Second Time's the Charm

Part 6

Dila sat in her car for a long time, forcing herself to calm down as adrenaline still coursed through her. After what felt like an eternity her heart finally stopped racing and the panic began to subside yet she couldn't stop thinking about how stupid she'd been. What if Ferman had caught her with Kuzgun? What would she have done then? He would have punished her family and turned her life into more of a living hell. And she'd risked all that for what? For Kuzgun? A man who regretted telling her he loved her when she'd been at the lowest point in her life? She swiped the tears from her face, shaking her head 'no'. Years ago she'd genuinely believed she could get through to him and erase the pain of all that he'd gone through, but she'd been wrong. Completely wrong. And now she couldn't afford to make the same mistakes again. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths to calm her mind. Shortly after, despite being exhausted and spent from crying, she finally felt ready to speak. Grabbing her phone, she contacted Serdar. "I'm sorry about not returning your call sooner."

"It's okay. I wanted to give you some good news."

Her heart started pounding in her chest again. "You found them?"

"Yes. We think so."

The tears started again, except this time it was from relief rather than fear. "Are you sure? Please tell me you're sure."

"We are. We just need a few days to get her back."

"No!" she said, shaking her head 'no'. "Why so long? What if he moves them again? You have to get them now!"

"We can't. We don't have the resources yet. We need to make sure we have enough men to make this successful. The last thing we want to do is take half-measures and tip off Ferman we've been looking into him."

The thought of that alone made her want to vomit. If Ferman found out what she was doing, he would kill her family. "You're right. This is our one and only chance."

"Once I have enough men, I'll let you know." He paused for a moment, his voice reassuring. "Don't worry, Dila. We will save your family."

She closed her eyes, silently praying for his words to come true.

"Those documents you've been collecting, do you have them in a safe place?" Serdar asked.

"Of course."

"Good. Here's what I need from you..."

Dila listened carefully, and soon they began to formulate the next phase of their plan.

***

Later that week she was on her way to Serdar's shop when she noticed a car following her. It was a grey sedan, inconspicuous amongst all the traffic on the road, and something she would've probably missed altogether if she wasn't so paranoid and hyper attentive these days. She took several last-minute turns to confirm if the car really was chasing her and, indeed, every time the driver found a way to trail behind. Recognizing that it wasn't safe to go to Serdar's store with Ferman's man stalking her, she changed her route and headed downtown instead.

Soon she parked her car along the street, and noted the grey car parking across the street from her. The paperwork she'd collected on Ferman was saved on a USB drive and she checked to make sure it was still securely linked in her keychain. She slid out of the car and headed inside the large department store and towards the escalator, determined to put some distance between her and her stalker. A cat and mouse game followed until Dila finally managed to lose him several minutes later. From her hidden spot she could see his reflection in the mirror as he looked haphazardly around for her and then reached for his phone, probably calling Ferman.

"Kuzgun, I'm so sorry. I lost her."

She froze upon hearing the stranger report her whereabouts to Kuzgun. It wasn't Ferman's man shadowing her, it was Kuzgun's. At first relief washed over her as that meant Ferman still had no clue what she was up to, but then, almost immediately, sheer rage swept through her so intense she practically couldn't breathe. Why was he tracking her movements? Before the question could even fully materialize, she already knew the answer. He was trying to get information on Ferman, through her, which meant he probably had men on Ferman too. What if Ferman knew he was being followed and assumed it was her that was responsible? What if he retaliated against her? What if Kuzgun had put her family in jeopardy once again? Chills went down her spine, realizing the full impact of what that meant.