Chapter 8 #2
Their tone wasn’t angry, it was mischievous, gossipy. That made it worse. Like they were already writing the ending to a story they hadn’t even read properly. Brianna was sure Molly wouldn’t share too much about her life with women like them.
Lena returned with the bag of food, setting it on the counter with a warm smile. ‘Here you go, love. I threw in two extras. For strength.’ She brought a hand up to stop Brianna’s payment. ‘On me, least I can do with what’s happened.’
‘Thanks, Lena, that’s really kind of you.’ Brianna tried to smile in appreciation, although her lips trembled with all the things she wished she could say to the town natterers, making gossip out of Molly’s misfortune.
As she turned to leave, she met the gaze of the Jenkins twins.
Mavis smiled at her with the saccharine smugness of someone who believed their worldview had just been proven right.
Brianna held her stare for a beat longer than necessary, then gave a polite nod and stepped back into the brightness of day.
The moment the bakery door clicked shut behind her, she exhaled.
Maybe they were just harmless old busybodies.
Maybe they were wrong. But what if they weren’t?
What if there was more to the story of Molly’s café than anyone knew?
Or what if someone had taken advantage of her kind nature, and now the cost was being paid in broken glass and whispered blame?
Carrying the warm parcels of food, she crossed the road slowly, her thoughts heavy. She didn’t believe Molly had knowingly invited danger into her life. But she also knew that Molly didn’t always see people the way others did. She led with her heart wide open.
And hearts that open often got hurt. By the time Brianna reached Chapter One, she felt a tension behind her ribs that wasn’t there before. She wasn’t sure yet what was happening in Sweetwater. But something was brewing. Something old and brittle, that was waiting to snap.
And the worst part?
She had a sinking feeling this was just the beginning.
The door to Chapter One creaked as she pushed it open with her elbow, the brown paper bags cradled in her arms. Sherlock scampered over to her with his ears perked, cautious in a way that unsettled her more than the silence.
Gavin was perched on a stool, sorting nails into a plastic tub.
Hayden stood near the counter, sleeves rolled, hands on his hips.
His eyes lifted to hers as soon as she entered.
Molly had returned and, completely oblivious to Brianna’s arrival, she sat at one of the small tables, the cup of tea in front of her untouched as she stared out of a shattered window.
‘Hey, Molly, I brought us some lunch,’ Brianna said gently, setting the bag down then placing a hand on Molly’s slumped shoulder. ‘Figured we all needed a minute to breathe and regroup.’
‘Awesome, thanks, Brianna.’ Approaching them, Gavin cracked a grin. ‘I always breathe better with flaky pastry in my mouth.’
Hayden didn’t say anything as he pulled up a seat. He just offered a small nod of thanks.
As they each settled with food in hand, the silence between them swelled. Molly left her food untouched, instead picking at the edge of a serviette until it unravelled in her lap.
‘I didn’t tell the police everything,’ she said suddenly, her voice thin.
The room shifted. Even Gavin, mid-bite, stilled.
Hayden set down his sausage roll. ‘What do you mean, Moll?’
‘I wanted to,’ she said quickly, as if expecting an accusation. ‘I was sitting there, ready to just, you know, let it all out. But then I thought, what if it makes things worse? What if they retaliate?’
‘Retaliate?’ Brianna echoed, her chest tightening. ‘What do you mean?’
Molly looked between them all, her usually radiant eyes bloodshot but determined. ‘I’ve been getting notes. Threats. For months now. Always the same. I have to put cash into a certain account or suffer the consequences. And now this.’ She gestured around the shop.
‘Jesus,’ Gavin muttered, sitting up straighter. ‘Why didn’t you tell anyone?’
‘Because I don’t know who it is,’ Molly whispered. ‘And I’ve been so scared. What if it’s someone here? Someone I’ve served tea to? What if I open my mouth and they do worse next time?’
Hayden took a breath, then exhaled, long and slow, as though considering what to say, what to do. ‘Molly, you can’t handle this alone. You shouldn’t have to.’
Brianna reached out, her hand closing over Molly’s. ‘And you didn’t recognise the name on the account?’
‘No name. Just the initials. J. J. But that could be anyone. And there’s no address. Just a bank number, probably opened under a fake name.’ She pulled out her phone and showed them a screen with a transfer history.
Regular payments, always to the same account.
Molly placed her phone back to the table and looked down into her tea, her fingers tightening around the chipped mug as if it was the only thing anchoring her to the room.
