Chapter 5
Zane
The sun is high above me as I make my way from the marina toward Main Street. The town is relatively quiet today, but I’ve passed more than one friendly face. Unfortunately, I’m not feeling overly chatty at the moment so it’s been fake smiles, quick answers, and half-hearted waves.
All while my mind is on Tessa at the hospital. My mom is with her, has been most of the day. And since I haven’t heard otherwise, I’m assuming she wasn’t given the boot.
Tessa.
Why didn’t I keep looking for her?
Why did I simply accept the fact that she was dead?
Because I never thought she’d leave me. The thought brings a fresh wave of pain over me and I take a deep breath to bury it. That’s in the past. Right now, she’s injured in a hospital bed.
Reaching up, I grip the handle to the screen door on my sister’s coffee shop, then pull it open. Normally when the scent of fresh coffee and baked goods hits my lungs, I can’t help but smile.
But today not even the promise of fresh muffins can bring a smile to my face.
Anastasia glances up from behind the counter and starts to smile. It dies on her face, though, and she comes around the counter. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“Why do you think something is wrong?” I ask, forcing a smile.
“Um, because of your face,” Anastasia replies. Her eyes, the same shade as our mother’s, narrow on my face. “Spill, Knox.”
“I’m fine. Honestly.” I glance around the room, studying the locals who are inside. While I’m sure word will get around soon enough, I’d rather it not be me who spreads it. “Can we head upstairs and talk in private?”
“Sure thing. Karly, I’m taking my break!” she calls out.
Karly peeks her face out of the back room and throws up a thumbs up, her red ponytail swinging as she does. “Hey, Zane!”
“Hey, Karly,” I reply, trying my best to keep the forced smile firmly in place.
Anastasia takes off her apron and hangs it on a peg near the door, then takes my hand and pulls me up the steps toward the second floor which also doubles as her apartment. She shuts the door behind us, and I survey the colorful space.
It’s entirely my baby sister’s taste.
Random patterns, bright colors, lots of natural light, plants with large green leaves—happy. Just like her.
“Want a bottle of water? Tea?”
“No, I’m okay.” I take a seat on her floral couch and let out a sharp breath.
“This is bad. What is it? You’re scaring me.” Anastasia sits beside me, so I reach over and take her hand.
She’s been my best friend our entire lives, despite the two-year age difference between us. When our dad passed, we only grew closer, and it’s been that way ever since.
“I need to tell you something, but it has to stay between us. For now, at least.”
“Of course.” Her hazel eyes narrow on my face, her expression serious. “Come on, Zane. What’s going on?”
“Tessa is alive.”
Anastasia’s mouth falls slack, and she stares at me, shocked. “Are you serious? How do you know? Where has she been? Is she okay?” Each rapid-fired question breaks my heart because I know the truth will break hers.
“I’m not sure where she’s been. But currently, she’s at the hospital. She sustained some minor injuries, but I think she’ll be okay.”
“Zane.” Anastasia releases my hand and pushes to her feet, turning to gape at me.
When Tessa disappeared, Anastasia had been right at my side, trying to help me find answers.
She’d been with me while I grieved the loss, pointed me back to God when my anger got the better of me, and grounded me in the realities when I wanted to take vengeance into my own hands.
“Where did you find her? Who hurt her? Is that why she went missing? Oh, poor Tessa.”
“I’m not sure as to the who, and I wouldn’t even say that I found her. I was sleeping and heard someone moving around my boat. When I went to see who it was—”
“It was Tessa?” she finishes.
“It was Tessa,” I repeat. “She was bleeding from an injury on her thigh, and she had some other cuts and scrapes. Before I could ask her what happened, she passed out. So I took her to the hospital.”
Anastasia leans back against the couch. “Wow. How did she end up on your boat? Did she escape somewhere and come to you for help?”
Given her reaction to me, I’d say her coming to me on purpose was a big no. “I have no idea.”
“I’m honestly surprised I haven’t heard anything. Did you tell Mom?”
“Given her injuries, I asked Officer Leopold to keep her name off the record for now. He and the hospital staff have been tight-lipped about it. And yes, I told Mom. She’s there with her now.”
“That’s good.” Anastasia lets out a sharp breath. “Wow. This is a lot. Did she tell you why she left? I’m shocked you’re not there now.”
I take a deep breath. This is going to be the part she really doesn’t like. “Tessa claims that she left because she simply changed her mind about marrying me. She also kicked me out of her hospital room as soon as she realized I wasn’t her doctor.”
Anastasia rarely gets mad. In fact, there’s been plenty of moments in her life where she would have been completely validated in her anger, but she still chose kindness. However, at my repeat of Tessa’s callous words, my sister’s cheeks turn a deep pink and her gaze narrows on me.
“She changed her mind? So instead of telling you that, she let you stand there in front of all of your family and friends? Alone? Humiliated? And now she has the audacity to show up on your boat? Nope.” She starts toward the door, but I stand to block her path. “This is not going to fly, Zane!”
“Easy, Anastasia. Someone could be after her. She was pretty banged up.”
“No. Sounds to me like—once again—she wrapped you up in her problem. You’re too kind to tell her to kick rocks, but I’m not. Not after what she did to you.”
“Yes,” I say with the whisper of a smile on my face. “You are too kind.”
She glares at me but stops just short of opening the door, then turns to face me and crosses her arms. “Fine. But the audacity.”
“To be fair, I don’t think she counted on me being on the boat.”
