It didn't look like much of a car collection to her. The SUVs all appeared to be brand-spanking-new. She was getting the distinct impression that Sam hadn't been completely honest with her about things.
Deciding that was something she was definitely going to have to take up with her sister later, Jo slid her gaze to the windows on her left and found herself looking into a dark office. There was a desk, filing cabinets, chairs... Her eyes paused on a large, boxy-looking shape and she squinted a little, trying to make out what it was. When that didn't help, Jo moved slowly to the open office door. She reached inside and felt along the wall on the left and then the one on the right, relieved when she found the light switch. The moment she flipped it, light exploded overhead. It left her blinking briefly, but then she was able to see that the large boxy shape was a medical refrigerator with a glass front revealing row after row of bagged blood.
Jo gawked at the sight, bewilderment rolling through her as she tried to sort out what that could be about. Was Mortimer a closet hemophiliac or something? The question slid through her mind as she took a quick glance over the rest of the office and then flipped the light off again. There was a small window in the room, and she didn't want to alert anyone at the house to her presence by having lights shining in windows where there shouldn't be lights.
At least not until she knew what was going on, Jo thought as she eased away from the office door and peered around. A hallway ran off the left side of the small hall she now stood in. It was well-lit and had three doors leading off it-two along the opposite wall, and one on the same side as the office. Not really doors so much as cell doors, Jo realized as she passed the first one and saw it was made of bars one would expect to find in a prison. This first cell held a small cot, a sink, a toilet, and nothing else. It was empty, and Jo continued on her way, quite sure she would find the man named Nicholas in one of the other two.
She was right. While the lone cell on the left also had no one in it, the second one on the right held a man. He lay flat on his back on the narrow cot in the room, hands under his head, and legs crossed at the ankles in a completely relaxed posed. He also had his eyes closed when she first saw him, but either she made a sound without realizing it, or he simple sensed her presence, because his eyes suddenly opened and his head lifted, turning in her direction.
"Jo." He spoke her name softly, but it was enough. The sight of his face and the sound of his voice triggered a whole landslide of memories in her mind. Images and sensations flickered through Jo's brain one after another. They were all out of order and disjointed, a kaleidoscope of confused scenes flashing one after the other, and they were accompanied by a searing pain as what felt like a hatchet slammed into the top of her skull.
Screaming, Jo grabbed for the top of her head as her legs buckled. For what could have been seconds, minutes, or hours, she was aware of nothing but the pain. Then it began to ease and she slowly became aware of her surroundings again.
The first thing Jo realized was that she was lying on the cold concrete floor. She lay curled on her side in a fetal position with her hands over her head. Fortunately, her head wasn't bleeding. The pain had been inside, not from a hatchet that had split her skull open, she realized, and then slowly became aware that someone was speaking to her, voice urgent as he said her name over and over again.
"Jo. Are you all right? Jo, talk to me. Jo?"
Nicholas, she recalled. The man who had risked himself to save her and got locked up because of it. Jo closed her eyes briefly, taking another moment to let the pain ease further, but he continued to call her name with what sounded like growing agitation. She wanted to say something to reassure him she was all right, but the pain had left her panting and breathless, and all she could do was remove one hand from her head and wave it weakly to let him know she was okay. The moment she did, she felt something brush the tips of her fingers. It startled her eyes open, and she tilted her head enough to see that Nicholas was now lying on the floor of his cell, his arm extended as far through the bars as he could reach, which was just far enough to touch the tips of her fingers with his own.
Releasing a little sigh, Jo stretched her arm out a bit until he could actually hold her hand with his own. Nicholas fell silent then, but his expression was still concerned. Jo was still too spent to reassure him, however, so simply lay still and allowed her eyes to close briefly as she tried to sort out the collection of memories that had just bombarded her. They were all there now; the party, the walk, the attack... Nicholas. He'd kissed her and she'd kissed him back and it had been...
Jo closed her eyes again. Those two kisses had been pretty wonderful, like nothing she'd ever experienced, and the man had saved her from that other fellow. If what she'd overheard Sam say was true, he'd also apparently helped save two other women earlier in the summer... So why was he locked up in this cell?
"Jo?"
She tilted her head again and peered at Nicholas.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Jo nodded slowly, and when the action didn't bring on any more pain, let her other hand slip away from her head.
"I'm guessing they wiped your memories and you just got them back?" he asked quietly.
That made her eyes widen in question. "How-?"
"I've seen it before," he said dryly.
Jo simply stared at him for a moment and then pulled her hand free of his to sit up.
Nicholas did the same, shifting to his hands and knees, and then maneuvering himself to sit cross-legged on the other side of the bars.
They stared at each other for a moment and then Jo asked, "What the hell is going on?"
Nicholas smiled wryly. "Feeling better, I guess?"
A small, weary laugh slipped from her lips, and she brushed a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail back behind her ear. "My head hurts."
"It will for a while," he said solemnly. "Aside from the blow you took earlier, your brain cells are all a bit scrambled at the moment."
Jo nodded. She could believe that. "I overheard Mortimer tell Sam that Decker wiped my memory."
"Yes. I suspected he would when he took control of you to lead you to the house," Nicholas admitted, and then tilted his head curiously. "Is overhearing Mortimer what started the memories coming back?"
Jo considered the question, but then shook her head carefully. "No. It was when I saw you crossing the lawn with Bricker and Mortimer from my bedroom window. You seemed familiar but I couldn't remember where from and my head started to hurt."
Nicholas nodded as if that made sense and then explained, "Seeing the subject of the memories that were wiped can bring them back."
She frowned. "What do you mean wiped?"