I, but I felt this need to get to the truth for him and for Grandpa. I still need to tell Grandpa what I learned."
"You'll do it tomorrow. I wonder if he'll be as surprised as we were?"
"Probably, or maybe he always had suspicions. I know he believed that Natasha's story was not what everyone thought it was. He was right."
"I'm glad you're here, Maya. We were all worried about you last night and then hearing about your house burning down…" She shuddered. "You could have died."
"But I didn't. However, speaking of the fire, could I borrow some clothes?"
Her sister smiled. "Of course. Anything you want." She paused. "So, Grandma was a spy."
"Crazy, huh?"
"Ridiculous. But it's going to make a hell of a movie."
"I don't—"
"Stop," her sister interrupted. "You know you're going to make it. You have to. And I don't think Dad will hold you back. This is your story as much as it's Natasha's. And when you open your film, I'm going to be in the front row."
"We'll see. I'll need everyone to be in jail before then."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Maya got her wish in a text from Jax at noon on Tuesday. The team had worked through the night, and with help from David Graham, they had enough evidence to get arrest warrants for a dozen people. Edward Coleman and Constantine Dimitrov had been picked up at their homes without incident. It appeared that Edward had been at Julia's house at the time of her murder, so it was a good bet he'd killed both Julia and Natasha. Jax was now at the Firebird Club and would report back when Louisa, Sylvia, Alexander, and Victoria were in custody. The car dealership owner and associates were being brought in for questioning, as well as the Bragins and the Jaggers. He'd get back to her later with more specifics.
She felt an immense sense of relief. She'd worried that the FBI's investigation would take weeks or months because of the multiple cases they were investigating, but it sounded like Jax had been able to move faster with help from David. It felt a little ironic that the person to bring them all down was Sylvia's son, who was also Edward's grandson. That family had been trouble for at least three generations. And now David was turning on them. He must have made a deal to save himself.
Her mom came into the kitchen. "You got up late today."
"I was exhausted. I couldn't believe I slept so late. I just made another pot of coffee."
"I'll have a cup with you."
"Where's Dad?"
"He's working in the study. Darcy and Matt are playing with Zoe in the sunroom. It's nice that we're all together, but I hope we don't have to stay here for too long."
"They're arresting the people involved right now. I just got a text from Jax. He said they worked all night and came up with enough hard evidence to start bringing people in."
Surprise moved through her mother's eyes. "That's great. Who is Jax?"
"He's the FBI agent I've been working with. He was actually undercover at the Firebird Club as a bartender when I met him."
Her mom shook her head in bemusement. "So many secret lives. It's mind-boggling. And Edward Coleman being involved…that's still shocking to me. The man was our attorney general. He ran for the senate, and all the time he was a Russian spy. Imagine the information he must have shared with the Russians."
"It had to be a lot over a very long period of time."
"You need to start writing your script."
"I can't believe you're all behind the movie now."
"Someone is going to make this movie, and it needs to be you. I think it's going to be Oscar-worthy."
"And I think you're prejudiced as my mother."
Her mom smiled. "You've always had talent, Maya. I've never doubted that. You just didn't have direction or focus. But you have it now. Natasha would want you to tell her story."
"I have some of the scenes already in mind," she admitted. "And I probably should start writing, because I called in sick again today, and my boss said if I didn't make a miraculous recovery by tomorrow, I could stay home indefinitely."
"Then you should quit. You should take the time to write the script and make the movie. The jobs you've been doing—you can always go back to those, but I don't think you ever will. This is your break. This is your chance to be the filmmaker you've always wanted to be. It's time