Chapter 7: The Search Begins

POV: Dr. Sam Martinez

Maya Chen burst through my office door like she was being chased by ghosts.

Blood ran down her face from a fresh cut, her hands shook, and her eyes darted around like she expected someone to jump out at her. Sheriff Morrison was right behind her, looking just as scared.

"Dr. Martinez, we need help," Maya gasped. "And we need it now."

I grabbed my medical bag and led her to an exam chair. "What happened? Did someone hit you?"

"Eleanor Blackwood," Jake said. "She has Maya's niece."

I froze with my stethoscope halfway to Maya's chest. In the two years I'd lived in Millbrook Bay, I'd learned that Eleanor Blackwood was the one name you never said out loud. People mumbled it behind closed doors and crossed themselves like they were warding off evil.

"You're talking about Eleanor Blackwood?" I kept my voice low. "Maya, are you insane?"

"She killed my sister," Maya said through hard teeth. "And now she's threatening to kill Riley if I don't leave town."

I started cleaning the cut on Maya's head, but my hands were shaking. "Maya, you don't understand. Eleanor doesn't just scare people. She follows through."

"That's why we need your help," Jake said. "Sam, you're the only person in this town who doesn't owe Eleanor money or favors. You're clean."

I stopped cleaning Maya's wound and looked at both of them. "What exactly are you asking me to do?"

"Help us find Riley before Eleanor hurts her," Maya said. "Please. She's just a kid."

I'd been afraid this day would come. The day when Eleanor's crimes finally caught up with her and I'd have to choose between staying safe and doing what was right.

"There's something you both need to see," I said.

I walked to my office safe and pulled out a thick folder. My hands shook as I opened it on the desk.

"For two years, I've been keeping records. Every strange accident, every unexplained death, every person who disappeared after crossing Eleanor."

Maya grabbed the folder and started flipping through pages. Her face went white.

"Tommy Rodriguez - beaten to death but reported as drowning. Lisa Chen - car pushed off cliff but reported as driving error. Michael Santos - poisoned but reported as heart attack." Maya looked up at me. "Sam, there are dozens of names here."

"Forty-three," I said quietly. "Forty-three people who died or disappeared after having problems with Eleanor Blackwood."

Jake leaned over to look at the files. "Why didn't you take this to the police?"

I laughed bitterly. "What police? Half your department takes money from Eleanor. The other half is too scared to act."

"Then why keep the records?" Maya asked.

"Because someone had to. Someone had to remember these people and document what really happened to them."

Maya stood up so fast she knocked over her chair. "We have to find Riley now. Before she becomes number forty-four on this list."

"Maya, slow down," I said. "Where are you going to look? Eleanor owns half the buildings in town. She could be keeping Riley anywhere."

"Then we search everywhere," Maya said. "Every building, every warehouse, every house if we have to."

Jake grabbed her arm. "That could take days. We don't have days."

I looked at both of them, these two brave people who were willing to risk everything for a child they'd never met. In that moment, I made my choice.

"I know where Eleanor takes people when she wants them to disappear quietly."

Maya and Jake both turned to stare at me.

"What do you mean?" Maya asked.

"Three months ago, I was called to help a construction worker who got hurt at one of Eleanor's properties. It was an old fish cannery on the north side of town. But when I got there, I saw something that didn't make sense."

"What?"

"The building was meant to be empty, but I heard voices coming from the basement. People crying. People begging. When I asked about it, the boss said it was just seagulls."

Jake's face went hard. "Seagulls don't beg for help."

"That's when I started keeping the files," I said. "I realized Eleanor wasn't just hurting people who crossed her. She was keeping some of them alive for other reasons."

Maya grabbed my arm. "You think Riley is at the cannery?"

"I think it's our best chance of finding her alive."

"Then let's go," Maya said.

"Wait." I held up my hand. "If we're wrong, and Eleanor finds out we searched her property, we'll all end up on my list of suspicious deaths."

"And if we're right but do nothing," Maya said, "Riley dies anyway."

She was right. We were trapped between bad choices and worse options.

"Okay," I said. "But we do this smart. We go in quiet, we find Riley, and we get out without Eleanor knowing we were there."

"What if we run into her men?" Jake asked.

I opened another drawer and pulled out three small bottles. "Sedatives. Fast-acting. If anyone tries to stop us, these will put them to sleep in thirty seconds."

Maya looked at the bottles, then at me. "Sam, why are you doing this? You could just stay safe and pretend you never saw us."

I thought about all the files in my safe. All the people who died because everyone else stayed safe and claimed not to see. "Because I became a doctor to save lives. And I'm tired of counting people."

We headed for the door, but my phone rang just as Jake reached for the handle.

I looked at the caller ID and felt my blood turn to ice.

"It's Eleanor," I whispered.

Maya and Jake froze.

"Answer it," Maya said. "Act normal."

I took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

"Dr. Martinez speaking."

"Hello, Sam." Eleanor's voice was silk wrapped around a knife. "I need you to come to the old cannery right away. There's been an accident."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "What kind of accident?"

"A young girl fell down some stairs. She's hurt pretty badly. You might want to bring extra bandages."

The line went dead.

I looked at Maya and Jake. "She knows we're coming."

"It's a trap," Jake said.

Maya was already going for the door. "Then it's a trap we're walking into. Because Riley is hurt and she needs help."

"Maya, wait!" I called after her.

She turned around, and I saw something in her eyes that scared me more than Eleanor's threats.

Pure desire.

"Sam, that monster has my niece. She's hurt and she's scared and she's probably calling for her family right now. I'm the only family she has left."

Maya walked out the door into the night.

Jake looked at me with desperate eyes. "Sam, Eleanor just told us exactly where Riley is. Why would she do that unless..."

"Unless she wants us to come," I finished.

We both stared at the door Maya had just walked through.

"She's walking into a trap," Jake said.

"We all are," I answered. "The question is: do we let Maya face it alone?"