"Liv," I said carefully. "When we get there... whatever this is, whatever she says..."
"I know."
"I'm just saying, you don't have to do this. We can turn around. We can go get a drink. We can do literally anything else."
"I need to see her." She turned her head, looking at me for the first time. Her eyes were dry, scorching. "I need to look her in the face, Ben."
"We might not get answers," I warned her. "Lucia might just be another mess."
"I don't care," she said. "I need this."
She turned back to the window.
I didn't push.
The GPS on the dash counted down the miles.2.4 miles. 1.8 miles.
The road narrowed as we moved deeper into the woods. The houses disappeared, replaced by dense pine and stone walls that marked property lines from two hundred years ago. There were no businesses here. No developments. Just a rural isolation people paid a lot of money to escape to—or hide in.
"What the hell is out here?" I muttered.
Olivia leaned forward, peering through the windshield as if she could force the trees to part. "I don't know."
The GPS chimed, cheerful and robotic.In 500 feet, your destination is on the right.
I slowed the truck, scanning the tree line.
A break in the stone wall appeared. A gravel driveway, fresh and gray, cut a clean line through the trees. There was no mailbox. No number. Just a small sign staked into the frozen earth:VANCE DEVELOPMENT.
"This is it," I said.
The tires crunched over the gravel as we climbed the slight incline, the trees closing in around us like a tunnel.
Then the woods opened up.
I hit the brakes.
In front of us, sitting in a clearing that overlooked the distant hills, was a house.
But not just a house.
It was a skeleton. A massive timber frame structure, open to the air. The yellow pine beams soared up against the gray sky, framing a cathedral ceiling that had no roof. It was beautiful and raw and completely unfinished.
And parked in front of it, leaning against the hood of a white Range Rover, was a woman.
She stood tall in a camel coat, her dark hair whipping in the wind. She watched us approach, her arms crossed over her chest, looking like she owned the very dirt we were driving on.
Lucia.
Chapter 14
Olivia
The cold hit me the moment I opened the truck door. The wind whipped across the clearing, carrying the distant scent of pine and frozen mud.
I stepped down onto the gravel. I heard Ben get out on the driver's side, the heavy slam of his door echoing off the trees, but I kept my eyes forward.
On her.
