Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
Sawyer
We pulled up to the Woodstone County Police Department in the dark. Luckily, there were no cuffs and no mugshots, but we still got walked in like a couple of teenagers caught drinking behind the bleachers.
They stuck us in a windowless room with nothing but a scratched metal table and three chairs. No one said much. The adrenaline had faded, replaced by a cold, creeping dread in my gut. I leaned back in my chair, rubbing a hand over my face.
I wasn’t worried about myself, not really. Worst case, I’d survive whatever charge they threw at me. I was retiring after this season anyway. Hell of a way to go out, but it was what it was.
Ellie, though?
She had everything on the line.
She’d worked so damn hard to keep the headlines positive, hence the whole fake dating thing in the first place. A misdemeanor charge wasn’t exactly the headline she’d been aiming for.
After what felt like forever, the door opened—and Henry Reynolds walked in, followed by his partner, Matt Rogers. I sat up straighter. Henry didn’t look at me right away. He scanned the room quickly while Matt had a clipboard tucked under one arm and a cup of coffee in the other.
“Evening,” Matt said with a practiced, cheerful tone. “Figured we’d handle intake. We’re stretched thin with the holiday. Just need to get your details down before the detective takes over.”
Henry finally looked at me. “Appreciate you two being cooperative.”
He pulled out a pen and sat across from us, flipping open the clipboard. Henry stood nearby, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
“Alright,” Matt said. “Full legal names?”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes, really.”
“Ellie Miles,” Ellie said, fidgeting with the drawstring of her hoodie.
“Sawyer Eugene James.”
Matt jotted it down with neat, efficient strokes. “DOBs, current address, phone numbers…”
We rattled off the info, and he scribbled like he was filling out a census.
“Why were you digging around someone’s private residence?” Matt asked.
I opened my mouth.
Henry cut in lightly, “We’re not filing full statements, just basic context for intake. You’ll go over the incident with the detective, but anything you’d like to share now might help smooth things out.”
“Uh…would you believe me if I said we were house-sitting? Just forgot to tell the owners?”
“No, I would not.”
“Okay, okay…it was a surprise party,” Ellie said. “For them. Totally planned.”
I cleared my throat. “We weren’t trying to dig into anything private. The door was open. We knocked. Waited. No answer. We thought the place might’ve been empty.”
“You often walk into houses that might be empty?” Henry asked.
“Only the ones with major unresolved trauma attached to them,” Ellie muttered, dry as ever.
Matt choked on a sip of coffee, coughing into his elbow. Even Henry’s lip twitched for a second before going flat again.
I sighed. “Look, we found a journal in my house. On Maplewood. It didn’t line up with the public record on the Hutchinson case.”
Ellie added quickly, “We think it belonged to Lauren. And we think the woman at that house tonight might have been her.”
Matt blinked. “You think the old case from years ago is connected to this…journal?”
“We were just trying to find answers,” Ellie whispered.
The door opened again, and Lilah walked in.
“Thank you, officers.” She nodded once.
Matt stood. “Need anything else from us?”
“Nope,” Lilah said, stepping aside. “I’ve got it from here.”
She walked over to the table and dropped a folder on the table before she sat down and crossed her arms. Cool. Controlled. Scary as hell.
“Care to tell me what the hell is going on here?” she asked, pushing her red hair over her shoulder.
“Not particularly,” Ellie muttered.
Lilah raised an eyebrow. “Cute. Try again.”
There was something behind her eyes, though, a flicker of concern under that badge and attitude.
Lilah turned to me. “Sawyer.”
“I’m surprised you’re here and not Colt.”
“Oh, he wanted to be, trust me, but I told him this was my case today. If you’d prefer the Colt James experience, though, I can always bring him in.”
“No thanks,” I said quickly.
She flipped the folder open and stared us down like we were a pair of misbehaving preschoolers.
“I usually play bad cop,” she said. “But how about instead, we start with the obvious. Why the hell did you break into someone’s house?”
I scratched the back of my neck. “Well, long story short, I bought that old house on Maplewood a couple of months ago.”
Lilah hummed.
“You see…we found this journal in the floorboards. It had some stuff in it—stuff that didn’t line up with the official story of the Hutchinson case.”
She tapped her finger on the table. “And you two geniuses decided to do what? Launch your own investigation?”
“We got curious. That’s all.”
“He’s lying,” Ellie said, her voice low.
I turned to her. “What?”
She glanced at me then back at Lilah. “He didn’t care about the journal. I’m the one who pushed it. I dragged him into it. He just…went along with it.”
Lilah blinked then leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. “Look. I don’t give a shit about who instigated it. I care that the two of you were inside a stranger’s home without permission. That’s not curiosity. That’s trespassing.”
