Descend, page 12
“Now you listen here!” He jabs a finger in my face. “We’re not dredging up what happened all those years ago just so you can go on some vindictive tirade to clear the name of someone you have a misguided affection for!”
“Is that what your feelings for Erin were? Misguided? Or are those the feelings you have for your wife, and you’re too much of a coward to tell her you don’t love her?”
Spit draws to the corner of his mouth. “That band of criminals you call family are the only cowards in this town.” He throws a hand toward me. “And the only decent one in the lot has the nerve to come in here and threaten me?”
“I wouldn’t have to threaten you if you’d just let me see Gary. And you can also tell me why Warren all of a sudden has privileges to run amok in this station. Is he snitching for you?”
“I don’t believe ninety percent of what Warren says and the other ten percent I know is a lie.”
“Then why does his word condemn Gary for Samantha’s murder? And why did you let him see a bat that has my name on it without ever even telling me you had it?”
His spine stiffens. “Warren saw the bat? After it was recovered from the scene?”
I shrug. “So he says.”
“Damn it to hell!” He storms to the door. “Someone get Rene in here right now!” He slams the door shut. “He’s been sniffing around that girl and I told her to keep her distance, but it looks like she decided to let him into our evidence locker instead.”
He sits on his desk, arms crossed and glaring at the door. When Rene comes in, she’s going to have quite the treat. Especially when she sees me sitting here. She’s a year older than me and a full foot taller, but that didn’t stop me from blacking her eye when she asked Warren to go to her senior prom. She’s avoided me like the plague ever since. “I’ll make you a deal, Chief. I get to see Gary, and then I won’t sue this department for gross mishandling of the evidence.”
~
Getting to stick around for the chewing out that Chief gave Rene was rewarding. It felt good to see her face turn two shades of crimson. She’s always been a boy-crazed ditz and Warren used that against her. According to her, they recently bumped into each other at a gas station and had a conversation that ended with him asking her out. They had dinner that night, after which he told her it would be sexy to make out in a police station, the evidence room in particular.
She said Warren didn’t touch anything, only looked, but Chief knows better than me how Warren’s unauthorized presence could throw off not just Gary’s case, but others. The vein in Chief’s neck hasn’t stopped throbbing since Rene first walked in. He’s already fired her, and now that she’s reduced to a sniveling pile of sobs, he’s no less angry. Mainly because she won’t shut up. “I thought it wouldn’t hurt to just let him in the side door for a minute.”
I sit forward. “There’s a side door to the evidence room?”
“No.” Chief’s voice is hard, eyes cold as he glares at Rene. “She snuck him in a door that no one would be watching at that late hour and took him where he wanted to go because she knows our schedules and how understaffed we’d be when she brought her boyfriend in. Which proves you knew what you were doing was wrong, Rene, but you did it anyway.”
She wipes her eyes. “I told him we could only do one kiss, and that’s all we did. A quick little kiss.”
I roll my eyes. “There’s nothing little or quick about Warren.”
Chief shoves back to his feet and motions for Rene to get out of his office. “Go write a statement, and then pack your belongings. I want you out of this building within the hour.”
She shuts the door behind her and I prop my elbows on my knees. “So, what happens now?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I told Mayor that I didn’t want that boy anywhere near our police vehicles, but he gave Warren the contract anyway, and now people think he’s something, let their guards down…” His eyes dart to mine.
“Go on.” I prompt. “Tell me how righteous you and all the people who work here are.”
His chest puffs. “Erin and I had a consensual adult relationship. That’s a far cry from armed robbery.”
My gut pinches. He could be referring to any number of crimes, many of which track back to someone I’m either related to or friendly with, but I’m certain the one he’s referring to is the robbery Warren committed with Jessop. Neither of them faced charges. The guy they tied up and robbed was the store owner and he confessed to hiring Jessop for an inside job. He wanted his liquor store robbed so he could collect insurance money, a plot that might have worked if the man hadn’t gotten greedy enough to fabricate his losses to the degree that had red flags racing each other up and down Main Street. Warren left town, and nothing was connecting him to the scene so Chief couldn’t arrest him. Jessop was arrested but cut a deal for immunity and rolled on the store owner, the fish the prosecutor wanted.
