* * *

Laura looked back up at him, relieved when he nodded.

“I get it, honey. Believe me, we all hope your memory returns so that’s no longer a doubt you have to deal with.”

She felt a little guilty that Shayla had spent all day there with her. But after dinner, when it seemed like Shayla was trying to figure out how to say good night, Laura didn’t want her to leave.

“It’s okay,” Shayla assured her. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning. I promise.”

“And I have to work a half shift tomorrow,” Rob said. “So that works out well. When I get off work at eight tomorrow night, I’ll come here. You won’t be alone.”

Laura nodded, sniffling away the tears that tried to break through. It annoyed her that she didn’t know if she was normally a tough person, or emotional and weepy.

Right now, her nerves felt as raw as some of the sore spots on her body.

Add to that the guilt over not feeling the same kind of desperation over when Rob left.

At least Shayla had alleviated some of Laura’s fears. According to Shayla, Laura had been madly and deeply in love with Rob…before.

That damned word again.

Boy, how she despised it.

Yet…

There was something. Like a missing link everyone else was privy to except her. She didn’t know if it was related to the attack or something else. Like a subtext she didn’t have the ability to understand. She didn’t feel like she was being lied to, exactly. She just…

It would drive her nuts if she let it. She decided to drop it for the time being.

Finally, after another series of hugs and good-byes and promises she’d return in the morning, Shayla went home, leaving Laura alone with Rob.

He looked like he wasn’t sure what he should do with himself.

Frankly, it relieved her.

She sat cross-legged on the bed and looked at him. “I’m sorry this feels weird.”

He leaned forward in his chair and took her hands in his. “Please,” he gently said, “sweetheart, stop apologizing. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

She stared into his eyes. Sweet, soft brown eyes she’d no doubt spent plenty of hours staring into before. Here and there, tiny little flecks of amber and green caught the light. His light brown hair hadn’t started going grey at the temples yet, although the occasional stray grey hair peeked through here and there.

He had a kind face, too. Paired with the feelings of love and safety she got every time she was around him, it made her want to fall into his arms and hide forever.

Except part of her still felt afraid to do that. The gaping maw in her mind kept her isolated on the other side of the chasm, staring over it at him from the other side.

“Was I a really fearful person?” she softly asked.

He tilted his head. “No, sweetie. Why?”

“I feel scared. About everything.”

“Do I scare you?”

She needed to think about her answer. “You don’t scare me,” she carefully said. “The situation scares me. Shayla told me how much I loved you before all this. I’m scared that what if I screw something up and you don’t love the new me?”

“Aw, babe.” He stood and slowly encircled her in his arms, waiting for her to lean into his chest before he held her close. “I will always love you,” he whispered into her hair. “No matter what happens. Never forget that. I held your hand and begged you to wake up and come back to me and you did. I will never walk away from you. Ever.”

She let out a deep, relieved breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Okay.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Okay.”

* * *

It was after eight when she started yawning and couldn’t stop. She knew sleep wouldn’t come soon, but something told her she’d reached her daily limit on close, personal interactions. She already felt emotional enough as it was, as if she’d overloaded and couldn’t absorb any more information.

She needed a break.

He brushed the back of his hand over her cheek. “You look wiped out. Do you want me to see if they’ll let me stay in here with you? I can run home and walk Doogie and come back.”

“That’s okay.” She offered him a smile. “I’ll be all right. You need to get some sleep.”

That seemed to help soften the blow. And when she let him hug her before he left, she sensed his reluctance to let go of her.

“Oh, here.” He pulled an index card from his pocket and put it by the phone. “Those are my phone numbers, and Shayla and Tony, and Carol, and a few others.” His brow furrowed. “Although I just realized some of the people you…” He sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I guess some of them you don’t remember yet.”

She hugged him again, slipping her arms around his waist. “Thank you,” she whispered against his chest.

