CHAPTER 9 THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN WATCHING MAYA
The bakery was already burning when they arrived.
Flames climbed through the second-floor windows.
Black smoke rolled into the winter sky.
Firefighters blocked the street.
Police cars crowded both sides of Milwaukee Avenue.
Maya jumped from the vehicle before Derek had fully stopped.
"Michael!"
Julian grabbed her arm.
"Wait."
"He's inside!"
"We don't know that."
"I know him."
"You know someone who works here."
"He wouldn't leave."
Julian looked at the flames.
Neither would he.
That was the problem.
He released her.
"Stay behind me."
Maya glared.
"Don't start."
"I'm not starting anything."
He took her hand.
"I'm trying to keep you alive."
They moved toward the entrance.
A firefighter stopped them.
"You can't go in."
"My friend is inside."
"We're searching."
"How many people?"
"Two employees accounted for. One missing."
Maya's face went white.
"Michael."
The firefighter shook his head.
"We don't know his name."
Julian stepped forward.
"What caused the fire?"
"Still investigating."
"Explosion?"
"Possibly."
Julian looked at Derek.
Derek understood.
This wasn't an accident.
Maya stared at the flames.
"He knew."
Julian looked at her.
"Who?"
"Michael."
"What did he know?"
"That they were coming."
She remembered the quiet delivery driver.
The way he always watched the street.
The way he never stayed after closing.
The way he sometimes looked at her as though he wanted to say something.
Maya whispered:
"He was protecting me."
A firefighter shouted from the building.
"WE FOUND SOMEONE!"
Maya tried to run forward.
Julian stopped her.
"Let them work."
Seconds later, two firefighters carried a man through the smoke.
Maya recognized him.
"Michael."
He was unconscious.
Burned.
Blood covered his forehead.
But alive.
Maya covered her mouth.
Julian moved beside her.
The ambulance doors opened.
Paramedics loaded Michael inside.
One of them shouted:
"He's got a pulse."
Maya climbed in.
Julian followed.
The ambulance raced toward the hospital.
Michael remained unconscious.
Maya sat beside him.
Julian stood near the rear doors.
His eyes never left her.
The paramedic checked Michael's vitals.
"Who is he?"
"His name is Michael."
"Last name?"
Maya hesitated.
"I don't know."
The paramedic frowned.
Julian answered.
"Croft."
Maya looked at him.
The paramedic wrote it down.
"Family?"
Julian looked at Maya.
"No."
Not yet.
At the hospital, Michael was taken into surgery.
Maya sat in the waiting room.
Julian sat beside her.
Neither spoke.
Derek arrived twenty minutes later.
He placed a phone on the table.
"Found this."
Maya looked at it.
"What's that?"
"Bakery security footage."
Julian picked it up.
The footage showed Michael arriving forty minutes before the fire.
Then three men entered.
Maya recognized one.
"That's him."
Julian looked.
Thomas Reed.
Reed walked toward Michael.
The footage showed them arguing.
Then Michael handed him something.
A small metal object.
Julian paused the video.
"What is that?"
Derek zoomed in.
A key.
Maya stared.
"That's not the necklace."
"No."
Julian looked at Derek.
"Can you enhance the footage?"
"Already did."
He opened another image.
The object became clearer.
A small brass key.
Three circles engraved into it.
Julian's expression hardened.
"The archive."
Derek nodded.
"Probably."
Maya looked at the footage again.
"Michael gave it to Reed."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Julian shook his head.
"Maybe he was trying to protect you."
The footage continued.
Reed left.
Michael remained.
Then another person entered.
A woman.
Maya froze.
Her mother.
No.
It couldn't be.
She leaned closer.
The image was blurry.
But the face...
The hair...
The coat...
Everything looked familiar.
Maya whispered:
"That's my mother."
Julian stared.
"Impossible."
"She's alive."
Derek shook his head.
"We need better footage."
Maya grabbed his arm.
"Find it."
"I will."
The footage continued.
The woman approached Michael.
She placed something in his hand.
Then she kissed his forehead.
