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Blaise ravels a strand of my hair around his finger. “No. Not that I know of. Why?”
“Because I had this weird memory while I was at Austin’s house, and I swear I heard your voice in it, but it was from a long time ago.”
“What was the memory of?”
“I’m not sure. It was really foggy.” When puzzlement takes over his face, I add, “There was this time in my life when I suffered from amnesia. And up until a couple of days ago, I haven’t been able to remember anything. But over the last few hours, bits and pieces have been coming back to me, but they’re mostly just voices and blurry images.”
“That’s weird,” he mumbles, staring into my eyes.
“I know.” I sigh. “Maybe I’m just being weird.”
“No, it’s not weird because of that.” He trades a quick look with Rhyland before looking back at me. “It’s weird because last night Rhyland and I were talking about how you look familiar.”
An unsteady exhale flees from my lips. “But you don’t know why?”
He gradually shakes his head. “What caused your amnesia?”
I shrug, staring at the window, unable to look at him and risk himreallyseeing me. “My dad said it was because my mom died, but lately I’ve been wondering if it might be because I was kidnapped and my dad’s just trying to cover up the fact so I won’t remember.”
“Kidnapped?” he says in shock. “You think your dad would lie to you about that?
Sighing, I slant back to look at him. “I know it sounds bad, but my dad did beat my ass and then leave me to deal with a bunch of mobsters on his behalf.”
“Is that what you think they are?” he questions curiously. “Mobsters?”
I shrug. “They sure seem like it.”
He drags his tongue piercing along his teeth, deeply considering something. “What time did this happen? I mean, when do you think you were kidnapped?”
“About eight years ago, in the month of June.” My pulse pounds against his fingertips as he continues to hold onto my wrists. “Do you… Do you think that maybe your dad kidnapped me? And while he held me hostage, we talked?” It sounds so crazy saying it aloud, but at this point, I don’t have any other theories.
“No. There’s no way,” Rhyland denies from behind us, shaking his head and looking at Blaise for help.
Blaise just helplessly shrugs. “I wouldn’t put it past Dad to do something like that,” he says. “And from what I understand, Mel’s debt to Dad has existed for a long time.”
“So you think he did it?” Panic courses through my veins. “You think your dad kidnapped me?”
Blaise pales. “I honestly don’t know, Hadley. I can’t remember my dad holding a little girl hostage, but it was also around the same time my mom died and all these people flew in for her funeral. There were a lot of kids around and he could have easily said you were my cousin or something.”
I smash my lips together until my jaw aches while searching his eyes, trying to find the truth. From what I can tell, his confusion mirrors mine. I want to get up and leave, but at the same time, I don’t want to be alone.
What is wrong with me? Did today break me?
“Hey.” Blaise lets go of my wrists and cups my cheek. “I promise we’ll figure this out. I can talk to some of the people who work for my dad and see if they know anything, okay?” He waits for me to nod before continuing, “And I can also ask if they have an idea of where Mel may have hid these bags. I’m sure my father has someone keeping tabs on him.”
“If that’s true, then how did he escape Honeyton undetected?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say he escaped.”
“You think he’s still here?”
“Maybe.” A drop of relief starts to drip through me, but then he says, “There’s something else I need to tell you. Some bad news about your sisters.”
My drop of relief evaporates. “Are they okay?”
He nods. “But Darla wasn’t able to get you an early visit.”
I swallow down the lump welling in my throat. “Did she say why?”
