[Finish the Tale contest] Centaur case

Yesterday I published the 3rd part of my story. Today morning I decided to continue it. Can you believe that I woke up at 5 AM with an idea how to continue that story?! I mean that story woke me up. So I just washed my face and ran to my laptop to write down all thoughts I had in my mind.

Here is a moment the previous part was finished at.

And as soon as I opened the folder, I received a message on my phone: “I never doubted you! Love you. Hungry tiger.”

I don’t know how many hours I spent in my husband’s office, sitting at the computer, going through one file after another. And I didn’t even get through half of them. My thoughts were tangled. I didn’t know what to think. My husband turned out to be a completely different person, and I even began to doubt if he was really my husband at all. But despite everything, I was proud of him.

It turned out that my husband worked for a secret agency that investigated the most horrifying criminal cases. I didn’t even know such an agency existed, or what the exact name of the department was. Apparently, the department is so secret that I didn’t find a single document with its name or any specific references to it. And don’t ask me how I figured out where and for whom my husband worked.

All these 10 years we’ve been married, he had been working for that agency. And during that time, he had investigated dozens, maybe even hundreds, of crimes. Each crime more terrifying than the last. But still, how many lives my husband must have saved. Looking at the photographs of some of the victims or witnesses, I recognized some of the faces. I had definitely seen some of them before. Maybe when we were traveling somewhere, or just out for a walk. It seems my husband worked even during vacations. Or maybe our vacations were part of his work.

Finally, I reached the last folder. It was titled “Centaur,” and the last file in it was dated the day before my husband disappeared. I was just about to start going through the folder when another message popped up on my phone.

You need to rest.

As soon as I read the message, the computer screen went black. I tried turning it back on or removing the memory card to insert it into my own laptop, but nothing worked. My husband had built his computer himself. Even before we met. I used to admire it back then, though it always seemed pretty basic to me — just good enough for office work. But now I’m sure even the Pentagon would envy it.

I looked at the clock. It was already 5 in the morning. I had been sitting at the computer for almost a whole day.

To be continued…

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