Chapter 5 - THE SECRET INSIDE MAYA’S WALL
Maya ran to her room.
Julian reached the door first.
“Stop.”
“It’s my room.”
“If there’s something hidden in the walls, we don’t know if it’s trapped.”
She stared at him.
“You think your father put a bomb behind my dresser?”
“No.”
“Then move.”
He didn’t.
Derek stepped between them.
“Let security sweep it.”
Maya hated waiting.
Three minutes felt like thirty.
No explosives.
No wires.
No obvious devices.
Then Maya entered.
Her room looked exactly the same.
Small compared to the rest of the penthouse.
Warm.
Simple.
A bed.
Dresser.
Desk.
One cracked photograph frame holding a picture of her mother before illness changed her.
Maya stared at the walls.
“Where?”
Julian looked toward the closet.
“Dominic favored false panels.”
Derek checked the molding.
Nothing.
Maya remembered Evelyn’s words.
In Maya’s room.
Not behind Maya’s room.
She looked at the old wooden headboard.
It had been there when she moved in.
She assumed it belonged to the guest room.
Julian frowned.
“That wasn’t purchased by me.”
Derek lifted it away from the wall.
Behind it, the wallpaper looked slightly different.
A rectangle.
Julian peeled back one edge.
Metal.
A hidden compartment.
Maya’s breathing changed.
Derek opened it.
Inside was a black leather journal.
Smaller than expected.
No lock.
No title.
Julian touched it but did not open it.
Maya stared.
“Second ledger.”
“Maybe.”
“Why was it here?”
Nobody answered.
Maya picked up the photograph of Elena.
Her mother had worked in Chicago before Maya was born.
Hotel housekeeping.
Restaurant kitchens.
Then suddenly moved south.
Maya had never asked why.
Her mother avoided questions about the city.
She called Chicago “a place that collects debts.”
Maya always thought she meant poverty.
Maybe not.
Julian opened the journal.
Pages of names.
Dates.
Amounts.
But unlike the black ledger, this one contained handwritten notes.
Personal notes.
Dominic’s handwriting.
One entry:
E.T. - Witness. Not participant.
Maya’s heart stopped.
“Elena Torres.”
Julian looked at her.
Next entry:
E.T. saw Marco and Bellini at Pier 6.
Derek went pale.
“What year?”
Julian read it.
Twenty-four years ago.
Maya was twenty-three.
Her mother had witnessed something before Maya was born.
“What happened at Pier Six?”
Julian kept reading.
Then his expression changed.
Derek noticed.
“What?”
Julian handed him the book.
Entry:
Marco moved Romano shipment without authorization. Bellini present. Calder warned me after.
Derek whispered:
“My father stole from the Romanos?”
Julian nodded.
“Looks like it.”
Another line:
Elena saw them load the container.
Maya stared.
“What container?”
Derek turned the page.
Half the sheet had been torn out.
Someone had removed it years ago.
Then Maya noticed an envelope tucked inside the back cover.
Her name.
MAYA TORRES.
She stopped breathing.
Dominic Croft died when Maya was eleven.
He should not have known she would someday work in Julian’s home.
Unless this had been placed later.
Julian looked at her.
“Open it.”
Her hands trembled.
Inside was a birth certificate copy.
Maya’s.
Mother: Elena Torres.
Father:
Blank.
Nothing unusual.
Then another document.
A DNA laboratory report.
Maya frowned.
“Why would Dominic have my DNA?”
Julian read over her shoulder.
The report compared an unidentified child sample to an adult male.
Probability of paternity:
99.97%.
Maya’s mouth went dry.
“Who was the male?”
Derek turned the page.
The identifying cover sheet remained attached.
Adult male sample:
MARCO VANCE.
Silence.
Maya slowly looked at Derek.
His face had gone completely white.
“No.”
She could barely speak.
“Derek…”
“No.”
Julian took the paper.
Read it twice.
Maya stared at Derek.
Marco Vance.
Derek’s father.
Her father?
That would make—
“No.”
Derek backed away.
“This is fake.”
Maya whispered:
“It says he’s my father.”
Derek’s eyes filled with shock.
Then calculation.
“If Marco was your father…”
Maya finished the thought.
“You’re my brother.”
Nobody moved.
Then Julian’s phone rang.
Evelyn Calder.
He answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
Her voice trembled.
“You found it.”
“Yes.”
“Did Maya see the DNA report?”
Julian looked at her.
“Yes.”
Evelyn began crying.
“Then Marco’s lie is finally dead.”
Maya stepped closer.
“What lie?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Marco Vance wasn’t your father.”
Maya froze.
“The DNA says—”
“I know what it says.”
“Then what are you saying?”
May you like
Evelyn’s voice dropped.
“He switched the samples.”
