Sudden Recall by Lisa Phillips Page A

brother—he was older than you by five years—he drowned.” He set his hands on her shoulders. “He was your best friend and your favorite person in the world. After he died, your parents went cold. That’s how you described it. They sent you to boarding school. You said that it was to keep from losing you, too. But they did, anyway. It was there at school that...”
    â€œGod gave me Nina.”
    Parker nodded. For the first time since she’d shown up in his town, she was most like the woman he remembered. Those were the exact words she’d given him the first time. God gave me Nina.
    * * *
    Her brother had drowned? Sienna couldn’t imagine how painful that had been to experience.
    But she didn’t remember it.
    Parker angled left. “Let’s head...”
    She pointed. “That way.” She’d already seen the cave entrance in the rolling hills overlooking the ranch house and barn and two other smaller outbuildings. The doors hung from broken hinges and a lot of the windows were broken. The whole place was so forlorn.
    Underground seemed the most obvious place to hide something where it would lay unaffected by weather, animals or people looking for stuff to steal from an abandoned house.
    Her father had really let the ranch become this? She could easily imagine it as a beautiful place with fields of crops and animals grazing. Washing hung out on a line. The scent of fresh-baked bread wafting through the kitchen window as she ran past, her brother right behind her.
    â€œCome on, Sienna.”
    She pumped her arms and legs to catch him, but he was so fast. They crossed the field and Tim disappeared into the cave. “Come on, Sienna.”
    His voice echoed through the hollow ground and bounced off the dirt-packed walls. Jagged stone pricked her palm as Sienna traced her way down the tunnel to the open room. Her flashlight cast an eerie yellow glow that failed to dispel the dark.
    Where was Tim?
    Sienna sucked in a breath. “His name was Tim.”
    Parker’s arm was around her. All she could hear was her own breath, loud in her ears as she panted into the darkness.
    She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the frightening memory. “I don’t think I would have come here. But then, maybe that means it’s exactly where I did come.” She tried to think, to know what she couldn’t know because she didn’t remember.
    â€œI don’t know what to do. I have no idea where I hid the flash drive. This is pointless.” She groaned and kicked at the dirt.
    Parker stood silent and steady beside her, waiting. For what, she didn’t know. Who knew when she was going to remember? He wasn’t going to wait around forever. His vacation would only last so long, and then Parker would have to go back to his life as a marshal.
    Sienna would be left with...not much. Unless she could remember.
    A step. Another. Sienna moved farther into the darkness, Parker right there with her. She wouldn’t find her brother this time, but maybe she would find the flash drive.
    The tunnel opened and she found herself looking at the room she’d just pictured in her mind, the room where her brother had hidden. She took the flashlight from Parker and scanned until she found the tiny space, barely big enough for a child to crawl into. She’d circled the edge that day, and Tim had stayed silent until Sienna came close to him.
    He’d reached out and grabbed her ankle, and Sienna had screamed while her brother erupted into laughter. The noise had been deafening in the small space. Her uncle had come running, thinking something terrible was happening. That had only made her brother laugh more.
    It was one of the few times her uncle had smiled, seeing Sienna get all mad and kick her brother. The man hadn’t been big on instilling anything of value in his niece and nephew; he’d mostly just let them run wild. The ranch will teach them what they need