Chapter 4 - The Price of Saving Finn
Mave had not seen Patrick Donovan in eleven years.
She had spent almost as long pretending that fact didn't hurt.
Finn barely remembered him.
That was probably a blessing.
Patrick had not always been cruel.
Sometimes Mave thought that would have been easier.
Cruel men were simple.
Patrick had been funny once.
He had made pancakes shaped like dinosaurs.
He had danced badly in the kitchen with Mave's mother.
He had taught Mave how to ride a bicycle.
Then her mother got sick.
Bills accumulated.
Fear entered the house.
And Patrick discovered alcohol.
By the time their mother died, Mave was nineteen and Finn was four.
Patrick disappeared three weeks after the funeral.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Just an empty closet and unpaid rent.
Mave became Finn's guardian because there was nobody else.
Now Patrick's name sat at the center of a shell corporation connected to the man who had entered Mave's restaurant carrying her picture.
Sofia stared at Mave.
"Your father sent that man?"
"I don't know."
Rafe didn't soften the truth.
"His company paid someone connected to him."
Mave looked toward Finn's room.
"Not here."
Rafe understood.
They moved into the hallway.
Mave folded her arms carefully.
"What does he want?"
"I think the storage unit."
"The case?"
"Probably."
"Why?"
"That's what we find out next."
Mave shook her head.
"I find out."
Rafe's expression turned flat.
"You're injured, someone broke into your apartment, and an attacker had your photograph."
"So?"
"So you're not going alone."
"You're not my bodyguard."
"No."
"What are you, then?"
For a moment, Rafe didn't answer.
Sofia smiled faintly.
Rafe gave his sister a warning glance.
"I'm the reason you were pulled into this."
Mave frowned.
"How?"
"The attack happened in my restaurant."
"You own the Salt Line?"
Sofia blinked.
"You didn't know?"
"No."
Rafe said, "I own the building."
Mave gave a short laugh.
"Of course you do."
"What does that mean?"
"It means men like you always seem to own whatever building everyone else is struggling to pay rent inside."
Sofia turned away to hide a smile.
Rafe studied Mave.
Most people changed around him once they understood his influence.
Mave became more suspicious.
He found that strangely refreshing.
Two hours later, Rafe arranged a temporary apartment for Mave and Finn in a guarded building owned by one of his legitimate companies.
Mave refused.
Then she saw Finn standing beside the broken front door.
She accepted.
But with conditions.
"I pay rent."
Rafe said, "No."
"Then we aren't going."
He stared at her.
She stared back.
Sofia whispered, "This could take awhile."
They settled on a number that was clearly far below market value but high enough that Mave could preserve her pride.
Rafe also arranged for Gerald Moss to call her.
Gerald sounded as though someone had put a legal document against his throat.
"Mave, given the circumstances, you'll receive paid medical leave."
She frowned.
"Since when?"
"Effective immediately."
She looked across the temporary apartment at Rafe.
He pretended to inspect the windows.
Mave said into the phone, "Did somebody threaten you?"
Gerald coughed.
"Absolutely not."
Rafe almost smiled.
Mave hung up.
"You threatened him."
"No."
"Rafe."
"I explained his responsibilities as an employer."
"How?"
"Persuasively."
She rolled her eyes.
That afternoon, Mave insisted on visiting the storage unit.
Rafe's team secured the facility first.
The metal door rolled upward.
Dust floated in the fluorescent light.
Inside sat the remains of a family history Mave had tried to forget.
Cardboard boxes.
Old clothes.
Holiday decorations.
Photo albums.
Finn stayed with Sofia at the apartment.
Mave walked slowly among the boxes.
"My aunt Delia was my mother's sister."
Rafe followed.
"Were you close?"
"No. She and my father hated each other."
"Why?"
"She said he destroyed everything he touched."
"Sounds perceptive."
Mave gave him a look.
"You're very judgmental for someone with your reputation."
