My Cute Neighbor Invited Me to Watch the Meteor Shower… Then Whispered, “Stay After Everyone Leaves.”
Chapter 2
Emma locked the rooftop door.
The click sounded far louder than it should have.
She turned around.
Noah was standing beside the telescope.
The playful expression from earlier was gone.
“Okay,” she said softly.
“What happens now?”
Noah looked at the sky.
“Wait.”
“For what?”
“Eleven fifty-three.”
She checked her phone.
11:47.
“Why eleven fifty-three?”
“You’ll see.”
Emma folded her arms.
“You know, normal neighbors don’t invite women onto rooftops and then become mysterious.”
Noah smiled.
“I’m not normal.”
“I’ve noticed.”
He laughed quietly.
Then his expression changed again.
He walked toward the telescope.
“Look through this.”
Emma stepped closer.
“What am I looking for?”
“A star.”
“Which one?”
He adjusted the telescope.
“That one.”
Emma looked.
A bright star filled the lens.
Then she noticed something beneath it.
A faint moving light.
“That’s not a star.”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“A plane.”
She laughed.
“I hate you.”
Noah smiled.
“Give it a second.”
She kept looking.
Then her phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
She frowned.
“Who’s calling you?”
“No idea.”
She answered.
“Hello?”
No response.
Then a man’s voice whispered:
“Leave the roof.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
The line went dead.
Noah saw her face.
“What happened?”
She handed him the phone.
He listened to the call history.
His jaw tightened.
“How did they get your number?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked toward the street.
“Get inside.”
“What?”
“Now.”
Emma followed him downstairs.
He locked the rooftop door.
Then the back door.
Then the front door.
She stared.
“Who is after you?”
“I don’t know.”
“You clearly know something.”
Noah sighed.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t get involved.”
“I think I’m already involved.”
He looked at her.
“You are.”
Silence.
Then he said:
“Someone has been following me for three months.”
Emma’s eyes widened.
“What?”
“My car was followed.”
“My office was broken into.”
“My apartment was searched.”
“Why didn’t you call the police?”
“Because I don’t know who I can trust.”
Emma stared.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
She sat down.
“What does this have to do with me?”
Noah was silent.
Then:
“You work at Crawford Investments.”
Emma froze.
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I told you I wasn’t normal.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your company is being investigated.”
“For what?”
“Fraud.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Crawford is one of the most respected firms in the city.”
“No company is immune.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
Noah pulled out a folder.
Inside were financial records.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Private accounts.
Emma recognized several names.
One belonged to her boss.
Another belonged to a board member.
“This can’t be real.”
“It is.”
“Where did you get this?”
“I’ve been investigating them.”
“Why?”
Noah sat across from her.
“Because my father disappeared.”
Emma stared.
“What?”
“He worked for Crawford.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“What happened?”
“He discovered financial fraud.”
“And?”
“He tried to report it.”
“What happened to him?”
Noah looked down.
“He vanished.”
Emma felt a chill.
“You think the company killed him?”
“I think someone did.”
Silence.
Then Emma remembered something.
Her father had worked in finance too.
She hadn’t mentioned it.
Noah looked at her.
“What?”
“My father knew your father.”
Noah froze.
“What?”
“They worked at the same firm.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Emma’s voice shook.
“My father died when I was seventeen.”
Noah stood.
“What was his name?”
“David Collins.”
Noah stared at her.
“That can’t be.”
“Why?”
“My father kept one photograph.”
He opened a drawer.
Pulled out an old picture.
Emma took it.
Her father was standing beside Noah’s father.
Both were young.
Behind them was a sign:
CRAWFORD INVESTMENTS.
But there was someone else in the photograph.
A woman.
Emma recognized her immediately.
Her mother.
Emma’s heart stopped.
“She knew them.”
Noah nodded.
“Apparently.”
Then the clock struck 11:53.
Every light in the house went out.
Emma jumped.
Noah grabbed her hand.
“Don’t move.”
“What happened?”
He whispered:
“Someone just cut the power.”
And outside the dark windows, a flashlight moved slowly across the yard.