The feeling of safety returned as he wrapped his arms around her and held her. She could easily spend all night just like this, standing there anchored to him physically, if not mentally.

Once he’d left, Laura invited the deputy guarding her to watch TV with her. They spent more time talking than watching, with Laura quizzing him on local details.

“Do you know Rob?” she thought to ask.

“Carlton? I don’t know him personally. I’ve crossed paths with him a few times during work. Everything I’ve heard about him is that he’s a nice guy, though.”

“Did I know you…before?” She hated that word. It had quickly become the quantifier by which her life was now gauged.

He shook his head. “No. I’ve never met you before now.”

She let out a sigh as she turned to the TV again. “That makes two of us.”

* * *

Det. Thomas scrubbed a hand over his face as he stared at the printouts on his desk.

Fuck.

He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Rob Carlton had nothing to do with Laura Spaulding’s attack.

Unfortunately, the records of the text messages pulled from her phone account had just added a wrinkle to his case. One that, if it got leaked, could make life very difficult for the man.

Could even cost Rob his job.

It was half past eight when he picked up the phone and called him. “It’s Det. Thomas,” he said when Rob answered. “I need to speak with you tonight about Laura’s case.”

“Did you catch the fucker?”

Thomas stared at the printouts. “No. But I need to talk with you in person.”

“I’m on my way home from the hospital. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“That’s fine.” He grabbed a pen. “Give me your address again so I don’t have to look it up.” He quickly wrote it down. “I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

He ended the call and stared at the sheets of paper fanned out in front of him.

Her cell text records for the past two months didn’t give him any obvious leads about who attacked her. The majority of the messages were between Laura and Rob, and between Laura and her friend, Shayla Daniels.

Messages that led him to believe Rob and Laura had a BDSM-type relationship.

While his first and gut instinct had been to suspect the crime was a random attack, this added a new twist to the case. Whoever attacked her had done so viciously…

Sadistically.

Maybe he needed to look into personal connections they had in the local BDSM scene. He knew there was a group out of Sarasota, and another there in Charlotte County, both very active. Their members apparently kept their events under-the-table, took great cares to cloak their activities from blipping law enforcement radar in either jurisdiction.

With fictional books about BDSM now topping worldwide bestseller charts, as with any phenomenon he expected more people to be attracted to it and network with people already involved in it.

It wouldn’t be beyond the realm of the improbable for a violent offender to join them and seek out victims.

Thomas arrived at Rob Carlton’s house a minute shy of his predicted time. Rob held back a huge, young-looking black Lab when he welcomed the detective into his home.

“He’s a handsome dog.” Thomas held out his hand for the dog to sniff.

Rob let out a snort. “Thanks. He’s a moose. He’s barely six months old.”

“Holy crap.” He stared at the dog. “He’s going to be huge.”

“Tell me about it.” He finally released the dog’s collar once he’d settled down. “You sounded pretty serious on the phone,” Rob said. “What’s going on?”

Thomas held out the sheaf of papers to Rob. He watched Rob’s face flash from enraged to a schooled neutrality as he realized what they were.

Rob looked up at him. “What do you want me to say? I didn’t hurt her. You know that.”

“Hold on. That’s not what I’m saying. Before I go blundering around and possibly costing you your job if this gets out, is there anything else you need to tell me about your relationship with Laura? Anything that might help me figure out who did this to her?”

Rob slumped down onto the arm of the sofa as he leafed through the papers again. “We’re a Dominant-submissive couple, okay? She wanted me to officially collar her as my slave when we get married. Got married.”

Rob stared off into space for a moment before shaking his head. “Fuck,” he softly said. “I don’t know if we’re even getting married now. I don’t even know how to talk about it. Do I still talk like it’s going to happen? How the fuck do I deal with this?”

“One day at a time.”

“I love her.” Rob held up the papers, anger contorting his features. “You can see that, can’t you? How much I love her? How much she loved me?”

He nodded. “It’s pretty obvious.”