Chapter 6 - The Man Who Came Back for Maya
Mercer didn't run far.
Investigators found his abandoned vehicle.
Inside were photographs of Maya taken over several weeks.
Running.
Training.
Leaving the barracks.
Maya stared at them.
“He's been watching me.”
Vance nodded.
The realization changed her fear into anger.
For eleven years, she had hidden her scars because they made her feel weak.
Now she understood something.
The scars weren't weakness.
They were evidence.
Mercer needed Ethan's encrypted files destroyed because they documented financial transfers, false manifests, and names connected to the old network.
But the files had already been copied into official custody.
Mercer was too late.
That made him dangerous.
Two days later, he contacted Maya directly.
“You look like Ethan.”
Maya remained silent while investigators recorded the call.
Mercer continued.
“Your father made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“He believed truth protects people.”
Maya looked at Vance.
“No. His mistake was believing men like you could bury it forever.”
Silence.
Then Mercer laughed.
“You've got his temper too.”
The call ended.
Investigators traced it.
Mercer had made one final mistake.
He was arrested that evening.
No dramatic gunfight.
No heroic duel.
Just handcuffs.
Maya watched from a distance as officers placed him inside a vehicle.
Mercer saw her.
For several seconds, they stared at each other.
Then Maya rolled up her left sleeve.
Deliberately.
For the first time in eleven years.
She didn't hide the scars.
Mercer's expression changed.
Maya said nothing.
She didn't need to.
May you like
The evidence he had tried to erase was standing in front of him.
Alive.
