to offer.” He took another step back. “And now, please enjoy. Your meal is on me tonight.”
“That’s not necessary,” Seth replied coolly.
Henry smiled at Tamara. “For the beautiful lady, I insist.”
Tamara watched as he sauntered back toward the kitchen, pausing long enough to stop and put his arm around their waitress and say something to her before disappearing into the kitchen.
She felt Seth’s gaze on her and turned to look at him. “He’s a real smarmy charmer,” she said drily. “I wonder if he makes all the women he’s around feel like they need to shower off?”
“Not your type?” he asked as he picked up his fork and knife to cut into the steak on his plate.
“I like my men with a little less swagger and a lot more substance.”
He raised a dark eyebrow. “You could tell that he’s arrogant and superficial just by that brief meeting with him?”
Tamara picked up her own fork and knife to begin damage on the beef fillet in front of her. “Must be a woman thing,” she replied. “He reminds me of my ex-husband, Jason.”
Her utensils clattered to the table as she stared at Seth. “Oh, my God, Seth, I remember Jason.” She paused a moment, allowing her mind free rein. “I remember bits and pieces of my marriage.”
She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes as memories assaulted her, flashing in her mind so fast, so furiously she felt ill.
* * *
THE SANDMAN. HE LIKED the name they’d given him. It sounded mysterious and, in this case, crazy scary. It sounded like the stuff of nightmares for children, but there were no kids in the town of Amber Lake who needed to fear him. In fact, he liked kids, unlike his old man who had hated kids...hated him.
He could still hear the sound of his father’s boots on the front steps when he got home from work. He could tell by the weight of those footsteps against the wood if it was going to be a good night or a bad one...and most nights were bad.
Any small infraction of one of his father’s endless household rules resulted in a beating. It was rare they completed a meal without his father backhanding him for one thing or another.
It was funny, when he’d finally grown up and left his mother and father’s house, he’d realized he hated his father, but he hated his mother far more.
Mothers were supposed to love and protect their children, and she’d done nothing to protect him. She’d turned a blind eye to the abuse, leaving him to feel afraid and powerless in a volatile childhood.
But now he had all the power. He was the Sandman and nobody could touch him. When he’d first seen Rebecca Cook, he’d recognized his destiny. There had been something about her that had reminded him of his mother when he’d been young and the rage that he’d fought against for most of his life had finally reached maturity.
Rebecca had been his first and Vicki Smith had been his second. He hadn’t known the name of the dark-haired beauty he’d encountered at the rest stop just outside Amber Lake, but he’d known the moment he’d seen her that she would be his third.
He should have taken her right to the dunes that night, but he hadn’t. He’d waited until midafternoon to take care of her and it had been his first mistake...one he wouldn’t make again.
That mistake had allowed her to live. Tamara Jennings. He hadn’t known her name when he’d buried her in the sand, but he knew it now. He also knew she had amnesia. It was an interesting dilemma...he couldn’t be sure what she saw or heard during her time with him, couldn’t know for certain if she could identify him or not.
It really didn’t matter. He intended to rebury her as soon as the opportunity presented itself to him. He didn’t want to give her time to remember. She had been his chosen third victim, the woman with dark hair and something special that had ignited memories of his mother.
Yes, she was his chosen one and nothing had happened since then to change his mind.
Chapter Six
“This is a good thing, right?” Tamara asked as she picked up her fork and knife once again. “Each time I remember something I put another piece in the puzzle and eventually I’ll have all the pieces back.”
Her eyes shone bright and while Seth wanted to share in her excitement he couldn’t help but be