Chapter 6 - FORTY-THREE CHILDRENThe number hung in the room like smoke.
Forty-three.
David shook his head.
“No.”
Donovan looked at him.
“Three hospitals. Seven states. Forty-three children over four years.”
David's voice cracked.
“My company?”
“Your subsidiary.”
“I didn't know.”
Maya turned toward him.
“That's what Lily was trying to tell us.”
David looked devastated.
“What did Ethan do?”
“He helped cover it up.”
“Then why does he want Maya?”
“Because he believes she's the only person who can keep him alive.”
Maya stared at the floor.
“Take me to him.”
The boat rocked gently under the moonlight.
Ethan sat in a metal chair inside the cabin.
His wrists were cuffed.
His face was bruised.
When Maya entered, he looked up.
“Maya.”
She stopped.
“You killed my daughter.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“I didn't.”
“You helped them.”
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
David stood behind her.
“Why?”
Ethan looked at him.
“You really don't remember Room 19?”
David swallowed.
“No.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“You were drugged.”
David's face tightened.
“By whom?”
Thomas.
Ethan nodded.
“Your brother discovered Project Hush.”
David stared.
“Thomas was investigating it?”
“He wanted to expose it.”
“What happened?”
Ethan looked at Maya.
“Your husband was supposed to die in Room 19.”
David froze.
“What?”
“Thomas found out the company was using executives as cover.”
Ethan pointed toward him.
“You were going to be blamed.”
David shook his head.
“My brother saved me.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He switched the targets.”
David stared.
“Thomas took the poison.”
Silence.
Maya whispered,
“That's why the accident report was fake.”
Ethan nodded.
“Thomas died because he protected David.”
David looked down.
Tears formed in his eyes.
“And Lily?”
Ethan's expression darkened.
“She found Thomas's records.”
“How?”
“Through the old family computer.”
David suddenly remembered.
Lily had loved pressing random buttons on his office computer.
He used to laugh about it.
Now he realized she'd wandered into a war she didn't understand.
Ethan continued.
“Julianne found out Lily had copied files.”
David's face hardened.
“Julianne.”
Ethan nodded.
“She was sent to control you.”
David looked sick.
“She seduced me.”
“She studied you.”
“She knew your habits, your passwords, your weaknesses.”
Maya turned away.
David lowered his voice.
“She knew I'd leave.”
Ethan smiled sadly.
“She knew you'd choose the yacht.”
David closed his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because she needed the company transfer signed.”
“What about the murder?”
Ethan hesitated.
“It wasn't supposed to happen that way.”
Maya spun around.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan looked at her.
“Lily wasn't supposed to die.”
David stared.
“What?”
“They only wanted to scare you.”
Maya's face hardened.
“They poisoned my daughter.”
“To make her sick.”
“To frighten you.”
“To force Maya into selling the trust.”
David stepped forward.
“You're saying Lily was collateral?”
Ethan looked away.
“Yes.”
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
Then she asked the question nobody expected.
“Who ordered it?”
Ethan's face turned white.
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because she's here.”
David frowned.
“Who?”
Ethan stared at the cabin door.
“She followed you.”
The door opened.
May you like
Julianne stood there.
And she was holding a gun.
