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Chapter Twelve
Sheridan didn't quite know how to begin. What she had to say
was so confusing, she wasn't sure if she could tell it to Luis without totally confusing him too. Maybe she should
wait until she knew for sure. No, she thought giving herself a mental shake, she had to tell Luis now. "Luis,
what I have to tell you is... well, it may change things between us."
Luis raised a brow at her. "I can't imagine anything you have to say will change the way I feel about you."
Sheridan groaned inwardly. He wouldn't feel that way once he knew. "When Julian grabbed my hand at the cottage,
it reminded me of something from my childhood. Something so painful that I... that I blocked it out. "
Luis squeezed her hand. "It's okay. Just take your time."
"Luis, do you remember that night I got locked in the magician's box?"
"Yeah, you were so upset. You kept saying you didn't mean to do it. Is that what this is about? You remember
what you did?"
Sheridan shook her head. "It's not that simple. I'm not sure I did anything. I remember saying that, but...
god this is so hard to say."
"Luis, when I was about six I was made to believe I killed a man."
"What?!"
"I didn't kill him," She said rushing on before Luis could say anything else. "but I know who did.
At least I think I know. I... I was sleeping upstairs in the mansion and something woke me. I heard arguing, one
of them was my brother Julian and the other was a man whose voice I didn't recognize. I went downstairs to see
what was going on and as I reached the bottom of the stairs one of the maids came out only half dressed. I think
she and Julian had been... well you know. The man must have been her husband. He was angry, he was so angry."
"Julian was holding a gun on the man. They argued back and forth for a few more minutes and then the man lunged
at Julian. The next thing I remember is hearing a loud sound like a firecracker and watching as the man fell to
the floor. I screamed and that's when Julian saw me. He started toward me and I ran. I was so scared that I ran
from him. I was running so hard that I tripped and hit my head. When I woke up I was... I was holding a bloody
letter opener with my father was standing over me and... And lying next to me was a body covered with a white sheet."
"But I don't understand." Luis said rubbing her hand. "What made you think you killed a man?"
"Julian, he... he told father that he saw me stab the man with a letter opener. He was so detailed in his
account that I must have visioned it in my head. I was so scared and then father asked me what I had done. I just
kept saying over and over again that I didn't mean to do it. But you see, I didn't do anything. Julian did and
he led me to believe that I did it. I was so upset that they called the doctor to come and sedate me. When I woke
up I wasn't in Harmony anymore. I was in Paris... in a mental institution."
"Son of a-" Luis broke off abruptly and let go of her hand. Then he stood and started pacing the room.
"Julian made you believe that you had killed a man? Then had you institutionalized so you couldn't tell anyone?
The bastard."
"Luis, theres... there's more."
"More? Good god, what else did they do to you?"
Sheridan took a deep breath. "It's not what they did to me. It's what they did to you and to... Luis, all
this happened the night your father disappeared."
"You're not saying-"
"No!" Sheridan interrupted before he could finish the question. "No, the man under the sheet was
not your father. I had seen another man arguing with my father earlier. I'd seen him before... with Pilar. The
man I saw was yelling at my father. He kept saying he knew what he did, he knew and he was going to make sure everyone
else knew too. I have no idea what he was talking about, but my father must have. Because the next thing I knew
my father hit the man over the head with something, I have no idea what it was. I just remember seeing the man
fall to the floor. I watched as my father and Julian tied him up and carried him out the front door. That's when
Ivy caught me."
"I was supposed to be in bed because Ethan and I were going to the park the next day. She made me go to bed
and... and I never saw that man again. But then the next day I was in Paris in the institution."
Luis didn't say anything. He was just standing there looking at her. She wished he would say something. "Luis?
Luis, please say something."
Luis just shook his head and without looking at her walked out of the room. Sheridan wondered if he would come
back. She wouldn't blame him if he didn't. After all, if the man she saw arguing with her father was Martin Fitzgerald...
well, then she had just given Luis the proof he needed - the proof that her family had been responsible for his
father's disappearance.
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