Chapter 7 Tessa
TESSA
The summer camp parking lot was already half full when Ryan pulled his pickup truck into a spot near the large cedar main building.
Sunlight glinted off the rows of minivans and SUVs as parents dropped off their children for the day.
Piper had been bouncing in her seat for the last five minutes, her ponytail swinging with each movement, her freckled cheeks flushed with excitement about seeing her friends.
The moment Ryan put the truck in park, Piper had her seatbelt off with a decisive click and was eagerly waiting for Tessa to undo hers and climb out, her small fingers drumming impatiently against the leather seat.
“I told you I should’ve sat in the back,” Piper exclaimed impatiently. “Sorry, Tessa. I don’t mean to be rude, but…”
“I know, I know,” Tessa laughed, unbuckling her seatbelt. “You’re in a hurry to leave us, the older generation.”
“I do like being with you,” Piper assured Tessa. “But…”
“You like being with your friends more,” Tessa teased with a wink and reached for the door handle.
“Whoa, hold on,” Ryan said, laughing. “Let me at least turn off the engine.”
“Sorry,” Piper said, but she didn’t look sorry at all. Her eyes were scanning the groups of kids already gathered near the camp entrance.
Tessa climbed out of the passenger side and watched as Piper jumped down from the truck. She pulled the back door open and grabbed her backpack, then slung it over her shoulders. The girl was practically vibrating with energy. Ryan pushed open the driver’s door and slid out.
“There’s Emma!” Piper exclaimed, waving frantically at a girl with dark braids who was standing near the entrance with a woman who Tessa knew was Emma’s mother, Debbie.
Emma spotted Piper and came running over, her own excitement matching Piper’s. The two girls hugged as if they hadn’t seen each other in months, not just a few days. Tessa remembered those times when she was Piper’s age. A few days away from your friends could feel like months.
“Hello,” Ryan said, greeting Emma’s mother with a warm smile as she approached. “Good to see you.”
“Hello, Ryan,” Debbie greeted them. She was a petite woman with the same dark hair as her daughter and a friendly, open expression. “Hi, Tessa, it’s good to see you both again.”
“Hi Debbie, you’re looking well,” Tessa said with a warm smile.
“Thank you,” Debbie said, looking pleased.
Tessa knew she had been through a nasty divorce recently.
Then she turned to Ryan. “I wanted to catch you before camp started. Emma has been begging us to let Piper spend the night tonight. There’s a new movie that just opened, one of those kids’ fantasy things with dragons and magic.
The girls are dying to see it, and I thought I’d take them to the early showing and then have a sleepover. ”
“Oh, please, Uncle Ryan?” Piper said, her hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. “Please, please, please?”
Ryan glanced at Tessa, then back at Debbie. “If it were up to me, I’d say yes in a heartbeat. But I need to check with my father first. He might have plans for tonight.”
“Of course, I completely understand,” Debbie said. She pulled a card from her purse and handed it to Ryan. “Here’s my new number. Just give me a call and let me know. The movie starts at four, so if Piper can come, we’d need to pick her up right after camp ends at three.”
“I’ll speak to my father as soon as we get home,” Ryan promised. He looked down at Piper. “I’m sure it won’t be a problem, kiddo.”
“Yes!” Piper pumped her fist in the air, making both Emma and her mother laugh. “Thanks, Uncle Ryan.”
“Perfect,” Debbie said.
“Piper, if you do get to sleep over, text me a list of what you need packed, and I’ll pack it for you. Ryan can drop your overnight bag off before camp ends.”
“I will!” Piper said. She gave Tessa and then Ryan a quick hug, then, before they could say goodbye, Piper was already pulling Emma toward the camp entrance, the two girls talking a mile a minute.
“Have a good day at camp!” Tessa called after them.
Piper waved without looking back, too engrossed in whatever she and Emma were discussing.
“Be careful,” Ryan yelled, and this time Piper didn’t even respond. They were already through the front door. “I guess I know where I stand in the line. Right behind her best friend.”
“That’s youth for you,” Tessa laughed. “Fickle with their love and attention.”
“I guess we were the same at that age,” Ryan said with a sigh as they stood for a moment watching kids pile through the door.
“I know when I went to camp, I was just as excited as Piper was,” Tessa told him. “My mother had to restrain me to get a hug and kiss goodbye. I was always so excited to be there.”
