The Man In The Car
1611 Words
Chapter 14
The Man in the Car
The black car stopped directly in front of them.
For a moment, nobody moved.
The engine continued running.
Rainwater dripped from the roof of the car.
Nadia stared at the dark windshield.
“Who is that?”
Adrian stepped in front of her.
“I don't know.”
Nadia looked at him.
“You're lying.”
“I genuinely don't know.”
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Nadia's heart stopped.
She knew him.
Not from a photograph.
Not from a file.
Not from some forgotten memory.
She knew him from her life.
Her father.
“Dad?”
Layla looked at Nadia.
“That's your father?”
Nadia couldn't answer.
Her father stood several feet away, wearing a dark coat.
His face looked tired.
Older than Nadia remembered.
But it was him.
He looked directly at her.
“Nadia.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You're alive.”
He nodded.
“I've been trying to find you.”
Nadia's voice shook.
“Then why didn't you call me?”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
Her father looked toward Adrian.
“Because they were listening.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Who?”
Her father ignored him.
“Nadia, you need to come with me.”
She didn't move.
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“Safe?”
Nadia laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps telling me they're taking me somewhere safe.”
Her father looked at her.
“I know.”
“Mom said you were away for work.”
He lowered his eyes.
“She lied.”
Nadia felt something inside her break.
“You lied too.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
He looked at her.
“Losing you.”
Silence.
Nadia stared at him.
“Did you know Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Was she my aunt?”
“Yes.”
“Did she give me the necklace?”
“Yes.”
“Did you take it from me?”
Her father stopped.
Adrian watched him carefully.
Finally, he nodded.
“Yes.”
Nadia's voice became quieter.
“Why?”
“Because Elena told me to.”
Nadia froze.
“What?”
“She knew they were coming.”
“Who?”
“The people behind Westbridge.”
Her father looked toward the school.
“She gave me the necklace and told me to hide it.”
Nadia touched her pocket.
“But it was inside Box 47.”
“No.”
Her father shook his head.
“That wasn't the original necklace.”
Nadia's stomach dropped.
“What?”
“The one you found was a copy.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You knew?”
Her father nodded.
“I knew someone would eventually find Box 47.”
Nadia looked at Adrian.
“You knew about the copy too?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Her father looked at him.
“You should have told her.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“I was going to.”
“When?”
Adrian didn't respond.
Nadia stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Both men looked at her.
“I am tired of being the last person to know anything about my own life.”
Her father looked ashamed.
“You deserve the truth.”
“Then tell me.”
He nodded.
“Three years ago, Elena discovered what the Westbridge program was really doing.”
Nadia listened.
“They weren't just studying students. They were building profiles.”
“For what?”
“To predict them.”
“Predict what?”
“Who would obey. Who would resist. Who could be manipulated.”
Layla looked horrified.
“And Nadia?”
Her father looked at his daughter.
“She was one of the students they were interested in.”
Nadia shook her head.
“I was seven.”
“I know.”
“Why would they care about a seven-year-old?”
“Because you remembered things other people forgot.”
Nadia's mind flashed.
A classroom.
A strange test.
Pictures shown to her.
Numbers.
Faces.
Her mother asking her questions afterward.
She had forgotten all of it.
Her father continued.
“Elena discovered the records.”
“And she tried to expose them.”
“Yes.”
“Then they killed her.”
Her father's expression darkened.
“They tried.”
Nadia's eyes widened.
“You said she was killed.”
“I said that because I believed it.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked at Adrian.
“Ask him.”
Nadia turned.
Adrian looked uncomfortable.
“What?”
“Adrian knows more than I do.”
Nadia stared at him.
“What happened to Elena?”
Adrian took a breath.
“I thought she died.”
“You said you watched her disappear.”
“I did.”
“Then how could my father know more?”
Adrian looked toward the school.
“Because Elena contacted him after that night.”
Nadia's father nodded.
“She was alive for two days.”
Nadia's heart stopped.
“Two days?”
“Yes.”
“Where was she?”
“She was hiding.”
“Where?”
Her father looked at the auditorium.
“Under Westbridge.”
Nadia remembered the underground room.
The files.
The computer.
The message.
Her skin prickled.
“She was there?”
“Yes.”
“Then who killed her?”
Her father didn't answer.
Adrian did.
“Daniel Vale.”
Nadia stared at him.
“The fourth person?”
Adrian nodded.
“His father.”
“Why?”
“Because Elena had proof.”
Nadia's father stepped closer.
“She had enough evidence to destroy everything.”
“Then why didn't she?”
“She gave it to me.”
Nadia's eyes widened.
“And you hid it.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Her father looked at Nadia.
“With you.”
She stopped breathing.
“What?”
“The real evidence was never in Box 47.”
Nadia reached into her pocket and pulled out the silver key.
“Then what's this?”
“A way to find it.”
Adrian looked at the key.
“It's not a key to the room.”
Her father shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what does it open?”
He looked at Nadia.
“A memory.”
Nadia frowned.
“I don't understand.”
Her father stepped closer.
“The necklace Elena gave you wasn't just jewelry.”
Nadia remembered the silver pendant.
“It contained a recording.”
“What recording?”
“Elena's final message.”
Nadia stared at him.
“But the necklace was taken from me.”
“Yes.”
“And you hid it.”
“I thought I did.”
Nadia frowned.
“What happened?”
Her father looked toward Adrian.
“Adrian found it.”
Nadia slowly turned.
“You had the necklace?”
Adrian nodded.
“I found it three years ago.”
“Then why didn't you give it to me?”
“Because I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn't know who to trust.”
Nadia's voice cracked.
“You could have trusted me.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I wanted to.”
That answer silenced her.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
Then a loud c***k echoed from the school.
Everyone turned.
A window on the second floor shattered.
Her father immediately grabbed Nadia's arm.
“Get in the car.”
“No.”
“Nadia.”
“I'm not leaving without Layla.”
Layla stepped forward.
“I'm coming.”
Adrian looked toward the school.
“We have seconds.”
Another window shattered.
A figure appeared behind it.
Then another.
Her father's face changed.
“They found us.”
Nadia climbed into the back seat.
Layla followed.
Adrian opened the other door.
Her father looked at him.
“You too.”
Adrian hesitated.
Then got in.
The car sped away.
---
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Nadia stared out the window.
The school disappeared behind them.
Her father's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
Finally, Nadia spoke.
“Where are we going?”
“To your mother's old apartment.”
Nadia looked at him.
“She had an apartment?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because I wanted you to forget.”
“I don't want to forget anymore.”
Her father looked at her through the mirror.
“I know.”
Adrian sat beside Nadia.
He was quiet.
Nadia glanced at him.
“You're hiding something else.”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her heart sank.
“What?”
“Your mother knew I was watching you.”
Nadia stared.
“What?”
“She knew.”
“And she allowed it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked down.
“Because she asked me to protect you.”
Nadia's eyes widened.
“When?”
“Before she disappeared.”
Nadia's breath caught.
“My mother is alive?”
Silence filled the car.
Her father suddenly pressed the brakes.
The car stopped.
Nadia looked forward.
“What happened?”
Her father stared at the road.
A black vehicle was parked across the street.
Blocking their way.
He whispered,
“They found us again.”
Then Nadia saw someone step out of the vehicle.
A woman.
Long dark coat.
Head lowered.
She slowly lifted her face.
Nadia's heart stopped.
She knew that face.
It was the woman from her childhood photograph.
The woman standing beside Elena.
Her mother.
And she was alive.
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