"Fair."
She found the metal case under a stack of blankets.
Small.
Heavy.
Black.
The lock had been scratched.
Someone had tried opening it.
Rafe crouched beside her.
"You didn't notice that before?"
"No."
"You have the key?"
"No."
Mateo stepped forward with tools.
Mave looked at Rafe.
"Is breaking locks one of your business skills?"
"Occasionally."
The case opened.
Inside were documents.
Dozens of them.
Property deeds.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
A handwritten ledger.
Mave picked one up.
"I don't understand."
Rafe took another.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He handed it to her.
The document showed ownership of a waterfront warehouse.
Mave read the name.
Patrick Donovan.
Then another.
Another property.
Another company.
Millions of dollars moving through accounts.
Mave stared.
"My father was broke."
"No," Rafe said. "He wanted you to think he was."
At the bottom of the case was an envelope in Aunt Delia's handwriting.
Mave opened it.
There was no sentimental letter.
Only a short statement.
If Patrick ever comes looking for this, don't trust him.
Mave's hands went cold.
Rafe took the ledger.
"This isn't just money."
"What is it?"
"Payment records."
"For what?"
He flipped pages.
Bribes.
Construction contracts.
Protection payments.
Political favors.
Patrick Donovan had spent years operating a quiet criminal network beneath legitimate businesses.
Then Rafe found a familiar name.
He stopped.
Mave noticed.
"What?"
He didn't answer.
"Rafe."
He showed her.
Colazo Shipping.
Mave looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
"Twenty years ago, my father controlled our family operations."
"And?"
"This ledger shows Patrick laundering money through one of our old companies."
Mave stared at him.
"Your families worked together?"
"Apparently."
"Did you know?"
"No."
"Do you expect me to believe that?"
Rafe's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
Mave stepped away.
"This is exactly what I didn't want."
"What?"
"Your world."
"It's your father's world too."
"Not mine."
"Maybe not by choice."
She looked furious.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Act like blood decides who I am."
Rafe immediately understood.
He had spent his entire life being defined by his surname.
Mave had spent hers escaping hers.
"You're right," he said.
She stopped.
Rafe continued.
"Patrick Donovan is your father. That doesn't make his choices yours."
Mave's anger eased.
Before either could say more, Mateo's phone rang.
He answered.
Then looked at Rafe.
"We have company."
The storage facility lights went out.
Mave froze.
Rafe grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
A crash sounded near the entrance.
Men shouted.
Rafe's security team moved.
Mave whispered, "Patrick?"
"Maybe."
"Give me your phone."
"Why?"
"Because Finn's picture is on mine and I don't want someone taking it."
Even now.
Rafe stared at her.
Then took her phone and placed it inside his jacket.
Seconds later, footsteps approached.
A voice echoed through the darkness.
"Mave."
She went completely still.
She knew the voice.
Older.
Rougher.
But unmistakable.
Patrick.
"My girl."
Mave's face became stone.
Rafe leaned toward her.
"Stay here."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Mave."
"I'm done hiding from him."
Before Rafe could stop her, she stepped from behind the pillar.
Emergency lights flickered on.
At the end of the corridor stood Patrick Donovan.
Mid-fifties.
Gray at his temples.
Expensive coat.
Nothing like the broke, defeated man who had abandoned them.
He smiled.
"Mave."
She stared.
"You look healthy."
Her laugh was cold.
"That's what you have to say?"
Patrick glanced at Rafe.
"Interesting company."
"Why did you send someone after me?"
Patrick's smile faded.
"I sent somebody to scare you."
Rafe's eyes became dangerous.
Mave kept going.
"You destroyed my apartment."
"I needed the case."
"You could have asked."
"You wouldn't have answered."
"You disappeared for eleven years."
Patrick shrugged.
"Life happened."
Mave's face crumpled for half a second.
Then hardened again.
"No. You happened."
Patrick looked irritated.
