Whispered Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Hidden Lock

Noa

The photographs sit in my lap as Ryder parks the car. My eyes keep drifting to the picture of the key, its intricate design tugging at some distant memory I can't quite grasp. The chain it hangs from looks old, like something Gia might have picked up at an antique store or a flea market. It's just her style—unique, understated, and meaningful.

"I can feel you thinking," Ryder says, breaking the silence.

I glance at him. His profile is sharp against the glow of the dashboard lights. His jaw is set, and his hands grip the steering wheel tightly.

"Do you remember Gia ever mentioning a key?" I ask.

"No." His answer is immediate, clipped. "But if it was important enough to photograph, it's connected to all of this somehow."

I nod, my fingers tracing the edge of the photo. "It's like she was trying to leave breadcrumbs, but the trail keeps breaking."

"We'll find the next piece," he says firmly, his green eyes flicking to me for a moment before returning to the road. "We always do."

There's a comfort in his certainty, even if I'm not sure I fully believe it.

It doesn't take us long to walk from the car and into his hotel room. The weight of the day is pressing down on me. The photographs feel heavier than they should as I place them carefully on the small table by the window. Piper, my cat, greets me with an annoyed meow from her perch on the bed, her tail flicking as if to say, Where have you been?

"Sorry, Pipes," I murmur, scratching behind her ears.

Ryder, meanwhile, wastes no time. He pulls out his laptop and starts pulling up maps and documents, his focus laser-sharp. "Where do we even start?" I ask, sitting on the edge of the couch.

"With the key," he says, not looking up. "If Gia had it on her all the time, someone else might have noticed. A friend, a coworker, someone at the studio Mallory mentioned."

"Mallory didn't exactly give us a lot to go on," I point out.

"She gave us enough," Ryder counters. He taps at his keyboard, pulling up a map of the town.

"That carving on the wood in the background of the photo—it looked like part of a doorframe or a piece of furniture. It's a lead."

I walk over to the table and pick up the photograph again. Now that he mentions it, the faint carvings do look like something deliberate, maybe decorative. "Could it be from the house we found? Or the studio Mallory mentioned?"

"Maybe," Ryder says, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "We'll check both. But if Gia was trying to hide something, she wouldn't leave it in a place Shadow could find."

The mention of Shadow sends a chill down my spine. It's been days since the last text, but I can't shake the feeling that he's still out there, watching. Waiting.

As if on cue, my phone buzzes. I freeze, my heart lurching as I reach for it. Ryder's head snaps up, his eyes narrowing.

"What is it?" he asks, his voice sharp.

I glance at the screen. Six little letters pop up, just like before.

Shadow: You're getting warmer. Don't forget—she left you the key for a reason. Look where it all began.

I read the message aloud, my voice trembling despite my efforts to stay calm.

Ryder stands, his movements are swift and tense. "Let me see that."