Chapter 6 - THE MEMORY
Jason didn't believe him.
Not at first.
Neither did I.
It sounded too perfect.
Too dramatic.
Too conveniently horrifying.
Then Jason started remembering.
Not everything.
Fragments.
Rain against glass.
Daniel shouting.
Headlights behind them.
A woman screaming.
The smell of gasoline.
Jason pressed both palms against his temples.
“I remember the bridge.”
Richard sat beside him.
“You don't have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
Jason looked at his father.
“I've spent twenty-seven years not knowing I had a brother.”
His voice hardened.
“I'm done not knowing.”
Margaret stood near the window.
Her face looked hollow.
“I was trying to bring Daniel home.”
Jason looked at her.
“Were you driving behind him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He'd taken documents.”
Charles laughed.
“Tell the whole truth.”
Margaret snapped.
“You were stealing from us!”
“I was stealing from investors.”
Charles corrected her.
“There's a difference.”
“No, there isn't.”
“Daniel found out.”
Charles looked at Jason.
“He planned to give everything to a reporter.”
Richard whispered,
“I begged him to wait.”
Jason stared at his father.
“You knew?”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Richard looked away.
“Yes.”
Jason stood.
“You knew your seventeen-year-old son had evidence of financial crimes.”
“Yes.”
“And you let him drive away alone?”
Richard's voice cracked.
“I thought he was going to a friend's house.”
Charles shook his head.
“He was meeting the reporter.”
Margaret whispered,
“I followed him.”
Jason turned.
“What happened?”
“He was driving too fast.”
“What happened?”
“It was raining.”
“What happened?”
Margaret's voice broke.
“I tried to make him pull over.”
“How?”
Silence.
Charles answered.
“She pulled alongside him.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Margaret stared at Charles with hatred.
Jason's breathing changed.
“What happened next?”
Margaret whispered,
“Daniel lost control.”
The room became silent.
“He hit the barrier.”
Jason stared at her.
“And me?”
“I got you out.”
“You were there when he crashed?”
“Yes.”
“Was Daniel alive?”
Margaret didn't answer.
Jason asked again.
“Was my brother alive?”
Her face crumpled.
“For a few minutes.”
Jason stopped moving.
Richard whispered,
“Margaret.”
She looked at her husband.
“You weren't there.”
Jason's voice dropped.
“What did he say?”
Margaret began shaking.
“What did Daniel say?”
“He told me to get you out.”
Jason's eyes filled.
“And then?”
“I did.”
“And Daniel?”
“I couldn't reach him.”
Charles stepped forward.
“That's not what you told me.”
Margaret screamed.
“You weren't there!”
“No.”
Charles nodded.
“But you called me twelve minutes later.”
Margaret froze.
Charles looked at Jason.
“She didn't call 911 first.”
Jason's face emptied.
“She called me.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
May you like
Charles answered.
“Because the documents were still inside Daniel's car.”
