Chapter 19

Anna sat watching Robert pace. They were at the hospital waiting to meet with Dr. Fulford. Anna knew there was no point telling him to sit down. She understood how anxious he was, she felt it too. Anna knows he wants answers. They both do.

"Stephen Conner."

They both turned to see who was looking for Robert. "Yes," he responded.

"Hi, if you'll follow me. We'll start the screening process to see which group in the study you best fit into and we'll go from there."

He paused and looked over at Anna, "Alright, can my wife come with me?"

"Actually, for this part, it's better if it's only you. Afterwards, when we are explaining things then yes she can join us if that's what you want. We just like talking one on one with the patient first. That way we can see if there are things they struggle with. If you are there to answer for him or help him answer we won't have as clear an idea of what we are dealing with," the young doctor explained politely.

"Oh, alright. I guess I'll wait here," Anna told the young doctor then gave Robert a quick kiss. She watched them go through a door close by then sat back down to wait. Let this work, she thought as she settled in. Robert needs help but she understands his reservations about this as well. How does he explain some of the things he might remember? What does he do if he starts talking about a mission? There was no point worrying about that now. All they can do is see what happens now.

They might have been old magazines but at least there were a few interesting stories in them to pass the time. When Anna looked up to see Robert walking towards her with a bit of a grin she knew he felt better about this now. Anna checked the time and realized it had already been two hours since Robert had gone in.

"Well?" she asked as she stood up.

"I feel good. I think this is what I need. Dr. Fulford talked me through what they do and that as well as studying the injury they help find the right way for me to recover. I am still healing but now I need to start the mental work to regain my memory. He said I should think of it as the same idea as physical therapy after that kind of injury."

"You look a lot more relaxed about this now," Anna noted as she took his hand and they started walking out of the waiting area.

"I am. I have my first session tomorrow. I was placed in group B, not really sure what that means but I do know I need to be back here at one-thirty tomorrow."

Anna smiled, a sense of relief went through her. If he feels good about this that made her feel better as well. It's the not knowing that has them both concerned and on edge about what comes next. They know there is still a challenge ahead just to get home but they need him to get this help first. "Well, let's get out of here. I'm sure we can find some way to pass the time."

…

The young man did have promise. There's no doubt he would have gone far. Well, that was before he crossed paths with Cesar Faison. Now all he is is dead.

No one needs to ask him, why he had been snooping through WSB files. No one needed to know who had hired him to do that either. No one would ever ask him who he had been looking for. This was the easiest way to deal with loose ends. They never became a problem this way.

Faison walked off into the fog. He had a boat to catch. He didn't need to get there quickly and this gave him a little more time to confirm the story Sugarhi had found. There is someone that looks very much like Anna Devane and he wants to find out if it really is her. There is also a very good chance this is a trap and Faison would not be where he is today if he wasn't always precautious. It should take him about a week to get there, by then he should have a little more information. Not as much as he would if he wasn't in hiding but enough to know if he was right to proceed.

…

Mac was a little distracted that morning as he walked into Kelly's. He had a lot on his mind and hardly heard Ruby when she greeted him. "Oh, hi. Sorry, there's just a lot going on in my head today."

"Don't worry about it, hon. Have a seat and I'll get you some coffee to start."

"Thanks, Ruby." Mac took a seat at one of the tables. He didn't have to be at the club until later so that wasn't what was bothering him. It was all the unknown things about Robert and Anna but mostly his brother. Is whatever he's doing now going to help him? What if he doesn't get his memory back? Could the plan the WSB has somehow backfire and put them all in danger?

Mac knew thinking like this didn't help anyone and it only added to the stress he was already dealing with but he couldn't help it. Today that was just where his mind is at. When Mac looked up he saw Ronda studying him. "Hi," he said as he stood up. "Would you like to join me?"

"I don't think I should."

"Please, just have a coffee with me. We, we could talk. Please, Ronda, I think we should talk."

Ronda thought about it for a moment. Since they had arranged that little meeting between her and Sean Donely, Ronda had been wondering what all they were up to. "I can stay for a few minutes," she said then glanced around before joining him.

After Ruby had poured them both coffee Mac leaned forward. "I didn't know who you were the first time you came into my club. When I had figured out you had been one of the people watching my home I also realized you must be the one talking to Robin."

Ronda leaned in as well, in a hushed voice she asked, "So were you working me for information?"

"Is that what you thought I was doing?" Mac asked a concerned look on his face that made him look kind of cute.

"No," she admitted with a little smile.

