Judy’s POV The car ride was long; it took several hours, and most of it was done in silence. Gavin was lost in thought the entire drive… as was I. Gavin drove with his jaw tight, one hand gripping the wheel and the other holding mine like he thought I’d disappear if he let go. I stared out the window at the woods rushing by—dense trees, heavy branches, patches of morning fog clinging to the ground. The deeper we went, the less the world looked like anything familiar. No houses, no mailboxes… not even an occasional jogger or hiker. Just miles and miles of quiet. “Why would she live out here where there is nobody else?” I asked, more to myself than from Gavin. “From what I hear, she doesn’t trust anybody,” Gavin replied. Taylor had done a little more digging before we left and found out some stuff about Coraline Blackwell. She disappeared off the grid years ago and stopped associating with her family. Her lack of trust was palpable to Taylor, and he made mention of that to Gavin. We weren’t sure what kind of woman we were walking into, but my nerves couldn’t be settled for the entire few hours we drove. “Do you think it’s safe to intrude on her?” I asked, nibbling on my lower lip.Gavin glanced at me briefly before returning his attention to the road in front of him. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he assured me. “You should know that by now.” I nodded, feeling heat creep up my cheeks. “I know,” I breathed, my voice coming out as a whisper. “That’s not what I meant.” “You have nothing to worry about.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, and I felt the warmth going from him to me, and my heart skipped a beat. Every mile closer felt like a step toward something life-changing… answers… truth… maybe even something I wasn’t ready to hear yet. After another thirty minutes of nothing but trees, Gavin slowed the car and turned onto a narrow dirt road that looked like it hadn’t been driven on since the 90s. The branches overhead knitted together thickly enough to block out most of the sun. By the time we reached a clearing, my heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it echoed in my ears. Her house sat at the far end—if you could call it a house. It looked more like a forgotten cabin swallowed by the woods, vines crawling up the walls, the windows half obscured, the wood worn and dark from age. Smoke curled from the chimney, soft and thin. “Looks like she’s home,” Gavin murmured, motioning with his head towards the car in the makeshift driveway.