Finding Tessa Jaime Hendricks (children's ebooks free online TXT) 📖

sorry.” He lowered the radio. “We’ll stop at my parents for a few minutes, then I have to get you home. They’re coming to fit you for the ankle monitor.”

Evan’s mother waited at the door. She opened the screen as they walked up the driveway and immediately took Jace in her arms.

“Oh, darling, get inside,” she said, and ushered them both in.

“We don’t have long, Mom,” Evan said, pointing to Jace’s ankle. “They’re coming today.”

Mrs. Soderberg made coffee and the three of them sat sullen at the round kitchen table. Mr. Soderberg was out practicing his golf swing.

“Thank you, Mrs. Soderberg,” Jace said, savoring his last social gathering until God only knew when. He hoped he’d never have to talk to anyone through glass. “I don’t even know what to say.”

She placed her hand on top of his. “Now, now. Don’t you worry about a thing. It’s a misunderstanding. We know you didn’t murder anyone. And they’ll find Tessa. She was so lovely,” she said, biting the corner of her lower lip. “She is so lovely. I can’t believe they think you would hurt your wife or murder that girl.”

“They found a gun in my house. It wasn’t mine. I’m being set up. Something strange is going on, and I want to find out what it is.”

“A gun? Oh, dear. Guns everywhere. We tried to talk Evan out of getting a gun, but you know this one, once he sets his mind to something . . .” She waved toward Evan.

Jace’s face went blank when he looked at his best friend after finding out this brand-new information. “When did you get a gun?”

Evan rubbed his beard, then the back of his neck. “Years ago.”

“Why?”

Evan shrugged. “I was in my midtwenties. Lived right by campus with a roommate who seemed a little shifty to me. I think he was dealing. He had people coming in and out all hours of the night. I saw one of them strapped once. Better safe than sorry. There’s nothing wrong with protecting yourself. It’s not like I ever pulled it on anyone. It’s under lock and key in a safe in my condo now. Hopefully I’ll never need to use it.”

Mrs. Soderberg shook her head. “Those damn things. You’re going to shoot your eye out, kid,” she said, mocking A Christmas Story, as she rose to wash out the coffee pot in the sink.

With the water running, Jace was able to disguise his tone. “Evan, man, I think I’m in some real trouble. Look, I never told you, but I had a gun. It wasn’t legal. It’s gone now, though. I got rid of it last week. But someone knew about it.” He paused. It wasn’t just that Tessa had told Gwen—he’d pulled it on Damon. He still didn’t regret scaring the ever-living shit out of that prick. “Two people knew. It’s a mess.”

“Crap. Why didn’t you tell me?” Evan’s face scrunched up, and he pulled out his cell phone and began texting. “Let me see what time Robert can get to your house.”

Robert told Evan he’d be over after the workday, around eight at night. Evan drove Jace home in the afternoon, all the way to the top of the driveway where Jace quickly punched the code into the keypad and ran inside. The reporters didn’t move past the sidewalk in front of his house, but they shouted the whole time. A missing wife and a murdered coworker were huge news in suburbia.

When he opened the door that connected the garage to the laundry room, Candy was waiting on her bed, and jumped up with excitement, wiggling her little butt until Jace bent down and scratched her behind the ears.

“Hey, girl. I know Uncle Evan came and saw you this morning.” He petted her soft head, and her eyes questioned him as she looked at the door and then back to him. “I’m sorry, girl. Mommy isn’t coming home yet. I swear I’ll find her.” Her ears stirred at the mention of “Mommy” and Jace cried again. Right there in a ball, on his laundry room floor, where Candy licked his tears, then settled in beside him. His companion.

Jace only rose from the floor when the ankle monitor company came and slapped it on. They wired his property and read him the rules. It was tight and the skin around it already itched. He needed to get his mind off the fact that he couldn’t leave to look for Tessa, and against his better judgment, turned on the computer to see the headlines.

LOCAL MAN WITH MISSING WIFE, JACE MONTGOMERY, ALLEGEDLY COMMITS MURDER

WHERE IS TESSA AND WHAT DID SHE KNOW?

ALLEGED WORKPLACE AFFAIR ENDS IN HOMICIDE

Right as he was about to wipe the entire desk clear with his forearm, sending everything to the floor, his cell phone rang. When he retrieved it from his pocket, he didn’t recognize the number, and sent it to voice mail. Likely another vulture.

A minute later, there was a beep, indicating a message. Like a sadist, he hit play.

“Hello, this message is for Jace Montgomery. My name is Bella Johnson, and I’m a new reporter at the Valley Lake Blaze. I don’t agree with your portrayal in the media. I don’t think you are responsible for your missing wife, or for murdering your coworker. I’d like an interview to get your side of the story, without the venom attached. If you’re interested, please call me back.”

She left a number, which Jace jotted down. He’d have to speak to Robert about this tonight. Was it possible that someone was on his side?

When Robert got there at eight on the dot, Jace offered him a beer but he declined, so Jace opened one for himself. He grabbed a frozen mug from the freezer and winced. Tessa. At the kitchen table, Robert had Jace’s charges and release forms spread out on the table, and a yellow legal pad in front of him, which he tapped with his expensive-looking pen.

“Okay. Go,” Robert said.

“Well, here’s