Hey! What do you know? After how many months has it
been? Don't get your hopes up though, because unless
I get busy and write some more, this is it. No more
in reserve. Hope you enjoy.

Trent drove miles out into the countryside, taking
random turns, making sure no car stayed behind them
until he was certain that they hadn’t been followed.

It was early in the morning, but he didn’t know the
exact time. Still dark, he couldn’t see his watch by
the light of the dash. Time to find somewhere to
crash, that’s all he knew. Finally, he passed some
old, local motel and pulled in the lot.


Amy stirred in the seat next to him. She hadn’t
slept, but she hadn’t spoken or hardly moved except
for the trembling of her hands since they’d left the
house. He’d had to practically throw her over his
shoulder and carry her out the door to get her to go
with him. It occurred to him, ironically, that was
the second time he’d almost had to do that with her.
Did she have a death wish or something? No matter.
As long as he was around, nothing was going to happen
to her. He couldn’t take the chance of loosing Amy
again.


He’d made a cursory check of his Corvette before
they’d left, going over it for bugs too. But in the
dark, with only a flashlight, he wasn’t altogether
sure that he’d done a good job. He’d check again more
thoroughly when it was light.


He hadn’t been quite sure what to do with the bugs
they had found. If they disposed of them right away,
the organization would know. He wanted to use them
against them. Throw the bad guys off the trail good.
An opportunity came in the form of a flat bed truck.
He tossed the bundled bugs onto the deck as it passed
the house, then headed out in the opposite direction.
And smiled smugly to himself at his ingenuity.


Trent cut the engine of his Vette. “Can I trust you
to wait here while I go get a room?”


Amy turned her head toward him, but didn’t say
anything for the longest time. Long enough to make
him start feeling nervous. He didn’t know what she
had in mind. She’d been willing to stay behind at the
house in some misguided attempt to make things better.
As if losing her again would ever make anything
better. But she must have believed that it was the
right thing to do.


So, if she still thought he was safer without her,
would she try to run off now as soon as his back was
turned? Trent’s stomach tangled into knots. If he’d
had his handcuffs with him, he would have used them to
secure her to the car.


Her voice was soft, resigned, and a little
disgruntled. “Yes.”


Good enough. Trent swallowed hard and got out. He
still had some misgivings, but after all, he was right
in front of the office. He could see the car through
the window, and could therefore see if she tried to
get away.


Inside, he walked up to the desk. Behind it was an
elderly man who looked like he’d just woken up. Not
exactly the friendly grandpa type, but not the
throw-rocks-at-the-kids-type either.


“I’d like a room for the night, please.”


“Not much of the night left now.” With barely a
glance outside at his ride, the old man pushed the
register toward him while he pecked a few keystrokes
at his antiquated computer. “That’ll be forty
dollars.”


Trent handed him cash. He knew better than to use his
credit card. Someone could be tracking it. “I’d like
a room at the back, if possible.” The old man gave
him a quizzical look. “It’ll be quieter from the
passing traffic.”


He laughed gruffly. “Sonny, there ain’t that much
traffic along this road.”


“Well, the 18-wheelers make some noise.”


Begrudgingly, he agreed with a grunt and handed him a
key. He pointed a gnarled finger out the window, down
the row of identical maroon doors. “That way and to
the right.”


Trent grasped the key in his hand like precious metal.
“Thank you.”


He didn’t tear out of the office, but he wasted no
time getting back in the car and finding the correct
room. He unlocked the door and allowed Amy to enter
before him. The low-wattage bulb in the overhead
fixture didn’t emit much light, but it still allowed
him to see that there was only a single, king-sized
bed in the center of the room. Trent wondered what
Amy would think of that. The last room they’d shared
with only one bed…


No. He’d better not think of that. Even if this room
did remind him of the other. This was neither the
time nor the place. Besides, he was beat, and Amy had
to be tired too. The door closed with a soft click
and he turned to make sure the locks were secure. Amy
moved farther, warily, in to the room while he checked
the curtain – he didn’t want any prying eyes to be
able to peek in. Satisfied, he set their duffel bags
down on a dresser that had seen better days. Over
all, it wasn’t the Hilton, but at least it was clean.


