Chapter 6 - The Price of Speaking
Maya read the message three times before the words made sense.
“Someone's watching my boy.”
Ortiz took the phone, studied the picture, and called another officer. “I want a car at this address and a patrol near the school tomorrow. Right now.”
Maya's fingers shook as she called her mother, who was keeping Nico overnight. It rang once, twice, five times. When her mother finally answered, Maya could barely speak.
“Put him on.”
“He's asleep, honey.”
“Wake him up.”
Nico came on, groggy and annoyed. “Mom? It's late.”
“Hey, bug. Lock the door. Don't open it for anybody except Grandma. You hear me?”
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing you need to fix. Just do this one thing for me.”
“You sound scared.”
“I am,” she admitted. “But I'm working on it.”
She hung up and fought the urge to collapse. Ortiz stood nearby, giving her the dignity of silence.
“Take my family someplace safe,” Maya said. “Then I'll tell you everything.”
Ortiz nodded. “We'll help you make a safety plan. But I need you to be straight with me. Is there something you haven't said?”
Maya looked toward the illuminated mansion. In the two years she had polished its floors, she'd learned where people hid things without ever meaning to learn. Felix kept a second key ring in a kitchen drawer. Sloane drank alone in the library whenever Ethan was away. The late-night meetings always happened on the first Monday of the month.
And three weeks ago, Maya had heard Sloane say one sentence through the study door: “The wall wasn't supposed to come down while anyone was inside.”
She told Ortiz.
The detective's pen stopped. “What wall?”
“Cedar Point.”
Ortiz's eyes narrowed. “The apartment building that collapsed during the flood?”
Maya nodded. “Three people died.”
Ortiz watched her for a moment. “How do you know so much about it?”
Maya swallowed. “Because one of them was my sister.”
Before Ortiz could answer, a car engine started behind the hedges. Headlights flared across the terrace. Felix's black SUV shot down the driveway, straight past the officer at the gate.
May you like
“Hey!” Ortiz shouted into her radio. “Stop that vehicle!”
But the gate was already opening.
