PART 2: THE NOTE SHE NEVER MEANT HIM TO READ
Ethan stared at the evidence bag.
The folded note seemed impossibly small.
Yet somehow it felt heavier than anything he had ever held.
His hands trembled.
The doctor stood quietly beside him.
"We found it inside her purse after the accident."
Ethan nodded without speaking.
Because he wasn't sure he could.
Across the hallway, nurses rushed in and out of the maternal emergency unit.
The sounds of monitors echoed through the corridor.
Every beep felt like a countdown.
Slowly, Ethan unfolded the note.
The handwriting was unmistakably Ava's.
Neat.
Careful.
Deliberate.
The first line made his chest tighten.
"If you're reading this, something has gone terribly wrong."
Ethan swallowed hard.
The words blurred as tears filled his eyes.
He continued reading.
"I know this is going to sound strange, but there are things I never told you."
A cold feeling settled in his stomach.
Things she never told him?
For a moment, fear replaced grief.
What secrets had she been carrying?
He read on.
"Not because I didn't trust you."
"Because I was afraid."
The hallway suddenly felt very quiet.
Afraid of what?
The answer came a few lines later.
"Someone has been following me."
Ethan froze.
His eyes darted back to the beginning.
Then forward again.
The sentence remained unchanged.
Someone has been following me.
His pulse quickened.
The note continued.
"At first I thought I was imagining it."
"The same gray SUV."
"The same man standing across the street."
"The same feeling that someone was watching."
Ethan felt sick.
Why hadn't she told him?
Why had she faced this alone?
Then he remembered.
Three months earlier, Ava had mentioned a car outside their apartment building.
He had laughed it off.
Two months later she mentioned seeing the same vehicle near her doctor's office.
Again he dismissed it.
One month later she became anxious whenever she drove alone.
And he told her she was probably stressed from the pregnancy.
The realization hit him like a punch.
She had tried to tell him.
And he hadn't listened.
Suddenly the emergency unit doors opened.
A doctor emerged.
Ethan immediately stood.
"How is she?"
The doctor hesitated.
Then answered carefully.
"Ava is stable."
Relief flooded through him.
For half a second.
Because the doctor wasn't finished.
"The baby is experiencing distress."
The relief vanished.
"We're preparing for an emergency delivery."
Ethan felt his knees weaken.
"No..."
The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We're doing everything possible."
Grace covered her mouth.
Tears streamed down her face.
For months they had prepared a nursery.
Chosen names.
Bought tiny clothes.
Dreamed about the future.
Now everything felt uncertain.
The doctor disappeared back inside.
Leaving Ethan alone with the note.
He continued reading.
Near the bottom, Ava had written something else.
Something far more disturbing.
"If anything happens to me, give the flash drive to Detective Harris."
Ethan blinked.
Flash drive?
He unfolded the final section.
A small piece of tape secured a tiny USB drive to the back of the note.
His heart stopped.
Ava had hidden evidence.
Evidence she clearly believed was important.
Important enough to leave instructions in case she never woke up.
Ethan carefully removed the drive.
At that exact moment, a voice called from down the corridor.
"Mr. Cole?"
He looked up.
A man in a dark suit was approaching.
Not a doctor.
Not hospital staff.
A detective.
The badge hanging from his belt identified him immediately.
Detective Marcus Harris.
The same name written in Ava's note.
Ethan's grip tightened around the flash drive.
The detective stopped in front of him.
His expression was grim.
Then he asked a question that made Ethan's blood run cold.
"Did Ava ever tell you she was helping us investigate a crime?"
The hallway seemed to spin.
Because Ethan had no idea what the detective was talking about.
May you like
And judging by the detective's face...
The accident might not have been an accident at all.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3...
