Forgotten Read online

  The language thing was…weird. She could somehow instantly understand and speak any language she heard whether she knew it or not. It wasn’t like the Knowing, a gift handed down from generation to generation. That was just part of her DNA. The language thing hadn’t been there before the gap in her memory—Kate knew for a fact because she could remember failing high school French. She’d had what her teacher called a “dead ear,” meaning she couldn’t hear or master the necessary accent to make her spoken French sound anything but atrocious. Yet now she spoke French like a native Parisian—she’d spoken it just yesterday to a client at her store. And she could speak any other language as well, even if she’d never heard it before.

  Kate had no idea how she’d acquired her gift with languages but it certainly came in handy at work. In fact, it was the way she’d gotten the job in the first place…

  She’d been walking through the mall a few weeks after her sudden appearance in Sarasota, looking for work after Mimi had started her shift at Godiva. Since she didn’t own a car, it made sense to try to find a job in the same place her new friend worked. Unfortunately, it seemed like no one was hiring. Kate was just about to give up on the nicer shops and go try the food court when she’d passed by a high end jewelry store on the top floor of the mall. Official purveyor of Rolex watches, proclaimed an elegantly scripted sign out front. Inside, a customer was trying to make himself understood in Farsi.

  Of course, Kate didn’t know it was Farsi—she only knew that he was speaking in a foreign tongue but she could somehow understand it. For a moment she just stood there, stunned. How in the Hell could she understand everything the customer was saying when she didn’t know any language but English? She froze—staring into the jewelry store, unable to drag herself away.

  “No, this is not the one I am looking for,” the customer was saying, pointing at something in the jewelry case. “I want one with rubies—those are my wife’s favorite stone.”

  “I’m sorry…” The saleslady said. “I don’t understand what you’re saying. Do you speak English?”

  “What?” Plainly the customer was getting more and more irritated.

  “What about Spanish? Do you speak Spanish?” the sales lady asked, switching to Spanish.

  Kate’s mouth dropped. This she recognized—she’d heard Spanish spoken often enough to know what it sounded like. Only, she’d never understood it before. Now it was perfectly clear.

  “What are you saying?” the customer demanded in Farsi.

  “I’m sorry,” the saleslady said, shaking her head hopelessly. “I only speak Spanish and English.”

  “Forget it!” The customer threw up his hands in disgust.

  It was at this moment that Kate had an epiphany. She didn’t know how she was understanding these languages but clearly she was. Behind her in the mall, she heard two women walking by, speaking in Vietnamese. Kate understood every word. Apparently this was a new gift she somehow had.

  Being suddenly multi-lingual probably would have freaked out most people but Kate was used to being unusual. She’d grown up knowing she was different from everyone else and the kids in her small town high school had never let her forget it for an instant. You either hid your differences away and let them make you a freak…or you used them to your advantage to make you stronger. Kate preferred the latter.

  But just because she understood all these languages, did it mean she could speak them too?

  Only one way to find out!

  Lifting her chin, Kate stepped into the jewelry shop.

  “Excuse me, but I think I know what he’s saying,” she told the saleslady, pointing to the disgusted customer who was preparing to leave. “I think I can help.”

  “If you can, please!” She was an older lady with an elegant coif of gray hair swept up in the back and a simple strand of pearls around her neck. “I’d love to help him but I can’t understand a word.”

  “Hello,” Kate said to the disgusted customer in perfect Farsi. “Can I help translate? I know your language.”

  “Oh, at last! Finally someone who can help—thank you, yes!” He nodded eagerly. “I cannot go home without procuring something for my wife. I see a piece I like very much but I need it with rubies, not emeralds.”

  “Show me,” Kate said and he pointed at the case. Kate translated rapidly between him and the saleslady, amazed to hear the words pouring out of her own mouth. Words she shouldn’t have been able to understand or pronounce at all and yet they came flowing as easily as if the customer’s language was her native tongue.

  The saleslady happened to have exactly what the customer wanted in another case. Before long, the sale was made and everyone was happy. Kate was about to leave and see what other languages she could understand when the manager of the store stepped out from the back.

  “I saw that—a very impressive display, young lady,” he said, nodding at Kate.

  “Oh yes, Mr. Myers, she was wonderful, wasn’t she?” The older saleslady beamed at Kate. “Thank you so much—I couldn’t have made that sale without you to translate.”

  “So do you speak other languages?” the manager asked. “We get quite a lot of international customers here and we’re always on the lookout for sales staff with multilingual capabilities.”

  Kate had decided to take a chance. “I can speak and understand just about any language there is,” she’d said quietly, keeping her voice level and calm so it didn’t seem like she was bragging. She wasn’t completely certain it was true but it seemed like a pretty safe bet.

  “Is that right?” The manager looked even more interested. “You have a gift for languages, do you?”

  “You could say that,” Kate said.

  “And are you looking for employment?”

  “As a matter of fact, I am.” Kate had stepped up and held out her hand. “Kate McMillan.”

  “Arthur Myers,” he’d said, taking her offered hand. The minute she touched his hand, Kate had known this was a good situation for her. But she needed to take things carefully.

  “Come back to my office and we’ll talk,” Mr. Myers had said. Kate had allowed him to usher her into the back, knowing from the single touch of his hand that he wouldn’t hurt or assault her. Besides, even if he tried, she had her Glock 42 concealed under her dressy business suit jacket.

  The 42 was one of the smallest guns Glock had ever made, which made it ideal both for Kate’s small hands and a concealed carry. She’d found it along with a few small pieces of her past and she wasn’t willing to give it up.

  After a few weeks of living with Mimi, more of Kate’s memory had come back and she’d been able to get some of her personal effects, which had been stored in her mom’s house back in Mississippi. Mimi had driven her there—happy to go on a road trip—and though Kate didn’t have the keys, she knew just how to jiggle the handle of the back door to get in.

  Inside, stored in the attic, she’d found her driver’s license, birth certificate, social security card—and of course the gun. It had cost her some time and trouble to get the concealed weapons carry permit here in Florida but Kate considered it money well spent. She had a feeling there was something else hiding in that three year time gap—another memory not nearly as useful as her sudden ability with languages. A dark memory—one she might need protection from.

  So she carried the 42 with her everywhere she went and even slept with it under her pillow at night. It made her feel better—as though she was somehow in control. As though she hadn’t lost three whole years of her life somehow and wound up naked and alone in a Sarasota park with no knowledge of how she’d gotten there.

  “Have a seat, please.” The manager had indicated a plush, leather chair across from his own.

  “Thank you.” Kate took the seat and smiled sedately. “Tell me why you want me to work here.”

  Mr. Meyers looked rather flustered.

  “Oh, well that’s usually my line. You tell me why you want to work here.”

  “Well, I need a job. R