4

After knowing my identity, the first thing I did was to study the profile, MY profile. It felt strange like something is missing. The boys let me off since it's daytime. I'm in Kevin's kitchen while they're both at work. I kept scanning the profile like it's a different person. How is this even me?

I called the number listed as next of kin, but nothing. Google didn't help as well. Anything under Social Media gave me zero hits. Just who is this woman? Who am I?

*DING*

[074-111-295]

My anonymous 'friend' sent me a phone number. I'm already in this predicament. If this person knows who I am, I'm going to take my chances.

I dialed the number.

"Hello?" I asked nervously.

[Zamira.]

"S-sorry. I'm not even sure who I am right now." I replied. I waited for the man to speak, but he just sighed.

[I know this is all too difficult for you. I can't give you all the details over the phone. It's too dangerous. If the Zamira I know is still there. I know she'll find me. Trust no one.]

*TOOT*TOOT*TOOT*

He ended the call before I can even ask. He kept the call short. To avoid tracking, maybe? I looked at the profile one more.

What am I missing?

"THE KEY!" I exclaimed in excitement. I dashed back into my room and fumbled through my jacket. "HA!" I yelped excitedly and held the key up. I flipped the keys and looked at the logo in one of the keychains.

Where have I seen this logo? It's a simple geometrical house with a lotus mandala in the background.

"Louts Apartments?" I squinted, trying to remember. I searched through my phone, and I found the logo and the apartment's location. It's near the outskirts of town. I remember Chance giving me a short tour of the area a few weeks ago. That's around the time the messages started to come. Could it be? Could it be that whoever this guy is-- saw me alive when we went there? Is he a friend or a foe?

I wanted to go, but Kevin will be home soon. If he finds me missing, he might call a search party. I tucked the key under my clothes and made a mental note that I'll head there as soon as possible.

"We're here!" Chance said while wearing his best smile. I smiled back and cleared the table. He places a bag of Chinese take-out and some beers.

"Oh. It's good that I didn't cook then," I said while pointing at the food.

"Well, Kevin said you looked tired. After all, you took care of him while he's sick. So he thought take-out would be nice." he grinned sheepishly. I looked a Kevin, who's blushing.

Awww, he looks so cute.

"So, anything new about your case? Mari? or should I start calling you Zamira?" Chance asked while fidgeting with the plastic bag.

"Mari's fine. Zamira is still a bit new to me." I responded and helped him with the plastic bag. Our fingers touch, and it felt like electricity ran over my spine.

What the hell was that? I brushed it off quickly and started opening the food boxes.

"HMMM! SMELLS GOOD!" I giggled. The boys looked at me with arched brows. I just smiled at them and started picking food.

They were awfully silent, and it's nerve-racking. I looked at both of the guys in front of me, but they were averting their gaze.

"Oookay. What's wrong?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Kevin, you should tell her." Chance spoke. His tone is serious.

"Mari...Zamira. We can't find you in any database. The profile the station found was from 5 years ago. After that, there's nothing. We tried calling your schools; or people from Singapore that might know you, but I'm sorry, there's nothing. It's like you don't exist. I tried looking at international flights when you got here. But they said I need clearance for that. It would probably take weeks." Kevin said. His frustration and stress are apparent from his face and voice.

We sat in silence.

*DING*

I looked at my phone, and the two looked at it as well. I took a deep breath and opened the message.

[You're not safe. Someone will kill you once you know the truth.]

"Who's going to kill me?" I shoot a response even though I know he wouldn't respond.

"What did he say?" Kevin asked.

I showed them my phone. I made sure to erase my call history and the previous message my anonymous 'friend' sent.

"This might be bait." Chance said and looked at me.

I fell silent. I felt confused because the guy on the phone sounded like he knows me better than anyone. And my gut tells me that I can trust him. I kept my thoughts to myself and just continued eating.

"Hey, we'll figure this out," Kevin reassured me and smiled. I smiled back and looked at my phone once more.

|

It's been a few days, and I kept switching houses from Kevin to Chance. They both were accommodating, but I know I have to do something. I finally decided to go to the Lotus Apartment. I hope my anonymous friend is there.

The guys have no clue about this, so I have to do this quickly. As I got there, I fumbled through the keys I got from the bag.

117. I looked around, and I found the room immediately. I knocked, but of course, there was no answer. Should I open it with my key?

I sighed and opened the room with the key.

*CLICK*

It opened. I slowly opened the door, peering inside. My thoughts went blank when I was yanked inside by the hooded guy.

"What the--" I almost screamed when he put his hand over my mouth. I looked at him with wide eyes, but he didn't seem surprised to see me there.

"Shhh." He is gesturing to me to keep quiet. I nodded, and he let go of me. He looked out the window and closed the blinds.

"I knew you'd find me." he finally spoke and gave me a warm smile.

"Sorry, but I have no idea who you are. I can't even remember who I am." I replied and looked at him. He didn't seem shocked, but he is disappointed that I can't remember him.

"That's okay. I know," the guy replied and told me to sit down. I took a seat and looked at the files in front of me.

"Sorry, can I get your name?" I asked, quite embarrassed.

"Right. I'm Andrew Hayes. We work together." He responded and showed me his ID.

"Crime Division?" I asked. He nodded as he pointed to the files on the table.

"You were working on a case. That's why you're here." He looked at me as I scanned through the missing cases reports that date back seven years.