I didn’t know about the robbery job until it was done. And I only found out that my dad had been the catalyst, setting the whole plan in motion, after Warren showed up again and my dad came to me, telling me to “Do what you have to do to keep him quiet.” At the time, I was in the middle of a heartbreak that had Warren’s prints all over it. Dad telling me it would be my fault if Jessop went to jail made it worse. But it was when Dad said he’d never directly talked to the store owner, that it had been Mom who was the contact, that everything inside me died. If I didn’t go to Warren and meet whatever demands he had in order to keep him quiet, my mom’s life was on the line. So I didn’t go to Warren. I went to Gary, and that night he left me with Chopper.
“Chief, when do I see Gary?”
He jabs a finger against a button on his desk phone and lifts the receiver. “I’ll get him out of lockup and give you five minutes with him. Until then, get out of here. And start picking better boyfriends. I like this new one less than the first, and the first one just caused me to have to admit to evidence tampering for every case I’m holding anything for!”
I tread to the door. “I’m not Erin. Even if I break up with Matt, you still don’t have a shot.”
His notepad slams into the door beside my head. “Get out of here!”
I pick up the notepad and peruse it before I toss it back to him. “Pleasure doing business with you, Chief.”
~30~
Sitting in front of Gary is emotional. There’s a hardness in his eyes that triggers a fear I shouldn’t have. He isn’t happy to see me. Like Chopper, he wants me out of his sight. “I’m not afraid of Montrose,” I mutter into the handset pressed to my ear. Gary hasn’t picked his up. He’s only glaring at me through the glass.
“Someone’s killing women I love.” He doesn’t need the phone to be heard. “Where do you think that lands you?”
I raise a shoulder. “No one is dumb enough to mess with me.”
His fist lands on the glass in front of my face, blood and spit spraying from where he bit his lip throwing his weight into the punch. “They were there when I dropped Cheryl off! Lying in wait for me to leave so they could gut her ear to ear!” He fights the guards trying to hold him, shouting through the glass. “You’re not safe! You’re not safe!”
Tears stream down my face. I stare at his blood running down the glass and feel his words vibrate through me, echoing back as the guards overpower him and drag him from view. My body moves of its own accord, feet running, carrying me from the room and straight into Matt’s arms.
He holds me tight. “What happened?”
I bury my face in his chest. “Gary doesn’t want to see me.”
He rubs my back. “Did he say why?”
My fingers drag the fabric of his shirt into my fists. “He thinks I’m next.”
His body stiffens. “He said that to you?”
I lift my face from his shirt. “He didn’t say it. He screamed it. I’ve never seen him act that way before.”
“Geez.” Matt tucks me under his arm and begins the trek out of the waiting area. “No one is going to hurt you, okay? I won’t let them.”
My tears soak patterns into Matt’s once crisp shirt. He opens the passenger door of his sedan and attempts to settle me in the seat. The sound of motorcycles roars down the street. Matt goes pale as the club surrounds us. I grip his hand. “Get in the car.”
“No. You said Gary just flipped out and––”
I let go of him and move away from his vehicle. “Get in the car, Matt. If they give you an opening, take it. Drive away.”
“Tessa––”
“Drive. Away. Go to my house and wait for me.”
~
I take the old jewelry box Grandma gave me off my dresser, wiping the dust from the top and opening the scratched yellow box. I hardly wear jewelry, but now I wish I’d done more than just keep Samantha’s necklace tucked in this box. There’s not much else in it: a few pairs of earrings I got attached to as a teen, a bracelet of plastic beads that Warren gave me, and a fake strand of pearls from my mom.
“What are you doing?” Beth whispers from my doorway. When Chopper dropped me off, she was sitting at the kitchen table with a worried and angry Matt. I was only a few minutes behind Matt, though, so it wasn’t long enough for any real panic to set in. Chopper doesn’t mince words. I knew quickly what was happening and what few choices I have in the matter.
I set the jewelry box on the bed, closing the old memories off. “Is Matt still upset?”
