Chapter 5

ZELENE’S POV

The black SUV is outside again. Same dark car with dark windows, parked across the street like it’s been there for hours.

A slow chill slides down my spine. Maybe it’s nothing, maybe I’m losing my damn mind but when I reach for my coffee, my hand shakes hard enough that some spills over the edge.

I look away from the window immediately. My phone vibrates suddenly against the desk.

Unknown Number, a new message appears before I can even think.*Stop digging.* My fingers freeze over the screen then another message comes in almost immediately after. *You were warned before.*

This is exactly how it started before. The messages, watching, the feeling that somebody was always one step behind me.

A knock hits my office door before Marissa walks in carrying two coffees. She stops the second she sees my face. “Oh God.”

“I’m fine.”

“Really.” She shuts the door behind her carefully before walking closer. “What happened now?”

“Nothing.”

“Zelene.” The sharpness in her voice makes me look up. Marissa stares at me for a long second before speaking quieter this time. “You’re scaring me.”

Something in my chest twists painfully at that because she should be scared, I glance toward the windows again.

The SUV is still there, Marissa notices immediately. “What are you looking at?”

“Hun…..Nothing”

“That’s the fifth time you’ve checked outside in two minutes.” Damn it, I press my fingers against my temple briefly. “I think somebody’s watching me again.”

The room goes completely still, Marissa slowly sets the coffee down. “What do you mean again?”

I shouldn’t answer that, I know I shouldn’t but exhaustion is pulling at me from every direction now. “The threats started after my mother died,” I whisper quietly.

Marissa’s face changes instantly. “What threats?” I laugh once without humor. “The kind that make people disappear.”

Silence crashes heavily between us then she says carefully, “Z……. what the hell happened back then?”

I open my mouth, close it again. Where the hell do I even start. My mother dying, missing files, deleted records. The politicians suddenly pretending they never knew her.

And me running while pregnant and terrified because I didn’t know who to trust anymore.

My throat tightens painfully. “The people connected to my mother don’t scare me anymore.”

Marissa watches me carefully. “What does?”

“Kevin getting involved.” The words leave me before I can stop them. Kevin has no idea what kind of world he’s stepping into.

Marissa looks completely stunned now. “You left him to protect him.” I don’t answer because she already knows.

An hour later, I’m alone again staring at files spread across my desk. Old account records, hospital files, political donations.

For years none of it fully connected but now something feels wrong, I pull another document closer.

Then freeze, my pulse jumps hard. I grab another file quickly. Same payment account, different company name and dates. Money moved quietly through shell companies before disappearing completely.

“Holy shit.” I sit up straighter immediately. Payments tied to a senator connected to my mother’s case.

Deleted hospital transfers, private security expenses hidden under fake business records.

My breathing turns uneven, I open another file then another and something hits me hard enough to make my stomach twist violently.

Jeremy’s name, my eyes lock onto the screen. “What the fuck?” Hospital access logs, restricted access requests. Jeremy signed for them years ago.

Something spreads through me instantly because Jeremy told me he never touched the hospital records. He lied, the realization hits so hard I physically push back from the desk. Why would Jeremy lie to me?

A footsteps sound outside my office cuts the thought short. My head snaps toward the door just as the handle moves slightly then stops.

Every nerve in my body tightens painfully. A second later, whoever’s outside walks away, I can barely breathe.

KEVIN’S POV

Jeremy Barnes opens his office door already looking irritated. “You need to stop showing up uninvited.”

I step inside anyway. “We need to talk.” Jeremy shuts the door behind me harder this time. “I thought we already did that.”

“Not enough.” His jaw tightens slightly. Mine’s worse because I haven’t stopped thinking about what Max told me.

Zelene didn’t run from heartbreak, she ran after her mother died immediately and Jeremy helped her disappear.

“You knew,” I say quietly, Jeremy’s eyes sharpen. “Knew what?”

“That she was in trouble.”

Silence, that’s all I need, I step closer. “What the hell happened to her?” Jeremy looks away briefly before answering. “That’s not my story to tell.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Then tell me why she’s terrified every time somebody gets too close to her.” Jeremy’s expression hardens instantly. “You need to walk away.”

That warning again, except this time Jeremy doesn’t sound angry, he sounds scared. “You think you’re helping her,” he says quietly. “I am helping her.”

“No.” Jeremy steps closer now, voice lower. “You’re making her visible again.”

My chest tightened.“What does that mean?” Jeremy stays silent. I laugh sharply. “Fuck it…… what the hell are you guys hiding?”

His eyes lock onto mine. “Not hiding.” A pause. “Surviving.” That word hits differently before I can answer, Jeremy’s phone buzzes.

He glances down and for the first time since I met him, his expression cracks.

My stomach tightens immediately. “What happened?” Jeremy grabs his jacket fast. “Stay away from Zelene.” Then he’s gone.

Something feels wrong, I don’t know how else to explain it. By the time I reach Zelene’s building, my pulse is already pounding too hard.

Traffic crawls past while rain hits the windshield steadily then I see a black SUV parked across the street with a dark window, engine running.

Two men sit inside watching the building. What the fuck, one of them lifts a camera slightly directly toward Zelene’s apartment windows.

Cold fury slams through me so hard I shove the car door open immediately. The second I step onto the sidewalk, the SUV pulls away fast.

Shit……Every instinct in my body starts screaming now. I grab my phone while moving toward the building.

Zelene doesn’t answer, Again, And again, And again. Fear claws violently up my throat. By the time I reach her apartment floor, I already know something’s wrong.

The door is completely open, my chest drops hard. “Zelene?” No answer, I step inside slowly and freeze.

Furniture overturned, broken glass across the kitchen floor, one dining chair flipped sideways. Cynthia’s stuffed rabbit lying near the hallway.

My pulse explodes violently in my ears. “Zelene!” Silence then I see blood on the kitchen floor.