Page 16 of Meet Me on Greenwood

Maise stared at the paper, then at me, then back at the paper. She had the expression she reserved for moments when she wasn't sure whether to be impressed or deeply concerned. Usually, it meant she was both.

"It's three in the morning," she said finally.

"I know."

"Your father's obituary?"

"It was the only paper I could find."

Maise pursed her lips as she approached to cup my cheek. "This is why you waste your time on men like Andre Riles. You don’t take care of yourself Gema."

"I’m trying to save my company, Maise. If I lose it," my voice broke, as my eyes filled.

Maise leaned her head against mine. "Okay."

I wiped away the tears on my sleeve. "Look," I said holding up the paper. "We've been entering at retrieval. That's wrong. The memory is already hardened by then and much more difficult to unlock. We need to enter at reconsolidation. The three second window after the brain pulls it up, but before it puts it back. That's where it's still flexible. That's where we can actually change something."

She was quiet for a moment. Then she took the obituary full of scribbles from my hands and studied it the way she used to study case law. After a long moment, she looked up.

"Okay," she said. "Walk me through it."

7

Gema

Money Man Coming

The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed to shower and dress. What did one wear to the reading of their father’s will? We weren’t close towards the end, but he’d been there for me. He paid for my first year of medical school, though I’d refused any help after that, funding my own education with scholarships and the money I made tutoring athletes.

Finally, I decided there was no one I was dressing up for, so I put on my most comfortable jean shorts and a blouse that felt like summer.

"Is Bri awake yet?" I asked the driver waiting for me at the front door.

"Ms. Cross did not return home last night."

I frowned at that. "Do we know if she is okay?"

He nodded. "I’m told she is already at the law office."

Of course she was. "Alright, well we should get going."

He opened the door, but paused as Maise called after me.

"Wait!" she yelled. "Gema, wait!"

Maise approached with her luggage in hand and a phone to her ear. "What do you mean?" she asked in her most lawyerly voice to the person on the other end. "Stop them! Pull a fire alarm, do whatever you have to do!"

"What’s going on?" I asked.

"Hold on," she said, pulling the phone down and turning her eyes to me. "It’s Tina, she’s making a deal without us. I need to hop on a plane before she does any more damage."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "She can’t do that!"

Maise shook her head. "Get in the car and come back with some good news. I’m going to the airport."

"I’m going with you," I said.

"No!" she said. "If we don’t have capital, there is nothing we can do to stop this."