Maya's POV
"Absolutely not." I stepped back from James and Daniel. "I'm not walking into a trap while you two play action heroes. This is my best friend's life we're talking about."
"And it's my sister who's already dead," Daniel shot back. "You think I don't understand what's at stake?"
"Then you should understand why I have to go alone. Victoria said—"
"Victoria is lying." James's voice cut through our argument like a knife. "She's going to kill Zoe and Brian no matter what you do. The only question is whether she kills you too."
I wanted to argue. Wanted to believe there was a way to save everyone by just doing what Victoria wanted. But I'd been a cop long enough to know James was right.
Monsters like Victoria didn't let witnesses live.
"Fine." I forced myself to think like a detective instead of a terrified friend. "What's your plan?"
Daniel pulled up blueprints on his computer. "The yacht club has twenty-three entry points. Security cameras covering main areas but blind spots in the maintenance sections. James and his team go in through the service entrance while you walk through the front door."
"They'll be watching for backup."
"They'll be watching for armed security teams. They won't be watching for a seventy-year-old woman with a cane." Daniel smiled slightly. "My grandmother worked as an investigative journalist for forty years. She knows how to blend in, ask questions, and record everything without anyone noticing."
"You want to send your grandmother into danger? After Emma—"
"My grandmother is the one who suggested it." Daniel's expression softened. "She loved Emma more than anything. She wants justice, and she's not going to sit home knitting while we fight."
A new voice spoke from the doorway. "Damn right I'm not."
I turned to see an older Asian woman with sharp eyes and a cane that looked more like a weapon than a walking aid. This was Carmen Chen—Emma's grandmother, Daniel's grandmother, the woman who'd called me yesterday and somehow known I'd stumble into this nightmare.
She walked into the room with the confidence of someone who'd faced down worse than corrupt mayors and dirty cops.
"You must be Maya." Carmen studied me with those sharp eyes. "You look like someone who's been through hell and came out the other side angry. Good. We need angry right now."
"Mrs. Chen, I can't let you—"
"Let me?" Carmen's eyebrow rose. "Child, I was investigating corruption and putting criminals in jail before you were born. Emma was my granddaughter. I will personally walk through fire to make sure everyone who hurt her burns."
I saw where Daniel got his intensity from.
"The plan is simple," Carmen continued. "Victoria wants you at the yacht club in one hour. You'll go. Walk right through the front door like you're surrendering. While everyone's focused on you, I'll slip in through the member's entrance—I've been a member for thirty years, they're used to seeing me. James and his team come in through service doors."
"And then what?" I asked. "We can't just shoot our way out. There are innocent people at that club."
"We don't need to shoot anyone." Daniel pulled up another screen showing financial records. "While you keep Victoria busy, I'll be doing what I do best—destroying her empire. Bank accounts frozen. Shell companies exposed. Every illegal transaction traced and sent to the FBI. By the time you walk out of that yacht club, Victoria Ashford won't have the power to hurt anyone ever again."
It was insane. Too many moving parts. Too many things that could go wrong.
But it was also the only chance we had.
"One hour isn't enough time," I said.
"Then we move now." Daniel stood. "James, get your team ready. Grandmother, you'll go in thirty minutes after Maya. I'll run operations from here." He looked at me. "Wear this."
He handed me a small device that looked like a button.
"Body camera and microphone. Everything you say and see gets recorded and uploaded to secure servers in real-time. If something happens to you, we'll have evidence. And if Victoria confesses to anything, we'll have it on tape."
I pinned the button-camera to my shirt. My hands were shaking.
Carmen touched my arm gently. "You're scared. That's good. Fear keeps you sharp. Just remember—you're not alone this time. We're with you every step."
"Why are you helping me? You don't even know me."
"I know you found my granddaughter's body. I know you immediately saw it was murder. I know you refused to walk away even after being threatened." Carmen's eyes glistened. "Emma would have liked you. She always stood up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves. Just like you."
