Sudden Recall. Lisa Phillips

time to process before I can decide what I’m going to do next.”

      Karen’s eyebrows rose. “Next? You aren’t going to do anything but stay here. Until you start to remember, you can’t leave.”

      Parker’s voice was low and lethal. “And exactly what will happen if she does leave?”

      Sienna had thought Karen’s words a veiled threat, also. Was her aunt going to give a straight answer this time?

      “I only meant I need her here.”

      Did she really? There was a whole lot below the surface to Aunt Karen that she wasn’t sharing. Meanwhile, Sienna was expected to give regular updates as to what she might be remembering and what was only her imagination while she slept. Like Karen was some kind of licensed psychotherapist.

      The CIA?

      Sienna’s life had taken a bizarre turn. She didn’t want to even think about whether or not that might be true. She wanted her quiet life. She liked her quiet life. Aunt Karen’s declaration was a disturbance. Jackson Parker’s presence was a gigantic disruption she wasn’t comfortable with at all. She didn’t need him, and he could take care of himself. But when those warm blue eyes stared at her, she couldn’t help feeling there was something more between them she was supposed to remember.

      Friends, he’d said. But she wanted to rush to him, to bury her face in his chest and let him hold her. Was that the type of friends he was talking about? She couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t been more than that to her.

      That was why he was so dangerous to her peace of mind.

      She needed to remember the truth about her past, not be distracted by the possibility of a romance that may or may not have been. What if he’d wanted to be friends and she’d wanted more? That would be humiliating to remember.

      She shot him a look. “You should probably be going. It’s late.”

      * * *

      She was dismissing him. Parker had hoped that when the truth came out, she would seek his help. Trust him to keep her safe through whatever this was. He didn’t want the man who’d sent that team to kidnap her to try again, but he had to consider the possibility they wouldn’t stop.

      Parker didn’t want to stop, either, and he didn’t want to leave.

      She’d ditched him for her job and then gone and gotten herself hurt. But his heart couldn’t get past waiting at that airport for her—and coming to terms with the fact that she wasn’t going to show up. She might need him, but she didn’t want him.

      He pushed off the counter. “I’ll go, if that’s what you want me to do.”

      Karen’s eyes widened, but Parker didn’t care if she was surprised by him. He was only doing what Sienna wanted.

      He crossed the space between where he stood and Sienna. The phone on the counter rang. Parker swiped it up in frustration as he passed and barked out a “Hello?”

      Sienna’s jaw dropped. In a cartoon, this would have been where smoke poured from her ears along with a whistling sound.

      “Oh, great,” the woman said. “It’s you.”

      “Excuse me?”

      The female voice on the phone laughed. “The boy-wonder navy SEAL now a deputy-marshal-famous-fugitive-catcher. I did my homework. Don’t think I don’t know everything about you. And don’t underestimate me.”

      Parker fought the urge to smile. “Is that supposed to be intimidating?”

      “Just promise me you’re going to keep her safe.” The woman sighed. “If she won’t leave with me, then I need you to make sure she’s okay.”

      Sienna was supposed to have left, to be protected by this woman? If Parker had to guess, he figured this must be Sienna’s best friend. He looked at Sienna then. She motioned frantically for him to give her the phone. She did look sort of guilty—about the fact that she’d considered ditching him and meeting up with her friend, maybe?

      Parker didn’t give up the phone. “Tell me, why does Sienna need your help?”

      If this woman had more information than what Karen had told him, then he wasn’t going to overlook her as a source. Or an ally. Too bad he couldn’t remember what her name was. Natalie... Nellie. Something like that.

      The woman said, “They want whatever she hid from them. Karen wouldn’t tell me what it was, just that Sienna doesn’t remember anything, least of all where she hid it. They will try and abduct her again, and then they’ll torture her for its location before they kill her. But if she doesn’t even remember who she is, or what it is, then how can she tell them? I don’t even want to think what they’ll try in order to jog her memory. Last time, when the CIA found her, she was barely alive.”

      “Understood.”

      Sienna stepped closer. “Give me the phone, Parker.”

      He shook his head and then turned away. “Can we trust you?”

      “Are you willing to risk her life if I’m not telling the truth?”

      “No.”

      “Then yes, you can.”

      Karen’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you talking to?”

      Parker tucked the receiver under his chin. “I don’t know her, but she knows who I am.”

      “Nina.” Karen didn’t seem to think much of this mystery caller.

      He turned his attention back to the call. “Anything else I should know?” He wanted to ask this “Nina” about Karen, but not when she was in the room.

      “Just don’t let anything happen to Sienna. I’ll help when I can.” She paused. “Give me your number.”

      Parker rattled it off, happy to accept an ally in this. Even if he didn’t know her. Sienna had told him enough the first time they met.

      “Got it.” Nina hung up.

      “Stay in touch.” Parker set the phone back on its stand. Karen didn’t look happy, but then she likely wanted to reprimand Nina and couldn’t. Right now, Sienna thought Karen was only her aunt. She didn’t know Karen had been her CIA handler.

      “What was that?”

      Parker shifted to Sienna. “You should know. After all, you were planning to leave with her so she could protect you. She was making sure you’ll be all right.”

      Karen gasped. “You absolutely cannot leave.”

      Sienna set her hands on her hips. “I’m not a prisoner. So far as I know. That means I can leave if I want to, which I hadn’t actually decided on yet.”

      Karen shot her a look. “You’ve stayed alive all the time you’ve been here, haven’t you? Why leave now?”

      “Things have changed.”

      Sienna strode out of the kitchen. Parker waved off Karen and followed her out. He caught her at the bottom of the stairs, stalling her with his hand around her wrist. He could snap her bones if he gripped too tight. Sienna was delicate, but she was also strong.

      She looked at his hand, then up at his face. “Aren’t you leaving?”

      “I do have to get back to work. There’s paperwork that needs to be done on the guy we arrested.”

      She didn’t say anything. Her eyes surveyed his face, but aside from that she was completely still.

      “Will you at least call me if you decide to leave?” She had to know he cared about her.

      “I’ll put your number in my phone. Call me, Sienna, so I have yours.” Hopefully he didn’t sound desperate, but Parker wanted to be able to contact her.

      Her lips curled up in a small