The Trap
1063 Words
Chapter 4
The Trap
The footsteps were getting closer.
Nadia heard them before she saw anything.
One step.
Then another.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Adrian suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind a thick rusted pipe.
“Don't breathe.”
Nadia stared at him.
The words sounded ridiculous until a flashlight appeared at the far end of the tunnel.
Its beam slid across the wet walls.
Nadia pressed herself against the cold concrete, trying to make herself smaller.
The light moved closer.
Adrian stood between her and the tunnel.
Nadia could hear her own heartbeat.
The flashlight swept across the pipes.
Stopped.
Moved again.
Someone was standing only a few metres away.
Nadia held her breath.
Then the footsteps continued.
Away from them.
The light disappeared.
They waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Finally, Adrian lowered his hand.
Nadia exhaled.
“Who was that?”
“I don't know.”
She glared at him.
“I'm beginning to hate that answer.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then Nadia stopped walking.
“No.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“You said there was something you never told me.”
His expression hardened.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
He looked down the tunnel.
“Keep moving.”
“No.”
“Nadia—”
“Three years ago.”
The words stopped him.
She stepped closer.
“You know what happened.”
Adrian was silent for several seconds.
Then he finally said,
“Westbridge High.”
Nadia frowned.
“Your old school?”
“Yes.”
“What happened there?”
Adrian looked away.
“There was a party. Someone disappeared afterward.”
“Who?”
“Ethan Cross.”
The name meant nothing to Nadia.
But the way Adrian said it made her realize it meant everything to him.
“He was the last person anyone saw me with.”
Nadia's stomach tightened.
“They blamed you.”
“Yes.”
“Did you do anything to him?”
Adrian looked directly at her.
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Certain.
“I didn't hurt him.”
Nadia studied his face.
“Then why didn't you defend yourself?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“They didn't believe me.”
He paused.
“Because I knew something I refused to tell them.”
“What?”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“I can't.”
Nadia stared at him.
“Seriously?”
“I was sixteen.”
“So?”
“So I was scared.”
That answer surprised her.
Adrian didn't look like someone who admitted to being scared.
He continued quietly.
“Layla was there that night.”
Nadia's eyes widened.
“Layla?”
“She saw part of what happened.”
“And she never told anyone?”
“She tried.”
“Then why is she involved now?”
Adrian looked at Nadia.
“Because whoever was behind it never stopped looking for people who knew too much.”
Nadia's thoughts raced.
“And they think we're connected.”
“They think you might know something.”
“But I wasn't even there.”
“I know.”
“Then why me?”
Adrian didn't answer.
That frightened her more than anything else.
His phone vibrated.
They both looked down.
Unknown number.
8:00 A.M. LIBRARY. COME ALONE.
Nadia stared at the message.
“We have to go.”
Adrian shook his head.
“It's a trap.”
“Exactly.”
He looked at her.
“We don't go.”
“No.”
Nadia took a breath.
“We go prepared.”
Adrian's eyebrows lifted slightly.
“We record everything. We get proof. If they're trying to trap us, we flip the trap.”
For a moment, he simply stared at her.
Then he nodded.
“Eight o'clock.”
---
At exactly eight, the library was empty.
Rain streaked the windows.
The lights were dim.
Nadia stood beside one of the shelves, her phone recording from inside her bag.
Adrian stood several metres away.
Neither spoke.
Then the doors opened.
Layla walked inside.
Nadia's heart cracked at the sight of her.
Her best friend looked exhausted.
Her eyes were red.
Her hands were shaking.
“Nadia.”
Nadia didn't move.
“You watched me.”
Layla's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Layla looked toward Adrian.
Then back at Nadia.
“They have my little brother.”
Nadia froze.
“What?”
“They took him three months ago.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Three months,” he repeated.
Layla nodded.
“They told me to watch you. Follow you. Tell them where you went and who you talked to.”
Nadia's anger battled with the ache in her chest.
“You could have told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“You could have trusted me!”
“They showed me a picture of my brother.”
Layla's voice broke.
“He was alive in it. They told me that if I stopped cooperating, I wouldn't see him again.”
Silence filled the library.
Nadia didn't know what to say.
Layla reached into her bag.
“I didn't know what they wanted from you.”
She pulled out a small envelope.
“I only knew they were looking for something connected to Westbridge.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“What is that?”
“Something I took that night.”
His face changed.
“You still have it?”
Layla nodded.
“I kept it because I was afraid.”
She handed the envelope to Nadia.
Nadia opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
Three teenagers stood outside Westbridge High.
Adrian.
Layla.
And Ethan Cross.
Nadia stared at the picture.
Then her eyes caught something behind them.
A fourth person.
Only partially visible through the school window.
A familiar face.
Her breath caught.
“That's impossible.”
Adrian moved beside her.
“What?”
Nadia couldn't speak.
She pointed at the photograph.
The fourth person wasn't a stranger.
It was someone she had known for years.
Someone who had no reason to have been there.
Someone who was supposed to have nothing to do with Westbridge.
Adrian looked at the photograph.
Then at Nadia.
“Who is that?”
Nadia slowly whispered the name.
And somewhere outside the library, a camera shutter clicked.
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