23

23


CLAIRE

Evan wasn’t bluffing.

Minutes later, we were walking towards my car. I slid into the passenger seat of my own car, and Evan took the wheel without asking, like he already knew I wouldn’t argue.

I didn’t even have the strength to argue. My hands were still trembling too badly, from the shock to hold the wheel.

The headlights made a narrow path through the dark night, showing only a small piece of the road before the shadows closed in again. Everything outside the beam was swallowed in black.

The car’s engine kept a steady sound, smooth and low, but my own heartbeat felt louder in my chest. Evan sat at the wheel as if the road was his.

Evan drove like the road belonged to him. Hands relaxed, movements fluid. He knew every bend before it came, easing into curves with the same calm precision he’d shown back on the pier.

Evan sat at the wheel calmly, His grip was easy and he seemed relaxed. As he turned the car into each bend without effort, moving as though he already knew the road ahead. It reminded me of the confidence he had shown back at the pier.

I remembered the first time I’d tried to find Lila’s house. Just me, a half-useless folder ,I had struggled to get from Acting Sheriff Quinn, and an address that might as well have been written in code: Treeline. Outskirts of town.

No street names, no markers, just endless turns that all looked the same. I’d circled for nearly an hour, cursing at the trees and the suffocating fog.

But Evan? He didn’t hesitate once.

“You’re good,” I said before I could stop myself.

He cut me a side glance, there was a spark of amusement in his eyes. “Flattery? Don’t tell me city girl’s impressed.”

The answer was so casual it almost made me laugh. Almost. But I shook my head instead .

“I’m just saying,” I told him “When I first came out here looking for Lila, it took me almost an hour just to figure out which road went where—and that was in broad daylight.”

“Yeah,” Evan said, guiding us cleanly through a curve. “You would’ve. This road splits three different ways if you don’t know what to watch for. Locals grow up learning the tricks—see how the ground dips, or the way the trees lean? That’s how you tell.”
His hand tightened on the wheel “Not to be rude, but city people will always miss it.”

I studied him in the glow of the dash. He was way too calm. The night didn’t rattle him the way it rattled me.

His mouth curved, in that sly smile of his. “ But don’t be fooled. It’s not me—it’s your car doing all the work. I just hang on and look pretty.”

I huffed out something that might’ve been a laugh. “This car is older than both of us put together. Don’t flatter it.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” He flicked his eyes toward the dash, then back to the road. “She’s got fight left in her. What is it? ”

That did make me laugh“This car? It’s a ’69 Mustang. V8 engine. She could eat your truck alive.”

Evan gave a low whistle. “Didn’t peg you for the type to drive something with that much bite.”

“I’m not,” I admitted. “My dad was. He used to keep it spotless, inside and out. After he passed, it… sat for a while. But selling it felt wrong. Driving it made me feel closer to him "

The word dad hit me harder than I expected, and the rest of my words stuck in my throat. For a second, the dashboard lights blurred before I blinked and looked away.

I wasn’t usually this emotional about my dad, but tonight had already been rough, and it pushed me over the edge.

Evan noticed. Of course he did. His eyes stayed on me for a moment,before he turned them back to the road. He didn’t ask questions. Nor did he try to comfort me with words. He just left the silence there, like he was giving me space without making me explain.

It was more kindness than words could’ve been.

I looked down at the notebook in my lap. The spirals drawn inside burned into my memory. I needed to figure out what it meant.

““I know I already asked about Cal,” I said,“But what about Lydia Rourke?”

Evan’s jaw shifted, like he was pulling through old memories. “Same as Cal. Not much to tell. She kept to herself. By the time I got back from L.A., she was already halfway gone.”

“Gone?”

“Ghosted,” he said simply. “Basically walked through town with those wild eyes. Everybody whispered, but nobody thought to look close. That’s how Grayhaven works—you go strange, people stop seeing you.”

I turned the notebook in my hands. “What about before? Before she… drifted?”

His sigh was faint . “Her husband was an angry drunk. Everyone knew he hit her. And Cal. Boy took the brunt of it more often than not. By the time the old man wrapped his car around a tree, the damage was already done.”

“Cal,” I repeated.

"I never told you, but he used to be sharp. Bright kid. Just couldn’t carry the weight life handed him.”

I stared out the window at the blur of black trees. “So Lydia wasn’t crazy.”

“No,” Evan said. “Not crazy. Just broken.”

There was silence between us.

I thought of her swollen face on the pier. The rasp of her voice when she’d shoved the notebook into my hands. "They took him when the tide went out"

She must have been referring to cal. it was not madness. Not grief-fueled nonsense. It was actually a warning. A truth nobody had wanted to hear.

And now she was dead.

I pressed the notebook tighter to my chest.

The road narrowed. The trees grew thicker, their branches tangling overhead until the headlights seemed to press against a tunnel of living wood. .

I couldn’t shake the feeling that we weren’t alone out here. That the shadows between the trees were watching.

I checked the mirror again. Nothing but black. But I only felt more unease.

“Claire.”

I turned to him.

Evan’s eyes were still fixed on the road. “You keep looking over your shoulder.”

“Feels like we’re being followed.”

He gave the smallest shrug. “Maybe we are. But no headlights. And no car moves these roads in the dark without them.”

“So you’re not worried?”

“Oh, I’m worried,” he said dryly. “I just don’t see the point in letting it show.”

I looked at him, half annoyed and half impressed. He was too calm, like none of this bothered him. Then I remembered—he’d been a lawyer once. He probably learned how to hide every crack, no matter the pressure.

The road curved, and the trees finally pulled back. That’s when I saw it. The house. It stood ahead in the darknessm like it had been waiting for us to arrive.

“We’re here,” I said quietly.

Evan slowed down, his eyes narrowing as he studied the house

Since the last time I had been here.The two-story building had sunk further into itself, as if tired of standing. The way had choked the yard, spilling up through the fence and crawling across the path.

A sour feeling settled in my stomach. The first time I’d come here, it had just looked neglected. Now, under the of headlights, it felt… abandoned.

Evan pulled the car to the edge of the yard. His movements were almost too calm, but I could see the flicker in his jaw. He felt it too.

As he parked, I reached into my bag and drew the gun I’d collected from the inn before we left.An old friend from my LAPD days. A Glock 19, it was compact enough to carry but with enough bite to put down anything that came at me.

I checked the magazine, then racked the slide. The click echoed through the car.

Evan glanced at me, but he didn’t flinch. He didn’t even blink. “Packing light, huh?”

“Standard issue,” I said. “Never thought I’d need it out here in Grayhaven, but I’m glad I brought it.”

His mouth curved faintly. “Remind me not to argue with you.”

His mouth curved into a smirk.Then he reached behind his seat, pulled out something smaller—a worn switchblade that snapped open. He twirled it once, casually, before tucking it against his side.

“Guess we’re both ready for the welcome party.”

We climbed out. The air felt colder here,it slipped under my skin. My boots sank into the yard’s thick weeds as I followed Evan up the path to the porch. Then I lifted the brass doorbell and pressed.

There was no sound. Not a chime, not even a stir from inside. Just silence.

I glanced at Evan. He gave the smallest nod, like this was just another move in a game.

I raised two fingers. Pointed him left. I took right.

Together, we braced.

And then—one, two—

We slammed into the door at the same time.