Maaze Part-2

Kate went blank. She didn’t know what to say.

“W-What? How? Who are you?” She asked.

“My name is Adam. I’m your dad’s old friend. He and I used to work for the same company.”

“You’re dad’s friend?”

“Yes. Best buddies.”

“How did you come to know that I work here?”

“I saw your uncle in a bank a few days ago. He looked exactly like Kevin. He left before I could talk to him. I went through Kevin’s profile which is still present in our company’s database. It was mentioned that he had a brother named Pete Sandler. I looked him up on social media and he was the same man I saw in the bank. Through his social media account, I was able to find your social media account and then I came to know that you work here.” 

“Now that’s the sort of research I expect from you, Kate.” Mr Andrews said.

Kate looked at Mr Andrews and he knew what the expression meant.

“Ok. I’m going to leave you two alone. There is a meeting in one hour so make it fast.” Mr Andrews said and went to his cabin.

Kate closed the door of her cabin.

“I’ve been looking for you for a really long time.”

“Why did you do all this, I mean, why do you want to help me so much?”

“I promised your dad. I promised him that I will always take care of you.”

“So, do you know my mother?”

“No, I don’t.”

“So, how can you help me find her?”

“Actually, Kevin didn’t tell us anything about his wife. He didn’t even tell us that he was married. One day, I found a photo on his desk which had him and his wife in it. Kevin told me not to tell anybody about her. He said he was hiding his wife’s identity because of her profession. That’s all he said.”

Kate took a sip of water. It was a lot of information at once.

“My mother’s profession?”

“He never disclosed it.”

“How come you took so much time to find me if you and dad were best friends?”

“He left the company when you were one. He told me about you. I was the only one who knew about you and your mother. That’s why he made me promise to look after you if anything happens to him. It sounded odd to me at that point in time. His new job was in LA, so he left San Francisco and promised to keep in touch but he didn’t. I read in the newspaper about the car accident. I’ve been looking for you since then but LA is a big city. I came here for some work and then I saw your uncle.”

Kate was speechless. It was a dream come true. She finally had someone who could help her in finding her mother. She couldn’t believe it. 

“I can’t tell you what this means to me. All my life, I’ve been looking for my mother and now I finally have a way. Thank you so much. You put so much effort into finding me. You really are a best friend.”

“Welcome. I do whatever I can to keep my promises. Since this is your office time, I won’t be able to give you all the details right now. It will take some time. So, let’s meet today evening. I will call you. We can meet near the hotel I’m staying at.”

“Ok, sounds good.”

“Alright, I must leave then.”

“Thank you. You made my day. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Kate knew she had an important meeting in a while but she couldn’t stop thinking about her mother. She wanted the day to get over quickly so she could talk to Adam. All of her friends were very happy for her.

“I’m really happy for you, Kate. I hope you find your mom. You’ve been waiting for so long.” Steve said.

“Yeah. I hope I do.”

The meeting with the client was very successful and Kate got praised by Mr Andrews for her presentation. That was a first. She wasn’t thinking about it, though. All she could think about was Adam. How could he help her?

She called her aunt and told her she would be coming a bit late today due to some work. She left the office as soon as the clock hit 5. She was looking for him in front of the mall where he said he’d be. She spotted him. The place was heavily crowded.

“There’s a lot of noise here. Let’s go somewhere else.” Adam suggested.

“Sure.”

Adam started to walk and she followed him. After walking for a few minutes, they reached an isolated street. There was no one there except them.

“This place seems fine,” Kate said.

“Yeah. It does.”

“So, tell me. How can you help me?” Kate asked.

He started laughing.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It was easier than I thought.” He said.

He had a wicked smile on his face. He took out his hands from his pocket. His hands were full of scratches and tears. He pulled out a knife from his jacket’s pocket.

“What? Who are you?”

“Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you Kate. I fooled you so easily. Didn’t expect this from the daughter of one of the best special agents.”

He charged at her with his knife. She began to run but he caught her. She was in his grasp. He was about to stab her but he suddenly stopped. There was a sound. A sound of being hit. His grip loosened and he fell on the ground. She saw a man who was completely dressed in black. He had a rod in his hands. He knocked him out. He had covered his face with a black mask.

“Nice to meet you, Kate.” He said.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“Go to your home. I have the situation under control.” He said and started to run away.

“Wait!”

Kate started running after him. He ran towards an ally. He was very quick and outran her pretty easily. He was no longer in her sight.

“Stupid heels!”

She decided to walk back to the road where that man tried to attack her. She thought of calling the cops. When she reached that road, that man was gone. He had disappeared.

What if he came back to his senses? I must get the hell out of here.

She ran towards the market street. She felt safe in the crowded market. She took a couple of minutes to let that all in. She decided to call the police.

“Hello, Officer? I’m Kate Sandler. A man just tried to attack me. It was at a neighbourhood near the 52nd street.”

“Where are you right now, ma’am?”

“I’m standing in front of Mega Mall.”

“Stay where you are. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

After a few minutes, a police car arrived. Kate told them about that man’s appearance and how he said he could help her find her mother.

“We’ll investigate this matter. Thank God that man saved you. Robert will drop you to your home in his car.”

“Thanks.”

The police officer told Kate’s uncle and aunt about the incident. He said that it’d be better if she didn’t go anywhere alone for a few days.

“We’ll make sure of that.” Her uncle said.

“We’ll call you if we get any new details.”

“Ok, officer.” Her aunt said.

The officer walked away.

When they were having dinner that night, her uncle got emotional.

“I can’t believe that there are men out there who can play with someone’s emotion like that. Giving faith to people and then completely destroying it. I hope the police catch that bastard quickly.” Her uncle said.

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow. She has had a really long day. Let her rest.” Her aunt said.

She went to her balcony. She couldn’t stop crying. She looked at that star with disappointment. Suddenly, she remembered something. It was a day on which nothing went right. However, there was one thing. The man who attacked her said that she was the daughter of a special agent.

To be continued…