Page 60 of Whispers of Sweetwater

She held it for a second longer than necessary, staring down at her name in Jack’s familiar handwriting, as if touching it might bring him back for just a moment.

Brianna could see that the envelope felt heavier than it should, so she laid a gentle hand over Molly’s. ‘Take your time.’

Molly gave a small, shaky nod and drew in a breath. ‘He’s been gone for eight months now,’ she whispered. ‘It’ll be like hearing his voice all over again.’ Straightening, she opened the envelope slowly, almost reverently, and unfolded the page.

With a trembling voice, she read it out.

Hey Moll,

If you’re reading this, it means things went sideways, and I couldn’t pull myself out. I’m deeply sorry. For all of it. You were always the one who saw straight through me. You believed in me even when I didn’t deserve it. You kept me tethered, even when I was drifting. And I never told you, really told you, just how much that meant. The absolute world.

I thought I could handle it. Thought I was smart enough to play their game and walk away clean. But it’s not a game anymore. I’m in chains. There are people here in Sweetwater you need to be careful of. You’d likely see them every day, nod to them in the street. But they’re not who they used to be. They know too much. They’ve seen too much. And they’ve made sure they’ll never be held accountable.

The man who used to fix my car … keep your distance. And the copper? He’s not just blind, Moll, he’s bought. But don’t go knocking on doors. Don’t confront them. They’ll bury the truth before they let it breathe. And if you ever hear the words ‘Cane fire’, drop everything. It’s not a warning, it’s the signal. Get out, take what matters, and run.

Hopefully, this never happens. But still, please keep your eyes open. Your doors locked. The café matters, my old cottage matters, but not more than your life.

If Tom gave you this, it’s because he kept his promise. I trusted him. You can too.

I wish I could’ve made this right.

I love you.

Always,

Jack

With tears now streaming down her cheeks, Molly clutched the page to her chest, her face crumpling. ‘He was clearly very scared,’ she said, barely above a whisper. ‘He knew something was coming. And he still thought to warn me.’ She sniffled, then wiped at her eyes.

‘Tom said he’d spent months wondering whether to pass it on, but after the break-in he knew he had to,’ she said quietly.

Hayden reached out, resting a steady hand over hers. Brianna sat silently beside her, the air around them taut with grief and urgency. Then, after a few silent moments, Molly looked inside the envelope once again, her eyes widening. Taped in the corner was a tiny brass key. She carefully plucked it out and turned it over in her hand. One word was scratched into the metal.

Cottage.

Molly looked up, blinking away the tears, resolve settling into her features. ‘The cottage,’ she murmured, holding the key between her thumb and forefinger. ‘I had the entire place renovated, and didn’t find anything that needed opening.’ She looked from Hayden to Brianna. ‘So, what could he possibly have hidden there, and where?’

Hayden leant forwards, frowning slightly. ‘Could be anything. A stash of papers, a notebook, something he didn’t want found unless, well, unless this happened.’

Brianna shifted in her seat as they all glanced towards the door, the weight of the letter pressing into them like a fourth presence in the room. ‘Do we go and look now?’ she asked quietly.

‘I’m up for it.’ Hayden was determined. ‘Let’s catch whoever’s doing this.’

Molly nodded slowly. ‘Whatever it is, he meant for me to find it. And I’m not waiting another night with this hanging over our heads.’

CHAPTER 16

The night air was still as the three of them made their way across to Brianna’s cottage, the sound of gravel crunching underfoot the only interruption to the quiet. The cottage lights glowed faintly from within, casting soft shadows that made the edges of the world feel just a little too uncertain. Brianna unlocked the door and stepped inside first, flicking on the overhead light. Molly followed, key clutched tightly in her hand. Hayden brought up the rear, automatically checking behind them before locking the door.

Then they split up.

Hayden took the kitchen and laundry, Molly the lounge, and Brianna headed straight for her bedroom, followed by Sherlock. Every cupboard, drawer and floorboard was checked. They crawled under beds, lifted rugs, tapped on walls. Nothing. In the spare room, Jack’s office before Molly refitted it, Brianna flicked on the light and took in the desk she’d always thought too ornate for the modest cottage. Molly had stripped and revarnished it herself, back when she had planned to rent the place out as a cosy Airbnb. Brianna opened every drawer, even the shallow ones meant for stationery, running her fingers along the undersides and seams. She checked beneath the desk, along the floorboards, and inside the small cupboard built into the wall beside it. Hayden sifted through the kitchen drawers, pulling out utensil trays and emptying the contents across the counter, checking beneath the lining paper. He unscrewed a vent cover near the pantry and shone his phone light inside, but it was just dust and spider webs. Molly moved through the lounge and into the hallway storage, checking the base of old trunks, behind wall mirrors, even inside a faded velvet chair Jack had insisted they keep because ‘it had character’. She ran her hands along the seams, lifted cushions, knocked on the wooden arms.

In the laundry, Hayden tugged away the shelves one by one, pulling them forwards to shine behind them. A stack of old newspapers from the early 2000s gave him pause but yielded nothing more than yellowed pages and the faint smell of mouse droppings. Even the linen cupboard didn’t escape scrutiny as Brianna rifled through the stacks of spare sheets and towels, shaking out pillowcases in case something small had been tucked away.

After nearly three hours of searching, the house had been picked over like a carcass, every shadow chased out, every space turned over.

They had come up empty.