UNTIL I FIND YOU AGAIN

Chapter 11 — The Final Memory

The words stayed with Amara long after they had left the old house.

He was taken.

Her father's face kept appearing in her mind.

His frightened eyes.

His trembling hands.

The red box.

And the warning he had whispered when she was ten.

Never tell anyone where I hid it.

But there was something else.

Something buried deeper.

Something she couldn't reach.

---

They stopped at a small roadside hotel just before dawn.

It was the only place Adrian could think of where they could disappear for a few hours.

Daniel locked the door behind them.

"We need to figure out who is watching us."

Adrian looked at him.

"First, we figure out what happened to Victoria."

Daniel shook his head.

"She's not our biggest problem."

"Then what is?"

Daniel looked at Amara.

"Her memory."

Amara sat on the edge of the bed.

She had barely spoken since they escaped.

Adrian crouched in front of her.

"Amara."

She looked at him.

"Are you okay?"

"No."

He nodded.

"Fair enough."

She almost smiled.

Almost.

Then the smile disappeared.

"I remember my father being taken."

"Tell me."

"I was ten."

She closed her eyes.

"We were in the garden."

Adrian waited.

"He told Elena and me about the box."

"What was inside?"

"I don't know."

"Then what happened?"

Amara's breathing became uneven.

"There was shouting."

"Between who?"

"My father and another man."

"Did you see him?"

"No."

"What happened?"

"He grabbed my father."

She swallowed.

"I tried to help."

Adrian's expression tightened.

"What did the man do?"

"He pushed me."

"Did you get hurt?"

"No."

"Then?"

"He took my father into the house."

Amara opened her eyes.

"I followed them."

Daniel leaned forward.

"What happened inside?"

"I heard my mother screaming."

Adrian froze.

"Your mother?"

Amara nodded.

"Then there was a gunshot."

Silence.

"I ran."

"Where?"

"To the library."

She pressed her fingers against her temples.

"I hid under the desk."

"What did you see?"

"A pair of shoes."

"Whose?"

"I don't know."

"Then what?"

"The man came into the library."

Amara's voice dropped.

"He was looking for something."

"The box?"

"Yes."

"Did he find it?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because my father had already hidden it."

Adrian stared at her.

"Where?"

Amara's eyes suddenly opened.

"The floor."

"The library floor."

She nodded.

"But that wasn't where he hid the real thing."

Adrian frowned.

"Real thing?"

Amara looked confused.

"The red box was a decoy."

Daniel stood.

"What?"

"My father wanted them to find it."

"Why?"

"To make them think they'd won."

Adrian's heart began pounding.

"Then where was the real box?"

Amara looked toward the window.

"I don't know."

A sudden sound came from the bathroom.

Everyone froze.

Adrian stood immediately.

"Stay here."

He reached for the gun Daniel had taken from Victoria.

Slowly, he approached the bathroom door.

He pushed it open.

Nothing.

The window was slightly open.

Adrian checked the room.

Empty.

Then he noticed something on the mirror.

Written in black ink:

YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.

Adrian's blood ran cold.

"Daniel."

Daniel entered.

He stared at the message.

"How did they get in?"

Adrian looked at the window.

"They didn't."

"What?"

Adrian touched the mirror.

The ink was fresh.

"They were already here."

Amara stood behind them.

Her face changed.

"I know that handwriting."

Adrian turned.

"Whose?"

"My father's."

---

A few minutes later, Amara stood in front of the mirror.

She studied the message.

Then something strange happened.

She began crying.

Adrian moved toward her.

"Amara?"

She didn't answer.

Her eyes remained fixed on the words.

Then she whispered:

"He used to write messages for me."

"When?"

"When I was little."

"What kind of messages?"

"Clues."

Adrian frowned.

"Clues?"

"My father loved puzzles."

Amara touched the mirror.

"He said if I ever needed to find him, I should follow the clues."

Daniel stared at the message.

"Then this isn't a threat."

"No."

Amara wiped her tears.

"It's a message."

"From your father?"

She nodded.

"But how?"

Adrian looked at the mirror.

"He may have known this place."

Amara suddenly turned.

"We need to go back."

"Where?"

"The house."

---

They returned to the Bello estate just after sunrise.

The streets were quiet.

Adrian parked several blocks away.

They walked the rest of the distance.

Inside the house, Amara went straight to the library.

She stood in the center of the room.

Her eyes moved across the shelves.

The desk.

The fireplace.

The floor.

Then she saw it.

A small scratch on the wooden wall.

Three interlocking circles.

The same symbol from the facility.

Amara touched it.

A hidden panel opened.

Behind it was a tiny compartment.

Inside was a cassette tape.

Daniel stared.

"Who still uses cassettes?"

"Apparently my father."

Adrian found an old player in the cabinet.

He inserted the tape.

