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The nightstand book taunted her. Her mother had been reading it. Tess had taken it from the sleeping woman’s lap the night before she died. Anne wouldn’t finish it. It would just lie there unfinished… sort of like her mother’s life.
The injustice injured her. Anger was so much easier to hang onto than grief. Anne’s life reduced to an illusion. Running away from whatever specter chased them, keeping her daughter safe. Why didn’t her mother stand and fight or report the perpetrator to the authorities? Maybe her mom thought it was for the best, but Tess had seen how that kind of life ended.
Her desire to figure out her mother’s message intensified. To leave town, she needed a destination in her sights. That meant deciphering the clues.
The setback wouldn’t deter her. Guilt over losing the precious letters could easily give way to grief. Dwelling on those emotions would cripple her if she let them.
Stashing the money and gun in the back of her closet, she memorized the numbers on the second card while putting it with the first under the flatware tray in the kitchen. The library on her itinerary had metal detectors, so she put the weird metal prong thing under a bunch of utensils at the back of the drawer too.
Losing the letters was a blow, but Tess was going to stay on her path. She’d tour her workplaces, then head to the library to figure out what the hell Pandora and Hades had to do with the numbers on that damned new card.
AFTER AN ENTIRE DAY at the library, Tess was no further forward. She knew more about Greek mythology than she’d ever need. About Pandora and Hades, God of the underworld, what a great job. But the maddening numbers remained encoded.
Tired and fed up, she was still reading when the PA system announced the library was closing. By the time she got out into the cold, midnight had come and gone. Pulling her carpet bag higher on her forearm, she tucked it against her torso to keep in the heat.
Turned out following orders was all she was good for. Cryptography wasn’t her specialty. Sure, it didn’t help that she kept seeing the college kids traipsing in, spending ten minutes at a computer and disappearing again, presumably with exactly what they came for.
The temptation to sneak over and see what she could scare up was huge. Wouldn’t help that she didn’t have a damn clue about computers or the internet. Just thinking about flouting the rules was enough to heap more guilt onto her already ample hoard. Her mother would never have left a clue that required going online anyway, so it didn’t really matter.
She felt alone and pathetic. Her mom wanted her to know something. Why was it so encrypted? Writing it out plain and simple might be dangerous, but something clearer would’ve been less infuriating. Obviously, Anne thought her daughter could figure it out. A hint. Was that too much to ask for? Something to put her on the right path.
The break-in was on her mind too. Sleeping in a house that had been violated by an intruder wasn’t appealing. Everything had gone to shit. Since her mom died, life had been downhill. Losing her mom should’ve been rock bottom. But nope, Tess just kept on descending.
Her feet didn’t take her toward home. By the time she realized that, Tess was crossing through the gate of Buckhorn Parts and Towing.
Why was she there? Who knew? Something about the oblivion of being under Danny made life more tolerable. The relief was short-lived, but she was weak enough to want it.
The chill of the dark night didn’t seem as isolating when she raised her fist to knock on the trailer door.
“Yeah!” came the call from inside.
Her mind was still in a dozen places when she reached up to open the door. Noticing Danny wasn’t alone, she froze. Three other guys sat around a folding table with him, a couple of them on folding chairs. Smoke hung thick in the air, its scent laced with that of the hundred or so beers they’d probably drunk.
Danny had his back to the far wall. Two guys sat on the recliners at the end of the table and another guy had his back to her. All of them took a good look at her though.
“Uh,” she said, putting a foot on the first stair to boost herself a little higher. “Hi.”
“Missed breakfast,” Danny said around the cigar he was holding in his teeth. “This one needs GPS on her chassis.”
His attention wasn’t really on her. He was gathering chips from the center of the table, putting them into stacks.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” she said, her eyes darting around the table, taking in the details. Poker chips, cards, ashtrays… “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You can interrupt me,” the guy closest to her said, checking her out. “Any time, Sugarlips.”
All of them guffawed. Even Danny enjoyed the sentiment. Okay, that probably meant he’d clued the posse of guys in Buckhorn gear into exactly what they’d done the previous night… and no doubt how she’d seduced him with a rubber. Not her finest hour.
“What’d you need, Little Red? A ride?”
“It’s fine,” she said, deciding to retreat. “I can go.”
“That means yes,” Danny said to his buddies, taking the cigar from his mouth.
“No,” she said, defending herself. “I didn’t come here for that. I just wanted a place to crash.”
Danny’s attention met hers. Just the linking of their eyes increased her heart rate.
“You wanna crash here?” he asked. Tess nodded without even thinking about whether it was a smart plan. “Will you put out?”
