Chapter 49

• The first note appeared one crisp autumn morning. Rafael found it wedged between the windshield and the wiper blade of his car, a small, folded piece of paper with no signature or identifying marks. He glanced around the quiet street, the calm stillness of their suburban neighborhood suddenly feeling too quiet, too still. His chest tightened as he unfolded the paper.
• “You can leave the life, but it won’t leave you.”
• The words sent a chill down his spine. Rafael crumpled the note and shoved it deep into his pocket, scanning the street again. There was no one in sight, only the soft rustle of leaves in the breeze and the faint hum of a distant lawnmower. For a moment, he debated telling Maya, but he shook his head. She didn’t need more reasons to worry.