Carol Ericson - Circumstantial Memories

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be during your session, but I’ll give it a try. Will Dr. Brody call on me to fill in the gaps and then question you about what you remember? Not sure how this will work.”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Julia grasped the door handle of Dr. Brody’s office and then shoved the door open with her hip. “Dr. Brody’s a hypnotist as well as a psychologist.”

Ryder swallowed the lump in his throat as he entered the small office populated by Colorado landscapes. She had told him, but he thought it didn’t work on her. Could this doctor coax the truth of Shelby ’s paternity out of Julia? Ryder wasn’t ready for that yet. He wanted to get to know his daughter better, show Julia he could be a father.

Julia jabbed at a button on the wall outside another door and plopped down on a sofa in the empty office. She grabbed a magazine from the side table and thumbed through it, barely scanning the pictures of smiling celebrities.

Ryder perched on the edge of a chair across from her. Julia didn’t even realize she had a nodding acquaintance with a few of those celebrities. What a strange, lonely existence she must’ve led these past three years.

His stomach rolled. He should’ve been there for her. He should’ve realized she was in trouble when she didn’t answer his letters and disappeared after Jeremy’s murder. But damn it, his job didn’t allow him to pursue personal reconnaissance missions. After Jeremy sold some of Black Cobra’s secrets, all the agents had to work overtime to repair the damage.

The door to the doctor’s inner sanctum swung open and a tall, dark-haired man dressed in black slacks and a white shirt leaned into the waiting room.

“Julia? Are you ready?”

“Jim.” Julia tossed the magazine aside and jumped to her feet. “I’m Julia Rousseau.”

In two steps, Dr. Brody landed in front of Julia and scooped her into a hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

Ryder uncurled the fists clenched at his sides. Therapists had to be touchy feely to do their jobs. Even if they didn’t care personally about their patients, they had to pretend to care.

Julia emerged from the embrace, wiping a tear from her cheek. “This is Ryder McClintock, the man I told you about. The man from my past.”

Dr. Brody’s gaze shifted to Ryder and he stuck out his hand. “Mr. McClintock, Julia told me everything on the phone this morning. I hope you can help her.”

“Everything?” Ryder’s pulse thumped in his throat as he glanced at Julia.

She shook her head slightly, indicating she’d withheld some of the vitals from Dr. Brody about Black Cobra.

“That’s the nature of the therapeutic doctor-patient relationship, Mr. McClintock. The patient reveals everything to her doctor, and the doctor keeps those revelations in the strictest confidence.”

The man’s condescending tone and the little smirk that went with it made Ryder want to land a punch against the guy’s jaw. Instead he ran a hand through his hair. This isn’t about you, McClintock. This is about Julia.

“Ryder. You can call me Ryder.”

“And you can call me Jim. Let’s go inside my office.”

Jim ushered Julia through first and she crossed the little hallway to a dimly lit office. She sank into an overstuffed chair, curling her legs beneath her, completely at home and at ease.

Ryder flexed his fingers as he took a chair in the corner. He had to tame the jealousy that surged through his veins at the intimate relationship Julia had with Dr. Brody…Jim. He’d never been to the agency shrink himself, but a few of the other agents told him about the intense connection they had with their therapists and how that connection helped with the therapeutic process.

Brody claimed the chair across from Julia, his knees almost touching hers. “I haven’t used hypnosis with Julia in quite a while, but I think this is an excellent opportunity with you here, Ryder. Julia, do you agree to the hypnosis?”

“Yes.” She rested her head against the cushion of the chair and closed her eyes.

Brody’s soothing voice filled the space in the darkened room. “Relax your muscles, Julia. There is no tension in your body. No bones. No flesh. You are weightless.”

Julia’s chest rose and fell as her breathing deepened. Ryder couldn’t be hypnotized. He had very little susceptibility, and then Black Cobra trained the rest out of him.

“You can no longer feel the chair beneath you, Julia. You are suspended in space. You are suspended in time. There is no continuum of time. There is only your mind and the memories buried there.”

Ryder asked in a low voice, “Will she remember what she tells us under hypnosis?”

Jim nodded to Ryder and then consulted the notebook in his lap. “You’re in Paris, Julia. Do you remember Paris?”

Julia murmured, “Oui, je rappelle.”

“In English, Julia.”

“I remember Paris.” Julia’s head fell to the side as a smile curved her lips.

“Where did you live?”

Julia described her flat in Rue St. Germains precisely how Ryder remembered it, down to the fresh flowers she kept in the blue vase on her kitchen table.

“Do you remember your husband, Jeremy Scott?”

“Yes, I remember Jeremy, but I can’t see his face.”

As Jim took Julia through the night she met Jeremy and their brief courtship, Ryder winced at the half smile on Julia’s face. Jeremy had charmed the socks off her, along with a few other articles of clothing, while she still ached over the death of her father.

“Did you go to Arizona to see Jeremy after your divorce?”

Frowning, Julia bit her lip. “He was in Tucson. He needed something from the Paris flat-a computer disc.”

Ryder’s heart thudded in his chest. Had Jeremy dragged Julia into his subterfuge against Black Cobra?

Jim shot a glance at Ryder. Ryder didn’t know how much Julia told him about her ex-husband’s work, but like the doc said, he couldn’t repeat anything outside of these four walls.

“What was on the disc, Julia?”

“I don’t know, but it was bad.” Her straight teeth sawed at her bottom lip. “I know it was bad, dangerous.”

“Did you bring the CD to Jeremy?”

“I had to.” No longer relaxed, Julia dug her fingernails into the arms of the chair. “He threatened…he said he’d expose Ryder if I didn’t go to Tucson.”

Ryder’s head shot up. Jeremy must’ve known about their relationship to use that threat against Julia. Not that there was any relationship before the divorce. Ryder didn’t make a habit of pursuing married women, but Julia’s marriage to Jeremy disintegrated before it ever got going. Still, Jeremy wasn’t the kind of man to share his toys even when he tired of them, and Jeremy definitely treated Julia like a plaything.

“Expose Ryder?” Brody tapped his pencil against his notebook in a staccato beat.

“Expose him to the enemy. Blow his cover.”

Folding his arms, Ryder bunched his hands against his body to keep from reaching out to Julia. Damn. He should’ve been there to protect her against Jeremy and his wild demands.

“So you went to Tucson and brought the CD to Jeremy.” Brody’s words had a sharp edge, losing their soothing quality.

“Yes.” Julia squeezed her eyes tighter, pressing the heels of her hands to her temples. “I gave him the computer disc so he wouldn’t hurt Ryder.”

Brody sat back in his chair and ran a hand over his mouth. “Slow down, Julia. It’s all right. Ryder is safe. What happened in Tucson? What happened after you gave Jeremy the CD?”

Straightening her back, Julia unfurled her long legs and planted them on the floor. “I gave him a CD, and then he hit me. I tried to give him a different CD, a phony, but he knew.”