THREE DAYS BEFORE

CHAPTER THREE

THE PHOTOGRAPH

Mara didn't blink.

The figure across the street remained perfectly still.

A man.

Dark clothes.

Hands at his sides.

His face was impossible to see clearly through the distance and the dull gray light.

But Mara knew him.

She didn't know his name.

She didn't know where she had seen him.

She only knew that something inside her recognized him.

The man turned.

For one second, their eyes seemed to meet.

Then he walked away.

Mara rushed toward the window.

"Wait!"

She stopped herself.

The hospital room was several floors above the street.

By the time she looked again, he was gone.

Mara's breathing became uneven.

She looked down at the photograph still displayed on her phone.

Elena.

The restaurant.

The man behind her.

The key on the table.

She zoomed in again.

There was something written on the key.

A number.

17.

Mara stared at it.

The number felt familiar.

Too familiar.

She closed her eyes.

A flash.

A hallway.

A metal door.

Someone saying—

"Room seventeen."

Mara opened her eyes.

The memory disappeared.

"What is happening to me?"

A knock came at the door.

Mara quickly locked her phone.

The police officer from earlier entered.

He was carrying a file.

"You shouldn't be out of bed."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I saw someone."

The officer stopped.

"Who?"

"Across the street."

He moved toward the window.

"Where?"

Mara pointed.

"There."

The officer looked down.

"There's nobody there."

"I know."

He turned toward her.

"You know?"

"He left."

"When?"

"Just now."

The officer studied her face.

"Did you recognize him?"

Mara hesitated.

"I think so."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know."

"Then what makes you think you recognized him?"

Mara looked away.

"I can't explain it."

The officer placed the file on the table.

"What's your name again?"

"Mara."

"No. Mine."

She looked at him.

He sighed.

"Detective Daniel Cole."

Mara nodded.

"Detective Cole."

He opened the file.

"We need to talk about Elena."

Mara's stomach tightened.

"Okay."

"How long had you known her?"

"Years."

"How close were you?"

"Very."

"Best friends?"

Mara nodded.

"Yes."

Cole pulled out a photograph.

Elena.

A recent one.

She was smiling.

Alive.

Mara stared at it.

"Did Elena ever tell you she was afraid of someone?"

Mara frowned.

"No."

"Did she ever mention being followed?"

"No."

"Did she ever say someone was watching her?"

Mara hesitated.

"Not exactly."

Cole noticed.

"What does that mean?"

"She had been acting strange."

"How?"

"She seemed nervous."

"About what?"

"I don't know."

"Did you ask?"

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

"That she was fine."

Cole wrote something down.

"Anything else?"

Mara shook her head.

He closed the notebook.

"There's something you should know."

Mara looked at him.

"We checked the restaurant."

Her heart skipped.

"And?"

"You were there."

"I know."

"Elena was there too."

Mara nodded.

"But the staff don't remember you leaving."

Mara stared at him.

"What?"

"They remember Elena leaving."

Mara's mouth went dry.

"What time?"

"Just after ten."

"And me?"

"Nobody saw you leave."

Mara looked down at her hands.

"Maybe I left later."

"Maybe."

Cole's voice was careful.

"But there's another problem."

"What?"

"Your car wasn't at the restaurant."

Mara looked at him.

"What does that mean?"

"It means we don't know how you got home."

She felt the cold return.

"Maybe I walked."

"From the restaurant to your house?"

"I don't know."

Cole watched her.

"That's what concerns us."

Mara stood.

"I didn't hurt Elena."

"I didn't accuse you."

"You keep asking questions like you already know."

"We're investigating a murder."

"Then investigate someone else."

"We are."

Cole opened the file again.

"There were no signs of forced entry at the location where Elena was found."

Mara said nothing.

"Her phone is missing."

She looked up.

"What?"

"Elena's phone."

"Wasn't it with her?"

"No."

Mara's mind raced.

"Could someone have taken it?"

"Possibly."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because her last known call was to you."

Mara froze.

"What?"

"At 10:14 p.m."

Mara shook her head.

"No."

"According to the phone records, she called you."

"I don't remember."

"That's what you've been saying."

Mara looked away.

The room seemed smaller.

"How long did the call last?"

"Forty-seven seconds."

She closed her eyes.

Forty-seven seconds.

A memory surfaced.

Elena's voice.

"Mara, don't—"

Static.

Then nothing.

Mara opened her eyes.

"What?"

Cole was watching her.

"You remembered something."

"No."

"You just reacted."

Mara shook her head.

"I don't know what I remembered."

Cole sat down.

"Then tell me exactly what you can."

Mara took a breath.

"She called me."

"Yes."

"I remember hearing her voice."

"What did she say?"

"I don't know."

"Try."

Mara squeezed her eyes shut.

The memory came in pieces.

Elena sounded frightened.

There was noise in the background.

A door closing.

Someone breathing.

Then Elena whispered something.

Mara couldn't make out the words.

She opened her eyes.

"She said my name."

"Anything else?"

"No."

Cole waited.

Mara looked at him.

"Actually..."

"What?"

"I heard another voice."

"Male or female?"

"Male."

Cole immediately wrote it down.

"Did you recognize it?"

Mara stared at him.

"I think that's the voice I heard last night."

The detective stopped writing.

"The voice from your bedroom?"

Mara nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

She looked at the photograph on her phone.

"But I think so."

Cole reached for it.

Mara hesitated before handing it over.

He studied the photograph.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was on my phone."

"When?"

"I don't know."

Cole zoomed in.

His expression changed.

Mara noticed.

"What?"

He didn't answer.

"Detective?"

He turned the phone toward her.

The photograph had changed.

Mara frowned.

"What?"

"The key."

She looked.

The image was still there.

But now that she saw it clearly, she noticed something beside the key.

A small piece of paper.

Only part of it was visible.

There were three words.

DON'T TRUST HIM.

Mara stared.

"Who is 'him'?"

Cole didn't answer.

Instead, he asked, "Did Elena ever mention someone named Victor Hayes?"

Mara's heart skipped.

The name meant nothing.

Or almost nothing.

She searched her memory.

Nothing.

"Who is he?"

Cole closed the file.

"That's what we're trying to find out."

Mara frowned.

"You don't know who he is?"

"We know who he is."

"Then why ask me?"

"Because his name appeared in Elena's records."

Mara waited.

Cole continued.

"And it appeared in yours."

The room went silent.

"What?"

"That's not possible."

"Why?"

"Because I've never heard that name before."

Cole looked directly at her.

"Maybe."

He picked up the file.

"Or maybe you forgot."

He walked toward the door.

Mara watched him leave.

Then she looked back at the photograph.

The key.

The note.

The blurred figure.

And Elena looking at someone behind her.

Mara zoomed in one final time.

The man's face was still impossible to see.

But his hand was visible.

There was something around his wrist.

A dark band.

Mara's breath caught.

She knew that.

Not the man.

The band.

She had seen it somewhere.

She looked down at her own wrist.

Nothing.

Then the memory came.

Not from the restaurant.

From somewhere else.

A dark room.

A man's hand.

A voice saying:

"Three days."

Mara stumbled backward.

Her phone slipped from her hand.

It hit the floor.

The screen cracked.

For several seconds, she couldn't breathe.

Then the phone lit up.

One final notification appeared.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

Mara stared at it.

The message contained only one sentence.

YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.