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Epilogue
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2024-10-29 19:42:56New Year’s Eve . . .
When Alec had informed his parents of their status change to Grandma and Grandpa over the phone a few days ago they had been overjoyed. His mother had admitted that she had found Keisha special when she met her in Orlando all those months ago, but she couldn’t pinpoint why at the time. They were so eager to spend time with Keisha that they had drove from Orlando the same day that Alec had called them and they have been in Tampa since. His parents were currently at Lana’s house with Keisha and Izabella, freeing Lana to come over to his apartment for New Year’s Eve.
Alec had gone through a lot of trouble arranging the surprise for Lana. She had Izabella stay with Keisha so she could come to his apartment an hour before midnight. It was too late to rent a fancy venue, and h
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A few miles outside of Tampa, Florida, Layla Miles sat on a rose-colored couch in Dr. Victoria Samuelson’s office. The psychiatrist had been featured in medical journals for having an eighty-six percent success rate in helping patients recover from memory loss. Dr. Samuelson was in her late forties and wore wire-rimmed glasses. The light in the ceiling made her short, light brown hair shine. Layla judged that she was a size eight. Dr. Samuelson looked up from her notepad. “Thank you for answering my questions. I am willing to take you on as a patient, but I need to make you aware that the longer the memory loss, or in your case amnesia, has lasted, the lower the chances are to recover your memories.”Layla nodded. “I understand.” Four years ago, she had woken in a clinic outside of New York City with no memo
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A few days later . . . The sun had set. Layla sat on her front porch watching Mercedes, Escalades, Cadillacs, one Aston Martin, and one Rolls Royce SUV drive by her home and pull in front of Katelyn Austin’s brick house. She let out a sigh as she cocked her head down the street to watch the semi-formally dressed guests get out of their vehicles under the streetlights and saunter up the Austin’s long walkway. Then she noticed several neighbors coming out of their homes dressed in cocktail party attire. Layla’s upper lip curled. She was watching the activity so intently she didn’t hear Damien come outside. She jumped when he said, “Izabella i
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Layla was more nervous than a girl going off to college. Of course, she never went to college, so how would she know what that feels like? Dr. Samuelson sat down across from her. “I think it’s best that we start off with your earliest memory. If we can’t get you to remember anything in the first few sessions, then we’ll graduate into hypnosis.” “All right,” Layla said. “I got a copy of your medical records from the clinic that treated you in New York. You were unconscious for almost a full day and then you came out of it with no memory of your life or even what your name was.”&nb
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Eight weeks later . . . It was the night of the Tampa Hospital’s Auction. The media attention promoting the event was astronomical. Once the news of the auction hit the local newspapers and magazines, her neighbors on Sunset Boulevard came by Layla’s house and called her to see what they could donate. They also complimented her on taking the initiative to help the hospital raise money for the oncology department. Layla and Damien had been interviewed by a local TV station. A photographer and reporter from an online society blog site had also come by their house to interview them and take pictures. Items that were donated for the auction attracted collectors and antiquers from up and down the East Coast. One of the donors was a ninety-ei
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Two African American men approached her. The man was bald, and he had a mustache and a goatee that framed his face perfectly. He was a few inches taller than her, and he had an average frame. He gave her a polite, yet small smile. She and Damien had shaken hands with the man behind him a few minutes earlier. He had introduced himself as Hugo Mitchell. He had told them about his grandmother who died of cancer, and he and his cousin came from New York to attend the event. They were entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Hugo was a good name for the man because he was huge in height and weight. He had a round afro that looked like it has been freshly cut for the occasion. Both of their tuxes fitted them to a tee. “Mrs. Miles,” Hugo began. “This is my cousin. Carter Mitchell.”&nb
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They were starting to auction the big-ticket items. Since Bruce and Alec couldn’t afford to pay six hundred dollars a plate to be seated at a table, and they couldn’t get reimbursed since they didn’t get prior approval to be at the charity event, they stood against the back wall to watch the happenings. Alec wanted to stay to keep an eye on Carter. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t go near her again tonight. Better yet, not go near her again, period. He had been trying to bust Carter and his family for six years. Carter had always managed to cover his tracks – until she had finally seen the light and called Alec for help. It was hard for him to walk away from her in the social area, but he had to because the desperate and vulnerable look
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A few days later . . . The charity auction made a little over half a million dollars for the hospital’s oncology department. News about the auction being a success spread throughout the city. Layla had just got off the phone with the local homeless shelter. They asked her if she and Damien would be interested in hosting an event to raise money to help them expand their current facilities to assist more of the unfortunate. She asked to meet with the director personally to review the plans he had to revamp the shelter and its services. The meeting was on Friday. As soon as Damien walked out the door that morning to go to the office, the landline rang off the hook. The first call was from Lacey. She quickly informed Layla that the women at the Catholic Church she and Corey attended were raving about how great the chari
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Where was this guy at? Layla was in the park in St. Petersburg. She had an appointment with her psychiatrist in an hour and a half. She wanted enough time to talk to him and make her appointment on time. She had missed last Thursday because Dr. Samuelson had a family emergency and had to cancel. Layla fought the urge to get off the bench and start pacing. She tapped her nails together. After another fifteen minutes, she finally saw the dark-haired hulk known as Bruce Styles. She had called him Tuesday and left a message to call her on her cell. Twenty-four hours had gone by before he had called her back. Mr. Styles approached the bench and sat down next to her. “Sorry I’m late, Mrs. Miles. I got stuck on the highway because of a fender bender.”&n
