Chapter 5 - Four Seconds
Derek hit Maya hard enough to knock the air out of her.
They slammed behind a concrete pillar.
Julian dove the other direction.
The blast punched through the loading bay four seconds later.
Glass exploded inward. Metal screamed. The wheelchair vanished inside a ball of orange fire.
For several seconds Maya heard nothing but ringing.
Then Julian's voice, distant and furious.
"Maya!"
She coughed. "Here!"
He appeared through smoke, bleeding above one eyebrow.
"Are you hurt?"
"I think my dignity is dead."
Derek groaned beside her. "You're welcome."
Maya grabbed his sleeve. Blood soaked through near his shoulder.
"You're hit."
"Shrapnel. I've had worse dates."
Julian pressed his own handkerchief against the wound. "Can you move?"
"Yes."
A phone began ringing somewhere in the wreckage.
All three stopped.
Julian found it beneath a bent sheet of metal.
Cheap burner.
He answered.
Adrian Vale's voice filled the speaker.
"Still fast, Julian."
"Where is Elena?"
"Safe enough."
"If you hurt her—"
"You always sound most convincing when you're afraid."
Julian's eyes moved to Maya.
Vale laughed softly. "There it is. You finally have something to lose."
"What do you want?"
"The ledger."
"I don't have it."
"Rafael hid it before he died. Your father never found it. I didn't either. But Rafael told one person where to look."
Maya whispered, "My mother."
Vale heard her.
"Hello, Maya. Your father was smarter than every Croft I ever met. He knew one day someone would come asking."
"Put my mother on."
A scrape. Then Elena's weak voice.
"Maya?"
Maya's knees nearly gave out.
"Mom. I'm here. Are you hurt?"
"No. Listen to me. Don't give them anything."
Vale returned. "Touching."
Maya's anger snapped. "If you want the ledger, why threaten me over a loan? Why not just ask her?"
"Because your mother is stubborn. You inherited that. Debt is useful. Shame is even more useful. People hide when they're ashamed. And hidden people are easy to move."
Maya looked sick.
Julian's voice became ice. "You bought her loan on purpose."
"Of course."
"When?"
"The week after she moved into your penthouse."
Julian closed his eyes.
Vale had been watching for more than a year.
"Tomorrow, noon," Vale said. "Bring Maya to Union Station. She'll receive instructions. No police. No federal friends. And Julian?"
"What?"
"Ask your security chief why he drove her to the bakery instead of telling you where she was."
Derek went still.
The line disconnected.
Maya looked from Julian to Derek.
"He's trying to turn us against each other."
Derek nodded. "That's what he does."
Julian said nothing.
Derek noticed.
"You serious?"
"He knew you drove her."
"So did half your garage staff."
"He knew the timing."
"Then check the logs."
Julian's gaze stayed on him.
Maya stepped between them. "Not now."
A siren wailed in the distance.
Derek took a breath, then pulled his phone from his pocket and tossed it to Julian.
"Go through everything. Messages, calls, location history. If I sold you out, shoot me when you find it."
Julian caught the phone.
For the first time, Derek looked hurt instead of angry.
Then Maya saw something on the scorched floor.
A piece of blue cardboard had survived the blast.
Not a ledger.
A bakery box.
Stamped on the bottom was the logo from her second job.
May you like
And written beneath it in black marker were four words.
YOUR FATHER LEFT IT THERE.
