Did I want to see Tessa losing it?
That was a hard no.
But did I want to know what was going on?
Yes.Without a doubt.
I told Maddox, "If you send it, I'll watch."
He sent it less than a minute after we got off the phone, and I watched it exactly one time before deciding I'd seen enough.
Tessa had looked – I wasn't quite sure how to put it –not like herself.
If the video were of someone else, I might've called them unhinged.But this was Tessa. And I knew the backstory.
After everything that had happened, it was a miracle she'd stuck with the Carver account at all.
But that was another problem, wasn't it?
Just like with the coffee shop, she hadn't known when to quit.
I closed the video file and walked out onto the balcony. Silently, I stared down at the street below. From up here, Main Street looked harmless and quaint, but my thoughts were anything but.
For Tessa's sake, what I wanted now was a way to keep her close.
55
The Great Almost-Brawl
Tessa
In the coffee shop's back room, Franny's announcement had me reeling.A brawl? At the bike shop?
Stupefied, I said, "Wait…you don't meanMaisie'sbike shop?"
"Of course I mean Maisie's," she said. "You think I'd be rushing over here if it was a different one?"
"Actually, I don't know," I confessed as panic rose in my throat. "What kind of brawl?"
Her tone grew ominous. "The kind with men squaring off."
Good Lord."How many?"
Franny let my question hang for a long, terrible moment before giving up the number. "Two."
I froze. "Wait…did you say…two?"
She gave me a funny look. "Yeah, is that a problem?"
"Not really, but, well…it's just that whenIpicture a brawl, there's always a lot more people."
Franny blinked, looking baffled. "How many more?"
"I dunno. Maybe four or five at least?"
"Well, therewerefour people. But the other two were girls." She paused, as if thinking. "And now that you mention it…theydidlook ready to go at it."
I wasn't liking the sounds ofthat. "Do you know who they were?"
