Chapter 37
Hadley stared at the small object in Naomi’s hand, her pulse picking up as the thought settled in.
She turned it over once more, her brow furrowing as she studied it.
“Let me see.” Caleb’s voice came from behind them.
Hadley turned as he stepped into the kitchen, his expression already shifting from relaxed to focused as Naomi handed the object over. He examined it, his thumb brushing over the surface.
“I think you’re right,” Caleb said. “It’s a listening device.”
A chill slid down Hadley’s spine.
Caleb set the device on the counter and began pacing through the house, checking corners, shelves, the underside of furniture—places no one would think to look unless they knew what they were searching for.
Hadley stayed where she was, her arms wrapping loosely around herself as Naomi shifted Baby Grace in her arms. The nauseous feeling roiled stronger in her gut, and her head continued to swim.
This was the worst time she could get sick. Not now.
A few minutes later, Caleb returned and set three more small devices on the counter beside the first. Before anyone said anything, he put a finger over his lips. Then he put the devices in a bag—probably to preserve any evidence—and took them into the garage.
When he returned, Naomi asked, “Four?”
“Placed to cover all the main areas of the house,” Caleb said, his expression grim. “If someone wanted to know anything important we were talking about, they could have found out through those devices.”
“How high tech are they?” Naomi asked.
“I’m no expert in these things, but they don’t seem very sophisticated,” Caleb said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure someone could have bought these on the internet.”
Hadley’s stomach turned, the earlier unease deepening into something colder. “But how would anyone even get inside the house long enough to plant them?”
Naomi shook her head. “I don’t know. We have a few guests staying with us, but I can’t imagine they’d do that. The only one I can think of who might is—”
“Lyndee,” Hadley said, the name landing heavier than she expected.
Naomi frowned. “No, I don’t think—”
“She was here,” Hadley said, even as doubt crept in. “She had access. Someone wanted to hear what we were saying.”
Naomi’s expression tightened. “If Lyndee was involved, why would she run? You’d think she’d want to stay so she could do more—listen more, sabotage more.”
“If not Lyndee, who else would have left these?” Hadley’s thoughts shifted, pulling in a different direction.
Max. His time in prison. His secrets.
The words from the email flashed in her mind.
Could he be responsible?
In her heart, she knew he wasn’t. But maybe she was biased. Maybe she couldn’t see what was right in front of her.
Like with Ethan.
Certainly her cousins had done a background check on him before keeping him employed here. They wouldn’t want an ex-con working at a shelter . . . right? Especially not a violent one.
She looked between Caleb and Naomi, her chest tightening again. “Why didn’t either of you tell me Max is an ex-convict?”
The question hung in the air.
Naomi and Caleb exchanged a quick glance.
Naomi frowned before saying, “We didn’t think it was our story to tell.”
Hadley let out a sharp breath. “Well, apparently Max didn’t think it was important enough to tell me either.”
“I’m sure he was going to,” Naomi said. “That news can’t be easy to share, especially not with someone like you. He had a rough background. And your background is practically without blemish. I can only imagine the conflict that causes inside him.”
“And he told us his story,” Caleb said. “We believe him.”
She crossed her arms. “What is his story?”
“It would be better if he told you,” Naomi murmured. “But I can say this. Max is an honorable man. He’s protective of the women here—of all the women in his life.”
Hadley sighed. She understood where they were coming from. This wasn’t their business to share. But that didn’t make it any less frustrating.
“Not to change the subject, but if Max didn’t tell you, then how did you find out?” Caleb asked.
“I got an anonymous email.” Hadley’s muscles tensed as she remembered the message. “Someone wanted me to know.”
Caleb’s expression darkened. “I don’t like where all of this is going.”
Hadley’s mind spun between everything at once—and none of it fit together the way it should.
Max stepped out of the SUV as soon as Sheriff Sutherland pulled into the hospital drive and parked. The tension that had been riding him the entire way refused to ease even now.
They’d found Lyndee.
She was alive.
That should have been enough to make him feel better.
It wasn’t.
He watched as the ER doors opened, and a nurse rushed forward with a wheelchair. Lyndee clutched the blanket tighter around herself as Sheriff Sutherland helped her out. Her voice was low as she answered questions Max couldn’t quite hear.
Max stayed a step back, his gaze scanning everything out of habit.
Or maybe from the sense that things weren’t as simple as they should be.
