Chapter 15 - THE MAN WHO NEVER DIEDRaymond Cross sounded almost amused.
"Your aunt kept you hidden for a long time."
Maya gripped the phone.
"Why did you kill my parents?"
"I didn't kill your mother."
"Then who did?"
A pause.
"People make mistakes when they try to protect what belongs to them."
Dominic signaled Daniel to trace the call.
Raymond continued.
"Your father was a stubborn man. He could have walked away. Instead, he chose to challenge people far more powerful than himself."
"He was trying to stop you from stealing."
Raymond laughed.
"That's what he told you?"
Maya felt anger rising.
"You're a coward."
The laughter stopped.
"Be careful, young woman."
She looked at Daniel.
He was listening.
Raymond gave her an address.
"Come alone. Bring the silver locket. If you want to know what really happened to your parents, you'll come."
The call ended.
Daniel immediately shook his head.
"You're not going."
Maya placed the phone on the table.
"He's connected to everything."
"Which is exactly why this is a trap."
Dominic agreed.
"We'll arrange a controlled meeting."
They spent the next hour reviewing the documents.
The address belonged to an old industrial property near the Hudson River.
It had once been used by Richard's shipping company.
The same building appeared in Margaret's notebook.
At midnight, Daniel's team prepared a coordinated operation with law enforcement.
Maya insisted on carrying the locket.
When she reached her apartment, she opened the jewelry box and found it wrapped in a small piece of cloth.
The necklace was silver, with a tiny engraved flower.
She opened the clasp.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
It contained a series of numbers.
And a photograph of a newborn baby.
On the back was a handwritten message:
The first child belongs to no empire. Protect her from the men who believe blood gives them ownership.
Maya looked confused.
Daniel examined the numbers.
They were coordinates.
He entered them into a map.
The location was an old storage building outside the city.
Dominic recognized it.
"My grandfather's first warehouse."
The locket had been designed as a key.
Inside the pendant was a small metal strip containing a code.
It opened a digital archive stored in an old company server.
Daniel connected the archive through his attorney's secure system.
The files contained the original ownership transfer, bank records, and recorded conversations.
The evidence proved that Raymond and Anthony had arranged the fire to destroy Richard's investigation.
It also showed that Anthony had paid Victor to abduct Maya after Margaret discovered the truth.
But one recording was particularly disturbing.
It featured Raymond speaking to an unidentified woman.
"She must disappear before the girl learns who her mother really was."
The woman answered.
"She's already been moved."
Maya froze.
The voice sounded familiar.
She played it again.
Then again.
Finally, she looked at Ellen.
The woman who had raised her was standing in the doorway.
Ellen recognized the voice too.
Her face drained of color.
"That's not possible."
Maya stared at her.
"Who is that woman?"
Ellen's lips trembled.
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Your mother."
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