Chapter Fifteen: Being watched.
Angel stood at the gate for a moment, her arms folded against the cold breeze. She looked down at the cat on the ground. It was still, its fur the same shade as the little stray that had been hanging around the house the past few weeks. She shook her head. There were many cats in the area. She did not think too much about it. .
Angel brushed her hair from her face and went back inside, closing the gate behind her.
But she did not know she was being watched.
A figure stood across the street, inside a parked car that looked old and dull. The windows were dark. The engine wasn't running, Only the small glow from a phone screen showed that someone was there.
The man leaned back in his seat, watching the house like he had all the time in the world. His fingers tapped the steering wheel in a slow pattern, as if he was thinking through something he had already planned many times before.
He had seen Angel come out. He had seen her look at the cat. He had seen her walk away.
"Still soft," he murmured, his voice low. "Still too trusting."
He reached into the passenger seat and lifted a small notebook. The cover was torn, the pages filled with dates, sketches, and short lines of words. He flipped to the last page he wrote on. A name sat at the top.
Zahid.
The man ran his hand over the name. His eyes stayed on it as if the ink could speak back to him. He had waited years for this. Years of silence. Years of watching Zahid build a life after destroying his, Years of watching him stand tall while others had fallen.
"That is over now," the man whispered.
He placed the notebook down and looked back at the house. A small smile touched his lips., not a warm. His eyes looked deranged, like a predator watching his prey, his eyes glossed over like someone remembering something they never forgot.
He thought of the little girl.
She had cried. She had begged. She had said Mummy would come looking for her. But what she didn't know was , he could have taken her away from there, even if the street kids She believed it. She thought her Mummy would break the world to find her. What a funny child, The man found it even more funny as he remembered yesterday, The girl had not lasted long. She had gone quiet, and he had let her stay quiet. Her disappearance had shaken the house, but it was nothing more than dipping a toe in water, testing how far he could go without being noticed.
And Zahid had noticed. Good. That was the point.
He needed to test him, he needed to know how much he cared for that woman and her kids.
And now he knew where the line was. And he knew how to cross it again.
He looked at Angel's house once more. Zahid had moved cameras in today. He had changed the house locks. He'd seen him through the window when he had called his people. He had started digging into things he did not understand. He needed Zahid to be restless. And when Zahid was restless, he made mistakes.
The man lifted his phone.
A single message sat on the screen. He had sent it earlier.
Round 1 was easy.
Try harder next time, Zahid.
He smiled again and deleted the message. Zahid would be thinking about it by now. Playing it over and over. Trying to find meaning. Trying to find him. But he would not. Zahid did not know who he was anymore. Zahid had forgotten. But the man had not.
He opened the camera app and zoomed in on Angel's window. The light inside was soft. He could hear the faint sound of kids somewhere in the house. A picture of comfort. A picture of peace. And Zahid was in the middle of it, he didn't deserve it.
"That is what I will break," the man said softly.
Not out of anger. Not out of fear. Not out of anything strong. It was simple. Zahid had destroyed something that was his. Something very important to him,And now he would learn what it felt like to lose something important in return.
The man opened the door of the car quietly and stepped out. He wore gloves. A hood. His steps were light on the pavement. He walked to the gate and crouched. He looked at the small patch of orange fur that Angel had seen earlier. He picked it up, twirling the hair between his fingers for a moment.
"So you saw it," he said to the empty air. "But you did not understand it."
He dropped the fur back on the ground.
The stray had not come here by mistake. He had brought it. He had placed it. He had watched the little creature move around the gate. He had watched it trust him. He had watched it sit there like it was waiting for someone.
And when it had turned its head toward him, he had ended it.
A small test. A small warning. Something easy.
He straightened and looked at the house again. Zahid would protect Angel. Zahid would run in front of danger for her. Zahid would fight for her. And that was good. That made the game more interesting.
"Round 2," he whispered, "will not be this simple."
He walked back to his car. The door clicked shut. The engine remained off. He sat there for a long moment before looking at the house one last time.
"You shouldn't have returned to the desert Zahid, and I'll make sure you don't return at all."
Then he closed his eyes and thinking about what would be his next move.