My throat tightened. I'd never even met Emma, but I felt like I knew her—a good kid who saw something wrong and tried to make it right, just like I'd done in Los Angeles.
And just like me, it had cost her everything.
"Let's go," I said. "Before I lose my nerve."
James drove me to within two blocks of the yacht club in an unmarked car. Through the window, I could see the building—white walls, big windows, boats bobbing in the marina behind it. It looked peaceful. Expensive. Normal.
Like the kind of place where people held charity fundraisers, not murdered teenage girls.
"Remember," James said, checking his weapons. "Keep Victoria talking. Ask questions. Get her to admit what she's done. The longer you keep her engaged, the more time we have to find Zoe and Brian."
"And if things go wrong?"
"Then you run. Don't be a hero. Don't try to save everyone. You run, and we'll handle the rest." He met my eyes. "Daniel already lost his sister. He won't survive losing you too."
"We barely know each other."
"Doesn't matter. I've known Daniel for seventeen years. I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you." James smiled slightly. "Like maybe life isn't just about revenge and money. Like maybe there's something worth living for."
Before I could respond to that, my phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number with a photo.
Zoe. Tied to a chair. Duct tape over her mouth. Her eyes were open, alert, furious. That was good—she was conscious and fighting.
The text: "You have 15 minutes. Come alone or she dies."
"They moved up the timeline," I said, showing James. "They're panicking."
"Good. Panicked people make mistakes." He handed me an earpiece. "Daniel will be in your ear the whole time. We'll hear everything. You're not alone."
I put in the earpiece and heard Daniel's voice, steady and calm. "I'm here, Maya. Just keep breathing."
Something about his voice made me feel less terrified. Less alone.
I got out of the car and started walking toward the yacht club.
Each step felt like walking toward my execution. My cop training screamed at me that this was suicide—walking into a trap without backup, without a weapon, with no way out.
But Zoe was in there. Brian was somewhere in this town, bleeding and terrified. And Emma was dead on a table in the morgue, her murder being covered up by people who thought they were above the law.
I'd failed to save the girls Marcus trafficked in Los Angeles. I'd failed to stop him before he framed me and destroyed my career.
I wouldn't fail again.
The yacht club's front doors opened as I approached. A man in a security uniform gestured for me to enter. His face was blank, professional, but his hand rested on his gun.
"Ms. Reeves. The mayor is expecting you."
I walked inside.
The main room was beautiful—high ceilings, expensive art, views of the ocean through floor-to-ceiling windows. But it was empty except for two people.
Mayor Victoria Ashford stood by the windows, looking perfectly put together in an expensive dress. She smiled when she saw me, like we were old friends meeting for lunch.
And next to her, holding a gun pointed at Zoe's head, was Marcus Webb.
My former partner. My betrayer. The man who'd stabbed me and framed me and tried to destroy my life.
He was here. In Crimson Bay. Just like I'd feared.
"Hello, Maya." Marcus's smile was the same one I'd trusted for five years. "I've missed you."
I made myself look at him without showing fear. "Where's my brother?"
"Safe. For now." Victoria walked toward me slowly. "I'm disappointed, Maya. I'd heard you were smart. But walking in here alone? That's just stupid."
"You said come alone or people die. I came alone."
"Did you?" Victoria pulled out her phone and showed me a video feed. James and his team, approaching through the service entrance. Carmen, walking through the member's entrance. "Did you really think we wouldn't be watching? Please. This is my club. My town. I know every move before you make it."
My blood went cold.
"Here's what's going to happen," Victoria continued. "You're going to call Daniel Chen. Tell him to have his security team stand down and leave immediately. Then you're going to delete those photos from Emma's crime scene. And then you're going to get on my boat, and we're going to take a little trip out to sea."
"And if I refuse?"
