I swallow hard and force my voice steady. “Like I’m not capable.”
Wyatt’s mouth brushes my ear—not a kiss, not quite, but close enough to make my skin light up. “You’re capable,” he murmurs. “You’re just outnumbered.”
I shiver, and I hate that it isn’t only from fear.
Maddie snatches my phone again. “Great. While you two do whatever that is, I’m doing my job.”
Wyatt straightens, gaze hardening. “We’re not doing anything.”
Maddie’s eyes flick to the flannel. “Sure.”
Wyatt’s jaw ticks. “Maddie.”
She holds up the phone. “I’m going to start with bank emails. Then foreclosure notice. Then the text thread with Mr. Tie-and-a-Punchable-Face.”
My throat tightens. “His name is Graham.”
Maddie’s eyes go bright. “Not anymore.”
We sit at the table, lantern still out even though the power is back, because Wyatt doesn’t trust anything right now. Maddie scrolls, snapping screenshots, making notes on a pad she pulled from her pocket like she came prepared to run an investigation.
Wyatt stands by the window, scanning the treeline like he’s waiting for it to blink.
Minutes pass, tense and quiet except for Maddie’s occasional “Mm-hm” or “Yep, that’s coercion.”
Then she goes still.
Her fingers pause on the screen.
“What,” I say, too sharp.
Maddie’s eyes lift to mine. “When did you get to the cabin yesterday?”
I blink. “Afternoon. Why?”
Maddie turns the phone toward me.
A new message sits at the top of the thread from Graham.
No words.
Just an image.
My stomach drops so hard it hurts.
It’s a photo of me at the cabin window.
In Wyatt’s flannel.
My face turned slightly, like I’m looking out at the snow.
Taken from outside.
From the dark.
My skin goes ice-cold.
Wyatt’s voice cuts through the room, low and lethal. “Ellie.”
