My Cute Neighbor Invited Me to Watch the Meteor Shower… Then Whispered, “Stay After Everyone Leaves.”
Chapter 4
Emma barely slept.
The letter sat on the table between her and Noah.
The same letter that had been hidden for fifteen years.
The same letter that connected their fathers.
She read it again.
When the time comes, the meteor shower will show you where to look.
“What does that mean?”
Noah looked at the sky outside.
“I don’t know.”
“You invited me because of this?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you explain?”
“Because I didn’t know who was watching.”
Emma looked around her living room.
“Someone was watching us?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since before the meteor shower.”
She stood.
“I hate secrets.”
“I know.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
“What does that mean?”
Noah hesitated.
“Your father mentioned you.”
“When?”
“Before he disappeared.”
Emma’s breath caught.
“What did he say?”
Noah looked away.
“He said you were the person he was trying to protect.”
“From what?”
“From Crawford.”
Emma frowned.
“But I was seventeen.”
“They believed you’d eventually inherit something.”
“What?”
Noah pointed to the letter.
“Your father never said.”
They returned to the rooftop.
The meteor shower was still visible.
Noah turned off the remaining lights.
“Look.”
Emma stared into the sky.
Meteors crossed overhead.
Then one particularly bright streak appeared.
Emma noticed something below it.
A point of light on the horizon.
A tower.
An old water tower.
“That?”
Noah nodded.
“Your father used to meet mine there.”
They drove across town.
The tower had been abandoned for years.
Inside, they found old equipment.
A rusted ladder.
A metal door.
Noah opened it.
Inside was a narrow room.
Emma found a box.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
A cassette tape.
Noah found an old recorder.
They played it.
Emma’s father spoke.
“If you’re hearing this, then Daniel and I failed.”
Emma’s eyes filled with tears.
Her father continued.
“We discovered that Crawford had created a second company.”
He named it Horizon.
It controlled several businesses.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
The company was buying land across the city.
Land near a proposed transportation project.
Emma’s father had realized the land would eventually be worth billions.
Crawford planned to force property owners to sell cheaply.
Then make enormous profits.
Daniel Bennett wanted to expose him.
They collected evidence.
Then someone betrayed them.
The recording continued.
“We don’t know who.”
Emma looked at Noah.
The tape went on.
“We believe it’s someone we trust.”
Then came another voice.
Noah’s father.
“We have to hide the evidence.”
Emma’s father replied:
“Where?”
“In the one place Crawford will never look.”
The tape ended.
Emma stared at the recorder.
“Where?”
Noah looked at the documents.
Then noticed a map.
A small circle appeared near a property.
“Your old family farm.”
Emma frowned.
“My family sold it.”
“When?”
“Sixteen years ago.”
Noah looked at the records.
“According to this, you never did.”
Emma froze.
“What?”
“The property transfer was never completed.”
“No.”
She took the document.
Her father’s signature was missing.
Someone had filed the sale.
But the actual deed remained with the original owner.
Her family.
Emma stared.
“The land is still mine?”
“According to this.”
She couldn’t believe it.
Then a sound came from outside.
A car door slammed.
Noah turned off the recorder.
“Someone followed us.”
They hid inside the room.
Footsteps entered the tower.
Two voices.
“Find the box.”
Another voice replied:
“They have it.”
Emma looked at Noah.
He whispered:
“Don’t move.”
One of the men entered the room.
Noah attacked.
The man fell.
The second man ran.
Noah chased him.
Emma stayed behind.
Then she noticed the first man’s wallet.
Inside was a company badge.
Crawford Industries.
She picked it up.
The man was not security.
He was an executive.
And his photograph looked familiar.
He had been sitting behind Victoria Crawford during a recent televised interview.
Emma looked at the badge.
Then at the evidence.
She suddenly realized:
The people hunting them were not outsiders.
They were executives.
People with access.
People she had trusted.
