He bent a scowl on her. “Is that something youremember?”
“Heck if I know.” She leaned against the car next to him. The closeness seemed odd but also... right, even if she oughtto be mad at him. They’d both gone a little insane back at the lodge. There was something about that lodge... that unleashed her inner demons, apparently. “In that photo, Jade’s eyes appeared flat-lidded to me. She just used fake lashes and eye make-up fordefinition.”
He snorted, took off his shades, and tucked them in the V of his shirt. “So did my mother. She still did inscrutablewell, when she wanted. Other times, she’d take my head off with her sharp tongue, so inscrutable doesn’t gofar.”
She laughed, relaxing enough to enjoy her lunch. She was still tense about Cass and his earlier fury, but they’d both been shaken. Maybe they could work pastit.
In between bites, he caught her up on what lay ahead. “I’ll take you over to have your fingerprints run throughthe database when we’re done here. Once I prove your ID, I’ll give you the data you need to file for a new license and birth certificate. The office has sent an address-forward request to your last known address. It might be good to see if you’ve established a maildrop.”
They were practically rubbing elbows. After this morning’s encounter, she was hyper-aware of his proximity. But shehad no clue how to act on tingles of awareness, especially when dealing with an older man with way too much authority. “I’m guessing I need a non-public computer to file for the birth certificate,” she saiddubiously.
It would be good to intellectuallyknowthat she was Samantha Moon, but in truth, she simply didn’t feel like anybody. Although if she resembled Cass—there had to be aconnection.
“Finish up the burrito, and we’ll see if we can expedite the fingerprints. Once you’re free to use the data, you can use my laptop. I don’t generally carry it with me since I have the official one. I have an apartment here in Baskerville, we can pick it uplater.”
“I looked up Utah drivers’ license replacement. I can’t do it from here,” she said glumly. “And without a Utah license,I can’t get a California one without an address and taking the driver’s test again. Officialdom iscomplicated.”
“One thing at a time, grasshopper,” he said in amusement. “Maybe we’ll find your missing purse before all that happens. And if you were moving here, you’d have to go through the system anyway. You’re just feelingoverwhelmed.”
“There’s the understatement of a lifetime.Okay, let’s get on with this. I wish I had some way of looking for Cass. I can’t help feeling she’s the answer toeverything.”
“Yeah, I know.” He handed her a paper napkin and began wiping the grease off his fingers with another. “We’ll see if there are any reports waiting when we getthere.”
Sam caught herself staring at Walker’s fingers and had to jerk back to the moment. He’dcarried her down a damned mountain, kicking and screaming. For a CEO, he was pumped. Had she ever had a lover likethat?
She couldn’t remember ever having a lover at all, but her body knew what itwanted.
Wiping her hands, she got back in the car and apprehensively waited for her visit to a sheriff’s office. Walker’s threat to lock her up rang loud in her head, but he was behavingreasonably for a change. How long did it take to get back bloodwork? He couldn’t arrest her if she had drugs still in her system, couldhe?
They didn’t have far to drive before Walker pulled the car into a lot filled with official vehicles. She’d thought this was a rural area, but the building looming over the lot was a sprawling concrete monstrosity. Maybe they had a lot of criminals inthemountains.
“I was hoping we could see the ocean from here,” she said indisappointment.
He turned off the car and looked at her with curiosity. “Why do you saythat?”
She wrinkled her brow in puzzlement. “I’m not sure. If I grew up near Provo, then I probably never saw the ocean. Maybe that’s the reason I drove this way once Igraduated.”
“So maybe this is somewisp of your memory creepingup?”
“A wish can be a memory? Maybe. I don’t know the geography here. I just assumed a road going west would take me to the ocean, Iguess.”
“We’re not far from the coast. I’m supposed to be on duty, so I can’t take you right now. Maybelater.”
She took his hand without protest as he helped her out of the SUV. She’d calmed down since the incidenton the mountain. She still resented that he’d turned into macho man and threatened her, but maybe she’d frightened him as much as she’d frightenedherself.
She dropped his hand once they were inside. She followed him through cold-tiled corridors, past busy offices, until they reached a portion of the building where people greeted him with waves and stared in curiosity ather.
A youngHispanic woman in uniform rushed toward them, carrying a sheaf of paperwork, as soon as they entered the door marked Sheriff’s Department. “They’ve found her,” she called, waving thepapers.
Walker stopped to take them away. “Foundwho?”
“Cassandra Tolliver. From the description you gave, she’s the Jane Doe down at Community Hospital inMonterey.”
