quickly through a city that I quickly recognized as New York City. I got into a cab and gave it an address, where I knew that I planned to walk to my real destination. And I knew that Joe would be there, waiting.

I saw Joe walking into a room, his hair damp from a shower. He wore a white shirt, black pants, and black shoes, along with a watch on his wrist. He moved quickly to the front of the room and began to talk in Japanese, asking a series of question that covered tactics.

Another flash and I saw Joe and I exchange a worried glance in front of some girl with dark brown hair that I didn't recognize. Then, we followed her out of a room that I didn't recognize and into a large hallway. We walked for a while through the hallways of a large house that I didn't recognize and then stopped in front of a door, which the girl then opened.

I woke with a start, sitting up in bed so fast that my head spun. My forehead and neck were wet with sweat from tossing and turning in my sleep and I glanced at the clock to get a bearing on the time. 2:32 a.m. I knew that I should go right back to sleep. Surveillance is extremely hard when you don't get a good night's sleep and all, but I just couldn't force myself to lie back down and try to go to sleep. I even had sleeping pills in my bag, but I simply didn't want to use them.

The water was warm as I stepped into the shower. I let it run over me at first, just not moving from under the spray. When I was well enough awake, I washed my hair and then my body, taking my time under the running water. Finally, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower and into the steam-filled room.

I wiped away the steam from a section of the mirror to stare at my reflection before the steam filled it back up. My dark hair was straight and slick with water, the ends dripping water onto the tile floor. My eyes were bright, but just a little glazed over with the memories my mind was still turning around and around in my head.

I saw Joe lying beside me, stroking my hair. He leaned forward to kiss my forehead, my eyelids, my cheeks, my nose, and finally my lips. I smiled and captured his lips once more before lying back against the pillows, satisfied.

"Marry me."

That hadn't been Rider's voice. I shook my head to clear the thoughts and looked down at the three-stone ring on my left hand. I forced my thoughts to turn to Rider and the wedding that was to come. Still, though, I had a strange feeling in my stomach.

I blow dried my hair only to pull it into a messy bun and pull on sweats and a T-shirt. I thought about going to the coffee shop across the street, but then I decided that the last thing I needed at three in the morning was coffee.

I decided to have some right before I spent another day tailing Antonio. In the meantime, though, I planned to sort through those memories that I'd had and see what the heck was going on. Why did I have a huge black hole in my memory in the first place? And why did all of those memories involve Joe? How big a part had he played in my life? And why could I remember most things from my life except for that short period where the memories were coming from?

What's going on?