Chapter 16
The night air was still as the three of them made their way across to Brianna’s cottage, the sound of gravel crunching underfoot the only interruption to the quiet.
The cottage lights glowed faintly from within, casting soft shadows that made the edges of the world feel just a little too uncertain.
Brianna unlocked the door and stepped inside first, flicking on the overhead light.
Molly followed, key clutched tightly in her hand.
Hayden brought up the rear, automatically checking behind them before locking the door.
Then they split up.
Hayden took the kitchen and laundry, Molly the lounge, and Brianna headed straight for her bedroom, followed by Sherlock.
Every cupboard, drawer and floorboard was checked.
They crawled under beds, lifted rugs, tapped on walls.
Nothing. In the spare room, Jack’s office before Molly refitted it, Brianna flicked on the light and took in the desk she’d always thought too ornate for the modest cottage.
Molly had stripped and revarnished it herself, back when she had planned to rent the place out as a cosy Airbnb.
Brianna opened every drawer, even the shallow ones meant for stationery, running her fingers along the undersides and seams. She checked beneath the desk, along the floorboards, and inside the small cupboard built into the wall beside it.
Hayden sifted through the kitchen drawers, pulling out utensil trays and emptying the contents across the counter, checking beneath the lining paper.
He unscrewed a vent cover near the pantry and shone his phone light inside, but it was just dust and spider webs.
Molly moved through the lounge and into the hallway storage, checking the base of old trunks, behind wall mirrors, even inside a faded velvet chair Jack had insisted they keep because ‘it had character’.
She ran her hands along the seams, lifted cushions, knocked on the wooden arms.
After nearly three hours of searching, the house had been picked over like a carcass, every shadow chased out, every space turned over.
They had come up empty.
And they decided to give it one more try.
In the attic storage loft above the hallway, Hayden found a dust-covered chest filled with old linens.
A false bottom? No. Just musty blankets and the scent of cedar.
Down in the bathroom, Molly and Brianna searched the cupboards beneath the sink, tracing their fingers along the back for a hidden panel.
Still nothing.
They regrouped in the living room, each wearing a similar expression – frustration, fatigue, and something deeper.
Disappointment.
Brianna ran a hand through her hair, her eyes scanning the room like she still expected a hidden panel to flick open. ‘I even tapped along the skirting boards in the bedroom. If there’s a hollow spot in there, it’s hiding better than a snake in winter.’
Hayden dropped onto the arm of the nearest chair and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I pulled apart the laundry shelves, but there was nothing but cobwebs and the smell of damp wood.’
Molly paced a slow circle near the coffee table, the key still clenched in her hand.
‘I checked under the lounge cushions, behind the picture frames, inside the old fireplace, even opened the damn sewing box of mine that he kept in the spare room. I thought maybe he’d hidden something in the lining. ’
Brianna offered a tired laugh. ‘I even lifted up Sherlock’s dog bed. He wasn’t impressed.’
They all went quiet for a moment, the weight of exhaustion and futility closing in.
‘There has to be something we’re missing,’ Molly said at last, her voice tight. ‘Jack wasn’t vague without reason. If he’s giving us a key to somewhere in this cottage, then he meant for us to find it.’
Hayden nodded slowly. ‘Then we’re missing the how, not the where. Maybe it’s built in. Behind something permanent. Could be structural, under floorboards, behind a wall cavity, inside an old beam.’
‘We’ll need better light, so how about trying again tomorrow,’ Brianna said. ‘And fresh eyes will do us the world of good, too.’ She rubbed her forehead and sank onto the armrest of her couch. ‘I don’t understand. We went over every inch.’
‘It has to be here,’ Molly said, her voice quiet but firm.
‘Brianna’s right.’ Hayden exhaled, hands on hips. ‘We’re all knackered. Let’s not miss something because we’re half asleep.’
Nodding, Brianna checked her phone. It was just past midnight.
No wonder they were all exhausted. Her shoulders sagged.
‘All right. Let’s call it for tonight. We’ll pick it up again bright and early.
And I’ll shift my morning callouts,’ she added.
‘None are urgent. I want to be here when we look again.’
Molly straightened. ‘No, you go to work, Bri. I’ll come back first thing, but I’m not putting you out by making you be here too.’
