Chapter 10
Claire took the note back.
“Why would Sophia want me to find it if I was never supposed to?”
“Maybe she changed her mind.”
“Or maybe she wants us to think she did.”
Emily gave her a look. “You’re already assuming the worst.”
“I’m trying not to assume anything.”
“You just suggested a conspiracy involving a hidden property and a missing key.”
“I suggested that something doesn’t make sense.”
“That part is true.”
Claire folded the note and slipped it into her wallet. Then she turned the recipe book upside down and examined the binding.
There was a narrow gap between the cloth cover and the cardboard backing. She pressed along it with her thumb. The fabric had been carefully loosened, as if someone had opened the book without damaging it.
A second object shifted inside.
Claire tilted the book over the table.
A small brass key slid into her palm.
It was not the old key she remembered.
The one from her grandmother’s book had been dark with age, its bow shaped like a simple oval. This key was newer, polished, and engraved with a tiny letter L.
Emily leaned closer. “That wasn’t there before.”
“No.”
“Then Sophia replaced it.”
Claire turned the key over. A number had been stamped beneath the letter.
17.
No address. No explanation.
Only a key, a warning, and a house in Wisconsin she had never seen.
Her phone chimed.
Another message from the unknown number.
Do not go to Lake Briar alone.
Claire stared at it.
Emily folded her arms. “That sounds less like a threat than a piece of advice.”
“Whoever sent it knows where I am.”
“Could be someone trying to help.”
“Or someone trying to make sure I do exactly what they want.”
Claire placed the phone beside the key.
For three years, she had allowed other people to define what was reasonable. Adrian decided which invitations mattered, which belongings could be shared, and which discomforts she was expected to swallow. Sophia decided when she was entitled to enter Claire’s home and take the things that made it feel like hers.
Claire had mistaken patience for peace.
She would not make the same mistake with a stranger’s message.
“We’re not going tonight,” she said.
Emily nodded. “Good.”
“But we are going.”
Emily sighed. “I knew you were going to say that.”
“Daniel needs to investigate the deed. I want to know why the property is in my name.”