Chapter 14 - THE WOMAN WHO REMEMBERED HER
The town was smaller than Maya expected.
One main road.
A grocery store.
A church.
A diner.
And dozens of old houses surrounded by pine trees.
The photograph had been taken twenty-two years earlier.
Finding the woman in it would not be easy.
But Maya had one advantage.
Her mother had a distinctive scar near her left eyebrow.
They searched records.
Church archives.
Property documents.
Old employment records.
Nothing.
Until Daniel found a name.
Evelyn Ward.
A nurse who had worked at a local clinic for eighteen years.
The photograph showed Maya's mother wearing a nurse's uniform.
They went to the clinic.
An elderly receptionist looked at the photograph.
Her hands began shaking.
“You're looking for Evelyn.”
Maya's heart jumped.
“You know her?”
The woman nodded.
“She hasn't worked here in years.”
“Where is she?”
The receptionist hesitated.
“She died.”
Maya's world collapsed.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Daniel gently placed his hand on Maya's shoulder.
“I'm sorry.”
The receptionist looked at her carefully.
“Are you Alexander's daughter?”
Maya couldn't speak.
The woman reached beneath the counter.
She pulled out a small wooden box.
“Evelyn left this.”
“For whom?”
“For you.”
Maya opened it.
Inside was a necklace.
A tiny silver pendant shaped like a hawk.
Beneath it was a letter.
Her hands shook as she unfolded it.
My dearest Maya,
If you are reading this, then someone finally kept their promise.
I wanted to find you.
Every day.
Every year.
But I was told that if I came near you, they would kill you.
I believed them.
That was the hardest decision of my life.
Your father did not sell you.
He died trying to save you.
I survived because I ran.
And I have regretted it every day.
I love you.
I always have.
Mom.
Maya collapsed into Daniel's arms.
She cried for a long time.
Not the quiet tears she had shed before.
These were the tears of a child who had finally received the answer she had waited for her entire life.
Her mother had loved her.
She had not been unwanted.
She had been loved from a distance.
The receptionist sat beside her.
“There is something else.”
Maya looked up.
“Your mother kept a journal.”
“Where?”
“She gave it to the priest.”
They went to the church.
An elderly priest brought out a locked metal box.
Inside was Evelyn's journal.
Maya read through hundreds of pages.
Then she found something.
A name repeated over and over.
Richard Vale.
Daniel frowned.
“Who is Richard Vale?”
Maya didn't know.
The priest did.
“He was a military intelligence officer.”
“Where is he now?”
The priest looked uncomfortable.
“He died last year.”
Maya closed her eyes.
Another dead end.
Then she remembered something from the journal.
Richard Vale had a son.
Michael Vale.
And Michael was still alive.
More importantly—
he worked for a private security company.
The same company currently protecting Conrad Sterling.
Maya stared at Daniel.
“We've found him.”
That evening, her phone rang.
The caller ID displayed an unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Maya Hawthorne.”
“Yes.”
“You should not have gone to Maine.”
Her heart froze.
“Who is this?”
“You've opened a door that should have stayed closed.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stop.”
“No.”
Silence.
Then the man said something that made Maya's blood turn cold.
“I knew your father.”
“Who are you?”
May you like
“My name is Michael Vale.”
The line went dead.
