Tessa Leoni: Crash And Burn Part 27

"Yeah."

Wyatt stared at his detective. "Then why is November the saddest month of the year?"

WYATT a.s.sIGNED ONE of the female deputies, Gina, to keep an eye on Nicky Frank in the conference room. In the meantime, he had work to do. And not just bringing the sheriff up to speed or filling out paperwork or hara.s.sing the locals on why they hadn't managed to locate Thomas Frank yet.

It was 4 A.M. He was dog tired and more than a little confused by a case that refused to be nice, neat and orderly.

But he also was a decent guy, and truth was, he couldn't just leave poor Nicky Frank with no place to go. Not to mention he was an above-average boyfriend who currently had unfinished business with his girl.

So he did what a guy like him did. He picked up the phone and dialed.

Tessa picked up by the second ring. Years of midnight phone calls had that effect on a person.

"h.e.l.lo." She didn't even sound tired. He couldn't help himself; he was proud of her.

"You talking to me?" he asked her.

"Apparently. You okay?"

"Yeah. Been thinking about your boundaries."

"At four A.M.?"

"That's the kind of world we live in. I love you, you know. I respect you. Admire your job. Appreciate your ethics."

"Okay."

"Having said that, f.u.c.k boundaries."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, you can have them if you want. Feel free. You're right; some kind of limits are implicit in our jobs. But see, you want everything hard lined. Solid walls, this fits over here, this fits over there, bing, bang, boom. I don't buy it. World's too complicated. Our jobs are too complicated. We are too complicated. Personally, I like dashed lines. Boundaries with a bit of flexibility built in. Hence I'm calling you right now, even though I don't have to."

"d.a.m.n right you don't have to call me at four A.M.-"

"Your client needs you."

"What?"

"You don't want to talk, so just listen. Nicole Frank received a call from Northledge Investigations Wednesday night. Ergo, Nicole Frank is most likely a client of Northledge. Knowing the way your highfalutin firm works, I'm a.s.suming that meant she put down some hefty sort of retainer-"

"I can't comment-"

"Dashed lines, remember? Nicole's house burned down tonight. Her husband has vanished. She's currently all alone, no place to go. As in she's sleeping with her head on our conference room table. I'm a.s.suming her retainer with your firm is still valid. I'm a.s.suming if that's the case, her best interests are in your best interests. I'm a.s.suming . . . Dammit, Tessa, the woman could use help. I can only be an investigating officer. She needs an ally."

Tessa didn't answer right away, but he could nearly hear the gears turning in her mind. "It would be in your own best interest if she was dependent on you," she murmured at last. "She'd be more likely to tell you everything. Even help you find her husband."

"Yep."

"You owe me nothing. Your job. Your case. Your boundaries. Eventually, she might have thought to call Northledge, but you would've had that much more time to isolate her, press your advantage."

"True."

"You didn't have to do this."

"Exactly."

Another pause. Tessa doing the math. Which would always be one of their differences, Wyatt knew. He was a big believer in going with his gut. But for a woman with Tessa's history, it would never be that simple.

"What do you want, Wyatt?"

"The truth. It's why I became a detective. I like answers. And trust me, this woman is a whole lotta questions."

"What if she tells me some of those answers but doesn't allow me to share them with you?"

"Dashed lines are still lines. I know that."

"Do you know why her husband has gone AWOL?"

"No. But I know her real name."

Pause. "Is it Veronica Sellers?"

Wyatt's turn to be surprised. "You didn't know?"

"No. Not what she hired us for. But once I did some digging, I suspected. Only thing that made any sense. It's not my job to report suspicions, however. I can only do what the client employs me to do. Do you think the husband is trying to kill her? The multiple falls, the accident Wednesday night?"

"I have no idea. But I think if half of what Nicky just told us about her abduction thirty years ago is true, her life is about to become very dangerous."

"All right. I'm on my way. And Wyatt . . ."

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Chapter 25.

I JERK AWAKE. MY legs kick out. My head flies up. Maybe I scream? At the last second, I do my best to choke off the gasp, old habits dying hard.

Round wooden table. Gray linoleum floor. Ugly drop ceiling. The sheriff's department. I have fallen asleep with my head on the conference room table, still clutching the pale yellow quilt.

