Lady Hideaway Ch. 05

It was nearly suppertime when he reached his house. He took the time to shower and put on fresh cloths, and he barely had his shirt on before he picked up the phone and called Tessa. Katrina had left (thank god) and in another hour he was back at the quiet house, curled up on a sofa with the quiet girl upstairs, and the way it felt was definitely worth the wait.

…………..

It had been three weeks since their first date. Conner had never expected to feel something so strong so fast, but every time he thought about Tessa during the day he hated that he couldn’t be with her every moment. Three weeks ago he would have started his workday, easing his way through it and not bothering to care about the time he got finished. Now, he wanted to be finished as early as possible, and refused to stay out past five. He deserved a vacation, why not cut his hours short to make up for it?

Conner had just reached his office, the small building downtown. It was small, but well organized; he had his office, and enough room to keep his equipment. He started his day’s paperwork and sank into it, wondering if Tessa was stuck with similar work at the moment. He reached for the phone to call her but at the last second decided against it. The last time he had called her during work hours, neither of them could hang up the phone and no one got any work done. It was probably best that he didn’t call anyways, because he was suddenly interrupted by a knock on his opened office door.

Needless to say, Misty Smith was the last person Conner expected to see. She had never been in his office before, and living in an apartment with no pool, she definitely wasn’t here on business.

“Hi.” Misty smiled.

“Hi… what are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?” she asked.

“Of course.” Conner insisted, leaving his desk to close his office door as he escorted her in, and when they were both seated again he studied her curiously. She looked somewhat nervous and that made him nervous.

“Can I help you with something?” he asked.

“Actually, I was hoping we could talk.” Misty explained

“Talk?” Conner didn’t like that word, especially when it came from a woman whose date he’d wrecked. His concern must have been obvious on his face because Misty began to laugh.

“Relax Conner.” Misty giggled, “I told you, no hard feelings. Besides, you and I wouldn’t have lasted more than one night… it would have been a hell of a night, but I think it’s safe to say it doesn’t matter now.”

“Right.” Conner sighed, “So what are you doing here?”

“I had lunch with Katrina Formike.” Misty explained, “She says that you and Tess have been seeing each other.”

“Yea,” Conner frowned, unsure of where this was going if Katrina was involved.

“That’s good.” Misty nodded, “So how is she, Tessa I mean?”

“Better.”

“Good. I don’t mean to pry Conner; it’s just that, after that night, I started thinking about her. When she disappeared I guess I was worried, but I never would have thought… Katrina told me why Tessa disappeared, I’m so sorry.”

“Tessa hasn’t told me anything about it.” Conner admitted, “and I’m not going to push her, so if you’re curious Misty…”

“No.” Misty insisted, “That’s not why I’m here. Look Conner, I know that I probably didn’t make the best impression on Tessa that night, and considering I was your date to her rescue…. Anyways, the thing is, I’ve always liked Tessa. I think she deserves to be happy. Katrina might not like the idea of you being around her sister, but it seems pretty obvious that you care about her. I thought maybe, I could help you.”

“Help me?”

Misty opened her purse and lifted out a thin binder. Conner leaned forward as Misty passed it to him, and before even asking what it was he opened the book to the first page and found a picture of Tessa, she was younger, and wearing a cheerleader’s outfit, more importantly, she was outside and she was happy. The boy with his arm around her had the same blonde hair that Misty had. The boy was looking at Tessa the same way Conner imagined that he did, and Conner didn’t have to guess to know it was David.

“It was my brother’s.” Misty explained, “I thought you might like to know who Tessa used to be. I’m sorry if this is none of my business, it’s just that Katrina said something to me that I thought you should know. She said that ever since she went into hiding, Tessa keeps everyone at arms length. Tessa seems to think that anyone she gets close to will end up getting hurt. I guess Katrina doesn’t have a problem with you Conner; she’s just afraid Tessa is going to push you away and break her own heart over it in the process. I don’t know if any of this helps, I just thought…”

“Thank you, Misty.” Conner nodded.

He didn’t exactly want to hear that Tessa would eventually end up pushing him away. He had not been with Tessa for very long, and so far it seemed wonderful, but even Conner had to admit that somewhere in the back of his mind he was always wondering how long it would last. He couldn’t let her push him away.

“Misty, you said that Tessa blamed herself for David’s death… did you ever talk to her about it?”

“That’s all we ever talked about.” Misty replied, “She was so certain that if she hadn't gone out with him that night he’d still be alive. You see, the creep that hurt her was sending her warnings, telling her that if she went near David she would regret it. I admit, that sometimes I wonder if my brother made the right decision, going to Tess that night, if he hadn't, maybe he’d still be alive… but I’ve never once blamed Tess… Conner, if you really are getting close to her, the way that Katrina seems to think you are, there’s something else.”

“What?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to be selfish, but, David was my brother, and his murderer is still out there. We don’t know anything about him. When he kidnapped Tessa he was wearing a mask, every time she saw him he was wearing the mask, at least that’s what she told the police. There were a few other details, but nothing that really helped us find him.”

Misty took a moment, and Conner waited, she seemed agitated and he decided it was best to just listen.

“Maybe I don’t have a right to ask you this Conner,” Misty continued, “but, if she does talk to you… Katrina said that she thinks Tess still has some of the letters, some things she never turned over to the police, hidden in her house. I don’t know why she wouldn’t hand them over, but if she really does have something, anything that might help find this guy…” Misty stopped, looking momentarily frustrated before she continued, “I’m sorry, but I just found out that my brother’s murderer took Tessa a second time, and I can’t understand why she wouldn’t go to the police. If she is hiding something…Conner, I know that you might not be the best person to ask, but according to Katrina, Tessa doesn’t even let her family upstairs in her house. If you’ve been there, maybe…”

“Misty, I can’t just go through her things.” Conner stated.

“I know that. But, if she does talk to you, maybe you could ask her.”

Conner didn’t know that he did want to ask. It was creepy enough to think that Tessa had kept anything from that experience. He also didn’t want to ask because he was afraid Tessa would push him away for it. But he did feel sorry for Misty, who looked rather desperate.

“Alright.” Conner nodded, “but only if she talks to me.”

…………..

Conner didn’t get any work done after Misty left his office, he didn’t even get out to any of his customers. He was entirely consumed with the book Misty had left him. It was full of pictures of Tessa and David, mostly just Tessa though. It was clear that David had loved her; he had even kept old love letters from Tessa and silly mementos like ticket stubs and other objects from their dates. Conner only skimmed through the letters, he felt wrong reading them, but he got the idea that Tessa loved David too.

The hardest thing was looking at the pictures. It was Tessa, and she was beautiful in every one, but so different. In the pictures she was confident, feisty. There were some from a camping trip where she was surrounded by friends. In another she was wearing boxing gloves and a comical ‘mean’ face. In others she just looked peaceful, and not afraid. Conner was not a man who often let emotions get the better of him, but thinking over what life Tessa could have had if the psycho would have just left her alone made him want to cry.

Conner cared about Tessa, he cared about her so much that he would trade in their relationship in a heartbeat if it meant that he could take back her past. She would probably have a life with David now, but at least she’d be happy, he thought. He wished he could give it to her, but since he couldn’t take back her past, he swore he would do everything he could to give her a future worth living.

Maybe he was getting ahead of himself. He probably was, but lately, Tessa had been the only thing he had been interested in, everything about her, every moment spent with her. He felt something other than excitement for their new relationship now, he felt concern. He didn’t want to believe for a moment that Misty’s suspicions were true. But what if they were? Was Tessa hiding something? And if she was, why would hide something that could protect the monster that hurt her?