MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Forty: The Knife in the Dark
---
The call came at midnight.
Jay was in the study with Keifer, the company files spread across the desk, her mother's signature still wet on the transfer papers. The war was over. Her uncle was gone. The man in Singapore was still out there, but for now, the company was hers.
Her phone buzzed. Mica's name flashed on the screen.
"There's movement," Mica said. "Someone accessed the old security files. Your uncle's files. The ones we thought were destroyed."
Jay's hand tightened on the phone. "Who?"
"I don't know yet. But they're good. They covered their tracks. They knew what they were looking for."
Jay looked at Keifer. His face had gone still.
"Keep digging," Jay said.
She hung up. Keifer was already standing, already moving toward the door.
"Someone is still out there," he said.
She nodded. "Someone who wanted my uncle's files."
He took her hand. "We find them. Together."
She squeezed his hand. "Together."
---
The warehouse at the edge of the Port of Manila was dark when Jay arrived.
She came with her girls. Freya was at the door, her gun drawn, her face sharp. Rakki was behind her, her chaos banked into something cold. Mica was in the van, her laptop open, her voice calm in Jay's ear. Ella was at the back, her hands steady, her face pale. Lyra was in the shadows, her knife in her hand, her face blank. Care was at the entrance, her medical bag open, her hands ready. Grace was beside her, her fists up, her eyes scanning.
Ci N was there. Felix was beside him.
Jay walked into the warehouse. The lights were low. The tables were empty. The files were gone.
"Someone was here," Freya said. "Recently."
Jay looked at the tables. At the dust that had been disturbed. At the chairs that had been moved.
"They knew we were coming," Jay said.
Mica's voice was tight in her ear. "They knew. They accessed the files an hour ago. They're still in the system. They're watching."
Jay's hand went to her knife. "Find them."
---
The lights went out.
The warehouse went dark. Complete darkness. The kind of darkness that pressed against your eyes, that made you blind, that made you helpless.
Jay dropped to the ground. Her knife was in her hand. Her ears strained for sound.
Freya was beside her. "They cut the power. Generator in three minutes."
"We don't have three minutes."
A sound. Footsteps. Close. Too close.
Jay moved. Her knife found air. The footsteps moved away.
"Lyra," Jay whispered.
No answer.
"Lyra."
---
Lyra was in the shadows when the lights went out.
She had been in the warehouse since sunset, watching, waiting. She had seen the man enter. She had seen him go through the files. She had seen him plant something under the main table.
She had seen his face.
She knew him. He was one of Jay's bodyguards. One of the men her father had hired years ago. One of the men who had been with the family since before the war.
He was standing at the main table now, his hands on the wood, his face turned toward the door where Jay had entered. His gun was drawn. His finger was on the trigger.
Lyra moved.
She was silent. She was a shadow. She was the thing that her father had made her, the thing she had been trying to escape for years.
She stopped behind him. Her knife was in her hand. Her breath was steady.
"You're going to kill her," Lyra said.
The man turned. His gun came up. Lyra moved faster. Her knife was at his throat. Her face was inches from his.
"You're going to kill her," she said again.
The man's face was pale. His hands were shaking. "I was hired. I didn't know—"
"You knew."
His eyes were wide. "There's someone else. Someone who paid me. Someone who's been watching. Someone who—"
Lyra's knife pressed closer. "Who?"
"I don't know. I never saw his face. He paid in cash. He said he wanted the files. He said he wanted her gone. He said—"
The lights came back on.
Jay was standing at the entrance. Her gun was drawn. Her face was calm. Freya was beside her. Rakki was behind her. The room was full of her girls, her army, her family.
Jay looked at the man. At her bodyguard. At the man who had been with her family for years.
"You were going to kill me," Jay said.
The man's face was white. "I didn't—I couldn't—"
"You were going to kill me," Jay said again. "And someone paid you. Someone who wanted the files. Someone who wanted the war to continue."
The man's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Lyra's knife was still at his throat. Her face was blank. Her eyes were not.
"Who?" Lyra asked.
The man looked at her. At the knife. At the woman who had been in the shadows for years.
"The man in Singapore," he said. "He's been watching. He's been waiting. He wanted the war to continue. He wanted both families to destroy each other. He wanted—"
He stopped. His eyes went wide. His mouth opened.
Lyra's knife was in his throat.
He fell. The blood was black in the light. His eyes were open. His hands were empty.
