He Knew My Secrets

Chapter 5: Code Red

Rule #5: The past always finds a way to crash the party.

I hadn’t planned to cry in a bathroom stall on day one.

But here we were.

Door locked. Legs pulled up. Breathing like I’d run a marathon through hell. The note. The texts. Killian. Ridgeview. It was all too much, too soon.

I pulled out the pen.

Recorder.

Why the hell did he have it? Why give it to me?

I twisted the cap anyway.

Click.

No beep. No light. Just silence.

It was probably fake. Or maybe it was real—and he wanted me to record something. Maybe it wasn’t a gift. Maybe it was a trap.

Another ding. My phone buzzed.

Blocked Number:

We know what you did in Halstead.

My stomach dropped.

I hadn’t heard that name in months.

I tried to breathe. Tried to remember that I wasn’t there anymore. That Ava Monroe was a new name. A new life. A second chance.

But Halstead was still a weight I couldn’t bury.

Another buzz.

Blocked Number:

You can run, Ava. But not from us.

I stood so fast I nearly knocked the door off its hinges.

I splashed water on my face, wiped it with a paper towel, stared into the mirror.

The girl looking back at me was pale. Cracked. But not broken.

Not again.

I walked out of the bathroom—and straight into a brick wall.

Okay, no. Not a wall. Killian Blake.

Of course.

He steadied me by the shoulders, and for the first time, I saw something flicker in his expression. Not smirk. Not smug. Something else.

Concern?

Nah. Couldn’t be.

“You okay?” he asked, voice lower than usual.

“Do I look okay?”

“You look like someone saw a ghost.”

I pulled away. “Maybe I did.”

Killian leaned in, gaze sharp. “I meant what I said earlier. You’re not the only one being watched.”

He slipped something into my hand again. I didn’t even see him do it until it was there.

A red keycard.

No label. No writing.

Just a single number scribbled on the back: B7.

“What is this?”

He stepped back. “A door that’s never meant to be opened.”

“Then why give it to me?”

“Because, Monroe…” He gave a crooked half-smile. “Maybe I want to see what you’ll do with it.”

Then he walked away.

And I was left holding a card to something I didn’t understand—with secrets chasing behind me and a past knocking louder than ever.