Chapter 6 - THE WAREHOUSE
Daniel sat across from Ava inside Victor’s private office upstairs.
Marcus guarded the door.
Crowe had been taken to a secure room.
Victor stood near the window, still furious.
Ava held Noah against her chest.
“Start talking.”
Daniel nodded.
“In 1999, our father was moving illegal money through the Harbor Point warehouse.”
Victor looked away.
Daniel continued.
“Elena worked bookkeeping.”
“My mother was an accountant?”
“Good one.”
Ava almost smiled.
Almost.
“She noticed invoices that didn’t match shipments. Fake vendors. Money going overseas.”
“And you were involved?”
“At first.”
Ava stared.
Daniel didn’t hide.
“I was twenty-eight, stupid, arrogant, and desperate to impress our father.”
Victor turned.
“You made me think Dad was a hero.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You were protecting yourself.”
Daniel accepted that.
“Elena threatened to go to the FBI.”
Ava swallowed.
“What happened?”
“Our father ordered me to scare her.”
Ava’s expression changed.
“You threatened my mother?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
She stood.
Victor moved slightly, ready to intervene.
Ava slapped Daniel again.
Harder.
He took it.
“You don’t get to make yourself the victim.”
“I’m not.”
“Good.”
She sat.
Daniel continued.
“Elena told me she was pregnant.”
His voice softened.
“With you.”
Ava looked down at Noah.
“That changed things?”
“It changed me.”
Victor scoffed.
Daniel ignored him.
“I copied the ledgers. We planned to run.”
“Then the fire.”
“Yes.”
Daniel explained that three senior men were supposed to meet inside the warehouse that night.
Men responsible for violence.
Men who had already threatened Elena.
Daniel rigged an electrical fire after believing the warehouse was empty.
“But it wasn’t,” he said.
“Three workers stayed late.”
Ava stared.
“You killed innocent people.”
Daniel’s voice broke.
“Yes.”
No excuses.
No heroic story.
Just yes.
“I’ve lived with that every day.”
Victor looked at him.
“Why disappear?”
“Because Dad told me Elena and Ava would die if I came back.”
Ava looked sharply at him.
“He knew about me?”
“Yes.”
“Did Mom?”
“She knew the threat.”
“And she still stayed in Massachusetts?”
“No. She moved twelve times.”
Ava thought about childhood.
Different apartments.
Different schools.
Her mother never explaining why.
“She said rent kept going up.”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“Elena always protected you from the ugly version of things.”
Marcus opened the door.
“We have a problem.”
Victor turned.
“Another one?”
Marcus held a phone.
“Crowe’s gone.”
Victor stared.
“What?”
“Two guards were found unconscious.”
Daniel stood.
Marcus continued.
“And Crowe took something from the security office.”
“What?”
Marcus looked at Ava.
“Your home address.”
Ava froze.
“My apartment?”
Marcus nodded.
Victor grabbed his coat.
Ava stood.
“Noah’s crib is there.”
Victor looked at her.
“So are your mother’s things.”
Ava’s face changed.
The storage key.
She kept it in her bedroom.
Crowe knew about the box.
She whispered, “He’s going after the records.”
Daniel was already moving.
Ava grabbed his arm.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“That’s my home.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
She stepped closer.
“You lost twenty-seven years. Don’t waste another second telling me what I can do.”
Daniel looked at her.
Then nodded.
Victor opened the door.
“Everybody moves.”
Ten minutes later they reached Ava’s apartment.
The front door was wide open.
Inside, every drawer had been ripped out.
Her mother’s photographs covered the floor.
May you like
And written across the living-room wall in black marker were six words:
THE BABY IS NEXT IF YOU TALK.
