Chapter 9: The Last Lie
The second gunshot exploded through the warehouse.
James drove me flat against the concrete floor.
Something struck the metal locker above us with a sharp ping.
"Stay down," he whispered.
I couldn't move.
My ears rang.
Somewhere in the darkness, my mother was crying.
"Anna!""
"I'm here!""
James grabbed my hand.
"Don't move until I tell you.""
A third shot tore through the darkness.
Daniel shouted from somewhere near the forklift.
"Marcus!""
No answer.
Then the emergency lights flickered on.
Red.
Dim.
Enough to see.
Daniel was crouched behind a steel support beam.
My mother was on the ground beside him.
And James was between me and the rest of the warehouse.
"Mom!""
She lifted her head.
"I'm okay.""
There was blood on her sleeve.
I panicked.
"You're bleeding.""
"It's not mine.""
A body lay twenty feet away.
I couldn't see the face.
James looked toward it.
"Nobody move.""
Daniel raised both hands.
"It isn't me.""
James kept his weapon trained forward.
"Show me your hands.""
Daniel did.
"Where's Marcus?""
"I don't know.""
"Then who fired?""
Daniel glanced toward the ceiling.
"Remote system.""
James' eyes narrowed.
"Explain.""
"The gunshots didn't come from a person.""
Another metallic click echoed through the warehouse.
Daniel ducked.
"Move!""
James grabbed me and pulled me behind the support column.
A burst of gunfire ripped through the space where we'd been standing.
The sound was deafening.
I covered my ears.
James shouted something I couldn't hear.
Then silence.
Smoke drifted beneath the red lights.
Daniel crawled toward us.
"There's an automated defense system.""
James looked at him.
"You built this?""
"No.""
"Then who did?""
Daniel pointed toward locker seventeen.
"Marcus.""
James looked at the locker.
"The warehouse wasn't sold.""
Daniel shook his head.
"Your father never sold it.""
My stomach dropped.
"What?""
Daniel looked at me.
"The property was transferred through three shell companies.""
"Why?""
"To hide the facility.""
James' jaw tightened.
"My father knew.""
"Yes.""
I looked toward my mother.
She closed her eyes.
"Your father knew everything.""
My chest tightened.
"You told me he was trying to leave.""
"He was.""
"But he stayed.""
"He stayed because he believed he could bring the whole network down.""
Daniel looked at James.
"He failed.""
The emergency lights flickered.
James checked his weapon.
"How do we shut the system down?""
Daniel pointed toward a metal control box.
"Main breaker.""
"Where?""
"Behind locker seventeen.""
James moved.
I grabbed his arm.
"Wait.""
He looked at me.
"I need to ask my mother something.""
"Now?""
"Yes.""
James hesitated.
Then nodded.
I turned toward her.
"Mom.""
She pushed herself upright.
"Anna.""
"Did you erase my memory?""
Her face crumpled.
"I didn't erase anything.""
"You heard the tape.""
"I did.""
"My voice said you made me forget.""
"I didn't make you forget.""
"Then what did you do?""
She looked at James.
"I asked him to let you believe the accident was an accident.""
My heart sank.
"Why?""
"Because you wouldn't stop asking questions.""
"I was seventeen.""
"You had seen Marcus.""
"You knew?""
"Yes.""
"And Dad?""
"He was dead.""
"Did he tell you anything before he died?""
She hesitated.
"Yes.""
I stepped closer.
"What?""
"He told me there was another person.""
"Who?""
She looked at James again.
My stomach twisted.
"Mom.""
She swallowed.
"Your father said the person closest to you was the one you needed to fear.""
I turned toward James.
He had gone motionless.
"You thought it was him.""
"I didn't know.""
"But you let me think he wasn't there.""
"I was terrified.""
"Of James?""
"Of everyone.""
I shook my head.
"You let me marry a man you suspected of helping the people who killed Dad.""
"James saved your life.""
"Then why was I afraid of him?""
She started crying.
"Because you saw something that night.""
"What?""
"You saw James take the case.""
The world seemed to stop.
I looked at James.
"Did you?""
He didn't answer.
"Did you take it?""
"Yes.""
The word fell like a stone.
I backed away.
"Why?""
"Because Marcus wanted it.""
"And you gave it to him?""
"No.""
He looked at me.
"I took it away from him.""
"Then why didn't you tell me?""
"Because the case contained names.""
"Whose?""
"People who were supposed to be protecting you.""
My mother whispered, "Including your father.""
I turned.
"What does that mean?""
Daniel answered.
"Your father wasn't just trying to expose the network.""
He looked at James.
"He was part of it.""
I felt sick.
"No.""
"He joined before you were born.""
My mother's eyes closed.
"He thought he could control it.""
Daniel continued.
"He couldn't.""
I looked at the warehouse.
At the rusted walls.
The hidden safe.
The secret locker.
All the years of family stories suddenly felt fake.
"My whole family knew.""
"Not all of them," Daniel said.
"Lauren?""
Daniel shook his head.
"Lauren knew the money was dirty. She didn't know the whole story.""
"Then why did she hit Emma?""
He looked down.
"Because she was trying to provoke you.""
My stomach turned.
"To make me leave?""
"To make James react.""
"Why?""
"She needed to know whether he still had the evidence.""
James stepped toward Daniel.
"And now you know.""
Daniel nodded.
"I suspected.""
James lowered his weapon slightly.
"Who are you working for?""
