Page 11 of Tessa's Trust

I sighed. Anna had returned over the pass hours ago and was no doubt in bed. It had to be about two in the morning. I was thankful that Nick had dropped off Nonna so she didn’t have to deal with this tonight. Upon finding the body, we had, of course, called the sheriff, who had taken both Nick and me to the station.

“Is Nick still here?” I asked.

“Yes.” The sheriff ran his hand through his thick, white hair. His hat hung on the coat rack near the door, along with his sherpa-lined jacket. “I’ve questioned him a few times, as well, and he stuck to the same story you have. That you both found the body.”

“Exactly,” I said. “And we were both at speed dating at McCloskey’s all night, so obviously, neither of us killed that guy.”

“We don’t know how long he’s been dead,” the sheriff said softly.

I winced. I’d been the only person in the bar all day. “Rudy didn’t come back after he stormed away.”

“Well, that’s one story,” the sheriff muttered, his faded green eyes looking tired.

A sharp knock sounded on the door, and then Nick poked his head in. “Sheriff, I’m done. I’m heading home, and I’m taking Tessa with me.”

I jolted. This was getting stranger and stranger. Nick was a prosecuting attorney, and he sometimes worked in our county, as well.

“I guess you’re disqualified from trying to put me away this time,” I said dryly, attempting a joke.

He didn’t smile. “I’m well aware of that. Come on, Tessa, let’s go. If you’re not going to arrest her, Sheriff, then I’m taking her home.”

I could admit that I shouldn’t like Nick Basanelli attempting to protect me, yet it felt pretty good. It’d been a long time since anybody outside the family tried to shelter me. I would never begrudge Anna any sort of safety in this life, considering she’d been kidnapped for a few harrowing hours in our youth, but it did feel like I spent a lot of time trying to shield her. I tried not to warm too much to Nick because it could never happen. Even so, I smiled. “I am tired.” I stood.

“Is there anything else, Sheriff?” Nick asked, his eyes narrowed.

I exhaled slowly. What did he know that I’d missed?

“Yeah.” The sheriff opened a desk drawer and pulled out a baggie filled with some sort of paper. “There’s this.”

I leaned closer. “I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s a quitclaim deed for Silver Sadie’s, made out from Sadie to Rudy, the dead man,” the sheriff said quietly.

I shook my head. “She gave me a deed this morning. There can’t be another one.”

“Here it is.” The sheriff tapped the plastic. “It was dated six months ago.”

Nick swore under his breath in Italian.

I looked over my shoulder at him. “What does that mean?”

He shook his head. “If his deed was signed before yours, even if it wasn’t recorded, he would’ve had a valid claim to the property.”

I gulped and nearly fell back onto the chair. “But I paid Sadie a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Cash.”

The sheriff’s bushy white eyebrows rose. “Cash? Where did you get that kind of money?”

I threw my hands up into the air, my temper finally exploding. “What do you mean where did I get it? I’ve been working my ass off in diners since I was fourteen years old. You get tipped in cash.”

“Good lord,” Nick muttered. “Where have you kept it?”

I glared at him. “I’m not a moron. I have a safety deposit box.” I’d finally had enough to pay Sadie, and I did. I was actually pretty proud of the fact. “Have you gotten ahold of her yet?” I asked the sheriff.

He shook his head. “I called several times and sent a deputy out to her place, but she’s not there.”

A pit started to form in my stomach, and yet even now, I trusted Sadie. “We shook hands,” I murmured.

Nick’s gaze hardened. “You shook hands?”

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