Chapter 8: THE STRANGER
692 Words
“Get in if you want to live.”
The man’s voice was calm, almost commanding.
Elena froze.
Behind her, she could hear footsteps pounding through the alley.
The masked men were getting closer.
Detective Hayes staggered beside her, one hand pressed against his bleeding shoulder.
“Don’t…” he gasped. “Don’t trust him.”
The stranger looked at Hayes, then back at Elena.
“If you stay here, you’ll both die.”
A gunshot echoed behind them.
The bullet struck the brick wall just inches from Elena’s head.
There was no more time to think.
Hayes pushed her toward the car.
“Go!” he shouted.
“I’ll hold them off.”
“But—”
“Go, Elena!”
The sound of her name stopped her cold.
She had never told him who she was.
How did he know?
Another shot rang out.
Without another second of hesitation, Elena climbed into the car.
The stranger slammed the accelerator, and the black sedan shot into traffic just as the attackers reached the alley.
⸻
For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
The city blurred past the windows.
Elena kept glancing at the stranger.
He looked to be in his early thirties, wearing a charcoal suit with a silver watch on his wrist. His expression was unreadable.
Finally, she broke the silence.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Nathan Reed.”
“How do you know me?”
“I’ve been looking for you.”
Her heart skipped.
“Why?”
Nathan’s grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
“Because six months ago, you saved my life.”
Elena frowned.
“I don’t even remember my own name.”
“I know.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and placed a photograph on the dashboard.
It showed Elena standing beside Nathan at what looked like a charity gala.
She was smiling.
Her hand rested lightly on his arm.
She stared at the picture in disbelief.
“That’s… me.”
“It was taken two weeks before your wedding.”
“I’ve never seen it before.”
“You wouldn’t remember.”
Nathan’s voice softened.
“But I was hoping the photograph might help.”
Elena picked it up.
As soon as her fingers touched the glossy paper…
Another memory surfaced.
She was standing on a balcony.
Nathan was beside her.
He looked worried.
“You can’t tell anyone,” she had whispered.
“If they find out what we discovered…”
The memory shattered before she could hear the rest.
She grabbed her head in pain.
“What did we discover?” she whispered.
Nathan remained silent.
⸻
At Blackwood General Hospital…
Detective Hayes sat on the edge of a hospital bed while a nurse stitched the wound in his shoulder.
Ignoring her protests, he reached for his phone.
“Patch me through to every patrol unit,” he ordered.
“They’ve found Elena.”
The room fell silent.
One officer spoke first.
“Sir… are you sure?”
“I looked her in the eyes.”
He paused.
“And someone launched an armed attack in broad daylight to capture her.”
He looked toward the window.
“This is bigger than we imagined.”
⸻
Back at Ashford Manor…
Sophia plugged Elena’s flash drive into her laptop.
The screen remained black for a moment.
Then a single video file appeared.
Its title made her blood run cold.
WATCH THIS IF I DISAPPEAR
With trembling fingers, she clicked play.
Elena appeared on the screen.
She looked frightened.
She kept glancing over her shoulder as if someone might walk into the room.
“If you’re watching this,” she began, “then they got to me before I could expose them.”
A loud knock sounded at Sophia’s bedroom door.
She jumped.
Another knock.
Harder this time.
“Sophia?” her father called from the hallway.
“Open the door.”
Sophia’s eyes darted between the laptop and the locked door.
The video was still playing.
Elena leaned closer to the camera.
“The person responsible for everything…”
The bedroom doorknob slowly began to turn.
- Writer
