A Hard Man to Forget

Kidnapped...by her husband?

Laura Morgan spent two years searching for the truth about her past, ever since the rainy night when she was found badly beaten and half-dead in a small California town. The attack left her with no memory of her life before that night, or even her true identity. But just when she’d nearly given up on ever finding answers, she found herself captured by a tall, dark stranger who claimed she was his wife.

Three years ago, Simon Randall’s wife Meredith mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Nearly everyone believed she was dead, drowned in the dark waters of the lake behind their home, her body never recovered. Only Simon believed she was still alive, a conviction that seemed proven when he found Laura, the spitting image of his supposedly late wife.

Determined to get the truth, he swept her away to his isolated home. He wanted answers; Laura didn’t have any. Simon struck a chord in her unlike any man she could remember, but was she his wife? The more she learned, the more she began to wonder if this was a life she would want to remember, especially when the attempts on her life began. Someone wanted Meredith to stay dead permanently this time—and the only person Laura could turn to was her husband.

A HARD MAN TO FORGET

Kerry Connor

Copyright 2011 Kerry Connor

All rights reserved. No part of this book, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review, may be reproduced, scanned, distributed or stored in any printed or electronic form without the express written permission of the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

For questions or comments regarding this ebook, please contact the author at kerryconnor@kerryconnor.com.

Table of Contents

Author's Note

Cast of Characters

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Books by Kerry Connor

Author’s Note

Dear Reader,

A HARD MAN TO FORGET is one of the first books I ever wrote and remains a favorite of mine. I’m a big fan of the classic gothic style and wanted to write a contemporary romantic mystery with that kind of darkly compelling romance and atmospheric suspense. As I developed the story, I poured my love of the old gothic tropes into it: the dark, brooding hero; the vulnerable heroine drawn to a man she isn’t sure she should trust; the isolated setting; the moody tone. Of course, I wanted to put my own twist on them. In the gothic tradition, if the hero was married before the story began, the marriage was usually unhappy, and his wife—whether the heroine before the book began or a previous wife—often wasn’t a very nice person. So I wanted the hero and his wife to have genuinely been in love, which would only enhance the mystery of why she disappeared. I also wanted to create a mystery that would truly keep the reader guessing about the heroine’s identity. Is she the hero’s long-lost wife…or isn’t she?

Like most of my earlier manuscripts, the book was originally targeted for Harlequin Intrigue. Unfortunately, the story wasn’t quite right for them, and it wasn’t until my next submission, STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, that I made my first sale to the line. As time went by, I was afraid this story would never see the light of day. I’m so happy to finally be able to bring it to readers. I hope you enjoy it.

Happy reading!

Kerry Connor

Cast of Characters

Laura Morgan – After two years of searching for the truth about her identity and her past, a possible answer arrives in the form of a tall, dark stranger.

Simon Randall – Three years after he lost his wife, he believes he’s found her again.

Meredith Randall – Simon’s late wife, whose death is much less certain than it seems.

Will Vincent – Simon’s business partner isn’t pleased at the prospect of Meredith’s return.

Aimee Sinclair – She wants Simon, and doesn’t intend to let anyone stand in her way.

Garrett Coombs – The sheriff considers the case closed, and has no interest in reopening it.

Jason Collins – Laura’s friend wants to be something more.

Dr. Lewis Walker – Can he help Laura piece together her past?

Patsy Burke – She’s been keeping a secret for three long years.

Prologue

They said she was dead.

They were wrong.

Simon Randall’s life had been turned upside down, throwing everything he’d once believed in doubt. There was only one thing left in this world he knew for certain. Alone in more ways than one, he clung to it like a lifeline.

They said she was dead.

They were wrong.

Darkness had descended long ago. He hadn’t bothered to turn on a light, hadn’t moved in hours. He preferred the peace of the dark to the stark lighting that illuminated things he didn’t want to see. Every inch of the house tormented him, filling him with memories of her and making him question what was real and what was fake. She’d designed the house. She’d decorated it. She’d filled it with life. Now that she was gone, it lay as dead as they claimed she was. The only thing that made it bearable was when he didn’t have to see it.

Instead, he sat before the massive living room windows and stared out into the inky blackness, lost in his thoughts, in those memories that were most likely lies.

There were good lies. The lie that she had loved him as much as he loved her. That she was as sweet, as caring as people believed. That she never would have left him.

There were the bad lies. That she was dead. That she’d been caught in a violent storm while sailing and had drowned in the lake. That it wasn’t unexpected for her body not to turn up. There were so many uncharted depths in those waters that they could drag the damned thing a hundred times over without recovering it.

