Free Big Shot by Joanna Wayne Page B

that pushed men away?
    “I stopped by your condo this morning and picked up a few snapshots that might stir your memory,” Durk said. “Would you like to look at them?”
    “Sure. Do you have one of me without knots and bruises?”
    “I do.” He took a five-by-seven photograph from a folder he retrieved from his laptop case and placed it in her hands. “This is you and your sister the day she got married.”
    Meghan studied the images and held her breath, waiting for an epiphany. None came. She continued to study the print.
    Her sister was several inches shorter than her, especially since Meghan was wearing nosebleed stilettos. Lucy was stunning with beautiful eyes and a killer body.
    “My sister is gorgeous.”
    “You both are,” Durk corrected.
    “But I’m not stunning the way she is.”
    “No, you have your own style and assets. You’re a natural beauty. No need for makeup and you don’t usually wear much.”
    His words weren’t borne out by the photo. “Tall and skinny are not really assets.”
    “No, but tall and willowy, with a tantalizing spray of freckles over the bridge of your perfect nose are. Not to mention your shiny auburn hair that falls around your shoulders in cascades of soft curls. Or the fact that you wear a perfume of self-confidence. That’s extremely seductive, you know.”
    “Yes, and now my shiny hair will be accentuated by bald spots.” She dropped the photograph on the top of the lightweight blanket. “Let’s see the next picture.”
    Durk handed her another snapshot, this one in black-and-white. “This one is of you and some of your sorority sisters from your days at Baylor. That’s you in the middle.”
    There were five young women in all. They looked incredibly young and delightfully carefree. And she was right there in the center of the fun. She couldn’t remember ever having seen a single one of them before.
    Her frustration swelled. “This is probably a waste of time.”
    “Try one more,” Durk urged. He took the photograph from her and pressed the next one into her hands.
    This time it was her and— A sharp flash of pain made her suck in her breath as she studied the second person in the picture. Her mind drew a blank, but her emotions had reacted. “Is this my mother?”
    “It is. It was taken a short time before her death. You winced when you saw it. It must have struck a chord.”
    “It struck a chord with my emotions. My mind is still drawing a blank.”
    Disappointment dragged her down to a new low. She knew she needed to stay calm and optimistic, but how could she when her world had skidded out of control and she couldn’t get it back?
    All because someone had brutally attacked her in her own home. Had it not been for a neighbor she couldn’t even remember, she’d likely be dead.
    Had she known the man who did this to her? Was he someone she’d been tracking or spying on as part of her job? Was she so afraid of him that a part of her mind had shut down rather than face him?
    And where was he now? For all she knew he could be in this very hospital, watching and waiting to finish what he’d started. Her own brain had become the traitor that could cost her life.
    Icy tingles of terror shimmied up her spine.
    “Let’s go for that walk, Durk.” Before she succumbed to fear of what she couldn’t remember or even begin to understand.
    * * *
    B Y THE TIME D R. L EVY arrived for his rounds, Meghan was more frustrated than ever. Physically, she felt fine. She’d even made progress in her mental status. She could answer impersonal questions without any trouble. She knew who the president was. She knew who’d penned “The Star-Spangled Banner.” She even knew that Austin was the capital of Texas.
    She remembered everything that had happened since Dr. Levy had visited with her and Durk in the wee hours of the morning.
    But she had zero memory of anything personal that had happened before this morning.
    Dr. Levy examined her chart. “Everything looks