Page 28 of Elliot

Maya nodded. “My birth mom came to see me when I was ten. My adoptive parents said she reached out to them and asked if she could meet me. She didn’t want anything but to explain why she gave me up. Since they’d also been open with me about being adopted, they said as long as they could supervise the meeting, they were fine with it. We didn’t live in a good area. My dad had lost his job, and my mom was sick. We had to move several times. The houses got smaller and smaller. Finally, we lived in a walk-up apartment in a really tough neighborhood. We were on the stairs, waiting for her. She was walking up the steps, her smile was huge, and she looked a lot like me. A car drove by and sprayed our side of the street with bullets. She was hit several times and died without saying a word to me. My mom was hit in the leg, and my dad covered me. He got hit with chips from the brick, but nothing serious.”

“Did they find out who did it?”

“The police said it was most likely gang violence. A turf war of some kind was always going on. The men they believed responsible for shooting at us were found two days later, dead in an alley. A rival gang had executed them.” She sighed. “We lived in that apartment for ten years. My mom died. She was always fragile. Dad worked two jobs, and when I graduated high school, he and I applied for every grant we could find. I went to college. He died of a heart attack at his second job. That’s why I hate guns, and that’s why money makes me happy. Not having it growing up makes it very enticing.”

“It would. Thank you for sharing that with me.” He reached for another tissue. “You have a bit of …” He pointed at her eyes.

Maya grabbed the tissue. “Is there a bathroom?”

“This way.” He led her from the conference room down the hall to the ladies’ room. She went in and looked at her face. Mascara ringed her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She would have laughed at the pathetic sight she made if she weren’t so spent. Instead, she flipped her hair back and filled her hand with soap from the dispenser. She’d wash off the makeup. If only she could wipe off the events of the night as easily.

CHAPTER 10

Elliot waited outside the bathroom while Maya cleaned up. “Dude, she’s had a tough life, but she’s made it. Respect,” Con said.

Elliot walked several steps away from the door before responding. “Who are the dead?”

“A congressional aide and a minor reality star from one of the OG shows. No connection to Maya. Also, they found an explosive device under the stage. Smoke and Charley were on the scene because no one could control Charlie, and Smoke assisted the bomb squad with dismantling it. The thing is, it didn’t have a timer or trigger that Smoke could see. He wants to examine it as forensics tears it apart.”

“And the injured?”

“A senator’s wife. A bullet grazed her shoulder. She’ll be released shortly. One is in serious condition. A bullet to the upper chest. Ross’s husband said he was unusually lucky as the bullet didn’t hit anything critical. He’s in surgery now to repair the hole. He’s a competitor of Maya’s. His name is Dillon Ulman.”

“Competitor, how?” Elliot scanned the hallway. Ross was talking with two of his people, and Maya hadn’t come out of therestroom yet. But that was understandable. She’d want time to pull herself together.

“It seems they were developing the robotics she’s bringing to IPO at the same time. Her teams were successful in incorporating cutting-edge tech and, later, AI. Medically, this system is the development of the century, according to the people I’ve been reading.”

“And Ulman’s teams were unsuccessful?”

“Underfunded, understaffed, and unsuccessful. According to several articles, at one point, they were nip and tuck, but Maya had deeper pockets and was able to bring the best to her team.”

“And where was he in relationship to us?”

“That’s just it. He wasn’t on the guest list,” Con said. “I sent that to Ross. I expect he’ll be interviewed.”

Another data point to add to the web the case had become. “And the security system at Maya’s office?”

“Done as of about ten minutes ago. I have the feeds coming here, and I have a program to identify anyone who enters the elevator or opens the stairwell door. If some idiot decides to go into her office, I’ll know. We’ve got the checkpoint coming tomorrow, so her people will be informed by us doing checks on the way out. If they don’t have a badge on them on the way out, they’ll be photographed, checked against employee records, and logged in.”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

“Oh, and, man, you owe me for telling my mom I’d call.”

“Bullshit. Your mom was shot at. You were going to call her anyway.” Elliot rolled his eyes so hard it hurt.

“Yeah, well, you didn’t need to tell her,” Con grumped.

“Suck it up.” Elliot chuckled.

“Oh, damn, hold on.”

Elliot watched Ross come down the hall. He held up a hand and pointed at his ear.

Ross stood quietly until Con came back online. “We have one Jessica Hall in the office, and she’s making a beeline straight to Maya’s office. She has a backpack. And … hmmmm …”

“What?” Elliot snapped.

“Oh, sorry, she just set a folder on Maya’s desk and then left. She’s in her own office now. I’ll keep watching.”

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