Julia years after the fact, her sadness about Natasha seemed very real." He paused. "Maybe it was about a man. When I played tennis with Julia, she was single, and she was dating a guy named Daniel. She said she'd met him a long time ago through Natasha, but he'd been married then and now he wasn't."
"Daniel Bragin?" Jax interjected.
"I think that was his name," Blake said. "You should talk to him."
"Or don't talk to anyone else," her father said harshly. "Julia's note references you. You need to stop, Maya. What's it going to take? How many people are going to die?"
She hadn't wanted to lie to him, but he wasn't giving her a choice. "I am going to stop," she said.
Her father shook his head, giving her a doubtful look. "If that was true, why did you come here?"
"Well, I wasn't sure until now that stopping was the right idea but having learned that you were in the car that night has changed my mind."
"Good. Then I think we're done," her father said abruptly, getting to his feet.
"I agree," Blake added, as he rose. "I have nothing more to add."
She had no choice but to get up. Jax did the same, and they walked in silence to the front door.
"I hope you can all put the past to bed," Blake said, as they stepped onto the porch. "There's nothing you can do to bring either of these women back. It's best you just get on with your own lives."
As Blake shut the door, they walked down the drive, pausing by her father's car. "I wish you would have told me the truth the other night when I asked," she said. "Why didn't you?"
"Because I've kept the secret for thirty-six years. I didn't want anyone to know, not you or your siblings or your mom, and especially not my father. I made some mistakes as a young man. I've tried to live a great life since then, a life of integrity. I never sold another drug after that night. I never took a drug after that night."
"I believe that's true," she said, meeting his gaze. "But you have been living a lie for a long time, and maybe that's why you've always felt distant to me. It's like you could never really be yourself."
"I am myself. I'm exactly who I want to be. And I'd like you to let me continue being the person that I've made myself into."
"You want me to keep the secret from our family?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I want," he said harshly.
"I don't know if I can do that. Darcy and James, they have a right—"
"No, they don't. This is my life—not yours, not theirs."
"Okay." She paused, realizing she wasn't going to win that argument, and she had another battle to fight, one that was far more important. "Dad, I think you should go home, get Mom and go down to Darcy's house for the night. Tell Mom you want to see the baby. She'll be happy to go."
He stared back at her. "Why?"
"Because Julia is dead. Because I don't know what's going on. Because I don't want anything to happen to you or Mom or anyone in the family."
"Why don't you come with us?"
She was relieved he didn't seem inclined to argue. "I might meet you there, but I can't come with you now."
"Why not?"
"I have things I have to do."
More anger ran through his eyes at her stubborn answer. "Fine. I'll take your mother down to Darcy's house. But you call us later."
"I will."
Her father got in his car and closed the door. Then he drove away.
She let out a breath and turned to Jax. "That was…" She couldn't even find the right word.
"I know," he said, giving her a compassionate smile. "Let's get out of here.”
"Yes, please." As they got in the car and drove back to Belle's, she said, "I wasn't going to lie to my dad, but he gave me no choice."
"Did you lie? Do you want to keep going, Maya? If your dad was in the car the night Natasha died, he could be in trouble."
He made a good point. "You're right. He could be. And maybe he still thinks that Natasha killed herself with his drugs, but I don't. Because Julia died in exactly the same way and she told us she didn't kill herself. There's a murderer out there, and now they've killed at least twice."
"I agree. It was interesting that the car was moved from the location