Chapter 6: Rafe’s Debt
Maya woke strapped to a metal chair.
A bright light burned above her.
The room had no windows, clocks, or visible doors. A mirror covered the wall in front of her.
Her father’s file was gone.
“Lucas?” she called.
No answer.
A speaker clicked above her.
Dr. Price’s voice filled the room.
“Tell us what you remember about the lake.”
Maya looked at the mirror.
“What lake?”
“The one where Adrian Cross trained you.”
“My father taught me to fish.”
“He taught you far more than that.”
Images flashed across the mirror.
Maya as a child.
Maya running through a forest.
Maya assembling a handgun while blindfolded.
Maya fighting an adult man twice her size.
She remembered none of it.
“These are fake,” she said.
“Are they?”
Another video appeared.
Adrian Cross stood in front of the camera.
He was younger than Elias, but his eyes were identical.
“If you are watching this,” Adrian said, “then they found Maya.”
Maya pulled against the restraints.
Her father continued.
“She cannot be allowed to remember what happened at Redwater.”
The video ended.
A hidden door opened.
Lucas entered.
He wore a gray prison uniform and no restraints.
Maya stared at him.
“Lucas.”
He approached slowly.
For a moment, she saw the brother who used to sneak into her room during thunderstorms and tell ridiculous stories until she stopped being afraid.
Then she noticed the emptiness in his eyes.
“Untie me,” she said.
Lucas stood behind her.
“I can’t.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“They fixed me.”
“They made you believe that.”
His hands trembled.
Maya lowered her voice.
“You used to call me Mayfly.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
A flicker of pain crossed his face.
“No one else knew that,” Maya continued. “You broke Mom’s blue lamp when we were kids. You blamed the dog even though we didn’t own one.”
Lucas almost smiled.
Then blood appeared beneath his nose.
He gripped the chair as though fighting dizziness.
The speaker activated.
“Lucas,” Dr. Price warned.
He immediately stepped away.
Maya realized they had conditioned him to respond to Price’s voice.
“Take her to preparation,” Price ordered.
Lucas released the restraints around Maya’s ankles but left her wrists secured.
As he moved her chair toward the hidden door, he whispered without moving his lips.
“Third hallway. Red switch.”
Maya gave no sign that she had heard.
Lucas wheeled her into a medical corridor.
At the third hallway, Maya kicked the wall and threw her weight sideways.
The chair crashed to the floor.
Lucas reached for her.
She rolled toward the red emergency switch and struck it with her shoulder.
Sprinklers activated.
Every magnetic door unlocked.
Rafe burst from a nearby medical room with his wounded shoulder wrapped in bandages.
He knocked down an officer and cut Maya’s restraints.
“You’re difficult to rescue,” he said.
Lucas stood between them and the exit.
Rafe raised a stolen baton.
Maya stepped in front of him.
“Don’t hurt him.”
Lucas looked at Maya.
“Run.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll slow them down.”
Maya grabbed his arm.
“You’re coming with us.”
Lucas pulled free.
A group of armed officers appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Lucas turned toward them and fired a stolen weapon into the ceiling.
“Go!”
Maya and Rafe ran through the emergency door.
As it closed, Maya heard Dr. Price shouting through the speakers.
Then Lucas’s voice came over the prison intercom.
“Maya, Rafe didn’t tell you why he was sent to Blackridge.”
Rafe stopped.
Maya looked at him.
May you like
The intercom continued.
“He was convicted of murdering our father.”