Maya's breath caught.
Her mother walked out.
Thirty seconds later, the bakery exploded.
Julian looked at Maya.
"If that's Isabella..."
"Then my mother didn't die."
Three hours later, a doctor entered the waiting room.
"Are you family?"
Julian stood.
"Yes."
The doctor looked at Maya.
"He's alive."
Maya exhaled.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"He has serious burns and smoke inhalation, but his condition is stable."
"Can we see him?"
"Briefly."
Maya entered first.
Michael lay unconscious beneath white sheets.
His face was bruised.
His breathing was assisted.
Maya stood beside him.
"I don't know who you are."
Her voice trembled.
"But you protected me."
She took his hand.
"Why?"
Michael's fingers moved.
Maya froze.
Then his eyes opened.
He looked directly at her.
His first words were barely audible.
"Because..."
He struggled.
"...your mother asked me."
Maya's eyes filled.
"She's alive?"
Michael nodded.
Julian stepped closer.
"Where is she?"
Michael looked at him.
Fear appeared in his eyes.
"She's not safe."
"Where?"
Michael swallowed.
"With him."
"Who?"
He closed his eyes.
"The man who raised me."
Julian's expression hardened.
"Thomas Reed?"
Michael shook his head.
"No."
"Then who?"
Michael looked toward Maya.
"The man you trust most."
Silence.
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
Michael's breathing became rapid.
"The man..."
He coughed.
"...who calls you brother."
Julian froze.
Daniel.
Maya looked at him.
"No."
Michael whispered:
"Daniel."
Then he lost consciousness again.
The room fell silent.
Julian stared at Michael.
Maya stared at Julian.
Derek closed the door.
"No."
Julian shook his head.
"He's confused."
"He's been burned."
"He's still conscious enough to remember."
Derek said nothing.
Maya stepped closer.
"Daniel wouldn't do this."
Julian looked at her.
"You don't know him."
"Neither do you."
Julian's eyes hardened.
"What does that mean?"
"You said he died."
"Yes."
"But he came back."
"Yes."
"You said he disappeared."
"Yes."
"You said he was protecting me."
Julian's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"And now Michael says he's the man who betrayed my mother."
Julian looked away.
Maya's voice broke.
"You don't believe him."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel saved me."
Maya stared.
"And maybe that's exactly why you can't see the truth."
The words hit him.
Julian turned toward her.
For several seconds neither moved.
Then his phone rang.
The caller ID showed:
DANIEL.
Julian's face went completely still.
Maya whispered:
"Answer."
He did.
"Where are you?"
Daniel's voice came through.
"Julian."
"Where are you?"
"Don't come looking for me."
Julian's expression changed.
"Why?"
"Because they're watching you."
"Who?"
"Everyone."
"Daniel."
A pause.
"I should have told you the truth years ago."
Julian's voice dropped.
"What truth?"
"Michael is alive."
Julian looked at Maya.
"We know."
Silence.
Then Daniel said:
"Then you know too much."
The call ended.
Julian stared at the phone.
Maya whispered:
"That was him."
"Yes."
"He's alive."
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
Julian looked toward the hospital window.
"I don't know."
Derek entered.
"You need to see this."
He handed Julian a tablet.
A security video.
A private parking garage.
Daniel walking toward a black vehicle.
Thomas Reed opened the door.
Daniel got inside.
Then someone else appeared.
Julian's face went pale.
Victor Croft.
His father.
Impossible.
The man had been dead for six years.
Yet there he was.
Walking.
Alive.
Julian dropped the tablet.
Maya stared at the screen.
"Your father?"
Julian couldn't speak.
Derek whispered:
"He's alive."
The next forty-eight hours became a nightmare.
Julian moved Maya to a secure apartment.
No staff.
No cameras.
No predictable routine.
Derek changed vehicles every few hours.
Every phone was discarded after use.
The Croft estate was abandoned.
Julian's organization was placed under emergency lockdown.
But the most terrifying discovery came on the second night.
Maya woke to a sound.
Three knocks.
Her door.