"I knew who you were and what you were trying to do and there was no point in me messing that up but I like getting to be around you. I liked it when we talked."

"I did too." Ronda blushed a little, she couldn't help it she liked Mac Scorpio and maybe he liked her a little too. "So why did Sean need to make a point of talking to me?"

"Because my brother doesn't trust easily and the trio of WSB agents wanted to get a better feel of what this situation is."

"They wanted to make sure I wasn't using Robin and feeding her a bunch of false information to trick them in some way."

"I didn't hear any of them say that," he told her with a grin then nodded slightly. "But I would assume that is exactly why that had to happen."

"So they are okay?" Ronda moved her chair a little closer, looked around again then whispered. "They're together somewhere?"

"Yes, they are together but no they are not okay. Robby is still dealing with um, some things. If they had to go on the run right now they could but it would be better if that didn't have to happen yet."

"Alright, good to know. As far as I know, they are still off the radar."

"That's good." Mac grinned at her, "Can we not talk about this. Can I maybe chat you up a little? I want to get to know the lovely lady that comes into my club and seems to enjoy it there. She's got a cute smile I want to see more."

Ronda sat back and smiled at him, "I'd like that."

"Good, we'll start with coffee and maybe if I'm lucky we'll work our way up to dinner," he said with a charming smile.

"I think that might be a possibility."

…

When Robert and Anna arrived for his appointment they were told he would be there for the rest of the afternoon. This is the start of them figuring out what approach will work best for him and hopefully help determine the timeline for his recovery. Since there are a lot of questions at this point it is usually at least three hours. Anna kissed Robert's cheek and told him she'd be meeting up with him later.

Robert then followed the doctor down the hall and into a large room that appeared to be separated into different work areas. "So what do I do here?" he asked looking around a little more. There were groups of people spread throughout the room.

"Today, we ask you questions and you just try to answer them the best you can. You're in group B because your memory loss is a result of head trauma. Today we want to get a better idea of where you are with regaining your memory."

"Are all the people here going to be asking me things? I don't think I know that much yet."

"We don't expect you to. These are standard questions that just help us better help you. You are only going to talk to the three of us today. We don't want to overwhelm you, this isn't like a test or anything."

"Alright." He took a deep breath, ready to get started.

Robert was then led over to the first workstation to start. It wasn't just them asking questions about his life. They asked general knowledge questions as well as word association. It wasn't as invasive as he had imagined it would be either. There were other individuals there but Robert assumed they had already gone through the things he was doing today.

After countless questions and different faces asking different things, they were finally done. Robert sat back in his chair. "So that's it?"

"Yes. For today at least. Now, we go over this and when you come back the day after tomorrow we will start working on your treatment plan. You'll be paired with one of the team and then with any luck they will help you on your road to recovery."

"Alright, that sounds good. I'll be back in a couple of days." Robert stood and they shook hands.

"Alright, see you then, Steve." After he left the doctor started flipping through the information they had gathered on their latest test subject. He walked over to one of the other doctors there. "I think this case is right up your alley, Alexandra. He suffered from his injured for at least three months before getting treatment."

"Really? Why was that?"

"Apparently he was a missing person for a while."

"Oh this should be interesting," Alexandra said as she started reading over his file. "I believe this will be an interesting case. Thank you, Carl."

…

"I saw you talking to Malcolm Scorpio at that little diner," Ross said as he came into the boardroom.

"Yeah, I let him bump into me. I figured it wouldn't hurt. We chatted over coffee and he did tell me his brother had recently died. If either Robert or Anna has been in contact with him he is still letting everyone believe he thinks they are dead."

"Do you think he was going to tell some woman he just met that he thinks his brother is actually alive?"

"What I thought was, he wouldn't talk about a dead brother if he knew the brother was actually alive. No harm, no foul. I had coffee with a nice man who flirted a little and seemed to have a lot on his mind."

"So he didn't tell you anything. He wasn't trying to get information from you?" Ross asked.

"Why would he? I don't think he has any idea who I am. I didn't get that impression at all."

"That's good. I think this is a good development. Nice work agent. I think this connection could be useful later if needed."

"Thanks," Ronda said as she rolled her eyes. If Ross wanted to believe her spending time with Mac Scorpio was to help him then she might just have to let him take her out on a date. She grinned to herself, Ronda realized it had been some time since she wanted to go on a date at all and the idea of a dating Mac definitely put a smile on her face. "I'm glad I'm helping the team." Ross was no longer listening to her. He had taken a seat at the table and pulled out his phone. Time to see what he's willing to talk openly about until the rest of the team gets here.

