Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN IN THE BLACK COATDavid saw Maya for the first time three days after returning home.
She stood behind a glass partition inside the federal building.
Black coat.
Black boots.
No makeup.
Her face looked thinner.
Older.
But her eyes were different.
They no longer searched for him.
They looked through him.
David stepped toward the glass.
“Maya.”
She didn't react.
He lifted his hand.
She finally looked at him.
“You're alive.”
David swallowed.
“Yes.”
“You're tan.”
His throat tightened.
“I didn't know Lily was dying.”
Maya's expression didn't change.
“I know.”
“I didn't know she died.”
“I know.”
“I would have come back.”
Maya laughed once.
There was nothing warm in it.
“You were forty minutes away from a private jet.”
David froze.
“What?”
“Your company jet was sitting on a runway in Fort Lauderdale.”
He shook his head.
“I never saw that.”
“Because Julianne told you the yacht's satellite system was being shut down for the detox.”
David turned pale.
“Julianne?”
Maya reached into her coat.
She removed a phone.
“She knew.”
David stared.
“Knew what?”
“She knew Lily was in the ICU.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Maya pressed play.
A recorded phone conversation filled the room.
Julianne's voice.
“You can't tell him.”
A male voice answered.
“He has to know eventually.”
Julianne replied,
“Not until the paperwork is signed.”
David's blood froze.
The recording continued.
“If David finds out about Maya, everything falls apart.”
David looked at Maya.
“What is that?”
Maya stopped the recording.
“Your mistress.”
He stared at her.
“That's not possible.”
“I thought so too.”
“What paperwork?”
Maya leaned toward the glass.
“You're about to find out.”
She placed a second file on the table.
“This was found in your office.”
David recognized the document.
It was a merger agreement.
His company was being transferred to another corporation.
He scanned the pages.
Then stopped.
The buyer was a shell company.
Owned by a trust.
The beneficiary?
Julianne Carter.
His mistress.
David's face drained.
“No.”
Maya nodded.
“You weren't having an affair.”
He looked up.
“You were being acquired.”
Silence.
“Julianne didn't love you.”
“I know.”
“You were the asset.”
David stared at the document.
Maya continued.
“She needed you to sign a series of financial transfers before you realized what was happening.”
“But why kill Lily?”
Maya's eyes hardened.
“Because Lily saw something.”
David whispered,
“What?”
Maya removed a final photograph.
It showed Lily sitting at a kitchen table.
Holding a red toy boat.
On the table beside her was a small USB drive.
David leaned closer.
“What's that?”
“We found it hidden inside her toy.”
David stared.
“I never saw it.”
“No.”
Maya's voice dropped.
“You were too busy planning your vacation.”
David closed his eyes.
“What was on the drive?”
Maya didn't answer.
Instead she said,
“Three days before Lily became sick, she came into my room and asked me a strange question.”
David opened his eyes.
“What question?”
Maya looked directly at him.
“She asked why Uncle Ethan was afraid of Daddy.”
David felt his stomach drop.
“Ethan?”
Maya nodded.
“Lily saw something she wasn't supposed to see.”
She turned away.
“Maya.”
She stopped.
“What?”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
She looked back.
“Because the moment I did, someone tried to kill me.”
David froze.
“Who?”
Maya's eyes filled with something that looked almost like grief.
“You.”
David stared at her.
Then she said quietly,
“Or at least, someone using your name.”
And behind the glass, David realized the woman he had abandoned was no longer his victim.
May you like
She was the only person standing between him and prison.
And possibly the only person who knew who had killed their daughter.