And there was the truth, which only he seemed to believe. That a sailor as experienced as Meredith would never have gone out in the storm the forecasters had predicted for that day. That she’d been tense and moody, distant for weeks before she disappeared. That deep down in his soul, everything inside of him denied the possibility of her death.

She was his wife, the only woman he’d ever thought of loving. Shouldn’t he be able to feel it if that emotional connection between them was suddenly, irrevocably severed?

Not if there was never a connection to begin with...

His grip tightened on the half-full glass of whiskey in his right hand. The glass strained, threatening to shatter beneath the force of his anger. He forced himself to ease the pressure his fingers exerted. He didn’t know why he was even holding the damned thing. He didn’t drink the stuff, had long since given up hope that he could bury the questions that tormented him behind an alcoholic haze.

Instead, the questions continued to eat away at him with the voraciousness of sharks that smelled blood in the water.

The facts didn’t add up. He knew her too well. She never would have been out there on a day like that. Yet the fact remained, she was gone. Try as he might, there was only one way those two pieces of information could be reconciled.

She’d left him. Run away as they’d always predicted she would. Everyone had questioned how someone as sweet as her could end up with someone like him. Surely there was no hope that any attraction between such two opposites could last. Yet late at night, when he loved her with a passion that stunned him, when her goodness had seeped into the dark corners of his soul and made him feel, he’d dared to believe they were wrong.

Even now, even when faced with the prospect of her abandonment, he ached for her.

Meredith...

What might have passed for tears if he were capable of them pricked at the back of his eyes. That was the worst of it. She’d made him believe like no other, then had yanked it away in the cruelest way possible, without a word of explanation. And more than his desire for her, more than his anger at her disappearance, he needed to know why.

He would find her. He would demand the reason. And he would be done with her.

But first he had to find her.

Like a burst of clarity amid the confusion that had dogged him for weeks, the purpose of that goal filled him with a kind of calm. He would find her, no matter what it took, no matter what he was forced to do.

Losing her had very nearly killed him.

And as long as he had it, he didn’t give a damn if the truth finally did.

Chapter One

She was midway down the courthouse steps when she saw him.

Coming out of the massive wooden doors at the front of the county courthouse, Laura had instinctively narrowed her eyes and shaded them from the sudden brightness with the back of her hand. It was one of those hazy summer days when the sunlight glared off the pavement and the heat shimmered in the air, making objects even a short distance away seem wavy and indistinct. It took all of two seconds for the effects of the air conditioning to evaporate and a fine sheen of perspiration to develop on her skin.

She grimaced and tugged at the clinging fabric of her suit. Welcome to August in central California. Never had the Arctic seemed more appealing.

Keeping her gaze lowered, Laura began to descend the cement steps, eager to get to her lunch date with Jason. The promise of a cool drink on a day like this was enough to get anyone moving faster. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who thought so. A sweeping glance across the courthouse plaza found it abuzz with pedestrians hurrying to and from the building, dashing in and out of the park across the street, all flirting with heat stroke as they, like her, rushed to fit their lunch breaks in during the noon recess.

And then she saw him.

He was sitting at the bus stop on the other side of the street, facing the courthouse. She wasn’t sure what drew her eye to him. In a black T-shirt and jeans, he wasn’t dressed all that differently from the other park dwellers. He wasn’t doing anything to draw attention to himself, simply sitting, utterly still, on the bench.

Then she came far enough down the steps to see that his eyes were focused on the stairs to the building.

Staring right at her.

Their gazes locked across the distance.

Black, she registered in the back of her mind. He had the blackest eyes she’d ever seen. Also the hardest. The coldest. And they were unmistakably pinned on her.

An icy rush of...something swept through her from head to toe. An emotion she couldn’t quite identify, she wasn’t at all sure it was a positive one.

Slowly making her way down the rest of the steps, she tried a tentative smile.

Whatever she may have been hoping for, she didn’t get it. Not a smile. Not a nod. Not a single hint of acknowledgment. Just a relentless, unblinking stare that seemed to bore straight through her.

Unnerved, Laura tried to turn her attention to the rest of him, to see if she could figure out the reason for his intense gaze. He had a handsome face, so handsome she was surprised it wasn’t the first thing she noticed. His strong jaw, clenched in an obstinate pose, underscored a generous mouth, the lips full even when thinned into the uncompromising line they now bore. Black hair matched the darkness of his expression. A few dark strands ruffled in the slight breeze.

And yet it was those narrowed eyes, hard and uncompromising, that drew her. She couldn’t look away, even as they filled her with an awareness that disturbed her. A nervous fluttering built in the pit of her stomach. There was almost a sense that she knew him, though she wasn’t at all sure whether it was actual recognition or the instinctive attraction a healthy woman might feel for a good-looking man.

