Chapter 2:

The coroner left with the dead man, and a single paramedic worked to get the woman to respond to any sort of stimuli, but she still hadn't done so. Jane squatted in front of her and found her gaze, but it was unfocused, blank. He stood and stepped beside her, putting a hand under her elbow. She rose readily enough, and he led her over to the gurney and helped her sit on it. He spoke softly to her as the medic did his examination, and she cooperated with what he needed to do.

"We'll get her to the hospital and get her started on fluids to combat the shock. Then, maybe she'll be able to talk to us."

"I"m going with her." The medic studied Jane for a moment and then nodded once. He climbed into the back of the ambulance to sit next to the gurney, and the ambulance sped off into the night.

Two blocks later, the ambulance pulled into a vacant lot and stopped. A moment later the back doors opened, and the man who had been acting as medic stood in front of Jane with a gun.

"All right. Everybody out."

Jane helped the patient out of the ambulance and then he got down himself. He started to say something and the man interrupted.

"Turn around."

Jane did so, and he felt himself being frisked. He was relieved of his cell phone. When it was over, he turned back around and asked, "What's going on?"

"Shh. Explanations will come. We need to get out of the open."

Jane took the measure of the man in front of him for a few minutes, and then he offered the injured woman his arm and followed the medic. They switched cars two or three times as they made their way across town.

Finally, they stopped, in the middle of nowhere. The ambulance driver waved his gun at Jane and said, "Walk."

He forced them into an abandoned barn. As soon as they were inside he secured the door and turned to Jane, who was busy getting the woman with him settled on a table.

"How's she doing?"

Jane didn't try to keep the annoyance out of his voice when he answered. "She's fine. As fine as a kidnapped person with amnesia can be. Why do you care?"

"She—she's my friend. It's my job to protect her."

"Protect her? From what?"

"I can't tell you that."

Jane felt something touch his hand. He glanced down, and saw that the lady with him was whispering something so softly that he couldn't hear her unless he leaned down right next to her.

"I need to talk to you. Alone," she whispered. Jane gave an almost imperceptible nod and went back to studying the man who had kidnapped them.

The fear radiating from their captor was palpable. Interesting. Jane filed that information away for later, and moved on.

"So what's the plan?"

"I have to get her to a safe place. We can't stay here."

"Why not?"

The man looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He grew very interested in a spot on the floor between his shoes. Moving up next to him, Jane put a hand on his shoulder.

"Look at me."

Slowly the man looked up and his eyes locked with Jane's. Jane spoke in a calm and measured tone.

"Relax. I can help you both."

The other man got a confused look on his face. "How?"

"Let's let her rest," Jane said quietly, drawing the other man over to the other side of the room.

When they were far enough away that the woman couldn't really overhear them, Jane spoke again.

"Your body language tells me you fear some sort of danger—a danger you're aware of, but don't wish to talk about."

The other man nodded.

"Well then, it would make sense for you to make sure we weren't followed, wouldn't it? You need to set up a perimeter alarm, so that you know if someone is coming."

The man gave Jane a strange look, no doubt wondering why he was helping them.

Jane continued, "I need to tell you—it won't take long for my people to figure out she's not in the hospital, and then my boss will call me, and when I don't answer the phone, she will track it, if not back here, to the last cell tower pinged. It won't take the team long to find us after that."

"You said you could help. How?"

"You go on and set up the perimeter alarm, and I'll see what I can do for her. We'll be right here when you get back."

The other man looked like he wanted to respond, but something in Jane's countenance stopped him. They stood studying one another for a few moments, then the man turned on his heel and walked out of the barn.

When he was gone, the lady started to speak, and Jane put a finger to his lips. Taking her hand, he led her out a back exit that he had discovered when they walked in, and through some other buildings, until they came to a small side road. There was a sign across the street from where they stood—Tahoe National Forest.

A few hundred yards further into the tree line, they came upon a series of cabins. The lady was growing increasingly unsteady on her feet, so he led her into one of the cabins and sat her down on two crates stacked in the corner.

Perching on the edge of the table, he studied her for a while, saying nothing. He was worried that she was going into shock, but when he locked his gaze with hers, her eyes were clear, and she was studying him just as he was studying her.

At length, Jane spoke. "I'm sure your friend will be looking for us soon. You said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, but I'm not sure I should."

"Why not?"

"I don't know who you are or what you want from me."

"My name is Patrick Jane. I'm a consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation, known commonly as the CBI. What do you remember?"

"Nothing. My mind is a blank."

"Interesting. You don't remember anything at all?"

"Nothing until I woke up in the barn."

"What about before—say this morning or yesterday?"

"Obviously, I know some things—like the basics of being human—how to walk, talk, dress myself, eat, sleep, etc, and it is equally obvious to me that I was where you found me for a reason, but I have no recollection of any of that."

At this, the woman paused, debating with herself about something. After a moment, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a card, and handed it to Jane. The card was white, about the size of an index card, and had what appeared to be a telephone number printed on it in bold, black letters. Underneath that, there was a series of letters and symbols, printed in metallic gold. Presumably, it was a code of some kind. Hmm. This case was growing more interesting by the minute.

Two things became immediately obvious to Jane, the more he thought about the situation he found himself in. One, the woman with him needed medical attention, and as much as it pained him to admit it, even to himself, he needed the resources of Lisbon and the CBI on this one.