The Comeback Kiss (39 page)

Sosie had been worried about Izzy ever since that day in t
he bathroom, when they discovered that Izzy
’
s mom had been killed by a nut job. What if that pyro-psycho found Izzy and hurt her? Sosie would never be able to forgive herself for keeping quiet.

So, okay,
she thought as she raised her finger to hit the butt
on.
Just do it.

She pulled her hand down. She couldn
’
t. It wasn
’
t right. Maybe what she needed to do was talk to Izzy, convince Izzy to tell Uncle Matt. That made sense. And it wouldn
’
t break the code, and she wouldn
’
t lose her best friend...

The porch fig
ht switched on, and a moment later Aunt Grace pulled the door open.

“
I thought I heard someone out here,”
Aunt Grace said, her smile fading as she looked at Sosie. “
Sosie? Baby? What
’
s wrong?”

Sosie sighed, felt her chin start to quiver. She didn
’
t know wh
at to do. She just didn
’
t know what to do. She didn
’
t want a psycho-pyro to kill her best friend, but she didn
’
t want to lose her best friend, either.

“
I don
’
t know what to do,”
she squeaked at her aunt.

Aunt Grace reached out and put her arm around Sosie
’
s shoulder. “
You come on in and I
’
ll get you some cookies, okay? And then you can tell me all about it.”

Sosie smiled, and let her aunt guide her inside, comforted by the familiar scent of gardenias in her Aunt Grace
’
s perfume.

Chapter Nineteen

Finn lea
ned forward and glanced up to the nondescript two-story concrete box of an office building they were staking out. Tarpey
’
s office was on the second floor, three in from the back. The light was still on. He glanced at the clock in the dash.

6:01. He
’
d been
in the car with his brother less than ten minutes. And it felt like forever. He seriously couldn
’
t believe glaciers hadn
’
t formed and melted back into the ocean in just the time he
’
d been sitting in this car. And the longer he just sat, staring at the bui
l
ding, the more he thought of Tessa and how much he wanted to get back to her.

Which wasn
’
t good. There was a world of hurt waiting there, and now that she
’
d lain her little confession at his feet, he knew he didn
’
t have only his hurt to worry about. He too
k a deep breath and decided to focus on the task at hand.

“
So, why isn
’
t Tarpey
’
s office at the fire station?”
Finn asked.

Joe shrugged. “
There
’
s barely enough room there for the truck and the guys on call. Town puts him up here, but there are grumblings t
hat they
’
re gonna build a new fire station sometime in the next few years. Which will be great, because the electrical setup in that place is old as hell. I wouldn
’
t be surprised if it goes up
—”
Joe shrugged off Finn
’
s look. “
What? You don
’
t want an answe
r
, don
’
t ask the question.”

“
You
’
re right,”
Finn said, leaning back against the headrest and closing his eyes. “
Wake me up when Tarpey comes out.”

“
No,”
Joe said. “
Why do you get to sleep?”

Finn opened his eyes. “
Fine. You wanna sleep, you sleep. I
’
ll keep
an eye out for Tarpey.”

“
Okay.”
Joe leaned his head back, closed his eyes for a second, then raised his head again. “
I can
’
t sleep. You sure you know what you
’
re doing?”

Finn sighed. “
Did I give you a plan?”

“
Yeah,”
Joe bit out reluctantly.

“
Then what
’
s th
e plan?”

Joe paused for a moment, then said, “
I tell the guard that I need to return this to Matt.”
He held up the manila envelope. “
And that I
’
m just gonna shove it under the door.”

“
Check that out, folks. He can be taught.”

“
Yeah, that
’
s fine for getting
upstairs, but how are we gonna get into his office? I don
’
t have a key.”

Finn rubbed his thumb and index finger over his brow, trying to keep the brother-induced headache at bay. “
We don
’
t need a key.”

“
What are you gonna do, bust the door down?”

Finn sta
red at him for a moment, then declined to answer on the basis that that was the stupidest fucking question he
’
d ever been asked. Instead, he jerked his chin to indicate the building.

“
You know the guard?”

Joe nodded. “
Yeah. Gerard.”

Finn gave a slow blink.
“
Gerard? The security guard
’
s name is Gerard?”

“
Yeah,”
Joe said. “
And when we talk to him, speak up. He
’
s a little hard of hearing.”

