Chapter 54
Not Laughing
Ryder
I still didn't get why Tessa was sticking with the coffee shop. She was unpaid, unappreciated, and clinging to the idea that toughing it out was the right thing to do.
It wasn't. But she was smart enough to realize that on her own, so I'd planted the seed and let it drop while walking her back to work.
I'd just returned to my suite when my cellphone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to look. Maddox.
I didn't hesitate. "Hey, what's up?"
"A question."
"Yeah?"
"What's with the CPR doll?"
I frowned. "What CPR doll?"
He paused for a beat too long. "So you haven't seen it?"
At something in his voice, my fingers flexed on the phone. "I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Hang on. I'll send you a picture."
A moment later, an image arrived by text. I stared as my pulse started to kick. "What the hell?"
From the small screen, a CPR training mannequin stared back at me. The thing was blonde, female, and far too realistic for my liking.
It looked a lot like Tessa.
On the phone, Maddox said, "You're not laughing."
No shit. "Yeah, because it's not funny."
Maddox sighed. "You poor bastard."
"Yeah? Send me one of you, and maybe I'll crack a smile."
This made him chuckle. "Relax, it's just a prototype. Carver probably keeps it on his couch – or hell, his bed for all I know."
The thought might've been funny, except I wasn't a fan of the ideas this conjured up. "Meaning?"
"I'm just saying, the guy has a type."
This wasn't news, but I still wasn't happy to hear it. I was even less happy to see a lifeless Tessa staring from my screen. With a hard scoff, I closed the image.
Maddox asked, "So you didn't know?"
"Hell no."
"Do you think she did?"
She. Meaning Tessa. I didn't stop to think. "No way."
"Because…?"
"Because she would've mentioned it."
"Huh." Again, he paused. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?"
Something in his tone hit me wrong. "Just what are you getting at?"
"That photo was in the Thatcher-Hale files, and Tessa Sinclair was the lead. So she had to know."
I didn't bother asking how he'd gotten the files. It didn't even surprise me. But yeah, I was surprised that Tessa hadn't mentioned the mannequin.
And I couldn’t stop wondering which came first – the doll looking like Tessa, or Tessa looking like the doll.
Either way, I didn't like it. Knowing Tessa, she wouldn't either.
I was still stuck on the timing when Maddox said, "I just figured you should know."
Bullshit. Whatever he was getting at, he and I weren't seeing it the same.
I trusted her. Plus, the logical part of me could see why Tessa hadn't mentioned it. Hell, if some weird-ass doll looked like me, I wouldn't be so chatty about it either.
When I made no reply, Maddox said, "And I've got that video."
"What video?"
"The one of her meltdown. You said you hadn't seen it. Do you want to?"
A few days ago, I might've jumped at the chance. Not now.
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.