Chapter 3 - The Man Who Was Watching Maya
Victoria read the note again.
Then again.
Her mind refused to accept the words.
“They found me.”
Not “I’m leaving.”
Not “I’m in danger.”
They found me.
Someone had been looking for Isabella.
Someone had been hunting her.
“Maya.”
The girl looked up.
“Did your mother ever mention anyone?”
Maya thought.
“A man.”
Victoria became still.
“What man?”
“She told me never to talk to him.”
“What did he look like?”
Maya closed her eyes.
“He was tall.”
“Anything else?”
“He had a scar.”
Victoria felt a chill.
“Where?”
“On his hand.”
Before Victoria could ask anything else…
The lights suddenly went out.
The entire house went dark.
Maya screamed.
Victoria immediately grabbed her.
“Stay with me.”
Outside, the security alarm started ringing.
A guard’s voice came through the speaker.
“Ms. Harrington…”
“Yes?”
“There is someone at the gate.”
Victoria looked toward the window.
“Who?”
The guard hesitated.
Then said:
“The man in the photograph.”
Victoria’s blood turned cold.
“What photograph?”
The guard replied:
“The one of the little girl.”
Victoria looked at Maya.
Someone had been watching her.
Someone had known where she was.
The lights came back on.
And on the security screen…
Victoria saw him.
A tall man standing outside the gate.
Rain falling around him.
A scar across his hand.
And in his fingers…
A photograph of Maya.
The man looked directly into the camera.
Then smiled.
Victoria whispered:
“No…”
Because she knew him.
She had seen him ten years ago.
The night Isabella disappeared.
The man lifted the photograph.
Turned it around.
May you like
On the back was written:
“SHE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO FIND YOU.”
