Scene of the Crime Deadman's Bluff - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,54
have the name of a hypnotist who would be able to retrieve the memories she’d repressed.
It was possible within the next day or two she’d have her memories back and would be saying goodbye to the FBI agent who had saved her life...the same man who had stolen her heart.
She moved from the table to one of the two easy chairs in the room. There was also a cot shoved against one wall, she assumed for lawmen who found themselves working overtime and needing a quick catnap.
She eyed it longingly. Boredom made her sleepy and she was bored and disheartened and already grieving the loss of this small town and Seth.
The chair embraced her with comfort and she must have fallen asleep, for she was instantly trapped in a dream. Once again she was in the sand. She knew the sun was high in the sky for she could feel the heat of it on her exposed skin.
She knew she was in trouble, but she couldn’t help herself. Her muscles refused to obey her brain’s commands. She wasn’t just paralyzed from the neck down. Her eyes were closed and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t open them.
I should have never stopped at that rest area just outside town. I should have never lingered to chat with the man walking the cute little dog. Thoughts, regrets, shifted through her head along with the sound of the scrape of the shovel against the sand.
“An ostrich, that’s what you are,” a deep voice sounded from nearby. “You should have stopped him, but you didn’t do anything. You’re nothing but a damned ostrich and you belong in the sand.”
Her mind screamed her terror as she heard the scoop of the shovel and then the plop of the sand falling into place...on top of her...burying her.
No, no, please! Her brain screamed the words her mouth refused to form, and she tried desperately to open her eyes, at least to catch a glimpse of the man who was responsible for her death.
But her eyes wouldn’t open, her mouth couldn’t move, and there was no way to halt the imminence of her untimely death. As she heard the scoop of the shovel once again her mind raced down a rabbit hole, into total darkness.
“Tamara.”
The sound of her name brought her out of the darkness and up off the chair, fight-or-flight adrenaline spiking through her.
“Hey, it’s okay. You were asleep.”
She stared at Seth’s face and she wanted to weep because his handsome features instantly calmed her racing heart, the concern in his eyes immediately pulled her from the dark hole where she’d fallen. “I was dreaming,” she finally said. “Bad dreams about the dunes.”
His eyes darkened. “Then I’m glad I woke you up. It’s almost four. I decided to call it an early day. There’s nothing more I can do here right now.”
She nodded, still a bit dazed from her dream as she followed him down the hallway and out the front door of the building.
“I have the sheriff checking out Sam Clemmons a little more closely,” he said when they were in the truck and headed back to the house. “I told them to see if he or his parents owned any other property around the area. They’ve already checked out his place, but his family might own an old farmhouse or acreage just out of town.”
“Let’s hope they find some answers,” she replied. “I laid out some hamburger to defrost this morning so I’ll make a meat loaf for dinner.” She paused a moment, playing over her dream in her mind. “He called me an ostrich.”
“Who did?” Seth shot her a quick glance.
“The man who buried me. He called me an ostrich and said I belonged in the sand.” Her heartbeat accelerated as she consciously willed herself back to the nightmare he’d pulled her from.
She saw Seth’s hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Was it just part of a crazy dream or do you think it was a real memory?”
“Definitely a memory,” she replied. “I don’t know how I’m sure about that, but I am. And something else, I think he took me from the rest area outside town. I remember stopping there and I remember a man with a dog.”
She could feel the tension that suddenly wafted off Seth as he pulled into the driveway. “Is there a rest area outside town?” she asked, sudden doubts making her wonder if it was just a dream or a true memory.