51. Chapter 51
Cate
Present
Seth stood on the porch, shoulders tense, eyes scanning past me like he expected someone else to step into view. Relief crossed his face when he saw me upright, still breathing, like he expected something else.
“Hey,” he said softly.
I stepped aside without thinking, letting him in. The air shifted as soon as the door closed behind him, the house losing whatever fragile stillness it had been clinging to.
“You scared the hell out of me,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “You didn’t answer your phone. Yesterday, or this morning.”
“I know,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
He didn’t argue. Just nodded once.
“I listened to the messages,” I added.
His jaw tightened. “All of them?”
“Yes.”
He exhaled slowly. “Okay.”
We stood there for a moment, neither of us moving farther into the house, like crossing that invisible line would make things heavier.
“He wants to meet,” I said. “The detective. Today.”
“I figured.” He hesitated. “Cate… did you tell Trevor?”
“No,” I said. “Not yet.”
Seth nodded again, slower this time. “Okay.”
He didn’t tell me I should have. He didn’t ask why I didn’t. He just accepted it the way he always had, like my instincts deserved to be trusted.
“That’s probably smart,” he said carefully. “At least until we know more.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed in my hand.
Trevor’s name lit the screen.
I didn’t mean to answer it so quickly. I just… did.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” he replied. His voice was warm, familiar. “I was just checking in. You okay?”
I glanced at Seth, who watched me with quiet attention, saying nothing.
“I’m at the townhouse,” I said. “Seth’s here.”
There was a brief pause on the line, barely a breath, but I felt it anyway.
“I’m on my way,” Trevor said immediately. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“You don’t have to…” I started.
“I want to,” he said. “Don’t be alone.”
The line went dead.
Seth’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “He’s coming.”
“Yes.”
He didn’t look pleased. He didn’t look surprised either.
“Okay,” he said again. “Then I’m staying.”
I nodded, grateful for that, even as my chest tightened.
Trevor arrived less than ten minutes later.
He didn’t knock. Just unlocked the door with the spare key he’d insisted on having months ago and stepped inside like this was always his space to enter.
The moment he saw Seth, his expression shifted. I’d expected irritation or suspicion, but what I saw was something close to relief.
“Thank God,” he said, crossing the room and pulling me into his arms. “I was worried about you.”
I let myself lean into him, his embrace solid and grounding, his hand cradling the back of my head like he could shield me from whatever came next.
Seth stepped back, giving us room.
“What’s going on?” Trevor asked quietly, looking down at me. “You scared me.”
I swallowed. “They… they found John.”
The words felt different saying them out loud. Heavier.
Trevor went still.
“What?” His grip loosened just enough for him to look at me properly. “What do you mean, they found him?”
“The police,” Seth said. “They confirmed it. This time it’s real.”
Trevor’s face drained of color.
He took a step back, running a hand through his hair, pacing once before stopping like he’d hit an invisible wall.
“Oh my God,” he said under his breath. “Cate…”
His eyes were glassy when he looked back at me, shaken and unsteady.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I had no idea. I swear, I didn’t know.”
Something in his voice cracked, and I felt my chest respond to it instinctively - the pull toward someone who looked as undone as I felt.
“When were they going to tell you?” he asked. “Did they already?”
“They left messages,” I said. “They want to meet.”
Trevor’s jaw tightened, his concern sharpening into something more focused.
“You’re not doing that alone,” he said immediately.
Seth shifted. “Cate can handle a conversation…”
“No,” Trevor interrupted, calm and measured. “She shouldn’t have to.”
He turned to me, lowering his voice. “This is serious. You don’t know what they’re going to ask. What they might imply. That’s not something you face by yourself.”
I hesitated. “They just want to talk.”
“And they will,” he said. “With me there.”
Seth’s gaze flicked between us. “Trevor…”
“I’m her husband,” Trevor said simply. “I’ll be present for any interviews. Any meetings. Anything involving her.”
The word present felt heavy and final.
Trevor exhaled, rubbing his palms together like he was grounding himself. “I’m sorry,” he added, softer now. “I don’t mean to take over. I just… this is a lot. For all of us.”
He looked at Seth then. “Thank you for being here.”
The dismissal was polite. Surgical almost.
Seth didn’t argue. He looked at me instead, searching my face.
“You want me to stay?” he asked.
I opened my mouth, then felt Trevor’s hand slide into mine, steady and warm.
“I think I’m okay,” I said, even as something inside me wavered. “Trevor’s here.”
Seth nodded slowly. “Okay. Call me if anything changes.”
“I will.”
He hesitated at the door, then added quietly, “I mean it.”
The door closed behind him.
The house felt smaller with just the two of us inside it.
Trevor turned back to me, concern etched into every line of his face.
“We’ll get through this,” he said. “Together.”
And in that moment, shaken, exhausted, and desperate for something solid, I believed him.
Because he looked just as scared as I felt.