The Comeback Kiss (41 page)

Vickie nodded. “
The signs point
that way.”

Tessa sat back in the rocking chair and let out a sigh. “
But we still don
’
t have any evidence solid enough to take to the police.”

Vickie shot a look at Margie. “
We would if someone hadn
’
t fallen asleep.”

Margie flipped Vickie off. “
Bite me, lad
y. Next time you do the stakeout and we
’
ll see how well you do.”
Vickie stuck her tongue out at Margie. Margie chuckled and took a sip of her drink.

Tessa laughed. “
So I guess this is what happens when best friends are best friends for too long, huh?”

Both
Vickie and Margie looked at her blankly. “
What?”
Margie asked.

“
Nothing.”
Tessa stood up, put her hands on the small of her back, and stretched from her shoulders, trying to clear her head.

Matt Tarpey. Jesus.
All these years, she
’
d been giving her mother
’
s killer free coffee and had no idea.

“
So,”
Izzy said, “
what do we do now?”

“
We wait for Finn and Joe to get back,”
Tessa said. “
See if they found anything in Tarpey
’
s office.”

She released a breath and glanced at the clock. It was almost seven o
’
clock. W
here were they? What if Tarpey found them? What if...?

At that moment, the front door opened. Tessa ran to the foyer as Finn and Joe walked in, looking like they
’
d been in a damn train wreck. Without thinking, Tessa threw herself into Finn
’
s arms.

“
Oh, my
God.”
She pulled back and put her hands on his face, his shoulders, feeling for damage. “
Are you okay? What happened? Did he catch you?”

Finn took her hands and squeezed them gently. “
We
’
re fine.”

Tessa looked over at Joe. Whatever happened, he
’
d taken the
worst of it; his chin was bruising up and his lip was bleeding.

“
What the hell happened to you guys?”

“
Don
’
t worry about it,”
Finn said. “
We found something. Maybe you should sit down.”

“
Yeah, it
’
s Tarpey. We know.”
She touched Joe
’
s bruising chin and he
winced. “
What happened to Joe?”

Finn touched her arm. “
You know? About Tarpey? How do you know?”
Vickie and Margie stepped out of the living room into the foyer and Finn let out a big rush of air. “
Hey, Vickie,”
Finn said, not missing a beat. “
How was Bimi
ni?”

“
Oh, my God.”
Tessa held up Joe
’
s hand and inspected his bruised and bleeding knuckles. “
What the hell happened to you?”

“
Wall,”
Joe said.

“
The wall? Tarpey threw you into the wall?”
Tessa ducked down and grabbed the first-aid kit from under the half-
moon table by the door. “
Go sit on the sofa, and then you guys can tell me what happened.”

“
He
’
s what happened,”
Joe said, jerking his thumb toward Finn.

Tessa straightened and turned glaring eyes on Finn “
What?”

Finn
’
s eyes widened, and he pointed at Joe.
“
He started it.”

Tessa blinked, able to believe what she was hearing but still a bit stunned by the sheer stupidity of it. “
Wait a minute. Are you saying that I sent you guys to get evidence and you ended up in a
fight
?”

Joe and Finn exchanged guilty glan
ces. Tessa tucked the first-aid box under her arm and grabbed them both by the elbows, leading them into the living room.

“
Izzy, go show Vickie and Margie your room,”
she said.

Izzy huffed. “
What? Now we
’
re back to protecting my virgin eyes? I
’
ve seen bloo
d before, you know.”

“
Not this much.”
She pointed to the sofa and the boys sat down, both grumbling, then she turned to Izzy.

“
Izzy, please. I just need a few moments with the Hardy Boys here, okay?”

Izzy shrugged and looked at Vickie and Margie. “
I have a
PlayStation.”

Margie
’
s face brightened. “
Do you have
Super Monkeyball
?”

Izzy laughed. “
Yeah.”

“
Super Monkeyball
it is, then.”
Vickie grabbed her drink off the coffee table. “
Lead the way, Princess.”

Tessa waited for them to clear out before settling herse
lf on the coffee table and staring down both Finn and Joe. Finn was mostly just dirty. His jeans were scuffed with dust, and his shirt had a small tear in the shoulder.

Joe, on the other hand, looked like he
’
d been hit in the face with a frying pan. Tessa
grumbled under her breath, ripped open an alcohol pad package with her teeth, and shot Finn a dirty look as she leaned over Joe.

“
I can
’
t believe you did this,”
she said.

“
Me?”
Finn said. “
He was there, too. And why does he get the Florence Nightingale tre
atment?”

