Page 46 of Tessa's Trust

She hit back, her nails clawing toward my neck.

I saw red and pulled my arm back but was rapidly hauled off her and pushed behind Nick.

Eddie ambled over and assisted a struggling Louise to her feet, shoving her toward his seat.

She shrieked and yanked a gun from her purse. “You don’t understand. I’m willing to fight for my man.”

Nick pushed me farther behind him, and I stepped to his side to keep him from getting shot. “You can have your man,” I said, putting a hand up. I couldn’t get to my gun, and the last thing I wanted was a shootout.

She hissed. “You deserve everything you get.” The gun waved wildly in the air, and then she fired.

I jumped and instinctively covered my head.

Louise looked at the gun as if shocked and then tossed it to the floor.

A loud crack came from behind me. Water swooshed out and blew me across the table into Eddie. We fell to the floor. I didn’t know how he moved so quickly, but Nick suddenly had Louise on her belly on the floor, his belt wrapped around her hands behind her back. And he did it faster than I could breathe.

“Oh, my God. The fish!” I yelled. I rolled over and started grabbing them. “We need water.” A quick glance confirmed that the bullet had taken out the top half of the aquarium. There was enough left in the tank on the bottom that if I got all the fish back in there, they should be okay. “Help, Eddie!” I yelled.

Eddie stood and slipped on the water, falling down. I hoped he didn’t hurt any of the fish. I grabbed a purple one and tossed it into the tank, and then one by one, started throwing every flopping body I could reach over the jagged glass and into the water. There was definitely enough water in there that they’d be okay if we could get to them in time.

I saw an orange Nemo-type fish squirming on a nearby table and grabbed it, tossing it easily across the room. I yelled at the other patrons, “Get the fish!”

Everyone scrambled at once, chairs falling, tables pushed aside, as both waitresses ran out to also save the animals.

They were slimy and squirmy, but I managed to save three more.

Sirens soon trilled outside, and I wanted to finish before the police arrived and dragged us all away.

Nick just looked at me as if it were all insane. “There’s one by your left ankle!” I bellowed. Keeping one knee on Louise’s back, he reached over, snagged the flopping fish, and lobbed it over his shoulder. It flew neatly between the broken glass into the bottom of the tank and then swam away.

I searched around frantically and then calmed, soaking wet from head to toe. “Okay, I think we got them all.”

One of the waitresses shook her head. “Wow, this is the wrong night for the owner to take the evening off. Are you sure you don’t see any more fish?” She leaned down to stare at the wet wooden floor beneath a table.

“I don’t think so.” I wiped water off my face. Rivulets still dripped from my hair onto Donna’s cashmere sweater, which was now ruined.

“Here I was worried about my next article.” Jolene snapped pictures as fast as she could with her phone.

I sighed. Great. I really was turning into my sister.

Chapter 17

For the wild Albertini sister, I had to admit, this was the first time I’d sat inside a jail cell. The police had been quick to secure both Louise and me, considering we’d been in a fight.

The arresting officer was a cute man named Bud, whom my sister had gotten shot a time or two. He’d only sighed as he escorted me to the vehicle and then the station. The guy was built like a solid pine tree but seemed sweet, putting down a blanket in the car since I was soaking wet.

So far, all I’d done was sit in the holding cell. I hadn’t truly been arrested or fingerprinted. I was waiting to call my sister until I actually needed a lawyer.

Detective Grant Pierce had merely shaken his head at me and instantly provided me with some warm clothing before questioning me, which I appreciated. Right now, I wore blue sweats and a matching top with a Timber City Police Department logo on it. My hair was back in a ponytail and drying nicely, if with a mass of curls that I couldn’t get rid of.

A tough-looking redhead with very curly hair sat across from me in the cell. She wore a camo tank top, tight jeans, and pretty cool black boots. The benches we sat on were hard and cold, and the floor was dirty and scuffed. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great.

The police had taken Louise somewhere else, and I didn’t know if she was being questioned, arrested since she had fired a gun, or if they just put her in a different holding cell to keep us apart.

“What are you in for?” the redhead asked.

I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. “That’s the most cliché thing I’ve ever heard.”

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