Chapter 6 - The Father I Buried
Maeve had buried an empty coffin.
The realization followed her into every breath.
Her father was alive.
Somewhere in Chicago.
And whoever had him wanted Maeve.
Federal agents argued against following the message.
Luca argued harder.
Maeve listened for exactly three minutes.
Then she said, “I’m going.”
“No,” Luca replied.
The word came immediately.
Maeve looked at him.
“You told me nobody chooses for me.”
His jaw tightened.
“I did.”
“Then don’t start now.”
“They’re using your father to draw you out.”
“I know.”
“It could be staged.”
“I know.”
“The photograph could be old.”
“The newspaper isn’t.”
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves enough.”
Luca stepped closer.
“I will not let you walk into an ambush alone.”
Maeve lowered her voice.
“Then make sure I’m not actually alone.”
He understood.
The message included an address.
An abandoned lakeside mansion north of the city once owned by Victor Hayes.
Agents established surveillance from a distance.
Luca arranged his own people farther back.
Maeve hated how easily that happened.
She hated even more that she was grateful.
Before leaving, she approached Brandon.
He sat in a cathedral office under guard.
His wrists were restrained.
The arrogance was gone.
“Is my father really alive?”
Brandon looked at her.
“I didn’t know until this morning.”
“Did your mother know?”
“Yes.”
“Where has she kept him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why keep him alive?”
“He had something she needed.”
“The ledger?”
“Not just that.”
“What?”
Brandon looked exhausted.
“A password.”
“To what?”
“I don’t know.”
Maeve stared.
“Do you understand what she did to you?”
His mouth tightened.
“She gave me everything.”
“No. She used you.”
“She made me strong.”
“She made you betray everyone who loved you.”
Brandon flinched.
Maeve saw that Tessa still mattered.
Maybe she always had.
“What about Tessa?”
“I never wanted her hurt.”
“But you threatened her.”
“I panicked.”
“She’s carrying your child.”
His eyes closed.
Maeve’s anger softened only around the unborn baby.
“That child deserves better than this.”
“I know.”
“Then tell investigators everything.”
Brandon looked at her.
“If I do, my mother will kill me.”
Maeve thought of Patrick.
“If you don’t, she may kill the rest of us.”
She left him.
At 10:41 a.m., Maeve drove toward the Hayes mansion.
Alone.
At least visibly.
A tiny transmitter sat inside her mother’s brooch.
Luca listened from a vehicle almost a mile away.
Maeve heard his voice through a concealed earpiece.
“Thirty seconds.”
“I know.”
“If anything feels wrong, walk away.”
“My father is inside.”
“Maeve.”
She heard something in his voice.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
“I’m coming back,” she said.
A pause.
Then Luca answered.
“You’d better.”
Maeve entered the mansion.
The foyer was empty.
Dust covered the marble.
One lamp burned down the hallway.
“Dad?”
No answer.
She followed the light.
A door opened.
Elaine Hayes stepped out.
Maeve had met her twice in person.
Elaine looked exactly as she remembered.
Elegant.
Slim.
Silver hair cut perfectly at the jaw.
A woman who hosted charity dinners and remembered waiters’ names.
A woman nobody would look at twice.
“Maeve.”
“You’re supposed to be sick in Arizona.”
Elaine smiled.
“I have always believed distance improves family relationships.”
“Where is my father?”
“Still impatient.”
“Where is he?”
Elaine gestured toward the next room.
Patrick Callahan sat in a chair.
Alive.
Maeve forgot everything.
The transmitter.
The trap.
Elaine.
She ran.
“Dad.”
Patrick looked up.
His face crumpled.
“Maeve.”
She fell to her knees before him.
He was thin.
Older.
But his hands were warm when he touched her face.
“My girl.”
Maeve sobbed.
“You’re alive.”
“I’m sorry.”
She held him.
Two years of grief broke open.
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“You had two years.”
“I know.”
“You had two years!”
Patrick closed his eyes.
“I thought they would kill you.”
Elaine’s voice came from behind them.
“He was correct.”
Maeve rose.
“What do you want?”
“Your father has a key.”
Maeve touched the silver key hidden inside her dress.
“To the deposit box?”
“No.”
Elaine smiled.
