Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Photograph
Daniel did not take Maya to the mansion.
He took her to the Hayes Grand Hotel.
Not through the polished lobby filled with chandeliers and marble, but through a private employee entrance beneath the building.
Security met them immediately.
A broad-shouldered man named Marcus Reed joined Daniel beside the elevator.
"Who's aware she's here?" Daniel asked.
"Me, you, and the night manager."
"Keep it that way."
Maya stared.
"You realize you're making this feel significantly more terrifying."
Marcus glanced at her.
"It's mostly precaution."
"Mostly?"
Daniel pressed the elevator button.
"Maya."
"Right. No questions."
"I didn't say that."
"You've been saying it with your face."
The elevator opened.
Daniel almost smiled.
The suite was modest by hotel standards but luxurious by Maya's.
A bed.
Small kitchen.
Clean towels.
A door that locked.
Daniel placed a key card on the counter.
"Stay tonight."
Maya crossed her arms.
"Now it feels less like charity and more like witness protection."
Marcus actually laughed.
Daniel didn't.
"Do not respond to the number again."
"What if they message?"
"Screenshot it. Send it to Marcus."
Maya looked at Marcus.
"Do I get his number before he starts controlling my phone?"
Marcus handed her a card.
"Only if you're comfortable."
She liked him immediately.
Daniel turned toward the door.
"Get some sleep."
"Daniel."
He stopped.
"You didn't answer."
"Which question?"
"The man in the photograph."
Daniel's face hardened.
"Victor Lang."
"Your CFO."
"Yes."
"Still?"
"Yes."
Maya stared.
"So your wife suspected money was being stolen, she was photographed with your CFO two days before she died, and he's still running your finances?"
"Elena never identified Victor."
"But you recognized him."
"That's not evidence."
"Neither is pretending it isn't suspicious."
Daniel's expression sharpened.
"You think I've spent two years doing nothing?"
"I think grief makes people avoid rooms they don't want to enter."
The moment she said it, Maya saw the effect.
Daniel looked away.
She softened.
"I'm not accusing you."
"Sounds like it."
"I'm asking why someone wants me involved."
Daniel considered that.
"So am I."
He left.
Maya locked the door behind him.
She should have slept.
Instead she sat at the small table and studied the photograph.
Elena looked angry.
Victor Lang was leaning toward her.
Behind them, reflected faintly in a window, another figure stood near the entrance.
A woman.
Maya zoomed.
The image blurred.
Impossible to identify.
At 2:13 a.m., Noah called.
Maya recognized Daniel's number.
She answered immediately.
"Hello?"
Noah whispered, "Dad's downstairs."
Maya sat up.
"Where are you?"
"My room."
"Why do you have your dad's phone?"
"He left it."
Maya smiled despite herself.
"That's stealing."
"Borrowing."
"Without permission is stealing."
Pause.
"I'll put it back."
"Good."
Another pause.
"You didn't leave?"
"I'm at one of your dad's hotels."
"Why?"
"Long story."
"Come tomorrow?"
Maya looked around the room.
"Noah—"
"Not forever."
That stopped her.
"Just breakfast."
Maya closed her eyes.
"You drive a hard bargain."
"What?"
"It means okay."
"Okay."
Before he hung up he said, "Maya?"
"Yeah?"
"Mom liked people who fed people."
Maya smiled.
"That's a good thing to like."
"She made Dad give money to the food place."
"The foundation?"
"Maybe."
Noah sounded uncertain.
"She said money doesn't count if you never look at who needs it."
Maya's smile faded.
Those words sounded like Elena.
Or at least like the woman Daniel had described.
"Did she say that a lot?"
"Sometimes."
Then Noah whispered something unexpected.
"She was mad before she died."
Maya went still.
"At who?"
"I don't know."
"Noah, you don't have to—"
"She cried in Dad's office."
Maya's pulse quickened.
"Did your dad know?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"I was hiding."
"Why?"
"We were playing."
Noah's voice became smaller.
"She said somebody was taking food from kids."
Maya stared at the wall.
Foundation money.
Someone stealing funds meant for vulnerable families.
Noah had been seven? No, six at the time.
Children remembered strange pieces.
Feelings.
Fragments.
"Did she say a name?"
Silence.
