Unknown number.
He stared at the screen.
It rang again.
And again.
Finally, he answered.
No one spoke.
Then a distorted voice whispered:
"You should have stopped looking."
The call ended.
My father dropped the phone.
I couldn't breathe.
That was when I realized something terrifying.
The women hadn't disappeared because they disliked my father.
They had disappeared because someone had been watching them.
Someone had been making sure they stayed away.
And my father hadn't been investigating those women.
He had been using them to investigate whoever was watching him.
But there was one thing he hadn't told me.
I picked up his phone.
The last message from the unknown number contained a photograph.
I opened it.
It was a picture of me.
Taken outside my apartment.
The timestamp was from that morning.
My hands went numb.
Then another message arrived.
"Your mother tried to protect you once."
A second message appeared.
"Your father is trying to protect you now."
Then a third.
"Neither of them succeeded."
I looked at my father.
"Dad…"
He didn't say anything.
He simply whispered:
"Pack a bag."
"Why?"
"Because they know you found out."
I looked toward the window.
A car was parked across the street.
Its headlights were off.
Someone was sitting inside.
Watching our house.
And suddenly, I understood the real reason every woman my father dated had vanished overnight.
They hadn't been running from him.
They had been warned.
And now that I knew the truth…
I was next.