Wyatt and Kevin are no longer sitting across from me. Instead, Wyatt stands near the door and there's a dark-haired woman beside him. She wears dress jeans, black leather boots and a tailored navy-blue jacket that brings out the color of her eyes. There is something about the way they are standing that captures my attention. Together, but separate. I have a sense of dej vu. Thomas and me.

"Nicole Frank?" the woman asks. Her voice is low and firm, a voice of authority.

"Yes."

"Do you remember me? My name is Tessa Leoni. We spoke on the phone. Wednesday night."

Something clicks in the back of my head. I glance at Wyatt.

"Sergeant Foster contacted me on your behalf," the woman provides, as if reading my mind. "He thought, given present circ.u.mstances, you might appreciate some a.s.sistance."

"You're not a lawyer."

"No. I'm a private security specialist."

I can't help myself; I smile. "My life is so bad I require a specialist."

The woman returns my smile. She's not beautiful, I think, but striking. Hard angles. Strong jaw. Her smile is not soft, but rea.s.suring. Her stance is not relaxed but confident. She doesn't look like a person who was given a private security t.i.tle. She looks like a woman who's earned it.

Now she turns to Wyatt, and there is something in his gaze . . .

He would stare at her forever if he could. The way Thomas once looked at me.

"Are you filing charges against my client?" she asks him.

"We have some questions-"

"Which I'm sure can wait until she's had a chance to clean up, eat a meal."

"We did offer her bread and water," Wyatt deadpans.

"Please, I've seen your vending machine."

They have a history. I want to tell them to stand closer. I want to tell them to talk less, listen more. Hold this moment. I think I'm going to cry. It's the mood swings, I tell myself, just another side effect of multiple head traumas.

It's not that I've woken up for the first time in twenty-two years in a world without Thomas.

Both of them are looking at me. The woman doesn't ask questions; she tells me what we're doing next.

"You're coming with me. I'm going to get you situated in a hotel, order you some food, find you some clothes. You're my client, so please know anything you tell me will be kept in strictest confidence. This guy, however, can't say the same, so I'd advise waiting on the rest of this conversation until we're alone."

She turns to Wyatt. "How watertight is your department these days?"

"Now, now, don't p.i.s.s me off."

"We need time." Tessa's voice softens. "She needs time." She jerks her head toward me. "Twenty-four hours?"

"Can't make any guarantees. Missing kids belong to the feds. And kids who magically reappear after being gone thirty years . . ."

"There are cable news execs getting fluttering feelings in their heartless chests as we speak," she fills in.

"Exactly."

Tessa doesn't talk again until we've left the building. She leads me straight to a dark Lexus SUV with a beautiful tan leather interior. I think of my Audi, and it already seems so long ago, a vehicle for a different woman in a different life that never could've been me.

When we get in the car, she locks the doors.

"How are you?" she asks without preamble. "I understand you've suffered from multiple concussions. Do you require medical attention? Do we need to pick up any ibuprofen, painkillers, Band-Aids, chocolate doughnuts, whatever, to help you?"

"I like ice packs."

"I can make that happen. When did you last sleep?"

"What time is it?"

"Nine A.M."

"Then I slept the past few hours at the station."

Tessa nods, pulls out of the parking lot. "Do you remember me?" she asks as she pulls onto the main road.

"We talked on the phone Wednesday. But you weren't the investigator who first took my case . . ."

"No. Originally you met with Diane Fieldcrest. But she got hung up on another a.s.signment. I just happened to be having a slow week, so I offered to help her out. To be honest, I don't normally handle such routine a.s.signments. But once I realized who you were looking for . . ."

I don't say anything.

Tessa glances at me. Her hands are sure on the wheel. "You don't owe me anything," she continues matter-of-factly. "You hired Northledge to locate a woman. I ran the background, discovered the requested information and reported back to you. After that, what happens is your business, not ours."

I don't say anything.

"You don't owe me anything," she repeats. "You do, however, need to understand exactly what you're about to be up against."

"What do you mean?"

"Fact one, you're a missing person who is essentially, thirty years later, returning from the dead."

I wince.

"The media loves this stuff. As in, if we can keep reporters at bay until after lunch, I'll be shocked."

I stare at her. I haven't considered any of this.

"They're going to ask questions," Tessa continues. "Starting with, why didn't you come forward before now? If you were abducted at six, but somehow got away . . . Why have you waited this long to find your family? What have you been doing all these years?"

I can't speak. My heart is pounding too hard. I can feel a tremendous sense of pressure building in my chest. Like a grave, I think wildly. They have no idea.