Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The police station was unusually quiet for a winter morning.
Kevin sat at his desk, the faint hum of the heater in the background, tapping a pen against the edge of the table as his eyes flicked back to his screen.
The station felt emptier than usual with Sam at Garvin’s funeral, Wyatt out on a call about Nettie Deardorff’s goat, and Reese handling some paperwork in the next room.
It was the perfect moment for Kevin to look into something that had been bothering him all morning.
He slid the two notes closer, carefully comparing them.
The first note was the one left on Bridget and Jo’s door, taunting, ominous in its simplicity.
The second was the note that had been left on Kevin’s car, warning him about the thumb drive—two seemingly unrelated messages, but now, he wasn’t so sure.
His gut had been nagging at him ever since Bridget mentioned the note they’d found on the door of the cottage.
What were the odds of him getting a note on his car and one showing up on Jo’s door?
Something didn’t feel right. If these two threats were connected, the implications were terrifying.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the person behind these notes knew more than they were letting on.
Kevin bent closer, eyes narrowing as he studied the handwriting on both notes under the glow of the desk lamp. The letters—sharp, precise—looked eerily similar. He leaned back, his mind racing. No… it couldn’t be.
He grabbed his phone and snapped a photo of each note, pulling up a document on his computer that analyzed handwriting. His heart started to pound as the software compared the two. The results popped up on the screen almost immediately—ninety-nine percent match.
Kevin froze, his pulse quickening. Had the same person written both notes?
His fingers hovered over the keyboard as a chill crept down his spine. What did this mean? Could the person threatening him about the thumb drive be involved with Bridget’s past somehow? Or did they have some connection to Jo’s cottage and the skeleton in the well?
He pushed back from the desk, his mind spinning. Bridget needed to know about this. She’d been worried the note was meant for her, and now, Kevin thought she might be right. The fact that the same person had written both notes changed everything.
Kevin stood abruptly, grabbing his jacket and calling out toward Reese, who was busy in the other room. “I’m going to pop out for a bit.”
Reese popped her head around the corner, raising an eyebrow. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Kevin said, though his voice was tight. “Just... something I need to check on.”
Without waiting for her to respond, Kevin bolted for the door. The cold air slapped him in the face as he stepped outside, the brisk winter wind biting at his skin. He glanced at his watch—Bridget should still be at the bakery. If he hurried, he could catch her before the lunchtime rush.
Kevin parked his car a block away from the bakery, the warm smell of freshly baked bread and pastries wafting through the air as he approached. The small bell above the door jingled as he stepped inside, and Kevin’s eyes immediately scanned the counter for Bridget.
She was there, tying up a box of muffins for a customer. She looked... tired. The weight of the past few days had taken its toll on her. She glanced up as Kevin stepped in, and her face lit up slightly when she saw him.
“You’re just the person I wanted to see,” she said with a small smile, wiping her hands on her apron.
He hadn’t expected her to say that, and it made his heart jump in a way that was unfamiliar—but not unpleasant. He smiled back, hoping his voice sounded steady when he replied. “Glad to hear that.”
“Give me a second,” Bridget added, gesturing for him to wait.
Kevin nodded, his heart still racing, and he shifted nervously by the door. His mind whirled with the urgency of the news he had to tell her, but it also warmed him that Bridget seemed genuinely happy to see him.
A few minutes later, Bridget untied her apron and waved over to her coworker before slipping out from behind the counter and walking toward him. “I’m on break. Come outside with me?”
They stepped out into the cold, the quiet street offering them privacy. Bridget hugged her arms around herself, blowing into her hands to warm them as they walked around the corner to where Kevin’s car was parked.
Kevin glanced at her, his mind still on the notes but curiosity piquing as he remembered her greeting. “So, what did you want to see me about?”
Bridget sighed, the puff of her breath visible in the chilly air.
“It’s Jo. I’m worried she’s going to do something drastic.
She’s convinced the note was meant for her, and she’s planning to set a trap or something to try to catch whoever left it.
” She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking.
.. I can’t let her go on thinking it’s all about her.
I need to come clean. Tell her about my past. But I wasn’t sure how or if I should.
And…” Bridget hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Kevin before continuing.
“I also thought I should tell her that you know about it too. I didn’t want it to get awkward. ”
Kevin blinked, feeling a warmth spread through him despite the cold wind cutting through their coats.
She’d thought of him, considered his feelings about Jo knowing he was involved.
That small detail meant more to him than he expected.
“I appreciate that,” Kevin said, his voice softer now. “It’s fine by me. In fact…”
He hesitated, knowing he was about to drop a bombshell on her. “Actually, I came here to talk to you about telling Jo something too.”
Bridget frowned, curiosity flickering in her eyes. “What is it?”
Kevin took a deep breath. “I checked the handwriting on both notes—the one left on your door and the one I found on my car.” He paused, watching as Bridget’s expression shifted to something between confusion and apprehension.
“The handwriting has a ninety-nine percent match. The same person wrote both notes.”
Bridget’s eyes widened, her face paling. “What? But how? How could they be connected?”
“I don’t know,” Kevin admitted, running a hand through his hair. “But they are. And this changes everything. Whoever left those notes knows more than we thought.”
“What does this mean?”
“It means we have to come clean,” Kevin said firmly. “You need to tell Jo everything—about your past, the thumb drive, all of it. She’s walking into something dangerous, and if she doesn’t know the full picture, she could get hurt.”
Kevin was right. Jo deserved the truth. And if these notes were connected, they were all in more danger than they realized.
Bridget bit her lip, glancing up at Kevin. “But… how do we explain the thumb drive? I don’t want Jo to know about how you got it from the evidence. That’s the last thing you need, getting caught up in this mess.”
Kevin frowned, nodding. He hadn’t quite figured that part out either. “We can’t tell her everything. But… there’s another way. The drive was in my bag when I got out of the hospital. That’s true. And when I looked at it, I found the coordinates.”
Bridget raised an eyebrow. “And then what? Jo’s going to wonder why we were out there that night.”
“We tell her we found the coordinates and followed them. She doesn’t need to know everything. Besides,” Kevin added with a small smile, “Jo doesn’t exactly play by the rules all the time either. She’ll understand.”
Bridget considered that, her mind whirring. He was right—Jo often bent the rules when she needed to, and she trusted them both. If they gave her enough of the truth, she’d likely let the rest slide.
“You’re right,” Bridget said softly. “It’ll be fine. We’ll explain it in a way she’ll accept.”
Kevin nodded, relieved to see her coming around. “I’ll come over tonight. We’ll tell her together. You don’t have to do this alone.”
Bridget looked up at him, gratitude and relief softening her expression. “Thank you. I’m really glad you’re in this with me.”
“Of course. We’re in this together.”
Bridget smiled, and for a moment, the cold around them didn’t seem so biting. They had a plan now—a way forward. And tonight, they’d finally come clean.