Episode 6 — The Road Back
357 Words
Daniel left the apartment without turning on a single light.
The hallway outside was empty.
He locked his door and stood there for a moment, listening.
Nothing.
Still, he took the stairs instead of the elevator.
By the time he reached the street, the rain had started.
Not heavily.
Just enough to cover the pavement in a thin, shining layer.
Daniel unlocked his car and got inside.
Before starting the engine, he looked around.
The street was empty.
No black car.
No strangers.
No sign that anyone had followed him.
That frightened him more.
He placed the old key on the passenger seat.
47 Ashwood Lane.
Seven years.
He had spent seven years trying to understand what happened to Maya.
Now, within a single night, everything he thought he knew was beginning to change.
His phone buzzed.
Daniel looked at the screen.
DON'T CALL THE POLICE.
He stared at the message.
Then typed:
Why?
The answer came almost immediately.
Because one of them answered Maya's last call.
Daniel's hand tightened around the phone.
He remembered that night.
After Maya disappeared, he had called the police himself.
He had spoken to detectives.
Answered questions.
Repeated everything Maya had said during their final conversation.
Had one of those people known something?
Or worse—
Had Maya been trying to warn him about them?
Daniel started the car.
As he pulled away from the building, headlights appeared in his rear-view mirror.
A car turned onto the street behind him.
Daniel watched it carefully.
One turn.
The car followed.
A second turn.
Still there.
His phone buzzed again.
Daniel didn't want to look.
But he did.
DON'T LET THEM TAKE THE KEY.
Daniel glanced at the passenger seat.
The key was gone.
His foot slammed onto the brake.
He looked down.
Then behind him.
The car was empty.
The doors were locked.
Daniel's breath caught.
Slowly, he looked toward the passenger seat again.
The key was there.
Exactly where he had left it.
His phone buzzed one more time.
This time, there was no message.
Only a photograph.
Daniel opened it.
It showed the inside of his car.
Taken seconds ago.
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