Episode 10 — The Second Phone
592 Words
Daniel didn't move.
For one second, the rain, the warehouses, and Elena's terrified face seemed to freeze around him.
Then the sound came again.
A sharp bang.
Closer this time.
The man in the black suit turned toward the warehouses.
“Get down,” he said.
Daniel stared at him.
“What?”
Elena grabbed Daniel's jacket and pulled him toward the car.
“Now!”
Daniel resisted.
“Who is he?”
“I'll explain later.”
“You've been saying that all night.”
Another sound cut through the darkness.
Metal striking metal.
The man suddenly moved.
Not toward them.
Away.
He disappeared between the warehouses.
Daniel took a step after him.
His phone buzzed.
DON'T FOLLOW HIM.
Daniel stopped.
Elena saw the message.
Her face changed.
“You're still getting them.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“Daniel, please. We can't stay here.”
He held up his phone.
“Who is sending these messages?”
Elena looked past him toward the warehouses.
For the first time, Daniel saw something worse than fear in her eyes.
Recognition.
His voice dropped.
“You know.”
“No.”
“You do.”
Elena shook her head.
“I don't know who's sending them.”
Daniel watched her carefully.
“But you know why they're sending them.”
She said nothing.
The silence stretched between them.
Rainwater ran down Daniel's face.
Then he remembered the message.
ASK HER ABOUT THE SECOND PHONE
Daniel stepped closer.
“Elena.”
She looked at him.
“The second phone.”
Her lips parted.
“Where is it?”
Elena closed her eyes.
Just for a moment.
When she opened them again, she seemed to have made a decision.
“I have the key.”
Daniel frowned.
“What key?”
“To where Maya left it.”
His heartbeat changed.
For seven years, the police had searched through Maya's apartment, her car, her bank records, and her old messages.
They had found nothing.
And had Elena known about this?
“You've known all this time?”
“No.”
“Then when did you find out?”
Elena reached into her coat.
Daniel watched her pull out a small silver key.
It was old.
Scratched.
A faded number was stamped onto the metal.
214.
Daniel stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“Maya gave it to me.”
Daniel looked up sharply.
The rain seemed suddenly louder.
“When?”
Elena hesitated.
His phone buzzed again.
Daniel looked down.
This time, there was no message.
Only an image.
An old photograph.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
It was Maya.
Standing beside Elena.
Both of them were outside a building Daniel didn't recognize.
Elena saw the photograph.
Her face went white.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You've been there.”
She took a step backward.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“Where is this?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying."
“I swear I'm not.”
Daniel showed her the picture again.
At the bottom was something he hadn't noticed.
A date.
The photograph had been taken—
Three days later, Maya disappeared.
Daniel stopped breathing.
He looked at Elena.
Then back at the photograph.
Three days later, Maya was supposed to be gone.
His phone buzzed one final time.
A single message appeared.
MAYA WAS ALIVE.
Daniel slowly raised his eyes.
Elena was already running toward the car.
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