Chapter 6 - What Maya Found
Three days before the gala, Maya had received a package at her college apartment.
No return address.
Inside was an old photograph of Sarah standing beside Daniel and three people Maya did not recognize.
One was Adrian.
Another was Elias Vance.
The third face had been cut away.
Behind the photograph was a key.
The note instructed Maya to open a storage locker at Union Station.
She should have called Sarah.
Instead, curiosity won.
Inside the locker, Maya found Daniel’s old leather briefcase.
Sarah believed it had been destroyed in the crash.
The briefcase contained newspaper clippings, coded notes, and a damaged storage device.
Most files would not open.
One video did.
Daniel appeared on screen.
He looked tired.
He said:
“If Sarah sees this, Blackout survived.”
Maya watched the recording alone.
Daniel explained that the person protecting Elias was not a government official.
It was a private family council connecting Vance, Sterling, and several other powerful dynasties.
They placed people inside agencies, hospitals, courts, and financial institutions.
Daniel had discovered that one member intended to betray the group.
He hid the evidence in two parts.
The first part would prove the network existed.
The second contained the identity of the person who ordered the safe-house attack.
The video ended before Daniel revealed the location.
Maya contacted Adrian because his name appeared repeatedly in the notes.
He warned her to destroy everything.
Then he invited her to the gala.
He claimed someone would make contact.
Maya hid the first device inside her clutch lining.
At the gala, Jonathan Sterling approached her.
He knew her name.
He knew Sarah’s history.
He said Maya deserved to know why her father really died.
Then he offered champagne.
Maya drank only two sips.
Minutes later, her body began to weaken.
She heard Jonathan arguing with someone behind a closed upstairs door.
A woman’s voice said:
“She was supposed to bring Sarah, not the file.”
Maya could not see the woman.
But she recognized the perfume.
She had smelled it before.
Inside Sarah’s own home.
May you like
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