Free Forgotten Memories (SWAT: Top Cops Book 4) by Laura Scott Page A

into the woods. When I came up behind her, she was terrified. Afterward, she kept trying to tell us that she was kidnapped by mistake.”
    “Is that so?” Griff leaned his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers in front of him. “Did you buy her story?”
    Shane shook his head. “Obviously, that’s not the case since this guy searched her house. But she truly seemed perplexed as to why she was grabbed. I think we have to take a step back, looking at all possibilities.” He cleared his throat. “When I questioned her further about her past, she mentioned an old boyfriend that she broke up with and two residents who bitterly resented her intelligence and success. None of the three are named Creighton, but I’d like to do background checks on these guys, at least then we can rule them out as being involved.”
    Griff stared at him for a long moment, to the point Shane grew restless. It was always hard to tell what his boss was thinking. Shane knew it was a stretch to think that one of these guys from Gabby’s past had hired someone named Creighton, who then in turn hired thugs to kidnap her. But he’d feel better if he covered every possibility.
    Bottom line: He wasn’t going to make
any
assumptions when it came to her safety.
    “Okay, fine,” Griff said gruffly. “I’ll let you do the background checks, but you’d better include the stepfather, too, just in case your first theory is correct. Sounds to me like the old man could be the ultimate target.”
    Maybe, but he wasn’t ready to go there, because he needed to make sure Gabby was safe. And the wave of relief that Griff had given him the go-ahead to continue the investigation shouldn’t have been so overwhelming. “Thank you, sir.”
    “By the way, we got a hit off the fingerprints from one of the three dead gunmen. The one who you identified as the driver is a guy by the name of Curt Wilkens. Did time about five years ago for armed robbery.” He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “We don’t have much intel yet about what he was doing in the nine months that he’s been out on parole—or how Creighton found him—but so far, he’s the only solid lead we have.”
    Shane nodded slowly. “I’ll see if Gab—er—Dr. Fielding recognizes that name.”
    “Her memory should come in handy,
if
she’s telling the truth.”
    Shane clenched his jaw but didn’t argue. “Interesting that we didn’t get a hit on the other two. Where do you think Creighton found them?”
    “Good question for you to figure out.”
    “Will do.”
    Shane started to rise to his feet, but Griff pinned him with a narrow gaze. “Hawk, before you go, write up your statement about the sequence of events that occurred when you arrived at the stepfather’s house.”
    “Of course. I’ll do that in my office.” Shane headed to his workspace, ignoring the urge to check in to see how Gabby was doing. Nate was likely making her write down her statement, too. He took a seat at his computer and booted up the machine.
    The tiny circle on the screen seemed to spin forever before the system flashed on. He typed like a madman, getting all the information down as fast as he could. It wasn’t until he sent the report electronically and hit the print button that he realized why he was in such a rush.
    He was driven by the need to return to Gabby.
    Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly didn’t help make the urge to be near her go away. And even though he knew that he couldn’t afford to be personally invested in Gabby, he couldn’t deny that he was attracted to her.
    An attraction he refused to act on. She was his responsibility, a woman he’d promised to protect. Nothing more.
    And maybe if he told himself that over and over again, he’d find a way to pound that knowledge into his thick skull.
    * * *
    Nate Freemont’s intense stare was obviously intended to intimidate her but Gabby kept her emotional turmoil hidden behind a mask of indifference. She’d learned a long