Chapter 14 - MAEVE’S HIDDEN CONNECTION
Maeve ended the call.
No one spoke for several seconds.
I looked at her.
“What did she mean?”
Maeve’s eyes stayed on the floor.
“Lincoln, there is something I should have told you.”
Tanner stood beside me.
His hand slipped into mine.
Maeve took a slow breath.
“I was a nursing student at Ashbury four years ago.”
The room seemed to close around us.
“You worked there?”
“For three months.”
“Did you know Meredith?”
“I knew her as Mara Shaw.”
“What did you do to Olivia?”
Maeve flinched.
“The night Olivia died, she came to the clinic.”
“She was injured.”
“She begged me not to enter her name into the system.”
“Why?”
“She said someone was watching admissions.”
“I hid her in an unused examination room.”
Tanner’s voice was small.
“Was my mom alive after the crash?”
Maeve nodded.
“For almost an hour.”
My knees weakened.
The official report claimed Olivia died at the scene.
“You saw her alive?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you never tell me?”
“Because Dr. Vale found us.”
“He ordered me out.”
“He said he would handle her emergency transfer.”
“The next morning, I was told she had never been at the clinic.”
Maeve wiped tears from her face.
“I tried to report it.”
“My supervisor accused me of stealing medication.”
“They threatened to end my career.”
“So you stayed quiet.”
“Yes.”
Anger rose inside me.
But Tanner spoke before I could.
“Did Mom say anything?”
Maeve looked at him.
“She said your name.”
“She kept saying you were brave.”
Tanner began to cry.
Maeve knelt in front of him.
“I am sorry.”
“I should have fought harder.”
The phone rang again.
Meredith sent a location.
An abandoned lakeside house owned by Olivia’s foundation.
She demanded Maeve come alone with the brass key.
“She does not know the box is already open,” Ruiz said.
Maeve looked at the threatening message.
“She thinks I still have it.”
“We can use that.”
“No,” I said.
“You are not walking into another trap.”
Maeve met my eyes.
“She believes I am the weakest witness.”
“Let her keep believing it.”
The federal team fitted Maeve with a concealed microphone.
Tactical officers surrounded the lakeside property.
I remained in the command vehicle with Tanner.
At least, that was the plan.
Maeve entered the house alone.
Her voice came through the receiver.
“Meredith?”
A floorboard creaked.
Then Meredith answered.
“You always were too sentimental.”
Maeve found her in the dining room.
Meredith held a handgun.
A laptop sat open on the table.
The screen displayed dozens of financial transfers.
“Give me the key,” Meredith said.
“It is gone.”
“You are lying.”
“The vault is empty.”
Meredith’s breathing changed.
“Then you ruined everything.”
“You ruined it years ago.”
“You left Olivia with Vale.”
“I was twenty-two and terrified.”
“And now you want to be a hero?”
“I want Tanner safe.”
Meredith laughed.
“You still think this is about Tanner.”
She turned the laptop toward Maeve.
A live camera showed the command vehicle outside.
Tanner and I were visible through the windshield.
Meredith had hacked the traffic surveillance system.
Then a red light appeared beneath our vehicle.
An explosive warning flashed on the police receiver.
Meredith smiled at Maeve.
“Tell Lincoln to choose.”
May you like
“You walk out with me.”
“Or he stays with his son.”
