“I could give you the same perfunctory response Siren gave me. Her left arm has ninety-five percent mobility, and she has no idea how to quantify her amnesia. Or did she say memory? Either way.”
It was a struggle not to ask what that meant. Her memory—at least of me—had to have returned, or she wouldn’t have staged her dramatic departure.
“Is she…” I couldn’t finish. “Thanks, Hughes.” I hung up before he could say another word. The man was Siren’s boss. Sure, I knew he’d fucked her, but that had been over for years.
When I walked inside the house, Ms. Wynona was waiting for me, wringing a handkerchief.
“Siren is back in Ireland,” I told her. I walked down the hallway, went into my bedroom, and closed the door. I knew right away I couldn’t stay here. I grabbed a bag, threw some clothes in it, and stalked back to the kitchen.
“I’m leaving.”
“I hope you’re going to get her,” I heard Ms. Wynona say before I slammed the front door behind me.
“Hey, Decker,” I said, walking into the barn, where he was messing with something on his computer. “I hate to do this, but—”
“Go do what you gotta do. Zeke, the boys, and I will finish things up here.”
“I know you’ve got to get back to Texas.”
“I should be finished tomorrow.”
I reached out to shake his hand. “I appreciate everything you’ve done. Thank you.”
“No thanks necessary, but you’re welcome. Let me know if there’s anything I can do, Smoke.”
* * *
Since part of Siren’s phone had been tracked to Mansfield’s office, that’s the first place I went when I got to Asheville. When I walked in, it appeared he’d been expecting me.
“When did her memory come back?”
“I can’t answer any of your questions regarding Miss Gallagher.”
“Excuse me?”
“You no longer have her medical power of attorney, nor are you listed as someone with whom her medical information may be shared.”
Something was way off here. “What’s with the sudden formality, Doc?”
“I was able to talk freely with you before because Siobhan permitted it. I can no longer do that.”
“She’s back in Ireland. The director of Irish Military Intelligence confirmed it.”
The man nodded.
“If there’s anything you can tell me about her state of mind when you last saw her, I’d appreciate it.”
“There’s nothing.”
I stalked out of his office and slammed the door behind me, just like I had at my own house. The fact that his had some kind of mechanism that kept it f
rom slamming, pissed me off even more. “Goddamn son-of-a-bitch,” I swore under my breath.
Assuming the stroke doctor couldn’t tell me any more than Mansfield had, the next place I went was the house I’d rented.
It was a long shot, but maybe Siren had left something behind, knowing I’d go there.
* * *