Chapter 28 Dark Roads, Old Scars #3
I gripped the mug so tightly that my knuckles turned white. “It’s complicated,” I murmured. I avoided her gaze, focusing instead on the swirling patterns of the coffee. “How are my grandparents?”
Emily’s expression changed; now there was something guarded in her eyes.
“Jo… they disappeared last spring. Just… gone. The police searched the property, the woods, even the old mine entrances, but they found nothing. No signs of struggle, no note, nothing. The whole town’s been on edge ever since. ”
“What?” I said, not believing what I heard. “Why didn’t you mention anything before?”
Emily’s gaze dropped to her coffee cup and murmured.
“I know I should have told you, Josie. I just… every time I picked up the phone, the words stuck in my throat. You were so far away, and I know all your struggles. I didn’t want to add up to them, and part of me kept hoping it would all work itself out before you had to hear it. But it didn’t… and that’s on me.”
Emily’s eyes flickered with a mix of regret and empathy. I felt an overwhelming urge to blame her for keeping this from me. But she had been carrying this burden alone. All for me. To ease my worries.
“I know I should have told you sooner,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
I let out a slow breath.
“I get it,” I said, managing a fragile smile. “It’s not like they would have wanted me here anyway. They disowned me a long time ago.” The words slipped from my lips.
“Did anyone…” I hesitated. “Did anyone ever find anything? Any clues? A lead?”
Emily shook her head. “Nothing. Some folks think they just took off, but I don’t buy that. This was their home. They wouldn’t leave without telling someone. And… well, you know how your granddad felt about this place.”
I nodded absently, my mind spinning.
“And the strangest part is…” She hesitated, glancing toward Aiden before continuing. “…the last people who claimed to see them said they were heading toward the Ridge. At night.”
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. He leaned forward just a fraction, yet he remained silent, as he processed the implications of what she had revealed.
The sound of tires crunching on gravel cut through the heavy silence.
Then, the front door creaked open, and a tall figure stepped inside, silhouetted against the midday light outside.
He entered the room, smelling faintly of sawdust and engine oil, his jacket slipping from his shoulders with a fluid grace that spoke of belonging.
Emily’s face lit up at the man’s arrival.
Ethan Cooper, Emily’s childhood sweetheart, stepped inside, brushing mountain dust off his jacket. “Ems? Whose SUV is…” His gaze landed on me, and he blinked in surprise. “Well, I’ll be damned. Josie Mae.”
“Ethan, you’re home,” Emily rushed to welcome her husband. After a quick peck on the lips, he came into the living room while she went back to the kitchen.
I barely had time to stand before he closed the distance and pulled me into a tight hug, squeezing the air out of me. I felt his breath hitch against my hair before he stepped back, his hands still on my shoulders.
“Look at you,” he said with a smile tinged with something heavier. “God, it’s been… what? Years. I’m so damn sorry I didn’t…” He cut himself off, his jaw tightening. “It’s just good to see you.”
“You too, Ethan,” I said softly.
His gaze shifted to Aiden, who had risen from the armchair.
“And you are?”
“Aiden Cross,” he offered his hand. “Friend of Josie’s.”
Ethan’s handshake was firm, but there was a flicker of calculation behind his eyes. “Friend, huh? Well, welcome to Oakville.”
Emily returned from the kitchen with fresh coffee. “They’ve had a long drive,” she glanced at me. Then she tried again. “Josie… Really, why the sudden visit?”
I looked down. “I told you… I needed to see you.”
“Josie, that’s not an answer.” Emily leaned forward. “You’ve never been a good liar.”
Ethan’s brow furrowed. “Something going on?”
The knot in my stomach twisted tighter. My fingers traced the rim of my coffee cup. “I need to clear up some things… about that night.”
Silence fell between us.
Emily’s hand stilled halfway to her cup. Ethan’s expression darkened, the air shifting with unspoken understanding.