Once Lyndee was safely inside, he pulled his phone from his pocket. He saw the message from Hadley, and his stomach dropped.
She’d found out about his prison record. That was exactly what he’d feared.
He needed to talk to Hadley, to explain himself.
He dialed her number. The phone rang. And rang.
There was no answer.
His jaw tightened as he ended the call.
Maybe she was still at the clinic. Busy. Wrapped up in work. She’d said she wasn’t feeling great, but it hadn’t sounded serious.
Still . . .
He tried her phone again.
It went straight to voicemail this time.
He exhaled and forced himself not to read too much into it.
Sheriff Sutherland glanced at him as they stepped inside the waiting room. “Everything good?”
“I guess.” Max slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Just trying to get hold of Hadley.”
Sheriff Sutherland shifted his attention back to Lyndee as they handed her off to the triage staff. “I need to stay with her. I’ll have a deputy drive you back to your truck.”
“Sounds good. I’ll head back to Refuge Cove.”
Sheriff Sutherland gave a short nod then looked at his phone. “I’ve got to take this.”
“Of course.” Max had his own problems to deal with.
As Sheriff Sutherland walked away, Max pulled out his phone again and stared at the screen another moment. Should he text Hadley?
No, he decided. This was a conversation they needed to have in person.
Instead, he called Caleb.
It rang twice before Caleb answered. “Max?”
“Hey, have you heard from Hadley?”
A brief pause stretched on the other end. Then Caleb said, “I have. She’s here at Refuge Cove.”
Max’s shoulders eased a fraction. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that. She’s okay?”
“She’s fine,” Caleb said, though something in his tone felt . . . off. “Listen, I’m in the middle of something. I need to call you back. But Hadley is fine. She’s here with us. Don’t worry about that.”
“Got it. We’ll talk more later.”
Max lowered the phone, relief settling in—but not completely.
Hadley was okay. She was safe.
That news should make him feel better. But he was too worried about what Hadley must be thinking right now.
He stepped outside to wait for his ride, his thoughts still racing.
“Max? Is that you?”
He looked up. A man in his sixties approached him, a friendly grin on his face.
“Darryl Walsh,” Max said as surprise washed through him. “What are you doing here?”
He knew Darryl from his aunt and uncle. They let him use their property for hunting.
“Visiting a buddy who just had heart surgery.” Darryl stopped in front of him. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Same. It’s been a while.”
“A couple of months, maybe,” Darryl said. “But funny I should run into you. I was just thinking about you the other day.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” He didn’t feel like making small talk, but he needed to wait for his ride anyway.
“Last time we talked, you were seeing a girl. What was her name . . . Kendra?”
“Yes, I was seeing Kendra. But we broke up a month or so ago.”
Darryl’s brows lifted. “Well . . . that’s probably for the best.”
Max studied his friend’s face, curious about his statement. “Why would you say that?”
Darryl glanced around before lowering his voice. “I ran into a guy a couple of weeks ago while I was out hunting in West Virginia. We got to talking about different areas where we’d lived and hunted, and I mentioned Blue Ridge Hollow.”
“I know she lived in West Virginia before she moved here . . .” He had no idea where Darryl was going with this.
“As soon as I said Blue Ridge Hollow, he made a face and asked if I knew a woman named Kendra Williams.”
Max kept listening, his pulse pounding faster now.
“I told him I’d heard the name,” Darryl went on. “Didn’t see the need to go into too many details. Anyway, he said if I ever crossed paths with her, I ought to stay as far away as possible.”
A slow unease slithered into Max’s chest. “Why?”
“Said she dated a friend of his. When things ended, she didn’t take it well.”
Max’s jaw tightened. He didn’t like where this was going. “How so?”
“He thought any hard feelings between them would blow over after their breakup,” Darryl said. “But they didn’t. Then he started seeing someone else, and things started happening to her. Strange stuff that didn’t make sense.”
“Like what?”
“At first, she just thought she was being watched. Then her apartment was trashed. Then she got sick. Something she ate was poisoned. He’s nearly certain it all traces back to Kendra. Didn’t have enough evidence to prove it in a court of law, and thankfully, after she moved, it all stopped.”
Max froze as the pieces began to fall into place. All the strange incidents that happened to Hadley lately: the bad reviews, the missing appointment book, the broken window.
Those were all things that Kendra could have done.
He had to talk to her.
Now.