Amira stared at the photo on David's phone.
Kaira's eyes were red from crying. Her small fingers gripped the paper that read: "STOP DIGGING."
The message was clear.
And it wasn't just a threat.
It was a promise.
"Who sent this?" she asked, her voice tight, trembling.
David was already tracing the number. "It's unlisted. No name. No trace. But whoever it is, they knew how to get to her. And they knew how to get to us."
They sat in silence, the weight of it all pressing in. The past wasn't just haunting them , it was hunting them.
David finally broke the silence. "This all started the moment you came back. That can't be a coincidence."
"You think it's my fault?" Amira snapped, eyes flaring.
"No," he said softly. "I think it's connected to you. Or maybe to Rihanna. Maybe both."
She looked away. "Why would someone want to hurt a little girl?"
David looked her in the eye.
"Because that little girl might be the key to something bigger."
The Man in the Drawing
They returned to Kaira's sketchbook. The man in the coat. The fire. The words "He found us."
"Rihanna wasn't just afraid," Amira whispered. "She knew him."
David nodded. "And maybe… so did you."
Amira's brow furrowed.
"Wait…" she stood up suddenly, pacing. "There was a man who used to visit our house when we were teenagers. Older. Quiet. Always watching us like we were puzzles he was trying to solve."
David frowned. "Do you remember his name?"
Amira shook her head.
"But Rihanna hated him. Said he gave her nightmares."
Just then, David's phone vibrated again.
Another message.
"This is your last chance. Forget her. Forget the girl. You've been warned."
Attached to it was a short video.
Kaira, blindfolded, sitting in a dark room.
Her voice, quiet: "Mommy said never to trust the man with the silver ring."
Amira gasped.
David's hands tightened into fists.
A silver ring.
It clicked.
The man from their past.
The visitor. The one Rihanna feared.
He was back.
And this time… he had Kaira.
"We have to find him," Amira said, her voice no longer shaking , it was steel now.
David looked at her, surprised.
"You're not scared?"
"I'm terrified," she whispered. "But that little girl might be all I have left of Rihanna."
She turned to him, eyes burning.
"And if he thinks we'll walk away, then he doesn't know who we've become."