part 5
PART 5
The next morning, Skylar arrived before breakfast.
Of course she did.
Ava heard the tires on the gravel road while she was standing on the porch with coffee in one hand and her father’s letter in the other.
Skylar stepped out of a white SUV wearing boots that had never touched mud before.
She looked at the cabin and smiled.
Not kindly.
“Wow.”
“It’s worse in daylight.”
Ava did not answer.
Skylar walked up the porch steps without being invited.
Her eyes moved over Ava’s uniform hanging neatly inside the doorway, the firewood stacked by the wall, the fresh curtains Hank’s wife had installed, and the maps still visible on the table.
Her smile faded.
“What are those?”
Ava folded the letter.
“Good morning to you too.”
Skylar pushed past her.
Ava caught her wrist.
Not hard.
Enough.
Skylar looked shocked.
“You don’t get to block me.”
Ava’s voice stayed calm.
“This is my house.”
Skylar laughed.
“Your shack.”
Ava did not move.
Skylar pulled her arm free.
“I came to see what Dad actually left you.”
“You already know.”
“No.”
“I know what the will said.”
“Dad always hid things.”
That was the first honest sentence Skylar had said in years.
Ava’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you think he hid?”
Skylar’s face changed.
Only a little.
But Ava had been trained to notice small changes in dangerous rooms.
Skylar looked away.
“Nothing.”
Hank’s truck pulled up behind her SUV.
He stepped out slowly.
“Morning, Skylar.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Hank.”
He walked onto the porch and stood beside Ava.
The old Marine energy in him became more obvious when he was not smiling.
Skylar looked at the table through the window.
“Are those deeds?”
Ava said nothing.
Skylar’s expression sharpened.
Her voice changed.
Sweet.
Threatening.
“Daddy wouldn’t leave you land.”
Ava looked at her.
“Why not?”
Skylar’s mouth tightened.
“Because you left.”
Ava felt the familiar guilt rise.
Then she looked past Skylar at the lake.
At the land her father had protected for years.
At the cabin he had prepared.
At the letter in her hand.
“No.”
“I served.”
Skylar’s face went hard.
“That’s what you call disappearing?”
Hank stepped forward.
“Careful.”
Skylar looked at him.
“What, you’re her guard dog now?”
Hank’s voice was quiet.
“No.”
May you like
“Her witness.”
Read the full story 👉 Skylar arrives at the cabin and immediately notices the deeds, proving she suspected their father had hidden more than an old shack.