The silence was thick, stretching between the four of them.
Sherlock shifted at Brianna’s feet, sensing the tension, ears pricked.
Finally, Molly said, her voice barely above a whisper, ‘It’s Jack. It’s all because of my brother.’
Gavin frowned. ‘How can it be Jack, he’s not …’ He stopped short. ‘It’s been almost eight months now.’
‘He’s still stirring trouble from the grave, Gavin.
’ Molly shook her head slowly, still staring at the swirling tea.
Her eyes brimmed but didn’t spill. ‘I thought he was getting his life back together. I thought he was on the straight and narrow, and then the accident, and then, well, I lost him, way too young. And to be honest, when he passed away, I was a bit, dare I say it, relieved, because it meant I didn’t have to bail him out of trouble anymore.
’ She paused, shaking her head. ‘I’ve been bailing him out of trouble my whole life. ’
‘Oh, Molly, forgive me for asking, but …’ Hayden leant forwards, and his voice was steady but gentle. ‘What makes you think his wrongdoings have anything to do with this?’
Molly swallowed hard. ‘Turns out he’d racked up a serious gambling debt.
Fifty-five thousand dollars. God knows how long he’d been hiding it, or who he was involved with.
After he died, I thought the worst was over.
Then, five months ago, I got the first note in the mail.
No signature. Just a message that I owed what he owed, and if I didn’t pay, I’d regret it. ’
Gavin’s eyes darkened. ‘And you’ve been paying it?’
‘Yes, eight hundred dollars each time, like I showed you. Quietly. Transferring to that account every month. It’s all I can afford.
And at that rate I’ll be paying it for almost six years.
’ Molly’s voice cracked. ‘I thought maybe if I stayed quiet, it would stop there. But it hasn’t.
’ She shuddered, paused, stared into her lap.
‘I missed my payment last month because I simply didn’t have the money.
I had every intention of catching up on payments when I could, though.
And I couldn’t bring myself to tell the police today, even though I wanted to, because what if it makes things worse? ’
‘You don’t even know who it is,’ Brianna said softly.
‘That’s what terrifies me the most.’ Molly finally looked up, eyes pleading.
‘It’s someone who knows things. About Jack.
About me. Maybe even about this place. They haven’t shown their face, but they know when I’m alone.
They’ve called the shop phone before, and my house phone.
The cowards never say anything. Just silence, maybe some heavy breathing, then a click. ’
Hayden swore under his breath. ‘We’ll figure this out,’ he said firmly. ‘We’re not letting you deal with this on your own anymore.’
Sherlock gave a low growl then, his eyes trained on the corner window. Hayden immediately moved to check, but there was nothing outside but drifting leaves and a pair of kids cycling past on the footpath.
‘He’s been on edge all day,’ Brianna said quietly, stroking Sherlock’s head. ‘He knows something’s not right.’
Hayden turned back to them, his expression tight, serious, out of character. ‘Molly, you shouldn’t be staying here alone.’
‘You’re not staying here at all,’ Gavin added firmly. ‘We’ll figure something out. You’ve got too many people who care about you to let you sleep in a danger zone.’
‘You can come and stay with me for now, Molly.’ Brianna reached out and gave her friend’s hand a tender squeeze. ‘Sherlock will certainly look after us both.’
Molly’s shoulders trembled slightly, but she gave a grateful nod.
They sat in silence for a long moment, the occasional hum of the fridge and the tick of the old clock behind the counter filling the ravaged space.
Finally, Hayden leant forwards, his gaze locked on Molly’s. ‘Out of respect for you, we’ll keep this between us. For now. But you need to promise you’ll tell the police, Moll, sooner rather than later.’
Molly hesitated, then nodded. ‘If anything else happens, anything at all, I will, I promise.’
Gavin exhaled. ‘Well, if we’re not playing detectives full time, I call dibs on that turnover.’
Laughter, fragile and short-lived, broke through the tension.
They could always count on Gavin to bring some sense of normalcy, to add some light to the dark, even in a situation as grave as this, and Brianna was so grateful for him, and for Hayden.
But she couldn’t shake the shadow curling beneath her ribs. This wasn’t over. Not even close.
A few hours later, the two women headed to Brianna’s cottage with a packed overnight bag and Sherlock leading the way.
Halfway there, Brianna’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she plucked it out.
The fact that it was Hayden made her belly and heart somersault into each other.
They’d only said their goodbyes for the night half an hour earlier.
Hey, Bri, just wanted to check in.