Amnesia - The Matlock Pack: Book One
Chapter 5 - Auden

Tuesday 1 December

~*Auden’s POV*~

I returned to Takeshi’s office.

“I can see what you mean. There’s absolutely something different about her,” he said as I shut the door behind me.

I stood behind the chair I had been sitting in and leaned on it, my hands grasping the back. “And your test with the pen...” I trailed off, letting him draw his own conclusions.

He nodded thoughtfully, looking at the pen still sitting abandoned in the middle of the desk. “The glowing eyes could have meant a couple of things, but the silver test is definitive. She’s one of us.”

He took a deep breath in. “And she undoubtedly has amnesia. If she knew what she was, she would never have even tried picking the pen up.” He picked up the Bic pen and twirled it in his hands. “Keep an eye on her, but don’t worry too much if you lose her. The bracelet has a tracking device in it. We can find her if we need to.”

I nodded in agreement.

Takeshi opened the top drawer again and popped the Bic pen back into it. He retrieved a pair of gloves from the same drawer, put them on, then picked up the silver pen and carefully placed it back in the box. After returning the box to the drawer, he stood up, went around the desk and lifted the glass by the rim and peered at the sides, holding it up to the overhead light. He went over to the sink and dumped the water, placing the glass upside down on the drain to let it dry.

He turned back to me and leaned against the sink, taking his gloves off. “I’ll run her prints through the database, see if she pops up anywhere. I agree, I don’t think she’s from the Ball, otherwise I would have remembered her. She’s not someone I’d likely forget.” He stared at the floor, thinking.

“She does cut quite the figure, doesn’t she?” I asked.

He shifted his gaze up at me. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve met a woman that tall. You think she’s the same height as me? Or taller?”

“I’ll know when I get her checked out at the center. You’re what? Six feet four? Six five? It’s possible. It was hard to tell, because you weren’t standing next to each other in the meeting. You might have a bit on her, but it’ll be close.”

“Six three, but thank you for estimating higher.” His eyes sparkled as he smirked at me, before drifting back into his serious mode again. “She’s young too. She’s definitely seen at least one full moon, so she must be at least eighteen.” His brow furrowed as he thought more about our guest.

“But you noticed the lack of…”

He nodded absentmindedly. “Yes. Incredibly strange.” He paused as he drifted back into his thoughts. “She’s a very interesting person. I can’t say that I’m not intrigued.”

“I’m sure we’ll know more once her memory comes back. She’ll be able to fill us in then.”

He looked up, peering at me with concern in his eyes. “Do you think it’ll take her long to get it back?”

I shrugged. “It could be hours, it could be days, it could be weeks. She might never get it back, but those cases are extremely rare. Usually, it only takes a few minutes or a couple of hours. Considering we’re now well into hours, I’d imagine that it won’t be too much longer.”

“Okay then. Odds are high that we’ll have some answers from her by the end of today, if not tomorrow. Are you sure you’ll be okay to accommodate her in the meantime? Will Jackie mind?” A slight look of concern crossed Takeshi’s face.

My thoughts drifted to my husband. I shouldn’t have suggested Nat stay with us without talking to him first. I had no idea what had possessed me to suggest it earlier. “Hopefully, he’ll be okay with it. It’s not like we don’t have the room, and as you say, it should only be for a day or two.”

“If the memory loss lingers, we can sort out a room for her. The guests here for the Ball are due to leave today and tomorrow, which will free up a lot of space.” He narrowed his eyes as he concentrated. “Worst-case scenario, she doesn’t have her memory back by next Monday, we can have her join the camp.”

I thought about what he’d said. There was a method there. “Do we have the space?”

“Yeah. We have spare beds available and one more person on the activities list won’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things. But I won’t do anything about it until closer to the day. I don’t want to start the paperwork if she gets her memory back today or tomorrow.”

“Okay. That’ll make things easier in convincing Jackie, too.” I swallowed nervously. Takeshi glanced at me. He knew what Jackie was like, how much he hated changes in his routine.

