Chapter 14 #2
Tilly grinned, sipping her coffee. ‘Honestly? Sit in the car with the doors locked and scroll in silence. Or read a chapter of a book I’ve been trying to finish since the twins were born.
’ She paused and wriggled her eyebrows. ‘And if I get wild, I bake.’ Her laughter rippled like a sweet melody across the table. ‘But mostly, I just breathe.’
Brianna laughed softly. ‘That sounds amazing.’
‘Oh, it is,’ Tilly said. ‘Peace is underrated.’
Then, out of nowhere, Tilly leant in and said, ‘You know, I’ve been wanting to tell you that my uncle went to school with Jack. And Trev. And Joe. All that lot.’
Brianna’s fork paused halfway to her mouth. ‘Really?’ She wasn’t sure just how much of Molly’s story Tilly knew.
‘Yeah. He said they were always into something. Joe was quiet, Trev a bit of a bully, and Jack, well, he was always the ringleader. Charismatic as hell. Could talk his way out of murder, apparently.’
Brianna’s thoughts spun as she slowly chewed.
Tilly took a sip of her coffee, then leant in slightly, her voice dropping to a whisper. ‘I know Molly’s been in a bit of trouble lately. She hasn’t said anything directly, but I know her. She’s strong, proud, but she doesn’t fool me. There’s something weighing her down.’
Brianna blinked, surprised by the shift.
‘She’s the kind of woman who keeps things hush-hush. Keeps other people’s secrets better than her own. But if she ever needs anything, she doesn’t have to ask. I want her to know that.’
Brianna reached across the table and gently touched Tilly’s hand. ‘She’ll appreciate that, I’m sure. But why don’t you tell her that yourself?’
‘Because I know I’m not meant to know anything.
’ Tilly hesitated, then added, ‘I’ve overheard Gavin and Hayden talking a few times, quiet, private stuff.
They’re worried. And I get it. I just want everyone to be safe.
That’s all. Doesn’t matter who’s involved or how deep it goes, people in this town need looking out for. ’
What a wife, and what a woman, Brianna thought to herself.
Just then, the bell above the café door jingled and Sergeant Craig Dunlop stepped inside, removing his sunglasses slowly and tucking them into his shirt collar. The casual way he scanned the café didn’t feel casual at all.
He approached the counter with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Morning, Molly. Flat white to go.’
Molly froze, just slightly. Her back stiffened as she keyed in the order, and when she glanced up and caught Brianna’s gaze, her eyes widened, just for a second.
A flicker of fear. A silent warning. And Brianna’s stomach dropped while Craig leant on the counter like he owned the place.
Watching. Waiting. His eyes eventually landed on her, then Tilly, and a glint of something unreadable passed across his face.
To her horror, he pushed off the counter, casually making his way towards their table.
Noticing him at the last second, Tilly’s head snapped to him and her warm smile completely vanished.
Craig stopped just short of their table, one hand on the back of a nearby chair. ‘Ladies,’ he said with a slow, practised nod. ‘What brings you two together, in here, yakking over brunch?’
Tilly’s body stiffened, her posture going from relaxed to rigid in a blink.
Brianna glanced between them, her heart ticking faster.
Tilly answered for the both of them, her voice cool and polite. ‘Just grabbing a rare quiet moment with my new friend. You know how it is when you’ve got young kids.’
Her tone wasn’t warm, and she didn’t invite further conversation.
But Craig lingered anyway, eyes moving from Tilly to Brianna like he was weighing up something invisible.
Then he gave a tight smile. ‘Well, enjoy it while you can. Things tend to change fast around here.’ With that, he tipped an imaginary hat, turned and wandered back towards the counter where Molly placed his coffee with a clipped nod, and he took it and left without another word.
Tilly let out a slow breath as the door shut behind him. ‘Good riddance.’ She stared at her coffee a moment, then looked up. ‘I’ve never liked that man,’ she said, voice low.
Brianna raised a brow. ‘I sensed that.’
‘Even when we were kids,’ Tilly continued, ‘there was just something off. Too interested in being liked by the girls, but to the boys, oh lord he was a bully. And he was always watching me, but never in a good way. He still gives me the creeps. Always has.’
