Chapter 5 - The Name Hidden Inside The Toy
The paper inside Clara’s stuffed lamb had only four words:
"Protect Clara from Jason."
When I read the sentence again, my hands started shaking.
Then I saw the signature at the bottom.
A name I hadn't seen in years.
My own.
Except I never wrote it.
I stared at the paper.
The handwriting looked exactly like mine.
The same curve on the letter "C."
The same way I crossed my "t."
The same pressure marks where my hand pushed harder when I was nervous.
But I didn't remember writing it.
I didn't remember hiding anything inside Clara's toy.
And I definitely didn't remember knowing enough to warn myself about Jason.
"Megan."
Marcus's voice was careful.
Too careful.
I looked up.
"Why does this have my handwriting?"
Nobody answered.
The airport noise continued around us.
People walked past.
Children laughed.
A flight announcement echoed above our heads.
But my entire world had narrowed down to a tiny piece of paper between my fingers.
Daniel looked at the note.
Then at me.
"When did you get this toy?"
"Jason gave it to me."
"That's impossible."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"If the note was hidden before Jason gave it to Clara, then he wasn't the person who put it there."
My stomach tightened.
"Then who did?"
Nobody spoke.
Because that question had only one answer.
Someone who had access to the toy before Jason.
Someone who knew Clara.
Someone who knew me.
Marcus gently took the note.
"There's something else."
I looked at him.
"What?"
He pointed to the back.
A faint line was visible.
Almost impossible to see.
Numbers.
A date.
I leaned closer.
The date was six years earlier.
Six years.
The exact year I met Jason.
My throat went dry.
"That's not possible."
Marcus looked at me.
"Why?"
"Because Clara didn't exist six years ago."
"I know."
"That note was written before she was born."
Daniel's expression changed.
"Megan."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Who were you six years ago?"
The question sounded strange.
Almost insulting.
But then I realized what he meant.
Before Jason.
Before the marriage.
Before the house.
Before Clara.
Who was I?
I thought back.
Six years earlier, I had worked at a small medical technology company in Denver.
I had been ambitious.
Independent.
Naive.
Then I met Jason.
He was charming.
Confident.
He knew exactly what to say.
He made me feel like I had finally found someone who understood me.
But there was something else.
Something I had buried.
A memory.
A woman.
A conversation I had forgotten.
My hands tightened.
"I knew someone."
Marcus watched me.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Try."
I closed my eyes.
A face appeared.
Not clearly.
But enough.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A voice telling me something important.
Something urgent.
"You can't trust him."
I opened my eyes.
"I remember a woman."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Who?"
"I don't know her name."
"What did she say?"
I looked at the note.
Then back at Marcus.
"She warned me about Jason."
The silence was immediate.
Marcus's expression became serious.
"What happened to her?"
I shook my head.
"I don't know."
"Try to remember."
I hated that I couldn't.
The memory was there.
Right behind a locked door in my mind.
I could feel it.
But every time I reached for it, it disappeared.
"I think..."
My voice broke.
"I think she was scared."
Marcus looked at Daniel.
"Find out who she is."
Daniel nodded.
My phone buzzed.
Everyone looked at it.
Another message.
From Jason.
I didn't want to open it.
But I did.
You found the note.
My heart stopped.
Another message appeared.
I was hoping you would remember before Marcus did.
I looked at Marcus.
"He knows about the note."
Marcus took the phone.
A third message appeared.
You always forget the parts of your life that hurt you.
My fingers went cold.
Because Jason was right about one thing.
There were gaps in my memory.
Small ones.
Things I had blamed on stress.
The divorce.
The pregnancy.
The exhaustion after Clara was born.
But suddenly those missing pieces felt different.
Like someone had removed them.
Marcus looked at me.
"Did Jason ever say you had memory problems?"
I frowned.
"What?"
"Did he ever tell you that you forgot things?"
I thought about it.
A thousand little moments.
You always exaggerate things.
You don't remember correctly.
You're tired, Megan.
You're imagining patterns.
The words hit me all at once.
"He said that all the time."
Daniel looked concerned.
"Because?"
"Because every time I questioned something, he told me I was remembering it wrong."
Marcus's jaw tightened.
"That's not an accident."
I looked at him.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying Jason may have spent years making you doubt yourself."
The thought was terrifying.
Because if Marcus was right...
Then my memories weren't missing because I forgot.
They were missing because I was trained not to trust them.
A loud sound interrupted us.
A security alarm.
Everyone turned.
Near the airport exit, two security officers were speaking to a man.
A man in a gray coat.
My heart stopped.
"Jason."
Marcus followed my eyes.
"Are you sure?"
I couldn't speak.
Because I was sure.
The same posture.
The same way he stood.
The same expensive watch.
The same face that had smiled at me across our wedding table.
But something was different.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't surprised.
He was watching us.
Like he expected us to be there.
Then he turned away.
"He's leaving."
Marcus immediately moved.
"Megan, stay here."
"No."
"Megan."
"I'm done staying behind while everyone else knows what's happening."
He stopped.
Because he knew I was right.
Daniel contacted security.
Marcus and I followed from a distance.
Jason walked quickly through the terminal.
Not running.
Never running.
That was Jason.
He always believed he was smarter than everyone else.
When we reached the security area, he was gone.
Just disappeared.
Like he had never been there.
"How?"
Daniel looked around.
"He knew we were coming."
My phone buzzed.
Another message.
This time, a picture.
I opened it.
My blood froze.
It was a photograph of Marcus and me following Jason through the airport.
Taken from behind.
Taken moments ago.
Someone was still watching.
Underneath the image was a message.
Stop looking for answers you aren't ready to remember.
I showed Marcus.
His face changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"You know who sent this."
I stared at him.
"Marcus."
He didn't answer.
"Who is it?"
He looked away.
Then finally said:
"The person who taught Jason how to control people."
The words made no sense.
"Who?"
Before Marcus could respond, Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then his face turned pale.
"What?"
We waited.
He ended the call slowly.
"The airline recovered the original security footage from Denver."
"And?"
Daniel looked at me.
"The person who planted the tracker in Clara's toy was caught on camera."
My heart raced.
"Who was it?"
Daniel swallowed.
Then he turned the phone screen toward me.
A blurry image appeared.
A woman standing near the gate.
Holding Clara's stuffed lamb.
I stared at the face.
At first, I didn't recognize her.
Then my body went completely still.
Because I knew that face.
I had seen it before.
Six years ago.
The woman from my forgotten memory.
The woman who warned me about Jason.
And underneath the picture was her name.
May you like
The name I had spent six years trying to remember.
Emily Carter.