She reached for the gun Julian had left on the bedside table.
"Who is it?"
No answer.
Three more knocks.
Then a voice.
"Maya."
She froze.
Julian.
She opened the door.
He stood outside.
Blood covered his shirt.
"Julian!"
She pulled him inside.
"What happened?"
"They found me."
"Who?"
"Reed's men."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"That's blood."
"Not mine."
She stared at him.
"Whose?"
Julian closed the door.
"Daniel's."
Maya's heart stopped.
"Where is he?"
Julian looked at her.
"He was taken."
"By whom?"
"My father."
Maya stepped back.
"Victor?"
Julian nodded.
"He wants the archive."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel has the original ledger."
Maya stared.
"You said my mother gave it to Daniel."
"She did."
"Then Daniel has had it all these years."
"Yes."
"Where?"
Julian shook his head.
"I don't know."
Maya thought.
"The necklace."
"What?"
"My mother gave Daniel something."
"What?"
"The original pendant."
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"Are you sure?"
"No."
She closed her eyes.
Then remembered.
Daniel as a boy.
Michael beside him.
Isabella kneeling.
A necklace in her hands.
She had placed it around Michael's neck.
Not Daniel's.
Maya opened her eyes.
"The original necklace belonged to Michael."
Julian stared.
"Then Michael knows where the archive is."
Maya nodded.
"Yes."
"But Michael is unconscious."
"Then we wake him."
At 3:17 a.m., they returned to the hospital.
Michael's room was guarded.
But the guards were dead.
Two bodies lay in the corridor.
Julian immediately raised his weapon.
Maya stopped breathing.
"Someone got here first."
They entered Michael's room.
Empty.
The bed was stripped.
The monitors were still running.
Julian looked around.
"He's gone."
Derek checked the cameras.
A single figure had entered.
A man wearing a medical mask.
The timestamp showed:
3:02 A.M.
Derek zoomed in.
Julian stared.
The man turned toward the camera.
It was Daniel.
Maya whispered:
"He took Michael."
Julian's face hardened.
"Or he saved him."
She looked at him.
"What?"
"Think."
Julian pointed at the screen.
"Daniel had every opportunity to kill Michael."
"But he didn't."
"He removed him from the hospital."
"Why?"
"Because someone was coming for him."
Derek looked at the footage.
"There's more."
He opened another camera.
A black SUV.
Then another.
Then another.
All heading north.
Julian recognized the route.
"The Croft estate."
Maya looked at him.
"Your father."
Julian nodded.
"Yes."
They arrived at the old Croft estate before dawn.
The mansion had been abandoned for years.
Yet every light was on.
Julian stepped out.
Maya followed.
"Stay close."
"I am."
They entered through the front door.
Nothing.
No guards.
No voices.
Just silence.
Then the lights turned on.
One room at a time.
A path illuminated itself through the mansion.
Julian stared.
Someone was leading them.
They followed the lights.
Down the corridor.
Past his father's office.
Toward the old library.
The door opened.
Daniel stood inside.
Michael was beside him.
Alive.
And behind them...
Victor Croft.
Julian stopped.
His father smiled.
"Hello, son."
Maya's blood ran cold.
Victor looked at her.
Then smiled again.
"Finally."
Julian raised his gun.
"Let them go."
Victor laughed.
"You still think this is about them."
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"What is it about?"
Victor stepped toward him.
"You."
Maya stared.
Victor continued.
"Everything I've done for twenty years..."
He looked directly at Julian.
"...was to make sure you inherited the empire."
Julian's face hardened.
"I don't want it."
Victor smiled.
"You never understood."
He pointed toward Maya.
"She isn't your enemy."
Then toward Daniel.
"Neither is he."
Victor's expression became almost proud.
"The enemy..."
He paused.
"...is the man you've been calling your brother."
Julian stared at Daniel.
Victor whispered:
"Daniel isn't my son."
Silence.
Maya's heart stopped.
Victor smiled.
"He never was."
May you like
And for the first time, Julian understood that the family tree he had trusted his entire life...
had been a lie.
