UNTIL I FIND YOU AGAIN

Chapter 6 — The Man Who Died

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

The photograph remained on the table.

Adrian stared at it as though staring long enough could change what he was seeing.

Amara's father.

A man who had supposedly died before she ever met Adrian.

A man Adrian had heard about countless times.

A man whose name had never appeared in any of the investigation reports surrounding Amara's disappearance.

Daniel was the first to speak.

"That's impossible."

Amara looked at him.

"I know."

"Your father died when you were sixteen."

"I know."

"There was a funeral."

"I know."

"I saw the obituary."

"I know, Daniel."

Her voice broke.

"But I also saw him three years ago."

Adrian looked at her.

"Where?"

She swallowed.

"In the hospital."

The room became silent again.

Adrian slowly pulled out a chair.

"Start from the beginning."

Amara hesitated.

Then she sat.

"My father was named Samuel Bello."

Adrian nodded.

"I remember."

"He was a businessman."

"I remember that too."

"He disappeared when I was sixteen."

Daniel frowned.

"You said he died."

"That's what everyone told me."

She looked down at her hands.

"My mother said he died in a car accident. The police confirmed it. There was a body."

Adrian's expression tightened.

"But?"

"But the man who died wasn't my father."

Daniel stared at her.

"How do you know?"

"Because my father came back."

"When?"

"Three years ago."

Adrian's heart stopped.

"After the crash?"

Amara nodded.

"I woke up in a hospital."

Her fingers trembled.

"I didn't know where I was. I couldn't remember everything. My body was badly injured."

Adrian's jaw tightened.

"Who found you?"

"A man."

"Gabriel?"

She looked at him.

"Yes."

Adrian remembered the voice outside the house.

The man who saved me.

"He found me near the crash site."

Amara continued.

"He took me to a private hospital."

"Why didn't he take you to the police?"

"Because he told me the police were compromised."

Daniel looked uncomfortable.

"Was he right?"

"I don't know."

Amara's eyes moved toward the photograph.

"But three weeks after I woke up, my father came to see me."

Adrian leaned forward.

"What did he say?"

"He said I couldn't go home."

"Why?"

"He said someone wanted me dead."

"Who?"

"He wouldn't tell me."

Adrian frowned.

"Why not?"

"Because he said knowing too much would put me in more danger."

She laughed bitterly.

"Funny, isn't it?"

"What?"

"He was protecting me by keeping me ignorant."

Adrian said nothing.

Amara continued.

"For months, I stayed hidden."

"Where?"

"Different places."

"With Gabriel?"

"Sometimes."

"Did he hurt you?"

Amara's eyes met his.

"No."

Something about the answer relieved Adrian.

He hated that it did.

"He protected me."

"Then why are you afraid of him?"

"I didn't say I was afraid of him."

"You looked terrified when he arrived."

She looked away.

"Because people around Gabriel kept disappearing."

Adrian's expression hardened.

"People?"

"Anyone who tried to help me."

"How many?"

"I don't know."

"Amara."

She closed her eyes.

"Four."

Daniel exhaled.

"Four people?"

"Yes."

"Dead?"

"Missing."

Adrian stood.

He walked toward the window.

His mind was moving too quickly.

Victoria.

His father.

Daniel.

Gabriel.

Samuel Bello.

All connected to the same night.

All connected to Amara.

He turned.

"Why did your father say you had to die?"

Amara looked confused.

"He didn't."

Adrian picked up the photograph.

"The message on the back."

HE IS THE REASON SHE HAD TO DIE.

Amara stared at the words.

"I've never seen that before."

"Then someone wants us to believe your father was responsible."

"Maybe he was."

Adrian's eyes widened.

"What?"

"My father wasn't a good man."

Daniel looked at her.

"How bad?"

Amara's voice lowered.

"He made enemies."

"Business enemies?"

"Not only business."

She stood.

"He had connections with people who did things legally and illegally."

Adrian frowned.

"Criminal organizations?"

She nodded.

"Some of them."

"Was he involved?"

"I don't know."

"Amara."

"I don't know!"

She suddenly shouted.

Tears filled her eyes.

"I spent years trying to understand him. Every time I found an answer, there were three more questions."

Adrian softened.

"I'm sorry."

She wiped her face.

"Don't be."

"I am."

"You weren't there."

"I wanted to be."

"But you weren't."

He looked away.

That one sentence hurt more than anything she had said all night.

Daniel quietly left the room.

He closed the door behind him.

Leaving Adrian and Amara alone.

For a while, neither spoke.

Then Adrian said softly:

"I looked for you."

Amara didn't answer.

"I searched hospitals."

Silence.

"Private clinics."

Nothing.

"I hired investigators."

She stared at the floor.

"I went to the morgue every week for months."

Her eyes lifted.

"You did?"

"I needed to know."

"Know what?"

"That you were really gone."

Amara's lips trembled.

"I wasn't."

"I know."

"You should have kept looking."

"I did."

"Not enough."

Adrian stepped closer.

"I was looking for a dead woman."

"And I was fighting to become alive again."

They stared at each other.

The distance between them felt unbearable.

Adrian wanted to reach for her.

He didn't.

"I loved you," he whispered.

Amara closed her eyes.

"Don't."

"I never stopped."

"Please."

"I thought about you every day."

"Adrian."

"I still have your things."

Her eyes opened.

"Why?"

"Because throwing them away felt like killing you twice."

A tear slipped down her cheek.

She quickly wiped it away.

"You shouldn't say things like that."

"Why?"

"Because I still believe you."

Adrian froze.

Amara turned away.

That was the closest thing to forgiveness she had given him.