“Patrick was always annoyingly cautious. He divided everything.”
“What everything?”
“Evidence. Money. Names.”
Patrick spoke.
“Don’t tell her.”
Elaine sighed.
“Still heroic.”
Maeve looked at her father.
“What key?”
Patrick shook his head.
Elaine walked closer.
“There is an offshore account containing the money Victor Hayes and several partners moved out of Callahan and other companies.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred and twelve million.”
Maeve stared.
Elaine continued.
“Patrick redirected it before his accident.”
“To protect it?”
“To steal it.”
Patrick laughed weakly.
“From thieves.”
Elaine’s smile disappeared.
“He hid it behind a dual authorization system.”
Maeve understood.
“You need him.”
“And you.”
“Why me?”
“His half of the authorization is biometric. Yours is hereditary trustee access.”
Patrick whispered, “Maeve, don’t.”
Elaine looked toward the wall.
A screen illuminated.
Tessa appeared on video.
She sat beside Evelyn in another room.
Both alive.
Maeve’s relief was immediate.
Elaine noticed.
“Everyone walks away today if you cooperate.”
“And if I don’t?”
Elaine’s smile returned.
“You already know.”
Maeve heard Luca in her ear.
We have visual through rear windows. Stay calm.
Maeve forced herself not to react.
Elaine placed a tablet on the table.
“Your thumbprint.”
“No.”
“Maeve.”
“No.”
Elaine studied her.
“You are more like Patrick than I hoped.”
“Thank you.”
“That was not a compliment.”
“I took it as one.”
Patrick almost smiled.
Elaine’s patience thinned.
“You believe Moretti will save you.”
“No.”
Elaine raised an eyebrow.
Maeve continued.
“I believe I will save myself.”
Elaine moved closer.
“You have no idea what kind of man Luca is.”
“I know enough.”
“Did he tell you what his father did?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you how he became Chicago’s most feared man?”
“No.”
Elaine smiled.
“Ask how many men disappeared when Luca took control.”
Maeve’s pulse shifted.
In her earpiece, Luca said nothing.
Elaine noticed Maeve’s tiny reaction.
“Ah.”
She reached forward suddenly.
Maeve stepped back.
Too late.
Elaine ripped the earpiece free.
“Well.”
Maeve’s blood chilled.
Elaine looked at the tiny device.
Then crushed it beneath her heel.
“Luca.”
She smiled toward the room.
“I wondered how long before you broke the rules.”
Outside, Maeve knew everything would change.
Elaine locked the door.
Patrick struggled to stand.
“Run.”
Elaine removed a small handgun from a drawer.
Maeve froze.
Elaine pointed it toward the floor.
“Sit.”
Maeve obeyed.
No heroics.
No sudden movement.
She remembered Luca’s warning.
Survive first.
Elaine placed the tablet before her again.
“Thumb.”
Maeve looked at her father.
Patrick shook his head.
Elaine raised the gun toward him.
Maeve pressed her thumb to the scanner.
“Good.”
A verification symbol appeared.
Elaine turned the tablet toward Patrick.
“Now you.”
He refused.
Elaine’s expression hardened.
A crash sounded elsewhere in the mansion.
Luca.
Elaine looked toward the hallway.
Maeve grabbed the tablet and threw it against the wall.
Elaine spun.
Patrick knocked the gun from her hand.
Maeve kicked it beneath a cabinet.
The door burst inward.
Federal agents entered first.
Luca behind them.
Elaine stepped backward.
Hands raised.
For one second, it seemed finished.
Then Patrick whispered, “No.”
Maeve turned.
A man stood behind Luca.
One of Luca’s own security officers.
Matteo Russo.
A man Maeve had seen outside the hotel.
He held another weapon.
Pointed directly at Luca.
Brandon had been telling the truth.
Elaine had someone inside Moretti’s organization.
Matteo smiled.
“Sorry, boss.”
Luca slowly raised his hands.
Maeve’s father stared at Matteo.
Recognition flashed across his face.
“You.”
Maeve looked at Patrick.
“You know him?”
Patrick’s face went white.
“He was driving the car that night.”
Matteo’s finger tightened.
Luca moved.
A shot cracked through the room.
May you like
Maeve screamed.
And somebody fell.
