At the bottom of the letter were four final lines.
Remember the promise we made on our tenth anniversary.
The truth is where the sunlight never reaches.
Bluebird.
Seventeen.
Six.
Protect our girls.
I stared at the strange numbers.
Bluebird.
Seventeen.
Six.
I didn’t understand.
Then I noticed something that made my stomach tighten.
There was a faint reddish stain near the bottom of the paper.
It looked like dried blood.
I touched it with one trembling finger.
My husband had written this letter when he believed his life was in danger.
And somehow, he had hidden it inside Sophie’s teddy bear before leaving for the mountains.
Five years earlier.
Five years during which I had trusted the very man Grant was warning me about.
At 4:17 a.m., my phone vibrated.
A message from Miles.
Couldn’t sleep.
Saw your bedroom light earlier.
Everything okay, sweetheart?
I looked toward the door.
