Chapter 27
─────
Andrew
I raise my first to pound on the door again, but a light pops on and locks are clicked open.
Chase’s confused face appears. “Drew? What the hell man it’s almost midnight?”
“Let us in,” I growl at the security screen that prevents me from entering. I’m teetering on the edge. It will only take one ugly word, one wrong move to throw me into the red abyss.
He peers around me to where Marybeth stands quietly. “Oh fuck no, I don’t give a shit what you need, she is not stepping a foot in here.”
A snarl rips from my throat. “Where the f—fuck is Tessa?”
A worried look flickers across his face, either he doesn’t know, or he’s one hell of an actor. Unbolting the security door, he steps back allowing us to come in. He flips on the lights in the living room and takes a seat on the edge of a couch cushion. Hands clasped together, he studies the floor intently.
“We won’t wake Mrs. Masters?” My sister asks quietly from beside me.
“She’s at a spa retreat. Douchebag here would have woken her up with his Hulk smash against the door anyway,” he scoffs.
I plant my feet in front of him. “How I see it, we have two options here, Chase. You tell me where she is, or I rip apart t—this house until I find where she’s hiding,” I keep my voice as even as possible but my fingers twitch for option C, beating the truth out of him.
Since yesterday, Tessa has been dust in the wind, and this is the only avenue unchecked.
He stands up to face me. “Rewind. Why do you think Tessa would be here? Last time I saw her, I was literally handing her off to you like some metaphorical passing of the torch. Maybe I should have written “Take care of our girl” across my fucking forehead. Jesus, you’ve already lost her?”
Lunging forward, I wrap my hands around his throat and shove him into the closest wall, his head hits a glass frame and it shatters before it topples to the floor. I squeeze, relishing the way his mouth opens and shuts like a fish out of water.
“Andrew. Stop, he can’t breathe, you asshole.” Tiny fingers press into my arm, and I reluctantly release my grip. Breaking away from the wall, I see Chase’s eyes lit with fury. Before I have time to react, his giant fist connects with the side of my face, and I hit the floor. I spit and look up at him with a bloody smile. Pushing off my knee, I rush him with my shoulder, knocking the wind out of him as we both go crashing to the floor.
Marybeth shouts something. I can’t understand what she’s saying, and frankly, I don’t care. Physical pain is so much better than considering the truth that Tessa is—
No.
She wouldn’t leave me. Not after everything. She promised.
Sitting on the carpet, I cradle my head between my hands, willing the dark thoughts to go away. My will to fight ebbs away, and all I’m left with is pain. The room fills with the sounds of our labored breathing.
Chase squints in pain as he drags himself through shattered glass. “She’s not here, man. I thought she was with you.” When he reaches the wall, his body sags against it for support. I want so badly to think he’s lying, but I know he’s not, and the final hope I’d been clutching to is gone.
Marybeth comes out of the other room with a wet rag and tosses it to me before she drops onto the couch with a defeated sigh. “Put pressure against your left eye, it’s bleeding. Now, are you cavemen done beating each other bloody? I would really like to figure out where the fuck my best friend is.” She takes turns glaring at both of us.
Chase fishes his phone out of his pocket. “So let me get this straight, she didn’t go home with either one of you last night?”
I tap my leg nervously as he reads through his messages. “No, we were both pretty drunk and thought she went home with the other. Did she message you?”
“No, nothing since before Graduation. Fuck.” He tosses his phone to the ground in frustration. “Okay, where have you checked? The public library? Her work? Did you go to Lake Iris? You know she likes to go there when she gets overwhelmed.”
“Of fucking course I checked all those places,” I snarl.
He throws his hands up in defense. “I’m just thinking, man, chill. If we are going to find her we need to work together, so stop thinking of me as the enemy for once.” The genuine concern in his and my sister’s tearful eyes remind me, I’m not the only one who’s worried.
“Sorry,” I respond gruffly. “We checked all of her favorite spots, her work, talked to her co-workers and some of her writing classmates. Nobody has seen her.”
