Chapter 8 - THE MESSAGE FROM A DEAD WOMAN
The message arrived at 2:17 in the morning.
Roman was asleep when his private phone vibrated.
He opened his eyes.
Unknown number.
One photograph.
It showed him standing beside Lily in the library.
Taken through the window.
His blood turned cold.
Then came the message.
SHE LOOKS KIND.
A second message followed.
YOU ALWAYS DID LIKE PEOPLE WHO REMINDED YOU OF YOUR FATHER.
Roman sat upright.
A third message appeared.
TELL ARTHUR I REMEMBER THE LAKE HOUSE.
Roman stared.
Then typed:
WHO IS THIS?
The reply came immediately.
YOU KNOW WHO.
Roman's hands tightened around the phone.
He called Marco.
“Get to the estate.”
“Sir?”
“Now.”
Within minutes, security teams began reviewing cameras.
The grounds were searched.
No intruder was found.
But the photograph had been taken from outside the library.
Someone had been close enough to watch them.
Roman looked toward the dark window.
Then called Lily.
She answered sleepily.
“Hello?”
“It's Roman.”
She sat up.
“Is everything okay?”
He hesitated.
“Are you safe?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Lock your doors.”
Silence.
“Roman?”
He swallowed.
“I think my mother is watching us.”
Lily didn't speak for several seconds.
Then she said, “I'm coming over.”
“No.”
“Roman—”
“Please. Stay where you are. Marco's sending someone to check on you.”
She hesitated.
Then answered softly, “Okay.”
Roman ended the call.
He stared at the photograph again.
His mother had been dead for twenty-two years.
May you like
Yet somehow she knew exactly where he was.
And exactly who mattered to him.
