Tears streamed down Maphira’s face as Vai dragged her away. Rylee knew? How could she possibly have known? For years, Maphira had wanted to tell her the truth, that’s she’d seen Cole die, that she even considered herself partly responsible for it, but instead she’d simply claimed he had gone missing, too afraid to reveal the truth.
She’d been on a special assignment, years ago now. It had been the biggest case of her career, investigating a crime syndicate that had appeared in Melbourne. Cole hadn’t been a cop, but he’d begged her to bring him along. After all, the Syndicate’s latest victim was none other than Cole’s best friend.
Against her better judgement, she’d brought him along. It wasn’t supposed to get dangerous, but the Syndicate had caught the scent of their investigation and ambushed Maphira and Cole. She’d escaped with her life; he hadn’t. And the fact that she’d brought him with her was something she’d never had the courage to reveal.
The fact that Rylee knew and had somehow already forgiven her only made Maphira feel worse, as Vai dragged her through the haunted conveyancing firm. Distantly, she heard Vai’s voice, musing about whether this place was haunted by the spirits of past conveyancing solicitors. Maphira was too distracted by her own memories to give it any thought.
They entered a new section of the conveyancing museum, where things seemed to be a little less chaotic. Maphira wiped tears from her eyes and heaved for breath. She looked back, down the corridor, through the section dedicated to the many conveyancing firms in Sandringham.
“You better make it out of there alive,” Maphira said, thinking of her sister. They had their differences and their issues, but at the end of the day, nothing could break the bond between them.
“She’ll be fine, Mai,” said Vai. “She’d gotten out of worse situations, I’m sure. And besides, she worked as a real estate agent/buyer’s agent/conveyancer for a while. If anyone can get out of a haunted conveyancing museum, it’s her.”