"So I was working on a bunch of missing person cases?" I asked him puzzled,-- it felt ironic that I'm working on this case when I just filed myself missing.

"Yes. You-you were supposed to act like a tourist and investigate. When we didn't hear from you, they sent me to find you. After all, it was you who labeled the guy as dangerous who will stop at nothing." Andrew said and leaned on the wall facing me.

"So, I'm here undercover?" I asked. He nodded and kept averting his gaze.

"If that's the case, shouldn't I have a partner or someone working with me on the case?" I asked him. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me with regretful eyes.

"I am or was your partner in this case. I was supposed to come with you, but we got into a fight, and I--" he paused and looked at me. My face screams confusion. "I left you. You went here and the next thing I know, we can't find you. I felt responsible. I- I'm sorry." he knelt in front of me, and I was shocked.

"I don't know what to say. I mean, I lost all my memory, so I can't possibly forgive you for something I don't even remember happening. But, here's the thing, if I'm Zamira and we work together. I'll probably forgive you and tell you to get over it!" I responded. His eyes widened in shock.

It took him a while, and he finally looked at me straight into the eye.

"Zamira, thank you. I know you can't remember anything yet but, I think talking to a different version of you helped me." Andrew said and squeezed my hand.

"What was I like? The old me?" I asked him. He arched his eyebrows and sighed. He finally stopped kneeling and sat down opposite me.

"Well, she, you are a one-of-a-kind and talented woman. You are brave, and you never back down on an argument, even with the bosses. You always have a keen eye for details. You always have a strong intuition, and you never fail to follow it." he told me while tracing the images strewn all over the table.

"Well, I guess my intuition got the best of me then," I replied and looked at him. He sadly nodded.

"By the way, what do you mean I'm in danger, and someone wants to kill me?" I asked.

"Remember I said we fought, and you went here all by yourself? We video called that night. We were still fighting, but you said you had a lead. You were following a man. And you were about to tell me more, but something happened--" he stopped.

"That night was the night I got attacked," I replied. Andrew nodded and looked away. "Don't feel guilty. If I did what I did, it's on me. Don't blame yourself." I reassured him.

"You always say that." he smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Anyway, when I didn't hear from you, I panicked and went here. The bosses were against it, but since you and I work together, they let me go. It's a good thing you always keep tabs on yourself. It was easy to find where you were staying. However, when I got here, I know something wasn't right." He ran his hands over his hair.

"I don't remember anything." I blurted out. He nodded.

"I started following you and kept track of who you're with." he started. "I know sending the photos looked bad, but I was hoping to jog your memories or something. Whoever wants you dead knows your alive."

"But the first photo you sent. It was a photo of me bleeding to death. How did you get that?" I asked.

"We were on a video call. I was able to get a glimpse of you getting hurt. I couldn't do anything." He heaved and closed his eyes.

"Did you get anything from the attacker?" I asked.

"What?" he looked at me, surprised.

"If we were in a video call, it might be possible that you got a glimpse of who my attacker was. You might be in danger as well." I said and looked at him. "The bag. Where'd you find it?"

"Whoever it was, didn't see me. And I didn't see anything, it was dark in the alleyway, and the guy immediately smashed the phone. I found your bag in the dumpster in the alleyway. I took out all your IDs--I was worried that it would blow your cover. And I checked for prints, but there was none that I can use to identify your attacker. " He answered while giving me back my ID.

Zamira Yamada

International Intel Organization

Crime Division

I looked at my ID for a while, trying to wrap my head around the idea that I may have stumbled into something that caused my memory loss.

"Hmmm. If I'm still alive, it means my attacker knows I don't remember anything concrete to point him out. The only reason I'm alive is that I don't have any recollection of the attack and the case." I leaned back in the chair and started flipping into the missing person cases.

"It's possible. But wouldn't that pose as a risk to this guy?" Andrew asked.

"He's cocky," I responded. "He thinks he's smart enough to pull it off. Even if I get my memories back, he would probably find a way to squirm his way through safety. He's a well-liked person. No one will suspect him."

"Your deduction skills are still sharp. I remember you told me that before." He complimented. I smiled and studied the cases one more time.

"Hmm," I mused as I scanned through each of the photos.

"What? Do you see something?" Andrew asked.

"Well, the missing cases; started seven years ago. The earlier years were senior citizens; maybe their relatives reported them missing. Then he targeted juveniles. In recent years, there were few to no cases filed. Given that this is a small town, it's easy to spot a missing person, unless-" I stopped.

"Unless what?"

"Homeless people. He's targeting homeless people. It leaves a little to no paper trail, and no one will look for them." I stood up and paced around the room as I let the thought sink in.

*DING*

[WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!]

Kevin sent a message.

"Well, that's my cue to leave. But, hey, Andrew. Is there a way I can get a hold of these cases? and my profile as well?"

"Give me your phone." I gave it to him and downloaded something. It's like an app.

"This looks like an app, but it has the case you need. It was your idea because you want to go paperless in cases. This is how I found you, actually. The password is your birthday." I shoot him an eyebrow.

"0817," he replied and patted my shoulder.

"Last question before I leave. I only found a page-long profile of me. It was dated five years ago. Is that your doing?" I asked him before I left the room.

"Tch. That was you. When you joined five years ago, that was your backup plan if someone looks for you." He responded and kissed my forehead. Why does it feel nice?

"I'll talk to you soon, Zamira." He said and waved goodbye.