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‘Oh, um. Yes. She had folded the note and put it in her cardigan pocket. When she left, it sort of just, uh, flew back inside and landed at my feet. At first, I thought it was just the wind, but when I put it on the table, I saw Kali standing there in the mirror again. She scratched out Blake’s signature.’

I froze. Why would she do that?

‘Do you have the note?’ I asked, careful to keep my tone even.

She nodded, then dug around in her own pocket before producing a folded-up piece of paper and handing it over to me.

Sure enough, it was a note written in Blake’s handwriting, a jagged hole replacing where he had signed his name. I read through it a few times, just to be sure I was reading it right. It didn’t make any sense. He had never run off like this before. Sure, he was known for his fishing trips after a big case, but he didn’t just abandon people while on vacation. This wasn’t like him, and something wasn’t adding up.

‘He just left?’ I asked her.

‘He took the car, too.’

I reared back, like my shock was a physical slap to the face. ‘What the fuck?’

Her lip quivered as she looked down, avoiding our eyes. ‘I know,’ she whispered.

‘This isn’t… I don’t… Fuck, Dakota, I don’t know what to say. He’s never…’

‘I know. This isn’t like him. And I got a phone call from the police right after Kali scratched his name out. They said they wanted to ask me some questions, but they didn’t say what it was about, just that it was something to do with a case they were working on. I’m supposed to go down to the station tomorrow.’

‘Hang on… Wait… Stop.’ I held up my hand as if I could ward off what she was saying, and the thoughts that were now swirling around in my head, but she kept going as if I hadn’t spoken, too lost in the memory of what had happened to hear me.

‘I think she’s mad that he remarried. She looked so fucking sad. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want her to hate me, but Blake has every right to move on, you know? But now I’m afraid he hasn’t let her go. Why would he marry me if he was still struggling with losing her?’

I heard what she said, but it didn’t sit right. Kali would have wanted him to move on, to find love and keep living his life. Shewouldn’t have been upset that he’d done just that. In fact, she probably would have loved Dakota.

I’m afraid he hasn’t let her go…

The words echoed around inside my skull, right alongside all the new information. All the ghosts. Kali showing up. Blake disappearing. The police…

No. Oh, no. Oh fuck, please…No…

‘Are you okay, man?’ Rhodes asked, alarmed. ‘You look like you’re gonna be…’

I didn’t let him finish his sentence before I rushed from the room, straight to the bathroom, where I bent my head over the toilet and emptied the contents of my stomach into the bowl.

When I concluded that I needed to have a little chat with my brother, my stomach lurched again.

When I realised I knew exactly where to look for him, the force of my heaves were so strong that I almost passed out.

It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t. It didn’t make any sense. I had to be wrong, there was no other option.

So why did it did the pieces slot so perfectly into place?

‘Shit, Chance. Are you okay?’ Ashe asked from the doorway. With my face pressed against the toilet seat, I turned my head to look at the small gathering just inside the door. All five of them were staring at me like I’d lost my mind, but it was Mikey’s expression that really cinched it for me.

I wasn’t the only one to come to the conclusion that I had.

Fuck.

‘All right, everybody out,’ Rhodes ordered with a clap of his hands that made me wince. The sound drilled through my skull to hit every part of my brain that was suffering from what couldn’t be true, yet logic said otherwise.

Gloria obeyed, dragging a reluctant Ashe behind her, leaving Rhodes, Mikey, and Dakota behind.

I wiped my mouth and sat back, leaning my head against the wall as they studied me, but it couldn’t be helped. I need confirmation. I needed the truth.

‘Dakota, go back to the campsite.’