“What the hell are we going to do?” Ethan asks, rubbing a hand over his face.
I shrug, feeling hopeless. “Thomas warned me if we called the cops, he would know. He was wearing that police uniform and I really believe him even though I’d love nothing more than to dial 911 right now.”
“I don’t think we can trust Agent Williams, either,” Ethan says. “We still don’t know exactly what reason Thomas had Noah.”
Ethan’s right. I’ve never felt so powerless.
I look at Ethan and say, “Maybe we can figure out somewhere to take Teeny. To get her away from this.”
Teeny’s head pops up. “If I can’t be with Dad, I’m staying with you. I don’t trust anybody else. And don’t talk about me like I’m not sitting right here.”
Ethan looks at me a moment, his expression weird. “Tell me everything you know about the brother.”
“I met him when I was Avery Preston in Florida. We started hanging out, a little at first then more regularly.”
“Is that a different way to say y’all were dating?” he asks.
“Are you mad?” I ask back.
He drops back against the booth hard enough to make the table vibrate. He’s shaking his head before he starts talking. “Why would I be mad that you had a boyfriendbeforeI ever met you? I’m mad you weren’t straight with me the minute you found out he was under that mask. Why did you make it out like he was just some random guy you knew? It’s not like this isn’t a big deal, Anna.”
He’s right and I feel terrible. Worse than terrible.
“You were so hurt and frustrated when I got to your room. And look at how you reacted when you found out that we had dated! You nearly beat him to death. I didn’t want to give Thomas any reason to get rid of you. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
He spins his empty water glass on the table. “And to think it’s his fault we’re here. He was there, at the party. He knocked into our chair so hard you almost fell out.” He looks up at me and asks, “You didn’t see him there?”
I hold my hands up in front of me and say, “No! I swear. I didn’t see him.” I scoot out of the booth and then back in on his side. I move as close as I can to him and I’m relieved when he doesn’t back away. My arms go around him but he doesn’t hold me back.
I turn my head toward his ear and whisper, “And the reason I never mentioned him to you before is because he never entered my mind. I liked Tyler. At the time, it was nice to try to be a normal girl with a normal boyfriend. But I never loved him like I love you.”
Ethan closes his eyes, tightly and says, “I just thought we were done with the lies. I understand you couldn’t tell me everything while y’all were in the program, but we’re past that now. We will not get through this if we can’t trust each other.”
“You can trust me.” I can’t lose him over this.
“We’ll talk about this later. We need to find a place to stay for tonight.”
On the way out, Ethan pulls the waitress aside and talks to her quickly, then he ushers us out of the restaurant.
“She said there’s a pawnshop not far from here. Let’s go.”
We walk back the way we came, getting off Bourbon and heading down Orleans Street. It’s still crowded but significantly less so.
Ethan pulls Teeny close. “Scan the crowd. Mateo won’t stand around Ursuline long. Look for the cross tattoos on his neck.”
Ethan starts for a side street but Teeny grabs his arm, pulling him back. “Look what that guy’s handing out!”
Both Ethan and I look in the direction she’s pointing. There’s a guy wearing a T-shirt with the same logo that was on the side of the carriage.
Teeny runs toward him before we can stop her.
She takes a flyer from a guy named Jimbo, according to his name tag, and it’s the same picture Tyler showed me on his phone.
“Tours every hour. Ten bucks a head,” Jimbo says.
“What is a Casket Girl?” Teeny asks.
We don’t have time for this. I try to pull Teeny away but she won’t budge.
