Chapter 2 - The Man Who Followed Her Home
Meredith left Lake View Grand with her final paycheck still pending and a cheap envelope containing paperwork that would make finding another job difficult.
Blacklisted employees were common in the entertainment industry.
Managers called quietly.
A bad note in the system followed you from one company to another.
By the time Meredith reached her apartment, rain had started.
She walked six blocks because the bus pass in her wallet had only twelve cents left on it.
Her building was old.
Third floor.
No elevator.
The hallway smelled like boiled cabbage and cheap detergent.
Meredith unlocked the door.
“I'm home.”
No answer.
She froze.
“Caleb?”
Her younger brother wasn't supposed to be silent.
He usually shouted from the bedroom.
Or complained about his homework.
Or asked whether she had remembered groceries.
She dropped her bag.
Then heard coughing.
“Caleb?”
He appeared from the bedroom.
“You're early.”
“I got fired.”
He stared.
“What?”
Meredith forced a smile.
“It's okay.”
“Meredith.”
“It’s fine.”
“You're lying.”
“Yes.”
He sighed.
“What happened?”
She told him.
Caleb sat down.
“You saved someone.”
“Yes.”
“And got fired.”
“Yes.”
“That's insane.”
“I know.”
He looked at her bandaged hand.
“Does it hurt?”
“A little.”
He shook his head.
“I hate that place.”
Meredith smiled.
“You've never even been there.”
“I've heard enough.”
She opened the refrigerator.
Almost empty.
Two eggs.
Half a carton of milk.
Nothing else.
Her heart tightened.
“I'll figure something out.”
Caleb watched her.
“You always do.”
She looked at him.
“That's my job.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“That's what you think your job is.”
That night, Meredith couldn't sleep.
At 1:14 a.m., she looked through the window.
A black SUV was parked across the street.
She didn't recognize it.
She watched for ten minutes.
Then the headlights turned off.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
DID YOU KEEP A COPY OF THE MAINTENANCE LOG?
Her blood went cold.
She didn't answer.
Another message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE MONEY.
Meredith stared.
Then another.
NEXT TIME, WE WON'T ASK.
She immediately locked the doors.
Checked the windows.
Checked Caleb.
Then called the police.
A patrol car arrived twenty-five minutes later.
The officers searched outside.
Nothing.
The SUV was gone.
One officer asked:
“Do you know who would send this?”
Meredith looked toward the street.
“No.”
But she knew.
Someone had noticed.
Someone knew she had seen the records.
Someone knew she was the one who had warned management.
The next morning, Adrian arrived at her apartment.
She opened the door.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard about the messages.”
Meredith stiffened.
“How?”
“You reported them.”
“To the police.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have people following police reports now?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“My security team monitors threats involving my family.”
Meredith laughed bitterly.
“I’m not your family.”
“No.”
“But you’re here.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were threatened because of something that happened to my sister.”
“I was fired because of something that happened to your sister.”
“I know.”
“And now someone is following me because of something that happened to your sister.”
“I know.”
“That's convenient.”
Adrian stared.
“What do you want?”
“I don't want anything.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To offer protection.”
“No.”
He blinked.
“No?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because accepting protection from a man whose family has more enemies than I have shoes sounds like a bad financial decision.”
He almost smiled.
Almost.
“You're serious.”
“Yes.”
“You could be killed.”
“So could you.”
“That isn't the same.”
“Why?”
“Because I know how to protect myself.”
“So do I.”
He stared at her.
“You climbed a fifty-meter roller coaster.”
“Yes.”
“That isn't protection.”
“That was improvisation.”
Adrian finally laughed.
Meredith didn't.
He stopped.
“I'll leave.”
“Thank you.”
“But I want you to have this.”
He handed her a card.
A number.
“Call if anything happens.”
She took it reluctantly.
“I won't.”
“I know.”
He walked away.
Meredith closed the door.
Then looked at the card.
The number was handwritten.
Not printed.
She put it in her wallet.
Three nights later, someone broke into her apartment.
Nothing was stolen.
Only one thing had been moved.
Her father's old toolbox.
Meredith stared at it.
She opened it.
Inside was a small brass key.
She had never seen it before.
Underneath was a note.
YOUR FATHER KNEW.
Her pulse raced.
Her father.
Dead for seventeen years.
What could he possibly have known?
She called Adrian.
He answered immediately.
“Meredith?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A key.”
“Where?”
“My father's toolbox.”
He was silent.
“Is there a lock?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't search alone.”
She almost laughed.
“Now you care?”
“Yes.”
His answer was immediate.
“I do.”
That silenced her.
He arrived fifteen minutes later.
They searched the toolbox.
Under the false bottom, they found an old receipt.
A storage unit.
Date: seventeen years earlier.
Name: Thomas Lawson.
Meredith stared.
“My father had a storage unit.”
Adrian's expression darkened.
“He didn't tell anyone.”
“Apparently.”
The next day, they went together.
The unit contained old machinery manuals.
Photographs.
Receipts.
And one file.
Inside was a Lake View Grand inspection report.
Seventeen years old.
Signed by Meredith's father.
The same roller coaster.
The same electrical system.
The same warning.
She stared.
“My father knew this ride was dangerous.”
Adrian read the report.
“He warned the company.”
“They ignored him.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died three weeks later.”
He looked at her.
“How?”
“An elevator accident.”
Adrian went silent.
Meredith whispered:
“It wasn't an accident, was it?”
The file contained one final page.
A list of names.
One name was circled.
VINCENT VALE.
Adrian froze.
His father.
The founder of Lake View Grand.
Meredith looked at him.
“Your father.”
Adrian stared at the page.
“My father was involved.”
“That's what it looks like.”
“Then we need to find out why.”
Before they could leave, the storage unit door slammed shut.
Someone had locked them inside.
Meredith turned.
The lights went out.
Adrian's voice became hard.
“Stay behind me.”
She whispered:
“Someone doesn't want us reading this.”
A match struck in the darkness.
A man's voice said:
May you like
“Good.”
“You finally found it.”
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