Chapter 8 Tessa #2
Tessa rushed out of the room, her mind spinning through implications and connections.
She’d gotten an inclination when they were still locked in that basement.
Tessa had known she’d figure out the tune that was stuck in her head.
But she stopped short in the hallway, her racing thoughts derailed by the sight in front of her.
Mitch and Lori were sitting in two of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, but they'd somehow managed to make them look almost cozy.
Mitch's arm was wrapped around Lori's shoulders, holding her close.
Lori's head rested on his shoulder, her face relaxed in sleep.
And Mitch's head leaned against the top of hers, his eyes closed, his breathing deep and even.
They were fast asleep. Together.
Tessa felt her heart grow three sizes, warmth spreading through her chest despite everything else going on.
They made such a cute couple. She'd seen how they felt about each other from the moment she'd arrived in Nantucket.
The way Mitch's face softened when he looked at Lori.
The way Lori's eyes lit up when Mitch entered a room.
The careful distance they'd maintained only made the attraction more obvious.
But now they weren't maintaining distance. Now they were holding each other, finding comfort and strength in physical closeness.
Good, Tessa thought. They both deserved this. Deserved happiness after everything they'd been through.
Her eyes fell to Lori's lap, where her phone sat loosely in her hand, threatening to slip to the floor. Tessa hesitated. She really didn't want to disturb them. They needed the rest, needed this moment together.
But she also really needed to look something up. And Lori's phone was right there.
Making a decision, Tessa tiptoed toward the sleeping pair as quietly as she could manage.
The hospital was mostly silent at this hour, just the distant beep of monitors and the soft squeak of nurses' shoes on linoleum.
She moved carefully, holding her breath as she reached out and gently extracted the phone from Lori's loose grip.
Lori stirred slightly but didn't wake. Mitch's arm tightened around her, and he mumbled something unintelligible before settling back into sleep.
Tessa smiled despite her urgency. She was glad the veterinarian had come to take Misty that afternoon. The dog had been getting anxious at the hospital, pacing and whining, clearly stressed by the unfamiliar environment and the smell of fear in the air. Better that she was somewhere calm and safe.
Tessa glanced at the clock on the wall as she turned to go back to Ryan's room, and her eyes widened. Good grief. It was almost four in the morning. When had that happened? They'd arrived at the hospital around noon yesterday. Had she really been here for sixteen hours?
The thought made her head spin with exhaustion, but she pushed it aside. She had something more important to focus on right now.
Back in Ryan's room, Tessa settled into the chair beside his bed once again and unlocked Lori's phone. She pulled up the web browser and started searching, typing in names, dates, and what she could remember from that trial.
But to her surprise there was nothing. No articles. No records. No social media profiles.
Tessa frowned and tried different search terms. More specific queries. Cross-referenced information. Still nothing.
"How can there be no information about this family?" Tessa muttered, staring at the phone screen in confusion. She knew they'd been in the news. The trial had been public record. There should be something.
Unless someone had deliberately scrubbed their online presence. Which was possible, she supposed, but it took significant effort and resources to truly erase yourself from the internet.
She needed someone who could get her answers. Someone with access to databases and records that weren't available to the general public.
Tessa scrolled through Lori's contacts until she found what she was looking for. Trent Ryder. Her twin brother. Her annoyingly overprotective, impossibly paranoid, absolutely brilliant twin brother, who worked in federal law enforcement and had access to pretty much every database.
She hit call and held the phone to her ear, listening to it ring. Once. Twice. Three times.
Then it went to voicemail.
"Great," Tessa mumbled, leaving a message for Trent to call her urgently. “I’m evoking the Tessa help signal.” She suddenly remembered the time and that Trent might not answer at four in the morning. Normal people were asleep at four in the morning. Trent could also be on an assignment which meant he’d call back when he could.
Especially now that she’d evoked the Tessa help signal.
Despite herself she grinned. It was her bat signal that told her younger twin she needed his type of help.
As she stared at Lori’s phone, feeling frustrated at not being able to get the information she needed as fast as she’d liked, another thought occurred to her.
She knew where she might be able to find the information she was looking for.
Her mother kept meticulous records of all her cases, stored both digitally and in physical files in her home office.
And right now, that office was sitting empty at Seabird Cottage.
Tessa looked at Ryan, still sleeping peacefully in his hospital bed. The monitors continued their steady beeping. The IV continued its steady drip. Nothing had changed.
"I have to go, Ryan," she said softly, standing up and moving to his bedside. "But when you wake up, I hope you'll let me apologize properly. Let me explain my ridiculous excuse for why I said and did what I did."
She leaned down, her heart pounding, and pressed her lips gently to his forehead. "I love you too," she whispered against his skin. Then she kissed his cheek, letting herself linger for just a moment before pulling away.
When she walked back into the hallway, Mitch and Lori were stirring, both of them blinking groggily as they tried to remember where they were.
"Uh, hi," Tessa said with a guilty grin, holding up Lori's phone. "Sorry, Lori, but I borrowed your phone to look up something on the internet."
"That's fine," Lori said, her voice rough with sleep. She stretched carefully, trying not to disturb Mitch too much. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Not exactly. Which is why I need to ask another favor." Tessa took a breath. "Do you mind if I call a taxi on your phone?"
Mitch was suddenly more alert. "Why? Where are you going?" His eyes sharpened with concern. "Tessa, you have a head injury. You were just kidnapped. I'm not comfortable with you going anywhere alone."
"I'll be fine," Tessa assured him. "And I'll be vigilant this time. I promise."
"No." Mitch's voice was firm. "Absolutely not."
"I have to go, Mitch," Tessa said, standing her ground even though part of her knew he was right to be worried. "I'm sorry, but I just do. There's something I need to check, and it can't wait."
"I'll go with you, Tessa," Lori offered, already standing. "The two of us together is better than you going alone."
Mitch clearly wasn't happy with that solution either, but he seemed to recognize a losing battle when he saw one. "Fine. But I want you to add me to that location-sharing app you have. The one where friends and family can see where you are."
Lori nodded and pulled up the app on her phone, quickly sending Mitch an invitation. He accepted it on his own phone, and within seconds, Lori's location appeared on his screen as a blue dot in the hospital.
"I can do one better," Tessa said, holding up her wrist to show the digital watch she was wearing. "I have a tracker on this. I have a very paranoid twin brother who insists on knowing where I am at all times."
"Can you add me to it?" Mitch asked.
Tessa nodded and walked him through downloading the companion app on his phone. Once it was installed, she logged him in as an authorized contact, and his location suddenly appeared on her screen as well.
"There, happy?" Tessa asked. Then, before Mitch could answer, she twisted the watch face to reveal another feature. "And I also have a panic button. See? One press and it sends an emergency alert to Trent, and now you with my exact location."
"We needed this a few days ago," Mitch said dryly.
"I didn't exactly get a chance to give it to you when I was busy being kidnapped," Tessa pointed out.
Mitch sighed but nodded. "Fine. But you call me the second you get to wherever you're going. And if anything, and I mean anything, seems off or wrong or even slightly suspicious, you press that panic button. Understood?"
"Understood," Tessa agreed, already pulling up the taxi app on Lori's phone.
The taxi arrived fifteen minutes later. Tessa used the time to watch Mitch and Lori say their goodbyes, giving them privacy by pretending to be very interested in a pamphlet about hospital visiting hours.
But secretly smiling, then turning away when she saw them embrace.
At least there was one happy ending to this summer story that was unfolding around all of them.