Chapter 4 - The Secret Ledger
The plan was risky. Though the restraining order legally barred Caleb from the property, we knew a piece of paper wouldn't stop a desperate man.
Maya left Emma with our mother and drove to my house under the cover of darkness. I lay in my hospital bed, the phone pressed tight to my ear, listening to the sound of her key turning in the lock.
“I’m in,” Maya whispered, the floorboards creaking. “It’s pitch black. I’m using a tiny flashlight.”
“Go straight to the office. Second door on the left,” I instructed, my heart hammering against my fractured ribs.
I heard the sound of a door opening, followed by a sharp intake of breath from Maya.
“Becca… the place is trashed. Drawers are pulled out, papers are everywhere. It looks like he was frantically searching for something before the police served him the restraining order.”
“The bottom left drawer of the heavy oak desk,” I said. “It has a false bottom. I caught him fixing it once years ago. Press hard on the back left corner.”
I listened to the sound of rustling, then a loud click.
“Got it,” Maya said, her voice trembling with excitement. “There’s a black USB drive and a burner phone.”
“Take both and get out of there. Now.”
Before Maya could reply, a loud, shattering sound echoed through the phone. It sounded like a window breaking downstairs.
“Maya?!” I screamed, bolting upright and ignoring the searing pain in my legs. “Maya, what was that?!”
“Someone’s in the house,” she whispered, her voice dropping to a terrified thread. “They’re coming up the stairs.”
“Hide! Call 911!”
“I’m climbing out the office window onto the porch roof,” she panted. I heard the scrape of wood, the rush of wind, and then a heavy thud as someone kicked the office door open.
“Where is it?!” a man’s voice roared. It wasn't Caleb. It was someone else, someone with a thick, raspy voice. “Tear the room apart!”
I held my breath, tears streaming down my face. “Maya, jump,” I prayed quietly. “Please jump.”
A terrifying minute passed. The sound of destruction in the background was deafening. Then, finally, the sound of sirens wailed in the distance.
“I’m in the bushes,” Maya whispered into the phone, crying quietly. “I jumped. They’re running away, Becca. They heard the sirens.”
I collapsed back onto my pillows, sobbing. “Do you have the drive?”
May you like
“I have it. I’m bringing it to the hospital right now.”
Whoever Caleb was involved with, they were dangerous. And they were looking for exactly what Maya now held in her hands.
