Chapter 16 #3
“It wasn’t about you. I couldn’t give anything to anyone, not the way you deserved. I was still halfway living in my past, and the other half of me was pretending none of it mattered. And it had nothing to do with our age difference.”
Betsy nodded. “That’s why I didn’t hate you when it ended. I was angry, sure. Hurt. But not surprised. However, Fedora, she loved you even more than I did.”
“I’ve always kind of hated myself for that, and I’m grateful she and I have been able to come full circle.” Hayes looked down at his hands. “You and Fedora… you made something solid. I was never gonna be part of that, and maybe I shouldn’t have been in the picture at all.”
“Don’t say that. You gave her something,” Betsy said.
“Even if it was only a few afternoons fishing, or fixing that old bike. She remembers that. She wanted you at the wedding because you matter to her, unlike anyone else ever has, because you love her, and don’t tell me you don’t.
” Betsy inched closer, patting his chest. “You might not have loved me, and I accept that. I moved on. I found my soulmate, and I’m happy.
But you fell in love with my baby girl, and you gave her unconditional love.
Not many people can do that. You’re a special man, Hayes, and I’ll always be grateful for the time we spent together. ”
His throat tightened. “We’re gonna find her.”
Betsy’s voice trembled. “I’m so scared. I can’t help thinking this isn’t random.”
Hayes met her gaze. “We don’t believe it is either, and that’s why Chloe is hyper-focused. But we’re going to do everything we can to bring Fedora home safely.”
She didn’t ask what he meant. She just nodded, eyes shining, and whispered, “I know you didn’t love me, Hayes. Not really. But I saw the way you looked at people…how you never let them all the way in.”
“I didn’t know how. I didn’t even try.”
“I see it now, though,” Betsy added, softer. “The way you look at Chloe. It’s different. You let her in. You love her.”
“I do.” He didn’t even bother denying it. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He’d tried telling Chloe, but she wouldn’t hear it. “I love Chloe very much.” It felt damn good to say it out loud to someone.
“Does she love you?”
That was an interesting question, one Hayes wasn’t sure how to answer, but the one thing he’d always had with Betsy was honesty. Why change that now? “I believe so, but she has her own wounds, and we’re not in a place where we can say those words. It’s complicated.”
“Uncomplicate them, Hayes.” Betsy sighed. “She’s good for you, and I want to see you happy. Truly happy.”
“I will, but let’s find Fedora first.”
Chloe pressed her hands against the sink and stared into the mirror…her eyes staring back.
His eyes.
Fucking hauntingly familiar.
There were subtle differences. Hers were a little darker and softer around the edges. But the shape, the bone structure, the way her brows arched, and the way her anger hollowed out the space between were identical.
She could see herself in him, and it made her want to vomit.
A wave of nausea twisted in her gut as an image rose from the depths of her memory.
Heather’s funeral. Rain falling in steady sheets, soaking through black coats and dissolving umbrellas.
Chloe had stood beside the closed casket, feeling like her bones might crack under the weight of grief.
But she remembered turning—just once—toward the tree line beyond the cemetery fence.
A man had stood there. Still as a gravestone.
He was too far away to make out clearly. Just a shadow in a worn baseball cap, shoulders stooped under the weather, and something else…something heavy.
She hadn’t thought twice about him as he’d walked along the fence. Others had strolled past using that same path. People who worked at the cemetery and guests hurrying to get to their cars.
But now, that shadow had eyes. Her eyes. And a name.
Dewey Hale.
A million questions raced through her mind. Does he know he killed his daughter? Does he have any idea that I’m his kid? Is this all for me?
She stiffened her spine, adjusted her ponytail, and turned. She’d have a chance to ask her questions. But first, she had to deal with Stacey.
Chloe eased into the hallway. She leaned against the wall just outside the living room, arms folded across her chest, the wood cool at her back.
The low hum of Hayes’s voice filtered through the open door—steady, calm, but quieter than usual.
She couldn’t make out every word, but Betsy’s voice drifted in clearly, taut with emotion and fatigue.
They discussed the past…their past…and Chloe knew they needed a few more moments. Until it shifted to her, and her breath caught. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. Not really. But her feet stayed planted. Her heart beat out a rhythm she didn’t know how to follow.
She didn’t want to hear more.
And yet…
She did.
“I love Chloe very much,” Hayes said. His voice hadn’t trembled. It rang out soft, and true, and hit her heart like a torpedo.
Chloe had heard enough. Or maybe she’d heard more than her heart could bear.
Those five words meant the world to her, but she wasn’t ready.
They might have a name to put to her sister’s killer…
a man hiding in plain sight…a man who’d been helping them all along…
but she couldn’t face her future until she shut the door on her past.
She pushed off the wall, forcing her legs to move despite the heaviness in her chest. The floor creaked under her footsteps, a quiet warning before she rounded the corner.
Both Hayes and Betsy turned at the sound. Betsy wiped at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve, her expression tightening into something more composed, more distant.
“Sorry,” Chloe said, her tone even, betraying none of what she’d felt standing in the hall. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Hayes straightened, a hint of tension pulling at his brow. “You’re not. We were just?—”
“Catching up,” Betsy offered with a soft, brittle smile.
Chloe nodded once, eyes flicking between them. “I’m heading to the station. Don’t wait up for me.”
“I can text Dawson to see if there’s room over at the B&B. That would be safer for Betsy.” Hayes grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. “We can drop her off, and I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to,” Chloe said quickly, her gaze holding his just a second too long.
“I want to.” He stepped closer. “Considering everything, you shouldn’t be going anywhere alone.”
“I’m a federal agent. I can’t handle myself.” Chloe glared.
“Not the point. Now let’s go.” He waved his hand toward the door.
Betsy looked between them, her mouth pressed into a firm line. “I feel like I should stay here. This is where Fedora would go. It’s the address she has for Hayes.”
“I can’t get into the details of everything we’re working on, but you shouldn’t be alone either. Dawson’s wife runs the B&B. You’ll be safe there.” Hayes rested a hand gently on Betsy’s shoulder. “I need you to trust me, the team, and Chloe. Can you do that?”
Betsy nodded.
“We'd better get going.” Chloe waved her hand toward the door.
Betsy snagged her purse and headed out in front of them.
Hayes paused, holding her gaze and taking her by the forearms. “Are you okay? I can’t imagine what your father told you, and having Dewey Hale be the man your mom… Well, what it means is a lot to process.”
“All I’m thinking about right now are the questions we need Stacey to answer, picking up Dewey in a way that will make an arrest stick, and the rest…” She let out a sigh. “I’ll figure it out after I’ve had a chance… I don’t know. But I can’t think about it.”
Gently, he brushed his lips over her mouth. “I’m right here. You can lean on me. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be there for you, Chloe. I promise. I know you don’t want to hear it right now, but it doesn’t make it any less true.” He ran his thumbs across her cheek.
“I know, but the world just flipped again, and I need a beat.”
“I get that, but I’m not letting you push me away. I’m fighting for us because I believe we’re worth it.” He turned her and gave her a little shove out the door, not letting her respond.
It was probably for the best.
Too many emotions lingered just under the surface. Her mother had had an affair. It had resulted in a pregnancy. Her father wasn’t her dad after all…and a murderer might be.
That killer was living in plain sight.
And he just might have kidnapped someone who mattered to the man…she loved.
It was all too much.
She knew whatever had existed between Hayes and Betsy had ended a long time ago.
Still, it didn’t stop the ache curling just beneath her ribs.
Not because she doubted Hayes or was jealous of Betsy.
But because she knew how hard it was to outrun old ghosts—especially when hers had just caught up.