Chapter 13: The Memory I Buried
“You weren't supposed to remember.””
Daniel stood in my office doorway, blood running from a cut above his eyebrow.
I stared at him.
“What am I supposed to remember?””
He closed the door.
“Your wedding night.””
“I remember my wedding night.””
“No.”” His voice was barely a whisper.
“You remember what I wanted you to remember.””
Ariana’s mother stepped closer.
“What does that mean?””
Daniel looked at her.
“Your daughter is alive because of something you did six years ago.””
She froze.
“What did I do?””
“You kept the wrong thing.””
I shook my head.
“Stop talking in riddles.””
Daniel walked toward my desk.
“On our wedding night, Richard came to the house.””
“I remember that.””
“You remember him arguing with me.””
“Yes.””
“What you don't remember is what happened afterward.””
I stared at him.
“Why wouldn't I remember?””
“Because you were drugged.””
The room went silent.
Ariana's mother covered her mouth.
Daniel continued.
“Richard wanted the evidence I had collected. I refused to give it to him.””
“What happened?””
“He attacked me.””
I looked at his bruised face.
“You fought him?””
“Yes.””
“And me?””
“You tried to stop him.””
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.””
“You hit your head.””
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“You fell against the fireplace.””
My hand instinctively touched the back of my head.
A faint scar had always been there.
I'd been told it came from a fall after drinking too much champagne.
Daniel looked away.
“That was a lie.””
I felt sick.
“What else did you lie about?””
“Everything after that.””
He sat down.
“I thought Richard would kill you if he knew you remembered.””
“So you erased my memory?””
“No. Richard did.””
I stared at him.
“He gave you something that made the night disappear.””
“And you let him?””
“I had no choice.””
“You always had a choice.””
Daniel nodded.
“You're right.””
He reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small photograph.
It showed our wedding reception.
I recognized myself immediately.
But beside me stood someone I had never remembered seeing.
Ariana's mother.
Young.
Wearing the same uniform she wore in the photograph from the warehouse.
I stared.
“Why was she at our wedding?””
Daniel looked at her.
“Because she was cleaning the venue that night.””
She shook her head.
“I remember.””
I turned.
“You saw something?””
She nodded slowly.
“After everyone left, I found Laura on the floor.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“You were unconscious.””
She wiped her eyes.
“Daniel was bleeding. Richard was standing over him.””
Daniel nodded.
“She found the evidence.””
“What evidence?””
“The metal box.””
Ariana's mother reached into her purse.
She pulled out a tiny key.
“I kept this for six years.””
Daniel looked at it.
“You still have it.””
“I never knew what it opened.””
Daniel looked at me.
“It opens the pendant.””
I pulled the silver pendant from my pocket.
Ariana's mother stared.
“So the key wasn't for the warehouse.””
“No,” Daniel said.
“It was for Ariana.””
I frowned.
“What does Ariana have to do with our wedding?””
Daniel's expression softened.
“Nothing.””
“Then why did you say she was the key?””
“Because her mother carried the evidence out of the building that night.””
I stared at her.
“You took it?””
She nodded.
“Daniel begged me to hide it.””
“Where?””
“In the one place Richard would never search.””
I already knew the answer.
“Ariana's pendant.””
She nodded.
Daniel looked at me.
“Richard spent six years searching for it.””
“And he used Miles to force me here.””
“Yes.””
I picked up the recorder.
“Then why did Richard say Daniel stole money?””
Daniel's face tightened.
“Because I moved it.””
“Where?””
“To protect people Richard had already robbed.””
Ariana's mother suddenly stepped toward the window.
“Someone's downstairs.””
Daniel stood.
“We have to go.””
“No.””
I held up the recorder.
“Not until you tell me everything.””
Daniel looked at me.
Then he whispered,
“The man who ordered my murder wasn't Richard.””
I froze.
“What?””
“Richard was working for someone else.””
“Who?””
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“The person who has been controlling David.””
“Who?””
He opened his mouth.
The office door exploded inward.
A man rushed inside.
Daniel shoved me down.
The lights went out.
Ariana's mother screamed.
And from the darkness came a voice I recognized instantly.
May you like
“Hello, Laura.””
David.
