Chapter 14: What I Had Been Made to Forget
When I woke, my head was pounding.
A single bulb swung overhead.
My wrists were tied to a wooden chair.
The room smelled of gasoline and damp concrete.
Calvin stood several feet away.
Bell was pacing.
Marlene sat on the floor nearby, her hands still bound.
I looked around.
"Where's my family?""
Bell smiled.
"You always did have a dramatic way of asking questions.""
"Where is Elijah?""
"Alive.""
"Victor?""
"Alive.""
"Daniel?""
Bell stopped pacing.
"He got hurt.""
My heart tightened.
"You shot him.""
"I didn't.""
"Then who did?""
Bell shrugged.
"Does it matter?""
I looked at Marlene.
She was crying.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
I stared at her.
"For what?""
"For all of it.""
Bell laughed.
"Don't start pretending you have a conscience now.""
Marlene looked at him with hatred.
"You don't get to talk about conscience.""
Bell moved toward her.
"You forget who kept you alive.""
"I remember exactly who did.""
She looked at me.
"Daniel.""
I froze.
Bell's expression changed.
Marlene continued.
"Daniel saved me too.""
I didn't understand.
"Why?""
"Because I tried to stop Bell.""
Bell struck her across the face.
I screamed.
"Don't touch her!""
He turned toward me.
"You still protect everybody.""
"I won't let you hurt her.""
He laughed.
"That's what makes you so easy to use.""
He walked behind me.
"Do you want to know what you forgot?""
I said nothing.
He leaned closer.
"Your son came to you the night he disappeared.""
I remembered.
Elijah at the kitchen door.
His face pale.
Rebecca crying.
A baby in her arms.
Bell continued.
"He told you what we'd been doing.""
I whispered, "The money.""
"Yes.""
"He wanted to expose you.""
"Yes.""
"You threatened him.""
"I threatened everyone.""
My heartbeat raced.
"What did I do?""
Bell smiled.
"You made a deal.""
I stared at him.
"What deal?""
"You would sign over the diner.""
"No.""
"And Elijah would disappear.""
"No.""
"Your memory was altered afterward.""
I shook my head.
"I would never trade my son.""
Bell laughed.
"You didn't.""
He pointed toward Marlene.
"She did.""
Marlene sobbed.
"Bell forced the choice.""
I looked at her.
"What choice?""
"Elijah or Victor.""
My blood turned cold.
She continued.
"They had Victor.""
The room vanished around me.
A baby crying.
Elijah screaming.
Daniel shouting.
Bell holding a tiny infant.
My grandson.
My memory returned in fragments.
Victor.
Wrapped in a yellow blanket.
His tiny fingers around mine.
Elijah kneeling in front of me.
"Mom, please.""
Daniel saying, "Give me the baby.""
Bell saying, "Sign.""
And I did.
Not to sell the diner.
Not to surrender my son.
To save a child.
I began sobbing.
"I remember.""
Bell smiled.
"Good.""
I looked directly at him.
"I signed because you had Victor.""
"Exactly.""
"And Elijah?""
"He disappeared because he chose to disappear.""
I shook my head.
"He was protecting his son.""
Bell nodded.
"Finally.""
Marlene crawled closer.
"He never stopped trying to come back.""
I looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because I was afraid.""
"You let me hate myself.""
"I know.""
Bell pulled out the red folder.
"But here's what you still don't understand.""
He opened it.
Inside was another document.
Not a transfer.
A trust agreement.
I read the first paragraph.
My name.
Elijah's name.
Victor's name.
And Isabel's.
The document stated that the diner and all assets were held in trust until Victor reached thirty-five.
Victor.
Not Isabel.
Not me.
Victor.
I stared.
"He wasn't supposed to inherit the diner.""
Bell smiled.
"He was supposed to inherit everything.""
"But you're trying to steal it.""
"Because the trust contains more than property.""
He tapped the page.
"It controls the accounts.""
"What accounts?""
"The missing money.""
I understood.
The stolen fortune had been protected in a trust under Victor's name.
"You've been hunting for him.""
"Since he was a child.""
"And when you couldn't find him...""
Bell smiled.
"We created a substitute.""
I frowned.
"What substitute?""
Bell looked toward the door.
Someone entered.
A young man.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
A silver pendant around his neck.
Victor.
My heart jumped.
"Victor!""
He smiled.
Bell laughed.
"Not Victor.""
The young man stepped forward.
He looked remarkably similar to my grandson.
Then he removed the pendant.
It wasn't the same.
It was a copy.
My blood ran cold.
"Who are you?""
He answered:
"Daniel's other son.""
I stared at Bell.
"What?""
Bell smiled.
"Your husband had another child.""
Marlene screamed.
"That's impossible!""
The young man raised a gun.
"Everything is possible.""
Then another voice came from the doorway.
"Not everything.""
Victor appeared.
His face was bruised.
Blood ran down one side of his forehead.
He was alive.
Behind him stood Elijah.
And Daniel.
Daniel was wounded but walking.
Victor looked at the younger man.
"You picked the wrong family.""
The fake Victor raised his weapon.
The room erupted.
Marlene threw herself aside.
Bell fired.
Victor charged.
Elijah tackled the younger man.
I ducked.
A gunshot struck the ceiling.
Then another.
Daniel reached me and cut my restraints.
"Run.""
"I won't leave you.""
"You have to.""
"Not again.""
He stared at me.
"I already lost you once.""
I grabbed his hand.
"Then stay.""
He looked at me.
For the first time in forty years, there were no secrets between us.
Just fear.
And love.
Victor shouted from across the room.
"Grandma!""
I looked at him.
He pointed toward the exit.
"Go!""
I ran.
Then I heard Bell scream.
"Stop them!""
We reached the tunnel.
Behind us, footsteps thundered.
Elijah grabbed my shoulder.
"Mom!""
I turned.
His face was desperate.
"There's one thing you still haven't remembered.""
"What?""
He looked at me.
"Who carried Victor out of the diner that night.""
I stared.
"I did.""
He shook his head.
"No.""
He pointed behind us.
"Someone else did.""
A figure appeared at the end of the tunnel.
An older woman.
She walked into the light.
I knew her instantly.
The woman I had believed was dead for thirty years.
Rebecca.
Elijah's wife.
Victor's mother.
My daughter-in-law.
May you like
She looked at me and whispered:
"Hello, Evelyn.""
