Chapter 7 - JULIANNEEverything happened at once.
Julianne raised the gun.
Maya turned.
David stepped between them.
A federal agent shouted.
Julianne fired.
The bullet shattered the cabin light.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Someone screamed.
David grabbed Maya and pushed her behind the table.
Another shot.
Then silence.
The agents stormed the cabin.
Julianne was gone.
Only the open hatch remained.
David rushed toward it.
“Julianne!”
Donovan grabbed his shoulder.
“Don't!”
“She'll escape!”
“She won't.”
Donovan pointed downward.
A trail of blood led toward the rear deck.
They followed it.
Julianne was gone.
But something else remained.
Her designer handbag.
Inside was a passport.
Three burner phones.
A silver key.
And a photograph.
David took the photograph.
His blood froze.
It showed Lily.
Standing outside the Vance estate.
Taken three days before she became sick.
Maya looked over his shoulder.
“She was watching her.”
Donovan found a second photograph.
This one showed Maya.
At the hospital.
Then another.
David.
On the yacht.
Then one of him laughing with Julianne.
The photos had dates.
Locations.
Surveillance notes.
Julianne had been tracking them for months.
Maya picked up one phone.
The screen lit up.
A message appeared.
UNKNOWN:
HE KNOWS.
Then another.
UNKNOWN:
MOVE TO PHASE TWO.
Maya looked at Donovan.
“What is Phase Two?”
No answer.
Then the phone rang.
Donovan answered.
Silence.
A voice whispered,
“Put David on.”
Donovan looked at him.
David took the phone.
“Who is this?”
The voice said,
“You've finally started remembering.”
David froze.
“Who are you?”
A quiet laugh.
“Ask yourself why your father built Vance Therapeutics.”
David's face changed.
“My father?”
“He didn't build a pharmaceutical company.”
“What?”
“He built a private intelligence network.”
David stared.
“No.”
“He used medical research as a cover.”
David looked at Maya.
“Why?”
The voice replied,
“To influence governments.”
David's blood ran cold.
“And Lily?”
“She was never the target.”
“Then who was?”
The voice became colder.
“You.”
David stopped breathing.
“Seven years ago, Thomas tried to expose us.”
“So you killed him?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you kill me?”
“Because we needed you.”
David gripped the phone.
“For what?”
“To inherit your father's network.”
The call disconnected.
Everyone stared at David.
Maya whispered,
“Your father.”
David shook his head.
“He died when I was twenty-three.”
Donovan looked at the files.
“Apparently not.”
“What?”
“There is a bank account.”
“What account?”
“Switzerland.”
“In whose name?”
Donovan hesitated.
“Arthur Vance.”
David's father.
Impossible.
Arthur had supposedly died fifteen years ago.
Donovan opened another file.
“There was a withdrawal yesterday.”
David stared.
“How much?”
“Ten million dollars.”
Maya asked,
“Where was it sent?”
Donovan turned the screen.
The recipient name appeared.
LILY VANCE MEMORIAL TRUST.
David stared.
“What?”
Maya stepped closer.
“That account doesn't exist.”
Donovan's expression hardened.
“It does now.”
Then the computer displayed one final message.
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
BENEFICIARY: MAYA VANCE.
May you like
And beneath it:
WELCOME BACK.
