"Mr. Zimmerman..."


    "Get in the car," Vince cut him off coldly.


    Hollis quickly scrambled into the car with Vince, who drove him to a nearby cafe.


    After they sat down, Vince produced a credit card and held it between his fingers. "There''s a million dors on this card. I''m going to ask you some questions, and you will answer them truthfully. Don''t even think about lying; I will verify everything you say."


    "Don''t worry, I''ll tell you everything I know. Everything."


    Vince toyed with the card in his hand. “First question: how did my sister end up with your family?"


    "My mother-inw found her on the street. I told you thatst time."


    "Where did she find her? And when she found her, did she already have amnesia?"


    Hollis exined, "I don''t know the specifics. My biological daughter had just died from an illness, and my wife had a mental breakdown. Not long after, my mother-in-w came back with Jessica, telling my wife it was her daughter. My wife was so confused she couldn''t tell the difference. But having a child around helped, and she slowly got better. She was very good to Jessica. Then one day, during an argument, I let it slip that Jessica wasn''t ours. Her mental state deteriorated again, and... one day, she jumped from a building."


    "Are you absolutely sure you don''t know where her grandmother brought her from? If she wasn''t your biological child, why did none of your neighbors know?"


    "We lived in the city and rarely went back to our hometown," Hollis continued. "Kids look different when they''re little. If we didn''t say anything, how would anyone know she wasn''t ours? As for where she came from, I honestly have no idea."


    Hollis was proving to be a dead end. With the adoptive grandmother gone, there was no way to find out more. After the adoptive mother died and the adoptive father ran off, the grandmother had raised her with great care, even working tirelessly to pay for treatment after she lost her ability to speak. She had treated Jessica like her own flesh and blood, so it seemed unlikely she had been abducted.


    Vince handed the card to Hollis. "From this day forward, my sister has nothing to do with you. And as of today, the person known as Jessica no longer exists."


    "I understand, I understand," Hollis said, his eyes glued to the money. That was all that mattered to him.


    Vince turned and left.


    He hadn''t nned on digging into the past. Since Jessica had forgotten those memories, they


    were likely painful. Now that sh


    was home, there was no reason to dwell on it. But, hearing her call o for Timothy in her sleep made him think she might be starting to remember, and he wanted to be


    prepared. Since Hollis knew nothing, he''d have to wait for Jessica''s


    memories to return on their own.


    Vince frowned, a sense of foreboding settling over him. He


    shook it off. For now, the most


    urgent matter was finding a way to curè Jessica.


    Timothy remained unconscious for a week. By the time he opened his eyes, Henry


    had already been out of surgery for a day.


    Sallie, seeing him awake, burst into tears of relief. "Timothy, you have no idea how much you scared me."


    When she had rushed to the hospital


    and found him unconscious, her heart had nearly stopped. He had just been discharged from his own surgery, and she had been terrified he wouldn''t wake up.


    "Timothy, what happened that day?"


    He just stared at Sallie without saying a word.


    "Timothy?"


    He closed his eyes.


    "Timothy..."


    But he remained unresponsive.