Chapter 12 - HER FATHER’S NAME
Maya confronted him immediately.
Her father didn’t deny it.
That frightened her.
“Why is your name in Mom’s file?”
He sat quietly in the hospital chapel.
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I signed the first Northbridge contract.”
Maya stared.
“You knew?”
“Not what they were doing.”
“When did you find out?”
“Two weeks before your mother died.”
Maya felt betrayed all over again.
“And you never told me.”
“I was ashamed.”
“Mom died because of this.”
“I know.”
“Did she know you signed it?”
“Yes.”
“Was she angry?”
Her father smiled sadly.
“Furious.”
Maya sat opposite him.
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“The detective I contacted was Daniel Reeves.”
Maya closed her eyes.
Daniel.
Of course.
“He told Victor.”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
“Your mother made me promise to protect you.”
“So everyone protected me with lies.”
Her father looked at her.
“Yes.”
It was the first completely honest answer she had received.
Maya started crying.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Fourteen years of guilt simply broke open.
“I thought I killed her.”
Her father stared.
“What?”
“I called her.”
“Maya.”
“I told her to hurry home.”
He moved beside her.
“You did not kill your mother.”
“If I hadn’t called—”
“She wasn’t driving home because you called.”
Maya looked up.
“What?”
“She was running.”
“From Victor?”
“Yes.”
Her father took her hands.
“She knew someone was following her.”
Maya sobbed.
“She died trying to protect us.”
“Yes.”
For the first time in fourteen years, Maya allowed herself to believe the accident had never been her fault.
Cole entered quietly.
“I’m sorry.”
Maya wiped her face.
“What happened?”
“Victor is gone.”
Her father stood.
“What?”
“He escaped federal custody during transport.”
Maya stared.
“How?”
Cole’s expression told them everything.
Another insider.
Victor’s network was damaged.
Not dead.
Cole handed Maya a phone.
A message had arrived.
NO MORE FILES.
NO MORE POLICE.
BRING THE ORIGINAL LEDGER TO ME.
ALONE.
Beneath it was a photograph.
The older girl.
May you like
Sleeping.
Taken five minutes earlier.
