Chapter 7 - THE MEMORY LUCAS HAD BURIED
Lucas was six years old when Clara died.
He remembered almost nothing about the hospital.
Only fragments.
A white ceiling.
A blue blanket.
His mother's hand.
And a woman standing in the doorway.
Gabriel sat beside him as he spoke.
“Mom told me to hide.”
“Where?”
“In a closet.”
Gabriel felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because she said someone was coming.”
“Who?”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“Candice.”
Gabriel stared.
Lucas continued.
“Mom was scared.”
Gabriel's voice broke.
“Did she say why?”
“She told me not to let the woman see me.”
Then Lucas remembered something else.
A conversation.
Clara and Candice.
The door had been partially open.
Lucas had heard Clara say:
“You can't have it.”
Candice had replied:
“You don't understand what happens if you refuse.”
Then Clara had said:
“I know exactly what happens.”
Gabriel felt his hands shake.
“What happened next?”
Lucas began crying.
“She said she had proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“I don't know.”
“Then what?”
“Candice said you would never believe me.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
He had spent six years believing Clara had died peacefully.
But she had been afraid.
She had known Candice.
She had hidden evidence.
And she had tried to protect him.
The police began searching for Candice.
But she had disappeared.
Richard Vincent had disappeared too.
The bank accounts connected to the widows had been emptied.
The company offices were abandoned.
Then Marcus discovered something.
Richard had recently transferred ownership of several properties.
To a company registered under Gabriel's name.
Gabriel stared at the paperwork.
“What?”
Marcus nodded.
“Someone used your identity.”
Gabriel looked at the transfer documents.
His signature appeared at the bottom.
But it wasn't his signature.
It was almost perfect.
Almost.
“Why would they put properties in my name?”
“To make you the criminal.”
Gabriel felt the truth settle around him.
Candice had been preparing.
If the investigation came, Gabriel would be blamed.
His name was attached to the money.
His signature was on the documents.
His wife was dead.
And the evidence pointed toward him.
He suddenly understood the folder.
The widows.
The money.
The identity theft.
Candice had not just been abusing Lucas.
She had been building a case against Gabriel.
That night, the police received a call.
Candice had been seen at an abandoned warehouse.
Gabriel went with Marcus.
Inside, they found boxes.
Documents.
Photographs.
Passports.
Dozens of identities.
Among them was one with Gabriel's photograph.
A passport under a different name.
And another photograph.
Clara.
Marcus opened a locked cabinet.
Inside was a small recorder.
He pressed play.
Richard's voice filled the room.
“Once Gabriel is blamed, the money is ours.”
Candice answered:
“And the boy?”
“Lucas?”
“He knows too much.”
Richard laughed.
“He's a child.”
Candice's voice became cold.
“Children remember.”
The recording ended.
Gabriel felt a wave of fury.
Then another voice came from the darkness.
“That's why I kept him alive.”
Everyone turned.
Richard Vincent stood at the end of the warehouse.
A gun was in his hand.
Beside him stood Candice.
And behind them was Thomas Reed.
Richard smiled.
“Gabriel Lawson.”
Gabriel stepped forward.
May you like
Richard pointed the weapon.
“You should have stayed on the road.”
