The drive to Anderson & Park felt twice as long as it should have.
Every mile gave my imagination more opportunities to create disasters.
Maybe Felix was alive.
Maybe soone was pretending to be Felix.
Maybe X-Reveals had finally decided to stop playing gas.
That last possibility refused to leave my mind.
I arrived before Ethan.
Parked where I had a clear view of the diner.
And waited.
A few minutes later his car pulled into the lot.
I watched him go inside.
Then the waiting began.
At first nothing happened.
Custors ca and went.
A delivery truck stopped outside a bakery across the street.
An elderly couple walked their dog through the snow.
Life continued exactly as normal.
Inside the diner, Ethan sat near the window nursing a cup of coffee.
Checking his phone.
Looking toward the entrance.
Waiting.
An hour passed.
Then two.
By the third hour I was certain nobody was coming.
Whatever this was, it wasn’t a reunion.
It was sothing else.
Sothing designed to keep Ethan sitting exactly where he was.
The realization sat uneasily in my stomach.
I scanned the street again.
The sidewalks.
The storefronts.
The parked vehicles.
Nothing looked unusual.
Nothing stood out.
Which was precisely what worried .
Because whoever was behind this never stood out.
That was the problem.
They blended in.
They watched.
And by the ti you realized they were there, it was already too late.
Across the street, Ethan suddenly straightened in his seat.
I followed his gaze instinctively.
For a mont I thought he’d spotted soone.
Instead, he was looking directly at .
Or rather, at my vehicle.
"Oh no."
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
Of all the things that could go wrong, it had to be that.
Inside the diner, Ethan was already standing.
A few seconds later he erged through the front door.
I imdiately started the engine.
Maybe if I left now—
The idea died before it finished forming.
Because Ethan had already crossed the street.
The mont my vehicle moved, he followed.
"Fantastic."
I pulled away from the curb.
Behind , Ethan jogged back toward his own car.
And just like that, I found myself leading the world’s most ridiculous pursuit through Anderson Park.
A chase implied speed.
This was mostly traffic lights and mutual irritation.
Every ti I checked my mirror, Ethan was still there.
Every ti I hoped he’d give up, he stubbornly remained.
Eventually a red light trapped both of us.
I sighed.
A few seconds later he was marching toward my window.
The determination on his face almost made laugh.
Almost.
Two knocks sounded against the glass.
I ignored them.
A third followed.
"I know sobody’s in there."
I lowered the window.
The second he saw , every trace of determination vanished.
"Raina?"
"What exactly are you doing?"
He blinked.
"What am I doing?"
"Yes."
I folded my arms.
"You chased across half the city. I’d love to hear your explanation."
He rubbed a hand across his face.
"This conversation is not going the way I imagined."
"No?"
"Not particularly."
A horn sounded sowhere behind us.
Neither of us moved.
Finally I sighed.
"You disappeared before sunrise."
The irritation in my voice wasn’t entirely fake.
"I got a call."
"I know."
His expression changed imdiately.
"You know?"
"I heard enough."
For a mont neither of us said anything.
I looked away briefly before returning my attention to him.
"You looked upset when you left."
That was the truth of it.
Not suspicion.
Not jealousy.
Concern.
The kind that sneaks up on you before you realize it’s there.
Sothing shifted in his expression.
The annoyance faded.
Understanding took its place.
"I wasn’t trying to worry you."
"No."
I nodded.
"I know."
The light turned green.
A chorus of impatient horns erupted behind us.
I glanced toward the intersection.
"We should probably continue this sowhere that isn’t blocking traffic."
Ethan looked around as if only just rembering we weren’t alone.
A mont later he nodded.
And a few minutes later we were heading back toward Harrington together
The drive back to Harrington passed in relative silence.
Not because there was tension between us. If anything, the confrontation at the traffic light had dissolved most of that. But neither of us seed particularly eager to revisit the morning while we were still trying to make sense of it.
I drove ahead.
Every now and then I caught sight of Ethan’s car in the rearview mirror, following a few vehicles behind while my thoughts drifted back to the diner.
Three hours.
Three hours spent waiting for a man who was supposed to be dead.
Three hours spent exactly where soone wanted him.
The more I thought about it, the less I liked it.
By the ti we reached my house, the knot in my stomach hadn’t loosened.
It had only gotten tighter.
I parked in the driveway and headed inside.
A few seconds later, Ethan followed.
The house felt strangely quiet.
Winter sunlight stread through the tall windows overlooking the backyard while the heating system humd softly sowhere in the walls. Everything looked normal.
Ordinary.
Safe.
Which only made trust it less.
I set my purse on the kitchen island.
When I turned around, Ethan was already watching .
Waiting.
He knew exactly what was coming.
"Talk to ."
My voice remained calm.
Ethan pulled out one of the stools and sat down.
"There’s not much to tell."
I raised an eyebrow.
His sigh was imdiate.
"Soone called last night claiming to be Felix."
"Claiming?"
The word slipped out before I could stop it.
Ethan leaned forward slightly.
"When I first heard the voice, I was convinced it was him."
I looked away.
"Now?"
He stared at the countertop for a mont.
"Now I don’t know."
Neither did I.
At least not completely.
But I knew enough.
