Chapter 5 - Secrets in the Blood
By eight o'clock the following morning, the storm had cleared, leaving a crisp, brilliant sun shining over the snow-covered estate.
In the sunlit breakfast room on the second floor, Maya sat at a long mahogany table, wrapped in a oversized cashmere sweater that belonged to Holden. In front of her was a plate of silver-dollar pancakes, fresh berries, and warm milk.
She ate slowly, deliberately, as if still unable to believe the food wouldn't be snatched away.
Phantom sat directly beside her chair, his massive head resting comfortably on her knee. Every few seconds, Maya would break off a small piece of pancake and slip it into the dog’s mouth. Phantom took it with delicate, gentle movements, swallowing without a sound.
Holden stood near the fireplace, watching them over the rim of his coffee cup.
"You shouldn't feed him human food," Holden said softly, though there was no anger in his voice. "He's supposed to be on a strict diet."
Maya looked up, her dark emerald eyes wide with sudden worry. She pulled her hand back. "I'm sorry, sir... I didn't mean to—"
"Hey," Holden interrupted gently, setting his cup down and sitting in the chair beside her. "I'm not mad, Maya. And don't call me 'sir.'"
She looked down at her plate, her small fingers twisting the edge of the cashmere sweater. "Mother said... she said you were a grand man. A man who owned castles and commanded armies. She said I had to be polite or you might send me away."
Holden felt an ache in his chest deeper than any physical wound he had ever suffered.
"Your mother was wrong about one thing," Holden said, reaching across the table to lay his palm flat, open, waiting for her. "I don't care about castles. And I will never send you away. You are my daughter, Maya."
She looked at his open hand, then up into his face. For the first time, she saw the softness behind his harsh features—the same expression she had seen in her mother's old worn photographs.
Slowly, she placed her small hand in his. Holden closed his fingers around hers, gentle as glass.
"Where is she, Maya?" Holden asked softly. "What happened in Maine?"
Maya swallowed hard, a single tear cutting a clean path down her cheek.
"The bad man with the silver hair... he came to our cottage three weeks ago," she whispered. "Mother hid me in the cellar floor under the rug. I heard breaking glass. I heard her screaming at him that he would never get the code."
"The code for what?"
"She said... the blood code," Maya whispered. "She told him the vault would only open for the blood of the girl who remembered the sea. Then... then there was a loud bang. Mother didn't make any more noise."
Holden’s grip on her hand tightened slightly, though he kept his face calm to avoid frightening her.
"How did you escape?"
"Mother had a little box under the floorboards with me," Maya said. "It had money, mismatched shoes, and the silver compass. She told me months ago that if anything happened, I had to take the train south to the city with the black gates, find the eastern courtyard, and speak the name Orestes to the monster."
She looked down at Phantom, who whined softly and nudged her hand with his wet nose.
"He wasn't a monster," Maya said softly. "He remembered."
"Yes," Holden said, his voice thick with emotion. "He remembered. And so do I."
Dr. Harrison walked into the room, holding a encrypted secure tablet. He looked at Holden with a serious expression.
"Mr. Cross, I've completed the full analysis of the map inside the compass and the secondary DNA markers from Maya's panel."
Holden stood up, stepping toward the window with the doctor while Maya continued eating. "What did you find?"
"It's not just a bank account, Holden," Harrison whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "Clara didn't just hide Falco’s money. She built a automated dead-man's switch into the international clearinghouse network. It controls the ledger of every illegal wire transfer made in North America for the last decade. If Maya’s DNA is scanned into the terminal at Pier 42, the entire network unlocks."
"And if it isn't scanned by midnight tonight?" Holden asked.
"The server wipes itself," Harrison said. "And thirty billion dollars vanishes into thin air—along with the evidence that could put Dominic Falco in federal prison for ten lifetimes."
May you like
Holden looked back at Maya, who was now smiling as Phantom attempted to balance a piece of strawberry on his snout.
"Falco doesn't want the money," Holden realized, his eyes narrowing. "He wants the ledger destroyed before the feds get it. He's going to burn Pier 42 to the ground tonight."
