Chapter 6: The Last Message
The ambulance arrived three minutes later.
Three minutes that felt like an hour.
Paramedics rushed toward the car.
Eli followed until Cole gently grabbed his shoulder.
“Let them help her.””
The boy looked up.
“Is she going to wake up?””
Cole wanted to say yes.
He wanted to give him certainty.
But he had spent his whole life learning that false promises could hurt more than bad news.
“I don’t know.””
Eli looked disappointed.
Not angry.
Just tired.
Like he had heard those words too many times.
Cole watched the paramedics open the car door.
They checked the woman’s pulse.
Her breathing.
Her condition.
Bear stood nearby, still looking down the road where Marcus disappeared.
“He knew too much.””
Cole nodded.
“He knew Nia.””
“And you believe him?””
Cole looked at the payphone.
“I don’t know what I believe anymore.””
That was the truth.
Years of unanswered questions had suddenly turned into too many answers at once.
A missing daughter.
A secret phone number.
A child carrying a message.
A stranger claiming to be the last person she trusted.
Nothing made sense.
Except one thing.
Nia was alive.
Or at least…
Someone wanted him to believe she was.
A paramedic walked over.
“Are you family?””
Cole hesitated.
The answer should have been no.
He wasn’t related to the woman.
He didn’t know her.
He didn’t even know why he was standing there.
But he looked at Eli.
And he looked at the car.
Then he said:
“No.””
A pause.
“But I know someone she was trying to reach.””
The paramedic studied him.
“Who?””
Cole looked toward the payphone.
“Nia.””
The paramedic frowned.
“Nia who?””
Cole didn’t answer.
Because he suddenly realized something.
The woman in the car had recognized him.
She had looked terrified.
And before she passed out, she had tried to tell him something.
Three words.
He replayed them in his mind.
Her lips moving behind the glass.
The soundless warning.
You are not—
No.
That wasn’t right.
He needed to know.
Cole walked back to the payphone.
Eli watched.
“What are you doing?””
Cole picked up the receiver.
Nothing.
Dead.
He pressed the buttons.
No signal.
Then he noticed something.
The small compartment beneath the phone was open.
Inside was another folded piece of paper.
Bear walked over.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.””
Cole opened it carefully.
This one was newer.
Written in black ink.
Only one sentence.
“If you are reading this, Eli made it to you.””
Cole stared.
His hands tightened.
Bear read over his shoulder.
“Who wrote that?””
Cole looked at the handwriting.
He already knew.
“Nia.””
Eli stepped closer.
“She knew I’d find you?””
Cole looked at him.
“No.””
A silence.
“She knew I’d find you.””
The boy looked confused.
“Why?””
Cole didn’t know.
But before he could answer, the payphone rang.
Everyone froze.
The sound cut through the gas station.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nobody moved.
Bear looked at Cole.
“Don’t.””
But Cole already reached for it.
He lifted the receiver.
“Hello?””
For a moment, there was nothing.
Then breathing.
A woman’s breathing.
Cole closed his eyes.
“Who is this?””
The voice came quietly.
Almost broken.
“Cole…”
His heart stopped.
Because this time there was no doubt.
He knew that voice.
He knew every pause.
Every breath.
Every fear hidden between words.
“Nia?””
A long silence.
Then:
“Listen to me.””
Cole gripped the receiver.
“I’m here.””
“No, you’re not safe.””
His eyes moved toward Bear.
Then Eli.
The voice became weaker.
“Cole, you need to understand something.””
“What?””
A pause.
Then Nia whispered:
“Eli isn’t the person you should be protecting.””
Cole froze.
He looked at the boy.
Eli looked back, confused and scared.
The phone crackled.
Nia continued.
“The person you should be afraid of is the one who brought him to you.””
The line suddenly went silent.
Cole stared at the receiver.
Because across the parking lot…
May you like
The ambulance doors had closed.
And the woman inside the car was gone.