‘Don’t be stubborn,’ Brianna said, giving her a look. ‘And by the way, you’re staying here tonight. It’s safer, given the circumstances.’
Molly opened her mouth to argue again, but Hayden cut in. ‘I’ll sleep on the couch. That way no one’s alone, and no one’s in danger.’
Both women looked at him.
‘Seriously,’ he added. ‘I won’t sleep much anyway. Might as well be here.’
Molly relented with a tight nod. ‘Fine. But I’m making breakfast.’
A small smile flickered on Brianna’s lips. ‘Deal.’
Brianna pushed herself off the couch and started pulling blankets from the hallway cupboard.
She tossed Hayden a pillow with a tired grin and spread out a spare doona.
As she tucked the edges around the cushions, she could feel his eyes on her.
And she liked how that felt. A lot. Meanwhile, Molly slipped away and into the guest room with a muttered goodnight, leaving them alone in the lounge’s quiet hush.
Hayden stood, stretching his arms overhead, then leant a shoulder against the doorframe. ‘You okay?’
Brianna looked up from fluffing the pillow. ‘Yeah. Just wish we’d found something. It’s like the answer is breathing down our necks, but we’re too tired to see it.’
He nodded with his gaze steady. ‘We will.’
For a moment, neither of them moved. The air felt charged, the kind of quiet that wasn’t empty, but waiting.
‘Thanks for staying,’ she said softly.
‘Sure, I wouldn’t be anywhere else right now.’
Brianna gave him a look that stemmed from the depths of her heart, caught between gratitude and something else neither of them had named. ‘Feels weird,’ she said, folding the corner of the doona. ‘Having someone here in the quiet. I’m used to just the fridge humming and Sherlock snoring.’
Hayden gave a faint smile. ‘I can snore if it makes you feel more at home.’
She laughed under her breath, glancing up at him. ‘You strike me more as the brooding silent type.’
‘Only when I’ve got something on my mind.’
A beat passed. Her eyes didn’t leave his. ‘Got something on your mind now?’
‘Maybe,’ he said, voice low.
Her smile softened. ‘Then maybe I’ll let you keep your secrets, for now.’
He tipped his head slightly. ‘You’re good at that.’
She couldn’t help the playful smirk. ‘Not as good as you think.’
Their eyes held for another second longer before she stepped back. ‘Goodnight, Hayden.’
‘Night, Bri.’
She turned and padded down the hall to her room, closing the door gently behind her.
In the quiet, she leant back against it for a second, exhaling slowly, her heart fluttering.
Then, needing sleep, she climbed into bed, the sheets cool against her skin, and stared at the ceiling.
Her mind should’ve been on Jack, on the letter, on the mystery still choking their little town.
But instead, all she could think about was Hayden lying a few metres away.
And how warm his arms might feel around her.
How safe he’d make her feel by being so close.
Brianna Steele, stop this now …
Huffing, she rolled onto her side and stared at the curtain where moonlight edged through the fabric, casting faint silver lines across the floor.
What she felt for Hayden wasn’t just attraction, though heaven knew that was there.
She was drawn to the way he listened. The way he never pushed, never needed her to be anything other than exactly who she was.
The way he made the silence feel shared, not empty.
But none of that could matter.
Not until she knew what he was hiding. Because her gut said he was. Maybe nothing bad. Maybe just … something.
And yet.
If he opened up, would it change things? Or ruin them before they’d even had a chance to begin?
* * *
Hayden’s phone buzzed beside the pillow. He squinted at the screen, groaning slightly as he read the time: 6.04 a.m. He thumbed open his messages and shot off a quick text to Gavin.
Running a few errands this morning. Hold the fort at Sweetwater Acres. Back later.
With that done, he sat up, stretching against the couch’s unforgiving frame.
His back cracked in protest, but the scent of frying bacon and fresh coffee coaxed him to his feet.
As he padded towards the kitchen, he caught sight of Brianna.
She stood barefoot at the counter, sipping from a mug that matched the colour of her eyes, her hair a messy halo of waves.
She hadn’t noticed him yet, her brow furrowed in thought over something Molly was saying, but her expression softened when she laughed.