“No trouble at all.”

Hadley followed him, her mind swirling with questions. Halfway down the hall, she paused and turned to the guard.

“Excuse me, could you tell me if Chelsey has had any other visitors since she arrived?”

“No one,” the guard said with a shake of his head.

“Except Mr. Flynn. He’s the only one who’s come by.”

Ernest had only come to ask about Elissa, hoping Chelsey would give him answers. Each time, she stayed silent, and those visits always ended badly. After that, Ernest stopped coming himself and just had Quentin watch over the…

“Situation.”

“Actually…” The guard paused as a thought came to him.

“Someone dropped something off for her one time, but they didn’t see each other.”

“Is that so?” Hadley’s face lit up with curiosity.

“Do you happen to know who it was?”

“I’m afraid I don’t.” The guard shook his head again.

“We keep everything tightly controlled here. Unless the visitor is a family member or a legal guardian, meetings aren’t allowed. We also can’t pass along items to inmates from anyone we can’t identify.”

“That makes sense,” Hadley said with a nod, considering her next question.

“Did you hear if it was a man or a woman? Maybe an idea of how old?”

The guard thought for a moment.

“It wasn’t me on duty that day, but my coworker said it was a woman. She had on a mask and a hat, so her age was hard to guess. Still, her build and the way she carried herself suggested she was middle-aged.”

“Thank you for letting me know.” Hadley’s mind started to race as she nodded.

“Of course. Please, this way…”

As she left, Hadley puzzled over the details. She ran through everyone she knew, but no one seemed to fit the guard’s description. It crossed her mind to wonder if Ernest might know something she didn’t.

gα?ησν?s?cо, your storytelling home

Once outside the prison gates, Hadley immediately dialed Quentin’s number.

“Hadley?”

“Quentin, is Ernest available right now? I’d like to talk to him.”

“He’s here. Hang on…”

A moment later, Ernest’s voice greeted her.

“Hadley.”

“Ernest.” She wasted no time and quickly shared what the guard had told her about the unknown visitor.

“Did you ever hear anything about this?”

“No,” Ernest answered right away.

“I asked around, but no one ever brought it up.”

It was possible that, without an official visitation record, only the guard on duty was aware, and he likely shared the information with only a few close coworkers.

“Ernest, I really believe this person matters,” Hadley said, holding her phone tight as a crease formed between her brows. She paused to gather her thoughts.

“I can’t explain it exactly, but I have this gut feeling Chelsey is hiding something significant from us.”

.

.

.