"I don't have time for family drama. Give me the case."
"No."
"Mave."
"No."
Patrick stepped closer.
Rafe moved between them.
Patrick smiled.
"Colazo. Your father would be proud."
Rafe's expression turned colder.
"You didn't know him."
"I knew him better than you think."
"Then you know threatening someone under my protection is a mistake."
Mave immediately said, "I'm not under your protection."
Patrick laughed.
"Still stubborn."
Mave looked at him.
"You left Finn."
Patrick's amusement disappeared.
"Don't."
"He was four."
"I said don't."
"He waited at the window for six months."
Patrick looked away.
"He thought every car was you."
"Mave."
"He stopped asking when you were coming back because he realized I didn't know."
Patrick's face tightened.
For a moment, shame appeared.
Then greed replaced it.
"Give me the case."
Mave held it tighter.
"What's in here that you're willing to hurt your own daughter for?"
Patrick stared.
"Insurance."
"Against who?"
"People worse than me."
Rafe stepped forward.
"Names."
Patrick looked at him.
"Your uncle, for one."
Rafe went still.
"My uncle is dead."
Patrick smiled.
"That's what you've been told."
The room changed.
Rafe's face lost all emotion.
Patrick continued.
"Your father didn't build that empire alone. Neither did I. There are people who spent twenty years making sure certain records disappeared."
Mave stared at the case.
"And Aunt Delia had copies."
"She stole them."
"Why?"
Patrick's expression shifted.
"Because she wanted leverage."
"No. She wanted me to have them."
"She wanted revenge."
Mave shook her head.
"Against you."
Patrick stepped closer.
"Give me the box and walk away."
"You tried to have me attacked."
"I told Pierce to frighten you. He went too far."
"You almost got Sofia killed."
Patrick looked dismissively at Rafe.
"Collateral mistake."
That was the wrong thing to say.
Rafe moved so quickly Mave barely saw it.
He grabbed Patrick by the coat and slammed him against the wall.
Security raised weapons.
Mave shouted.
"Rafe!"
He stopped.
Patrick smiled despite the fear in his eyes.
"There he is."
Mave grabbed Rafe's arm.
"Let him go."
Rafe looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because Finn doesn't need another man in his life solving problems with violence."
That reached him.
Rafe released Patrick.
Mave stepped forward.
She looked directly at her father.
"You want the case?"
Patrick nodded.
She lifted it.
Then handed it to Rafe.
Patrick's face fell.
Mave said:
"I'm giving it to someone you'll have to go through me to reach."
Rafe looked at her.
So did Patrick.
Mave had just made a choice.
Not to become part of Rafe's world.
But to trust him with the one thing Patrick wanted most.
Patrick's expression hardened.
"You'll regret this."
Mave shook her head.
"I spent eleven years regretting that I wasn't enough to make you stay."
Her voice trembled.
"But I understand now."
Patrick stared.
"You were the one who wasn't enough."
He flinched.
For the first time, Mave saw it.
She had hurt him.
Not physically.
Somewhere deeper.
Police sirens approached outside.
Patrick looked toward the entrance.
Rafe's security chief smiled faintly.
"You should probably start running."
Patrick fled through a rear corridor.
Rafe didn't order anyone to stop him.
Mave noticed.
"Why did you let him go?"
"Because he'll lead us to whoever he's afraid of."
She stared at him.
"You planned that?"
"Yes."
"That's manipulative."
"Yes."
"At least you're honest."
"Usually."
They walked toward the exit.
Mave's phone rang inside Rafe's jacket.
He handed it back.
Sofia.
Mave answered.
"Hey."
Sofia sounded terrified.
"Mave, don't panic."
Mave immediately panicked.
"What happened?"
"It's Finn."
Everything inside Mave stopped.
"What about him?"
"He collapsed."
The case slipped from Rafe's hands onto the concrete floor.
May you like
Mave was already running.
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