The Comeback Kiss (48 page)

But he didn
’
t. Now, for the final test.

“
I wouldn
’
t
have stuck it under the doormat, though,”
he said casually. “
Too easy to find.”

Tarpey, the confidence back in his eyes, shrugged and sat back. “
Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?”

“
You stupid son of a bitch,”
Finn said. He pushed up from the table.
“
What did you think, no one would figure it out?”

A slight look of alarm crossed over Tarpey
’
s face. “
This has nothing to do with you, Finnegan.”

“
If Tessa or Izzy gets hurt because you were in here playing protector for your crazy wife,”
Finn said, “
then
you can bet your ass it
’
ll have everything to do with me.”
Finn pushed up from the table and knocked on the door.

“
Wait a minute,”
Tarpey said, sitting forward. “
Grace didn
’
t... it wasn
’
t...”

Finn shook his head. “
We
’
re done.”

Marshall opened the door, and
Finn stepped out.

“
How long before he goes up to County?”
Finn asked. Marshall shrugged. “
Couple hours.”

“
Don
’
t let them take him,”
Finn said. “
He
’
s not your man.”

Marshall laughed. “
He
’
s not? He confessed. Why would he confess?”

“
Why does any man do some
thing stupid?”
Finn glanced at the door behind him, then looked back at Marshall. “
You need to get Grace Tarpey in here. She
’
s your arsonist. I have to go find some people, make sure they
’
re okay.”
He handed Marshall a card with his cell number on it. “
Ca
l
l me when you
’
ve got Grace in custody, okay?”
Finn headed toward the door.

“
Wait a minute,”
Marshall called after him. “
He just told you all that?”

“
No,”
Finn said. “
But he
’
ll tell you.”

***

Tessa glanced at her watch. It had been fifteen minutes. At thi
s rate she really was going to have to go all the way to New York to talk to Finn. She sighed.

“
Can
’
t you just tell me what it is?”
Tessa asked. They were all three sitting on the cot with Tessa in the middle, and every time she tried to get up, they pulle
d her back down. “
I really have to
—”

There was a light knock, and both Vickie and Margie squealed, this time pushing Tessa up from the cot. Tessa shot an exasperated look back at them as she headed to the door. She had it open before she turned her head an
d looked, at which point she froze in her tracks.

The evil bitch-troll social worker from hell.

Tessa shot another look back at Margie and Vickie. “
This is what you held me here for?”

Mary Ellen stepped inside, followed by Izzy
—
who was grinning like mad
—
an
d Babs, who held some papers in her hands. Mary Ellen kept her eyes on the floor, and didn
’
t look up until Babs cleared her throat.

“
What
—
?”
Tessa said, but then Mary Ellen started talking, as if it was a speech she
’
d memorized.

“
I did a bad thing,”
Mary E
llen said. “
And I am very, very sorry.”

Mary Ellen looked at Babs, who raised her eyebrows, prodding. Mary Ellen turned back to face Tessa.

“
Ten years ago, someone offered me money to keep you and your sister distracted. Every month, I
’
ve received five hun
dred dollars in cash to make things difficult for you and I
’
m very, very, very sorry.”

Mary Ellen didn
’
t look sorry. She looked pissed off. And her tone was extremely tight.

“
So, wait,”
Tessa said. “
What? Someone has been paying you to mess with us?”

“
Oh,
wait just a minute, sweetheart,”
Babs said, her voice dripping with glee. “
It
’
s just about to get really good.”
She gave Mary Ellen a sharp nudge on the shoulder. “
Go ahead.”

Mary Ellen rolled her eyes. “
There are two ways we can handle this. One, you can
go to the police, report me, have me put in jail, and ruin my entire life”—
Babs cleared her throat, and Mary Ellen cursed under her breath before continuing
—“
which I richly deserve.”

Tessa felt a smile start to spread over her face. She couldn
’
t help it. T
his was by far the most enjoyable interaction she
’
d ever had with Mary Ellen Neeley.

“
Or,”
Mary Ellen went on, “
we could keep this between ourselves, and I can make absolutely sure that you retain full and unquestioned custody of Isabella until her eightee
nth birthday.”

“
And?”
Babs prodded. Izzy giggled and whispered, “
I love this part.”

“
And,”
Mary Ellen said, “
if you choose option number two, I will personally show up at your house every Saturday until Isabella turns eighteen and”—
she took a deep breath,
closed her eyes, and bit out the last part
—“
clean your entire house.”

