Chapter 4 - THE NIGHT MAYA NEVER TALKED ABOUT
Maya had spent four years telling Lily that her father died in an accident.
That was true.
It simply wasn’t the whole truth.
Her husband, Ben Collins, had worked as a systems engineer.
Brilliant.
Funny.
Terrible at remembering where he left his keys.
And, during the final six months of his life, frightened.
Maya had never understood why.
Until now.
Ethan moved Maya and Lily into a secure apartment owned by Mercer Dynamics.
Maya objected.
Ethan ignored her.
“I’m not becoming your charity case.”
“This is security.”
“You have a penthouse.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not putting us there.”
“I wasn’t suggesting it.”
“You were thinking it.”
Ethan paused.
“I was.”
Maya shook her head.
“Absolutely not.”
Lily raised her hand.
“Does the penthouse have a pool?”
“Lily.”
Ethan tried not to smile.
“Yes.”
“Mom, I think security is important.”
Maya stared at her daughter.
“You’re both impossible.”
They compromised.
A furnished corporate apartment.
Two security officers downstairs.
No pool.
That evening Maya finally told Ethan about Ben.
“His brother Travis was always trouble.”
“How?”
“Gambling. Debt. Bad friends.”
Maya looked toward Lily’s bedroom.
“Ben kept rescuing him.”
“What happened the night Ben died?”
“Travis called. Said he needed help. Ben went.”
“And?”
“Police said Travis lost control on black ice.”
“Was he charged?”
“Reckless driving. Suspended sentence.”
“Why would he be connected to Mercer Dynamics?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan thought about Carl Brenner.
Then something clicked.
“What did Ben do?”
“I told you. Systems engineer.”
“Where?”
Maya hesitated.
“Several companies.”
“Which one before he died?”
“Northstar Analytics.”
Ethan went still.
Northstar had been acquired by Mercer Dynamics five years earlier.
“What?”
“Northstar built encryption systems for us.”
Maya stared.
“You knew him?”
“No.”
But Ethan suddenly understood why Maya’s name might matter.
He called Daniel.
“Pull every Northstar employee record from five years ago. Benjamin Collins.”
Twenty minutes later, Daniel called back.
“Ethan, you need to see this.”
Ben Collins had not merely worked for Northstar.
He had discovered a vulnerability in Mercer Dynamics’ financial architecture.
He reported it.
Then withdrew the report three days before his death.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Why?”
Daniel shook his head.
“There’s more.”
Someone had accessed Ben’s archived employee account two weeks ago.
Using Carl Brenner’s credentials.
Maya sat down.
“Ben knew something.”
“Yes.”
“And Travis knows he knew.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Did Ben leave you anything?”
“Life insurance. His watch. Some boxes.”
“Computers?”
“No.”
“Drives?”
“I don’t know.”
They returned to Maya’s apartment with security.
For three hours they searched.
Nothing.
Then Lily wandered into the living room carrying an old stuffed bear.
“Mom, Mr. Buttons is broken.”
Maya looked.
A seam had split.
Something metallic protruded from the stuffing.
Ethan reached inside.
A USB drive.
Maya stopped breathing.
“Ben.”
The drive was encrypted.
Mercer engineers cracked it before dawn.
The files contained records of a scheme involving Northstar contractors, fake vendor accounts, and stolen intellectual property.
Hundreds of millions had been diverted.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Not Travis.
Not Carl.
Daniel Ross.
Ethan stared at the screen.
His best friend.
His chief operating officer.
The man who had helped build Mercer Dynamics.
“No.”
Maya touched his arm.
“Ethan.”
“No.”
Daniel had attended his mother’s funeral.
Daniel had slept on Ethan’s office couch during their first year in business.
Daniel had been there when Ethan became a billionaire.
Ethan called him.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then the apartment lights went out.
Security alarms sounded.
Ethan moved instantly.
“Maya, take Lily.”
Someone slammed into the front door.
Once.
Twice.
The lock held.
Ethan pushed Maya toward the bedroom.
“Call police.”
“What about you?”
“Go.”
The third impact broke the lock.
A masked man entered.
Ethan tackled him.
They crashed into the dining table.
The intruder swung.
Pain exploded through Ethan’s cheek.
Maya screamed.
Then another security officer rushed in.
The intruder fled down the emergency stairs.
Police arrived minutes later.
They found one thing on the floor.
A phone.
The attacker had dropped it.
There was only one unsent message on the screen.
SHE FOUND THE DRIVE.
Underneath it was the recipient.
Daniel Ross.
Ethan sat on the floor with blood running from his lip.
Maya knelt beside him.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“If Lily hadn’t invited you—”
“Stop.”
He looked at her.
“If Lily hadn’t invited me, you’d be facing this alone.”
Maya’s eyes filled.
Ethan reached for her hand.
“You aren’t alone anymore.”
Neither spoke.
Then Lily appeared in the hallway holding her stuffed bear.
“Ethan?”
He looked up.
“Yes?”
“Are you staying?”
The question hit him somewhere no punch could.
He looked at Maya.
She didn’t answer for him.
Ethan did.
May you like
“Yes.”
And for the first time in years, he realized staying somewhere frightened him far more than leaving ever had.
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