Chapter 14 - THE CONFESSION THAT ALMOST GOT HER KILLED
Kell grabbed Maya’s wrist.
She did not scream.
Thomas had warned her not to.
If she panicked too early, Kell would stop talking.
Maya looked at his hand.
“You’re hurting me.”
“Good.”
The professional calm was gone.
Arthur Kell’s face had changed completely.
“You have no idea what you’ve stepped into.”
“I think I do.”
“No.”
He leaned closer.
“You think Gabriel is obsessed with Julian.”
Maya said nothing.
“He isn’t.”
“What does he want?”
Kell laughed.
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“Everything Adrian took from him.”
“The Croft organization?”
“The city.”
Maya stared.
“You sound insane.”
“Cities are owned every day.”
Kell tightened his grip.
“Contracts.”
“Police.”
“Judges.”
“Ports.”
“Labor.”
“Votes.”
“Fear.”
Maya kept him talking.
“And Black Harbor?”
A shadow crossed his face.
“That was Gabriel’s mistake.”
“Trafficking people was a mistake?”
“It created witnesses.”
Disgust filled her.
“You helped him.”
Kell smiled.
“I cleaned problems.”
“How many people did you kill?”
“Enough.”
Maya’s stomach twisted.
“You framed Julian.”
“We corrected history.”
“What does that mean?”
“Adrian destroyed Gabriel’s life.”
“Gabriel murdered Adrian.”
Kell smiled.
“Eventually.”
Maya’s heartbeat stopped.
“Eventually?”
Kell realized too late.
Maya leaned forward.
“You killed Julian’s parents.”
Kell said nothing.
“You were involved.”
His eyes hardened.
Maya kept pushing.
“Gabriel ordered it.”
Silence.
“But you did it.”
Kell slowly smiled.
“I built the device.”
Behind the mirror, Thomas heard everything.
So did the two independent federal inspectors he had secretly contacted.
Maya did not know whether they had arrived yet.
She only knew she needed more.
“You built the bomb.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian refused to give Gabriel the ledger.”
Maya’s face remained controlled.
“So you murdered Catherine too.”
Kell’s expression changed.
Maya noticed.
“Catherine wasn’t supposed to be in the car.”
There it was.
Regret.
Or something resembling it.
“You cared about her?”
Kell released Maya’s wrist.
“That is none of your concern.”
Maya understood.
“You loved Julian’s mother.”
Kell slammed his hand onto the table.
“Enough.”
Maya flinched.
Kell stared at her.
“Catherine was supposed to leave Adrian.”
“She didn’t.”
“No.”
“So you killed her.”
“I said enough.”
“You killed the woman you loved.”
Kell’s hand moved toward the gun.
Maya’s fear became real.
“Kell.”
He lifted the weapon.
“You should have stayed quiet.”
The interview room door burst open.
Federal agents flooded inside.
Kell fired once.
Thomas threw Maya to the floor.
Agents returned fire.
Kell collapsed against the wall.
Maya covered her ears.
Thomas shielded her.
For several seconds, everything became noise.
Then silence.
Maya looked up.
Kell was alive.
Wounded.
Agents cuffed him.
An inspector approached Maya.
“Ms. Torres, are you injured?”
She looked at her wrist.
“No.”
Thomas helped her stand.
“You did well.”
Maya hit him.
Thomas blinked.
“That was for letting me walk into a room with a murderer.”
“You volunteered.”
“I was emotional.”
“That is not legally relevant.”
She hit him again.
“That was for knowing my father was alive.”
Thomas sighed.
“Fair.”
Kell’s confession changed everything.
But not enough.
Prosecutors still refused to release Julian immediately.
The Black Harbor evidence remained complicated.
Victims’ records contained Croft financial transfers.
Adrian’s operations had unknowingly provided infrastructure before he discovered Gabriel’s trafficking scheme.
The government needed time.
Maya hated that phrase.
Julian had been transferred to a secure detention facility.
His lawyer arranged a visit.
Maya sat behind thick glass.
Julian entered in a gray prison uniform.
Seeing him like that made something inside her hurt.
He sat.
Picked up the phone.
Maya did too.
Julian spoke first.
“What were you thinking?”
She smiled.
“Nice to see you too.”
“You deliberately entered a room alone with Arthur Kell.”
“Thomas was nearby.”
“Thomas has the survival instincts of a suicidal raccoon.”
Maya laughed.
Julian did not.
“He pointed a gun at you.”
“I noticed.”
“Do you understand what could have happened?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Maya’s smile vanished.
“Yes, Julian.”
His anger stopped.
She leaned closer to the glass.
“I understand exactly what could have happened.”
His eyes lowered.