Static filled the room.

Then Samuel's voice appeared.

"Amara."

She covered her mouth.

"My little girl."

Tears ran down her cheeks.

"If you're hearing this, then you remembered the garden."

A pause.

"That means they failed."

Adrian listened carefully.

Samuel continued.

"Everything you were told about my death is a lie."

Amara closed her eyes.

"I didn't die."

"I was taken."

"I was forced to work for them."

Daniel whispered:

"The Black Circle."

Samuel continued.

"I tried to destroy the organization from inside."

His voice became weaker.

"I failed."

Amara wiped her face.

"Then I discovered something."

A long silence.

"The Black Circle isn't controlled by one family."

Adrian looked at Daniel.

Samuel continued.

"It's controlled by someone who has been hiding among us for years."

Amara's heart pounded.

"Someone you trust."

The tape crackled.

Then Samuel said:

"Someone who was there the night I disappeared."

The recording stopped.

Daniel stared at the player.

"That's it?"

"No."

Amara shook her head.

"There has to be more."

She turned the tape over.

Nothing.

Adrian examined it.

Then noticed a tiny marking.

A + E.

Amara's eyes widened.

"Amara and Elena."

Daniel nodded.

"Twins."

Amara remembered something.

The garden.

Elena holding her hand.

A secret.

A song.

She began humming.

Adrian looked at her.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know."

The melody felt familiar.

Four notes.

Then four more.

She walked toward the bookshelf.

Stopped.

Moved three books.

Then another.

Click.

A hidden drawer opened.

Inside was a small black key.

Amara picked it up.

There was a number engraved on it.

0412.

Daniel stared.

"What's that?"

"I don't know."

Adrian took the key.

"We'll find out."

Then the front door slammed.

Someone had entered the house.

Adrian raised the gun.

Footsteps moved through the hallway.

Slowly.

Closer.

Amara stepped behind him.

Daniel stood beside them.

The footsteps stopped.

A man's voice came from the hallway.

"Amara."

She froze.

She knew that voice.

Adrian looked at her.

"Who is it?"

Amara couldn't speak.

The man entered the library.

Older.

Tall.

His face scarred.

But unmistakable.

Amara's eyes filled with tears.

"Papa?"

Samuel Bello looked at his daughter.

For three years, she had believed he was dead.

He opened his arms.

Amara ran to him.

They embraced.

Adrian stood frozen.

Daniel stared in disbelief.

Samuel held his daughter tightly.

"I'm sorry."

Amara cried against his chest.

"You were alive."

"I know."

"Why didn't you find me?"

"I tried."

"Why did you let me think you were dead?"

Samuel pulled away.

His eyes were filled with pain.

"Because I was protecting you."

"From who?"

Samuel looked at Adrian.

Then Daniel.

His expression changed.

"From the person standing in this room."

Everyone froze.

Adrian's hand tightened around the gun.

"What?"

Samuel stared at him.

"I told you not to trust anyone."

Amara looked between them.

"Papa, what are you talking about?"

Samuel's voice was quiet.

"Adrian didn't cause your accident."

Amara exhaled.

"But someone very close to him did."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

Samuel looked toward the doorway.

Before he could answer, a gunshot exploded.

Samuel jerked backward.

Blood spread across his shirt.

"Papa!"

Amara screamed.

Adrian caught him as he fell.

Daniel rushed toward the window.

"Sniper!"

Another shot shattered the glass.

Adrian dragged Amara to the floor.

"Stay down!"

Samuel struggled to breathe.

Amara held his hand.

"Papa."

His eyes opened.

He looked at her.

"The fourth family..."

He coughed.

"Find..."

His voice disappeared.

"What?"

Amara leaned closer.

"Find what?"

Samuel's eyes moved toward the black key in her hand.

"The room..."

He struggled for breath.

"0412."

Then his eyes closed.

Amara screamed.

"Papa!"

Adrian pressed his fingers against Samuel's neck.

A pulse.

Weak.

But there.

"He's alive."

Amara cried with relief.

Then Daniel shouted from the window.

"Adrian!"

He pointed outside.

A black car was speeding away.

Adrian stood.

"We're going after them."

Amara grabbed his arm.

"No."

He looked at her.

She held up the key.

"First, we find Room 0412."

Adrian stared at it.

"Where?"

Amara looked toward the hidden compartment.

"I think I know."

Her face hardened.

"The Cole family hospital."

And somewhere across the city, a woman watched the house burn on a security monitor.

Victoria Cole smiled.

"Finally."

She turned to the man standing behind her.

"She remembered the room."

The man nodded.

"And Samuel?"

Victoria's smile disappeared.

"He's alive."

The man frowned.

"Then we have a problem."

Victoria looked at the screen.

"No."

She smiled again.

"Now we have everything we need."

To be continued.