Her eyebrow raises. “Apparently he cooks when he’s pissed, so could you make him mad more often?”
“He’s dating me, so him being mad often is a given.”
“Good.” She grins. “Finish whatever you’re doing and get in here. I can tell he’s ready to kiss and make up.”
“I’ll be there in a few.”
She leaves and my heart sinks even further. I look around my room. It feels safe enough, especially with Matt and Beth laughing in the kitchen. But Gary doesn’t agree. That’s why Chopper didn’t leave when he dropped me off. He’s still outside, and not because he intends to watch my house all night.
When I climbed onto the back of his bike, I could hear Gary’s voice belting from the phone pressed to Chopper’s ear. The club is tracking me via my phone now, but Randy didn’t realize where I was heading after I left the police station until I was nearly at the jail. Not enough time to cut me off, and me showing up in front of Gary let him know that they weren’t handling me the way he told them to. Per Gary’s orders, I’m to pack, get on Chopper’s bike, and disappear. Something he ordered days ago, but at that time, he’d given my charge to Zeno, and Chopper didn’t want to let me leave his sight. So he broke Gary’s order and let me stay, and that’s why the guys aren’t making eye contact. Chopper stuck his neck out for me, and they all have a difference of opinion on why and whether or not he’s right. Opinions that no longer matter. The law has been laid down. I’m leaving.
Slipping into the kitchen, I watch Beth smack Matt’s hand with a wooden spoon, the two of them in front of their respective pans having an egg cook-off that Matt looks to be winning. “It smells good in here.”
Matt turns around, a smile spread across his handsome face. “We’re having breakfast for dinner. A birdie told me you really like waffles.”
I wink at my birdie Beth and fold myself into the crook of Matt’s waiting arm, his scrambled eggs light and fluffy while Beth’s are thin and overcooked. “I love waffles. They’re the perfect vessel for my butter.” His eyebrow hikes and I laugh. “I slather my waffles in butter until all the little indentions are filled with sweet cream. I’ve eaten them that way ever since I was a kid, cutting them into strips and dipping them into just a little bit of syrup.”
He kisses the top of my head, pouring his eggs from the pan and onto a waiting platter. “Good thing I make my scrambled eggs with butter.”
We move to the table where he already has plates set out. I sit beside him and plop a waffle onto his plate. “Let me show you the proper art of eating a waffle.”
The front door busts open, slamming against the doorstop and bouncing back. Chopper’s form advances, bypassing the kitchen and heading down the short hallway to my room. Matt drops the silverware onto the table. “What’s he doing?”
I lean against the back of my chair. “He’s ransacking my closet.”
Matt waits for an explanation. I swallow. “It’s Gary, he’s ordered me to leave.”
“Leave where?”
I take a breath, watching Beth drop her own fork, the life draining from her face. More than anyone, she knows how close Gary and I are. There was a time when she was jealous of that closeness, feeling as if I didn’t care about her as much as I care about Gary. I think that’s another reason I let her live with me rent-free, I feel guilty that she’s right.
“Gary is scared that I’m being targeted, so he wants me out of town.”
Beth gasps. “Being targeted by the serial killer? Why?”
I rub my face, bristling as Chopper’s boots stomp into the bathroom, followed by what sounds like him scraping everything off the shelves into a bag. “Gary and the guys are convinced the murders are connected to Gary. If that’s true, then I could be a target because of my connection.”
Matt’s arms fold as Chopper storms out of the house, two duffle bags in tow. “Whether or not this has anything to do with Gary, there’s a killer on the loose, which is why I’ve been staying with you. I’m the one keeping you safe, not them. And I’m doing it without bossing you around like you’re a child.”
“He’s got a point.” Beth swallows, looking over my shoulder as Chopper stomps back into the house. “What about me? Am I in danger?”
Chopper’s fingers close around my arm, yanking me from my chair. I understand now that he’s been conflicted because of me, bucking his sworn loyalty and despising himself for it. I shake my head at Matt, making sure he doesn’t attempt to take Chopper on. I’m not so sure Chopper wouldn’t drive a knife through Matt’s skull. “Beth’s right, Chopper. If someone is after me and they can’t get to me, they could go after her. I mean, this little plan Gary hatched isn’t going to stop a murderer from murdering, it’s only going to change the target. And I don’t want to live with anyone else’s blood on my hands.”
