Chapter 8 - THE MEMORY THEY STOLE
I hit Bell again.
Mara pulled me back.
“He’s trying to get inside your head.”
But the memory had already started coming.
A basement.
My father yelling.
Uncle David bleeding from his mouth.
Me at twenty-two, standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Lily behind me.
Dad turning.
“Go upstairs.”
I remembered saying no.
Then nothing.
“I didn’t move a body.”
Bell shrugged.
“Depends what you call helping.”
Lily grabbed my hands.
“You didn’t know.”
“Tell me.”
She was shaking.
“Dad hit Uncle David during a fight.”
“Why?”
“David found the financial records too.”
My father’s brother had threatened to go to federal investigators.
Their argument turned violent.
Dad shoved him.
David fell down the basement stairs and broke his neck.
“I saw it?”
“We both did.”
“Why don’t I remember?”
“You panicked. Dad made you help carry David to the truck. You thought he was taking him to a hospital.”
My stomach twisted.
“He wasn’t.”
“No.”
Dad staged the car crash.
Then he realized Lily had copied the records.
She threatened him.
I tried to help her.
Dad hit me.
Dr. Bell drugged me.
And for months everyone repeated a simpler version until my damaged brain accepted it.
David crashed his car.
Lily ran away.
I slipped in the rain.
Three lies.
A whole life built on them.
Mara took Bell away.
Evan went by ambulance under guard.
Before they left, he looked at me.
“Your father will never let you reach that house.”
I stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because the ledger isn’t the only thing there.”
“What else?”
Evan smiled through the pain.
“Ask Clara about the furnace.”
Then he was gone.
I turned toward my wife.
Her face collapsed.
“No more lies.”
She nodded.
“What furnace?”
“In your parents’ old basement.”
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I swear.”
Lily watched her.
“You know what he put there.”
Clara whispered, “I know what he told me he put there.”
“What?”
She looked at me.
“Your mother’s original recording.”
The cassette in Eva’s backpack was a copy.
The full version was hidden inside the old furnace.
Mara returned.
“We need that house secured before your father destroys whatever is there.”
I thought of Eva.
She was still with Marlene and the officers.
“I’m getting my daughter first.”
Mara nodded.
We drove back.
The diner parking lot was filled with police cars.
My heart dropped.
I jumped out before Mara stopped.
“Marlene!”
The older woman sat on the curb, a blanket around her shoulders.
Blood ran from her forehead.
I looked around wildly.
“Where’s Eva?”
She started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
My knees went weak.
“What happened?”
“One of the cops said he was transferring her somewhere safer.”
Mara stared.
“Which officer?”
Marlene pointed at an empty patrol car.
Mara read the unit number.
Her face changed.
“That officer retired two years ago.”
My phone rang.
Dad.
I answered.
His voice was calm.
“You have something I want.”
I could barely speak.
“You touched my daughter.”
“She’s fine.”
“If you hurt her—”
“Bring me Lily.”
My sister stepped closer.
Dad continued.
“And bring the cassette.”
“Where?”
“Our old house.”
The line went quiet.
Then Eva’s voice came through.
“Daddy?”
I broke.
“I’m coming, baby.”
Dad took the phone back.
“One hour.”
The call ended.
Lily looked at me.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants all of us.”
Clara whispered, “William…”
I looked at my wife.
And saw something different in her expression.
Not fear.
Decision.
May you like
She reached into her coat.
And pulled out a gun.