“
Including toilets,”
Izzy jumped in.

Mary Ellen opened her eyes and pulled on a tight smile. “
Including toilets,”
she said through clenched teeth. Tessa looked at Babs. “
So, when you ask
ed me how to spell Mary Ellen
’
s name, that wasn
’
t for numerology, then?”

Babs shook her head and held up the fax papers in her hand. “
Derek Brown, P.I. We should send him a nice fruit basket. He went above and beyond for us, really.”

Tessa couldn
’
t help it
; she laughed. “
I don
’
t believe this. I don
’
t believe this!”
Her heart suddenly lightened as she realized what this meant. She looked at Mary Ellen. “
So, what this means is, I can do whatever I want and you
’
ll protect us? You
’
ll make sure I keep Izzy?”

Mar
y Ellen
’
s nose lifted. “
Well, there
’
s only so much I can
—”

Babs cleared her throat again. Mary Ellen clamped her mouth shut, then slowly nodded yes.

Finn, Tessa thought. Finn. I have to tell Finn.

Tessa laughed and ran to grab her purse from where it sat o
n the cot. Finally,
finally,
she was going to have exactly what she wanted. Finally
—

“
Wait a minute,”
she said. “
Who paid you to do this? Who would
—”

“
Don
’
t tell them, Mary Ellen,”
a sharp voice came from behind them. Tessa turned around to see a tall woma
n with shellacked platinum blonde curls and a long white coat step into the shack. Her lips were blood red, her eyes dark and angry, and she smelled vaguely of gardenias.

Grace Tarpey kicked the door closed; it was then that Tessa saw the gun in Grace
’
s ha
nd.

Grace
’
s cold, beady eyes surveyed the entire group, falling finally on Tessa, her lips curling up into a tight smile.

“
I so like to be the one to deliver the surprises,”
she said.

Chapter Twenty-five

When Finn pulled up down the street from Tessa
’
s
house, all he could see past the crowd and the fire trucks and the ambulance was smoke billowing out of the first floor. His heart cranked into overdrive and he pushed his way through the crowd, stopping only when a firefighter grabbed him.

“
They
’
re not in
there,”
the guy said. Finn pushed himself away and looked up.

Joe.

“
Tessa,”
Finn said.

Joe shook his head. “
She
’
s not in there. We
’
ve been through the whole place. It
’
s empty.”

Finn ran his hands through his hair. His heart was still pounding in his ears
and he couldn
’
t get his thoughts straight.

Except one.

“
Where
’
s Tessa?”

“
I don
’
t know,”
Joe said. “
But she
’
s not in the house. And even if she was, she
’
d probably be fine. The fire started in the basement, and we got to it quickly.”

Finn stared at the blac
k smoke rising into the sky. “
It
’
s Grace.”

“
What?”
Joe asked.

“
It
’
s Grace. Grace Tarpey. Matt confessed to protect her. It
’
s Grace and she
’
s after Tessa and Izzy.”
Finn reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Tessa
’
s number.

“
I
just tried to call her a few minutes ago,”
Joe said.

The phone rang for the fifth time, then went to voice mail. Finn cursed and flipped his phone shut.

“
I
’
m gonna go look for them,”
he said, darting back toward the car.

“
Finn!”
He turned around and saw Jo
e walking toward him. “
Need any help?”

Finn breathed a sigh of relief. “
You
’
ll cut my time in half if you can look at Max
’
s. I
’
ll go to the shack.”

“
You got it, bro,”
Joe said. “
I
’
ll call you if I find them. You do the same.”

“
Thanks,”
Finn said.

Joe nodde
d, then they both went their separate ways.

***

“
You are a popular girl,”
Grace said as the last ring sounded on Tessa
’
s cell phone, which sat useless in her purse. “
Must be nice.”

Tessa said nothing, just shifted on the cot, which was tight on the real
estate since Grace made everyone, including Mary Ellen, sit on it. Meanwhile, Grace stood next to the woodstove, where the fire was still blazing pretty well.

A crazy arsonist next to a raging fire. It wasn
’
t good.

“
The thing about fire,”
Grace said, reach
ing into her coat pocket with one hand while keeping the gun leveled at them with the other, “
is that it
’
s so hard to control. This woodstove, in a tinderbox like this? I don
’
t know what Dick Lowery was thinking.”