Chương 8
“Why?”
“Marcus searched Lily’s schedule. He knew where she would be. If Mason attacked her because of something she found, Marcus may still need the backup.”
“The police are here.”
“Two officers at the main entrance. This floor has three elevators, two stairwells, and a service corridor.”
Priya stood. “I’ll speak to hospital security.”
“Don’t leave the floor alone.”
She paused. “You really are staying.”
Daniel pulled the chair close to Lily’s bed. “I told Alvarez I would.”
“That has never stopped you before.”
“It stops me now.”
Priya watched him for a moment, then went to the nurses’ station.
Daniel remained beside Lily.
The afternoon passed with no dramatic arrival, no masked intruder, no crisis that justified the tension in his shoulders. A respiratory therapist checked Lily’s oxygen. A nurse changed the IV bag. Someone delivered flowers from the university president, and Daniel asked that they be removed because the scent filled the room.
He read every card before they left.
Most offered prayers. One called Lily brave. One said the university community stood beside her. None mentioned the three students whose families helped fund the building where the cards had been written.
At five, a news alert appeared on the borrowed phone.
SECURITY TYCOON’S DAUGHTER LINKED TO ILLEGAL DRUG PARTY.
The article cited anonymous sources who claimed Lily had attended the Gray Room seeking narcotics and had argued with other guests. A photograph showed her laughing at a campus concert months earlier, a plastic cup in her hand.
Daniel read the article twice.
The first time, he felt anger.
The second time, he looked for purpose.
The story named no suspects. It described Daniel’s alleged criminal history in detail. It quoted a former federal agent calling him “one of the most feared unofficial enforcers on the East Coast.” It said no charges had ever been proven. It mentioned Claire’s death in one sentence.
Lily’s eyes opened while he was reading.
He locked the screen.
She saw his face and reached for the board.
“Later,” he said.
Her gaze hardened.
“I’m not hiding it.”
She continued staring.
He held up the phone.
She read the headline.
Her eyes stayed on the words longer than he wanted. Then she looked at him.
“None of it matters,” he said.
She selected L-I-A-R.
Daniel did not understand at first.
Then she pointed toward him.
The room became very quiet.
“You mean me.”
YES.
He lowered the board.
Lily’s eyes filled, but no tears fell. She chose another word.
G-H-O-S-T.
Daniel’s fingers went cold.
The news article had given her the name.
He sat down because standing felt dishonest.
“My name is Daniel.”
She selected L-I-A-R again.
He looked at the tattoos on his hands. “I didn’t lie about my name.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“That was a bad answer.”
She blinked once, sharply.
He rubbed his thumb over an old scar near his wrist. “Ghost was what people called me a long time ago.”
W-H-Y.
“Because I was good at finding people who didn’t want to be found.”
Her gaze did not move.
“And because sometimes,” he said, “after I found them, they disappeared from other people’s problems.”
The monitor measured the increase in her pulse before her face showed anything.
Daniel leaned forward. “I never killed anyone in front of you. I never brought that life into our house.”
Her fingers trembled over the board.
She selected H-O-W M-A-N-Y.
He stared at the words.
A truthful answer required distinctions that would sound like excuses. Men he had struck. Men he had frightened. Men he had delivered to people who did worse. People whose businesses he destroyed. Witnesses he paid. Evidence he moved. A young union organizer whose hand Daniel broke because the man refused to change a vote. A restaurant owner who lost everything after Daniel planted stolen goods in a storeroom. A driver who vanished after Marcus took him from a parking lot.
Daniel had never counted because counting suggested an intention to stop.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Lily closed her eyes.
“I should.”
She turned her face slightly away. Pain stopped the movement, but the intention was clear.
Daniel sat beside her and did not touch her.
A nurse entered to check the monitor. She noticed the silence, performed her work, and left without trying to soften it.
Daniel remained until Lily slept.
At 6:12 p.m., Alvarez called.
“We found Maya,” she said.
“Where?”
“At Benton Municipal.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Mason?”
“No.”
“Marcus?”
“No.”
“Lydia Vale?”
“With Maya.”
Daniel stood. “Why?”
“Maya says Lydia is representing her as a witness. Lydia says she brought Maya to the hangar because she believed the police station was compromised.”
“By whom?”
“She won’t say without a formal interview.”
“Is she under arrest?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“For being a lawyer?”
“For moving a witness.”
“Maya left voluntarily.”
“Does Maya have Lily’s backup?”
“We’re asking.”
“Ask faster.”
Alvarez exhaled. “We also recovered a damaged phone from a trash bin near the hangar.”
“Lily’s?”
“Possibly.”
“Who put it there?”
“We have security footage. Marcus arrived at the hangar at 2:38 p.m. He stayed fourteen minutes. He left in a different vehicle before our units arrived.”
“What did he do?”
“Carried a small bag inside. Left without it.”
“Maya?”
“Arrived later with Lydia.”
“Then Marcus wasn’t moving Maya. He was moving evidence.”
“Maybe.”
“Where is Mason?”
“We don’t know.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
Alvarez’s voice changed. “We found blood in a private room above the Gray Room.”
“Her blood?”
“Testing pending.”
“What else?”
“Zip ties. Cleaning supplies. A broken necklace clasp. No necklace.”
Lily had worn Claire’s pendant since her sixteenth birthday. A small oval locket with no photograph inside because Lily said empty space was better than choosing only one memory.
Daniel gripped the phone.
“Was there a camera?” he asked.
“Wiring for one. Device removed.”
“Mason filmed them.”
May you like
“We don’t know that.”
“Maya’s father recovers damaged devices. Marcus manages his contract. Lily backed up recordings. Mason films assaults. Marcus searches Lily’s schedule four days before the attack.”
