Chapter 6: The Target
Ryan kept staring at the phone long after the call ended.
The screen had gone dark.
But Lucas’s voice remained.
“You’ll learn why she chose you.”
Those words were worse than a threat.
Because threats were simple.
They came from enemies.
But Lucas sounded like someone revealing a secret.
Like someone who knew a truth Ryan had never even considered.
Detective Hale watched him carefully.
“What did he say?”
Ryan looked up.
“It was Lucas.”
The detective’s expression changed.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Did he admit anything?”
“No.”
Ryan looked toward the window.
“He said Emily chose me.”
Detective Hale became silent.
That reaction bothered Ryan more than anything.
“You know something.”
The detective did not answer.
“Detective.”
Hale sighed.
“There are things I haven’t told you.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“Of course there are.”
The detective ignored the comment.
“When Emily disappeared, we found something strange.”
“What?”
“A file.”
Ryan waited.
“Inside her apartment.”
“What kind of file?”
“A list.”
Ryan frowned.
“A list of what?”
Detective Hale looked directly at him.
“Names.”
A cold feeling moved through Ryan.
“How many?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“And mine was on it?”
The detective hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Ryan felt his stomach drop.
“My name was there.”
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
Ryan walked away.
He felt sick.
For a year, he thought Emily was a stranger who ignored him.
Then he discovered she knew him.
Then he discovered she studied him.
Now he learned she had his name on a secret list.
“Why me?”
Detective Hale looked at him.
“That’s what we need to find out.”
Ryan turned.
“No.”
He shook his head.
“That’s what I need to find out.”
That night, Ryan and Detective Hale went to Emily’s apartment.
The place had been searched several times.
But now they were looking for something different.
Not evidence of a crime.
Evidence of a plan.
Ryan stood in the living room.
The apartment felt strange.
He had imagined this place many times.
He imagined Emily coming home.
He imagined them talking.
He imagined learning about her life.
Now he was standing inside her home and realizing he knew nothing.
Detective Hale opened a cabinet.
“Ryan.”
Ryan turned.
The detective held a small notebook.
“Look.”
Ryan walked closer.
The notebook was filled with handwriting.
Emily’s handwriting.
Most pages contained names.
Dates.
Locations.
Notes.
Ryan turned the pages.
Then he saw his own name.
RYAN CARTER.
Below it were several lines.
Age: 20.
Routine: Café every morning.
Work: Unknown.
Social circle: Limited.
Personality: Quiet. Avoids conflict.
Risk level: Low.
Ryan stared.
His face burned.
She had investigated him like a suspect.
But then he saw something else.
A sentence written at the bottom.
Different from the others.
“Possible ally.”
Ryan stopped.
Detective Hale noticed.
“What?”
Ryan pointed.
“She didn’t think I was dangerous.”
The detective looked.
“She thought you could help her.”
Ryan looked confused.
“But why?”
Before Hale could answer, a sound came from the bedroom.
Both men turned.
A noise.
Someone was inside.
Detective Hale immediately reached for his weapon.
Ryan’s heart raced.
They moved slowly.
The bedroom door was half open.
Hale pushed it.
Empty.
But the window was open.
Someone had escaped.
On the floor beneath the window was something left behind.
A small envelope.
Ryan picked it up.
The outside had one word.
“RYAN.”
Detective Hale looked concerned.
“Don’t open it.”
Ryan ignored him.
He tore the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
His photograph.
Taken outside the café.
But it wasn’t from the day he watched Emily.
It was older.
Much older.
The back had a date.
Three years ago.
Ryan’s face changed.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t living here three years ago.”
Detective Hale looked confused.
“Then why does Emily have your picture?”
Ryan turned it over.
There was a handwritten note.
A sentence that made his blood freeze.
“Subject identified. Begin observation.”
Ryan stepped backward.
“No…”
Detective Hale looked at him.
“What?”
Ryan pointed at the date.
“This was before I ever met Emily.”
Meanwhile, across the city…
A woman sat in a dark room.
Her wrists were free.
Her face was pale.
But she was alive.
Emily.
Or Claire.
She stared at a small screen.
On it was a live camera feed.
Ryan standing inside her apartment.
Searching for answers.
A man stood behind her.
“You knew he would come.”
Emily did not turn.
“Yes.”
The man smiled.
“You were right about him.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“He’s not like the others.”
“Are you sure?”
She looked at the screen.
Ryan looked broken.
Confused.
Guilty.
“He made a mistake.”
The man stepped closer.
“And mistakes are dangerous.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
She whispered:
“His mistake is the reason he can help us.”
The man laughed softly.
“You still believe he is the answer?”
Emily looked away.
“I believe he is the only person Adrian and Lucas underestimated.”
The man became silent.
Then he asked:
“Do you still feel guilty?”
Emily’s expression changed.
A painful memory appeared in her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at Ryan on the screen.
“Because I was the one who put him on the list.”
Back at the apartment, Ryan found another hidden compartment.
Behind a loose wall panel.
Inside was a USB drive.
Detective Hale looked at it.
“This could explain everything.”
Ryan took it.
Before he could connect it, his phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
But this time, the message was not from Lucas.
It was from Emily.
Ryan stared.
Impossible.
Emily was missing.
The message contained only one line.
“I’m sorry you had to learn this way.”
Then another message appeared.
“You were never chosen because you were weak.”
Ryan waited.
The final message arrived.
“You were chosen because three years ago…”
A pause.
“You saved my life.”
Ryan froze.
Three years ago.
Before the café.
Before he knew her.
Before he even remembered meeting her.
Another message appeared.
“But you don’t remember.”
Ryan dropped the phone.
Because somewhere in his past…
was a moment he had completely forgotten.
May you like
A moment Emily never forgot.
And that forgotten moment was the reason his entire life had changed.
