“It’s very important,” Tean said.“What else did you do?”
“You know the lettuce is even better if you put the bacon on it?”
“I don’t think it evenisbacon.I think it’s some sort of carbohydrate they dyed red and immersed in liquid smoke.”
“Okay, but if you’re not going to eat it, I’ll take it.”
But when Jem reached for the bacon crumbles—still sealed in their little packet—Tean put out a hand to stop him and said, “Show me the face that makes me suspect the absolute worst.”
“What face?”
“The one you said you used to get me to do whatever you wanted.”
“Babe!That’s so mean!I never said that.In fact—”
“Jeremiah.”
“—I don’t even remember what we were talking about.”
“We were talking about how you—”
“What I don’t get,” Jem said over him, “is why they killed Tess.”
The mixture of amusement and watchfulness on Tean’s face disappeared.He ate a few more pieces of lettuce, chewing slowly.Around them, the dining room was steadily busy without being crowded: a man with stringy hair and a leather jacket picked up an Uber Eats order, a woman leading a chain of children waited for their turn at the counter, a little boy was banging a toy dog on a nearby tabletop and screaming while his dad looked at something on his phone.It was a site called Leather Ladies; Jem had spotted it over his shoulder when he’d gotten up for more ketchup.
“Never mind,” Jem said.“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“It’s a buzzkill.It just popped out of my mouth; I’m sorry.”
Tean shook his head.“We need to think about it, Jem.We’re not any closer to finding them.If anything, we’re further from it.And they know we’re looking for them.They’re trying to stop us.”
He didn’t say,I almost died, but only because he was Tean, and he was trying not to make Jem feel bad.
“I’m sorry about Amy,” Jem said.
Tean nodded.
“It sucks,” Jem added.“And it’s crazy.How did they get her?”
“Who knows?”Tean said.“They might have contacted her and lured her out.They might have called around to every hotel in the city.For all we know, she really did need medication, and when she went back to her house, they were waiting for her.”
“Do you think it was him the whole time?Texting us with her phone, I mean,” Jem said.“Because that’s some weird shit.”
“He’s delusional,” Tean said.“And probably decompensating.Nothing he’s doing at this point is rational.”
“Yeah, he’s crazy.But he still almost got us.”
Tean nodded.“Whatever she knew, or whatever information she had, they didn’t want her sharing it.”
“Why do you think they killed her?”Jem asked.
Tean blinked.“Because she wasn’t going to stop investigating.”
“No, not Amy.Tess.”Jem waited a beat, but then he said, “It doesn’t make any sense.She was part of their group.Their pack, I guess.She helped them.”
“Maybe she wanted out,” Tean said.“I’m sure that the experience of living on the run, hiding out at an abandoned ranch, being cut off from her life and the comforts she was accustomed to—it wasn’t nearly as exciting or thrilling or whatever she’d hoped it would be.”