And somehow, it hurt more than anger.

---

Daniel stood in the hallway.

He had heard enough.

He reached into his pocket.

His fingers touched his phone.

A message appeared on the screen.

IS SHE WITH HIM?

Daniel stared at it.

He didn't respond.

Another message appeared.

ANSWER ME.

Daniel slowly typed.

Yes.

Three dots appeared.

Then:

THEN WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

Daniel's face tightened.

He deleted the conversation.

Or tried to.

His phone froze.

A warning appeared.

DEVICE COMPROMISED.

Daniel's eyes widened.

He immediately turned the phone off.

Too late.

A photograph appeared on the screen.

Daniel and Adrian.

Taken outside the chapel.

Then another.

Amara entering the house.

Then another.

Daniel's hands began shaking.

They had been followed.

Someone knew everything.

---

Inside the apartment, Amara suddenly stopped.

"Adrian."

He looked at her.

"What?"

"Where's Daniel?"

"I don't know."

She walked toward the door.

Adrian followed.

They found Daniel standing in the hallway.

His face was pale.

"What happened?" Adrian asked.

Daniel looked at Amara.

Then Adrian.

"We need to leave."

"Why?"

"Now."

Adrian frowned.

"Daniel."

"Someone knows we're here."

Amara's expression changed.

"How?"

Daniel showed them the phone.

Adrian looked at the photographs.

His blood ran cold.

"When were these taken?"

"Tonight."

"That's impossible."

"They were watching us."

Adrian took the phone.

"Can you trace it?"

"I can try."

"Do it."

Daniel opened his laptop.

Amara walked toward the window.

She pulled the curtain back slightly.

Her face changed.

"Adrian."

He looked up.

"What?"

"There."

Across the street, a black car was parked beneath a streetlight.

The engine was running.

Someone sat behind the wheel.

Watching them.

Adrian moved toward the window.

"Don't."

Amara grabbed his arm.

"They want you to see them."

Adrian looked at her.

"Then why are they still here?"

"Because they're waiting."

"For what?"

She stared at the car.

"An opportunity."

Suddenly, the vehicle drove away.

Adrian watched it disappear.

"Daniel."

"Yeah?"

"Find out who owns that car."

Daniel nodded.

He typed quickly.

Then stopped.

"Adrian."

"What?"

"I know the license plate."

"Whose?"

Daniel turned the laptop around.

Adrian looked at the screen.

His face went completely still.

The car belonged to—

Cole Holdings.

His family company.

Adrian stepped backward.

"No."

Amara looked at him.

"You see why I don't trust your family?"

Adrian couldn't answer.

His phone rang.

Victoria.

He stared at the screen.

Amara's expression hardened.

"Answer it."

"Why?"

"Because I want to hear what she says."

Adrian answered.

"Victoria."

Her voice was calm.

"Adrian."

"Where are you?"

"At home."

"Are you sure?"

A pause.

"Why?"

Adrian looked at the photograph on the table.

"Because I know about Amara."

Silence.

Then Victoria laughed.

Not nervously.

Not fearfully.

Almost sadly.

"Oh, Adrian."

His heart sank.

"What?"

"You really shouldn't have gone looking for her."

Amara moved closer.

Adrian's voice became cold.

"Why?"

Victoria's voice dropped.

"Because now they know she's alive."

Adrian's blood ran cold.

"Who?"

Victoria didn't answer.

"Victoria!"

"You don't understand what you've done."

"What did you do to her?"

Another pause.

Then Victoria said something that made the room go silent.

"I didn't kill Amara."

Adrian stared ahead.

"Then who did?"

Victoria whispered:

"Ask your father."

The call ended.

Adrian slowly lowered the phone.

Amara looked at him.

"Your father is dead."

"I know."

"Then how do we ask him?"

Adrian looked toward the old metal box.

His eyes landed on the photograph.

His father's face.

The scratched-out man's face.

Then he noticed something he hadn't seen before.

A tiny symbol in the bottom corner of the photograph.

Three interlocking circles.

Amara saw it too.

Her face went pale.

"No."

Adrian turned toward her.

"What?"

She stepped backward.

"I've seen that symbol before."

"Where?"

"On the hospital door."

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

"Which hospital?"

"The one where I woke up."

Daniel looked up from the laptop.

"Guys."

Neither answered.

Daniel swallowed.

"I found something."

"What?"

"The hospital records."

Adrian walked toward him.

"What about them?"

Daniel pointed at the screen.

"According to the official records, there was no female patient admitted on the night of the accident."

Amara's face went blank.

"But I was there."

"I know."

Daniel scrolled.

"There is one record."

He clicked it.

A patient had been admitted under an unidentified name.

Female.

Age twenty-four.

Severe injuries.

Admitted at 2:17 a.m.

Then transferred three hours later.

Adrian frowned.

"Transferred where?"

Daniel looked at the screen.

His expression changed.

"That's the problem."

"What?"

"The transfer destination is listed as..."

He stopped.

Adrian stared at him.

"Daniel."

Daniel slowly read the words.

"Cole Private Medical Facility."

Silence.

Adrian's heart pounded.

His family owned a private medical facility.

A place he had never known existed.

A place his father had supposedly shut down years ago.

Amara looked at him.

"Take me there."

Adrian shook his head.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because if my family was involved..."

He looked at the screen.

"...that place may be where they kept you."

Amara's eyes hardened.

"Then we're going."

Adrian stared at her.

For the first time since finding her, he realized something terrifying.

Amara wasn't running from the people who had tried to kill her.

She was going back to the place where it all began.

And this time—

she wanted answers.