Marcus pressed his gun harder against Zoe's head. "Then your friend's brains decorate my shoes. Then we kill your brother. Then we kill Daniel's grandmother. Then we kill Daniel. We'll make it look like a murder-suicide—crazy ex-cop goes on killing spree before taking her own life. The story writes itself."
"People will know the truth."
"What people? The police work for us. The coroner works for us. The mayor—" Victoria smiled, "—that's me. We own this town, Maya. No one is coming to save you."
Daniel's voice crackled in my earpiece. "Maya, we're compromised. They knew we were coming. Get out now."
But I couldn't move. Couldn't leave Zoe.
Victoria saw my hesitation. "Make the call, Maya. Tell Daniel to leave. Or watch everyone you love die."
I pulled out my phone with shaking hands. Started to dial Daniel's number.
Then Zoe made her move.
She threw her head back, smashing into Marcus's nose. He stumbled, gun going wide. Zoe rolled off her chair despite being tied up, giving me a clear shot at Marcus.
I didn't have a weapon. But I'd been trained in hand-to-hand combat.
I rushed him before he could recover, grabbing his gun hand and twisting. The gun fired—loud, deafening. The bullet hit the window, shattering it.
Marcus punched me hard in the ribs, right where his knife had gone in three months ago. Pain exploded through my body. I went down gasping.
"I should have killed you in LA," Marcus snarled, pointing the gun at my head. "I won't make that mistake twice."
The doors burst open. James and his team stormed in, weapons raised.
But they were too late.
Marcus already had his finger on the trigger.
Then a cane swung through the air and cracked Marcus across the skull. He went down hard.
Carmen Chen stood over him, her cane raised for another strike. "That's for my granddaughter, you bastard."
Everything happened at once. James's team secured Marcus. Victoria tried to run but got tackled by a security guard. Zoe kicked and struggled until someone cut her free.
"Maya!" Zoe rushed to me. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry—they grabbed me at the airport. I was flying in to surprise you and help with the investigation, but they were waiting—"
"It's okay." I hugged her tight, ignoring the pain in my ribs. "You're alive. That's what matters."
"We need to move," James said urgently. "This place is about to be swarming with dirty cops. We need to get everyone out now."
Victoria laughed from where she was pinned on the floor. "You think you've won? You have no idea how deep this goes. How many people are involved. You can't fight all of us."
"Watch me," I said.
Daniel's voice came through my earpiece. "Maya, we have a problem. I've been tracking the financial records. Victoria's operation isn't just in Crimson Bay. It's in twelve other California towns. Hundreds of people involved. Police, politicians, judges—"
He stopped abruptly.
"Daniel?" I pressed my earpiece. "Daniel, are you there?"
Static.
Then a new voice came through—cold, professional, terrifying.
"Hello, Ms. Reeves. This is Detective Marcus Webb's associate. My name is irrelevant. What matters is that we have Daniel Chen. If you want him back alive, you'll surrender immediately. All of you. Or we start cutting pieces off him to send to his grandmother."
The signal died.
My heart stopped.
They had Daniel.
The person who'd risked everything to help me. Who'd given me hope when I had none. Who'd made me feel less alone for the first time since Marcus destroyed my life.
Victoria smiled from the floor. "Told you. You can't win. We own everything. Everyone."
I looked at James. At Carmen. At Zoe. At Marcus unconscious on the floor and Victoria smiling like she'd already won.
They thought they'd broken me. Thought taking Daniel would make me give up.
They were wrong.
I'd lost everything once before and survived. Lost my career, my reputation, my sense of safety. Marcus had taken everything from me.
But he'd made one mistake.
He'd left me alive. And now I was angry.
"James," I said quietly. "How many men do you have?"
"Twelve. Plus another twenty I can call in within an hour."
"Call them. All of them." I looked down at Victoria. "You want a war? You've got one."
Carmen nodded approvingly. "That's the spirit."
"We don't know where they're holding Daniel," Zoe pointed out. "They could have him anywhere."
