Chapter 18: The Third Party

After he sat down in front of her, Maya asked, "How's your stay here?"

Kal raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are we friends now?"

Maya simply replied, "I don’t know! Why?"

He answered, "Because that’s a question friends ask."

She thought for a moment and then said, "You helped me before, so yes, we’re friends."

"I didn’t help you. I got paid."

"Even so, I consider it help. You saved the life of someone important."

Kal asked with boredom, "Alright, what do you want now?"

She smiled and replied, "Another favor. In fact, I’ve come to consider you my informant."

Kal looked around sarcastically and said, "In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still between four walls in a place called prison, which means I can’t offer you anything."

Maya insisted, "Yes, you can. I know you have connections outside of prison that can help you with what I need."

Kal said, "Let’s see what you’ve got. Speak up!"

Maya said with a determined tone, "I want information about Sam. Any information, no matter what it is—his money, family, residence, friends, business—anything and everything."

Kal stared at her in disbelief, then exclaimed, "You’re kidding, right? Are you out of your mind?"

She replied, "Unfortunately, I’m not."

Her calmness pushed Kal to shout at her, "Do you even know who Sam is? Before anything else, he’s one of the men of the notorious merchant Madoff, in fact, he’s considered his right-hand man."

Maya responded calmly, "And yet, he’s now rotting in a small cell. I know who Sam and Madoff are, which is why I want information about him."

Kal was silent for a moment, then noticed the gleam in her eyes and spoke, "Are you serious about what you’re asking?"

Maya answered firmly, "To the utmost degree."

Kal then said, "Alright, how am I supposed to gather such information? As you know, any information about Sam is highly classified."

Maya tilted her head slightly and said, "Kal! Don’t play games with me; you know exactly how to gather your information. Remember, you’re the one who told us about Sam’s hideout."

Kal objected, "Even so, I’m sorry, my dear, it’s a risky gamble…"

She interrupted him, "No! It’s not if there’s a reward." Then she handed him a small piece of paper.

Kal looked at the check, which had a larger amount than the previous one. He was silent for a moment, biting his lip, then muttered, "You women, you take blackmail to the highest levels. Transfer it the same way, and you’ll get a call from me as soon as I have what you need."

Maya smiled, then stood up to leave, but Kal stopped her, asking, "What’s his name?"

She repeated, confused, "His name?"

He clarified, "The person you’re doing all this for, what’s his name?"

She looked at him, then softly replied, "Faan."

Kal said, "I wonder if they’re worth it."

She asked, "What do you mean?"

Kal spoke calmly, "First, Officer Alexander, and now this person, Faan. I can’t help but wonder if they’re really worth spending your money and risking your life for."

Maya replied as she left with a sweet voice, "Don’t worry, they’re worth it in every sense of the word."

With vacant eyes, Alex was disassembling a gun into several parts, then reassembling it, flipping it between his hands, only to disassemble it again and start reassembling it once more. He heard Krek’s voice from beside the door, saying, "That’s not your gun, is it?"

Alex replied without looking up from the scattered parts on the desk, "No, it’s not mine."

Krek walked in and sat down on a chair in front of Alex’s desk, asking, "Whose is it then?"

Alex muttered, "Maya’s."

"And what’s Maya’s gun doing in your hands?"

Alex responded with impatience, "Do you want me to write up an investigation report for you?"

Krek asked, surprised, "Wow! Why are you so angry? Is it because she left us? Come on, what can we do? You know we went to her a few days ago to convince her to come back, but she refused."

When Alex didn’t respond, or even look up at him, Krek continued, trying to provoke him, "You know what? She told us she doesn’t want to see you anymore, and I used to think you two were a great pair. Wait! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not gossiping. She asked us to tell you that, but we refused."

Alex sighed and said, "Then why are you telling me?"

Krek scratched his head and answered, "I don’t know. You know, Maya confuses me. I don’t understand how she thinks. Her father is gone, Frederick was forced into it, and you had nothing to do with what happened. Madoff will be exposed eventually, so what’s all this fuss about?"

Alex said coldly, "Go tell her that."

"You’re mocking me, right?"

"On the contrary, I think your words are full of wisdom, so I want you to tell her that."

Krek objected, "No. I won’t tell her anything because it won’t make a difference. Maya has closed her ears to any voice except the voice of revenge, a revenge that has prevented her from living her life normally, from building her own life, from living her days happily, from loving a man and marrying him. You know, I think if she loved a man, he could make her forget about revenge."

Alex lowered his head thoughtfully, then said in a calm tone, "You mean he should use her love for him to make her abandon her revenge."

Krek leaned on the desk, replying in surprise, "Use her! Why do you use such words? If he truly loves her, he wouldn’t use her. All that would happen is that his love for her would push her to give up these ideas."

Alex was silent, leaning his head on his leather chair, then smiled a strange smile and shouted cheerfully, "How did you suddenly become so wise?"

Krek groaned, "Love! Love, my friend."

Alex joked, "No offense, at first I thought Nina was unlucky to have fallen for you, but now I think she’s very lucky. Her boyfriend has become wise, understanding women."

Krek muttered sadly, "Don’t remind me of Nina. She’s very angry."

