Chapter 19. Tessa #2
“He came into her mom’s store one afternoon while Tilly was working. He told her he’d keep coming back until she went out with him. And he did. He showed up around ten times, always bringing a bouquet. Eventually she buckled.”
Reed lets out a low whistle over Carl’s commitment, and I feel like I need to explain Tilly’s choices.
“Tilly thought he looked like a young Prince Harry. She was charmed by his smarts and smile and found his persistence endearing. But I don’t know.
” I cross my arms and study Carl as he works at the center table, around all the alcohol and mixers.
“I never saw the appeal. I always thought it was creepy for a college guy to be so insistent on a high school relationship. They dated for maybe three weeks, but he was so clingy that she ended it. Now she says she doesn’t trust her own judgment with guys. ”
Carl strains the drink into another cup, then wanders around the kitchen looking for a place to discard the roots and berries. As he’s doing that, a crowd enters and people begin chanting “Brett, Brett, Brett!” as Brett Whitaker shotguns his beer.
In the chaos, Dave arrives and leans with his back to Carl’s poisoned cup. But Carl doesn’t notice. He’s too busy shoving his berries down the sink, hiding the evidence.
“So, it never was Dave’s drink,” I say as the whole situation starts to make sense.
“I thought that was a weird drink for the factory guys,” says Reed.
“Who wants a Whittaker special?” Brett hands out his disgusting concoctions. People clamber for them faster than he can pour.
“Carl tried to make Tilly sick, make her crawl back to him for help and comfort, but when that didn’t work, he tried to kill her.” Reed gestures toward the table.
“But then … look who walks in.”
The other Reed, from the night of the party, saunters inside. Carl tries to return to his poisoned cocktail, but the crowd’s so thick and unruly he can’t push through.
Brett thrusts his drink, and what he thinks is Caden’s drink, into Reed’s hands.
Carl stares in shock as Reed departs. If he stops Reed, he’ll have to acknowledge what he’s done, but if he doesn’t, he’s responsible for Reed’s death.
Carl cracks the door open and watches as I down some of his poisoned drink, make a face, then hand it off to Reed, who guzzles the rest. Carl shuts the door, eyes darting around the kitchen.
No one has any clue what’s gone down. Brett’s shaken up a beer can, so it explodes on the crowd when he pops the tab open.
People laugh and run in all directions. Carl stumbles in a daze toward the back exit, and we follow.
At first, I think he’s going to pick more berries, but he slides down against the siding and sits there, staring straight ahead.
His fingers tap rapidly along his leg, the only indication he feels anything at all.
On our way back inside, Reed turns to me. “So, case closed. Creepy Carl did it, in the kitchen with the berries.”
I glare at him just as the other Reed struts in to get more drinks. “Carl made it, but you’re the one who basically Hunger Gamed us.”
“Should I understand that reference?”
“You are the reason why we’re dead. You grabbed a poisoned drink and gave it to me.” Anger suddenly pulses through my limbs, heats my cheeks.
“Tessa, come on, that’s not fair.” His face has gone bone-white. “That drink was shoved into my hands.”
“That’s all you have to say?” I tap my foot. “And not … I don’t know … I’m sorry?”
He rubs his neck. “Look, for what it’s worth … I am sorry.” His face is pained, like the admission cost him. “But at least we have answers now. Carl obviously intended to kill Tilly.”
“Tilly doesn’t drink, which Carl probably didn’t know since they only dated briefly.
But even if she did, there’s no way in hell she’d ever accept a drink from him.
So no, we didn’t die to save her, we just died.
We were killed by accident. We are the sad, unintended byproducts of some psycho’s stalker revenge. ”
I storm out of the kitchen and back to the foyer. I can’t stand having Carl outside the door while his poison spreads through our systems.
“Look, I get it. This all sucks.” Reed races to catch up. “I mean … I had no idea what was being handed to me, but I really am sorry, Tessa. You have to believe me.” There’s a grimace in his voice, like none of this is easy for him. “But doesn’t it help a little knowing that Tilly’s okay?”
I pause and he almost smacks into me. Something’s itching at the back of my mind.
“Is she, though?” I turn to face him as pieces of a puzzle shift in my brain, slowly taking shape.
“Remember the night of the séance when people were gathered on the lawn, how Tilly said she’d been out jogging by the river earlier that day when someone almost ran her off the road?
What if that wasn’t some accident with a distracted driver? What if he’s still coming for her?”
Reed freezes as a wave of realization breaks over him.
“Maybe we’re not here to solve a murder.” I lock eyes with him as the gravity of our situation takes hold. “Maybe we’re here to prevent one.”