He glanced at his brother, who met his gaze with a knowing nod. “This isn’t just about Mary anymore,” Dale said, his voice low. “If she was protecting someone—if she was trying to keep a secret that big—it could definitely mean there are still people who don’t want this coming out.”
Harper closed the diary, her expression troubled. She opened her mouth to speak, but a muffled thud sounded from the front yard.
Everyone froze, the sudden noise cutting through the tense atmosphere like a knife. Cas and Dale exchanged a quick, knowing glance, both instantly alert and on their feet.
“Stay here,” Cas ordered, meeting Harper’s gaze, seeing the flicker of worry. “We’ll check it out.”
His brother was already heading toward the door. Cas followed closely, his heart pounding as they stepped outside into the cool evening air. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon, casting shadows across the yard. He scanned the area, his senses on high alert, until his gaze landed on the back of his truck. Something had been thrown in, something that definitely hadn’t been there before.
He approached with Dale on his six, both tense and ready for anything. As they reached the truck, Cas felt a chill run down his spine. Sitting in the bed was a large, heavy rock with a copy of an old newspaper page wrapped around it, dated the day after the church fire. But it wasn’t the article that plunged his heart into his boots, it was the message scrawled in bold, red letters across the headline.
He clenched his jaw, anger and unease bubbling up inside him. This wasn’t just about sending a warning anymore. It waspersonal, and whoever was behind this knew exactly how to hit close to home. He turned to Dale. “Time to call Gabe.”
“I agree,” Dale muttered, his voice tight with anger as he yanked out his phone. “It’s not some old family grudge. It’s a threat. Another one.”
Cas nodded, his mind racing as he tried to piece together the implications. If someone was willing to do a drive-by and hurl it with them inside the house, it meant they would go to extremes to keep the secret buried at all costs. He blew out a breath. No way in hell were they going to back down, not with Harper and Sadie caught up in this too.
Once his brother got off the phone with the sheriff, Cas motioned toward the house. “Let’s get back inside. We’ve got to tell the girls.”
“You go ahead,” Dale said. “I’m going to secure the area until Gabe arrives.”
He nodded. “Roger that. Come in when you can. We need to figure out our next move. I’m going to fill Mac in, too.”
This was a declaration. They just screwed with the wrong brothers.
Chapter Sixteen
Harper’s heart was still racing as she sat on the edge of the couch, her fingers nervously twisting the edge of her great-grandmother’s diary. The unease from the sudden thud outside hadn’t left her, and she couldn’t stop glancing toward the window, her mind churning with possibilities of what could have caused that noise. Sadie had moved and now sat beside her, eyes wide with concern, while Tesla pawed at his word buttons.
“Noise. Bad.”
She agreed.
A few minutes later, Cas walked back in, his face tense and serious. Harper immediately knew it wasn’t good news.
“What happened?” Sadie asked.
She exhaled. “Yeah. What was it?”
Cas stepped closer. “Someone tossed a large rock into the back of my truck with a copy of an old newspaper article fastened around it, dated the day after the church fire.” He pulled out his phone and showed them photos he’d taken of the evidence still in the bed of his truck.
She skimmed the headline, her stomach churning as she read the names of the victims. But what caught her attention was the message scrawled across the headline in bold, red letters:
“Some stories should stay buried. Don’t dig any deeper. You’re not safe.”
A chill raced down Harper’s spine. The threat was clear, and it was aimed directly at her and anyone else trying to uncover the truth about what happened that night.
Cas shoved his phone in his pocket, moved to her side, then gently pulled her into his arms as she tried to steady her breathing.
“This just gets crazier,” she whispered, her voice shaking.
He increased his hold. “I know, but we are going to figure this out.” His voice was calm and soothing. “They chose the wrong people to fight.”
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
Her cousin echoed the word.
Even though her fear lingered, she was angry. Angry that someone was trying to intimidate them, angry that the truth was still just out of reach. But more than anything, she was afraid. Not just for herself, but for Cas, Sadie, and anyone else who might get caught up in this mess.
