Read Online Dangerous Memories by Angi Morgan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Angi Morgan
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anything anymore.
The MarshalsService had kept its end of the bargain with her mother. WITSEC had protected them even though her mother had been the actual witness.
It didn’t matter. They had to catch the one person responsible for killing her parents. If they didn’t, she would never have a real life. Bottom line—she didn’t want to live like her father and she would never share that life with anyone she loved. Keepingthat secret or dragging someone into that situation wouldn’t be fair.
She moved, defeated, to the edge of the bed and there he was directly in front of her again.
“What do you remember?” He raised a finger to stop her protest. “Just talk to me. Don’t try. Start with why you think your family was in protective custody.”
“Dad testified against one of the men who murdered my mother.The guy was stabbed while in a federal penitentiary and died. But the Department of Justice was never able to connect his actions to the person my mom was supposed to testify against.”
“Accurate so far. What do you remember about the day of the murder?”
“Nothing much. Men arguing with my mother. I think she yelled at my dad.” The headache was worse. She needed aspirin. “It’s more impressionsthan words or actual memories.”
“That’s okay. You said you remembered hiding in your toy box. Why?”
“That’s where I thought they found me.” She didn’t like the look on his face. “You’ve given me that look before. The same one that says I’m on the right track, but the wrong train.”
“Let’s not talk about trains,” he said, rubbing his head and scratching around a small bandage.
“Are you hurt?”
“The bastard hit me over the head. Gave me six stitches.” He put his hand on her knee as he sat next to her, but quickly pulled it back when she jerked.
“Oh, my God.”
“I’m okay. Nothing serious. And I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Not that. I just remembered.” She faced him, finally excited she had something new to share. “It happened on the train, with all thesmoke and noise I couldn’t tell you.”
“Go ahead, don’t force it.”
“Close to the murder, I’m not certain what day it was, but I remember hurting my finger on the upstairs railing. For some reason, some of the nails— What are they, the little tiny ones?”
“Finishing nails.”
“That’s right.”
Levi watched as her words faded and she was taken back twenty years. He wanted to aska dozen questions, but knew to keep his mouth shut. Her words had to come at their own pace.
“I hurt my finger and went to my mother so she could fix it. I couldn’t help seeing that someone was in the kitchen with her. I think it was one of her clients and a secretary. They were all arguing. My mother looked really worried.”
The memories were coming back a lot faster than he’d anticipated.“Do you remember anything about the day? Was it sunny? Dark? Raining?”
“I remember a lot of rainbows.”
“There were crystals hanging in the window. They must have caught the light and shot prisms through the room. So it was during the afternoon.”
“How do you know about the crystals?”
“Photos from the scene. Layout of the house.”
“So that would explain the ‘rainbow man’from my dreams.”
A rainbow man? She’d been holding out on him a lot more than he’d thought.
“Can you picture him?”
She shook her head and flattened her lips. “No.”
In his experience, when witnesses were compelled to remember, they either filled in the gaps with wrong information or shut down. Changing the subject should get her relaxed without forcing the issue. “Why was yourmom worried?”
“I don’t know, but she was. She had the dish towel drying dishes. Dad said she only cleaned the kitchen when she was worried. She’d cleaned every day for a week. I didn’t think of that before.”
She smiled, obviously excited about her discovery. If only she knew how much she looked like the photo of her
The MarshalsService had kept its end of the bargain with her mother. WITSEC had protected them even though her mother had been the actual witness.
It didn’t matter. They had to catch the one person responsible for killing her parents. If they didn’t, she would never have a real life. Bottom line—she didn’t want to live like her father and she would never share that life with anyone she loved. Keepingthat secret or dragging someone into that situation wouldn’t be fair.
She moved, defeated, to the edge of the bed and there he was directly in front of her again.
“What do you remember?” He raised a finger to stop her protest. “Just talk to me. Don’t try. Start with why you think your family was in protective custody.”
“Dad testified against one of the men who murdered my mother.The guy was stabbed while in a federal penitentiary and died. But the Department of Justice was never able to connect his actions to the person my mom was supposed to testify against.”
“Accurate so far. What do you remember about the day of the murder?”
“Nothing much. Men arguing with my mother. I think she yelled at my dad.” The headache was worse. She needed aspirin. “It’s more impressionsthan words or actual memories.”
“That’s okay. You said you remembered hiding in your toy box. Why?”
“That’s where I thought they found me.” She didn’t like the look on his face. “You’ve given me that look before. The same one that says I’m on the right track, but the wrong train.”
“Let’s not talk about trains,” he said, rubbing his head and scratching around a small bandage.
“Are you hurt?”
“The bastard hit me over the head. Gave me six stitches.” He put his hand on her knee as he sat next to her, but quickly pulled it back when she jerked.
“Oh, my God.”
“I’m okay. Nothing serious. And I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Not that. I just remembered.” She faced him, finally excited she had something new to share. “It happened on the train, with all thesmoke and noise I couldn’t tell you.”
“Go ahead, don’t force it.”
“Close to the murder, I’m not certain what day it was, but I remember hurting my finger on the upstairs railing. For some reason, some of the nails— What are they, the little tiny ones?”
“Finishing nails.”
“That’s right.”
Levi watched as her words faded and she was taken back twenty years. He wanted to aska dozen questions, but knew to keep his mouth shut. Her words had to come at their own pace.
“I hurt my finger and went to my mother so she could fix it. I couldn’t help seeing that someone was in the kitchen with her. I think it was one of her clients and a secretary. They were all arguing. My mother looked really worried.”
The memories were coming back a lot faster than he’d anticipated.“Do you remember anything about the day? Was it sunny? Dark? Raining?”
“I remember a lot of rainbows.”
“There were crystals hanging in the window. They must have caught the light and shot prisms through the room. So it was during the afternoon.”
“How do you know about the crystals?”
“Photos from the scene. Layout of the house.”
“So that would explain the ‘rainbow man’from my dreams.”
A rainbow man? She’d been holding out on him a lot more than he’d thought.
“Can you picture him?”
She shook her head and flattened her lips. “No.”
In his experience, when witnesses were compelled to remember, they either filled in the gaps with wrong information or shut down. Changing the subject should get her relaxed without forcing the issue. “Why was yourmom worried?”
“I don’t know, but she was. She had the dish towel drying dishes. Dad said she only cleaned the kitchen when she was worried. She’d cleaned every day for a week. I didn’t think of that before.”
She smiled, obviously excited about her discovery. If only she knew how much she looked like the photo of her
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