The knock at the cabin door did not come again, but the silence that followed was heavier than thunder. Orla’s pulse roared in her ears as Stanley stood frozen, his hand clamped tight on hers, the other gripping the knife. She could feel the tension coiled in his body, like a predator deciding whether to strike or flee.
The voice outside came again, rough and certain. “Stanley. You know who it is. Open up.”
Her stomach dropped. Whoever this was wasn’t just a stranger. They weren’t guessing. They knew.
Stanley’s eyes flicked to hers, and for a split second she saw something there she had never seen before: fear. Not of the man at the door — Stanley was not afraid of men — but of what this moment meant. Of what it might rip open between them.
Her lips parted, but no words came. All she c
