Before You Found Me

THE STRANGER AT HER DOOR

Isla stood frozen.

The knock came again.

Slow.

Patient.

Whoever was outside wasn't leaving.

She glanced toward the television. The news was still playing quietly in the background, the image of Adrian Hale appearing on the screen every few seconds.

Her heart began to beat faster.

She walked quietly to the door and looked through the peephole.

A man in a charcoal suit stood in the hallway.

Tall.

Well-groomed.

Expressionless.

He looked completely out of place in the old apartment building.

Isla frowned.

Then she noticed another man standing near the stairwell.

He was dressed just as formally.

Two men.

At her door.

At night.

Her fingers tightened around the doorknob.

She stepped away from the door.

"Miss Bennett," the first man called calmly. "Please don't be alarmed."

Isla stared at the door.

"I'm not opening it."

"I understand."

"Then you can leave."

A brief silence followed.

"My employer only wishes to thank you."

"I don't know your employer."

"You saved his life today."

Isla's stomach tightened.

She already knew who he meant.

Adrian Hale.

The man from the accident.

The man who had grabbed her wrist.

The man who had whispered those strange words before losing consciousness.

Don't let them find me.

She swallowed.

"What do you want?"

"The chairman would like to meet you."

"I don't."

The man remained silent for several seconds.

Then his voice softened.

"Miss Bennett..."

He paused.

"He rarely asks twice."

Isla stared at the door.

Was that supposed to frighten her?

Because it worked.

She moved farther away.

"I don't care who your chairman is."

"He is concerned about your safety."

"My safety?"

"Yes."

A nervous laugh escaped her lips.

"Two strange men showing up at my apartment at night isn't exactly making me feel safe."

"We apologize for that."

"Then leave."

The man didn't answer.

Isla looked toward the window.

Her apartment was on the third floor. There was no easy way out.

She suddenly wished she had never run toward that car.

She could have stayed outside with the other people.

She could have waited for the ambulance.

She could have let someone else save him.

But she hadn't.

She had acted without thinking.

Now she was standing in her apartment with two strangers outside her door.

"What does Adrian Hale want with me?" she asked.

"He would prefer to explain that himself."

"Is he awake?"

"Yes."

Isla's eyes widened slightly.

"He survived?"

"Because of you."

She didn't know how to respond.

For a moment, neither side spoke.

Then the man said, "There is something else you should know."

Isla's stomach tightened.

"What?"

"The accident wasn't random."

She stopped breathing for a second.

Her mind immediately returned to the crash.

The black SUV.

The sudden impact.

The way Adrian's car had swerved.

The strange feeling she'd had when she saw the second vehicle disappear down the street.

She had known something was wrong.

But hearing it from someone connected to Adrian made it real.

"You knew?" she whispered.

"We have reason to believe Mr. Hale was targeted."

Isla slowly stepped closer to the door.

"Then why did the news call it an accident?"

"Because that's what someone wants the public to believe."

Her hand moved away from the doorknob.

"Who?"

"We don't know yet."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because you were there."

Isla frowned.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You were the last civilian to speak to Mr. Hale before he was taken to the hospital."

"He was unconscious."

"Not completely."

Isla remembered his eyes opening.

That dark, steady look.

His fingers closing around her wrist.

His voice.

Don't let them find me.

She shivered.

"He said something to me."

The hallway went completely silent.

"What did he say?"

Isla hesitated.

She didn't know these people.

She didn't know Adrian.

And she definitely didn't know who she could trust.

"Nothing important."

The man immediately noticed the change in her voice.

"Miss Bennett..."

"I think you should leave."

"We're only trying to protect you."

"From what?"

Before the man could answer, footsteps sounded from the stairwell.

The second man turned sharply.

His expression changed for the first time.

He looked toward the stairs.

Then back at Isla's door.

"Sir."

The first man immediately became alert.

"What is it?"

"Someone's coming."

Isla stepped backward.

"Who?"

Neither man answered.

The footsteps grew louder.

One step.

Then another.

Someone was climbing the stairs.

Slowly.

Isla's heart pounded.

The man at her door spoke quickly.

"Miss Bennett, lock your door."

"I already-"

"Now."

His tone had completely changed.

There was no calmness anymore.

Only urgency.

Isla hurried to the lock and checked it.

Locked.

She backed away.

The footsteps stopped.

Silence filled the hallway.

Then came another sound.

A phone ringing.

The man near the stairwell pulled his phone from his pocket.

He looked at the screen.

His face hardened.

"Sir..."

"What?"

"We need to go."

"Why?"

He looked toward Isla's apartment.

"They know where she lives."

Isla's blood ran cold.

The first man stepped closer to her door.

"Miss Bennett, listen carefully."

She didn't answer.

"Do not open this door for anyone tonight."

"Not even you?"

A pause.

"Especially not anyone claiming to be from Mr. Hale."

Isla's eyes widened.

"What are you saying?"

But before he could answer, a loud sound came from downstairs.

A door slammed.

Both men immediately moved toward the stairwell.

Isla watched through the peephole.

The hallway was suddenly empty.

They were gone.

She remained completely still.

For several seconds, she couldn't move.

Then her phone buzzed.

She nearly dropped it.

An unknown number.

A message appeared on the screen.

You should have left him to die.

Isla stared at the words.

Her hands began to tremble.

Another message appeared.

Now they know about you.

She stepped away from the phone.

The apartment suddenly felt much smaller.

The television continued playing in the background.

On the screen, Adrian Hale's photograph appeared again.

The reporter was speaking about his condition.

But Isla wasn't listening anymore.

Her mind was racing.

Someone had tried to kill Adrian.

Someone knew she had saved him.

And now...

Someone knew where she lived.

She walked toward the curtains and carefully pulled them closed.

Then she checked the front door again.

Locked.

She checked the windows.

Locked.

Her breathing slowly became heavier.

She had spent years building a quiet life.

A simple life.

Work.

Home.

Bills.

Sleep.

Nothing complicated.

Nothing dangerous.

Yet one afternoon had changed everything.

One accident.

One stranger.

One sentence.

Don't let them find me.

Isla looked at her phone again.

The unknown number was still there.

She didn't reply.

She didn't know what to say.

Instead, she turned off the television.

The apartment became silent.

Too silent.

Then her phone rang.

This time, the number wasn't unknown.

It was the hospital.

Isla hesitated before answering.

"Hello?"

A woman's voice came through.

"Is this Isla Bennett?"

"Yes."

"Miss Bennett, I'm calling from St. Vincent's Hospital."

Isla's heart jumped.

"Is Adrian Hale okay?"

There was a brief pause.

"Mr. Hale asked to speak with you."

Isla froze.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

The nurse lowered her voice.

"He said there was something he needed to tell you before it was too late."

Isla stared at the locked door.

Then at the message on her phone.

Her quiet life was already gone.

And somehow, she knew that meeting Adrian Hale was only the beginning.

Because whatever secret he was hiding...

someone was willing to kill to keep it buried.