After My Death, He Regretted Madly

Chapter 5

Javier's voice cut straight through my ears, sharp as a curse.

My dead body was right here in front of them. How could they say they'd spotted me alive somewhere else?

A cold shiver crawled down my spine out of nowhere, and I twisted my head to look over.

Javier was clenching his fists so hard his knuckles whitened, dark, roiling emotion churning in his eyes.

The atmosphere dropped like a stone in an instant, the air so thick you could practically bite it.

"No, Javier, that's definitely not me!" I tried to yell out an explanation, but the second I saw that feral, furious glint in his eyes, my words died in my throat. I couldn't force a single syllable out.

I watched as he and Captain Morgan stormed out of the cold storage, making a beeline for the white and blue vehicle parked downstairs.

I followed after them and climbed into the car too, settling silently in the back seat.

The second the engine rumbled to life, a wave of gut-wrenching familiarity hit me. It felt like someone had slugged me square in the chest, leaving a dull, throbbing ache that stole my breath.

I reached out to brush the blue badge fixed to the door handle, that cool, calm blue searing into my palm.

Once upon a time, I was one of the officers suiting up for missions in these very cars.

Now? The target my former teammates were gearing up to hunt down was me.

The shrill, blaring siren ripped me right out of my bitter memories.

It didn't take long for the car to pull up outside Evercrest Building.

Outside the mall, crowds of curious onlookers clustered behind the yellow police tape, while stone-faced armed officers stood guard on the other side.

"Captain Morgan, all civilians have been evacuated. Every exit is covered."

A bitter, stinging ache pricked at my heart. In their eyes, I'd turned into some kind of ruthless, dangerous criminal.

I let my gaze drift toward the silent, empty mall, murmuring under my breath, "I want to see who that impostor really is too."

Barely ten minutes passed before an officer came sprinting out, his face twisted with frustration.

"Captain Morgan! Jennifer got away!"

Captain Morgan didn't waste a single second. "I'll head to the scene. Javier, pull the security footage!"

Javier gave a sharp nod and turned to walk the opposite way.

I followed right on his heels, but the second we stepped through the mall entrance, I noticed his mood shift out of nowhere.

I followed his line of sight. On the snow-white wall, someone had drawn a clear, vivid red triangular starburst eye pattern.

My heart skipped a hard beat. I'd spent three years undercover in the HS organization, and no one knew that symbol better than I did.

It was the HS calling card, a warning they left right before they struck.

That exact same mark had been found at the scene of Javier's parents' murder.

'Who were they targeting this time?'

My fingers curled into tight fists at the thought, and I glanced over at Javier automatically.

He was staring daggers at the symbol, rage building steadily in his eyes until it practically burned like fire.

"Pull the footage. This time, Jennifer doesn't get away again." His voice was as cool and flat as ever, but it carried a biting, icy edge cold enough to freeze blood solid.

Even though there wasn't a single scrap of proof that person was me, Javier had already judged me guilty and sentenced me to death in his head.

My whole body went rigid in an instant, a searing, soul-crushing pain spreading through every last inch of me.

Inside the security room...

Dozens of split screens blinked on the wall, enough to make anyone's head spin, but for people like us, it was just par for the course.

Javier sat in his seat, his sharp hawk-like eyes darting back and forth across the bank of screens.

"Rewind the footage... yeah, stop right there!"

Everyone in the room turned their gaze to the screen.

The video paused exactly at the moment the woman finished scrawling the symbol on the wall.

I stared at the woman in red on the display, my eyes flying wide open in total disbelief.

Everything about her matched me perfectly, from her build to the way she squatted down. There wasn't a single difference between us.

'If I hadn't been standing right there next to the whole team, I would have sworn that woman was me!'

My heart sank straight into a bottomless abyss in that split second.

'Who was she? Why was she framing me? Or was the HS organization using my identity to carry out some scheme?'

A flood of questions swirled through my head, and I couldn't untangle a single one of them.

Just then, Javier's brows knitted tightly together, and he slowly moved his mouse.

On one particular frame, a tiny red box was clearly visible on the woman's left hand!

I held my breath instantly.

Right at that moment, Captain Morgan's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie in Javier's hand. "Javier, we found a diamond ring. It looks like… the one you bought when you got engaged to Jennifer."