“You might as well lie down and try to get some rest,”
Trent said. He watched her turn and look at him. Her
eyes cut to the bed and back at him.


“What about you?”


“I’m going to sit up for awhile.” He wanted to make
sure that no one came after them again. And he needed
to organize his thoughts. He was going to have to
call Carlos, but that could wait. No sense waking him
up this early.


With a shrug and sigh, she kicked off her shoes.
Trent breathed a sigh himself. He’d been ready for an
argument from her, but hadn’t gotten one. Truth be
told, as she stretched out on the bed, she simply
looked too damn tired to argue. It must be his lucky
day.


He dragged the only chair in the room to the corner of
the window where he could just peer out into the
parking lot and settled into the stiff, uncomfortable
seat. All was quiet beyond their four walls. Unable
to stop himself, he looked over at Amy. All was quiet
within their four walls. She was already fast asleep.


Good. He relaxed a little more. That was one less
thing weighing on his mind. While Amy rested, he
wanted to be able to sort some things out. Think of a
plan of action, for starters. Maybe that’s all he
should worry about right now. All the rest was just
way too complicated to work out in a few minutes, much
less hours.


Still, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering in
the direction he wanted to avoid. He glanced at her
again. Damn. When she looked like that, so sweet and
guileless, Trent had no doubt whatsoever about her
identity. There was no way an imposter could pull off
that act so superbly.


Only, every now and then she said or did something
that was so foreign to the woman he’d come to know
that he wasn’t sure. And he wasn’t sure what he was
going to do with her once he found out the truth
either - one way or another. Until now, he hadn’t had
much chance to think about it. He’d been so busy
digesting new information and then keeping them both
safe. Now, in the quiet, questions filled his head.


More than anything, he wanted to believe – no, he did
believe that she really was Amy. But he reminded
himself that she had told him that she didn’t know who
she was. What if she was a fake? A very good, well
rehearsed fake, but a fake nonetheless…what would he
do then?


He tried to stop thinking about that. And couldn’t.
If he was right, and she was truly Amy, what did that
mean in terms of their relationship? They couldn’t
just pick up where they’d left off. Not after
everything that had transpired. She had planned to
kill him after all, even if she’d been brainwashed
into doing it. That kind of threw a crook in his
plans. But he knew that there was no way he could let
her go either.


Of course, all that meant nothing until he found out
how she felt now. Her memory was gone, and he didn’t
know if it would ever come back. Maybe she wouldn’t
want a relationship with him. Maybe she was already
involved with someone else. His stomach churned. No,
he didn’t’ think so. He didn’t know why he doubted
there was someone else, he just did. He suspected
that she would have told him. Then again, maybe not.


The separation, the distance between them, both
physical and emotional, was killing him inside. Who
was this woman? Did he dare trust her now? What if
everything she’d told him was a lie? She’d tried to
kill him once, would she do it again? She’s also made
love to him once…and not killed him after all…would
she do that again? Could he take the chance?


In frustration, Trent shot up out of the chair. The
questions taxing his mind wouldn’t leave him alone and
he still didn’t know the answers. All he knew right
now was that they had to stay alive and find out who
was trying to kill him. Once they discovered that,
then he was sure, he would find answers to the rest.


He had a good place to start, too. The name Amy had
given him back at the safe house: Dr. Wyzcoff. As
soon as it was a half-decent hour, he was going to
call Carlos and Kim and have them start digging from
their end. He took a deep breath and released it
slowly, rolling his shoulders back at the same time.
He felt better already. He just had to keep focused
on the positive, what little of it there was. Turning
his head, he looked over his shoulder. Anyway about
it: the fact that Amy was still alive was a positive.
Now he just had to keep her that way. He settled back
into his post as lookout.


=====
Kat Hillcrest

Sons of Thunder Fan Fiction Treasury
http://sot_treasury.tripod.com

Thunder Chronicles
http://www.geocities.com/thunderchronicles

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