“I bet it was tough always having your brother tag along as you were the same age?” Ryan said.
“Not really,” Tessa said with a shrug. “Between the ages of ten and sixteen, Trent and I were close but not socially close.”
“I was the tag-along with Grady,” Ryan told her. His eyes darkened as he thought of his late older brother, and Tessa’s heart squeezed.
She’d met Grady and his wife a few times when her mother had first moved to Nantucket. It had been a terrible shock and blow when they had both been killed.
Ryan and Tessa got back into the truck. Silence descended over them as Ryan started the engine just as his phone buzzed with a notification. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
“It’s a voicemail from my father,” Ryan said, frowning slightly. “That’s weird. He usually just calls back if I don’t answer his call.”
He tapped the screen to play the message and held the phone to his ear. Tessa watched his expression change as he listened, going from curious to alert to something that looked like concern.
After about thirty seconds, Ryan pulled the phone away from his ear and hit a button. “Let me put this on speaker,” he said. “You should hear this too.”
Mitch’s voice filled the truck’s cab, clear despite the slight tinny quality of the phone’s speaker.
“Ryan, Lori just told us about Tessa’s revelation regarding the timeline of incidents, and I think it was a good catch.
Well worth looking into. Marcus and I are going to be pursuing the Sally Lane angle this morning, and if you get back to Pelican Bay and we’re not there yet, that’s what we’re doing. ”
Ryan hit pause and looked at Tessa. “What revelation?”
Tessa took a breath.
Tessa hesitated, twisting her hands together.
“I was reviewing the Stanstead timeline and...” She stopped, not wanting to say it aloud again.
Her stomach clenched the same way it had when the pattern first emerged, undeniable yet impossible to accept.
“The surveillance started with Lori, but the actual incidents—they all began after I arrived. The dead bird was laid out on the porch on my first night in Nantucket.” She rubbed her temple.
“Then the break-in, the blackout, and then your father’s attack.
” She met Ryan’s eyes, then looked away.
“As much as I hope it’s just a coincidence.
I can’t help but think this is about my work on the Stanstead case and the target is actually me. ”
Ryan’s expression shifted, a flash of alarm crossing his face. “You think you might be the primary target?”
“I think I might be the target, full stop,” Tessa corrected. “I’m the attorney representing a lot of the people the Stansteads defrauded. If this is connected to that case, then yes, I could be just as much of a target as Lori.”
Ryan was quiet for a moment, his jaw tight. Then he nodded slowly. “That’s actually a really good point.” His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Or as you’re both connected to the Stanstead case, you and Lori are both targets.”
“Yes,” Tessa acknowledged. “Or both Lori and I are the targets. The Stansteads are not people you mess with. Even though we’ve been assured that they and all their associates are in prison…” She swallowed. “Their influence is still far-reaching and extremely dangerous.”
Ryan met her eyes, and something warm passed between them before he looked away and hit play on the voicemail again.
“This mystery is like an onion that we just keep unpeeling more and more layers,” Ryan said, running a hand through his hair.
“What else does your father have to say?” Tessa asked, noting the pause and length of the message still to be played.
Ryan hit the play button, and Mitch’s voice continued.
“Marcus has come up with a plan to approach Sally in a way that might get her talking. I’ll spare you the details for now, but basically, he’s going to bump into her at her usual coffee shop, strike up a conversation, and invite her to a barbecue we’re having tonight at Sunrise House.
Lori and I will make an appearance to give Sally the impression that we’re.
..” There was a pause, and Mitch’s voice took on a slightly uncomfortable tone.
“Well, that we’re romantically involved.
The goal is to make her jealous enough that she’ll accept the invitation and show up tonight so we can observe her behavior and hopefully get some information. ”
Tessa raised her eyebrows. That was quite a plan and sounded like entrapment. But while it did sound manipulative, Tessa could see that it could also potentially be very effective. It was a tactic she knew very well.
“Which brings me to another point,” Mitch continued, “I hope you or Tessa don’t have plans tonight because we’re having a barbecue, and hopefully Sally, our suspect number one, will be there.
We’ll talk more when we are both home.” A pause.
“Ryan, you and Tessa need to watch your backs and be careful.”
The voicemail ended with a beep.
Ryan set his phone down in the cup holder and let out a long breath. “Well, I guess that answers whether Piper can go to Emma’s. It’s probably just as well that she’s been invited to stay over.”