Daniel stared at him.
"No one.""
"Then why are you here?""
"Because I found out Marcus was using your family.""
"My family?""
"Your father. Your mother. Lauren.""
Daniel looked at me.
"You.""
I shook my head.
"I never agreed to anything.""
"I know.""
"You said my name was given to them.""
"Yes.""
"By whom?""
Daniel looked toward the floor.
"You did.""
My breath caught.
"What?""
"You gave Marcus your name.""
James stepped forward.
"Enough.""
Daniel didn't stop.
"She didn't know what she was doing.""
"What does that mean?""
Daniel pointed toward the tape recorder.
"Your memory message.""
I stared at him.
"You recorded that before the accident because you suspected someone was following you.""
"Who?""
"Marcus.""
"But the voice said James.""
Daniel nodded.
"Because you thought he was working for Marcus.""
"Was he?""
"No.""
James finally spoke.
"I was undercover.""
I looked at him.
"What?""
"My assignment changed after your father's death.""
He took a breath.
"I was ordered to stay close to you.""
"To protect me?""
"Yes.""
"Then why lie?""
"Because the operation was compromised.""
"By whom?""
"Colonel Reed.""
My stomach dropped.
"Reed?""
James nodded.
"He was feeding information to Marcus.""
Daniel added, "And using James as the fall guy.""
Everything clicked.
The warning phone call.
The accusation.
The old photographs.
The missing evidence.
Colonel Reed hadn't been trying to protect me.
He had been trying to make me distrust James.
"Then Daniel?""
James looked at him.
"Was working with Reed at first.""
Daniel nodded.
"I was.""
"And then?""
"I found out what he was doing.""
"So you turned.""
"Yes.""
The control box sparked.
James looked over.
"We're out of time.""
He ran toward it.
The lights flickered again.
Daniel helped my mother stand.
I looked at the unconscious figure on the floor.
"Who got shot?""
Daniel glanced over.
"One of Marcus' men.""
"He's alive?""
"For now.""
The warehouse doors suddenly unlocked.
James shouted.
"Move!""
We ran.
The moment we reached the exit, a black SUV came tearing across the lot.
Daniel shoved my mother behind a concrete barrier.
The SUV stopped.
A door opened.
Colonel Reed stepped out.
My blood went cold.
He wasn't alone.
Lauren climbed out behind him.
My sister's face was streaked with tears.
She looked at me.
"I'm sorry.""
I stared at her.
"You brought him here?""
She shook her head.
"He found me.""
Reed raised a weapon.
"James.""
James lifted his own.
"Colonel.""
Reed smiled.
"Drop it.""
"No.""
Reed glanced at me.
"Anna, come here.""
I didn't move.
He smiled again.
"Your mother lied to you.""
I looked at my mother.
Then at James.
Then back at Reed.
He continued.
"She didn't hide your memories to protect you.""
My mother whispered, "Don't listen.""
Reed's voice sharpened.
"She hid them because you're the only person who can identify the account that funded your father's operation.""
I frowned.
"What account?""
Reed looked pleased.
"Your own.""
James' face changed.
"No.""
Reed nodded.
"Exactly.""
My mother started crying.
"Anna, please.""
I felt dizzy.
"What's in my name?""
"The account," Reed said, "was opened the night of the accident.""
James stepped forward.
"Don't.""
Reed smiled.
"Your wife has been the key to this entire investigation for eleven years.""
Silence.
Then Lauren whispered something.
"That's why they wanted the baby.""
I looked at her.
"What?""
Lauren's voice broke.
"Because they thought pregnancy would trigger her memory.""
I stared at her.
James looked horrified.
"You knew?""
"I found out tonight.""
She looked at me.
"They weren't trying to hurt Emma.""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"They were trying to make you remember.""
My mother covered her face.
I looked at James.
"Is that true?""
He couldn't answer.
And in that moment, I understood.
The lies hadn't started six months ago.
They had started eleven years earlier.
I took one step toward Colonel Reed.
"What do you want?""
He lowered his weapon slightly.
"The account number.""
"I don't know it.""
"But you do.""
"No.""
"You wrote it down.""
"Where?""
Reed smiled.
"In the only place they could never take it from you.""
I felt a sudden pressure behind my eyes.
A flash.
Rain.
A car.
A black case.
My father's voice.
Anna, remember this.
Then a sequence of numbers.
I gasped.
James caught me.
"Anna?""
I looked at him.
And suddenly I remembered.
Not everything.
Just enough.
The night of the accident.
The case.
My father handing something to me.
Not a file.
A photograph.
With seven handwritten numbers on the back.
I whispered them.
Reed smiled.
"Good.""
Then James pulled me behind him.
"Don't give him anything else.""
Reed raised his weapon.
Daniel raised his.
Lauren stepped between them.
"Stop!""
Reed turned toward her.
Lauren looked at me.
Then she made a decision.
She reached inside her coat.
Reed fired.
Lauren staggered.
"Lauren!""
She fell to the ground.
The warehouse erupted into chaos.
James grabbed me and pulled me toward the SUV.
Daniel dragged my mother behind the barrier.
And as I dropped beside my sister, she pressed something into my hand.
A tiny flash drive.
Her lips moved.
I leaned closer.
"Don't trust the number.""
"What number?""
Her eyes closed.
"The account isn't yours.""
May you like
Then she whispered the words that made everything finally make sense.
"Anna... the account belongs to Emma.""
