Chapter 11 - Ben's Secret
Ben knew from Maya's face that the hiding was over.
He closed the cart early.
"It was Detective Ruiz," he said.
Maya stared at him. "Carla Ruiz?"
"She mailed the ledger."
Ruiz had found it in an evidence box from the motel investigation. A superior ordered her to surrender it. She suspected corruption and secretly copied several pages before the original disappeared.
Months later, she found the original again in a trash bin behind the precinct records room.
"She gave it to you?"
"She said if she kept it, they'd take it. If she gave it to a lawyer, they'd know where to look. Nobody was watching the hot dog guy."
"Where is Ruiz now?"
Ben hesitated.
"She died eight years ago."
Maya sank into a chair.
Ben continued. Before her death, Ruiz had visited him once. She told him the investigation into Maya's mother had been compromised by someone inside the police department and someone at City Hall.
"Names?"
"She wouldn't tell me. Said knowing would put Ruth and me in danger."
Maya paced. "Why didn't you tell me the minute I came back?"
"Because you walked into my life after twenty years, handed me a bag of money, and within forty-eight hours people were threatening to kill me. I was catching up."
Despite herself, she almost laughed.
Then Ben reached into a drawer.
"Ruiz left one more thing."
A small cassette recorder.
"I don't own anything that plays this," Maya said.
"I do. I'm old, remember?"
They found Ben's dusty tape player.
The cassette hissed.
Ruiz's voice emerged, older and tired.
"If Maya Carter ever hears this, it means Victor Calder is still free. The person protecting him is not Judge Harlan. Harlan is weak, not powerful. The real protection comes from—"
The tape clicked.
Stopped.
Ben frowned.
Maya turned the cassette over.
May you like
A section of tape had been physically cut out.
Someone had reached Ruiz's secret before they did.
