Page 9 of Never Let Me Go

I study her as I remember my apartment in Baton Rouge and my chest aches so fiercely that I almost cry out again. Oh, God, what I wouldn’t give to be back there… Nico is absolutely right. Nothing feels right here because Miami isn’t home but just the thought of Baton Rouge is enough to put me at ease.

“Well, should we get back to this?” I ask as I swallow back my desire to go home and pick up the folder again. “Tell me about Gavin.”

She smiles. “What do you want to know?”

“Did he really take me to Fiji on our first date?” I ask, remembering my conversation with him. Nico laughs.

“Oh, yeah, he did. The day after the charity event, you were floating in the dang clouds and so happy after spending the entire evening with him but when you got back from that trip, I could tell that you were pissed.”

“So how did he win me over?”

Shaking her head, she crosses her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes. “Showed up at the office every day with a new bouquet of flowers for you until you agreed to one more date.”

I resist the urge to purse my lips. From the outside, it doesn’t seem like something that would win me over but who knows how I really felt back then when I was really living it.

“Tell me I put up a good fight, at least?”

“Two weeks,” she answers with a laugh and I smile as I give myself a little nod of approval. “And even then, you only agreed to a lunch date. When you got back, everything was back on track between the two of you.”

I pick up the first paper on the right side of the folder, a newspaper clipping of our engagement announcement. It’s dated two months ago with a gorgeous picture of Gavin and me featured front and center.

“How did he propose?”

“Oh, he took you to one of the fanciest restaurants in town and dropped down on his knee in front of a full dining room of people.”

I fight the urge to scrunch my nose up. When I was a little girl, I always imagined I’d find a boy I loved and he’d take me somewhere romantic with just the two of us before asking me to marry him. It would have been private and intimate, not in a crowded restaurant with a room full of people looking on but that’s just one more thing that I can’t judge since I don’t remember a second of it. Before I can ask her anything else, someone knocks on the door and my head jerks up as two men in suits walk into the room.

“Miss Shaw?” the shorter one asks and I nod as they both stop at the end of my bed and flash shiny gold badges at me.

“I’m Detective Bennett,” the tall one says before motioning to the other man. “And this is my partner, Detective Mason. We’re here to ask you a few questions about the accident.”

I glance over at Nico before meeting Detective Bennett’s gaze. “I’m not sure I can help. I don’t remember anything.”

“A lot of folks think that, Ma’am,” Detective Mason answers. “But you might have seen something you didn’t even realize at the time.”

“No, you don’t understand…”

“Don’t you want to find the person responsible for killing your father?” Detective Bennett asks, cutting me off and I arch a brow as I cross my arms over my chest. “Think of all the other people he could hurt if you don’t tell us what you know.”

“Am I allowed to speak now?”

They both nod.

“As I was trying to say, I cannot help you because I don’t remember anything from the last five goddamn years of my life so yes, maybe I saw something but I can’t remember what it is.”

“You have amnesia? Seriously?”

“Yes, she has amnesia,” Nico snaps, standing up from her chair. “She woke up three days ago and didn’t recognize me or her fiancé but hey, here’s an idea, why don’t you two do your damn jobs and tell us what you know about the accident?”

They share a look before Detective Mason steps forward. “Please forgive us, Ma’am. We didn’t get a chance to speak to the doctor before we came in here and we didn’t realize that your memory is gone.”

“It’s fine,” I answer with a nod as Nico flashes me a look that I ignore. “Can you tell me what you know?”

“Honestly, Ma’am… not much. We were really counting on your account of what happened. We did find white paint on the driver’s side door but there were no witnesses and no surveillance cameras caught the accident.”

I nod, my mind racing with new information. “Where did it happen?”

“About a mile and a half from your father’s estate. The other driver ran a stop sign and t-boned your father’s car. He was behind the wheel and took the brunt of the impact.”