Chương 8
“I thought private investigation was a more organized version of being nosy.”
Daniel sat down again.
“Then?”
“Then the first week I spent eight hours confirming whether a man really lived at the address he gave his insurance company.”
“That sounds boring.”
“It was incredibly boring.”
“What changed?”
“Caleb.”
“How?”
“He started asking me for favors.”
“Professional favors?”
“At first.”
Daniel’s expression sharpened.
“Was there something between you and Caleb?”
“No.”
“You answered that one fast too.”
“Because there wasn’t.”
“Did he want there to be?”
Maya paused.
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
“Of course.”
“He flirted with everyone.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“He kissed me once.”
Daniel’s eyes opened.
“When?”
“Before you.”
“Before the assignment?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I told him not to do it again.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
“No.”
“Did you want to?”
“No.”
Daniel stared at her for another beat.
“Okay.”
Maya looked surprised.
“What?”
“I said okay.”
“You believe me?”
“I believe that answer.”
The distinction hurt, but she accepted it.
Daniel leaned back in the chair.
“Why would Aaron show up now?”
“I don’t know.”
He lifted a hand before she could continue.
“Fine.”
Maya looked toward the bassinet.
“Maybe Evelyn contacted someone.”
“She said she didn’t.”
“She could be lying.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Apparently that’s hereditary now.”
Maya looked at him.
Daniel winced.
“Damn it.”
“You don’t have to keep apologizing every time you mean something cruel.”
“I don’t mean all of it.”
“Some of it.”
“Yes.”
“That’s fair.”
Daniel gave her a strange look.
“You don’t get to make this easy for me.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re sitting there agreeing with every accusation.”
“Because some of them are true.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“What would?”
“I don’t know.”
The words came out sharper than he intended.
Maya almost smiled.
“There.”
“What?”
“You said it.”
Daniel looked annoyed.
“I’m allowed.”
“So am I.”
For the first time since he reentered the room, the silence between them felt almost ordinary.
Then someone knocked.
Not Rachel’s polite two taps.
Three slow knocks.
Maya’s face drained.
Daniel stood.
The door opened only a few inches.
Rachel appeared in the gap.
“He says he has information related to Caleb Mercer.”
Daniel looked at Maya.
She nodded reluctantly.
“Let him in.”
Rachel opened the door wider.
The man behind her was taller than Maya remembered and much thinner.
Aaron Pike had gone gray at the temples.
His navy jacket looked expensive until he moved and Daniel noticed one cuff had been repaired by hand.
He carried no bag.
His hands were empty and visible.
That seemed deliberate.
Aaron looked first at Maya.
His expression did not change when he saw the bruise.
Then he looked at Daniel.
“You’re Daniel.”
Daniel stepped between him and the bed.
“And you’re not coming any closer.”
Aaron stopped immediately.
“That’s fine.”
Rachel remained at the door.
“I’ll stay nearby.”
“No,” Aaron said.
Everyone looked at him.
He glanced at Rachel.
“No offense, but what I’m about to say involves private records and potentially criminal conduct.”
Daniel’s eyebrows lifted.
“You came to a maternity floor to announce potential criminal conduct and now you’re worried about privacy.”
Aaron looked at him.
“Yes.”
The bluntness irritated Daniel more than defensiveness would have.
Rachel looked to Maya.
Maya nodded.
“You can go.”
Rachel left, but the door remained partly open.
Aaron noticed.
He did not object.
Maya studied him.
“You knew I was here.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Evelyn Carter.”
Daniel turned.
“My mother said she didn’t call anyone.”
“She didn’t call me.”
Aaron reached slowly into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Daniel stepped forward.
Aaron stopped.
“It’s my phone.”
“Leave it there.”
Aaron did.
“Your mother accessed an email account this morning.”
Daniel stared at him.
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Because I’ve been monitoring that account.”
Maya’s fingers tightened around the sheet.
“For six years?”
“Longer.”
Daniel’s voice went flat.
“You’re monitoring my dead father’s email.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Aaron looked at Maya.
“Because it was never your father’s account.”
The room seemed to become quieter around him.
Daniel shook his head.
“It had his name.”
“It used his name.”
“My mother had the password.”
“That was intentional.”
“What are you talking about?”
Aaron looked toward the bassinet.
His eyes rested on the baby for half a second before returning to Daniel.
“I need you to understand something before we go further.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“No speeches.”
“Fine.”
Aaron nodded.
“The account was built to be found.”
Maya stared at him.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“By who?”
“Vale.”
Daniel took one step closer.
“Why would Vale build a fake account using my father’s identity?”
“To make evidence look inherited instead of planted.”
“Evidence of what?”
Aaron looked at Maya again.
“That depends on which version of the job you were supposed to discover.”
Maya’s breathing changed.
“Aaron.”
“You never knew.”
“No.”
“I know.”
Daniel looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
Aaron finally removed his phone, moving slowly enough that Daniel did not object.
He unlocked it and held the screen outward.
A photograph appeared.
It showed a younger Thomas Vale leaving an office building beside a man in a dark coat.
Daniel leaned closer.
The second man’s face was partly turned away.
Something about his posture made Daniel stop.
His eyes moved to the date printed beneath the image.
Twelve years earlier.
One year before his father died.
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Who is that?”
Aaron looked at him.
“You know.”
“No.”
“You do.”
Daniel stared at the photograph again.
The man was older than Daniel remembered.
Thinner.
His hair was darker.
But the left shoulder sat slightly higher than the right, the result of an old college football injury Daniel had heard about hundreds of times.
His stomach turned.
“That’s my father.”
“Yes.”
Maya looked from Daniel to Aaron.
“You said the account wasn’t his.”
“It wasn’t.”
Aaron put the phone away.
“But Northline Holdings was.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“You said someone used his company after he died.”
May you like
“No.”
Maya whispered, “I said that.”
