Page 59 of Eye for An Eye
I must have fallen asleep, too. Because we were still on the couch at two in the morning when the phone rang and woke us up. It was Andy, calling to warn us.
Ish had knocked Lizzie out and escaped.
30
Tess
Jack went out patrolling the grounds around my house after the phone call, and then we locked the doors and tried to get some rest for what little remained of the night. I kept jerking awake, shaking, when the memory of Ish holding that gun to my head kept flashing back into my mind. I was proud of how calm I’d been while everything was happening, but I’d fallen apart pretty hard after it was all over.
Jack, familiar with deadly situations, said it was a reaction to the adrenaline that had flooded my body. I didn’t doubt it, because it took me almost an hour and a huge glass of wine before I stopped shaking. We watched TV, but I had no idea what show. My brain hadn’t been working on a normal basis.
Now, it was morning, and we were having an argument disguised as a calm discussion about what to do next.
“I don’t have to press charges,” I said for about the third time. “He didn’t hurt me, but he knocked Lizzie out. They have plenty to go on to arrest him now. He’s an escaped fugitive, for Pete’s sake.”
Jack had his stubborn face on, though. I’d seen that expression more than once, and it was almost always when someone or something put me in danger.
He handed me a cup of coffee and sighed. “Fine. It’s your choice, of course. I’m going to stay close to you until Susan and Andy capture all the dangerous criminals in town, though.”
I kissed his cheek. “Thanks for the coffee, and thanks for always wanting to protect me. I think I did a pretty good job of protecting myself last night, though.”
“You certainly did. I’m not sure if I’m more impressed at how calm you were in a terrifying situation or sorry that you’ve had to learn how to deal with stuff like this during all the crises over the past year.”
His face clouded. “I still wonder if me coming home to Dead End somehow precipitated some of this violence.”
“Jack. This has nothing to do with you. Quit trying to take on all the burdens of the world. Susan’s awful old power-mad grandfather would have died whether or not you were here, and that’s what unleashed all this chaos. That, and that Cordelia allegedly robbed banks with an unstable woman, left Henrietta holding the bag, and then stole her share of the loot.”
“We really,reallyneed to find that woman,” Jack said, pouring coffee into the travel cup I’d gotten him.
I narrowed my eyes. “I see that you have your travel mug, but you’ve poured my coffee in a regular cup. Was that on purpose?”
He avoided my gaze. “I thought you might want to rest this morning after the scare we got last night. Maybe stay home for the day?”
I sighed and transferred my coffee into my own travel mug. “I have a business to run. And even if I didn’t, I’m not the type to hide out at home. You knew that when you met me, and I’m not going to change now.”
“Hiding out is a perfectly rational way to react to somebody pointing a gun at your head,” he muttered, but then he put an arm around my shoulders and hugged me. “If I didn’t already love you, seeing how brave you are would do the trick.”
“Do the trick?” I grinned. “Ah, the romance in your soul.”
“Hey! I made the coffee and fed your cat.” He pretended to look offended, but I saw the grin he was trying to hide.
“And my cat and I love you for it. Now let’s get dressed and head to work.”
The weather said it would be a clear, cold day, back down to the fifties, so I wore a thick, cream-colored cotton sweater with jeans to work. Jack, whose tiger side meant he almost never felt the cold, wore a blue flannel shirt over a T-shirt and jeans. We both pulled on boots. I kissed my cat and Jack scratched her ears, and then we headed to the shop in Jack’s truck.
“Can we at least pick up donuts on the way?”
I patted his leg. “I never turn down donuts.”
But when we were only a mile down the road, I jerked to attention and stared at the occupants of the truck coming toward us. “Jack! Quick! Stop that truck!”
“What?” Like any normal person, he wanted to know what was going on before he tried to block an oncoming vehicle, but I had no time for that. They sped past; the two of them chatting and paying no attention to us.
“That was Henrietta Quirksley! And she was in a car with Duck Grimes! Quick! Do a U-turn and go after them before they get away!”
He didn’t waste time asking any more questions. He slammed on the brakes and yanked the steering wheel to the left, making a sharp U-turn in the middle of the road, and then sped after the new-looking red truck hurtling down the road on its way out of town.
I called Susan, but the call went to voicemail. Poor woman was probably trying to get a few hours of sleep. It had been a horribly stressful week for her. I quickly sent a text to both her and Andy, letting them know we were trying to apprehend the major suspect in Cordelia’s murder.
