Teeny cries and cries until I don’t think there’s any more water left in her body, then her sobs turn to sniffles. We’re both in such shock that we remain on the hard, wood floor instead of crawling the few inches it would take to get on the mattress.
“Sissy, why is he here, doing this to us? I’m so confused.”
“I don’t know.” How in the world is he involved with this? Sweet Tyler, who played Frisbee on the beach with us and showed Teeny how to catch sand crabs.
I think hard about each moment we were together, dissecting them so I can make sense of him being here.
Like the afternoon we were hanging out at our apartment and he wanted to watch the Arizona Cardinals game. Said he had always been a big fan of theirs. Kept asking me if I liked them. I thought it was fate at the time. How awesome that his favorite team was from my home state. Of course, I played dumb, I wasn’t supposed to be from Arizona, but it was something that drew me closer to him.
Was he playing me? Trying to get me to slip up?
Teeny leans back and pulls the top sheet from the mattress so she can mop up her face. “Do you think he knew Thomas back in Florida?”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
Now that I’ve had time to think, I’m mad at myself for not demanding some sort of explanation when Tyler was here.
Florida.
It was the last somewhat happy placement.
Agent Hammond was the one to relocate us to Florida.
Everything started falling apart once we left Florida.
“Teeny, can I borrow one of the puzzle books?”
She picks the one off the top and hands it to me. I always do better with a list, so it’s time to figure this out.
I scratch out the things I know for sure on the back inside cover:
1.An assassin named Mateo is after all of us.
2.Tyler is a piece-of-shit fraud.
3.Agent Williams’s grandson is being held hostage, too.
4.I don’t know where Ethan is or if he’s okay.
5.We’re in New Orleans but don’t know who to trust if we make it out of this building.
6.Agent Hammond is the mole.
7.My only weapon is a plunger.
That’s it. I stare at it for a long time but can’t add anything else to it. The light fades from the room and Teeny falls asleep much earlier than usual, probably exhausted from all the crying.
The lock turns, the door slowly opening, and I gear up for a confrontation with Tyler. I need to keep my cool and try to get some answers. But it’s not Tyler. It’s Thomas and he’s not in the priest clothes this time. He’s dressed as a cop: badge, gun, and all.
Oh, crap. If I ever thought the local cops could help—I don’t now. Does he know Tyler’s been outed?
“Get up.”
I scoot back. “Why?”
“You want to see your boyfriend?”
I jump up from the mattress and race to the door. “Yes.” I glance back at Teeny. She’s still asleep.
