Chapter 12: She Knows I'm Alive

The silence after Connor's call felt heavier than anything I'd experienced in months.

Sofia knows you're alive.

Those words kept repeating in my head.

Zane was already reaching for his phone.

"I'm calling Connor back."

"Don't," Mara said sharply.

He stopped.

"Why?"

Mara looked toward the shop windows.

"If someone is monitoring him, calling back could tell them exactly where we are."

I felt a chill run down my spine.

A few minutes ago, this had been a story about an old betrayal.

Now it felt like someone was still watching us.

Zane walked to the front door and checked the street.

Nothing looked unusual.

Cars passed normally.

People walked along the sidewalk.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being observed.

Then I noticed a black sedan parked across the street.

It had been there when we opened the shop.

I hadn't thought anything of it.

Now I couldn't stop looking at it.

"Zane."

He followed my gaze.

His expression immediately hardened.

"Stay here."

"No."

I caught his arm.

"I'm not hiding anymore."

He looked down at my hand.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then the sedan started its engine.

It pulled away before Zane could reach the door.

Mara exhaled.

"They know where you are."

I swallowed.

"Then we need to know who they are."

Zane nodded.

He pulled out his phone and made a call to someone he trusted from his old unit.

While he spoke quietly, Mara opened another file on the computer.

"There's something here you haven't seen."

I moved beside her.

She opened a scanned document.

It was a copy of a lease agreement for my old apartment in San Diego.

My name was on it.

But beneath my signature was another signature.

Sofia's.

"Why would she have access to your lease?" Mara asked.

I stared at the document.

"I don't know."

Then I remembered.

Five years ago, before I left for training, Sofia had helped me move.

She had insisted on organizing my paperwork because I was overwhelmed.

At the time, I had trusted her completely.

My stomach turned.

"She had access to everything."

Zane ended his call.

"What did you find?"

I showed him the document.

His expression darkened.

"This wasn't just about the wedding."

"No," Mara said.

"It looks like she was preparing for something much earlier."

Another notification appeared on the computer.

A new file had been uploaded remotely.

None of us touched the keyboard.

The screen displayed a single sentence.

"You should have stayed gone, Elara."

My blood ran cold.

Then another line appeared.

"You have no idea what you've uncovered."

Zane stepped in front of me.

"Whoever you are, you're done hiding."

The screen went black.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then my phone buzzed.

It was a message from an unknown number.

"Meet me tomorrow at noon if you want to know why Sofia chose you."

Below it was an address.

I recognized the location immediately.

It was the old naval training facility where Zane and I had first met.

Zane read the message over my shoulder.

"You're not going alone."

I looked at him.

"I wasn't planning to."

For the first time since he walked back into my life, I wasn't thinking about whether I still loved him.

I was thinking about the truth.

And tomorrow, I intended to finally get it.