Chapter 10 - The man introduced himself as Adrian Vale.Maeve knew the name.
Not because she had met him.
Because it appeared on the first page of her mother's wedding invitation.
Adrian Vale.
Witness.
Mysterious.
Missing.
Presumed dead.
Elias stared at him.
“You know me.”
Adrian smiled.
“I watched you grow up.”
“Where?”
“From a distance.”
“Why?”
“Because staying close would have gotten you killed.”
Maeve looked at him.
“And my mother?”
Adrian's eyes softened.
“Elena never died.”
“Then where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
He hesitated.
“She is not the woman you remember.”
Maeve felt anger rise.
“I don't remember her at all.”
“That was intentional.”
“By whom?”
Adrian looked at Elias.
“Your mother.”
Elias stepped forward.
“My mother did this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect the girl.”
“What girl?”
Adrian looked at Maeve.
“Her.”
Maeve shook her head.
“You keep talking as if I am some treasure.”
“You are not treasure.”
Adrian's voice became grave.
“You are evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“That the black circle can be destroyed.”
Silence.
Adrian opened a leather case.
Inside was a small silver pendant.
Maeve recognized it instantly.
She had worn it since childhood.
Margaret had told her it belonged to her dead father.
Adrian shook his head.
“Your mother gave you this.”
Maeve touched it.
“What does it do?”
“Nothing.”
He turned it over.
A hidden mechanism clicked.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a microchip.
Elias stared.
“That's the ledger.”
“No.”
Adrian smiled.
“It's the key to the ledger.”
A siren sounded outside.
Gabriel entered.
“We have company.”
“How many?”
“Too many.”
Adrian looked at Elias.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
“The circle.”
Gunfire erupted.
The underground chamber shook.
Elias pushed Maeve behind him.
“Stay close.”
Adrian pulled a second weapon.
“You've learned.”
Elias glanced at him.
“I learned from the best.”
The fight lasted eleven minutes.
When it ended, twenty-two attackers were dead.
Three of Elias's men were wounded.
Adrian was nowhere to be found.
Maeve panicked.
“Where did he go?”
Elias looked at the blood on the floor.
“He disappeared.”
“He knew another exit.”
“Yes.”
“Did he betray us?”
“I don't know.”
Maeve stared.
“You don't trust anyone.”
“No.”
She looked away.
Then Elias touched her shoulder.
“But I trust you.”
She turned.
He kissed her.
Not gently.
Not carefully.
It was the kind of kiss that happened when two people realized they had almost lost each other.
Maeve pulled back.
“This is dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“We don't even know who I am.”
“I know who you are.”
“How?”
“You're the woman who ran toward a bullet.”
Maeve's eyes filled.
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
She laughed through her tears.
“You were?”
“Terrified.”
“Of what?”
“Losing you.”
Silence.
Then his phone rang.
Gabriel.
Elias answered.
“What?”
“We found Sienna.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“On a bridge.”
Elias frowned.
“Is she alone?”
“No.”
“Who is with her?”
Gabriel paused.
“The police.”
Elias's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“She says she has evidence against you.”
Maeve's heart sank.
“What evidence?”
Gabriel continued.
“She says she has proof you orchestrated the accident.”
Elias went still.
Maeve looked at him.
“You did not.”
“I didn't.”
“But someone wants everyone to think you did.”
Elias's phone buzzed.
A new message.
A photograph.
It showed Sienna standing beside a police detective.
Behind them was a screen.
On that screen was footage of Elias walking before the accident.
The timestamp was real.
The footage had been altered.
But it looked perfect.
The message contained one sentence.
TOMORROW, ELIAS MAR CHETTI WILL BE ARRESTED.
Then another message arrived.
May you like
And this one was addressed to Maeve.
YOUR MOTHER IS WAITING FOR YOU.
Related Stories