Alex said, "I know."

Krek asked, puzzled, "How did you know?"

Alex responded coldly, "I heard you trying to calm her down on the phone earlier, so I guessed she was angry. What did you do to her?"

Krek exclaimed innocently, "Oh, my friend, don’t blame me. It’s not my fault; it’s Maya’s."

Alex looked at him, intrigued, "What happened?"

Krek laughed lightly and said, "Now I’ve caught your attention."

Alex repeated, "What happened?"

Krek defended himself, "Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. All it is, is that Nina refuses to be picked up from school by Maya in her father Faan’s white car, even though it’s not old, but Nina objects to its white color. She hates white cars and finds them ugly."

Alex raised his eyebrows, then reached for one of the gun parts, muttering, "What about Maya’s car?"

"She sold it for no reason."

Alex’s hands froze as he thought, narrowing his eyes, then he raised his head and asked Krek, "Is that what she told Nina?"

Krek replied, "She said she didn’t need her car anymore, so she sold it."

At that moment, Alex whispered, "Or maybe she needs something else."

Alex was heading to the fourth floor where his office was when the elevator stopped on the second floor. Five men started to enter, carrying several heavy boxes, appearing to be moving something from one place to another. The elevator’s bell sounded, warning that there was an overload. One of the men was about to step out when Alex said, "It’s alright, I’ll get out. I’m not in a hurry." He exited the elevator, then looked around to find a sign that read “Evidence and Files Classification Department.” He stood for a while, staring at the door, then made his way towards it.

He knocked on the door, and when no one answered, he opened it quietly. There was no one at the reception desk, nor was there any sound indicating someone was around. It seemed they had a meeting somewhere or something like that. So, he headed towards the rooms lined up on the right side, opening them randomly—the first, then the second, and finally the third, where he stopped. The scent that filled the room was unmistakably Maya’s perfume, meaning he was in her office. He stood still for ten minutes, observing every inch of the room, surrounded by silence and mystery. Finally, he turned to leave, but a black envelope caught his attention. He walked over to the desk, picked up the envelope, and started turning it over in his hands. There was no name or address indicating who had sent it. The only thing written on it was the recipient’s details—Maya.

Curiosity began to gnaw at him for two reasons: the first being that the envelope was black, something he had never seen before, and the second was that there were no details indicating its sender. He tapped his foot on the floor several times, wondering what he should do, but in the end, he decided to open it. There wouldn’t be any harm in looking at something that belonged to Maya; after all, the war between them had already begun.

The envelope was tightly sealed, so Alex had to tear it open forcefully, which caused it to rip and a few photos to fall out onto the floor. He bent down to gather them, then straightened up, only for his eyes to widen in shock at the photo he was holding. It was a picture of him laughing. He couldn’t remember when the picture was taken, but one thing he was sure of was that it was taken secretly, without his knowledge. He turned the photo over and found a printed message on the back: “He’s the reason your father is gone.” He began flipping through the rest of the photos, which showed him and his uncle Frederick in various situations, with phrases written on them like “Take revenge on him,” “The traitor’s fate is death,” and “Why does he live while your father is dead?”

He dropped the photos from his hands, feeling weak, still unable to believe what he had seen. Who was doing this? Suddenly, doubt crept into him. He circled the desk and sat in the chair, cautiously pulling open one of its drawers, hoping he was wrong, but unfortunately, his suspicions were confirmed. Inside the drawer were two more black envelopes, identical to the one he had just opened. He took them out and spread their contents across the desk, revealing more photos of him and his uncle, along with pictures of a man he had never met but knew well—Faan, Maya’s father. He picked up a photo with trembling hands. It was taken right after Faan’s death, showing Faan’s bloodied face. The back of the photo read, “Who brought your father to this state?” Another photo, taken just before Faan’s death, showed him standing during that mission, with the message, “If Frederick had warned me, I’d be alive.” A third photo had the message, “Bring me peace in my grave, my daughter.” There was also a folded piece of paper that Alex opened, finding the message, “It’s that simple. Vindicate your father as he vindicated you, and kill those responsible for his death—Frederick the traitor and Alexander, who was chosen instead of your father. Without killing them, you’ll never feel at peace. Kill them and don’t let the hero Faan’s death be in vain.”

His teeth clenched, his eyes turned red, his veins bulged, and a pulse beat in his forehead. He remained still for a second, then another, but on the third, he sprang up and slammed his fist onto the desk with such force that it shook violently. He began breathing in short, rapid gasps, almost like loud sobs. Then he grabbed a few of the photos and threw them onto the floor with all his might, shouting angrily, “Leave her alone, you bastards! Leave her alone! Stop tormenting her!” He buried his hands in his short, jet-black hair and swallowed hard, trying to calm his agitated self, but his legs couldn’t support him due to the intensity of his emotions, so he leaned on the corner of the desk with one hand, then began muttering in a daze, “How! How have you endured this psychological warfare they’re waging against you, Maya? How can you still stand and fight? Who are these people? And why are they targeting you? Why! Why didn’t you tell anyone about this? Why suffer alone?” He then closed his eyes for a long time, lifting his head toward the ceiling, realizing that a third party had entered the battlefield.