Help Me Remember (Rose Canyon, #1)(69)

“Good, Brie, can you see anything else?”

The scene shifts again, and I’m reliving last night. “It’s different . . . this is last night,” I say.

“Paint me the scene.”

“Spencer on top of me, reaching for the condom in the drawer.”

Again, everything changes, and I’m back at the parking lot. This time we’re past the yelling. “He has a gun! Isaac! Please!” I yell, the panic causing my heart to beat so hard it must be bruising my chest. “Don’t! No!”

“You’re okay, sweetheart, no one is here. Just tell me what you see,” Spencer says, his hands on my shoulders. “What do you see?”

“He’s pointing the gun at me, but Isaac is trying to get to me from the driver’s side. I tell him to stay there. I know I can handle it. I have to handle it.” I look harder, wanting to see who it is. I know him. “His voice . . . I’ve heard it before.”

“How does it sound?” Dr. Girardo asks.

“Angry. He’s very angry. He’s saying I have no right.” Then Isaac is trying to move toward me again. “He’s yelling at Isaac to stay back.”

The man moves the pistol from me to Isaac. He tells Isaac to stay where he is or he’ll kill me. He’s louder now.

“Can you describe his voice?” Dr. Girardo asks.

“It’s low. I know it. I’ve spoken to him many times.”

Dr. Girardo speaks again. “Stay in the scene, Brielle. You’re doing great. Take three deep breaths and describe what happens next.”

I do as he says, letting my breathing calm me. Only when I try to go back, everything is gone. There’s nothing. No sounds. No voices. Just darkness.

Suddenly, I’m being shaken. “Brielle! Wake up! Damn it, not again! Wake up!”

I open my eyes, and Spencer is there, his breathing is rapid and the panic in his eyes is clear. “What happened?”

He lets out a deep breath and clutches me to his chest. “Jesus Christ. I was . . . fuck. You’re okay.”

I push away from him, feeling embarrassed. “I’m fine. What happened?”

Dr. Girardo clears his throat. “You passed out. You were very difficult to wake.”

“Oh.” I don’t remember anything other than the memories being gone. “It all disappeared,” I explain.

He nods. “Your brain is still healing from the trauma of your injury. We may have pushed you a little too far.”

“No, I needed this. I know . . . I know his voice, and I heard it not too long ago.” I turn to Spencer. “We did.”

He glances between me and the doctor. “Who?”

My voice quivers. “Jax.”





Chapter Twenty-Four





SPENCER





I’m standing in the shower, water streaming down my face as I try to reconcile everything she said.

Jax.

The voice she heard before her brother was killed is Jax.

Dr. Girardo pulled me aside before we left and explained that this doesn’t mean he’s the killer. That her memory can be splicing, which we already know it has done a few times.

Like when she remembered us making love and together in her apartment mingled with another memory as though she meshed two together.

But still, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to look deeper into this.

I tilt my head back one more time, hoping the water will wash away the anger before I go back to Brie. When it doesn’t, I give up and head there anyway.

Once dressed, I go out into the living room and find her sitting on the floor with all the papers from our investigation laid out around her.

“What are you looking for?”

Brie jumps at my voice and then smiles. “The answer is in this.”

“The bank statements?”

She nods. “I remembered Jax. When we met at the party, for some reason, he felt important. So, I figure that I felt that way for one of two reasons.”

“And they would be?” I ask, already able to guess what she’s going to say.

“He’s the mystery ring guy and the killer.”

Well, she’s wrong on at least one of those.

“So why the bank statements?” I ask, crouching beside her.

“You said we have to start at the beginning. Maybe the beginning is my job. I only remembered up until I got hired at the youth center. I met Jax there, started dating him, and found out about whatever is illegal. I must’ve had files of it in my office. He knew the ring was the key, so he looked for it, but I had it at home. It all fits. He’s the killer and I am going to find the answers in here. Jax is involved, now I have to prove it.”

I want to grab her by the shoulders and tell her how wrong she is, to confess that I’m who she’s in love with. Jax doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her, and God fucking help him if he is who hurt her and killed Isaac. There won’t be a rock big enough for that man to hide under.

I clench my jaw and count to five before I can reply. “What did you find in the statements?”

There’s nothing there. I know this because I have poured over them. I’ve searched through it all, tried to trace the money back, and it’s all dead ends. Even Mark had one of his tech guys look into the wire transfers, but they didn’t find anything suspicious. They’re doing a different dig, but whoever is behind this is very good at covering their tracks. We at least know that nothing leads to Jax, but I still sent them everything from today before I jumped in the shower.