Chapter 9 - The Woman at BlackwaterI stared at the photograph until the woman’s face blurred.
“That's not me.”
Logan didn't respond.
“Tell me that's not me.”
“I can't.”
I threw the photograph against the wall.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I was.”
“Who was she?”
“Eli's mother.”
My stomach turned.
“Why would I kill her?”
“You didn't know what Helix had done to you.”
“What did they do?”
“They convinced you she was a Warden.”
“So I killed her?”
Logan nodded.
“I arrived too late.”
I stepped backward.
“You watched me?”
“I watched the memory implantation.”
“What memory?”
“That you killed her.”
I stared.
“You said the photograph was real.”
“The photograph is real.”
“Then what is false?”
“The story.”
Logan walked toward me.
“You didn't shoot her.”
“Then who did?”
He looked at me.
“Marcus.”
Everything went silent.
“My partner?”
“He was there.”
“No.”
“Marcus was working undercover.”
“He saved me.”
“He was trying to.”
A gunshot echoed from the tunnel entrance.
Logan pulled me down.
“We have to move.”
But I couldn't.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you weren't ready.”
“You've lied to me for eight years.”
“Because every time I told you the truth, someone died.”
Another shot.
Logan grabbed me.
We ran.
At the tunnel exit, a black SUV waited.
Marcus stepped out.
Gun raised.
“Colin!”
Logan pushed me behind him.
Marcus stared at my brother.
“Put the weapon down.”
“You first.”
Marcus's eyes shifted to me.
“You need to trust me.”
I almost laughed.
“That's getting harder by the minute.”
Marcus lowered his weapon.
“I know who killed Eli's mother.”
“Who?”
He looked at Logan.
“You.”
Logan's face went cold.
Marcus continued.
“You killed her after she tried to expose the Wardens.”
Logan raised his gun.
Marcus shouted:
“Ask him about the child!”
Logan froze.
“What child?”
Marcus looked at me.
“She wasn't Eli's mother.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She was the surrogate.”
“For who?”
Marcus pulled out a DNA report.
The paper shook in his hand.
“Eli isn't Logan's biological son.”
Logan stared at the document.
“No.”
Marcus looked at me.
“Eli is yours.”
I couldn't move.
The rain hammered the pavement.
Logan slowly lowered his gun.
He looked at me.
Then at the photograph of Eli.
His voice was barely audible.
“They lied to both of us.”
Suddenly the SUV exploded behind us.
Flames swallowed the vehicle.
Marcus fell.
Logan grabbed me.
And through the smoke, a voice called out:
“Welcome back, Colin.”
I knew that voice.
I had heard it before.
May you like
Inside my own memories.
Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
