Chapter 6 - THE VIDEO THEY TRIED TO ERASE
The memory card contained twenty-seven short recordings.
Most showed ordinary activities.
Delaney choosing clothing.
Turning pages.
Building towers.
Writing words.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Every video contradicted the claim that she was almost entirely unable to participate in daily life.
Then we opened the final recording.
The image shook.
June had placed the camera on a shelf.
Delaney sat at a table.
A photograph of my father lay before her.
June spoke gently.
"Would you like to tell me something about that day?"
Delaney nodded.
She picked up a pencil.
Wrote slowly.
Then turned the paper toward the camera.
DAD WAS ANGRY.
June waited.
Delaney wrote again.
HE FOUND THE MONEY.
My pulse quickened.
June asked:
"Whose money?"
Delaney's hand trembled.
She wrote two initials.
V.H.
Victor Harlan.
Then she pointed toward a photograph of Graves.
Her breathing became uneven.
June stopped the activity.
"It's okay. We don't have to continue."
But Delaney shook her head.
She wrote one more sentence.
THEY SAID I MUST NOT REMEMBER.
The recording ended.
I sat motionless.
For fourteen months, Delaney had been trapped inside a story written by the people around her.
And June had given her a way to challenge it.
Amelia contacted the investigators.
The memory card was preserved and documented.
The independent medical team began reviewing Delaney's treatment history.
Rafael continued searching for June.
Then his phone rang.
He listened.
His face darkened.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We traced Victor's vehicle."
"Where?"
"An old property outside Lake Forest."
I stood.
"The conservatory?"
He nodded.
I reached for my coat.
Amelia stepped in front of me.
"Adrian."
"Move."
"Listen to me."
I stopped.
She looked directly into my eyes.
"If you go there with armed men, you could put June in greater danger and compromise the investigation."
I hated that she was right.
Every instinct demanded action.
But June had risked everything because she believed I might finally do the right thing.
I would not repay her by making the situation worse.
I called the investigators.
May you like
Then waited.
It was the hardest thing I had done in years.
