Rob had already proved his trustworthiness. He hadn’t run to the cops, even though he was part of law enforcement himself. She should tell him about her predicament. She needed an ally.
Anna had already delivered a basket of chips, a bowl of salsa and a couple of glasses of water to Rob’s table. Jane looked at the chips and wrinkled her nose.
“Hazards of the job. You’re sick of chips and salsa already.” Rob grabbed a chip and dunked it into the salsa. “If you haven’t tried Rosie’s salsa yet, you’re missing out. It’s the best north of the border...and maybe even south.”
Jane took his advice and scooped up a healthy dose of salsa with a sturdy chip and bit off the corner. The heat of the jalapeño made her eyes water, but just a little.
She sniffed and said, “It’s good.”
“How did your first day of work go?”
“Rosie is so sweet and Anna, Sal, Jose—all of them.” She flicked at the corner of the plastic menu in front of her. Could she keep working here if her tormentors had stayed in the area? Where would she go if she didn’t?
Rob briefly touched her hand and then snatched it back. “Is everything okay? How are you feeling? How’s your head?”
She stroked the hair on the side of her head, covering the gash in her skull where her memories had leaked out. “It throbs now and then, but it’s not giving me any trouble.”
“I still think you need to see a doctor, sooner rather than later.”
Jane nudged his foot with hers as Anna came up to the table. “Ready to order?”
“You know me, Anna. Same old, same old.”
Anna tapped her head. “Burrito with carnitas, wet with green. How about you, Jane?”
“I’ve been eyeing those chicken tacos all day.”
“Good choice. Drinks?”
They both ordered iced teas, and then Rob planted his elbows on the table. “Tell me what happened.”
Jane blinked. “What happened? At work?”
He swept his hand across the surface of the table. “You had an abusive ex, you left him and he came after you. Did he cause the car accident? Are you going to report him?”
She licked her lips and took a sip of water. “It may be worse than that.”
Folding his arms, Rob hunched forward across the table, his dark eyes burning into her. “You can tell me.”
Could she? How did she even begin to tell him of her predicament? He’d probably want to take her straight to the hospital. Straight to the police. She couldn’t allow that. For some reason, she couldn’t allow that.
She rubbed her arms and opened her mouth to speak, but Anna interrupted with their iced tea. “Food will be up in a minute. More salsa?”
“Please.” Rob tapped his glass. “And more water when you get the chance, Anna.”
Anna spun around to get Rob’s water, and he dumped a packet of sugar into his tea. “What were you going to say?”
“Before I get to that, can I ask you a question?”
“I’m an open book.”
“I can second that.” Anna returned with their food and topped off Rob’s water. “This guy can’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Is it your job to eavesdrop now?” He picked up his fork and waved it at Anna’s back. “You’re setting a bad example for Jane.”
Jane poked at her taco. If Rob were a talker, would he be able to keep her secrets?
He stabbed a piece of burrito and swept it through the salsa verde on his plate. “What’s your question?”
“Why’d you agree to help me? I figured as a law enforcement officer, you’d feel bound to call the police.”
He shrugged. “You were in a single-car crash. You didn’t destroy any property or hurt anyone but yourself.”
She stirred her tea with a straw, and the ice tinkled against the side of the glass. “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”
Rob sucked up half his tea through the straw before replying. “It was the abusive ex that got me. My mother had an abusive husband.”
“Your father?”
“No.” The line of Rob’s jaw hardened, and he plunged his fork into his burrito. “My stepfather. My dad died not too long after I was born.”
“I’m sorry.” She picked up her taco and tapped the edge of the hard shell against her plate. “And then your mother married a man who abused her.”
“Yeah, and I was too young to do anything about it. I’m the youngest of five.” He’d placed the tines of his fork on the edge of his plate, and his hand curled into a fist on the table.
“Is that why you went into law enforcement, to correct all the wrongs you couldn’t set right as a kid?”
His head jerked up, and he took a gulp of water. “Maybe. Are you a psychoanalyst or something?”
Was she?
“N-no. And your other siblings? Did they go into the law, too?”
He snorted. “The other side of the law. I have two brothers and two sisters. One of my brothers is in prison. The other is an ex-con, an OG who still holds court in East LA.”
“Wow. And your sisters? I’m afraid to ask.” She took a bite of her food, her teeth crunching into the taco. She’d been trying to buy time, not realizing she’d get Rob’s dramatic life story.
“My oldest sister is married to a criminal, repeating my mother’s sad story, and my other sister is getting her doctorate at the University of Texas in Austin.”
“How did you and your sister escape the family legacy?”
“Sheer willpower and a little luck.”
She handed him his fork. “I didn’t mean to ruin your appetite.”
“Yeah, it’s not exactly my favorite lunchtime topic.” He attacked his food again.
Rob’s attention to his lunch gave her some time to think of how she was going to frame her story. What was to frame? She lost her memory in the crash, and those two men gave her reason to believe she was in danger. Rob could help her.
She finished her food, took a sip of
