Chapter 7 - I spent the next twenty-four hours trying to separate memory from manipulation.It wasn't easy.

Memory is supposed to belong to you.

Mine no longer did.

I started making lists.

What I knew.

What I believed.

What I had been told.

And what I could prove.

The only thing I trusted was evidence.

The cabin became our temporary base.

Gwen and I barely spoke.

Not because I hated her.

Because I didn't know what was real.

At noon, we heard a car approaching.

I took position behind the window.

Marcus stepped out.

I almost pulled the trigger.

He raised both hands.

“David.”

“Stay where you are.”

He stopped.

“You found the cabin.”

“How did you know where it was?”

“Your father told me.”

I frowned.

“My father died twenty years ago.”

Marcus nodded.

“I know.”

He looked exhausted.

“I was there when he died.”

I opened the door but kept my distance.

“Start talking.”

Marcus entered.

Gwen stayed behind me.

Marcus looked at her.

“You remember me?”

Gwen shook her head.

“I remember the room.”

Marcus closed his eyes.

“That room saved both your lives.”

I almost laughed.

“You expect me to believe that?”

“No.”

He pulled out a file.

“I expect you to read.”

The file contained Blackridge communications.

My mother's name appeared everywhere.

Payments.

Meetings.

Authorization codes.

But Marcus explained something I hadn't expected.

“Your mother was originally working against them.”

I stared.

“What?”

“She discovered Blackridge was using soldiers in an experimental memory program.”

“Then why did she join them?”

“Because they threatened Paige.”

I froze.

“Your sister was sick as a child.”

I knew that.

Asthma.

At least that's what I had been told.

Marcus continued.

“They offered experimental treatment.”

“And?”

“It worked.”

He looked at Gwen.

“But there was a cost.”

“What cost?”

“The treatment required neurological monitoring.”

I felt a chill.

“That's when they got access to your family.”

Marcus nodded.

“Blackridge didn't just treat Paige.”

“They studied all of you.”

My stomach turned.

“What about me?”

“You were the most valuable.”

“Why?”

“Because you had an unusual resistance to the memory procedure.”

“What procedure?”

Marcus hesitated.

“Your first deployment wasn't your first exposure to combat.”

I stared at him.

“What are you saying?”

“You were sent overseas after Blackridge approved you.”

“Approved me for what?”

“Field testing.”

Gwen stepped forward.

“No.”

Marcus nodded.

“Yes.”

“You're lying,” she whispered.

“I wish I were.”

He placed another photograph on the table.

It showed me standing beside Dr. Cross.

I didn't remember him.

But there was something familiar.

The scar on my left eyebrow.

The shirt I was wearing.

The scar on my arm.

All real.

All mine.

The photograph was dated seven years ago.

Before I joined the military.

“How did I meet him?”

Marcus said:

“You don't remember because the procedure worked.”

My knees felt weak.

I sat down.

“What did they erase?”

Marcus looked at me.

“Everything about the program.”

“Why bring me home now?”

“Because Blackridge is collapsing.”

“What does that mean?”

“They've been exposed in another country.”

“They're destroying records.”

I looked at Gwen.

“And they need us.”

Marcus nodded.

“They need the last living subjects.”

I felt something inside me snap into focus.

“This isn't about my money.”

“No.”

“My money is a cover.”

“Exactly.”

“So what do they actually want?”

Marcus's expression changed.

“You.”

Silence.

“The money was used to keep the operation alive,” he continued. “Your mother wasn't laundering it for herself.”

I thought of the houses.

The cars.

The jewelry.

“You're telling me all that money went to Blackridge?”

“Some.”

“Where did the rest go?”

Marcus looked away.

“Your mother's expenses were enormous.”

I almost smiled.

“So she stole from me.”

“She justified it as survival.”

“That isn't an excuse.”

“No.”

Gwen suddenly spoke.

“Where is Paige?”

Marcus turned.

“I don't know.”

“She contacted David.”

Marcus looked confused.

“Paige?”

“She was in the plant.”

“You went there?”

“Yes.”

Marcus cursed under his breath.

“What?”

“That wasn't a Blackridge facility.”

I stared.

“Then what was it?”

“A decoy.”

The pieces rearranged themselves.

Paige had been testing me.

She had wanted to know whether I'd follow.

But why?

Unless she was working with someone.

Marcus looked at me.

“There's one thing you need to know.”

“What?”

“Your mother didn't tell Blackridge you were home.”

“Then who did?”

Marcus looked toward the window.

A black SUV had stopped outside the cabin.

He whispered:

“Paige.”

The cabin door exploded inward.

Gunfire tore through the room.

Gwen screamed.

Marcus pushed her down.

I returned fire.

The SUV roared away.

When the smoke cleared, Marcus was bleeding.

And Paige stood outside.

Holding a gun.

She shouted:

“David! Don't shoot!”

I aimed at her.

“You have ten seconds to explain.”

She lowered the weapon.

Then said:

“Because Mom is not the one who wants you dead.”

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She looked at Gwen.

“It's her.”