Chapter 8 - The Wedding Without Guests
Marcus wanted Ethan and Maya moved to a secure location immediately.
Maya refused.
“Someone has attacked a chapel, burned an estate, and taken control of a hospital television,” Marcus argued. “This is not the time to prove a point.”
“I’m not proving anything.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Finishing my wedding.”
Ethan studied her face.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You shouldn’t marry me because someone sent a message.”
“I’m marrying you because I chose you before I knew your name.”
Laura watched them from the hospital bed.
“The message may be a threat.”
Maya nodded.
“Then whoever sent it expects us to be afraid. I am afraid. But I’m still getting married.”
They returned to the farmhouse before dawn.
The floral arch from the chapel was damaged, so the security team erected a simple wooden frame beneath an oak tree.
There were no guests.
No musicians.
No reception tables.
Only Maya, Ethan, Marcus, Helen, Laura, a minister, and several guards positioned beyond sight.
Maya wore the same ivory dress, now repaired at the shoulder where stained glass had torn the fabric.
Helen approached her before the ceremony.
“I should have walked with you.”
Maya looked toward the empty field.
“Yes.”
“I was afraid of your father.”
“You were always afraid.”
“I thought surviving him was the same as protecting you.”
“It wasn’t.”
Helen nodded, accepting the words.
“I know.”
Maya looked at her mother’s bare hand.
“Are you leaving him?”
“I don’t know who I am without him.”
“That isn’t a reason to stay.”
Helen’s eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
Maya handed her the bouquet.
“Walk with me now.”
They crossed the grass together.
At the altar, Ethan waited without the weight of an inherited name or expensive legacy.
He simply looked like the man Maya loved.
The minister spoke quickly but sincerely.
When it was time for vows, Ethan took both of Maya’s hands.
“I should have told you the truth.”
“Yes.”
“I thought hiding my name meant I had escaped it.”
“You didn’t.”
“No.”
He looked toward Marcus and Laura.
“I can’t promise the past won’t find us again.”
“It already did.”
“I can promise I won’t hide from you anymore.”
Maya held his gaze.
“That is the only promise I need.”
They exchanged rings.
The minister pronounced them husband and wife.
For the first time since the chapel doors had opened, Maya felt something close to peace.
Then every guard’s radio activated at once.
A distorted voice spoke through the speakers.
“Mrs. Hawthorne has fulfilled the first condition.”
Marcus drew his weapon.
The voice continued.
“The second condition begins at sunrise.”
A drone descended above the field.
It released a small black box that landed several yards from the couple.
The guards surrounded it.
A bomb technician examined the device and found no explosives.
Inside was a photograph of the eastern coastline.
A red circle marked the area around Eleanor’s old cottage.
Beneath the photograph was a note.
BRING THE KEYHOLE.
COME WITHOUT MARCUS.
Laura looked at the pendant.
Maya closed her hand around it.
Ethan tore the note in half.
“We’re not following instructions.”
Marcus disagreed.
“We need to understand what they want.”
“They want Maya.”
“They could have taken her already. They’re guiding her.”
“That doesn’t make it safer.”
Maya looked at the photograph.
Her grandmother’s cottage had been sold after Eleanor’s death. Richard claimed the property taxes were too high and the building was too damaged to preserve.
Maya had not returned in seven years.
“There’s something at the cottage,” she said.
Laura nodded.
“Eleanor called it the second door.”
Ethan looked toward the rising sun.
“You’re not going alone.”
The distorted voice returned through the radios.
“We expected that answer, Ethan.”
One of the security vehicles started by itself.
Its headlights flashed.
The dashboard screen displayed a live video feed.
May you like
Richard sat tied to a chair in an unknown room.
A timer above his head began counting down from six hours.