“If he causes trouble, I can find a room. It’s no problem, Auden,” he assured me. I pressed my lips together in an attempt at a smile, but I could tell that he wasn’t buying it.

“No, don’t worry. It’ll be fine,” I told him, but I knew I hadn’t convinced him when I could still see the worry in his eyes. Thankfully, he was kind enough to change the subject.

“If her prints come back negative, I’ll try approaching some of the neighbouring towns. Given her pickup location, it’s likely she’ll have come from Kinglake, but I won’t get anything from them, so I won’t even bother trying to contact them.” He rolled his eyes. Kinglake was notorious for keeping to themselves. We’d had ongoing issues with them since Black Saturday. “If she is from James’ neck of the woods, there’ll be more trouble at the Borderlands.” He grimaced. “I’ll have to add that to the list of things I need to talk to the guards about.”

I snarled. “Make sure you remind them what their job actually entails. Nat seems lovely, but she and the black wolf that was following her should never have made it so far into our territory without getting caught. Was Kelly on duty last night?”

“I believe he was.” Takeshi huffed in annoyance. “I sent Spence to make sure that our guests from the Ball weren’t too rowdy, but I’m not sure where he ended up. He normally finishes up Ball night at the Borderlands, so he could have been with Kelly. I haven’t seen him pop his head into his office yet, but it’s still early. He’ll surface soon enough, I’m sure. I’ll let him know about Nat when he comes in.”

“You think he’ll take it well?” I asked. Just like Jackie, Spence also hated changes to routine and could be a pain in the arse about strangers. He typically grumbled about the Ball festivities in the weeks leading up to it every year.

“He’ll have to. It’s only temporary,” Takeshi replied in a manner that left no dispute that Spence would have an uphill battle arguing against Nat staying. It was extraordinary how quickly we had both warmed to the young woman. “Speaking of, use your company credit card to buy Nat any clothes and essentials that she needs. We’ll claim it as a company expense.”

I nodded. There was an expense account that we used for emergencies, although I was pretty sure neither of us had ever gone through something quite like this before.

“If that’s everything, I’ll head upstairs and see if Nat is ready to get started on the tests,” I said before I took my leave.

He thought for a moment. “I think we’ve covered everything. If you think of anything else, you know where I’ll be.”

I snickered. “Yeah, you damn workaholic. Get a life!”

He laughed as I turned towards the door.

I paused, turning around to face him with my hand still on the door handle. “Oh, there is one more thing.”

“Hmm?” he asked vaguely as he returned to his seat. He shuffled through the paperwork sitting on his desk.

“Cody said she saw a magpie when Nat first appeared. She said it was still sitting in the same spot, even through all the commotion of the wolf and the guards. It’s probably nothing, but it could mean that your Bunyip friend was keeping an eye on things. If she was, there could be more going on than what we’re seeing.”

He slowed his rummaging and considered what I’d said for a moment, tilting his head to the side.

“I’ll talk to her to see if she feels like sharing. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it.”

I nodded, turning to the door again. I stilled for a moment, wondering whether I should bring up what I was thinking about with him.

“I can tell there’s something else, Auden. What’s on your mind?” The sound of rustling paperwork had returned to the room.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Staring at my feet, I broached the topic that I knew he wouldn’t take too kindly to. I hoped he would eventually forgive me for asking what I was about to. “You gave her your last name,” I murmured. “Why?”

From behind me, I heard the rustling noises stop. I slowly turned around, my hand still on the doorhandle, to see that he had indeed stopped what he was doing, but he had kept his eyes downcast, his shoulders sagging. My heart broke for him, as I had a fair indication of where his head was at, but he needed to say it out loud. It needed to be real.

He gulped before looking up at me with tears brimming in his eyes. “Looking at Nat…” he sighed sadly. “They could have gone to school together and been the best of friends. I swear to you it felt like she was right behind my shoulder, whispering in my ear, coaxing me to honour her.”

Tears began to roll down his cheeks.

“I never could say no to my daughter when she was alive. Why would I do any differently now that she’s nothing but a ghost?”

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