Page 57 of Storm Warning

“Looks like you dropped something.”

He rushed forward to see what she’d found. “That’s just ... it’s a picture of me with Cole.” He might have set it on one of the bookshelves and forgotten about it. One of them must have knocked it off somehow.

Seeing them together, arms over shoulders, smiling, tore him up inside. Grief engulfed him. He snatched it away.

“Hey.” She scowled at him. “Wait a minute.”

Remi closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. “I remember...”

“What? What do you remember?”

She opened her eyes to look at him long and hard. The way she looked at him, he instinctively knew to brace himself.

“Your brother was there.”

“What? Where?” She couldn’t mean what he thought she meant.

“The details are fuzzy. He was an important part of a special forces team.”

He stumbled forward. “Remi...” He couldn’t exactly tell her he didn’t believe her. It was more that he didn’twantto believe. “You told me that memories could be wrong. How do you know this is true? You didn’t know my brother or remember him before. Maybe it’s like you told me, your brain fixed the empty space, filled in the gaps and put Cole there.”

Remi’s mouth hung open, and he wanted to kick himself. He shouldn’t be surprised that Cole was deeply connected to her. He needed to sit down. Think about this.

His head was hurting again. Wow. Had he just said that to her? He lifted his hands, palms up. “I’m sorry.”

The microwave dinged. He should have been relieved at the interruption. He wanted to say more, but he had no idea where to go with this. He pulled the nuggets out and put a few on a separate plate for her. Grabbed a couple of bottles of water and then sat with her on the sofa and set the food on the coffee table.

Her actions were robotic, controlled. “I know you don’t want it to be him,” she said.

“You’re right, I don’t.” What did it matter? Cole was an assassin now. No longer hungry, he stared at the nuggets.

“And I can’t say for sure that the memory is correct, but you have to admit it kind of makes sense.”

“That your brain would fill in his face, put him on the helicopter?” She’d mentioned it before when he’d described his brother, but he hadn’t actually thought it could be him.

“Not what I was going to say, but that makes sense too. I guess we don’t know anything more if I can’t even trust my memories.”

He chewed the chicken nugget but couldn’t taste a thing. Then he sat back against the sofa and guzzled the water.

Finally, he said, “Let’s hope that you remember it all—I’m talking everything—over the next few hours. Like a floodgate has been opened. And I want you to tell me everything. It could mean the difference between life and death.”

“I think you’re right—that I’m about to remember it all—and that’s what scares me. Dr. Holcomb told me that someone wants what’s in my head. She could be lying. Or she could have been lied to.”

“Sometimes lies aren’t lies but someone’s perception. They simply have a different perspective of the events that occurred.”

“Or they remember things differently.”

He leaned forward and clasped his hands. “Like a soldier who lost a limb. His brain keeps telling him the limb is still there, and he feels the pain of it.”

“Or sometimes it’s intentional. In the Army, I worked to create a certain image about the military. In other words, my photographs worked to shape the narrative so that it was favorable. Someone could be shaping the narrative for us.” She rubbed her forehead. “How do we find out what’s real and what’s true, Hawk?”

“We stick to the plan. Go see John and find out what he knows.”

“Because, like you said, he sent you to Cedar Trails. Tomorrow, Hawk, we could have answers.” She leaned back and drank her water.

“Exactly. I’m counting on it.”

Remi rubbed her eyes, then rolled her head to look at him. “I want to know more aboutyou, Hawk. You and Cole both, and why did you get fired?”

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