Finding Tessa by Jaime Hendricks (best ereader for comics .TXT) 📗

Fuck. It was almost five o’clock. How long was he crying at the beach before he went into the water?

There were two cars at the end of the cul-de-sac as he pulled up to his house. A proper police vehicle and a town car. As he approached, all doors opened. Solomon and Garvey got out of the town car and two officers got out of the cruiser.

“Nice day, Montgomery,” Solomon said as Jace stopped in his driveway and got out to greet them. “Out for a run?” He said it sarcastically, like he hadn’t just made him identify a body hours before. Solomon was practicing psychological warfare on him. He had to know that wasn’t Tessa, but he made him go look anyway.

“Just clearing my head,” he said. Let them think what they wanted.

“Mmm. Well,” Solomon said. “We got an interesting phone call since you left. An anonymous tip, if you will.”

Jace swallowed, hopeful. “Tessa? Does someone know where she is?”

He scoffed. Angry. His eyes were accusatory. “No, not about Tessa. About Rosita. And you. Someone saw you go into her townhouse late at night. Before she went missing.”

Jace crinkled his eyes. What was happening? He hadn’t seen Rosita since the morning after Tessa disappeared. “That’s not true.”

“Mmm. Interesting. Especially since we went there on the tip. Found her, too. Shot.”

Someone shot Rosita? “What? Is she okay?”

“No, Mr. Montgomery, she’s not okay.” He reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a yellow piece of paper, then slapped it on Jace’s chest. “We have a warrant to search your house for an illegal firearm.”

“Oh my God. Rosita’s dead?” The color drained from Jace’s face. “I swear, I had nothing to do with this!”

“Mmm. You swear, huh?” Salty.

Between Jane Doe, Tessa missing, and now a dead coworker with a bullet wound, Jace was a serial killer in their eyes. He let them in. They wouldn’t find anything, and then maybe they’d get on with looking for his wife’s true whereabouts.

Evan embraced Jace as soon as he walked in. “You okay, pal?”

Jace shook his head. “No. They said Rosita is dead. Someone called and said they saw me there. What the fuck is going on, Evan?”

“Jesus.” Evan’s eyes shifted to the cops filing in, evidence bags in hand. “Don’t say anything. No matter what happens, just don’t say anything.”

Jace’s eyes thanked Evan without a word.

Solomon and Garvey stood watch as the other two officers were joined by a team of agents. Jace sat at the kitchen table with Evan as they read through the warrant—pretty standard, according to Evan. He reminded Jace that they could only search places where a gun would fit, which, in reality, could be almost anywhere. They didn’t have a right to look in his computer, and also not in jewelry boxes and other tiny compartments. Jace could have ten tiny baggies filled with cocaine in a one-inch-by-two-inch box and they wouldn’t be allowed to arrest him. Not that Jace had any cocaine. He’d never even tried the stuff.

“Can I make you some coffee?” Jace asked politely. He might as well stay on their good side and not act smug when they didn’t find anything.

Solomon and Garvey looked at each other, and Garvey shrugged, then answered. “Sure. This might take a while.”

Jace thought it best to stay in the kitchen with Evan anyway. They could tear the place apart. He had nothing to hide. As the percolator bubbled, he sat at the table and opened the paper, trying to act normal. If there was such a thing now that Tessa was missing.

Unlike on TV, no one ransacked his house. They didn’t flip furniture, cut into cushions, or break things. Aside from the subject matter of their presence, they were respectful.

Until the worst happened. A man came down the steps, holding a clear plastic bag marked EVIDENCE. Inside was a revolver. A gun. One that didn’t belong to Jace.

“What’s that? Where did you get that?” Jace asked nervously. He’d never seen that gun in his life.

Solomon stepped next to him with a smirk on his face. “Mr. Montgomery, place your hands behind your back please.”

Jace, wide-eyed, stared at Evan. “What’s going on?”

Evan’s face was blank, registering as much shock as Jace.

“Jace Montgomery, you’re under arrest for the murder of Rosita Morales.”

“What?” Jace screamed as the cuffs clicked tightly around his wrists. “That’s not my gun! You planted that!” Jace looked at Evan. “Evan. Help. This has nothing to do with me! Where’s my wife?” he shouted.

“I’ll take care of everything,” Evan said. “Don’t say a word.”

Solomon patted him down.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

27

TESSA

I’m on my knees in the laundry room, my face smothered with saliva. “Mommy loves you. Mommy is going to miss you. You’re Mommy’s good girl, aren’t you?”

We adopted a dog last week. She was in the shelter for six months, they said. They named her Candy, and we kept the name when we brought her home. She’s a cattle dog mix, and she took to Jace and me immediately. She’s already housebroken and knows basic commands, and except for jumping on the couch no matter how many times we say no, she’s a great addition to our little family.

I swore I’d adopt a dog when I was settled and could care for it properly. The poor dogs I had growing up—well, they were usually my mother’s boyfriends’ dogs—God, they were treated horribly. I saw one of the boyfriends kick the dog once, and it yelped and ran to a corner, tail between its legs, ears pulled back, face full of fear. There was nothing I could do about it then, but there’s something I can do now. Jace will be lucky if this is the only dog I save, because I would’ve taken every single one in the shelter if it was up to me.

Jace laughs at