Finn had to laugh at that one. “
The security guard is
deaf
?”

Joe let out a rough sigh. “
He
’
s not deaf. He
’
s hard of hearin
g.”

Finn shook his head. “
It
’
s amazing this town hasn
’
t been robbed blind.”

“
No, it
’
s not. Because regular people live here. Regular people don
’
t rob each other blind.”

“
It
’
s fucking Mayberry, is what it is,”
Finn grumbled.

“
Then leave,”
Joe said.

“
Planni
ng on it.”

“
When?”

Finn shot his brother a dark look. “
When I
’
m ready.”

Joe stared at the building and blinked. “
Shit.”

Finn glanced up. “
What?”

Joe motioned up toward Tarpey
’
s window. It was dark. “
Did you see him leave the building?”

Finn took a deep br
eath and resisted the urge to knock his brother out. “
No. Is his car here?”

Joe leaned forward and scanned the lot. “
Don
’
t see it.”
“
Oh, for Christ
’
s sake.”
Finn yanked at his door handle and jumped out of the car. “
You were supposed to be watching, idiot.
”

He heard the other door slam, followed by Joe
’
s footsteps catching up to him.

“
You think you can handle Gerald the deaf guard on your own, or do you need me to hold your hand?”
Finn asked.

“
It
’
s Gerard,”
Joe corrected.

Finn took a deep breath, pulled on
a casual expression, and pushed into the lobby of the building, praying to God to give him the strength not to kill his brother before they got what they came for.

Afterward, though, all bets were off.

***

Tessa sat on her sofa, staring at the ceiling. W
allace sat by her side, his head resting on her knee, while she petted him absently.

I loved you when we were growing up, I loved you when you left, and I loved you while you were gone.

“
Oh, God.”
She cringed, put her hand over her eyes. How was she ever g
oing to face him again? What had she been thinking?

But most of all, why the hell didn
’
t he say it back? And worse, when he did say something, it didn
’
t make any sense.
Five tomatoes for a dollar?
What the hell was that supposed to mean?

She raised her hea
d and looked at Wallace. “
What
’
s up with men?”
she asked. “
He loves me. I know he does.”
She paused. “
I think he does. He might.”
She nibbled her lip. “
He does. He has to. If he doesn
’
t, I
’
ll kill him.”

Quit worrying. He
’
s crazy about you. He
’
s just a big,
dumb ass about it.

Tessa blinked. That was a male voice. In her head. She didn
’
t typically have male voices in her head. She looked at the dog, who just stared back at her, blinking his eyes and looking all puppy dog.

“
Great,”
she said. “
To top it all off
, I
’
m losing my mind.”
The front door burst open, and Wallace simply rolled on his side, exposing his belly for scratching. “
Some watchdog,”
she said as Izzy blew into the living room, followed by Margie and...

Holy shit.

Tessa hopped up off the sofa, send
ing Wallace flying with a small yap.

“
Vickie!”
She ran and threw herself into Vickie
’
s arms. “
When did you get back? We
’
ve been looking for you. I need to talk to you about some things.”

“
Vickie
’
s been in Margie
’
s basement all week,”
Izzy said, a bright sm
ile on her face. “
I
’
m plan B.”

Tessa looked from her sister to Margie to Vickie, then back to Izzy.

“
So you knew where she was the whole time?”
she asked. “
And what
’
s plan B?”

“
No, I just found out,”
Izzy said. “
And I don
’
t really know what plan B is.”

“
Pl
an B basically starts and ends with telling Izzy,”
Margie said, heading into the kitchen. “
Where
’
s your liquor? Still in the cabinet over the fridge?”

“
What
’
s left of it, anyway,”
Izzy said, just loud enough for Tessa to hear. Tessa shot her a look and the
y shared a smile.

“
Come on in,”
Tessa said, motioning toward the sofa. Izzy sat next to Vickie, and Tessa took the rocking chair. Margie came back with two drinks, handing one to Vickie, and then paused as she was about to settle herself in the easy chair,
completing the circle.

“
I
’
m sorry, Tessa. Sometimes I forget you
’
re of age. Would you like something?”

Tessa shook her head. “
No, I just wanna know what
’
s going on.”

Izzy sighed and rolled her eyes. “
This is where she
’
s gonna try to send me upstairs.”