Chapter 13 - The MemorySadie woke in a hospital.
Her first thought was Callum.
Her second was the key.
Her third was fear.
A doctor stood beside the bed.
“You had a mild concussion.”
“How long?”
“Six hours.”
“Where is Callum?”
The doctor hesitated.
“I don't know who that is.”
Sadie sat upright.
“That is not possible.”
Her phone was gone.
Her clothes had been changed.
A locked window.
A security guard outside.
She looked at the doctor.
“Who brought me here?”
He smiled.
“Your father.”
Sadie froze.
Marcus entered.
No weapon.
No panic.
Only patience.
“You look better.”
“Where is Callum?”
“Alive.”
“Is he hurt?”
“Yes.”
“How badly?”
Marcus pulled a chair beside the bed.
“You really love him.”
Sadie stared.
“That has nothing to do with you.”
“It has everything to do with me.”
He placed a photograph on the bed.
Callum tied to a chair.
Blood on his face.
Sadie looked away.
“What do you want?”
“The key.”
“I don't have it.”
Marcus smiled.
“You swallowed it twenty years ago.”
“I was seven.”
“Exactly.”
“What was it?”
“A memory.”
Sadie shook her head.
“No.”
“Your mother had a scientist implant information into your subconscious.”
“That is insane.”
“It is criminal.”
“Why?”
“To keep the final ledger hidden.”
Sadie looked at the photograph of herself.
“What information?”
“The name of Aurelia's successor.”
“And that is me.”
“No.”
Marcus leaned closer.
“You are the lock.”
Sadie stared.
“The successor is someone else.”
“Who?”
Marcus smiled.
“Your sister.”
Sadie stopped breathing.
“Emma is dead.”
Marcus's face became blank.
“Yes.”
“Then…”
“She left instructions.”
He stood.
“Your memory is the key.”
He left the room.
Sadie stared at the photograph.
Then she noticed something.
A tiny mark on Callum's wrist.
She recognized it.
A triangle.
Emma used to draw it in her notebooks.
Three connected lines.
Sadie closed her eyes.
Memory.
A beach.
Emma laughing.
A box.
Her father.
A woman.
A silver ring.
The woman whispered:
“When you forget, find the triangle.”
Sadie opened her eyes.
She remembered.
The triangle was not a symbol.
It was a map.
She tore the hospital bracelet from her wrist.
Underneath was a tiny printed serial number.
Numbers and letters.
She whispered:
“317.”
The same room.
The Continental.
She understood.
Callum had once said the hotel was where he had stayed with Emma.
The key was never inside her.
It was hidden through a memory.
A route.
A code.
She climbed from the bed.
The doctor entered.
“Where are you going?”
Sadie smiled.
“Home.”
He grabbed her.
She struck him with the metal tray.
He collapsed.
She ran.
Down the hallway.
Through an emergency exit.
Outside, rain fell.
A black car waited.
Its door opened.
Callum stepped out.
Bruised.
Bleeding.
Alive.
Sadie stared.
“How?”
He smiled.
“Marcus made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He left me alive.”
Sadie ran to him.
He caught her.
For one second, everything else vanished.
Then Callum whispered:
“Did you remember?”
She nodded.
“The key.”
“What is it?”
Sadie looked into his eyes.
“The triangle.”
Callum froze.
“Emma's symbol?”
“Yes.”
She pulled the hospital bracelet from her pocket.
“Room 317.”
Callum understood.
“It was never a room.”
“What?”
“It was a date.”
“October 31?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at the numbers.
“March 17.”
Sadie frowned.
Then realized.
“Your birthday.”
Callum went still.
“What?”
“The person who hid the final ledger…”
She stared at him.
“…was not protecting Emma.”
A car screeched around the corner.
Callum reached for his gun.
May you like
Sadie finished the sentence.
“Emma was protecting you.”
