Chapter 9: The Night I Couldn't Remember
The old Moretti estate stood behind a rusted iron gate, surrounded by towering oak trees and overgrown hedges.
By eleven-thirty, police vehicles were positioned along the access road. Reeves had assembled a tactical team, but I refused to let anyone move toward the house until we understood what Gabriel wanted.
He had Lily.
He knew about Elena's notebook.
And he claimed I'd been present the night my wife died.
I sat in the back of an unmarked vehicle with Daniel beside me, staring at the estate's dark windows.
“Tell me about the night Gabriel supposedly died,” I said.
Daniel adjusted his glasses.
“You know the official account.””
“I want to know what you remember.””
He considered the question.
“Your father called me shortly after midnight. He said Gabriel's boat had capsized during a storm. The authorities had recovered a body, but identification was difficult.””
“Did you see the body?””
“No.””
“Did anyone in the family?””
“Your father said the coroner had confirmed the identity.””
I turned toward him.
“Did he show you the report?””
Daniel hesitated.
“No.””
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“For twelve years, we've been telling people Gabriel was dead because my father said so.””
“I understand how that sounds.””
“Do you?””
I looked back at the estate.
“My father never let Gabriel make a decision without questioning him. They fought constantly. But after the funeral, Father never mentioned him again.””
Daniel was quiet.
Then he said, “There's something I never told you.””
I turned.
“What?””
“Two months after Gabriel's funeral, I received an envelope from an account in Switzerland. It contained a single photograph of your brother, alive and well.””
My pulse quickened.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“The photograph came with a threat. If I revealed its existence, information about Elena's financial affairs would be released to the authorities.””
“What information?””
“I never found out. I assumed it was an attempt to blackmail the family.””
“And you kept it secret?””
“I was protecting you.””
“No,” I said coldly.
“You were protecting yourself.””
Daniel looked away.
I opened the car door.
“Sir,” Marcus said from the front seat, “we've got movement at the east side of the property.””
A light had appeared in one of the upper windows.
Then my phone rang.
Gabriel.
“Are you outside?”” he asked.
“Yes.””
“Good. I was afraid you'd bring the police.””
“I brought people who can keep my daughter safe.””
He chuckled.
“You always did confuse control with protection.””
“Where is Lily?””
“Downstairs. She's asking for you.””
“Let me speak to her.””
“Not yet.””
I gripped the phone.
“Gabriel, whatever you think happened between us, Lily has nothing to do with it.””
“That's where you're wrong.””
His voice sharpened.
“Elena discovered something about our family. Something Father spent decades hiding. She planned to tell you, but you never gave her the chance.””
“What are you talking about?””
“You'll see when you come inside.””
“I won't enter until I know Lily is safe.””
A pause.
Then I heard a small voice in the background.
“Daddy?””
My heart lurched.
“Lily!””
“Daddy, I'm okay!””
“Sweetheart, listen to me. Stay where you are. I'm coming to get you.””
Gabriel took the phone back.
“You hear that? She's brave. Elena's daughter.””
“Let her go.””
“Bring the notebook.””
“I don't have it.””
“Then you have until noon.””
“It's already almost noon.””
“Exactly.””
The call ended.
I turned to Reeves, who had approached the vehicle.
“What's our best entry point?””
“The eastern service corridor. There's a secondary entrance beneath the old library. But if Gabriel knows the property, he may have wired the interior with cameras.””
“Can you get Lily out without him seeing us?””
“We'll try.””
“No.”” I stepped out of the vehicle.
“We will get her out.””
Reeves studied my face.
“Vincent, I need you to tell me something. Have you experienced any memory gaps since Elena's death?””
The question struck harder than it should have.
“What kind of question is that?””
“Answer me.””
I stared at the estate.
Three years ago, after Elena died, I'd spent weeks barely sleeping. I remembered the hospital, the funeral, Lily's first night asking why Mommy wasn't coming home.
But there were gaps.
Hours I couldn't account for.
A period of several days when Daniel had told me I'd been heavily sedated after collapsing at the funeral.
I had never questioned it.
“Why?””
Reeves lowered his voice.
“Because the medical examiner's supplemental notes mentioned a sedative found in Elena's system. The same class of drug was detected in a sample taken from you during your hospital admission.””
My stomach twisted.
“Are you suggesting I was drugged?””
“I'm suggesting someone may have wanted you unconscious that night.””
“Why would anyone drug me?””
Reeves looked toward the house.
“Perhaps because you were supposed to be somewhere you don't remember.””
A sudden image flashed through my mind.
A cold stone floor.
Elena's voice shouting my name.
A hand gripping my shoulder.
Then darkness.
I staggered backward.
Marcus caught my arm.
“Sir?””
I pressed my fingers against my temples.
“I remember something.””
Reeves stepped closer.
“What?””
“I was at the estate.””
The words came out slowly, as if someone else had placed them in my mouth.
“The night Elena disappeared. I remember standing in a room. There was blood on the floor.””
Daniel went pale.
“Vincent, are you certain?””
“No.””
I closed my eyes.
A door slammed.
Someone screamed.
And a voice whispered, You must never tell him.
I opened my eyes.
“Someone said that to Elena.””
Reeves immediately spoke into his radio, ordering his team to hold position while he reassessed the entry plan.
Then my phone buzzed.
A new message from Gabriel.
It contained a short video.
Lily sat at a wooden table, her stuffed rabbit beside her. Gabriel stood in the background, his face turned away.
“Daddy,” she said into the camera, “I found Mommy's book.””
She lifted a small black notebook.
The missing notebook Elena had carried everywhere during the final months of her life.
My breath caught.
Lily opened it to the first page.
There was a photograph taped inside.
A photograph of Elena, Gabriel, and me standing together outside the estate.
I stared at it.
The date printed in the corner was three years ago.
Two days before Elena died.
On the back, someone had written a sentence in my wife's handwriting.
*If Vincent remembers what happened, Gabriel will finally be free.*
Then the video ended.
Reeves looked at me.
“Vincent, we need to know what that means.””
I couldn't answer.
Because beneath the photograph, visible for only a fraction of a second, was a second page.
It contained a handwritten list of four names.
Daniel Mercer.
Samuel Reeves.
Richard Whitmore.
And Vincent Moretti.
May you like
Beside my name was a single word.
*KILLER.*
