the investigation into Julia's death, and I've told them exactly what she said before she died. They're going over her note and her house in excruciating detail. They'll also be overseeing the investigation into the fire at your house."
"Why are they doing all this if your case is not related to my grandmother's murder?"
"Because there could be connections between your grandmother's killer and what I've been looking into."
"Which is what? You have to tell me something, Jax."
"We're looking into a potential spy ring," he said.
She sucked in a breath. "Russian spies?"
He met her gaze. "Yes."
"And now you think my grandmother might have been a spy, too?"
"We'll know more once we can decode the cypher. But if your grandmother was spying, I'm guessing one of the old guys at that club found out."
"And one of them killed her. How are we going to figure out who?"
"Maybe the cypher will tell us." He paused as his bell rang. "That's Brandon. Are you okay, Maya? Are we good?"
"I don't know how to answer that question," she said flatly. "But you can let him in. We have to figure out the cypher. That's all that matters right now."
He gave her a grim look and then he went to open the door.
As he walked away, she felt like she was losing something important. But maybe it hadn't been important at all. Maybe it had all just been a game.
Brandon Tarek had dark black hair that fell over his forehead and a pair of glasses that slid down his nose as he studied the code in her grandmother's journal. Brandon and Jax had set up shop in the living room. Jax was reading through Natasha's more personal journals, and Maya had spent the past few minutes wandering around the room, before deciding to leave them to it. She went into the kitchen, took her computer out of her bag and set it up on the island.
Thankfully, she hadn't lost it in the fire. She had all of her Natasha notes on the laptop, and while most of those notes were backed up, she didn't know if all of them were. She also had work stuff on there, too, emails that she should probably be reading today. But she couldn't work. She was far too distracted by her grandmother and by Jax.
Both of them might be completely different people than she thought they were, and that was more than a little unsettling. She had to admit that Jax's secret had stung. It felt like a betrayal. She'd really thought she'd found someone she could trust completely, but Jax had been…using her. Maybe he wouldn't call it that, but wasn't that the truth? Had he stuck around because he wanted to help her, or because he'd started to believe that her grandmother was tied to the spies he was tracking?
She pressed her hands to her forehead, feeling an ache beginning to take root. That ache got worse when her phone rang, and her mom's name flashed across the screen. The last person she wanted to talk to was her mother, but she had to make sure her parents were safe. "Hello, Mom?"
"Are you all right, Maya?" her mother asked. "I've been worrying about you ever since your father insisted we spend the night at Darcy's. He won't tell me what's going on, so you need to do that."
"Someone is after Grandmother's journals, and Dad and I were worried they might think he had them. I asked him to take you to Darcy's house."
"What about you? Why aren't you with us? Are you safe?"
She drew in a breath. "I'm okay, Mom, but last night someone set fire to my house."
"Oh, my God. Were you hurt?"
"I'm fine, but the house is gone."
"Where are you now?"
"I'm with a friend. And he's an FBI agent. He's keeping me safe, and he's going to keep you safe, too."
"What do you mean?"
"He has a private security team on their way to Darcy's house. If you all stay in the house, you'll be fine. He is also sending a team to Grandpa's facility."
"This sounds terrifying. What is going on?"
She debated how much to tell her mom, but she knew she had to give her something. "It appears that one of Grandma's journals was actually written in code. She might have been a spy, Mom."
"What? That's crazy. She was a movie star."
"I know. I can't believe it, either, but it's all starting to make sense." She paused. "I don't think Dad has any idea."