Chapter 3: The Ruby's Curse

The old ledger sat in my hands, its edges worn and fragile. I couldn't tear my eyes away from it, each name etched in ink like a guilty confession. My fingers hovered over the page, pausing on Richard Caldwell's name. The mayor. The same man who had held this town in the palm of his hand for decades, the same man whose charm had made him untouchable. The man whose ties to the Mariners' Circle ran deeper than any of us ever suspected. And yet, here he was, his name in that ledger—a name that could bring everything crashing down.

I closed the ledger slowly, my mind racing. Mac was watching me, his face shadowed by the dim light. He wasn't saying anything. He didn't need to. He knew exactly what this meant. The mayor wasn't just a politician. He was part of something much darker, something that had been festering beneath the surface of this town for far too long.

But that wasn't all. The ledger wasn't just a list of names. It was a roadmap—a map of the town's deepest secrets. The people in those pages weren't just guilty of crimes; they were the architects of a conspiracy that had torn this town apart. A conspiracy that had started long before Clara disappeared.

I stood up, my legs shaking. The air in the room felt thick, suffocating. There was a feeling in my gut, a creeping dread that I couldn't shake. I'd been chasing ghosts for so long that I wasn't sure if I was still grounded in reality anymore.

"Mac," I said, my voice low. "Where is the ruby?"

He flinched, his gaze flickering to the corner of the room, to the shadows where I knew the old, rusted safe lay hidden. But before he could answer, I heard it.

A creak.

There was a soft sound, like the shifting of a floorboard in the distance. It was too faint to be anything but a whisper, yet it sent a jolt of electricity through my veins. I froze, my eyes darting toward the door. It was barely ajar, but I could see movement in the hallway outside. Someone was there.

I grabbed the ledger and stuffed it into my coat, my heart hammering in my chest. Mac's eyes widened as he saw the look on my face.

"They know," he muttered, grabbing my arm. "Ellie, we need to go. Now."

Before I could respond, the door swung open, and the last person I expected to see stepped into the room.

Jesse.

His face was pale, his eyes wide with fear. He didn't speak at first, his chest heaving as if he'd run all the way here from the other side of town.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded, feeling a surge of anger and confusion. He wasn't supposed to be involved in this. I'd been trying to protect him from it all.

"I—I'm sorry," he stammered. "I had to come. I… I overheard something. Something about the ruby. About your aunt."

My mind reeled. Had he known all along? Had he been hiding something from me?

"I don't have time for your games, Jesse," I snapped, stepping back, my instincts telling me to stay on guard. "Why are you here?"

"I know who killed Clara," he said, his voice trembling. "And it's not who you think."

The words hit me like a slap. I stepped back, my brain struggling to process what he'd just said. "What do you mean? Who killed her, then?"

Jesse's eyes flickered toward Mac, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flash of something in his gaze—something like guilt. But it was gone before I could be sure.

"It was the mayor," he said, his voice trembling. "But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that he's not the only one involved. There's more. A lot more."

I felt a chill crawl up my spine. "You're lying. What do you know about this?"

"I know that my grandfather wasn't guilty," he said quickly, cutting me off. "He didn't kill himself. He was framed. The mayor—he was part of it. And it's all connected to the ruby."

My mind spun. I'd never heard this story before. Jesse had never said a word about his grandfather, not once. It was like he'd been hiding something crucial from me all along.

"You're telling me this now?" I demanded. "After everything?"

Jesse lowered his gaze, looking ashamed. "I didn't want you to know. I thought I could protect you from it. But now it's too late. They're watching us. And they know we're getting close."

I was about to respond, to demand more answers, when the sound of footsteps echoed down the hall. The air grew heavier, and I felt the walls closing in around me.

Mac's hand grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward the back door. "We need to move. Now."

But before we could reach the door, a voice—low and sinister—stopped us in our tracks.

"I think it's time you all came out of hiding."

I turned slowly, my heart in my throat. There, standing in the doorway, was the last person I ever expected to see.

Lila.

Her face was pale, her eyes wide with a strange, almost manic gleam. She held something in her hand, something small and glinting in the dim light.

The ruby.

I froze. "Lila, what are you doing?"

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she stepped into the room, her movements fluid, almost predatory. "I should have known you'd come looking, Ellie. You always were your mother's daughter."

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded, my voice shaking with disbelief. "Why are you doing this? Why is the ruby so important?"

Lila's smile was cold, distant. "It's not just a necklace, Ellie. It's a key. A key to everything. To the truth your mother was getting too close to, and the truth that your aunt died trying to expose. This town… it's not what you think."

I glanced at Jesse and then Mac, who were both standing still, their faces pale.

"Lila, I don't understand," I whispered, my voice cracking. "Why? Why did you help them?"

Lila's eyes softened for a brief moment, but then her expression hardened. "Because I had no choice. None of us did. The Mariner's Circle has been running Haven's Cove for decades. But it's not just the mayor. It's all of them. Everyone. And your mother… she was getting too close to something she couldn't comprehend."

"Too close to what?" I asked, my heart pounding.

"Too close to the truth," Lila said quietly, her gaze distant. "The Circle isn't just a group of powerful men. They're hiding something much bigger, something tied to your family. To you, Ellie."

I could barely breathe as the weight of her words sank in. The truth had always been just out of reach. And now, I was standing at the edge of it.

"Lila," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "What is the truth?"

She looked at me, her eyes filled with something dark, something regretful. Then, with a sigh, she dropped the ruby onto the table in front of me. "You'll find out soon enough."

Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind us, and a figure stepped out from the shadows—Richard Caldwell. The mayor.

"I knew you'd come for it," he said, his voice low and calm. "But you're too late."

I felt my stomach drop. The walls felt like they were closing in, the air growing thicker by the second. The truth was right in front of me, but I couldn't grasp it.

And then, just as everything began to spiral, I saw it. A reflection in the window behind Caldwell. Another figure—one I recognized all too well.

Mac.

But it wasn't Mac.

It was someone else, someone who looked just like him.

The twist hit me like a tidal wave.

"Mac?" I whispered, my voice hoarse.

But it wasn't Mac at all.

It was his twin.

And the real Mac was gone.