Chapter 8: The Meeting
520 Words
Amara stared at the message on the screen.
Come alone, Amara. If Adrian comes with you, Daniel Cross dies.
Adrian read it twice.
“You're not going.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
“He's my father.”
“And whoever sent this knows exactly how to use that against you.”
Amara folded her arms.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No, you don't.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“I understand what it's like to have someone use your family against you.”
Amara fell silent.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Adrian sighed.
“Fine.”
Amara looked surprised.
“You'll let me go?”
“I said I'd let you go alone.”
He handed her a small device.
“Keep this with you.”
“What is it?”
“A tracker.”
She looked at him suspiciously.
“You said alone.”
“I said I wouldn't follow you.”
He paused.
“But I'm not going to sit here and do nothing.”
Amara took the device.
“Thank you.”
“Don't thank me yet.”
---
The address led Amara to an abandoned office building on the edge of the city.
She entered cautiously.
The hallway was empty.
“Hello?”
No answer.
She walked deeper inside.
Then she heard a voice.
“Amara.”
She turned.
A man stood near a window.
Older than the photograph.
Tired.
But the eyes were unmistakable.
Her eyes.
“Dad?”
Daniel Cross stared at her.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then he whispered:
“You shouldn't have come.”
Amara's eyes filled with tears.
“You're alive.”
“I know.”
“Why did you leave me?”
Daniel looked away.
“Because I had no choice.”
“You could have found me.”
“I tried.”
“Then why didn't you?”
He took a slow breath.
“Because the people hunting us would have killed you.”
Amara stepped closer.
“Who are they?”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“The people inside Sterling Enterprises.”
“Who?”
“I don't have time.”
“You've had twenty-one years!”
Daniel's face tightened.
“I know.”
He reached into his coat and removed a photograph.
It showed Isabella standing beside another man.
Amara recognized him.
Victoria Sterling's husband.
Adrian's father.
Her eyes widened.
“What does he have to do with this?”
Daniel whispered:
“He knows why your mother disappeared.”
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Daniel's expression changed.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
“Run.”
Amara grabbed his arm.
“I'm not leaving you again.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You don't understand.”
Then the lights went out.
A door slammed somewhere behind them.
Daniel pushed the photograph into Amara's hand.
“Trust Adrian.”
“Why?”
“Because he's the only Sterling who doesn't know the truth.”
Amara froze.
“What truth?”
Daniel looked toward the darkness.
“His father is still alive.”
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