The Memory Agent & Fool Me Once Read Online Free PDF Page A

the informant, was killed.   That's why Riker shot Langer in the head and not the chest.   He would have figured he was wearing a
vest.
    Claire stops her pacing.   Her face goes pale.   “Riker
shot to kill.”
    Gary speculates.   “It's
interesting he picked the very day Moose was killed in jail to hit the jewelry
store.”
    Claire’s eyes flare. “That's no coincidence.”  
    “But why?   What's his
motivation?   Is he playing us?   Is he now enjoying the thrill of the
kill after having killed that one store owner?”   Gary asks.
    “I don't care about his motivation, I'm going to nail him.” Claire, determined and consumed with her mission to get
Riker, storms out of the lab.

 
    *****

 
    Duke, comatose and handcuffed, lays motionless in bed.
    Claire enters his room.   She
takes a seat by the bed.   She
removes a binder from a shoulder bag and opens it, it's a dossier on Duke Reeves.   She
flips through it, looking at various photos of Duke as a baby, kid, teen, young
adult.
    She notices how cute Duke was as a kid, how innocent and hopeful he
looked.   She then looks at Duke in
bed.   He still has an innocence about him.   She quickly removes that thought from her mind.   She settles in to reading about Duke
and his life.   She stays by his
side, learning all about him, for quite some time.
    As she's immersed in Duke's dossier he stirs.   Claire puts the materials down and watches as he opens his
eyes.   Duke's expression is one of
confusion tinged with fear and vulnerability, which catches Claire off guard.
    “I can't see.”   Duke says
with fear in his voice.
    “Maybe you just need a moment to adjust.”   Claire reassures him.
    “No, it's all dark.”   He
reiterates with anxiety.
    Claire stands up and moves closer to Duke.   Duke tries to sit up, feels that he's chained to the bed,
which distresses him.   “I can't see
and I'm chained to a bed.   What the
hell is going on?   Where am I?”
    His distressed state threatens to loosen the medical equipment hooked up
to him.   Claire attempts to calm
him down.   “Take it easy.   You're in the hospital.   You've just had brain surgery.   The vision issue is probably a result
of the surgery.”
    “Why am I chained to the bed?”
    “You're handcuffed because you were part of a jewelry store robbery.”
    “ What?!   I did what?”
    “You don't remember?”
    Duke looks as if he's processing information, but his mind is
blank.   He doesn't remember.   He shakes his head no.  
    “Do you remember your name?” Claire asks him.
    Again he thinks and comes up empty. “I can't remember.   I can't remember anything.”
    Now he's really distressed.   Claire gently places her hands on his shoulders.   She leans in close to him and guides
him back to lying down.   She
tenderly touches his face to calm him.   “Your name is Duke Reeves.”   She says quietly.
    Claire's super close proximity and actions have an instant calming
effect on him.   He takes in her
scent.   “Jasmine.   I smell jasmine.   I remember jasmine.”    He relaxes, Claire's scent and
closeness inspiring serenity. “Thank you, nurse.”
    Claire's eyes widen processing Duke's mistaken identity reference.
    “Will they come back, my sight and memory?”   He asks.
    “The doctor will know , I'll go get him.”
    As she moves away from Duke he grabs her hand.   “Not yet.   I
don't want to be alone just yet.   Please don’t leave.”
    “I'll stay with you.”   Claire reluctantly offers.
    Duke settles down.   “Thank
you.”   He continues to hold onto
her hand.
    Claire looks curiously at Duke, she certainly wasn't expecting him to be
so vulnerable, sensitive - and captivating.
    Outside of Duke’s room a cop sits in a chair by the door guarding the
room.   Claire leaves the room,
closing the door behind her.   She
sees the doctor near the nurses’ station.    She approaches, joins the doctor, and interrupts his
conversation with one