“
He
’
s bleeding!”

“
Oh, so what? He gets all the sympathy because he bruises easy?”

Tessa ignored Finn and lightly dabbed the cuts on Joe
’
s knuckles with the alcohol pad.

“
What the hell happened?”

Joe and Finn exchanged glances, but both of them rem
ained quiet. Tessa sighed, balled up the alcohol pad, and pulled out a Band-Aid.

“
I don
’
t need a Band-Aid, Tessa,”
Joe said. “
I
’
m fine.”

“
Fine,”
she said angrily, tossing it back into the box. “
Be a big man about it, then.”
She ran her hand through her ha
ir and sighed. “
What did you guys find?”

Joe told her about the pictures and the classified ad, and she filled them in on what Vickie and Margie had told her.

“
Well,”
she said when she finished, “
I guess we have enough to interest the police now. Where is
it?”

“
Taped back under his desk,”
Finn said. “
The police have to go in with a search warrant in order for anything to be admissible in court.”

Tessa met Finn
’
s eyes. She knew what he wanted her to say, and she gave him a small smile.

“
So I guess next we go
to the police and tell them everything.”

Finn smiled back at her. “
Except the part about us breaking into Tarpey
’
s office.”

Tessa felt a rush of warmth fall over her, and it took a moment for her to pull her eyes away from his.

“
Okay,”
she said, “
with Vic
kie
’
s and Margie
’
s testimonies, that should give them enough to get a search warrant, right?”

“
God willing and the creek don
’
t rise,”
Finn said. There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence, and then Joe stood up.

“
I
’
m gonna get going,”
he said, holdin
g up his injured hand to Tessa. “
Thanks for the ace medical care.”

Tessa shot a look at Finn, who made no move to get up and talk to his brother. Big idiot. Tessa got up and hurried out to the foyer, stopping Joe at the door.

“
Hey,”
she said. “
You okay?”

J
oe shrugged and offered a weak smile. “
Yeah.”

“
I
’
m sorry,”
she said.

He looked confused. “
For what?”

“
For dragging you into this,”
she said. “
I know Matt Tarpey is one of your good friends. I know you look up to him. I know you
’
re not the breaking-and-ente
ring type, but I asked you to do all this and you did it.”
She smiled up at him. “
I just want you to know that I appreciate everything you
’
ve done. And I
’
m really sorry.”

He met her eyes, and she knew they were both getting the subtext. Joe reached over, p
ulled her to him, and kissed her on the forehead.

“
I will never understand your taste in men,”
he said quietly.

She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. “
I
’
m obviously insane.”

They released each other. Joe gave a small chuckle and let himself out.
Tessa shut the door and leaned her head against it, gathering her strength for what she knew was waiting behind her.

Finn leaned against the columned open frame that separated the foyer from the living room, watching Tessa. He knew he had no right to be a
ngry or jealous, but as fate would have it, he was both, and was also way too tired to fight off either emotion.

“
So,”
he said after giving her a moment to gather herself, “
what was that all about?”

Tessa leaned back against the door, looking seriously una
mused.

“
Knock it off, Finn,”
Tessa said. “
There
’
s only so much jealous brother crap I can take in one night.”

“
I
’
m not jealous,”
Finn said. “
I just want to know what the hell
’
s going on between you and Joe. It
’
s just garden-variety, wanna-kill-my-brother-w
ith-a-pitchfork curiosity.”

“
You know what?”
Tessa said, her voice tight with anger. “
That was a big deal for Joe to do for us tonight. He
’
s not like you, Finn. He plays by the rules, and
—”

“
Oh, so I suppose slamming me into a desk is
‘
the rules
’
now, huh
?”

Tessa put her hand to her forehead, and Finn could see how much he was frustrating her. Still, he couldn
’
t help it. The idea of Tessa and Joe made him crazy, and his response was to pass the crazy on.

“
Look,”
she said, “
I
’
ve gotta think about what I
’
m g
oing to do, what I
’
m going to tell the police, how I
’
m gonna keep all this from blowing up in my face, and I can
’
t deal with your crap right now. Good night.”

She started toward the stairs, and he tried to let her go. He knew it was best to drop it, let he
r go on up to bed angry and thinking he was an asshole, but at the last minute he reached out and caught her by the arm. She stopped, but didn
’
t look up at him.

“
Tessa, I know I
’
m not very good at this.”

“
At what?”
she said tightly. “
You
’
re going to have t
o narrow the field for me a bit. There are so many things you
’
re not good at.”