Page 97 of Tessa's Trust

She chewed on her lip. “You know who used sticky notes all the time, don’t you?”

“Who?” I asked cautiously.

“Sadie Brando.” Louise looked from the sticky notes to me and then back. “You know where she is, don’t you?”

Warning ticked down my spine. “I actually have no idea,” I said, honestly. “I hope she’s still alive.”

“Oh, she’s still alive.” Louise pulled a gun out of her pocket and pointed it at me.

I took several steps away from her. “What in the world are you doing?”

She gestured me toward one of the chairs, still trembling from the cold. “It took forever for Basanelli to leave this morning, and I’m freezing my ass off. Sit down so I can think.”

I sat, my gaze on the gun. Had I ever looked down a barrel before? Not really. “You followed us home.”

“Of course. The second I saw that safe in your hand, I knew what it was.”

I frowned, my chest chilling and my lungs seizing. “How?”

She shrugged. “I owed Sadie some money for gambling debts, and she kept track on those stupid sticky notes. That small safe was always near her.”

How many other people knew about the box? “Were you working with Rudy Brando?”

“Nope. Never met the guy.”

I tried to keep track of the conversation. “Yet you paid Sadie off somehow?”

“Yeah. Did you really think I purchased twenty-five grand in furniture? I spent about two and tried to pay off Sadie with the rest. Bobbo didn’t know the difference.” Tears gathered in her eyes again. “I really do love that moron.”

My phone buzzed on the counter, and we both ignored it. “Did you kill Rudy Brando?” I gasped.

She jerked her head. “Of course not. Why would I have killed him?”

I didn’t know, but considering she was holding a gun on me for the second time, why not ask? Or maybe it was better not to know. “You’re confusing me, Louise. Why are you here holding a gun on me?”

“I need money,” she said softly. “Sadie was the nicest of the people I owed for gambling. It isn’t my fault.” Her tone turned cajoling. “I just need a little more seed money, and I can win it all back.”

I glanced at the knife block on the counter. It was too far away. “You’ve come to the wrong place. I don’t have any money.”

“No, but Sadie does. A shit ton of it.” She picked up Nick’s paper and noted all the crossed-out parts. “So, there are two properties up in Boundary County, one in Washington state, one here in Timber City, and one in Montana that haven’t been searched?”

Could I tackle her? If so, I’d have to swipe her gun arm out and then take her down. My legs shook, and I wished I’d borrowed sweats from Nick, even though they would’ve been way too long.

Louise looked up, her eyes gleaming. “I know Sadie. She’d never leave the state with all that money. She has to be at the place nearest here.”

I didn’t agree. That place was all the way around Tamarack Lake toward the mountains and would be difficult to reach in the winter. “If Sadie is hiding or on the run, she’d want to be somewhere she could escape from quickly. The winter is too harsh for anybody to go that far out.”

“Oh, I know her a lot better than you do. She’d want to stay close, and we’re going to find her.” Louise gestured with the gun. “Get up and move. There are no fish here right now, Tessa. If I shoot, it won’t be at an aquarium this time. You’re going to want to work with me.”

Chapter 34

My legs were freezing as I sat in the driver’s side of my Rogue, wearing only Nick’s shirt and boots. I was lucky she’d let me slip my feet into those before shoving me outside into the cold. “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” I said. “I was trying to help you.”

She squinted at her phone. “Go left here,” she muttered.

I had been following her directions for nearly an hour around the lake. Hopefully, Anna would reach Nick’s with donuts and get worried when I wasn’t there…especially since my phone was still on the counter. Louise had kept the weapon pointed at me pretty steadily. Still, considering she’d accidentally taken out an aquarium the other night, I didn’t have a lot of faith in her ability. “Could you please put the safety back on that thing? I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. In fact, I guess you should know that I did mean to shoot the aquarium the other night.”

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