"Noah?"
"I don't remember."
"That's okay."
Maya deliberately changed her tone.
"And you don't need to try tonight."
Another pause.
"I miss her."
Maya swallowed.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
He was right.
"No," she said. "I don't."
The honesty calmed him.
"But you can miss her with me."
He breathed quietly.
"Okay."
After the call Maya couldn't sleep.
At seven-thirty Daniel appeared at her door.
She opened it.
"You look terrible."
"So do you."
"Excellent."
He held two coffees.
"Peace offering."
Maya accepted one.
"Did you sleep?"
"No."
"Same."
They sat at the small table.
Daniel looked older than he had yesterday.
"I spoke to Marcus."
"And?"
"The number was routed through an online service."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning whoever sent those messages doesn't want to be found."
"Comforting."
Daniel sipped his coffee.
"Victor arrives at headquarters at nine."
"You're confronting him?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if he knows something, I don't want to warn him."
Maya nodded.
Then remembered Noah's call.
"Your son stole your phone last night."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"That explains why it was under the hallway table."
"He called me."
Daniel looked at her.
"What did he say?"
Maya hesitated.
This was Noah's confidence.
But some of it mattered.
"He remembers Elena being upset."
Daniel leaned forward.
"When?"
"Before she died."
"About the foundation."
Daniel's face changed.
"How do you know?"
"He said she was crying in your office and talking about somebody taking food from kids."
Daniel stood abruptly.
"What?"
"He was hiding. Said you were playing some kind of game."
Daniel looked toward the window.
"Hide-and-seek."
"You remember?"
Daniel whispered, "I came home late."
His breathing slowed.
"Elena told me Noah had been hiding so well she'd forgotten the game for almost an hour."
Maya waited.
"That was three days before she died."
Daniel's hands clenched.
"What exactly did he hear?"
"He doesn't remember a name."
Daniel sat again.
"He hasn't talked about that week since the funeral."
"Maybe because everybody was waiting for words instead of memories."
Daniel looked at her.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Talk to him."
"I talk normally."
"His therapists talked normally."
"Did they?"
Daniel frowned.
"Or did every conversation have a goal?"
He thought about it.
Maya continued.
"When I ask him something and he doesn't answer, I move on."
"Because you don't care whether he speaks."
"I care whether he feels safe."
Daniel stared at her for a long moment.
Then he said, "Take the job."
Maya groaned.
"Seriously?"
"At least meet the foundation director."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because every useful thing I say about Noah shouldn't become part of a job interview."
Daniel stopped.
"You're right."
Maya blinked.
"What?"
"You're right."
"That's twice in forty-eight hours. You should see a doctor."
Daniel laughed.
A real laugh.
For several seconds his face looked younger.
Then his phone rang.
Marcus.
Daniel answered.
"Yeah?"
His expression changed almost immediately.
"When?"
He stood.
"Don't touch anything."
Maya watched him.
"What happened?"
Daniel ended the call.
"Someone accessed the foundation archives at 3:42 this morning."
"The missing money?"
"Maybe."
"From where?"
Daniel looked at her.
"My corporate office."
"Who has access?"
"Six people."
"Victor?"
"Yes."
Daniel headed for the door.
Then paused.
"And my mother."
Maya stared.
"Margaret?"
Daniel's face was unreadable.
"Apparently Elena wasn't the only person in my family keeping secrets."
At breakfast an hour later, Margaret Hayes looked up from her coffee as Daniel entered with Maya.
Her eyes moved between them.
"Something happened."
Daniel closed the dining-room doors.
"Who accessed the foundation archives last night?"
Margaret slowly placed down her cup.
"I did."
Daniel stared.
Maya stared too.
Margaret's voice remained calm.
"And before you start accusing Victor Lang of murder, there is something about Elena's death you need to know."
Noah appeared in the doorway behind them.
Nobody noticed him.
Margaret looked directly at her son.
"Elena didn't trust Victor."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"I know."
"No."
Margaret shook her head.
"You don't."
She took a breath.
"Because two days before she died, Elena gave me evidence."
Noah stood perfectly still.
Daniel whispered, "Evidence of what?"
Margaret's answer changed everything.
May you like
"That someone inside your company was stealing from her foundation."
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