Chapter 12: Maya's Discovery

POV: Maya Chen

The warning blared so loud I thought my heart would stop.

Jake grabbed my hand and pulled me behind a stack of fishing nets just as bright lights filled the marina. We'd been searching Eleanor's boats for proof when someone triggered the security system.

"Stay down," Jake whispered, his breath warm against my ear.

Footsteps pounded on the wooden dock above us. Heavy boots. At least three guys, maybe more.

"Check every boat!" a voice yelled. "Someone's been messing around down here!"

My hands were shaking. We'd come so close to finding proof of Eleanor's crimes, and now we might get caught before we could help Riley or stop the human smugglers.

Just five minutes earlier, we'd found something incredible hidden in Eleanor's biggest fishing boat. Behind what looked like a normal wall, Jake had found a secret door. When we opened it, we saw a cramped area with thin mattresses on the floor and empty water bottles scattered around.

"This is where they keep people," I'd mumbled, feeling sick to my stomach.

Jake's face had gone white. "Maya, there are at least twenty beds in here. How many people has she been smuggling?"

That's when I'd stepped on something that made a popping sound. The security alarm had started screaming immediately.

Now we were stuck.

The footsteps got closer. Through a gap in the nets, I could see flashlight beams dancing across the boats. One of the men was walking straight toward our hidden spot.

Jake squeezed my hand three times - our signal that meant "trust me." Then he pointed toward the water and mouthed the word "swim."

My eyes went wide. The water was freezing cold, and I wasn't the best swimmer. But the option was getting caught by Eleanor's men, and I knew what happened to people who got in Eleanor's way.

Tommy was dead. My sister was dead. I wasn't going to be next.

Jake counted quietly on his fingers. One. Two. Three.

We rolled out from behind the nets and dove into the dark water just as flashlight beams swept over the spot where we'd been hidden.

The cold hit me like a punch to the chest. The salt water burned my nose and throat. I kicked as hard as I could toward the rocks at the edge of the dock, trying not to splash.

Behind us, I heard angry yelling.

"There! In the water!"

"Get the spotlight!"

A bright beam of light swept across the water, looking for us. Jake pulled me under just as the light passed over our heads. We stayed underwater until my lungs felt like they would burst.

When we finally came up for air, we were hidden behind a big rock. Jake's lips were blue from the cold, but his eyes were fierce.

"Did you get the photos?" he whispered.

I held up my phone, protected in a waterproof case. "Every secret room, every hiding compartment. We have proof now."

Jake smiled, but then his face got serious again. "Maya, we found something else in there. Something I didn't want to tell you while we were still on the boat."

"What?"

He pulled a wet piece of paper from his pocket. Even wet, I could read the name written at the top: "Sarah Chen."

My sister's name.

"I found this in Eleanor's desk," Jake said softly. "It's a deal. Eleanor paid someone to cause your sister's car crash."

The world seemed to stop spinning. Even though Riley had told me Eleanor was responsible for my sister's death, seeing it written down made it real in a way that hit me like a physical blow.

"She killed Sarah because Sarah was looking for Riley," I said, my voice shaking with anger and sadness. "My sister died trying to find her daughter."

Jake nodded. "And now Eleanor's trying to kill you for the same reason."

We heard boat engines starting up. Eleanor's men were coming after us in speedboats.

"We have to get to shore," Jake said. "Can you make it?"

I thought about my sister Sarah, dying alone in a car crash because she loved her daughter enough to keep looking. I thought about Tommy, killed for trying to save innocent people. I thought about Riley, scared and alone in that tower.

"I can make it," I said.

We swam toward the beach as fast as we could. The boat engines got louder behind us. When I looked back, I saw three boats with searchlights, moving in our way.

My arms felt like lead, but I kept swimming. Jake stayed right beside me, supporting me when I got tired.

"Almost there, Maya. You're doing great."

Finally, my feet touched sand. We crawled up onto the beach, gasping and freezing. But we'd made it.

"The lighthouse," Jake said, pointing to the tall building where Riley was hiding. "We have to warn her that Eleanor knows where she is."

We ran across the sand toward the tower. My wet clothes felt heavy, and my legs were tired from swimming, but fear gave me energy.

That's when we saw the cars.

Black SUVs circled the lighthouse. Men with guns stood guard outside. Through the lighthouse window, I could see two forms - Riley and someone else.

"Oh no," Jake breathed. "We're too late."

But it was worse than that. As we got closer, I could see the second person in the tower clearly.

It wasn't one of Eleanor's guys.

It was Dr. Martinez.

The man I'd trusted. The man who'd helped me when I was hurt. The man I'd told all of my plans to.

He had a gun pointed at Riley.

"Jake," I whispered, my blood turning to ice. "Dr. Martinez has been working for Eleanor this whole time."

Through the tower window, I watched Dr. Martinez talking on his phone. Then he looked down at the beach, straight at us.

He'd seen us.

Dr. Martinez smiled and waved, like he was meeting old friends. Then he put the phone to his ear again.

"Eleanor," I heard him say, his voice carrying across the water. "I have them all now. Maya, the sheriff, and the girl. What do you want me to do with them?"

Jake and I looked at each other in horror. We'd escaped from the marina only to walk right into an even deadlier trap.

And the person who'd wronged us was someone I'd considered a friend.