“I couldn’t sit at home while you were here.”
“Maya.”
“You would have done worse for me.”
“That is different.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what I’m doing.”
She stared.
“That might be the most arrogant thing you’ve ever said.”
“I have training.”
“So do I.”
“In what?”
“Surviving you.”
Despite himself, Julian laughed.
Then his face softened.
“I was terrified.”
Maya looked at him.
“When my lawyer told me what you were doing…”
His fingers tightened around the phone.
“I could not breathe.”
Maya’s chest hurt.
“I’m sorry.”
“I am not asking you to apologize.”
“What are you asking?”
Julian looked at her.
“Please do not become reckless because you think saving me requires becoming like me.”
She went quiet.
“That is not what I want for you.”
Maya stared at him.
“What do you want for me?”
His answer came immediately.
“Choice.”
Her eyes filled.
Julian continued.
“I want you to wake up one morning and realize no debt, no Gabriel, no employer, no mother, no father, and no man who loves you gets to choose your life.”
Maya swallowed.
“Even you.”
“Especially me.”
She looked down.
“I don’t know what I want.”
“You don’t need to yet.”
“You make that sound easy.”
“It won’t be.”
“Thanks.”
“You dislike lies.”
She smiled faintly.
Julian touched the glass.
Maya raised her hand to the same place.
“I miss you.”
He stopped breathing.
Maya realized she had never said that before.
Julian’s voice became quiet.
“I miss you too.”
“Your apartment is too quiet.”
“Our apartment?”
Maya stared.
“Do not make this weird.”
“I asked a grammatical question.”
“Your penthouse.”
His mouth almost smiled.
“Maya.”
“Yes?”
“If they release me—”
“When.”
He looked at her.
“When they release you.”
Julian nodded.
“When they release me, I need you to quit.”
Her face changed.
“The job?”
“Yes.”
She slowly lowered her hand.
“Why?”
“Because I cannot be your employer and tell you I love you.”
“You already did.”
“I made mistakes.”
“Many.”
“Yes.”
Maya studied him.
“You want to fire me?”
“I want to stop paying you to live in my home.”
Her eyebrow rose.
“That sounded worse.”
Julian rubbed his forehead.
“I am failing spectacularly.”
Maya laughed.
“Continue.”
“I want you to have your own income.”
“I do.”
“Not a bakery at two in the morning.”
“Fair.”
“I want you to choose whether you stay.”
Maya’s heart tightened.
“As what?”
Julian looked at her.
“That is entirely your decision.”
A guard announced the visit was ending.
Maya held the phone tighter.
“Julian.”
“Yes?”
“I think I know my answer.”
His eyes sharpened.
“About what?”
She smiled.
“You’ll have to get out to hear it.”
The guard took Julian away.
He looked back once.
For the first time since Maya had known him, Julian Croft smiled inside a federal detention center.
Maya returned to the penthouse.
At midnight, an envelope waited beneath the door.
No security footage showed who delivered it.
Inside was a photograph of Gabriel.
Standing beside Daniel’s hospital bed.
Taken ten minutes earlier.
Maya’s blood ran cold.
She called Daniel.
No answer.
She called Rosa.
No answer.
Then her phone rang.
Gabriel.
Maya answered.
“What did you do?”
His voice was calm.
“Nothing yet.”
“What do you want?”
“The original archive.”
“You have a copy.”
“I have records.”
Gabriel paused.
“Daniel kept one file separate.”
“What file?”
“The list of every surviving Black Harbor victim.”
Maya stopped.
“Why do you want it?”
“So I can find them before the government does.”
Horror filled her.
“You want to kill them.”
“I want to eliminate risk.”
Maya’s hand shook.
“Where are my parents?”
“Safe.”
“If you touch them—”
“Maya.”
Gabriel laughed softly.
“You keep threatening a man who has already demonstrated exactly what he is willing to do.”
Maya went silent.
Gabriel continued.
“You have twelve hours.”
“To do what?”
“Bring me the survivor list.”
“Where?”
“I’ll contact you.”
The line went quiet.
Then Gabriel added one final sentence.
“And Maya?”
“What?”
“Do not tell Julian.”
She froze.
Gabriel laughed.
“Oh.”
“You didn’t hear.”
“Hear what?”
“Julian was released twenty minutes ago.”
Maya’s heart jumped.
Before she could speak, Gabriel continued.
“And if he comes anywhere near you…”
His voice became cold.
“I will kill Daniel first.”
The line went dead.
The penthouse elevator chimed.
Maya turned.
The doors opened.
Julian stepped out.
Free.
Alive.
Looking for her.
May you like
Maya ran into his arms.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, she had to hide something from him again.
