Silent Run

the counter. “Goddammit!” He held up a small bib with the word Angel written across the front. “This is Caitlyn’s."
    Images snapped through her mind like the photos from a camera.
    She saw herself handing a bottle to Caitlyn. Mrs. Murphy was stirring something at the stove. She wanted to stay, but she knew she couldn’t bring danger to the woman who had been like a mother to her. She was going to get herself an apartment, a place to stay.
    â€œYou were here,” Jake said. “Caitlyn was here in this house. When?” His eyes were wild as he came back to her. Is this where you brought Caitlyn on Wednesday? Is this where you ran? Is that Caitlyn’s...” He choked on his words as he stared back down at the dark red stain on the tile floor.
    â€œNo, Jake, that’s not Caitlyn’s blood,” Sarah said. “It can’t be."
    â€œBut you don’t know, do you?” He thrust the bib under her nose. “Take it. Smell it. Try to remember."
    She took the bib from his hand, her fingers curling around the material.
    She tied the bib around Caitlyn’s neck. Caitlyn was throwing Cheerios on the floor -- the floor, the otherwise clean floor.
    â€œThe blood wasn’t there when I was here. I know it wasn’t.” She froze as a third voice suddenly came from behind her.
    â€œYou remembered,” Amanda said.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Sarah whirled around in surprise.
    Amanda had on a navy blue Nike sweat suit and tennis shoes. A large ring of keys hung from one hand. “I went home and found the apartment building on fire. The firemen told me it looked like arson, and you were nowhere to be found. I thought you might come here once you got your memory back."
    â€œIt’s not all the way back,” Sarah said. “Jake’s brother tracked my past to foster care and Mrs. Murphy. So I came here to find out if she knew who I was."
    â€œSo you still don’t remember?"
    â€œJust bits and pieces of being here when I was a child."
    â€œWhere is she?’ Jake asked Amanda. “Where’s Mrs. Murphy?"
    â€œIn the hospital. Someone broke into her house on Monday night. She’s been in a coma ever since."
    Sarah stared at Amanda, realizing her neighbor had not been honest with them earlier. “You lied to me before. You said we’d met when I moved into the building, and you didn’t know anything about me, but if that’s the case, how do you know Mrs. Murphy?"
    Amanda hesitated, an odd light flickering in her eyes. “That wasn’t a lie. We did meet when you moved into the building, but Mrs. Murphy knew about the apartment because of me. I was one of her foster kids, too. She told me that you needed a place to stay and someone to be a friend. She introduced you as Samantha Blake, although I guess that wasn’t your real name."
    â€œWhy didn’t you tell me this before?” Sarah demanded. “My daughter is missing, and you withheld information -- why?"
    â€œBecause of your amnesia, and because of him,” Amanda said, nodding in Jake’s direction. “I don’t trust him, and I don’t think you should either."
    â€œWhere is my daughter?” Jake asked, steely determination in his voice. “You know, don’t you?"
    â€œYou have to tell us,” Sarah added quickly. “Caitlyn is in danger."
    â€œYou said you had to hide Katie away. That’s all you told me."
    â€œWhere is Mrs. Murphy?” Jake interrupted.
    â€œSt. Francis Hospital -- it’s a few miles from here, on Russell Street off the Coast Highway. She was beaten up pretty bad, and the doctors don’t know if she’ll recover."
    â€œWhy would someone do that to such a sweet woman?” Sarah asked.
    â€œThe cops don’t know -- maybe a robbery. This area has been going downhill. Lots of drugs. Someone might have thought they could get some quick cash out of Mrs. Murphy."
    Sarah’s heart went out to the gentle woman in her memory, but she didn’t believe for a second that this was a random robbery. “This had to do with me,” she muttered. “The timing is too coincidental. Mrs. Murphy knew where I was. Maybe that’s how the guy in the elevator found me. Are you sure you’ve told me everything?” Sarah asked Amanda. “We called your work earlier and they said you didn’t have any classes today."
    â€œIt was at a different gym from