“We weren’t trying to steal anything,” I said. “We were just looking for answers.”
“About what?”
“We think the journal belonged to Lauren,” Ellie said. “And we think the woman living there now is her.”
Lilah sat back, exhaling through her nose. She flipped open the folder and scanned whatever notes were in there. Her mouth pulled into a tight line.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and walked out without another word.
“You know, I think we should've run.” Ellie brushed a strand of hair from her face.
I narrowed my eyes, a grin tugging at the corners despite everything. “I think we probably should not have entered in the first place.”
“Yeah…” She shrugged. “Probably.”
“Probably? Probably?” I threw my hands up, laughing despite myself. “Just probably? Ellie, we literally just—”
“Okay, okay, definitely.” She held up her hands in mock surrender. “We definitely shouldn't have entered. Happy now?”
“Oh, now you're being reasonable.” I shook my head. “What did it? Getting in the backseat of a cop car?”
She gestured vaguely at me. “Actually, it was when you started doing that thing with your face.”
“What thing with my face?”
“You know, that panicked-but-trying-to-look-cool thing. Your left eye twitches when you do it.”
I touched my eye reflexively. “My eye does not twitch.”
“It's twitching right now.”
“That's not a twitch, that's…strategic blinking.”
The door creaked open, and Lilah stepped back into the room, a new file tucked under her arm and something unreadable on her face.
She closed the door behind her with a soft click and scanned both of us, as if weighing what version of herself to bring into the room—friend, officer, or something in between.
She rubbed the back of her neck and finally dropped the file on the table.
“You were right,” she said. “Lauren Hutchinson, now Lauren Boone, used to live at Sawyer’s address.”
Ellie’s head snapped up, and Lilah nodded once. Ellie tensed beside me.
“She’s not pressing charges,” Lilah said. “But there’s a condition.”
Ellie finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. “What kind of condition?”
“That you leave her alone.”
Ellie flinched and straightened her spine.
“She said she didn’t want to cause trouble,” Lilah continued. “She asked the department to let it go, but she made it clear she doesn’t want to be contacted again.”
Ellie nodded slowly. “I understand.”
I could see the truth written all over her face. The questions that wouldn’t get answers. The war still playing out behind her eyes. She wanted more. A name. A reason. A crack in the silence that hadn’t broken in years. Something.
Lilah finally sat down across from us, folding her hands on the table.
“I know you meant well,” she said, softer. “But this woman has been through hell. She’s not hiding, she’s healing. There’s a difference.”
Ellie looked down at her hands. “We weren’t trying to hurt her.”
“I know.” Lilah’s expression shifted. “But even good intentions can leave bruises.”
Sawyer cleared his throat. “So…what now?”
“You’re free to go,” Lilah said, standing. “No charges. No paperwork. Just…don’t make me have this conversation with you again.”
Ellie gave a small nod. Lilah made it halfway to the door before pausing. Her hand rested on the knob, fingers tense, as she glanced back over her shoulder.
“Whatever you found in that journal? Leave it there. Let it go. Trust me. Chasing answers doesn’t always set you free.” And then, she was gone.
The door shut, and just like that, the stillness swallowed the room whole. We sat in it for a while, not speaking.
Ellie leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. Her voice was almost too quiet to hear. “We found her.”
“Yeah.”
“But it didn’t help.”
I didn’t have an answer, because it was true. I stood and reached for her hand. She hesitated for half a second before lacing her fingers with mine and rising to her feet. We walked toward the door in silence.
“You okay?” I asked as we stepped out.
She turned to me. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Try to take the fall for me.”
I shrugged. “I wasn’t. I told them we’re both idiots. I just happen to be the idiot with less to lose.”
Her brows pulled together. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t need to keep up some squeaky-clean reputation. My career’s already coming to an end. You, on the other hand, already have enough bad media on your plate.”
“You’re not responsible for me.”
“No, but I wasn’t gonna let you crash and burn alone.” I gave her hand a quick squeeze.
She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Still stupid to break in.”
“Incredibly stupid.” I grinned and came to a stop, tipping her chin up. “But you…you looked happy. Really happy. Lighter than I’ve ever seen you. You carry so much all the time, El. You deserve that—even if it’s for something reckless.”
“Even if it was illegal?”
“Maybe next time, we keep it slightly less illegal.”
I chuckled, but there was a knot in my throat. No matter what, I knew one thing for sure.
I’d do it again.
I’d follow her into every bad idea, every unlocked door, every piece of chaos, because I was already in it. Not just the mystery. Not the adrenaline.
Her.
I was all the way in.