Chapter 10 - THE KILLER IN THE MEMORYVictor carried Tessa into the study when she collapsed.
Maria followed.
The doctor arrived.
After examining Tessa, he said she was physically fine.
“Then why did she faint?”
“She remembered something traumatic.”
Victor stared at him.
“Can memories kill someone?”
“No.”
“Could they make her stop breathing?”
The doctor hesitated.
“For several seconds, yes.”
Victor dismissed him.
Maria remained.
“She'll remember again.”
Victor looked at her.
“What did she mean?”
“You heard her.”
“I heard half a sentence.”
“She needs time.”
“We don't have time.”
Maria's expression hardened.
“Neither did our father.”
Victor flinched.
“Our father.”
He looked toward the window.
“I never called him that.”
“You're going to.”
Tessa stirred.
Victor immediately moved toward her.
Her eyes opened.
She looked at him.
Then whispered:
“Don't trust Paulie.”
Victor froze.
Maria turned.
“What?”
Tessa sat up.
“I remembered more.”
Victor's face hardened.
“What did you see?”
“My father was arguing with someone.”
“Who?”
“I couldn't see his face.”
“What happened?”
“He gave him something.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Victor stopped.
“Which ledger?”
“The black one.”
Maria's face went pale.
“There were two ledgers.”
Victor looked at her.
“The second ledger contained everything Massimo had done.”
Tessa nodded.
“My father said he would expose him.”
Victor's expression darkened.
“Then what?”
“A gunshot.”
“Who fired?”
“I couldn't see.”
“What happened after?”
Tessa closed her eyes.
“A man entered.”
Victor waited.
“He told my father that he was sorry.”
Her breathing quickened.
“He said…”
“What?”
Tessa opened her eyes.
“He said, ‘You should never have trusted your wife.’”
Victor froze.
“His wife?”
“My mother?”
“No.”
Victor whispered:
“My father's wife.”
Tessa stared.
“Your mother.”
Victor's face went rigid.
“No.”
Maria shook her head.
“She wasn't involved.”
Tessa suddenly grabbed Victor's wrist.
“I saw her.”
“My mother?”
“No.”
She looked at Victor.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Victor's mother had died six years after his father.
A heart attack.
An honored widow.
Beloved by the Romano family.
The woman Victor had defended his entire life.
Tessa whispered:
“She was there.”
Victor stepped back.
“That's impossible.”
“She had the gun.”
Maria covered her mouth.
Victor's world seemed to fracture.
“My mother killed my father?”
Tessa shook her head.
“No.”
“What then?”
“She was trying to stop him.”
Victor stared.
Tessa's voice trembled.
“She shot the other man.”
“What other man?”
“The one who betrayed him.”
Victor's pulse hammered.
“Who was he?”
Tessa opened her mouth.
Before she could speak, the study doors burst open.
A guard shouted:
“Boss!”
Victor turned.
“What?”
The guard was pale.
“Paulie is gone.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“He was unconscious.”
“He disappeared from the infirmary.”
Victor stared.
“Find him.”
The guard hesitated.
“We found this beside his bed.”
A knife was placed on the desk.
Blood stained the blade.
Beside it was a note.
Victor unfolded it.
Three words.
SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING.
Victor looked at Tessa.
Then the lights went out again.
A voice came through the hidden speakers inside the study.
Paulie's voice.
“You should have listened to your father.”
Victor reached for his gun.
Paulie laughed.
Then said:
“Because I was the one who killed him.”
The recording ended.
Victor stood motionless.
Tessa whispered:
“No.”
Maria looked toward the walls.
Victor's face became terrifyingly calm.
“Paulie betrayed my father.”
He raised his gun.
“And he's been beside me for fifteen years.”
Then the emergency phone rang.
Victor answered.
Paulie spoke.
“You have one hour.”
“One hour for what?”
“To choose.”
Paulie laughed.
“Your sister…”
A pause.
“Or the woman who gave birth to her.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“My mother is dead.”
Paulie's voice softened.
“No.”
“She died six years ago.”
“No, Victor.”
May you like
A pause.
“Your mother never died.”
