Chapter 6 - The Mother Who Had Never Gone Away
It took me ten minutes to understand what Maxwell had said.
“You're telling me your mother kidnapped herself?”
“No.”
He paced the room in his wheelchair.
“She was kidnapped.”
“But you said she was alive.”
“She is.”
“Then who was the woman we thought was her?”
“My mother.”
I stared.
“I'm confused.”
“So am I.”
He pulled out an old family photograph.
His father.
His mother.
Maxwell.
Julian.
Then he pointed to his mother.
“She was involved in the organization.”
“What?”
“Before my father died.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why trust her?”
“I didn't.”
He looked down.
“That is why I started investigating.”
He told me the truth.
Maxwell's father had built the Rourke empire through legitimate business and criminal operations.
But his mother, Evelyn Rourke, had always been more ruthless.
She understood numbers.
People.
Fear.
After Maxwell's father died, she expected Maxwell to obey her.
He didn't.
That began a silent war.
“She funded the trafficking network?” I asked.
“We suspected it.”
“And Julian?”
“Her son.”
“So Julian works for her.”
“Yes.”
“Then who is Miss Delaney?”
Maxwell's face tightened.
“An undercover investigator.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She was planted here by federal authorities.”
I thought about everything.
“Then she wasn't the traitor.”
“No.”
“Why did she disappear?”
“Because my mother found out.”
A knock sounded.
We turned.
The door opened.
Miss Delaney stepped inside.
Alive.
Uninjured.
She closed the door behind her.
“I'm sorry.”
I stared.
“You scared me half to death.”
She smiled faintly.
“I know.”
Maxwell looked furious.
“You should have told me.”
“You knew enough.”
“I didn't know she had access to your safe room.”
Miss Delaney sighed.
“She almost found me.”
“Why are you here?”
“To finish the job.”
She handed Maxwell a file.
“Evelyn Rourke has been laundering money through shipping companies for years.”
“And Julian?”
“Her son.”
“Victor?”
Miss Delaney looked at me.
“What Victor?”
I hadn't heard the name before.
She opened another file.
“Victor Lane.”
I recognized it.
The same name Maxwell had mentioned earlier.
“Who is he?”
“He's the financier.”
The pieces connected.
The trafficking network.
The shipments.
The company.
My brother.
The forged records.
And possibly the attack on my nursing career.
Miss Delaney nodded.
“Victor funded the drug diversion that destroyed your license.”
I felt sick.
“Why me?”
“Because Daniel investigated him.”
My brother had been trying to expose the same network that destroyed my life.
“Then why did he die?”
“Because he got too close.”
Maxwell looked at me.
“Daniel wanted to protect you.”
I closed my eyes.
My brother had known.
He had known I was being used.
He had been trying to fix something I didn't even understand.
Then Miss Delaney said:
“There is still one piece missing.”
“What?”
“The person who ordered the shooting.”
Maxwell looked at her.
“Julian?”
“No.”
“Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Miss Delaney looked at me.
“Your brother's phone records show he met someone from the hospital where you worked.”
I froze.
“Who?”
“A senior administrator.”
I remembered her.
Dr. Helen Voss.
She had led the board meeting that revoked my license.
She was supposed to have retired.
Instead, she now ran a private medical distribution company.
The same company that supplied medication to several Rhode Island nursing facilities.
My stomach turned.
“She was involved.”
“Yes.”
Maxwell looked at the file.
“Where is she now?”
“Gone.”
“Of course.”
The house alarm sounded.
Then gunfire.
Three shots.
Maxwell pushed me behind him.
Miss Delaney drew her weapon.
“Stay down.”
I heard guards shouting.
Then a crash.
Someone had entered through the rear doors.
Maxwell moved his wheelchair toward the hallway.
I grabbed his shoulder.
“What are you doing?”
“I can't hide.”
“You should.”
He looked at me.
“Not anymore.”
He pushed himself up.
His right leg held.
His left trembled.
He grabbed a cane.
He stood.
For the first time in fourteen months, Maxwell Rourke stood in front of another human being.
Miss Delaney stared.
“You can walk.”
“Not well.”
“But enough.”
“Yes.”
He limped forward.
A gunman appeared at the end of the corridor.
Maxwell fired once.
The man dropped.
I froze.
The world changed in one second.
The terrifying wheelchair-bound crime boss had disappeared.
The man standing before me was something else.
Still wounded.
Still human.
Still afraid.
But no longer helpless.
Then another shot rang out.
Miss Delaney fell.
I screamed.
She clutched her shoulder.
Maxwell rushed toward her.
And from the staircase came a familiar voice.
May you like
Julian.
“You should have stayed in the chair, brother.”
