Read The Renegade Hunter for Free Online Page B

I guess?"
    A small, weary laugh slipped from her lips, and she brushed a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail back behind her ear. "My head hurts."
    "It will for a while," he said solemnly. "Aside from the blow you took earlier, your brain cells are all a bit scrambled at the moment."
    Jo nodded. She could believe that. "I overheard Mortimer tell Sam that Decker wiped my memory."
    "Yes. I suspected he would when he took control of you to lead you to the house," Nicholas admitted, and then tilted his head curiously. "Is overhearing Mortimer what started the memories coming back?"
     
    Jo considered the question, but then shook her head carefully. "No. It was when I saw you crossing the lawn with Bricker and Mortimer from my bedroom window. You seemed familiar but I couldn't remember where from and my head started to hurt."
    Nicholas nodded as if that made sense and then explained, "Seeing the subject of the memories that were wiped can bring them back."
    She frowned. "What do you mean wiped?"
    "It's kind of a misnomer. The memories aren't really wiped so much as veiled or..." He frowned, obviously unsure how to explain what had been done to her. "The memories are still there, obviously, or you wouldn't have just got them back, but they're buried deep in the subconscious, and if nothing triggers them they stay there."
    "How did he do it?" Jo asked at once, horrified at the thought that anyone had the ability to bury her memories. "Is there some machine or something?"
    She waited as a struggle took place on Nicholas's face. She recalled his saying he'd suspected that Decker had wiped her memories when he'd taken control of her to lead her to the house. Now that she thought about it, Jo didn't recall walking back to the house and up to her room earlier. The memories that had returned to her carried her right up until the men had surrounded them in the yard while they were kissing and then started again with her in the guest bedroom afterward. She wasn't even sure how long afterward that had been, the memories between were all missing.
    Frowning at that realization, she asked, "And how could Decker take control of me? What is going on here?"
    "I can't explain it to you, Jo," Nicholas said finally. "If I could claim you, that would be one thing, but I can't... and they'd just wipe your memories again afterward."
    The bit about claiming her made no sense, so she concentrated on the last part of what he'd said, and pointed out dryly, "Well, if they'll just erase the memory anyway, then there shouldn't be any problem telling me."
    "I can't explain," he repeated firmly, shaking his head. "And you shouldn't be here. Mortimer will probably come back out
    to question me after he calls Lucian, and if he finds you here he will take control of you again and he will wipe your memories."
    Jo stared at him silently for a minute, and then stood up. When Nicholas did as well, she moved to the bars and peered up at him. "Sam said you were only caught because you risked yourself to save me. She said you risked yourself earlier in the summer to save Decker's girlfriend Dani and her little sister too. Is that true?"
    Nicholas nodded solemnly.
    She considered that briefly and then asked, "Do I need to worry about Sam?
    She loves Mortimer. Is he-"
    "He's a good man," Nicholas said firmly. "Your sister is perfectly safe with Mortimer. He will never stray, never harm her, give his life for her, and always keep her safe. You needn't worry about her future. Please trust me on that."
    Jo considered him silently, debating whether she should trust him and finding that in her heart of hearts she did. If he said Mortimer was not a threat to Sam, she believed him.
    "And what about me?" she asked. "Is he a threat to me?"
    "He would never hurt you either," Nicholas said solemnly.
    "Fine." Jo turned away and started up the hall, saying, "I'm not sure what's going on here and I can't make you tell me, but these guys aren't cops and you only got caught because