Chapter 10 - The Memory Abigail Lost
Abigail did not speak for nearly a minute.
Grant lay against the front pew while Monroe pressed gauze against the wound in his side.
Tessa remained standing near the altar.
The photograph felt heavy in her hand.
“You said she remembered,” Tessa said.
Grant squeezed his eyes shut.
“Yes.”
“What did Abigail remember?”
He looked toward her.
“Ask her.”
“I don’t remember anything.”
Grant laughed weakly.
“That was the point.”
Abigail’s face tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
Grant looked at Monroe.
“You need to get us somewhere safe.”
“First you talk.”
“If Caleb finds me—”
“He already found you once.”
Grant looked toward the broken windows.
“He’ll finish it.”
Monroe called for an ambulance but gave them a location two miles away.
“Now talk.”
Grant breathed carefully.
“Eleven years ago, Abigail was treated at a private clinic owned by Hart Biotech.”
Abigail shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Grant swallowed.
“Memory suppression.”
Tessa stared.
“That isn’t a medical diagnosis.”
“No.”
“What did they do?”
“Sedatives. Hypnosis. Repeated psychological conditioning.”
Monroe’s expression darkened.
“Who authorized it?”
“Samuel.”
Abigail flinched.
“My father?”
Grant nodded.
“But not for the reason you think.”
He looked at her.
“He was trying to protect you.”
The church felt suddenly colder.
Grant continued.
“You witnessed Maya’s murder.”
Tessa’s fingers tightened around the photograph.
“No.”
Grant looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
“You better be very sure.”
“I found the records.”
“What happened?”
Grant took a shaking breath.
“Maya met Abigail because she needed someone inside the family who Samuel trusted.”
Abigail stared at the photo.
“I don’t remember.”
“You drove to Annapolis that night.”
“Why?”
“Your father asked you to bring Maya a flash drive.”
“What was on it?”
“Financial records.”
Tessa stepped closer.
“Records of what?”
“Hart Biotech tested an experimental blood-clotting drug overseas.”
Monroe’s jaw tightened.
Grant continued.
“There were deaths. Dozens. Maybe more. The company buried reports and paid government officials through contractors.”
“Caleb?” Abigail asked.
“Caleb designed the payment network.”
“And my grandmother?”
“She gave him permission.”
Tessa’s stomach turned.
“And Maya discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“What happened at the coffee shop?”
“Maya told Abigail she was going public.”
Grant paused.
“Someone followed them.”
Tessa’s voice became quiet.
“Who?”
Grant looked at Abigail.
“Caleb.”
Abigail covered her mouth.
“He killed her?”
“No.”
Tessa stared.
“Then who did?”
Grant hesitated.
That hesitation terrified her more than an answer.
“Grant.”
He looked at her.
“Samuel.”
The word made no sense.
Tessa blinked.
“No.”
“I saw the file.”
“My sister trusted Samuel.”
“I know.”
“He was helping her.”
“I know.”
“Then why would he kill her?”
Grant looked miserable.
“Because Caleb gave him a choice.”
Abigail whispered, “What choice?”
Grant’s eyes moved to her stomach.
“The same choice they’re giving people now.”
Tessa stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
“Family or truth.”
Monroe leaned in.
“Explain.”
“Caleb told Samuel that if Maya released the evidence, Abigail would be charged as an accomplice. They had documents with her signature. Her computer. Her access codes. Everything.”
Abigail shook her head.
“I was nineteen.”
“You interned at the company that summer.”
“I filed documents.”
“They used your credentials.”
Tessa suddenly understood.
“Samuel thought Maya’s evidence would destroy Abigail.”
“Yes.”
“So he killed Maya?”
Grant swallowed.
“He tried to stop her from leaving.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“There was an argument near the cliff road. Maya got into her car. Samuel followed.”
“What happened?”
“Caleb’s men had already damaged the brake line.”
Tessa felt her knees weaken.
“So Samuel didn’t cause the crash.”
“No.”
“Then why did you say he killed her?”
“Because after the crash, she was still alive.”
Silence.
Grant looked down.
“Samuel found her.”
Tessa’s eyes filled.
“And?”
“He called Caleb instead of an ambulance.”
Tessa could not breathe.
Grant continued.
“Caleb told him that if Maya lived, Abigail would go to prison.”
“No,” Abigail whispered.
“Samuel waited forty-seven minutes.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
Forty-seven minutes.
Her sister alive.
Injured.
Waiting.
Forty-seven minutes because a rich man had chosen his daughter over someone else’s.
“When Samuel finally called for help, Caleb intercepted the ambulance.”
Tessa opened her eyes.
“Evelyn.”
Grant nodded.
“She was the paramedic.”
Everything shifted.
Evelyn had been there.
She had seen Maya alive.
She had received the evidence.
She had hidden the key.
Abigail was crying.
“My father let her die for me.”
Tessa looked at her.
Abigail could barely speak.
“I’m sorry.”
Tessa wanted to hate her.
For one sharp, terrible second, she did.
Then she saw Abigail’s hand resting over the child inside her.
A daughter who had inherited secrets she never asked for.
“No,” Tessa said.
Abigail looked up.
“You didn’t make his choice.”
“But—”
“You didn’t make it.”
Outside, tires crunched across gravel.
Monroe turned.
The ambulance had arrived too quickly.
He checked his phone.
“I told them two miles east.”
The church doors opened.
Three men entered wearing paramedic uniforms.
Grant panicked.
“That’s them.”
Monroe drew his weapon.
The first man reached beneath his jacket.
Tessa pulled Abigail behind the altar.
Gunfire exploded through the church.
Wood splintered.
Glass shattered.
Monroe returned fire.
Grant crawled toward the side aisle.
A bullet struck the candle stand.
Flames spread across an old curtain.
“Tessa!” Abigail shouted.
Smoke filled the altar.
One of the attackers moved around the pews.
Tessa grabbed a brass cross and swung it into his face.
He collapsed.
Monroe shouted, “Back door!”
They ran.
Grant stumbled behind them.
They reached the cemetery as smoke poured from the church roof.
A black SUV waited beyond the stone wall.
Its rear door opened.
Evelyn Cross sat inside.
“Get in!”
Monroe raised his weapon.
“Give me one reason.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Because Caleb Mercer just sent six men to burn a pregnant woman alive inside a church.”
A second gunshot came from the trees.
Evelyn ducked.
“That reason good enough?”
They climbed inside.
The SUV accelerated.
Tessa stared at Evelyn.
“You were with Maya when she died.”
“Yes.”
“You hid the key.”
“Yes.”
“You knew all of this.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Not all of it.”
“What are you missing?”
Evelyn’s eyes shifted toward Abigail.
“The part your father died trying to hide.”
Abigail wiped tears from her face.
“What part?”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“That Maya wasn’t investigating Hart Biotech alone.”
“Who helped her?”
May you like
Evelyn’s answer changed everything again.
“Your mother.”
