Across the street, the hooded figure didn't move when Ember smiled. Rain blurred his silhouette, hiding him in a curtain of silver. Behind the shadows, his jaw tightened.
It wasn't the Cipher.
It was Marcus.
He had been watching her for weeks, quietly, cautiously—never close enough to be seen, never far enough to lose her trail. She hadn't been herself lately: restless, distant, slipping away at odd hours. He knew her well enough to sense she'd seek out a place like this.
And there she was—just as he feared—sitting across from a stranger, a man whose face Marcus couldn't make out.
His fists curled inside his damp pockets. Who was this man? Why hadn't she told Marcus?
He wanted to storm inside, demand answers, but something in her posture stopped him. The tilt of her head, the stillness in her hands. This wasn't casual. She wasn't chatting. She was hunting.
Marcus stayed put, watching. Protecting her from the shadows, as he always had.
When she finally rose, folder tucked beneath her arm, Marcus didn't follow her. Not yet. He gave her distance, let her vanish into the rain. Then he turned and walked back to his car, convinced he'd done the right thing.
He never saw the van until it was too late.
Headlights flared once in the storm. Tires splashed through puddles. Hands grabbed him before he could even reach for his weapon. A sharp sting to his neck—the rush of chemicals—and the world spun into darkness.
The last thing Marcus heard was the slam of a van door and a voice, low and almost mocking, murmuring through the rain:
"She wasn't supposed to bring you into this."
Then silence.
By morning, Marcus was gone.
YOU ARE READING
The Whispering Cipher
Mystery / ThrillerEvana Carter seems to have it all: a loving husband, a quiet home, and the life of a devoted wife. But when Ryan leaves for work each morning, Evana steps into a hidden world no one suspects-one where encrypted messages, unsolved cases, and coded mu...