His eyebrows knit in confusion. “Why am I the last place you checked?”
I look away, grateful when Marybeth speaks up in my place. “If she ran away to you, without responding to any of Andrew’s worried texts or calls, in his head, that meant she was choosing you over him,” her voice is stiff, and for the first time I wonder if the same thought had crossed her mind.
Chase laughs, and I scowl. “What the fuck is so funny about that?”
“Are you blind, deaf, and dumb? Do you not see the way she lights up every time you enter a room? How her shoulders instantly relax at your touch? The way she smiles even at the mention of your name? She is in love with you, moron. She’s always been in love with you.” He shakes his head at me in disbelief, as if I’m a fool for not seeing the truth. And maybe I am.
The question stuck in my throat is finally unlodged, “Where is she then, man? If she loves me so fucking much, where the hell is she?”
Chase rubs his chin. “I don’t know, but she wouldn’t leave without telling me. We made a pact a long time ago, Andrew. I’m telling you, she wouldn’t just disappear.”
“Oh yeah?” I sneer. “‘Cause it’s so out of character for her? What, you think someone took her?”
He doesn’t meet my gaze.
“Wait, who would take her?” Marybeth questions.
Chase’s voice raises, “Her psycho mom, who else? You heard the way she was ranting at the party.”
“Not possible, she’s in jail. I saw the paperwork after Mom charged her for trespassing and assault. And I promise you, that junkie couldn’t have made bail.”
He nods reluctantly. “Okay, what about that club guy who beat the shit out of you?”
“In prison, keep up,” I spit, tired of this guessing game. Sick of not knowing the truth.
Chase’s worried eyes bore into mine. “What, you don’t think he has goons on the outside? Just waiting for the perfect chance to get revenge?”
“This isn’t a g—goddamn movie, grow the fuck up. She’s gone, Chase, she left us. . . Again. Nobody took her, she wasn’t kidnapped. She got bored with playing house and she f—fucking left.”
Staggering to his feet, Chase frowns. “I don’t believe that. She’s changed so much in these few short months, she’s been happier than I’ve ever seen her. No, I refuse to believe she would do that.”
I snort. “No, ‘cause Tessa wouldn’t ever disappear without a trace. She would never leave behind the people who love her for no fucking reason. You know. I t—think I am finally understanding what you tried to warn me of in high school. Remember? You told me I was insane for letting her in my home, for t—trusting her. Tessa the Reaper, that’s when I first heard her nickname, and I f—fucking defended her. But she is Death, killing anything good that comes into her life, and not giving a fuck about the trail of bodies she leaves behind.” My body quakes with anger. Pressure builds in my chest, and I fear it will implode, crushing my heart from within.
“Take it back motherfucker. I will beat you within an inch of your life if you utter one more bad word about her. Don’t push me, Drew.” The veins in his neck and arms protrude out of his skin as he flexes.
“Fuck you,” I seethe, mentally preparing myself for another fist to the face.
Marybeth is on her feet in a flash, pushing her way between us. She places her hand on my arm. “Enough, both of you. We are wasting time, and this fighting is pointless. We need to work together and figure out what is going on.”
I wrinkle my nose in disgust. “Nah, I’m done. You both can do whatever the fuck you want, but I’m not gonna waste my time looking for someone who doesn’t want to be found.” I rip my arm out of her grasp and see my sister’s green eyes flicker with pain before I turn away.
My sister’s soft voice makes me pause with my hand on the doorknob. “But what if she didn’t just leave, Andrew?”
I sigh as a single tear slides down my cheek. The pain in my chest is snaking its way through the rest of my body as the cracks in my heart reopen. “Don’t be naïve, sis, she was never going to stay,” I whisper.
Opening the door, I shut it quickly behind me. I slump against the door, my wobbling legs no longer able to hold my weight.
How could she do this to me?
Tessa, why am I never enough?