Chapter 16 - THE MOTHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEADMaya felt the room tilt.
"My mother died in the fire."
Ellen shook her head.
"I believed that."
"Then whose voice is on the recording?"
Ellen sat down.
"Your mother survived the fire."
Maya stared at her.
For seventeen years, she had believed that both her parents were dead.
Now she was being told that one of them might still be alive.
Daniel examined the recording again.
The woman's voice was weak, but recognizable.
"Could this be a different person?"
Ellen shook her head.
"No. I know that voice."
She explained that after the fire, Margaret had received a message claiming Maya's mother had died.
But there had been no body.
No official funeral.
No confirmed identification.
Ellen had accepted the explanation because Anthony threatened to have Maya taken away if she continued asking questions.
Maya stood.
"Where is she?"
Ellen began crying.
"I don't know."
Dominic approached.
"Then we find out."
The next morning, Daniel's investigators discovered that a woman using the name Laura Bennett had been receiving payments from a private medical company for years.
The payments originated from an account controlled by Raymond Cross.
Her address led to a small coastal town in Connecticut.
Dominic arranged a discreet visit.
Maya insisted on going.
When they arrived, a woman was standing outside a modest house, watering flowers.
She turned at the sound of the car.
Maya recognized her immediately.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same small scar above the left eyebrow that appeared in the childhood photograph.
"Mom?"
The watering can slipped from the woman's hand.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then the woman began crying.
"Maya."
Maya ran toward her.
They embraced in the garden.
Maya held her mother as if she were afraid the woman might disappear again.
"Why did you leave me?"
Her mother, Catherine Brooks, struggled to speak.
"I didn't leave you willingly."
She explained that after the fire, she had been badly injured. Raymond's men took her to a private clinic and told her that Maya had died.
When she recovered, she discovered that Margaret had secretly moved Maya to safety.
Catherine tried to contact her daughter, but Raymond threatened to kill her if she revealed herself.
"Why didn't you go to the police?"
"Because Anthony had people everywhere. I had no evidence. I thought staying alive was the only way I could protect you."
Maya cried.
"I grew up thinking nobody wanted me."
Catherine held her tighter.
"I wanted you every single day."
Daniel stood a short distance away, giving them privacy.
Dominic watched silently.
He understood the pain of losing a parent.
But he also understood that bringing someone home did not erase years of suffering.
Later, Catherine told them about the original documents.
She had kept a second copy hidden inside the silver locket because Richard believed Raymond would eventually find the warehouse records.
The files also contained proof that Raymond had ordered the murder of Richard.
There was a signed payment authorization.
And the recipient was Victor Hail.
Daniel looked at Dominic.
"We have enough to arrest him."
Dominic nodded.
But Catherine reached for Maya's hand.
"There's something else."
Maya looked at her.
"What?"
"Raymond knows I'm alive."
Her voice trembled.
"He contacted me last night."
"Why?"
Catherine looked toward the road.
"Because he knows where your father is buried."
Maya froze.
"My father died."
Catherine shook her head.
"Not in the fire."
May you like
She swallowed.
"Richard survived the attack. He was taken somewhere else. I was told he died years later, but I never saw his grave."
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