Chapter 5 - THE MAN IN THE SHADOW
Claire left the café before Sophia could say another word.
She walked for almost an hour.
Her mind was filled with questions.
Her father.
Julian.
The hotel.
The missing money.
The false death.
She returned home and searched through the few belongings she still had from childhood.
There was a small wooden box beneath her bed.
Her mother had given it to her years ago.
Claire opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Her father.
Young.
Smiling.
Holding Claire as a baby.
Behind the photograph was a handwritten note.
Never trust the man who tells you I am gone.
Claire stopped breathing.
She turned the photograph over.
There was another message.
He will come through Julian.
Claire sat on the floor.
She remembered her father's last night.
She had been twelve.
Her mother had cried.
Her father had kissed Claire's forehead.
Then he had left.
No funeral.
No explanation.
Just disappearance.
Claire had spent years believing tragedy had taken him.
Now she understood.
Someone had wanted her to believe that.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A man's voice spoke softly.
"Your father knew this day would come."
Claire stood.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who owes him a debt."
"Where is he?"
The man paused.
"Closer than you think."
"Who is Julian working for?"
Silence.
Then:
"Julian is not the master."
Claire's heartbeat quickened.
"Then who is?"
The caller hung up.
Claire stood alone in her tiny room.
For three years, she had thought she was fighting a dead man.
Then she discovered Julian was alive.
Now she understood something worse.
May you like
Julian was only one piece.
---
