Maya carried the ledger through the tunnel.
Nobody spoke until they reached the far end.
The passage opened into a patch of woods beside the river.
Behind them, voices echoed through the mill.
Her father looked toward the trees.
“We need to keep moving.”
Maya stopped.
“No.”
He turned.
“What?”
“You paid Thomas to disappear.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you.”
“You told me Harlan threatened us.”
“He did.”
“That isn't enough.”
Her father looked exhausted.
“You want the whole truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then you may hate me afterward.”
Maya held the ledger against her chest.
“I already hate what you did.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
They moved deeper into the woods.
Her father finally spoke.
“Thomas wasn't only hiding from Harlan.”
Maya waited.
“He was hiding from me.”
Elena stopped walking.
“Why?”
“Because I threatened him.”
Maya's jaw tightened.
“What did you threaten?”
“I told him that if he took Elena, I'd tell everyone he had abandoned her.”
Elena stared.
“You used me.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Losing your mother.”
Elena looked away.
Her father continued.
“Thomas wanted to tell the truth. Your mother wanted him gone. She believed Harlan would kill Elena if he discovered the truth.”
Maya understood.
“So Thomas agreed to disappear.”
“Yes.”
“And you paid him.”
“Yes.”
“With my money.”
“Yes.”
The repetition was unbearable.
Maya stopped.
“You kept saying you protected us.”
“I did.”
“You also protected yourself.”
“Yes.”
Her father looked at the ground.
“I was selfish enough to call it sacrifice.”
Nobody answered.
They reached an old maintenance shed.
Inside was a rusted telephone and a small table.
Her father opened a hidden compartment beneath it.
A map was folded inside.
The map showed the mill, the river, and another property.
A cabin.
“Thomas's?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Her father pointed.
“Three hours north.”
Maya looked at Daniel.
“We go.”
Before anyone could move, the telephone rang.
Everyone froze.
Her father stared at it.
The phone rang again.
He picked it up.
“Hello?”
No answer.
Then a man's voice.
“You should have left the ledger where you found it.”
Her father went pale.
“Harlan?”
The line went dead.
Elena whispered, “He knows.”
Maya looked at the map.
“Then we have to reach Thomas first.”
They drove north.
The journey was tense and quiet.
Maya sat in the back with Elena.
Neither spoke for almost an hour.
Finally Elena said, “Do you hate me?”
Maya turned.
“What?”
“All this money.”
Maya shook her head.
“You didn't take anything.”
“But Dad used your inheritance for me.”
“You didn't ask him.”
“I benefited.”
“So did I.”
Elena frowned.
“How?”
“You gave me the only thing Mom and Dad couldn't.”
“What?”
“Someone who actually stayed.”
Elena began crying.
Maya reached for her hand.
They held on.
The cabin was hidden beyond a dirt road.
It looked abandoned.
The windows were covered.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, the furniture was sparse.
A kettle.
A chair.
A bed.
Several books.
No Thomas.
Maya searched the rooms.
Daniel found a photograph.
It showed Thomas standing beside Elena as an infant.
On the back was a message.
“I never stopped watching.”
Elena pressed the photograph to her chest.
“He was here.”
Daniel found another clue.
A notebook contained dates.
Most were ordinary.
Then one entry appeared six years earlier.
“Maya diagnosed?”
Maya stared.
Thomas had known about her.
The next entry said:
“Trust remains untouched.”
She turned the page.
Another sentence.
“Her father has begun taking money again.”
Maya looked at her father.
He couldn't meet her eyes.
“Thomas was watching you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make sure you were safe.”
“Then why didn't he contact me?”
“He believed contacting you would expose you.”
Maya looked at the final page.
There was a phone number.
She called.
A man's voice answered.
“Hello?”
Maya couldn't speak.
Elena stepped beside her.
“Thomas?”
Silence.
Then:
“Who is this?”
Maya swallowed.
“My name is Maya.”
Another silence.
“Your grandfather's granddaughter?”
“Yes.”
The man's breathing changed.
“Where are you?”
“At your cabin.”
“I told them never to go there.”
“Who?”
“No one should have that address.”
Maya looked at her father.
“He gave it to us.”
The line went quiet.
Then Thomas said:
“Get out.”
Maya frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Harlan knows about the cabin.”
Daniel moved toward the window.
A vehicle was approaching through the trees.
Thomas continued.
“You have ten minutes.”
Maya whispered, “Where are you?”
“Not far.”
“Then come here.”
“I can't.”
“You owe Elena the truth.”
Thomas was silent.
Then he said:
“I know.”
Elena took the phone.
“You're my father.”
Thomas breathed out.
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
“I spent my whole life believing someone else was.”
“I know.”
“Did you ever want me?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you leave?”
Thomas's voice broke.
“Because wanting you was exactly what made you dangerous.”
Elena started crying.
The vehicle outside stopped.
Maya looked through the curtain.
A man stepped out.
Then another.
Thomas heard the silence.
“They're there.”
“Yes.”
“Take the back path.”
Maya looked toward the rear door.
“There is no path.”
“There is.”
She opened it.
Behind the cabin was a narrow trail.
They ran.
Branches caught Maya's coat.
Elena slipped once.
Her father pulled her upright.
They reached the river.
A small boat waited beneath the trees.
Thomas had left it there.
They climbed in.
Daniel started the engine.
As they moved away, Maya saw someone standing near the cabin.
A man.
He didn't chase them.
He simply watched.
Then Maya recognized him.
Richard Harlan was supposed to have been dead for twelve years.
But he was standing there.
Alive.
And smiling.
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: Harlan Was Alive and Watching From the Shore, but Thomas Finally Appeared With Proof That Could Destroy the Entire Network Behind Maya’s Stolen Inheritance
The Call Came During the Toast, and by the Time She Answered, Her Family Had Already Made Their Choice
Part 11 of 20
