Chapter 2 - The Number That Should Not Exist
The phone rang again.
I stared at the screen.
A number appeared that should have been impossible.
Not unknown.
Not private.
A number I knew.
A number that had been disconnected eight years earlier.
My assistant noticed my expression.
"Mr. Cole?"
I didn't answer.
The store suddenly felt different.
The little girl standing in front of me was no longer the only mystery in the room.
I slowly pressed the answer button.
"Hello?"
For three seconds, there was nothing.
Only static.
Then a woman's voice whispered.
"Ethan."
My entire body froze.
I knew that voice.
But I couldn't understand how.
"Who is this?"
The person on the other end breathed softly.
"You found Lily."
My eyes immediately moved toward the little girl.
She was watching me carefully.
Like she already knew something was happening.
"How do you know my name?"
The voice became quieter.
"Because I knew you would be the one to find her."
I stood up.
My assistant stepped closer.
"Mr. Cole, should I call the police?"
I raised my hand.
Not yet.
I needed answers.
"Who are you?"
The line stayed silent for a moment.
Then the woman said:
"Someone who failed to protect her."
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
My mind raced.
There was no logical explanation.
I had never met Lily.
I had never met her mother.
At least, that was what I believed.
I looked at the folded paper again.
The handwriting.
The message.
The phone call.
Everything pointed toward one impossible connection.
"Lily."
The girl looked up.
"Yes?"
"Who wrote this note?"
She looked nervous.
"My mommy."
"Your mother knows me?"
She nodded slowly.
"She said you would help me."
"Why?"
Lily looked down at her shoes.
"Because she said you were the only person who would understand."
Those words bothered me.
Not because they were frightening.
Because they sounded personal.
I had spent years convincing myself that my past was simple.
My parents died when I was young.
I built my company alone.
I trusted very few people.
There were no hidden connections.
No secrets.
No unfinished stories.
But now a five-year-old girl had walked into my life carrying a message from a woman who knew my name.
And somehow, she expected me to understand.
I walked to the window.
Outside, the rain continued pouring.
Seattle looked like a city covered in gray glass.
"Where is your mother now?" I asked.
Lily became quiet.
"At the hospital."
"Which hospital?"
She didn't answer immediately.
That worried me.
"Lily?"
She looked up.
"She told me not to tell anyone."
"Why?"
"Because someone was looking for us."
The words hit me.
"Who?"
Her small hands grabbed the edge of her coat.
"I don't know."
She whispered.
"But Mommy said if anyone asked, I should only say your name."
I turned around.
My assistant looked confused.
I was confused too.
A child had been instructed to find me.
Not a doctor.
Not the police.
Me.
The man who rarely stepped onto his own sales floor.
The man who avoided personal relationships.
The man who didn't even know her mother existed.
I looked at the security footage.
"Show me when she entered."
My security manager quickly pulled up the camera.
The screen showed the street outside.
Rain falling heavily.
People rushing past.
Then Lily appeared.
Alone.
Walking toward the store.
My expression changed.
"Stop."
The footage froze.
"Zoom in."
The security manager did.
Behind Lily, across the street, there was a black sedan parked near the corner.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Can you enhance the plate?"
He tried.
The image became blurry.
Impossible to read.
But something else appeared.
A person inside the vehicle.
Watching.
I felt a cold feeling move through me.
"How long was that car there?"
The security manager checked.
"About twenty minutes."
"Before Lily arrived?"
"Yes."
I looked at the screen.
Someone had been waiting.
Someone knew she would come here.
The question was why.
I walked back toward Lily.
"Lily, did anyone follow you here?"
She stayed silent.
That silence was an answer.
I crouched down.
"Look at me."
She slowly lifted her eyes.
"Did someone tell you to come to my store?"
She nodded.
"Who?"
"My mommy."
"When?"
"Before she went to sleep."
My heart sank.
"She told me if anything happened, I had to find the man in the white building."
"The white building?"
Lily nodded.
"She said you would know."
I didn't.
But then I remembered something.
A building.
Eight years ago.
Before my company became successful.
Before I moved downtown.
Before I changed my entire life.
There was one place I had almost forgotten.
A small office building my father owned.
A building I sold after his death.
A building where only one person had ever worked with me.
A woman named Claire.
I hadn't heard that name in years.
My assistant interrupted my thoughts.
"Mr. Cole."
I turned.
She was holding another piece of paper.
"We found this inside the bag."
I took it.
It was folded carefully.
Not like the first note.
This one was hidden underneath the money.
I opened it.
Only three words were written.
My hands tightened.
Because I recognized the handwriting again.
"Don't trust Claire."
I stared at the message.
Claire.
A person from my past.
A person I thought disappeared.
A person who was supposed to know nothing about Lily.
I looked at the little girl.
"Lily..."
She looked at me.
"Do you know someone named Claire?"
Her face changed instantly.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not the sadness she had shown before.
She stepped backward.
"Mommy said..."
Her voice trembled.
"Mommy said never say her name."
The lights in the store flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every screen in the store went black.
My employees stopped moving.
The security system shut down.
The rain outside became the only sound.
Then my phone vibrated.
A new message appeared from the same disconnected number.
I opened it.
There was only one sentence.
"She found you before I could."
And underneath it was a photo.
A photo taken moments earlier.
Inside my store.
May you like
Showing Lily and me standing together.
But behind us, reflected in the glass door, was someone standing outside...
