Maya's Discovery

Maya Chen's POV

Maya slipped through the broken window of the Millbrook Gazette building, her heart pounding as glass crunched under her feet.

The building was completely destroyed. Desks were flipped over, papers scattered everywhere, and her computer was smashed into bits on the floor. Marcus Webb's men had torn the place apart looking for her proof.

But they didn't know about her secret.

Maya crawled across the floor toward her editor's desk, staying low in case anyone was looking from outside. Behind the desk, she felt along the wall until her fingers found a small secret panel.

She pressed it, and a tiny camera slid out.

"Please still be working," Maya whispered to herself.

The camera had been recording everything in the office for months. Maya had installed it after someone broke in the first time, needing proof of who was trying to stop her investigation.

She connected the camera to her backup laptop, the one she kept hidden in a secret drawer. The screen flickered to life.

"Come on, come on," Maya mumbled as the files loaded.

The camera had recorded everything from the past twenty-four hours. Maya fast-forwarded through footage of her empty office, then stopped when she saw figures breaking in.

Three guys in dark suits. They moved like pros, searching through every drawer and file cabinet. Maya didn't recognize two of them, but the third man made her gasp.

It was Sheriff Dale Morrison - Jake's own cousin.

"You traitor," Maya whispered furiously.

But that wasn't the most shocking part. As Maya kept watching, she saw someone else enter her office.

Marcus Webb himself.

In the video, Marcus was talking on his phone while his men destroyed her office.

"Yes, the Chen girl has been causing problems for months," Marcus said. "Her investigation got too close to the truth."

Maya turned up the noise, her hands shaking with excitement. This was it - proof that Marcus Webb was behind everything.

"What do you mean she's Sarah's sister?" Marcus continued on the phone. "Sarah Chen, FBI Internal Affairs? That's impossible. How did we miss that connection?"

Maya's heart stopped. Her sister Sarah was FBI Internal Affairs? Sarah had told Maya she worked for the government, but she'd never said she was investigating corrupt federal agents.

"Find out everything about Agent Sarah Chen," Marcus ordered. "If she's been feeding information to her sister, we have a bigger problem than I thought."

Maya realized with rising horror that she'd put her sister in terrible danger. By investigating the corruption in Millbrook, she'd accidentally revealed Sarah's undercover mission.

The recording continued. Marcus walked over to Maya's computer and started typing.

"I'm erasing her files," Marcus said into the phone. "But she's smart. She probably has backups hidden somewhere."

That's when Marcus did something that changed everything.

He pulled out a small device and spoke into it clearly.

"Agent Marcus Webb to Serpent Command," he said. "The Millbrook plan is blown. Repeat, the Millbrook plan is blown. We need quick cleanup authorization."

Maya's jaw dropped. Marcus wasn't just corrupt - he was a criminal using a fake FBI identity to run some kind of organized crime scheme.

"Twenty years of work is about to be destroyed," Marcus added. "But we can still fix this. Kill everyone who knows the truth, blame it on a gas explosion, and move the business to another town."

Maya kept watching as Marcus named names of people to be murdered: Jake Morrison, Tommy Whitfield, Danny Santos, Thomas Morrison, and Maya herself.

"What about your cover?" the person on the phone asked.

"Agent Webb dies heroically trying to save the town from a terrorist attack," Marcus said with a cold smile. "Then I disappear and become someone else in another place. The Serpent Organization has new names ready."

Maya finally understood the full scope of the plot. Marcus Webb was part of a huge criminal group that had been using corrupt FBI agents to take over small towns across the country.

She stopped the recording and started copying the files. This proof could destroy not just Marcus Webb, but the entire criminal network he worked for.

But first, she needed to get the truth to people who could act on it.

Maya looked at the destroyed printing press in the corner of her office. It was old and half-broken, but it might still work.

She spent the next twenty minutes fixing wiring and replacing paper, all while listening for sounds outside. Every car that drove by made her heart race.

Finally, the printing press coughed to life.

Maya started printing copies of everything - the camera footage screenshots, her investigation files, bank records showing Marcus's fake accounts, and an easy explanation that everyone in town could understand.

"MARCUS WEBB IS NOT FBI," she wrote at the top of each page. "HE IS A CRIMINAL WHO HAS BEEN LYING TO OUR TOWN FOR 20 YEARS. TOMMY AND DANNY ARE INNOCENT. THE REAL CRIMINALS ARE JUDGE BRENNAN, SHERIFF MORRISON, AND MAYOR WHITFIELD."

As the printing press worked, Maya called her sister's emergency number.

"Sarah, it's Maya," she whispered when her sister replied. "I'm in terrible danger, and so are you."

"Maya, where are you?" Sarah's voice was worried. "I've been trying to track down Marcus Webb all night. He's not who he claims to be."

"I know," Maya said quickly. "I have proof that he's part of something called the Serpent Organization. They've been taking over small towns and killing anyone who gets in their way."

"My God," Sarah breathed. "Maya, you need to get out of town right now. If Webb knows you're Sarah Chen's sister, he'll kill you to protect his business."

"I can't leave," Maya said. "Jake and the boys are in danger. Someone has to warn people."

"I'm sending federal marshals to Millbrook right now," Sarah said. "But they won't come for another hour. Can you stay hidden until then?"

Maya looked at the stack of papers printing beside her. Almost done.

"I'll try," Maya promised. "But Sarah, if something happens to me, make sure this proof gets to the right people. The whole town has been living a lie."

She was about to hang up when she heard something that made her blood turn to ice.

Car doors slamming outside. Multiple car doors.

Maya crept to the broken window and peered out.

Four black SUVs were parked in front of her building. Men in dark clothes were getting out, all carrying guns.

And standing in the middle of them was Marcus Webb himself.

He looked up at her office window and smiled.

Maya ducked back down, her heart pounding. How had he found her so fast?

That's when she heard his voice, clear and loud, coming from right outside her building.

"I know you're in there, Maya Chen," Marcus yelled out. "Your sister can't help you now. My people stopped her federal marshals twenty minutes ago."

Maya felt sick. Sarah's rescue team was already caught or dead.

"You have two choices," Marcus added. "Come out now and give me all your evidence, or we burn the building down with you in it."

Maya looked at the printing press, still working on the last few copies. She needed just two more minutes.

"I'll give you thirty seconds to decide," Marcus yelled.

Maya grabbed her phone and did the only thing she could think of. She started a live video show on social media, pointing the camera at herself.

"My name is Maya Chen," she whispered into the phone. "If you're watching this, I'm about to be murdered by Marcus Webb and his criminal group. Everything I found about the corruption in Millbrook is true. Tommy Whitfield and Danny Santos are innocent. Marcus Webb is not really FBI. He's been lying to everyone for twenty years."

She held up some of the printed proof to the camera.

"Time's up!" Marcus shouted from outside.

Maya heard footsteps on the stairs going to her office.

She grabbed as many printed copies as she could carry and looked for another way out.

That's when she heard Marcus's voice again, but this time he was talking to his guys right outside her door.

"Find her and kill her," Marcus said coldly. "But make sure you get that camera first. We can't let this proof survive."

Maya realized with fear that Marcus knew about the hidden camera.

Someone had been watching her the whole time.

Someone she trusted had betrayed her location to Marcus Webb.

And as the door to her office started to splinter under heavy hits, Maya saw something that made her understand just how hopeless her situation really was.

Through her phone's live video, she could see that only twelve people were watching her show.

In a town of eight thousand people, only twelve were going to watch her final moments.

The rest of Millbrook would never know the truth about what Marcus Webb had done to their town.

Unless she could somehow survive the next sixty seconds.