"If it wasn’t Felix, then sobody knew enough about him to get my attention."
That much was obvious.
The question was how.
"And if it was Felix?" I asked.
A humorless laugh escaped him.
"Then apparently he drove an hour away to sit alone in a diner for three hours."
A faint smile touched my lips before disappearing.
Neither of us found it particularly funny.
"You really believed he might be alive."
"No."
The answer ca too quickly.
A second later he shook his head.
"Okay, maybe I did."
His gaze drifted toward the windows.
"For a little while."
I remained silent.
Letting him continue.
"People don’t realize how difficult it is when sobody disappears."
My chest tightened.
"You never get answers. There’s no ending. No certainty. Just years of wondering."
I looked down at my hands.
"I can imagine."
The words sounded smaller than I intended.
Ethan watched for a mont before looking away.
Thankfully.
Because I wasn’t sure what my face would have given away.
Eventually I glanced toward the staircase.
"I should get ready."
"For the shoot?"
I nodded.
"Victor has already called twice."
That earned a small smile.
"If I’m late, he’ll probably file a missing persons report."
"At least sobody would look for you."
I rolled my eyes.
"That was terrible."
"It was."
He stood.
For the first ti all day, he looked slightly less burdened.
I stepped forward and adjusted the collar of his jacket.
A habit more than anything else.
"You should get so sleep."
His eyebrow lifted.
"That’s rich coming from you."
"I wasn’t the one sitting in a diner all morning."
"No."
A faint smile appeared.
"You were apparently stalking ."
I gave him a look.
That was enough.
His hands imdiately lifted in surrender.
"Fair."
Satisfied, I stepped back.
"I’ll be downstairs in twenty minutes."
He nodded.
"Take your ti."
I turned and headed upstairs.
The mont I disappeared around the corner, the smile vanished from my face.
Because unlike Ethan, I couldn’t leave the diner behind.
The entire thing felt wrong.
Too deliberate.
Too precise.
As though soone had spent weeks arranging pieces on a board before finally making their move.
I entered my bedroom and crossed toward the closet.
The house had fallen quiet again.
Not unusual.
Just quiet.
I changed clothes.
Checked my phone.
Ignored three ssages from Victor.
Then paused.
Sothing downstairs had moved.
I stood still.
Listened.
Nothing.
A few seconds passed.
Then another sound.
A soft thump.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just enough to pull my attention toward the bedroom door.
"Ethan?"
No answer.
I frowned.
Maybe he’d stepped outside.
Maybe he was on the phone.
Maybe—
Another sound.
Closer this ti.
The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Slowly, I left the bedroom.
The hallway stretched empty before .
Sunlight spilled through the second-floor windows, casting long pale rectangles across the hardwood floor.
Everything looked normal.
But the feeling remained.
That instinctive certainty that sothing wasn’t right.
"Ethan?"
Still nothing.
I started downstairs.
Halfway down, I froze.
Soone stood at the end of the hallway below.
Motionless.
Watching.
For one impossible second, my brain refused to process what I was seeing.
Then recognition arrived all at once.
White rabbit mask.
Black clothes.
Hands tucked casually into his pockets.
X-Reveals.
The world seed to narrow around him.
The hallway.
The sunlight.
The house.
Everything else faded.
The rabbit mask tilted slightly.
Almost curious.
Almost amused.
"Hello, Princess."
My pulse hamred against my ribs.
"You."
The distorted laugh that followed was soft.
Comfortable.
Like we were old friends eting unexpectedly.
"What are you doing in my house?"
"Visiting."
My jaw tightened.
"Where’s Ethan?"
The mask tilted again.
"Relax."
His voice echoed softly through the hallway.
"He’s exactly where you left him."
That answer did nothing to reassure .
"What do you want?"
For a mont he didn’t answer.
Then he reached into his coat.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
And pulled out a photograph.
He held it up between two gloved fingers.
I recognized it imdiately.
Ethan.
Outside the diner.
Earlier today.
The angle wasn’t distant.
Whoever had taken it had been close.
Close enough to see him.
Close enough to follow him.
Close enough to know exactly where he was.
The rabbit mask turned slightly toward the photograph.
Then back to .
"You’re worried about the wrong dead man."
The words settled heavily between us.
Every instinct I possessed told exactly where this conversation was heading.
And I hated it.
Because if I was right—
Then Felix had never been the point.
The rabbit took one slow step forward.
"Felix isn’t the secret."
I said nothing.
The mask tilted.
Waiting.
Watching.
Enjoying this.
Then his attention drifted briefly toward the family photographs hanging along the wall.
When he looked back at , the amusent was gone.
"Your grandfather is."
The air seed to leave the room.
For a second I simply stared at him.
Unable to speak.
Unable to move.
Unable to think.
The rabbit stepped backward toward the front door.
"Call Katsuro."
His voice had beco quieter now.
Which sohow made it worse.
"Before everyone learns what really happened that night."
Everything inside went cold.
Because there was only one night he could possibly an.
Only one.
And nobody was supposed to know about it.
The rabbit reached for the doorknob.
Then paused.
"Tick-tock, Princess."
The door opened.
And closed.
Leaving alone in the silence.
Staring at the space where he’d been standing.
While one terrible realization echoed through my mind.....
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