Chapter 3 - THE LOCKED CABIN
Helena hadn’t been to Crawford Lake since she was sixteen.
She remembered fishing with Evelyn from the dock.
She remembered their mother making sandwiches.
She remembered their father yelling whenever they touched anything in his office.
Nineteen years later, the cabin looked smaller.
Meaner somehow.
Anna parked behind Helena.
Lucy had been left with a babysitter.
“You sure about this?” Anna asked.
“No.”
Helena walked toward the door.
“But I’m done being afraid of dead men.”
The brass key opened the side entrance.
That bothered her immediately.
Her father had replaced every lock after Evelyn disappeared.
How had Evelyn gotten a key?
Inside, dust covered everything.
The furniture was draped in sheets.
A grandfather clock stood silent in the hall.
Anna whispered, “This place is creepy as hell.”
“You should’ve met my father.”
They searched the kitchen first.
Nothing.
Living room.
Nothing.
Then Helena walked toward the office.
The door was locked.
The brass key fit.
She looked at Anna.
“That key wasn’t for the cabin.”
Helena turned it.
Click.
The office smelled like paper and old wood.
Her father’s desk remained exactly where she remembered it.
Helena opened drawer after drawer.
Empty.
Anna checked filing cabinets.
“Someone cleaned this place out.”
Helena noticed scratches on the floor beneath the desk.
Fresh scratches.
“Help me move this.”
They shoved the desk aside.
Underneath was a narrow metal panel.
Helena pried it open.
A hidden compartment.
Inside lay one yellow envelope.
Helena grabbed it.
Written across the front:
EVELYN — 2007
The year she disappeared.
Anna whispered, “Open it.”
Helena tore the flap.
Inside was a photograph.
Evelyn stood beside Daniel Hart near an old red pickup.
She looked young.
Happy.
Pregnant.
Very pregnant.
Helena’s knees almost buckled.
There was also a photocopy of a police report.
Vehicle collision.
County Route 8.
One fatality.
Caleb Hart.
Helena frowned.
“Who’s Caleb?”
Anna shook her head.
Helena read further.
Driver: Daniel Hart.
Alcohol suspected.
Witness statement: Evelyn Crawford.
Her stomach tightened.
The report said Evelyn had told investigators Daniel had been drinking before the crash.
A floorboard creaked behind them.
Helena spun.
The office door slammed shut.
Anna screamed.
Someone twisted the lock from the outside.
Helena rushed forward.
“Hey!”
She kicked the door.
“Open it!”
Silence.
Then came the smell.
Gasoline.
Anna’s eyes widened.
“Helena.”
Smoke curled beneath the door.
Someone had set the hallway on fire.
Helena grabbed the metal wastebasket and smashed it against the window.
Once.
Twice.
Glass exploded outward.
“Go!”
Anna climbed through first.
Helena followed.
They hit the ground as flames climbed the wall behind them.
A dark pickup roared away through the trees.
Helena caught only three letters from the license plate.
B-E-L.
Anna stared at the burning cabin.
“Bell?”
Helena looked at the police report in her hand.
At the bottom was the name of the investigating officer.
May you like
SHERIFF SILAS BELL.
And Silas Bell was very much alive.