“It’s your boat.”
“Yeah, and she snuck onto it late at night. She said she was only there for supplies.”
“So she was there to rob you?” Anastasia’s eyes widen and if I weren’t so shaken up already I might have laughed. “Are you kidding me? Why is she not in a cell, Zane? Did you tell the police? If someone did hurt her, then it seems to me the best place for her is behind bars.” She crosses her arms.
“If someone is really after her, then that’s the worst place for her to be. All it would take is one person being paid to get arrested, then taking her out once they’re inside.”
Anastasia stares at me in twisted shock. “This is insane.”
“Besides, like I said, she kicked me out of her hospital room. I don’t think she wants anything to do with me.”
“The audacity,” she repeats again. “She better stay away from you, Zane. I’m sorry she was hurt but her abandoning you like that? No. You deserve so much better.”
“I’m okay, Anastasia, honestly.”
“Well, I’m not.” She studies me a moment, then shakes her head. “You’re going to insist on helping her, aren’t you?”
“Does it sound like she wants my help?”
“That didn’t stop you before and we both know it won’t stop you now. Come on, Zane, don’t get involved in whatever this is. Let the police handle it. Whatever it is, it could be dangerous. You have no idea what she’s been into.”
“I know that, but I can’t just leave her to die, Anastasia. If someone really is after her, I can help. Besides, I’m more likely to die on a mission. This is nothing.” I smile, hoping it will ease some of the fear I see in her expression.
Her eyes fill. “Because that makes me feel better. If I remember correctly, Tessa spent more than a night in a jail cell when she’d been young. Maybe this is trouble she brought on herself by doing something she shouldn’t have been doing.”
She’d been arrested twice for shoplifting before she turned thirteen. It was the morning her dad came and picked her up the second time that I really saw her. I was at the precinct waiting on my dad to finish work for the day, and she’d been brought out from the back.
Even though we’d been at the same elementary school, I didn’t really know her. And since I got moved up to high school when I was eleven, I didn’t have a chance.
Not until my gaze locked on hers when they brought her out from the back.
From that moment on, I sought her out, trying to know as much as I could about the beautiful, haunted girl who’d captured my attention as a young teenager.
Dad died a week later, so it was another two months before I saw her again.
“She’d been stealing food, and no charges were filed. She wasn’t even officially booked.”
Anastasia sighs. “Only because Officer Leopold is a big softie.”
I chuckle. “I’m sure he’d love to know that’s what you think of him.”
Anastasia runs both hands over her face. “Zane, this is not good. I know that you beat yourself up for a long time over what happened to her, but you have answers now. Maybe you can let her go.”
“I thought she was dead. Her dad practically confessed even though they never found enough to charge him with anything. Anastasia, she’s alive.” For the first time since I realized it was Tessa who’d passed out in my arms, the full weight of that truth hits me square in the chest.
I’d grieved her.
Spent years trying to prove what everyone believed to be true.
And this whole time she’s been out there—alone.
Or is she alone? Did she find someone else? “I’m not in a relationship at this time.” I hate that it brings me relief to know that.
And before I can focus on my reaction too deeply, I shove the thought aside.
Right now, I need to know exactly what happened to her so I can make sure she stays alive. Because Anastasia is right, even if Tessa doesn’t want my help, I have no intention of stopping until I have no doubt she’ll be safe.
“I’ truly glad that she’s alive.” Anastasia reaches out and grips my arm. “But I’ve seen that look on your face before, Big Brother. I adored Tessa, but she definitely got you in your fair share of trouble. And it sounds like it’s no different now.”
The first time I was arrested, I’d been seventeen. Tessa had shown up with a split lip courtesy of her dad, so I returned the favor and broken his nose.
Officer Leopold responded to the call a neighbor made. He’d convinced her dad not to file charges, and I’d been driven home in the back of a police cruiser.
After that, I did what I could to keep my distance from her dad, though I begged Tessa to tell the police what was happening to her.
She refused, afraid to lose the only family she had left.
Even given the toxic reality of her life, she’d remained loyal, and lied to save him every single time the police even got close.
“I’ve got someone looking into what brought her here, so hopefully I’ll have some answers soon, okay?”
“I can’t talk you out of this?”
I shake my head.
She sighs. “Then, fine. But if you get arrested again, I’m going to let you sit there awhile before I bail you out.”
With a laugh, I lean forward and press a light kiss to the top of her head. “Deal.” My cell rings, so I withdraw it and check the readout. When I see my mom’s name, I answer with a smile. “Hey, Mom.”
“She’s gone,” she says, her tone sharp.
“What?” my stomach sinks, a pit forming before I can even fully process what she’s saying.
“Tessa. She left the hospital before they even fully discharged her.”
“When?”
“Not sure. The doctor left her room about an hour ago and told me that she wanted to rest. I went down to the cafeteria to get some food and when I came back, she was gone. I’m sorry, Zane.”
“It’s not your fault.” I swallow hard, trying to bite back the anger. She left. Again. Thing is, this time I know she’s alive, and I have no intention of letting her get away without first making sure she’s safe.
After that, she can leave and never look back.
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“Are you going to go after her?” my mom asks. “I’m really worried, Zane. She had a horrible nightmare while she was sleeping and screamed for help. Something is terribly wrong but she wouldn’t talk about it.”
My gaze locks on Anastasia who rolls her eyes. “We all know what you’re going to do, Big Brother, so just go do it.”