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Blank Slate (A Series of Secrets 1) Epilogue
New Year’s Eve . . . When Alec had informed his parents of their status change to Grandma and Grandpa over the phone a few days ago they had been overjoyed. His mother had admitted that she had found Keisha special when she met her in Orlando all those months ago, but she couldn’t pinpoint why at the time. They were so eager to spend time with Keisha that they had drove from Orlando the same day that Alec had called them and they have been in Tampa since. His parents were currently at Lana’s house with Keisha and Izabella, freeing Lana to come over to his apartment for New Year’s Eve.Alec had gone through a lot of trouble arranging the surprise for Lana. She had Izabella stay with Keisha so she could come to his apartment an hour before midnight. It was too late to rent a fancy venue, and h
Blank Slate (A Series of Secrets 1) Chapter 48
Christmas Day . . . Lana was back home on Sunset Boulevard. Since she was still Damien’s wife, the house and the rest of his assets with the exception of a small trust set aside for Keisha had been left to her in his will. The official reading of the will hadn’t happened yet, but Lana knew what was in it since they had drawn up wills together a year prior. Damien’s mother had been mortified and heartbroken when the FBI called and told her what had happened. She had requested for Damien’s body to be sent back to DC to be buried next to his father. Mrs. Miles had also made it a point to call Lana and tell her that she had no idea what her son had done to her. She had revealed that Damien had talked about a woman he was in love
Blank Slate (A Series of Secrets 1) Chapter 47
Everyone had made their way back to the front of Sam’s Fishing House. Carter’s goons had been caught and rounded up. The FBI had taken Lana’s gun that she had shot Hugo with and the one that he had taken from her earlier. Alec told Lana that Keisha had been recovered and was waiting for her at the FBI office while the EMTs were attending to him. She had never been so relieved in her life. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Lana asked. “Yeah, just a little woozy,” Alec said. “He lost a lot of blood in the water,” an EMT stated. “We really should get him to th
Blank Slate (A Series of Secrets 1) Chapter 46
The agents had split up into pairs to search the dock. The conversation with Blanchette had played in his mind as he and Bruce handcuffed Carter’s goons to a pole outside. “You boys got your marching orders,” Blanchette said. “Let’s do it.” They started breaking out of the huddle. “Peterson, let me talk to you for a second,” Blanchette said. Bruce had backed up and waited. Blanchette leaned against a black SUV. “I overheard two of the guys whispering while we we
Blank Slate (A Series of Secrets 1) Chapter 45
Alec and Bruce were sitting in the van with Earl and two other guys. Most of the agents that were there were part of their division. Bruce had whispered to a few of the guys that Keisha was his daughter. They were surprised, but they were discrete. The last thing any of them wanted was Blanchette getting wind of it. He would bench Alec in a heartbeat. “This is agent Roch. I lost sight of Lana Murphy,” the radio in the van sounded. “Shit,” Alec sneered. “How the fuck did that happen?” Blanchette said over the airwaves. “She went to the bathroom. I was watching the door when Ms. Smith st
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Lana had gone to the hospital. She had Damien paged twice to the front desk. He never showed up. She had gone to the OR and said she was his wife and asked if he was in surgery. They told her that he had never shown up for his shift, and they had to call in another doctor for an emergency spinal cord surgery. That was what made her think something was wrong. It wasn’t like Damien to shun his responsibilities at the hospital. Thinking that he could have been in an accident or had some sort of health emergency, Lana called the main phone number of the hospital and asked if Damien had been admitted as a patient. No one was listed under that name. She had walked the halls asking nurses if they had seen him. They hadn’t. “Where the hell is he?” she mumbled as the elevator descended down to the ER lobby. She had parked in the
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It had been a little over an hour since Lana had texted him. When Alec’s doorbell rang thirty minutes earlier, he had thought it was her, but it turned out to be Bruce. Alec had told his buddy that he was expecting Lana. Instead of Bruce leaving, he had pushed past Alec and said he would go when she showed up. Alec was drinking rum and Coke while Bruce sipped on a beer. “It looks like she stood you up. Good thing I came by. You’d have been yanking your dry crank with Lucky watching you like you had lost your mind if I hadn’t,” Bruce goaded with a smirk. “You are the constant comedian,” he said sarcastically. “She probably got stuck in traffic, or maybe
Blank Slate (A Series of Secrets 1) Chapter 42
Lana had decided to stop by Tampa Guns and Range before picking up Izabella. She had gone to the locker rooms to get her gun and the extra magazines she had for it. She had her two revolvers in the car, but considering her situation, she didn’t think she could have too much firepower. Besides, the only agents she was willing to trust with hers and Keisha’s safety were Alec and Bruce because of what happened last time. Once she had alerted the FBI that she had total recall, they would reopen the case against Carter and his goons.Keisha had just quietly watched her put the gun and bullets in her bag. Then they had gone back upstairs to leave, but Lana was distracted by the bulletproof vests.She asked Lou if he had vests small enough for children. He did and grabbed the smallest one he had for Keisha to try on. It was a little big for her, but she seemed comfortable in it, and it would do the
Blank Slate (A Series of Secrets 1) Chapter 41
Damien had been able to come home for a quick bite to eat with his family before going to the hospital for a few hours. When he had walked through the door and saw the word Memrose spray painted on the living room wall, he had never been so shocked in his life.Somehow, someway, Layla had gotten her memory back. If that wasn’t bad enough, she knew that he had used Memrose on her. He had groaned with agony when he discovered half of Keisha and Layla’s clothes were gone. “Damn it!” Damien roared with anger and frustration. He didn’t know whether to pack his own bags and head for the airport or try to find them. He knew what he did was illegal, and his medical licenses would definitely be revoked. However, he loved his family, and he wanted them back.