…

Robert found Anna waiting in the park across from the hospital. "I think I could like spending time here. Are all your sessions going to be this long?" she asked with a smile when she saw him.

"I don't know. I will find out when they start, the day after tomorrow. I think today was them starting to figure out the best approach for my treatment," he said as he joined her on the park bench.

"So does that mean you are all mine tomorrow?"

Robert grinned, "It does," he said as he leaned in and kissed her tenderly. "I'm all yours this evening as well."

"Oh, well what am I going to do with you?"

Robert pulled her closer as she put her arms around him. "I hope it's something fun, something sexy."

"Let's go out for dinner. I want to do a little dancing. Sexy can come later."

"Just a little dancing." He kissed her neck. "I like when I get to have you in my arms."

Anna grinned as her head went back, "I know and after we have a little fun."

"Mmm-hmm." He nuzzled her neck as she spoke.

"Then you need to take me to bed."

"Mmm, this sounds like our kind of evening. I think we better get it started so we can get to the end part."

Anna laughed as her fingers moved through his hair. "We should, besides if we don't get out of here I think we might get a little carried away."

…

Slowly rocking with the music, Robert whispered in her ear. Anna giggled as she tossed her head back. This has been a wonderful evening so far now, here in his arms on a dimly lit dancefloor. His hands on her lower back, it couldn't get much better. "This kind of makes me think of that little place we found in Paris," he whispered.

Anna smiled, remembering the little bar he was referring to. "We were so happy that it wasn't a spy bar. It was just our little place."

"I was happy I could be there with my wife and no one cared. It was like being back in Italy," he admitted.

"I was working myself into knots trying to work out the right way to tell you the truth. Then Faison and the ultimatum. That little bar was like an escape into a life I was so scared we wouldn't get to have," she admitted tearfully.

"Hey, we don't have to talk about that. I understand, Anna. None of that matters now."

"It just hit me a little differently tonight and it came to mind I guess," she said as they continued to dance. "It must be that this bar really is rather similar to that one."

"What is it with us and reminiscing while we're dancing? We do seem to do this a lot."

"We can talk about private things that maybe other people don't need to hear when we're this close."

"That's is true." Then he grinned, "Why would it be bad if people heard us?" There was a mischievous tone to his voice.

Anna leaned back in his arms a little, looking up at him. "When you hold me this close it is very easy to think about us." Anna shook her head as she nibbled her bottom lip. "There were nights in your arms, all I wanted was to be single so we could act on what we were both feeling."

"Ahhh, Annie. The things we couldn't say."

"I secretly loved getting to have our little chats while we danced. For a short time, I could pretend I was yours again and if I got to feel your desire. That was only for us to know."

"I knew you never said a thing when it happened." He leaned back and noticed the little grin, "You liked it?"

Anna blushed a little as the grin grew. "Of course I did. I still do." Robert smiled, then leaned in and started kissing her neck, "Mmmm, I think we should call it an evening," Anna said, her fingers playing in his hair.

"Does that mean I finally get to take this dress off you?" he whispered between kisses.

"You have to wait a little longer." Then she stepped back slightly and grinned, "Let's get out of here." He took her hand and after paying their bill they quickly left.

The cab ride back had been a handsy one, both touching, teasing with a little kissing added in. They were giggling and clearly anxious to get to their destination. When the cab stopped Robert tossed the driver some money and then quickly followed Anna out of the cab. She grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the entrance. He stopped and tugged on her arm slightly. Anna turned and smiled seductively at him and then moved to him. They wrapped their arms around each other, kissing passionately. "Let's take this up to our room," she whispered.

"I just needed that, before I could go any further," he whispered.

They went inside, the elevator ride seemed to take forever. It was crowded and all they wanted was to be alone again. They walked quickly down the hall to their room, grinning happily.

Anna opened the door quickly, Robert followed her through, his hands on her waist. He kicked the door closed behind him, then pulled her into his arms. Anna moved towards him and pushed him back against the wall. "Do you know how many nights after we had danced together I wanted this to be the outcome?"

"Denying what I was really feeling while telling myself it was just our physical attraction." His hands moved to her ass holding her to him. "The things I thought about doing to you on those nights."

"Why did we deny this for so long?"

"Maybe we're masochists," he teased.

"I like dominatrix better."

"Oh, I do too."

