Chapter 9: The missing file
637 Words
Amara read the handwritten words again.
Ask about the missing file.
Her fingers tightened around the newspaper clipping.
Whoever had left it knew about her father.
But why leave it on her desk?
And why now?
“Amara?”
She quickly folded the clipping.
Noah stood beside her.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He glanced at the papers in her hand.
“You don't look okay.”
“Just tired.”
Noah studied her face for a moment before nodding.
“Okay. But if you need coffee, I'm your guy.”
“Is that your solution to everything?”
“Coffee solves at least eighty percent of life's problems.”
“And the other twenty?”
“More coffee.”
She laughed despite herself.
Noah walked away.
Amara waited until he was gone before slipping the clipping into her handbag.
She needed to know what the missing file was.
The problem was finding it.
Later that morning, Mrs. Carter asked her to help organize some old company records.
Amara's heart skipped.
Old records.
Perfect.
She followed Mrs. Carter into the archive room.
Rows of cabinets filled the small room.
“Everything from the last five years is here,” Mrs. Carter explained. “The older records are downstairs.”
Amara nodded.
“What about records from six years ago?”
Mrs. Carter paused.
“Why?”
“I was just wondering.”
“Those aren't part of your assignment.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Mrs. Carter smiled and returned to her work.
Amara tried to concentrate, but her curiosity wouldn't let go.
Six years.
Her father's death.
Six years.
There had to be a connection.
She waited until Mrs. Carter left to answer a phone call.
Then she checked the cabinet labels.
Her fingers stopped.
There was a gap.
The section marked 2020 jumped directly to 2022.
“Where's 2021?”
She pulled open the cabinet.
Nothing.
Just an empty space.
A sound behind her made her freeze.
She turned.
Kian stood in the doorway.
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.
“What are you doing here?”
He looked at the open cabinet.
Then at her.
“That's my question.”
“I was helping Mrs. Carter.”
“With records that aren't part of your assignment?”
Amara swallowed.
“There are no records for 2021.”
Kian's expression changed.
“Close the cabinet.”
“Why?”
“Amara.”
“Is that the missing file?”
His jaw tightened.
“You need to leave.”
“So there is a file.”
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't have to.”
She stepped closer.
“My father died in 2021.”
Kian went completely still.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he quietly said, “I know.”
Amara's chest tightened.
“How?”
Kian looked away.
“That isn't something we should discuss here.”
“Then where?”
“Not at all.”
She stared at him.
“You keep telling me not to ask questions, but every time I do, you give me another reason to.”
His eyes met hers.
“Because some answers can change everything.”
“Maybe everything needs to change.”
Something flickered across his face.
Before he could respond, footsteps approached.
Kian stepped back.
“Go back to your desk.”
Amara didn't move.
“Tell me one thing.”
“What?”
“Did my father know you?”
Kian's silence answered before his words did.
“Yes.”
Amara's breath caught.
“How well?”
Kian looked at her.
“Well enough.”
Then he walked away.
Amara remained in the archive room, staring after him.
For the first time, she realized something terrifying.
Kian hadn't just known her father.
He had known him well.
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