A FACE IN THE CROWD
408 Words
Chapter 9: A Face in the Crowd
Emily barely slept after seeing the man at the bookstore.
If Damien was really in London, then who had she seen?
The next morning, Ethan knocked on her apartment door.
"I booked the earliest flight I could," he said. "Damien landed in London three days ago. He even called me from there this morning."
Emily frowned.
"Then I'm not imagining things."
"I know you're not."
Ethan pulled out his phone and showed her a recent video call screenshot. Damien was standing in front of a famous London landmark, smiling at the camera.
Emily sighed.
"Then someone is pretending to be him."
"Or someone who looks a lot like him."
Just then, Emily's phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
With trembling hands, she opened the message.
It contained only a single sentence.
Stop looking for me, Emily. The truth will destroy your family.
A chill ran down her spine.
"Ethan..."
She handed him the phone.
His expression hardened as he read the message.
"This has gone too far."
"We should tell Olivia."
Ethan hesitated.
"I want to... but without proof, she'll only panic."
Emily knew he was right, but keeping secrets from Olivia felt wrong.
That afternoon, they visited Ethan's security consultant, Marcus, hoping he could trace the anonymous messages.
Marcus connected Emily's phone to his computer and spent nearly an hour analyzing the data.
Finally, he looked up.
"The messages were sent using encrypted software. Whoever is doing this knows exactly how to avoid being tracked."
"So we're back to nothing?" Emily asked.
"Not quite."
Marcus enlarged one of the photographs that had been sent to Emily.
Hidden in the reflection of a shop window was part of another person's face.
"It looks like your stalker accidentally photographed himself," Marcus said.
The image was blurry, but one detail stood out.
A long scar ran from the man's left eyebrow to his cheek.
Marcus printed the image.
"It isn't much, but it's our first real clue."
Emily carefully folded the paper and slipped it into her bag.
As she and Ethan left the office, neither of them noticed they were being watched from across the street.
Inside a parked car, the mysterious stranger touched the scar on his face and smiled.
"So," he whispered, "you've finally seen me."
He started the engine.
"It won't help you."
Because before Emily discovered who he was...
He planned to make sure she lost everything she loved.
- Writer
