Daniel locked the front door.
Then he checked it again.
Mara watched from the bathroom doorway while Lena sat silently on the edge of her bed. The house was quiet except for the ticking kitchen clock downstairs. Every few seconds, Daniel glanced toward the windows.
"We're going to the hospital," he said.
Lena shook her head.
"Not yet."
"Your leg is injured."
"I know."
"And someone may be following you."
"I know that too."
Daniel stared at her. "Then why are you still sitting here?"
"Because I don't know who I can trust."
The sentence stopped him.
Mara sat beside Lena.
"You can trust us."
Lena looked at her.
"I want to."
Mara felt the weight of those three words.
Daniel pulled a chair from the desk and sat facing his daughter.
"Tell us everything from the beginning. No skipping anything."
Lena rubbed her palms against her shorts.
"I lost my phone after lunch."
She explained that she had returned to the old gym after her final class. The school grounds were nearly empty by then. Most students had already left. The maintenance crew was working near the main building, but the narrow path behind the gym was deserted.
She remembered searching beneath a bench.
Then she heard footsteps.
She assumed it was a teacher.
She didn't look up.
"Then someone said my name."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Exactly how?"
Lena frowned. "Like they already knew me."
"What did the voice sound like?"
"Male. Older than me."
"How old?"
"I don't know. Maybe forty."
Mara noticed Lena's fingers tighten.
"What happened next?"
"I turned around. He was wearing dark clothes. I couldn't see his face."
"Why?"
"He had a cap pulled low."
"Did he touch you?"
"He grabbed my wrist."
Lena's voice became thinner.
"I pulled away. He grabbed me again. I screamed."
"What did he do?"
"He let go."
"Just like that?"
Lena nodded.
"Then I ran."
"And fell."
"Yes."
"Then how did you get home?"
"I found my phone near the fence."
Mara frowned.
"Where was the man?"
"Gone."
"Did you see where he went?"
"No."
"Did you call anyone?"
"I called myself."
Daniel blinked.
"What?"
"I called my number from the phone."
Mara looked confused.
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to see if the phone was working."
"And?"
"It rang."
"Your phone rang?"
Lena nodded.
"But you were holding it."
"Yes."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Then what exactly happened?"
Lena stared at the floor.
"The ringing came from the storage building."
Nobody spoke.
Mara slowly stood.
"Your phone was in your hand, but another phone was ringing?"
"I think so."
"Did you go inside?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because the door opened."
Mara's mouth went dry.
"What did you see?"
"Nothing."
"Nobody?"
"Nobody."
"Then why did the door open?"
"I don't know."
Daniel stood.
"That's enough. We're calling the police."
Lena grabbed his arm.
"Wait."
He looked down.
"I didn't tell you the worst part."
Mara sat back down.
Lena reached for her phone and opened the photographs.
She stopped at one picture.
"Look."
It showed the old gym from a distance.
Nothing unusual.
Then Lena enlarged the image.
Near the storage building stood a dark figure.
The face was too far away to identify.
But the clothing was clear.
Black jacket.
Black cap.
And on the left sleeve was a narrow silver stripe.
Daniel took the phone.
"Is this the man?"
"I think so."
"Think?"
"I was scared."
Mara looked at the image.
Something about the figure bothered her.
Not the clothing.
The posture.
She had seen it before.
Then she remembered.
Daniel owned a black work jacket with the same silver stripe.
She looked at him.
He noticed.
"That's not mine."
"I didn't say it was."
"But you're thinking it."
Daniel pulled open the closet.
His jacket was hanging inside.
Black.
Silver stripe.
Mara walked closer.
The sleeve was clean.
Then she noticed the cuff.
A small section of thread was missing.
She turned.
"Lena."
Her daughter looked up.
"The piece we found on your hairbrush."
Lena's face changed.
Mara held the black strip between two fingers.
"Does this match?"
Lena stared at it.
"No."
"You're sure?"
"It's similar."
Daniel took the fabric.
He turned it over.
There was a faint white mark on the inside.
A laundry label.
Only two letters remained.
D.R.
Daniel's expression went blank.
Mara saw it.
"What?"
He didn't answer.
"Daniel."
He handed her the fabric.
"I don't own anything with that label."
Lena whispered, "Dad?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Your jacket."
"What about it?"
"I bought it years ago."
"So?"
"The label says D.R."
Mara's heart began beating faster.
"Your initials."
Daniel nodded.
"But I didn't put that fabric in her hair."
Lena stood too quickly.
Pain shot through her injured leg, and she grabbed the bedpost.
Mara caught her.
"Easy."
Lena looked at her father.
"You said you don't know anything."
"I don't."
"But the cloth has your initials."
"I know."
"Then how?"
Daniel had no answer.
The phone buzzed.
All three looked at it.
A new message.
You should have listened.
Mara felt Lena's hand tremble in hers.
Daniel took the phone.
"Who sent this?"
No reply.
He opened the details.
The message had come from a blocked number.
Then another arrived.
Your father knows.
Lena gasped.
Daniel's face went pale.
"What does that mean?" Mara asked.
"I don't know."
"Daniel?"
"I said I don't know."
Lena stared at him.
"Maybe he does."
Daniel looked at her sharply.
"What are you saying?"
"I don't know."
Mara stepped between them.
"Nobody is accusing anybody."
But she was beginning to have questions of her own.
She went downstairs to get the first-aid kit.
The kitchen lights were off.
She switched them on.
The counter was exactly as she had left it.
Except for one thing.
A glass sat beside the sink.
Mara knew it hadn't been there.
She touched it.
Still cold.
There was water inside.
And beside the glass lay a small silver button.
She picked it up.
Her fingers went numb.
Daniel came downstairs behind her.
"What is it?"
Mara held it out.
He stared.
"That's from my old jacket."
She looked at him.
"The one you wore yesterday?"
"No."
"The one you said you hadn't worn in months?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Yes."
Mara remembered yesterday evening.
Daniel had come home late.
He had said he stopped at the hardware store.
She had not questioned him.
Now she remembered something else.
His jacket had been wet.
He had said it was raining.
But there had been no rain yesterday.
Daniel saw the realization in her face.
"Mara."
She stepped backward.
"What happened yesterday?"
"I already told you."
"You said you went to the hardware store."
"I did."
"What time?"
"Around seven."
"Which store?"
He hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Mara's voice became very quiet.
"Daniel."
"I don't remember."
Lena appeared at the kitchen doorway.
She was crying again.
"Mom."
Mara turned.
Lena pointed toward the back door.
"It's open."
Daniel looked.
The lock was broken.
Not forced.
Broken from the inside.
Mara stared at the dark backyard.
A cold breeze moved the curtains.
Then the motion sensor light flickered on.
For one brief second, they saw a shadow standing beyond the glass.
A man.
Black jacket.
Black cap.
Silver stripe.
Then the light went out.
Lena screamed.
Daniel grabbed the nearest kitchen knife.
Mara pulled Lena backward.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The phone buzzed again.
This time, the message contained only five words.
Look in your father's car.
Click Here to continue read next: PART3: One Search Through the Garage Exposed a Secret That Connected the Injury, the Missing Phone, and the Man Outside Their Door
The Small Red Stain That Turned an Ordinary Evening Into a Question Nobody in the House Was Ready to Answer
Part 2 of 16