"I know you do." Anna ran her hand along his chest then removed his tie, putting it over her shoulder, grinning up at him. "Just in case."

"My own personal temptress." Robert slowly unzipped her dress. With a little help, the strapless dress fell to the floor. "God, I love you." Then he claimed her lip hungrily.

Anna fumbled with his buttons, then started to push his shirt off. Robert let her go to remove it then Anna pushed him back while his hands were still in the sleeves. "We are having fun tonight."

"You'll get no argument from me." Robert didn't bother trying to free his hands. She'll let him when it's time.

Anna ran her hand along his hard shaft, as a low-grown came from Robert. Her touch was intoxicating. Anna licked her lips as she stroked him. "I think we should move this over to the bed."

"If that's what you want?"

"I want you and there's a headboard that will come in very handy," she said with a grin as she tucked her fingers into the waist of his pants and pulled him toward the bed. "I'm in charge tonight."

"Mmmm, yes you are."

…

Robert walked into the same room he had been in two days earlier. Again there were groups of people working in the different areas of the room. Then he saw Dr. Fulford and walked over to him. They greeted each other and made their way over to an empty desk.

"Alright Stephen, today you will be working with Dr. Devane. She'll be right over and you'll get to work."

Had he just heard that right? "Excuse me?" Robert asked as he turned but Dr. Fulford was already walking away again. What were the chances this doctor could somehow be related to Anna? Then he grinned, probably slim to none. He took a seat and decided to wait, Dr. Fulford said she'd be right with him.

"I'm sorry just going over the notes on your case. Hi, Mr. Conner. I'm Dr. Alexandra Devane."

Robert looked up as the woman walked past him. When she turned and held out her hand he turned white as a ghost. "Who are you?" He all but jumped out of his chair trying to put a little distance between them.

Dr. Devane stopped and took a step back herself. "I'm one of the doctors working on Dr. Fulford's study. I was assigned to your case."

"No, this is a trap. I knew it was."

"Mr. Conner, I assure you this is not a trap. I am a doctor here, I'm part of the team that wants to help you get your memory back." What kind of trauma has this man been through? What has happened that he is this scared?

Robert could not stop staring at her. This woman, this Dr. Devane is the spitting image of Anna. How is this possible? How had she found him? Who was she working for?

Alexandra could tell her patient was honestly scared about something. She thought he might make a run for it if she couldn't get him to relax and sit back down. "I can get another doctor to work with you if you would like," she offered.

"I can't do this. I can't be here."

"Please, we want to help you. Stephen, why am I someone you need to get away from?"

"Because this can't be happening. You, you can't be happening. I don't understand."

"I'm a doctor here, what do you mean I can't be happening."

The chair fell over as he step further away from her. Robert didn't know what was the right move, get away from this woman because this has to be a trap or lead her to Anna so they can interrogate her. "I can't do this today. I'm sorry. I can't, I have to go." Then Robert turned and left the room. His head was spinning with questions. How is this possible? How can a doctor here look so much like Anna? She's British too. Hell, she's even a Devane. Does that make sense?

He walked with his head partially down, trying to make sense of everything racing through his mind. He was outside before he realized it and started walking across to the park where Anna would be waiting.

"Well that was fast," he heard her voice, drawing him out of his thoughts. He looked up and Anna instantly knew something was very wrong. "What happened?"

"I can't be there. I can't go back there. We need to get out of here. We need to move! We might have to leave the province, maybe the country."

"Robert, what happened?"

"The trap, the bait. She's here. The woman the WSB is using as bait. She could pass for your twin! Hell, they have her calling herself Dr. Devane. The WSB wants Faison to come here. We're not safe, Anna!"

"What? Come on!" Anna took his arm and they started to turn to walk away.

"Wait! Please!" came from behind them.

Anna turned and saw her own face looking back at her. "What?" the two women said in unison.

"You're coming with us. We are not talking here. And I am not going back inside that hospital until you give us some answers." Robert was now in action mode, they needed to move, now.

The two women were still just staring at each other. Neither could find their voice. Neither of them could believe what they were seeing. "Now you get why I freaked out? Come on, start walking. Let's go."

Anna finally snapped out of it. "He's right, we can't talk here. Our hotel is close by and I want answers."

"You? I want them just as much. Who are you?"

"I'm his wife. Let's go." Anna grabbed her arm and they all started walking together.

"Where are we going and why should I go with you?" Alexandra asked after the shock wore off a little.

"We're going to our hotel so we can talk privately and you should come with us because we believe all our lives might be in danger," Anna informed her.