Brianna nodded slowly, a chill still clinging to her spine. ‘You’re not the only one who feels that way.’ Sweetwater’s small-town charm was starting to feel like a curtain drawn over something much darker.
Tilly toyed with the edge of her napkin for a moment, then said, ‘It’s more than just a feeling. Jack was into something, Bri, everyone could sense it, even if they didn’t want to admit it.’
Brianna stayed quiet, letting her speak.
‘I used to think it was just gambling,’ Tilly continued. ‘But lately, I’ve been wondering if someone else was pulling strings. Someone smart enough to stay hidden. Maybe even someone we all think is harmless.’
‘Like who?’ Brianna asked gently.
Tilly shrugged, but there was a heaviness to it. ‘I don’t know. But I’ve seen how people look the other way when certain names come up. Heard the change in tone. Someone’s playing dirty, and I get the sense they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.’
She looked back at Brianna, eyes steady.
‘I’m not trying to scare you. But I’ve got a gut feeling, and it’s telling me things are going to get worse before they get better.
And I just want you, and Molly, and everyone we care about, including Hayden and Gavin, to be okay.
That’s all.’ She sniffled and wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
‘Oh, Tilly.’ Brianna reached for her hand.
‘I tried to talk to Gavin about it, but he told me I needed to pretend I hadn’t heard anything, that I needed to stay out of whatever was going on, for my own safety and the kids’, but how am I meant to do that, now that I know how serious all of this is?’
‘We’ll be ready,’ Brianna offered. ‘Whatever comes.’
Tilly nodded, then gave a dry chuckle. ‘You know, if this all turns out to be nothing, I’ll gladly look like the paranoid mum with too many crime novels under her belt.
But if it’s not …’ She let the sentence hang, unfinished.
Then she quietly added, ‘Please watch your back, Bri. And keep your phone close. Always. Just in case.’
Before Brianna could reply, the bell over the café door jingled again.
They both turned.
Tom Marks stepped inside.
Having met him and his lovely wife at the community shindig with Molly a few weeks earlier, Brianna knew he was local through and through, and the owner of a rural transport company on the western fringe of town.
Apparently everyone knew him. But even though he’d come across as grounded, gentlemanly, kind, something about him now, the way he walked, the way he looked around, felt off-kilter.
Abnormal. Unsettled. Keeping his gaze pinned to the counter, he strode towards it, exchanged a few quiet words with Molly, and then passed her a folded slip of paper.
She nodded and her face was momentarily unreadable.
Then he turned and walked straight towards Brianna and Tilly’s table.
Without a hello, he leant in just slightly and said, ‘You’re asking a lot of questions for someone new to town, Miss Steele. You might want to slow down, stick to yourself, not attract attention, yeah?’
Lost for words, Brianna just looked at him.
Then he nodded, gaze fixed on Brianna as if trying to drive home what he’d just said, then turned and walked out.
A beat passed. Brianna and Tilly sat frozen with their eyes locked on the door, then they looked back to where Molly emerged from behind the counter, her hands trembling slightly as she approached their table. Wide-eyed, she placed a plain envelope down in front of Brianna.
‘Tom just dropped this off,’ she said, her voice quiet but tight. ‘It’s addressed to me. And it’s Jack’s handwriting. I’d know it anywhere.’ She tapped the envelope with her fingertip.
Brianna blinked, completely taken aback by everything that had happened in the last fifteen minutes. Of course she didn’t recognise the handwriting, but the way Molly stared at her name, like the cursive handwriting had brought a ghost back from the grave, sent a shiver down her spine.
Tilly leant in too, eyes narrowing. ‘What do you think it is, Moll?’
Her bottom lip caught between her teeth, Molly didn’t answer right away. But then she said, ‘Only one way to find out, I suppose. But not until I close the café, and only then.’
Brianna glanced towards the door, then back down to the envelope. Tom hadn’t seemed threatening just now. Not exactly. It was more like he was warning her. Like he knew something, and didn’t want anyone getting hurt.
She looked up at Molly, noting how her friend’s lips trembled. Reaching out, she took Molly’s hands in hers. ‘I’ll be with you, if you like, when you open it.’