Free Blackout by Chris Ryan Page A

The memory goes.'
    'It's a start,' said Kate. 'It's locked up in there somewhere. We just have to find a key that opens the box.'
    Josh took a further bite of his pizza, flicking another piece of pineapple on the ground and watching the spider crawl towards the discarded fruit. 'The key's pretty well locked up right now.'
    'Try some of the stuff you were watching on TV,' said Kate. 'Maybe that will trigger something.'
    'Hasn't yet,' said Josh, taking a sip of the iced tea.
    'Iraq,' said Kate. 'What does that mean to you personally? Have you been there?'
    Josh paused. Something. He could feel it in his brain, a slight flickering of recognition. But nothing more came. 'No,' he replied. 'Nothing.'
    'Okay,' said Kate. 'Let's try something else.' She hesitated. 'What's my name?'
    Josh looked at her and grinned. 'Kate.'
    'My father's name?'
    'Marshall.'
    'What did I give you for breakfast yesterday?'
    'Cereal.'
    Kate nodded. 'And how was the weather?'
    'Hot,' answered Josh. 'Bloody hot.'
    Kate poured herself a glass of iced tea. She was wearing a pale blue linen skirt and a white blouse, the most dressy clothes Josh had seen her in. He noticed the smooth outline of her legs beneath the fabric. Her skin was tanned a rich, light brown from constant exposure to the sun. The bright
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    locks of red hair against the tanned skin gave her an exotic appearance that was all the more captivating for being so unusual. Most redheads had pale skins, reflected Josh. She was an unusual woman. In a thousand different ways, no doubt.
    'There are two different types of memory loss,' said Kate. 'Anterograde, which means the patient can't learn anything new. And retrograde, which means they can't remember anything that happened before a certain point. They can remember general stuff, but nothing personal. We've just tested you on the past couple of days and you're doing fine. You remember everything that happened since you came here. So what you are suffering from is retrograde memory loss. That tells us there isn't any brain damage. Rest. You'll get it back.'
    'And if I don't?'
    Kate shrugged.'You'll just have to learn again. Everything. From scratch, like a kid.'
    Josh glanced towards Kate. For the first time since he had woken up here two days ago he could feel himself starting to relax. The itching in his neck was subsiding, and his leg was almost strong enough to stand on without him having to use a crutch. He could move without his whole body rebelling in pain.
    Everything's going to be okay, he said to himself. I don't know how or when. But I can sense it. I'm going to pull through this.
    'What are you doing out here?'
    He sipped on his iced tea and looked at Kate, at the same time gesturing towards the desolate landscape.
    'Don't you like it?' she asked. He could detect the hint of defiance in her voice. 'It's a wilderness,' he replied.
    'I like it. It's natural. Unspoilt. The way the world should be.'
    Josh looked out onto the scrubland. Some of the pizza
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    was still sitting at his side, but he had eaten as much as he could manage this evening. 'I don't mean that,' he said. 'You're a doctor, but you don't practise. You're an attractive young woman, but you live out here, a hundred miles from the nearest decent-sized town. I'm sorry, I don't get it.' He looked at Kate. 'What are you hiding from?' Kate stood up briskly. Her manner had grown cold and distant: her shoulders were hunched up into her neck, and her gaze flicked past Josh as if she were searching for something in the distance. 'You need some rest,' she said. 'That's an order from your doctor.'
    Josh woke up with a start. His head was spinning and his breathing was ragged. He was about to speak, but he could feel Kate's hand covering his lips.
    'Quiet,' she whispered fiercely in his ear. 'There are men approaching the house. Police.'
    Josh struggled to wrap the sheet around his naked body. He could feel the tension flooding through him. Glancing outside, he could *see that it was