Matt moves to my side. “She also needs to eat. If she wants to go somewhere after dinner, I’ll take her.”
Chopper releases my arm, storms to the refrigerator, throws open the door and stomps back to the table with a stick of butter. He glances at Beth. “Go to your boyfriend’s, to work, and back to your boyfriend’s.” His angry eyes turn on me, hand slamming a stick of butter onto the stack of waffles. “You’ll eat on the ride. Now, are you walking out that door or am I carrying you?”
~31~
I haven’t seen Matt in forty-eight hours. Though angry with me for leaving with Chopper, he agreed to stay with Beth until she could make arrangements to move in with Arnold––something she’s refusing to do. Kind of like how Chopper is refusing to have a separate hotel room. We haven’t gone too far from Hinton but each night he’s had us in a different location and slept on the floor next to the bed, the two of us existing in near silence.
That first night, I swung on him after he stopped by an old abandoned house and smashed my phone against its stone foundation. All that punch got me was two broken fingers that I then had to endure for three more hours until we got to the hotel he intended to stay at. We checked in and he disappeared, coming back with a baggie of ice and a burner phone. He taped my two fingers to a third, splinting them, and told me to use my elbow next time.
I used the burner phone to text Matt and have been doing so about every hour since. So I’m not surprised that I’m hearing from him now, but this time it’s a phone call instead of our usual text. “Hey, handsome.”
Matt’s breath rolls out of the phone and I close my eyes, remembering the feel of him on my skin. “Did you call just to make me miss you more?”
“Tessa, where are you?” He asks a question he knows I can’t answer.
I lean against the headboard. “I’m wrapped up in a whole heap of missing you.”
A woman’s voice trickles over me, muffled in a way that sounds like Matt put his hand over the phone. I sit up. “Is that Beth?”
“Yeah.” His voice cracks, the background sounds coming to life once again.
“Where are you?”
More muffled sounds and then his strained voice comes back on the line. “I was driving Beth home from work and we decided to stop and get take-out. When we left the sub place…babe, I thought it was you. Beth freaked out and Chief…”
My blood goes cold. “You thought who was me?”
He sucks in a breath. “There’s a body in the middle of the road. I could see her hair and…she looks just like you.”
I get off the bed. Panic rising up my throat. I snap at Chopper though I know he’s already listening, and I turn on the speaker so he can hear. “What body, Matt? Who is in the middle of the road?”
“I don’t know.” He sniffs. “Beth said she does.”
“Put her on the phone.” I wait, pulse pounding in my ears.
“Isabel.” Beth sobs. “It’s Isabel, Tessa.”
Shock rattles through me as Matt and Beth describe what they can see of the scene, the road blocked off and all bystanders being told to stay back. There’s a sheet over Isabel’s body. A white sheet staining red in an area much too large for her petite frame. Matt heard an EMT say “Another one gutted.” While shaking his head at the driver of a different ambulance who’d arrived at the scene.
“Beth said she doesn’t know if Gary and this girl knew each other.” Matt sniffs. “Do you?”
I shake my head, eyes locked on Chopper’s. “Gary doesn’t know her.” I do. She moved here when I was in ninth grade. She and Beth were the same age but didn’t run in the same circles. One night, I overheard her saying Beth shouldn’t be at a party that we were all at. Everyone told her not to mess with Beth or she’d have to deal with me, but Isabel only shrugged, as if she didn’t care she’d been overly loud in her judgment of Beth. My sister had heard every word. I tried to get Beth to stay at the party but she wouldn’t. After she left, I walked into the party, threw eyes at Isabel’s boyfriend—the one she kept telling everyone she was going to marry—and made out with him right in front of her. It was a teachable moment for Isabel. And she did learn. I never heard another bad peep out of her, about anyone. In fact, I almost haven’t heard any peeps out of her. She became quiet and kept to herself, and these days she only comes back into town to check on her mom who is the only remaining member of her family in Hinton.