Emily was the first to move; she stood and squeezed my shoulder. “Alright,” she said quietly. “If you’ve got things to take care of, I’ll look after Mateo. He can rest here. We’ll make sure he’s safe.”
The relief washed over me. “Thank you,” I whispered.
Emily nodded, her eyes never leaving mine. I glanced toward the hallway where Mateo was sleeping in the guest room. He was safe here. Maybe safer than anywhere else in Oakville.
Aiden had been quiet, watching the exchange. Now he stood and slipped his hand into mine, grounding me with that steady assurance.
“We won’t be long,” he told Emily.
Ethan moved toward the kitchen. “Go. We’ve got him. You two… just do what you need to do.” There was something in his tone, a mix of sympathy and understanding, that made my chest tighten.
Outside, the air was crisp. The oaks lining the street rustled in the warm breeze.
As soon as we were in the SUV, Aiden started the engine. “Where to first?”
I exhaled slowly. “My grandparents’ house.”
He nodded, pulling away from the curb.
We drove in silence, leaving Oakville’s streets behind. The last clusters of houses gave way to open fields and rolling pastures. A narrow gravel road led us deeper into the countryside, the crunch of the tires unnervingly loud in the stillness.
When the farmhouse came into view, my stomach twisted. The once-bright red paint of the barn had faded to a dull rust. The porch of the house sagged like it was tired of holding up the weight, and the garden was nothing but a tangle of weeds.
Aiden pulled up beside the weathered fence, killing the engine. “Ready?”
I kept my eyes on the front door. “No,” I said. “But let’s do it anyway.”
The hinges groaned when Aiden pushed the front door open. The air inside was stale. It was cooler than outside, but not refreshing, more like the chill of a place left untouched for too long.
The living room was frozen in time. A coffee mug still sat on the table, ringed with a dark stain. A half-finished knitting project lay draped over a chair arm, needles tangled in soft gray yarn. A book lay open on the couch, a thin layer of dust dulling its cover.
I stepped further in. “It’s like they just… walked out in the middle of everything.”
Aiden’s gaze moved slowly across the room. “Or they were made to leave in a hurry.”
The boards creaked overhead.
I froze. “Did you hear that?”
He nodded once, already moving toward the stairs.
Something deep inside me wanted to turn around, step back out into the sunlit safety of the gravel road, but my feet wouldn’t move. This was my grandparents’ house. And whatever had happened here… it had been waiting for me.
The stairs groaned under our weight. The scent of the house shifted as we climbed, less dust, more something faint and bittersweet. My grandmother’s perfume. The smell hit me like a punch, so vivid it almost felt like she’d just passed by.
Each step down the hallway was a ghost of something familiar. When we reached my old bedroom, the sight of it stopped me cold. The faded floral wallpaper. The quilt was still folded at the foot of the bed, dusty but intact.
Aiden searched every door and possible hiding place but found nothing. Then he moved to the next room. I stayed in my childhood bedroom. I sat on the edge of the mattress, and my eyes drifted to the floor. Something about the boards under the bed looked… uneven.
I crouched, fingers skimming until I found it: a hairline gap. I pried at it until the wood lifted with a dry crack. Beneath it, there was a narrow cavity.
Inside, wrapped in yellowing paper, was a small tin box. My heartbeat tripped.
I sat back on my heels, turning it over before snapping the rusted latch. Inside were old black-and-white photographs, edges curled, some faces I knew and some I didn’t. A few were dated years before I was born.
At the bottom was a single envelope, brittle paper, faded but still readable ink: PROJECT MOONLIGHT.
The words sat heavy in my palm, humming with the weight of a secret that had been buried here long before I knew it existed.
“Coast is clear, there’s nobody up here,” Aiden’s voice came from the doorway. Then he saw what I had in my hands, “Josie… what is that?”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
Not yet.
I just knew that whatever Project Moonlight was… it had survived long enough to wait for me to come back.