But when he went to close his account one day, they told him the box was still open. She'd been dead for ten years by then. He said the journals and that black book were the only things in there. He hung onto them, thinking my dad might one day want them. But to my knowledge, my father has never read them."
"Probably best if he doesn't, at least not the one where she talks about the baby that ruined her life."
"I wasn't eager to show him that." She took a breath, then changed the subject again. "Can't you tell me anything about who you're investigating at the Firebird Club? What led you to the club? Was it just because it came back into business six months ago?"
"There was other intelligence."
"And you went undercover because…why?"
"I speak Russian, for one."
"Right. Why did you bail on working last night?"
"A lot of reasons, but the two main ones were that I didn't want you to go home alone, and I didn't like that Bragin kept staring at me and picking at my background."
"Now I understand why he bothered you so much."
"If he became convinced that I was related to Andrei Markov, he might have dug into my life and discovered I was an FBI agent."
"He might still do that."
"I don't plan on serving any more drinks there, not unless it's part of a play."
"What kind of a play?"
"It's still being formulated, but it involves David."
She was surprised by that piece of information. "David—as in Sylvia's son?"
"Yes. I think he might have intelligence I can use."
"Why would he tell you anything?"
"He may have a reason to believe he's in trouble with his bosses."
She thought about his words. Jax was being very careful in what he said, but she'd been around him long enough to read between some of the lines. "Hold on. David was blackmailing Ryland. Is that why he's in trouble?"
"I really can't tell you, Maya."
"I think you already did," she said, giving him a pointed look. "You set him up, didn't you?"
"Let's talk about something else."
"You wanted to get David in trouble with someone so that he would tell you what's going on at the club. Do you think Sylvia is involved?"
"Yes. But I don't think she's in charge. I'm more interested in the individuals above her."
"That could be any of the five guys and Alexander. Maybe his wife, too. And what about Louisa? Who else?"
He gave her a smile. "Why don't you concentrate on your own mystery?"
"Our mysteries seem to be colliding."
"They do. But I can't say more."
"Fine. If we need to talk about something else, let's go back to discussing your parents."
"We could just not talk," he said dryly.
"You know me better than that."
"I do. But I've actually told you everything I know, Maya, which is very little. The last day I saw my parents started out like any other day. My mom made oladyi and she'd squeezed fresh orange juice for me. She said she wanted me to have a good breakfast before our trip. After that, she helped me pack my overnight bag. I thought she was putting in a lot of clothes. It was summer, and she was packing sweaters and a jacket. I told her I was going to be hot. She just said you never know. The weather always changes."
"She was packing for longer than a weekend."
"Maybe." He gave her a quick look. "She squatted down in front of me, and she put her hands on my arms, and she said, 'Remember that, Jack, the weather always changes. Even when you think it won't, it will. Things get bad and then they get better. You have to be strong and brave and always move forward.'" He let out an odd little laugh. "Funny that I remember her words so clearly now."
"She called you Jack?"
"Yes. That was my name. But when I got to Rick and Carol's house, they changed it to Jax. It didn't matter to me. My parents had occasionally called me that, too. When the Kenins adopted me, they gave me their last name."
"So you were born Jack Markov, but you became Jax Kenin. Wasn't that strange to be someone different?"
"Looking back, it does seem odd, but at the time, I felt like the kid I used to be had died with my parents. It was better to be someone else. But if my parents' accident wasn't really an accident, then it does raise the question of whether or not they tried to hide