The evening air was sharp with frost as Emma Carter stepped into the private garden behind the estate, her heels sinking slightly into the damp earth. Moonlight stretched like silver threads across the stone path. She wrapped her arms around herself, more for comfort than warmth. The chaos of the past weeks had settled into a tense lull, but the undercurrent of uncertainty had not vanished.

From behind her, footsteps. She turned, half-expecting Jack, half-dreading another ghost from her past. ...