Anyone with any sense at all would break off the eye contact at first glance and avoid him at all costs. He was a stranger, quite possibly a dangerous one. Yet despite the severity of his expression, the coldness in his eyes, there was something about him that compelled her, something she wasn’t sure she understood.

Laura, are you all right?

She jerked her head up to find a man standing at her side. Officer Greg Hendricks, a regular in the courthouse, had come up beside her without her noticing. He peered down at her, his brow furrowed.

Yes, I think so. It’s just— She glanced back across the street.

There was no one there.

She felt him follow her gaze to the empty bench. Laura?

She quickly scanned the area again in disbelief. The rest of the scene was unchanged—the children, the professionals milling about. But the man was nowhere in sight. He’d vanished, as if he’d never been there at all.

The heat was instantly forgotten, replaced by a chill that rolled down her spine. He had been there. She couldn’t have just imagined him. She’d seen him.

Hadn’t she?

She felt the policeman’s hand on her arm. Do you need me to call someone? You seem disoriented…

That made sense. She felt disoriented. Foggy, she shook her head, as though waving off the remnants of a bad dream. I’m sorry. The heat’s probably getting to me or something.

Maybe you should get back inside—

Embarrassed, she forced a smile and waved him off. I’m meeting someone for lunch. I’m sorry to have worried you. I just wasn’t expecting it to be so hot and it caught me off-guard for a second. The excuse sounded weak even to her. It was the best she could come up with. She wasn’t about to tell him she’d been staring at a man who might not have even existed.

If you’re sure…

I am, she said firmly, more than ready to get this humiliating encounter behind her.

All right, then. I’ll catch you later.

He brushed by her to climb the courthouse steps. She sensed when he turned back to look at her, and quickly started across the street.

But when she was halfway down the block, she couldn’t resist one last glance around the park.

Nothing.

Feeling foolish, she turned her back on the scene and hurried on, wishing she could shake the sudden chill that had come over her on this steamy summer day.

AS SOON AS SHE TURNED her head, he stepped out from behind the shelter of the tree to watch her hurry away.

She’d recognized him. He’d seen the stricken expression on her face when she caught sight of him, watched the color drain from her skin as she realized who he was. She’d realized that she’d been found. Maybe after three years, she’d thought she was safe from discovery.

Yet here he was.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d hidden when the police officer had approached her. It was obvious the two of them were familiar with each other. They might even be friends. The wave of jealousy that had come over him at the sight of the man’s hand on her arm returned with a vengeance. If they were intimate, she could have told the policeman anything. The officer could have arrested him, giving her enough time to run again. He wasn’t about to let that happen.

The angry energy he’d forced down threatened to boil over and he launched himself forward. Startled, a female pedestrian eyed him warily and gave him a wide berth as she moved down the sidewalk. He hardly noticed. There was too much going on inside of him, emotion pulsing through his veins too fast for him to process. It was times like this that he wished he had some vice—alcohol, smoking—with the power to help him deal. But there was none.

Pivoting on his heel, he stalked down the sidewalk after her. Now that he’d found her, he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight, not until he had answers.

He sure as hell had waited long enough to get them.

ARE YOU EVEN HERE, or should I try talking to the centerpiece?

Huh? Jerking her gaze up, Laura caught the amusement in Jason’s expression. She winced at her own inarticulate reply. Not doing a very good job hiding my short attention span, am I?

He smiled across the table at her, flashing perfect teeth. I’d say you weren’t hiding it at all.

I’m sorry. She reached for her glass, hoping a cold drink of water would calm her down a little. I can’t stop thinking about this strange thing that happened on my way here.

Jason’s handsome features softened in concern. What is it?

I thought I saw someone staring at me as I left the courthouse, but before I could do anything, he just…disappeared. She shook her head. It was probably nothing, but there was just something about him...

Jason didn’t say anything for a moment. When he did, he seemed to be forcing the words out. Do you think he’s someone you knew...before?

Laura felt the blood drain from her face. She didn’t have to ask before what. It was a question she should have asked herself long ago. If the stranger hadn’t gotten her so frazzled, she might have.

I don’t know, she whispered. Had the feeling she’d experienced been nothing more than recognition? Had she known him before? Before an unknown assailant had attacked her, leaving her for dead, leaving her without any recollection of the first thirty-odd years of her life?

Her earliest memories were of two years ago, half-realized glimpses of the nurses in the hospital sitting at her bedside holding her hand as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Everyone had been so sure she would die. The back of her skull had been bashed open, her face had been battered, numerous organs were damaged