He Came Back Running (Maya and Mason) novel Chapter 274

Chapter 274

Alex’s POV

The news arrived on the screen while we were still at the kitchen table.

Neither of us reached for the remote to change it.

Detained witness found dead in custody.

The report continued.

I did not hear all of it.

I heard enough.

She had been in the process of cooperating.

The report said this in the careful, procedural language of a story still assembling itself….. sources indicate the deceased had been providing information relevant to an ongoing investigation.

I had been fully cleared of the accusation she had made.

That truth had been established, documented, confirmed in a courthouse in front of cameras.

None of that mattered to the cold feeling that arrived now.

Someone had killed her.

While she was in custody.

While she was cooperating. Before she could say whatever she had been in the process of preparing to say.

Maya’s fork was still in her hand.

She set it down.

Looked at me.

“So Brenda is dead…” she said.

Not a question.

I looked at the screen.

At the report continuing… the specific, institutional language of “serious systemic failure” and “internal review” that the authorities were deploying to communicate that something had gone catastrophically wrong without yet communicating what had actually happened.

“I don’t think this is just about Mason anymore,” I said.

I took her hand.

“Someone is removing anyone who gets too close to the truth,” I said. “Daniel Foster. Almost. Carter. Fully. This woman…. who was going to give the investigators whatever she knew about the Mason, the leak….” I held her gaze. “They’re protecting something. And they’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep protecting it.”

Maya was quiet.

“My father’s investigation,” she said. “Every time someone gets close enough to identify the principal…. the man in the photograph, the one Reeves has been unable to name yet, something happens.”

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“Yes,” I said.

“Carter,” she said. “Daniel Foster. Now her.”

“Yes,” I said.

She looked at the screen.

At the report.

“They’re not just protecting Mason,” she said. “Mason is exposed. Mason is running. Whatever this is protecting, it’s bigger than him.” She looked at me. “It’s the same person who’s been running the ownership claim. Who’s been behind the credential fraud. Who’s been managing all of it from a distance.”

“I think so,” I said.

I stood.

Crossed to the window.

I picked up my phone.

Called Marcus.

“I need the security team increased,” I said. “Around Maya. Around this apartment. Around anyone connected to us who might be considered a risk to whoever is running this.” I paused. “Daniel Foster’s family. Reeves’s team, if he’ll accept it. Anyone who has provided testimony or documentation.”

Marcus’s voice, steady.

“On it.”

I ended the call.

Looked at Maya.

Sat beside her.

“I know you’re worried,” I said.

“I’m not worried about myself,” she said.

I looked at her.

“I’m worried about the twins,” she said. “About what world they’re going to be born into if the person doing this is still out there when they arrive.” She pressed her hand to her stomach..”

“I know,” I said.

“We’re going to find out who did this,” I said. “And when we do, they’ll have nowhere left to hide.”

She held onto me.

“Promise me something,” she said.

“Anything,” I said.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” she said. “You’re the one they’ve already tried to remove from the picture once. If they’re willing to kill a witness in custody….”

“I know,” I said.

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“I mean it, Alex,” she said.

I held her.

“I promise,” I said

The security team arrived that evening.

I watched from the window as the vehicles pulled up outside the building… the organised deployment of people whose presence communicated safety and also communicated, in its own way, the reality of what safety currently required.

I hated it.

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