Chapter 3 - THE KEY AROUND MY NECK
“I don’t have a key.”
The man on the video smiled wider.
Then he hit Tessa.
I lunged at the screen as if I could reach through it.
“Tessa!”
Eli grabbed my arm.
The video cut to black.
I spun on him.
“What key?”
“I think it’s inside the locket.”
“You think?”
“Maya, give it to me.”
“No.”
“Then open it.”
My fingers shook as I snapped the locket open.
Inside was the faded picture I had seen a thousand times: Mom, Dad, Noah, and me at a county fair.
Eli took out a pocketknife.
I jerked back.
“The picture,” he said. “Lift it.”
I slid the blade under the tiny photo.
Something clicked.
The inner plate popped loose.
A black metal sliver fell into my palm.
It was no bigger than a fingernail.
I stared at it.
“What is that?”
“A physical encryption key.”
“You’re telling me I’ve been wearing computer hardware around my neck for sixteen years?”
“Looks like it.”
“My mother gave me this.”
Eli’s expression tightened again.
“What?”
“Your mother may have known more than Noah thought.”
Headlights swept across the broken storefront windows.
A police cruiser rolled into the lot.
I nearly cried from relief.
“Thank God.”
Eli grabbed the key from my palm.
I slapped his hand away.
“What are you doing?”
“Don’t go to them.”
“They’re police.”
“Exactly.”
The cruiser stopped twenty feet away.
A uniformed officer stepped out.
“Ma’am, are you Maya Reed?”
I looked at Eli.
His face had gone still.
The officer’s hand rested near his holster.
“We got a call about an abduction,” he said. “Your friend Tessa Morgan?”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Dispatch.”
Eli whispered, “There was no time for dispatch.”
The officer heard him.
His hand moved.
Eli moved faster.
He kicked the truck door open into the officer, knocking him backward.
“Get in!”
I hesitated.
The officer drew his weapon.
“Don’t move!”
Then a second police cruiser screamed into the lot.
A man in a dark suit stepped out with his badge raised.
“Detective Daniel Sloane!” he shouted. “Everybody lower your weapons!”
The first officer froze.
So did Eli.
Sloane walked toward us carefully.
He looked to be in his late forties, tired eyes, clean shave, steady voice.
“Maya, I’m with Major Crimes. We know about the temple shooting.”
“You know who took my friend?”
“We’re working on it.”
Eli snorted.
Sloane’s eyes sharpened.
“And you must be Eli Cross.”
My head turned.
“You know him?”
“Unfortunately.”
Sloane kept coming.
“Mr. Cross is wanted for questioning in three deaths, two bombings, and the disappearance of your brother.”
The ground seemed to tilt.
I looked at Eli.
He didn’t deny it.
“Tell me he’s lying.”
Eli stared at Sloane.
“Tell me,” I said.
“I can’t.”
Sloane held out his hand.
“Maya, come with me. We can protect you.”
“Can you save Tessa?”
“Yes.”
Eli finally looked at me.
“If you get into that car, you’re dead.”
Sloane sighed.
“Still dramatic, Eli.”
Then his eyes dropped to my necklace.
Not my face.
The necklace.
And he said quietly, “Good. You still have the key.”
I had never told him about the key.
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