"It's kind of a misnomer. The memories aren't really wiped so much as veiled or..." He frowned, obviously unsure how to explain what had been done to her. "The memories are still there, obviously, or you wouldn't have just got them back, but they're buried deep in the subconscious, and if nothing triggers them they stay there."
"How did he do it?" Jo asked at once, horrified at the thought that anyone had the ability to bury her memories. "Is there some machine or something?"
She waited as a struggle took place on Nicholas's face. She recalled his saying he'd suspected that Decker had wiped her memories when he'd taken control of her to lead her to the house. Now that she thought about it, Jo didn't recall walking back to the house and up to her room earlier. The memories that had returned to her carried her right up until the men had surrounded them in the yard while they were kissing and then started again with her in the guest bedroom afterward. She wasn't even sure how long afterward that had been, the memories between were all missing.
Frowning at that realization, she asked, "And how could Decker take control of me? What is going on here?"
"I can't explain it to you, Jo," Nicholas said finally. "If I could claim you, that would be one thing, but I can't... and they'd just wipe your memories again afterward."
The bit about claiming her made no sense, so she concentrated on the last part of what he'd said, and pointed out dryly, "Well, if they'll just erase the memory anyway, then there shouldn't be any problem telling me."
"I can't explain," he repeated firmly, shaking his head. "And you shouldn't be here. Mortimer will probably come back out to question me after he calls Lucian, and if he finds you here he will take control of you again and he will wipe your memories."
Jo stared at him silently for a minute, and then stood up. When Nicholas did as well, she moved to the bars and peered up at him. "Sam said you were only caught because you risked yourself to save me. She said you risked yourself earlier in the summer to save Decker's girlfriend Dani and her little sister too. Is that true?"
Nicholas nodded solemnly.
She considered that briefly and then asked, "Do I need to worry about Sam? She loves Mortimer. Is he-"
"He's a good man," Nicholas said firmly. "Your sister is perfectly safe with Mortimer. He will never stray, never harm her, give his life for her, and always keep her safe. You needn't worry about her future. Please trust me on that."
Jo considered him silently, debating whether she should trust him and finding that in her heart of hearts she did. If he said Mortimer was not a threat to Sam, she believed him.
"And what about me?" she asked. "Is he a threat to me?"
"He would never hurt you either," Nicholas said solemnly.
"Fine." Jo turned away and started up the hall, saying, "I'm not sure what's going on here and I can't make you tell me, but these guys aren't cops and you only got caught because you saved me from that blond guy. I'm not leaving you locked up here. I'm going to go check the office and see if there are keys in there to your cell."
"Wait, Jo. I-"
"I'll be quick," Jo promised, turning the corner into the entry hall before he could protest again. Not that she would have listened anyway. She was determined to set him loose. It made perfect sense to Jo. Nicholas never would have been in this mess, what ever it was, had he not troubled himself to save her from blondie with the bad breath. Besides, what she'd said was true, Nicholas might be locked up in a cell, but this wasn't a police station, and Mortimer and Bricker were not cops. While she distinctly recalled Mortimer telling Sam that Nicholas was a rogue, as far as Jo knew, that was just a devilish, womanizing male. Considering how good a kisser he was, she wasn't shocked at the revelation. Her lips had been tingling ever since she'd regained her memories of the two toe-curling kisses he'd planted on her. The man showed some serious skill there, but it wasn't a good enough reason to be locking him up like a criminal. She was cutting him loose.
Jo peered out the window of the office before she did anything else, checking to make sure no one was heading toward the building. Finding the yard empty, she then turned to the shadowed room and began to move cautiously around, feeling the desk surface and then opening and groping the contents of drawers in the hope of finding a key to the cell Nicholas was locked in.
When that didn't turn up anything, Jo checked the window again, intending to risk the lights for a few moments if no one was around. However, the sight of two men crossing the lawn toward the building made her heart lurch up into her throat.
Panic suddenly pumping through her, Jo glanced wildly around the shadowed room, and then her eyes landed on the dark hole that was the knee cubby under the desk. Without pausing to consider the merits of the hiding spot, she quickly dropped and crawled into it. Jo had just gotten into the spot and squeezed her eyes closed-as if that might help make her invisible-when she heard the outer door open and the murmur of male voices.
"I don't know, Mortimer," Bricker was saying. "Nicholas just keeps risking himself to save women. Maybe he isn't the rogue we thought he was."
"Sam said the same thing," Mortimer admitted, and Jo's eyes opened with alarm as his voice suddenly became clear and loud and the office light came on overhead. Oh Christ, they were coming in here. She was so dead, she thought with horror as Mortimer continued, "But you know what he did as well as I do, and-"
"Where are you going?" Bricker interrupted.
"To get the keys to the cells," Mortimer answered, and Jo's heart stopped as his legs came into view between the desk chair and the kneehole where she crouched.
Please don't sit, please don't sit, she began to pray, sure he would bump her with his legs if he sat at the desk, and then she'd be discovered. Jo could have howled with frustration when his knees began to bend as he started to sit.
"I have the keys still," Bricker said, and Mortimer paused and straightened again. As the legs moved out of sight again, Bricker asked, "Why do you think he keeps risking getting caught then?"
"I don't know," Mortimer muttered as the lights in the office went out again. "Maybe he has a death wish."
"You think so?" Bricker asked with surprise, his voice growing fainter as the men moved out of the office. "I never would have figured him for the suicidal sort."
"I didn't say suicidal, I said death wish. There's a difference. "
Jo remained where she was as the voices moved farther away, not daring to breathe, let alone move until the deep rumble of Nicholas's voice joined them. She couldn't hear what they were saying now, but it told her that Mortimer and Bricker had reached the end cell and it was relatively safe to move. Certainly it was safer to move and get the hell out of the office than it was to wait there for them to return. Jo didn't think she'd be fortunate enough to avoid getting caught a second time if she stayed where she was. She had to get out of the office before they finished talking to Nicholas and returned.