Chapter 9: The Missing Night
I couldn't hear anything after that.
Not the rain.
Not the detective.
Not Michael asking what was wrong.
Only one sentence repeated in my head.
*You were drugged.*
I looked at Richard.
“Who?””
He didn't answer.
“Who drugged me?””
“Daniel.””
Sabrina shook her head.
“No.””
Richard looked at her.
“Yes.””
“You told me Grandma—”
“She isn't your grandmother.””
Sabrina stopped.
Richard looked at Michael.
“I need to tell you everything.””
Michael stood rigidly.
“Start with why you disappeared.””
Richard nodded.
“Twenty-two years ago, Daniel approached me with an investment opportunity.””
“I know.””
“No, you don't.””
He opened the metal box wider.
“Daniel wasn't building a legitimate investment group. He was laundering money through shell companies.””
James swore quietly over the phone.
Richard continued.
“I discovered it after I became a shareholder.””
Michael stared at him.
“So you were involved?””
“For a short time.””
“And Mom?””
“She knew nothing.””
I interrupted.
“Then why did he drug me?””
“Because you found the records.””
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.””
“You weren't supposed to.””
Richard pointed at the flash drive.
“The files were encrypted. You were the only person who knew the password.””
“What password?””
Richard looked at Michael.
“His birthday.””
Michael's face went blank.
“My birthday?””
“You chose it.””
I stared at my son.
A memory surfaced.
A little boy blowing out eight candles.
Richard laughing.
Me writing something in a notebook.
Then darkness.
I grabbed the edge of the desk.
“I remember the party.””
Richard nodded.
“That was the night.””
“What happened?””
“Daniel came to the house.””
I closed my eyes.
The smell of whiskey.
A glass breaking.
Richard shouting.
Then nothing.
“When I woke up,” Richard said, “you were unconscious.””
“And Michael?””
“He was asleep upstairs.””
“Where were you?””
“On the kitchen floor.””
His voice broke.
“Daniel had shot me.””
Sabrina covered her mouth.
Michael whispered, “You were shot?””
Richard nodded.
“I survived.””
“Then why disappear?””
“Because Daniel told me if I went to the police, he would kill you.””
Michael's eyes filled.
“So you left us.””
“I watched you from a distance.””
“For twenty-two years?””
“Yes.””
Michael's voice cracked.
“You missed everything.””
“I know.””
“You missed Mom's birthday.””
“I know.””
“My graduation.””
“I know.””
“My first company.””
“I know.””
“My wedding.””
Richard looked at Sabrina.
“I almost came.””
Sabrina began crying.
“I wish you had.””
Richard looked at her.
“I couldn't.””
Michael stepped away.
“I don't know whether to hug you or hate you.””
Richard nodded.
“You have every right to hate me.””
I looked at the flash drive.
“What is on it?””
“Everything.””
“Everything?””
“Names. Accounts. Transactions. Payments.””
James spoke.
“Linda, if that drive is what I think it is, don't connect it to anything.””
Richard nodded.
“He's right.””
“Then how do we open it?””
Richard looked at me.
“You don't.””
“What?””
“You give it to the federal investigators.””
Detective Morgan stepped forward.
“We can secure it.””
Richard shook his head.
“No.””
Morgan frowned.
“Why?””
“Because Daniel has people everywhere.””
The detective's expression hardened.
“You're accusing law enforcement?””
“No.””
Richard pointed at the floor.
“I'm telling you we're standing inside a building that should have been demolished twelve years ago.””
Everyone looked down.
Morgan crouched.
His flashlight revealed fresh footprints in the dust.
Several sets.
One led toward the back door.
Another led toward the desk.
A third stopped beside me.
Morgan stood.
“We're not alone.””
Then the warehouse lights snapped on.
Every fluorescent tube above us burst to life at once.
A projector flickered on behind the desk.
The wall became a screen.
A video began playing.
It showed me.
Twenty-two years younger.
Sitting at this very desk.
My hands were shaking.
My voice came through the speakers.
“If you're watching this, I don't remember what happened.””
Michael stared at the screen.
The younger version of me continued.
“But someone will try to convince you that Richard betrayed me.””
Richard closed his eyes.
I stepped closer.
The recording continued.
“Don't believe them.””
My younger self looked directly into the camera.
“Richard did not abandon us.””
Michael whispered, “Mom…”
Then the image changed.
A second video appeared.
Sabrina's father was sitting beside me.
Daniel Cole.
Alive.
Young.
Smiling.
And he was holding something against my neck.
A syringe.
Sabrina screamed.
“No!””
The video froze.
Then a new message appeared across the screen.
*NOW ASK SABRINA WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.*
Everyone turned toward her.
She backed away.
“I didn't know.””
Michael stared at his wife.
“Sabrina.””
“I swear.””
“What happened next?””
She shook her head.
“I can't.””
Richard stepped toward her.
“You have to.””
Sabrina began sobbing.
Then she looked at Michael.
And whispered,
“Your mother didn't lose her memory that night.””
She swallowed.
“Your mother was made to forget.””
The warehouse door slammed shut behind us.
May you like
And from somewhere in the darkness, a man's voice said,
“Exactly.””
