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“Uh, no, thanks. I’m okay.”
“If you change your mind, you let me know. We’re both too wind-up to eat, but you want tea, coffee… even water, sweetie, I’ll get it for you.”
Tess smiled, but said nothing else as the woman went back to the kitchen.
Technically, Willie was also a deputy. Unlike the others, though, she was a maternal woman in her fifties with a curvy frame, her hair permed to resemble a cloud around her head, and a pair of sharp eyes peering out from between her trademark glasses.
She had three children of her own, a single mother who doted on half the village. When Rick, Sly, and Lucas came up with their plan to rescue Maria, there was no question about her joining the much younger deputies. It seemed as though it was their turn to watch over Willie, keeping her safe, while they confronted the outsider who stole Maria.
Having sent her children to stay over with friends—her eldest daughter Bev was spending the night with Adrianna’s daughter, Sally, and the boys were visiting with Mrs. Johnson and her young kids—Willie offered to stay behind with Su.
Not surprisingly, when Grace found out that Boone wanted her in exchange for Maria, she volunteered readily to play the part of bait. Like her husband, she refused to involve Su at all. Willie promised to keep her safe and sound, and when Lucas implored Tessa to stay behind with the older woman and the baby, she had no other choice but to agree.
Truth be told, she’d much rather have gone with everyone else to rescue Maria. At the very least, she could lend moral support to Grace before Sly and Rick “brought” her to Boone, or maybe even be there to comfort Maria over everything she’d been through the last few days.
Boone vowed that she was unhurt. Not willing to take his word, even if her was another Marine, Sly refused to even entertain this mission until he heard Maria speak on the other end of the radio. She was in one piece, though Lucas confessed that his sister didn’t sound unharmed. In fact, she sounded like she was in shock, a trauma response similar to how she shut down after being assaulted by Mack Turner.
That only spurred Lucas to go through with this. And, once again realizing that she’d serve him better by staying behind where he wouldn’t have to worry about her, Tess didn’t argue with her husband.
She hated being left behind, but what else could she do? Lucas was the mastermind behind the operation—giving more inside to the way his mind worked than he probably wanted to, though she was sure her husband didn’t find it in him to give a shit about that right now—and she knew she’d only be a distraction if she joined them.
She was a teacher, for God’s sake; or, she had been. She didn’t want to handle a weapon like the rest of the deputies chosen for this mission, and Grace had to be there. Lucas assured her that she would be doing her part, keeping Willie company and watching over Su.
Did that mean she wasn’t worried about what was happening?
Not even a little.
What made it worse was something that Willie said in absent conversation right before she changed the subject, asking her if she was thirsty.
It happened so quickly, and Tess almost thought she imagined it. But, if she didn’t, she could’ve sworn Willie said, “It’s a shame that Sly won’t let Mason join in. We have perfectly good deputy staying at the Hamlet Inn, and even though they finally acquitted him, letting him free because he was innocent, the sheriff just can’t see that Mase is a good boy.”
And, okay, she wasn’t imagining it. Willie let slip that Mason Walsh—the former deputy that Tess led on, and that Lucas framed for both Jack and Caitlin’s murders—had, like Boone, escaped all charges and been let free.
Let free… why did Tessa get the sinking suspicion that what Willie really meant waslet loose?
Maybe it was a coincidence. Right? Before Willie realized what it was she said, Tess asked how long it’s been since Mason was out of jail. She’d never heard of an inmate being released before he went to trial—and he hadn’t yet, Tess was sure of that—but Willie mentioned he’d been home for two months.
And, since he’d been let out, someone had kidnapped Maria. They’d left behind one of Luc’s recent business cards with a rhyme similar to the one that terrified Tess all those years ago, and though Boone was the face of the abduction, Lucas admitted it was obvious that he had insider help.
A Hamlet villager was involved.
As Su’s soft wheezes filled the quiet of the room, Tess thought back to last night. She could’ve sworn she saw someone peeking in her window at her, gone when she went to get a better look.
Mason had had a habit of popping up unexpectedly back when she knew him.
Was he doing something similar now?
The more Tess thought about it, the more she was on the verge of freaking out. She tried not to, but it was impossible. Because if Boone’s mysterious accomplicewasMason Walsh…
Lucas would want to know.
Tess glanced over at the clock in the living room. It was seven-thirty. She had at least another half an hour until Boone would be showing up. Lucas left at six so that he would be nearby, following close behind Sly and Rick as they walked out to meet Boone with Grace nestled protectively between them.
There was still time. She could use the communicator that Lucas pressed against her palm before he left. Their phones wouldn’t work, but if she called on the radio, she could talk to him. Though he didn’t have one of his own, he set it so that it went straight through to the Hamlet Sheriff Department.
Five members would be scattered around Lucas. No matter who answered, she was sure her husband would get the message.
Climbing off of the couch, she grabbed the communicator. Just as she did, Willie reappeared in the living room, carrying a mug of steaming tea.