Lyra stood over him. Her knife was red. Her face was blank.
"Lyra," Jay said.
Lyra looked at her. Her face was calm. Her eyes were not.
"He was going to kill you," Lyra said. "He was going to kill you tonight. In this warehouse. He was going to make it look like an accident."
Jay walked to her. She stood in front of her friend. Her sister. The woman who had been with her through everything.
"You saved my life," Jay said.
Lyra looked at the knife in her hand. At the blood on her fingers.
"I killed him," Lyra said.
"You saved my life."
Lyra looked at her. Her face was blank. Her eyes were wet.
"He was going to kill you," Lyra said again.
Jay took her hand. The one with the knife. The one with the blood.
"I know," Jay said.
---
The warehouse was quiet when they left.
The man was gone. The body was gone. The files were gone. Mica was tracking the money. Freya was tracking the calls. Rakki was tracking the men who had been paid.
Lyra was in the van. Her hands were empty. Her face was blank. Alex was beside her. His hand was in hers.
"You saved her," Alex said.
Lyra didn't answer.
"You saved her life."
She looked at her hand in his. The blood was gone. The knife was gone.
"I killed him," she said.
He squeezed her hand. "You saved her."
She looked at him. His face was close. His eyes were steady.
"I know," she said.
---
The house was quiet when they got home.
Keifer was waiting at the door. His face was pale. His hands were empty. He looked at Jay when she walked in. At the blood on her shirt. At the blood on her hands.
"You're bleeding," he said.
"It's not mine."
He pulled her close. His arms were tight. His face was in her hair.
"You're okay," he said.
She held him. "I'm okay."
He pulled back. His hands were on her face. His eyes were steady.
"Who was it?" he asked.
She looked at the door. At Lyra walking in, Alex beside her, her hands empty, her face blank.
"Someone we trusted," Jay said. "Someone who was with my family for years. Someone who was paid by the man in Singapore."
Keifer's face went still. "He's still out there."
"He's been watching. He's been waiting. He wanted the war to continue. He wanted both families to destroy each other."
Keifer's hand tightened on hers. "Then we find him. We end this."
She looked at him. His face was tired. His eyes were dark.
"Together," she said.
"Together."
---
The night was long.
Mica worked through the morning. Calix was beside her, his hands on her laptop, his voice low. They found the trail. The money moved from Singapore to Manila, from Manila to Hong Kong, from Hong Kong to accounts that closed the moment they found them.
"He's covering his tracks," Mica said. "He's been doing this for thirty years. He knows how to disappear."
Jay stood at the map. The man's face was pinned at the center. Her father's face was beside it. Her uncle's face was below.
"He's not going to disappear," Jay said. "Not this time."
Mica looked at her. "What are you going to do?"
Jay looked at the map. At the man who had been watching her whole life.
"I'm going to find him," Jay said. "I'm going to find him, and I'm going to end this."
---
Lyra was in her corner when the sun rose.
Her hands were still empty. Her face was still blank. Alex was beside her. His chair was pulled close. His hand was in hers.
"You should sleep," she said.
"I'm not tired."
"You should."
He looked at her. His face was tired. His eyes were dark.
"You saved her," he said. "You saved her life."
She looked at their hands. His fingers laced with hers.
"I killed him," she said.
He squeezed her hand. "You saved her."
She looked at him. His face was close. His eyes were steady.
"I know," she said.
She leaned against him. Her head was on his shoulder. His arm was around her.
"You're staying," she said.
He kissed her hair. "I'm staying."
---
Jay stood at the window of her room.
The garden was gray. The steps were empty. The flowers were blooming. Keifer came in behind her. His arms went around her waist. His face was in her hair.
"You should sleep," he said.
"I'm not tired."
"Neither am I."
She leaned against him. His chest was warm. His heart was steady.
"The man in Singapore," she said. "He's been watching us. He's been waiting. He wanted the war to continue."
Keifer's arms tightened. "Then we find him. We end this."
She turned to face him. His face was close. His eyes were steady.
"What if we can't find him?" she asked.
He took her face in his hands. His fingers were warm.
"We find him," he said. "We find him, and we end this. Together."
She looked at him. The enemy. The stranger. The man she had married.
"Together," she said.
He kissed her. Soft. Slow. A kiss that promised everything.
She kissed him back.
---
END OF CHAPTER FORTY