"No." I pulled out my phone and opened the tracking app Daniel had installed before I left. "Daniel's smart. He knew something might happen. Look."
On the screen, a small dot pulsed—Daniel's phone location, active and transmitting.
"He left his phone on. He wants us to find him."
The location showed an address on the edge of town. A warehouse by the docks.
"That's one of my properties," Victoria said. "Or it was, before you froze my assets. But it's heavily guarded. You'll never get in."
"Then we don't go in." I looked at James. "We burn it down."
"With Daniel inside?" Carmen looked horrified.
"No. We make them think we're going to burn it down. Create enough chaos that they evacuate. And when they bring Daniel out—" I smiled coldly, "—we take them all down at once."
It was insane. Reckless. Exactly the kind of plan that could get everyone killed.
But we were out of safe options.
"One hour," I said. "We end this in one hour. Victoria's operation, Marcus's trafficking ring, all of it. We expose everything, save Daniel, and make sure Emma Chen gets justice."
"And if we fail?" Zoe asked quietly.
"Then we die trying." I looked around at these people who'd become my team in less than forty-eight hours. "Emma was seventeen. She died alone and scared. I won't let Daniel die the same way. I won't let any more kids die because we were too afraid to fight."
Carmen gripped her cane. "Then let's fight."
James made phone calls, assembling his team. Zoe worked on hacking the warehouse's security systems. I stood by the shattered window, looking out at the ocean, thinking about everything that had led me here.
Three months ago, I'd been a detective with a future. Now I was a wanted woman planning an assault on a criminal empire.
Marcus had tried to break me. Tried to make me disappear.
Instead, he'd made me dangerous.
My phone buzzed. A text from Daniel's number.
Just two words: "Trust yourself."
Then a photo loaded. Daniel, tied to a chair, blood on his face. But his eyes were open, alert, fierce.
He wasn't giving up. Neither would I.
"James," I said. "It's time."
But before we could move, the yacht club's main doors exploded inward.
Not from James's team. From someone else.
Through the smoke and debris walked a man in an expensive suit. Older, gray hair, cold eyes that made my blood freeze.
Behind him came a dozen armed men.
And behind them came Brian, my brother, walking freely. Not tied up. Not held hostage.
Walking with them.
"Hello, sister," Brian said, and his voice was empty of emotion. "I tried to warn you to leave. You should have listened."
The man in the expensive suit smiled. "I'm Senator David Morrison. And I'm afraid this operation just became federal. You're all under arrest for terrorism, murder, and conspiracy to overthrow local government."
He showed us a badge. FBI.
But I knew the truth the moment I saw it.
He wasn't FBI. He was the person running everything. The one Marcus and Victoria answered to.
And Brian—my brother, my only family—was working for him.
The betrayal hit harder than any knife Marcus had used.
"Brian," I whispered. "Why?"
He finally looked at me, and I saw pain in his eyes. "Because they have someone I love more than you. And they'll kill her if I don't do exactly what they say."
"Who?" Carmen asked. "Who do they have?"
Brian's voice cracked. "My daughter. Your niece, Maya. The daughter I never told you about. The three-year-old little girl that Dad was helping me hide from her criminal mother." He looked at me with desperate eyes. "They have Sophie. And if you don't surrender right now, they're going to kill her."
The world tilted.
I had a niece. A three-year-old niece I'd never known existed.
And she was being held hostage by the same people who'd killed Emma.
Senator Morrison smiled. "Now then. Let's all calm down and discuss this like reasonable people. You have something I want—those photos, that evidence, Daniel Chen's cooperation. I have things you want—your brother's daughter, Daniel Chen's life, the ability to walk out of here without being arrested or killed. I'm sure we can reach an arrangement."
"And if we refuse?" I asked.
"Then everyone dies. Starting with the three-year-old." His smile widened. "Your move, Ms. Reeves."