Chapter 3: The Warning
1169 Words
Elena couldn’t take her eyes off the message.
Leave her alone.
The words were simple, but the threat behind them wasn’t.
She looked at Adrian.
“Who sent it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Adrian locked his phone.
“Elena, we need to get you somewhere safe.”
“No.”
He frowned.
“No?”
“You’ve been telling me what to do since you came back. I’m tired of it.”
She stepped away from him.
“If someone is watching me, I deserve to know why.”
“You will.”
“When?”
“When I know who we’re dealing with.”
Elena shook her head.
“You’re still keeping things from me.”
Adrian didn’t deny it.
That hurt more than she expected.
“Take me home,” she said.
“Elena—”
“Take me home.”
He studied her face before finally nodding.
They walked toward her car without another word.
But Elena could feel it.
Someone was watching them.
She glanced toward the empty street.
Nothing.
Only rain.
Only shadows.
Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t alone.
When they reached her car, Adrian stopped.
“I’ll drive.”
“I can drive myself.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Why?”
“Whoever took that photograph knows where you are.”
Elena hesitated before handing him the keys.
They got inside.
The journey was silent.
Elena kept looking through the window, searching for the black car.
She saw nothing.
But when they turned onto her street, Adrian suddenly slowed down.
Elena noticed.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
A dark SUV was parked across from her house.
Its lights were off.
“Have you seen that car before?” Adrian asked.
“No.”
Adrian switched off the headlights.
They remained inside the car.
After a few seconds, the SUV started moving.
It drove past them slowly.
Elena caught a glimpse of the driver.
A man in a dark jacket and baseball cap.
His face was partly hidden.
Then the SUV disappeared.
“Did you see him?” Adrian asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you know him?”
“No.”
Adrian started the car again.
“Stay away from the windows when we get inside.”
Elena stared at him.
“You’re making this worse.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me everything.”
He looked at her.
“I will.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
They reached her house.
Adrian checked the surroundings before they stepped out.
Inside, Elena switched on the lights.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
She walked toward the living room and suddenly stopped.
Her father’s photograph had been moved.
It normally stood on the bookshelf.
Now it was lying face down on the table.
Elena slowly approached it.
“Adrian…”
He walked over.
She picked up the photograph.
Something was underneath it.
A small key.
Elena stared at it.
“What is this?”
Adrian examined it.
“I don’t know.”
She turned it over.
A number had been engraved into the metal.
317.
“Three hundred and seventeen,” she whispered.
Adrian’s expression changed.
“You recognize it?”
“No.”
But Elena knew he was hiding something.
“You’re lying.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I’ve seen that number before.”
“Where?”
“On your father’s notebook.”
Elena’s heart skipped.
“The notebook?”
“Yes.”
“The one you said you never saw?”
“I never said that.”
“You said you didn’t know anything about it.”
“I said I didn’t know what was inside.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Where is it?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Your father gave it to me.”
Her mouth fell open.
“You had my father’s notebook all this time?”
“He told me to keep it safe.”
“You had it for five years?”
“Yes.”
Anger flashed across Elena’s face.
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Stop saying that!”
Her voice echoed through the room.
“You don’t get to decide what I deserve to know!”
Adrian remained silent.
Elena’s eyes filled with tears.
“Give me the notebook.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the last person who tried to read it disappeared.”
The room went silent.
Elena’s anger slowly turned into fear.
“Who?”
Adrian looked directly at her.
“Your father’s accountant.”
She remembered the name.
Samuel.
“What happened to Samuel?”
“He disappeared two weeks before your father died.”
Elena’s breathing became shallow.
She suddenly remembered something.
The loose sheet of paper her father had left behind.
She had kept it inside an old box.
Without another word, she rushed upstairs.
Adrian followed.
She opened the box with shaking hands.
The paper was still there.
She unfolded it.
Most of the writing was faded.
But one sentence remained clear.
“If anything happens to me, find Samuel.”
Elena stared at the words.
Then something slipped from behind the paper.
A tiny photograph.
She picked it up.
Her father was standing beside Samuel.
And beside them stood Adrian.
Elena slowly turned toward him.
“You knew Samuel.”
Adrian said nothing.
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Samuel wasn’t just your father’s accountant.”
“Then what was he?”
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
“He was the man who helped your father uncover the truth.”
“What truth?”
Adrian stepped closer.
“The truth about who was stealing from your father’s company.”
Elena stared at him.
“Who?”
Before Adrian could answer, every light in the house suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Elena gasped.
Then came a sound from downstairs.
A door opening.
Adrian immediately grabbed her hand.
“Stay behind me.”
They listened.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone was inside the house.
“Elena…”
“I know.”
The footsteps stopped.
Silence filled the house.
Then a voice came from downstairs.
“Elena.”
She froze.
She knew that voice.
It was the same voice that had called her from her father’s old number.
The voice spoke again.
“Come downstairs.”
Elena stared into the darkness.
“It’s time you learned what your father did.”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Adrian pulled Elena toward the bedroom.
But before they could reach the door, Elena noticed something on the floor.
A photograph.
Someone had slipped it beneath the door.
She picked it up.
Her hands began to shake.
It was a photograph of her and Adrian.
Taken five years ago.
On the exact night he disappeared.
Elena turned it over.
Four words were written across the back.
“Ask Adrian who died.”
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