Can't Remember to Forget You

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"Where is Cassie?" I had done a quick scan of the room the second I walked in and saw she wasn't out in the open. I looked over to the closet door.

"Smart boy." Holloway commented when he noticed me eyeing it. He walked to the closet and began to open it. "I had to be sure it was you at the door of course." He said opening it entirely.

Cassie was sitting on the floor with her hands behind her back and a cloth of some sort stuck in her mouth. Her eyes flew straight to mine as the door opened. I had expected to find her crying, or even looking upset, but she was just calmly sitting there.

That's my tough girl. Just be strong a little longer and this will all be over.

I try to give her a strong look in return to let her know it was all going to be ok, but seeing her in this situation at all was even more gut wrenching than I had prepped for. "Let her out of there." I said firmly to Holloway. "The gag is really unnecessary."

Cassie's eyes darted back and forth between Holloway and me. "That's true but like I said, I had to be sure it was you. I couldn't have her screaming for help if a maid had stopped by." He told me as he walked over to her and ripped the rag from her mouth.

She coughed a little and made a few faces trying to get some moister back to her mouth. "Are you alright Cassie?" I asked her without looking away from Holloway. "Did he hurt you at all?"

She swallowed back hard. "I'm fine." She forced out.

"See?" Holloway asked. "She is fine." He said. "I would never hurt an innocent girl you know." I hate stupid men like Holloway. He thinks he always has the upper hand in every situation. He loves to play with the emotions of his victims first, give them false hope. I see straight through his bullshit. "Too bad this girl isn't innocent." He finally adds. Predictable. "I need her to go away, and to do that, I need you to go away." He smiled to himself. "Nothing personal, you understand though. You know how the business works."

"What is this about? Who are you?" Cassie chimes in.

I hope to god he doesn't tell her.

"I guess your buddy Owen has made sure you stayed in the dark then." He replied. "That's good, the boss will be happy with you. Well, at least he would if I weren't going to kill you."

"I guess if I am going to die today then I deserve to at least know why. Don't you think?" Cassie asked Holloway. She is playing right into him. Why the hell does she have to be so fiery? She needs to just be quiet and wait for my moment.

"I suppose the lady does have a point there Owen." Holloway smirked. "You want to, or should I?" He asked me.

I want to look at my watch to check the time again but even the slightest hint could throw off everything.

"I guess that means me then. You can call me Holloway." He said. "What did Mr. Tracer here tell you about how you two know each other?" He asked Cassie.

My face flushed and my heart broke. She is about to find out the whole fucking truth. "He said that we had dated just before my accident." She told him.

He looked at me and smiled. "Ah." He replied. "Well that my darling, was a lie." He laughed smugly to himself. I wanted to look to Cassie, but taking my eyes off of him for even the slightest moment could be deadly. "Mr. Tracer was assigned to you."

"Assigned?" She repeated.

"Yes." He said. "You see, Owen and I are in business together." He continued. "My nephew, Donovan, also was in business with us. Donovan was your real boyfriend. Donovan was also Mr. Tracer's roommate. That would be how he knew you. According to all of my own sources, Owen here actually kind of hated your whore guts."

"Shut the fuck up right now." I demanded.

Holloway only smiled. "Oh no, she was right." He laughed. "She does deserve to know exactly what she is dying for."

"Tell me." Cassie cut back in.

"Anyway," He went back to talking to Cassie. "You, for some unknown reason, accompanied my nephew Donovan to a deal and it went south. Your boyfriend was murdered, and you were beaten just shy of the same fate." He paused only for a moment. "When the boss man heard you lived, he sent good ole trusty Owen to feel you out on what you knew. He was supposed to kill you, not keep you as a pet, but who am I to judge. You are a beautiful girl." He smiled at her. "Anyway, skip to the end, Owen told a lie. He informed the boss that there was zero chance of you recovering your memory and that there was no danger from keeping you alive. Well, I did some digging and found that you are absolutely capable of remembering things, and that just won't due. We can't afford to have you out wondering around as a liability. I know you'll say over and over, 'I'd never tell', but in truth you would. Then I, and a whole bunch of others, including Owen would be in prison. That's no fun, so you've got to go."

My throat was dry as he finished talking. I had wanted to keep this all from her, I never wanted her knowing what the real circumstances were that brought the two of us together. How will she ever be able to love a guy like me now? Knowing all of this, she will never want to see me again.

"What business? What deal?" She questioned him. Yeah, go ahead and learn everything. Just fucking kill me while you're at it. I will never have Cassie after this.

"Oh, right." He smiled to her. "Guns."

"Guns?" She asked.

"Yes, darling." He responded. "People need guns, we sell them to them."

"When you say people?" She inquired.

"Other crews mostly." He said disinterested. "You know, gangs, cartels, we trade out sometimes with other organizations like our own. It's a very lucrative business, it's also very illegal. So you see, that's why I have to kill you both. We can't have our secrets getting out."

While he was distracted with her I quickly checked the time.

Yes, a few more seconds.

"That's not why you want me dead." Cassie's voice was smug.

What the fuck is she doing?

"Oh really?" He asked looking extremely agitated.

"You're not worried about everyone else's secret." She told him. "Only your own."

I dropped my jaw and Holloway raised his gun to her, anger rippling through his face.