Chapter 7 - The Price of a Family
Augustine did not tell Mave.
He told Azie.
Then he told Wendell.
No one else.
The address belonged to an abandoned ferry terminal.
Azie said it was a trap.
Augustine agreed.
“But Cordelia knows about Juny.”
“She wants you there.”
“Yes.”
“You can't go alone.”
“I know.”
Mave overheard them.
She entered the room.
“No.”
Augustine looked at her.
“You weren't supposed to hear that.”
“She wrote that the girl is the price.”
Mave’s face was calm.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“You don't get to decide.”
“I do when your daughter is involved.”
Mave stepped closer.
“She's my daughter.”
“Exactly.”
Silence.
Juny stood in the hallway.
She had heard everything.
“I'll go.”
Mave turned.
“No.”
Juny looked at her.
“They're after me, aren't they?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
Mave's voice broke.
“I waited fourteen years for you.”
“And I spent eleven years wondering why no one came.”
That sentence stopped her.
Juny continued.
“I need to know who took me.”
Mave embraced her.
“I'll tell you everything.”
“Then let me help.”
Augustine watched them.
He understood.
Family wasn't always blood.
Sometimes it was the person who stood beside you when you were terrified.
He nodded.
“We do this together.”
The plan was simple.
Too simple.
That was why Augustine hated it.
They would send a false message that Mave and Juny had left the city.
Security would track anyone approaching the ferry terminal.
Augustine would appear to go alone.
Mave would wait nearby.
Azie would position himself on the opposite side.
At 11:00 p.m., Augustine entered the terminal.
Cordelia was waiting.
She wore a black coat.
No jewelry.
No makeup.
For the first time, she looked less like a socialite and more like someone who understood she had lost control.
“You came.”
“You have something of mine.”
Cordelia laughed.
“Your entire life seems to be made of things someone wants from you.”
“Where is Juny?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“You giving me protection.”
Augustine stared.
“From your own family?”
“My father.”
“Your grandmother.”
“My entire family.”
She smiled bitterly.
“You think I'm the villain.”
“I think you helped them.”
“Yes.”
The answer surprised him.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I was raised to believe that money fixes everything.”
“And now?”
“Now I know money only makes some crimes quieter.”
She reached into her coat.
“I have records.”
“Why give them to me?”
“Because I want out.”
“You could go to the police.”
Cordelia laughed.
“They own too many doors.”
Augustine understood.
“That's why you came to me.”
“Yes.”
“What about Juny?”
Cordelia lowered her eyes.
“She was moved because she saw something she shouldn't have.”
“What?”
“Your father.”
Augustine froze.
“My father?”
“He knew about the children.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It isn't.”
A gunshot came from outside.
Cordelia ducked.
Augustine grabbed her.
“Stay down.”
Three armed men entered the terminal.
Not Cordelia's people.
Her face drained.
“My father.”
Augustine pushed her behind a concrete pillar.
Mave and Azie entered from the rear.
The shooting lasted less than a minute.
Mave moved through the building with the same precision she had shown at Ashgrove.
Azie covered her.
Augustine disarmed the final attacker.
When the room went silent, Cordelia was crying.
“They came to kill me.”
Mave stared at her.
“You expected that.”
Cordelia nodded.
“They don't let people leave.”
Then a phone rang.
The sound came from one of the dead men.
Augustine answered.
A man spoke.
“Ferraro.”
“Who is this?”
“You know my name.”
Augustine did.
Silas Blaine.
Cordelia's father.
The conversation lasted only a minute.
Silas revealed the final secret.
He had been behind the operation that resulted in Mave's husband's death.
He had also ordered Juny's transfer.
But he denied killing the child.
“She was useful alive,” he said.
Augustine clenched his fist.
“Where is she?”
“She’s standing in your house.”
The call ended.
Mave looked at Augustine.
“What does that mean?”
He understood.
“It means he has been watching us.”
Back at Ashgrove, security swept the property.
Juny was gone.
Mave's world collapsed.
Every room.
Every hallway.
Every door.
Empty.
She ran upstairs.
The attic room was open.
On the bed lay the faded hospital bracelet.
Under it was a note.
Mommy, I need to find out what happened.
Mave stared at the words.
Then she fell to her knees.
Augustine found her there.
He did not speak.
He sat beside her.
She leaned against him.
“I got her back.”
“I know.”
“And now she's gone.”
“We'll find her.”
“What if this is my fault?”
“It isn't.”
“What if—”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because she chose to leave.”
Mave cried.
“I should have stopped her.”
“You can't protect someone from every choice.”
Then he said the words he had been afraid to say.
“I love you.”
Mave looked at him.
The room seemed to stop.
Augustine continued.
“I don't know when it happened.”
She smiled through tears.
“Maybe 2:00 a.m.”
He smiled.
“Maybe.”
Mave touched his face.
“I love you too.”
Then the phone rang.
Wendell answered.
His face changed.
“We found her.”
Mave stood.
“Where?”
“Providence Harbor.”
Augustine grabbed his coat.
They ran.
At the harbor, Juny stood alone on the pier.
May you like
Beside her was an old man.
Silas Blaine.
