me which left Tess and Lucas alone together a lot. And while he never once came out and said that he thought she was to blame for Caitlin’s death, she wasn’t stupid. He had to be thinking it.
Since Maria was still awake following Collins’s visit, Tess asked her hostess if she would mind taking her to the station house so that she could pick up her car. She then tried to broach the topic of paying for the room she rented in Ophelia during the ride.
Maria wasn’t having any of it. With red-rimmed eyes that still seemed to glitter with unshed tears, she gave her one glorious glare that killed the conversation before Tess could even tactfully ask how much she owed.
As Maria helped her unload her luggage from the trunk of her coupe into Tess’s car, Tess impulsively reached out and gave the other woman a hug. Maria towered over her by more than a head, swooping down to return the squeeze.
“I know you have to go,” Maria said, her voice throatier than usual, “and I know that Hamlet is my home, not yours. Still, I’m sad to see you go, Tess. Everything aside, you were a perfect guest, mia amica. Ophelia thanks you. She’ll stay open now, for anyone who needs a good bed and a better breakfast.” Pulling back, she took Tessa’s hand in hers. “Local or outsider, it’s all the same to me.”
Tess swallowed roughly, trying to get past the lump in her throat. “I’m glad I got to know you, Maria. And I will be sending you a check for payment. I’m told mail really works here, if it just takes a little bit longer. I’ll give it a shot.”
Maria shook her head grandly, her long dark hair swaying with the motion. “When it does arrive, I’ll burn it. I’ll take no money from a friend.”
“I left you my e-mail address. I hope you'll use it.”
“We’ll talk.” A husky chuckle. “I’m sure you’ll be glad not to have to use our radios anymore.”
A small smile tugged on her lips. “Between you and me, I’d sell my firstborn for cell service. The second I leave Hamlet, I’m looking for a charger. Maybe one day you guys will finally get a reliable tower.”
“Perhaps.” Maria reached over Tess’s head, made sure the smaller woman was safe, then closed the trunk. “All set, sweetie. Buon viaggio.” She tapped Tess on the cheek. “And when you say goodbye to my brother, let him down gently. He’s a good man, just one that’s meant to stay in Hamlet.”
Tess knew that very well. She also didn’t even bother denying that she was going to stop and see Lucas on her way out of town. “I will,” she promised.
It might have been her imagination, but she could’ve sworn the car smelled like Jack. Someone with much longer legs than hers had driven the car last and it took her a minute to move her seat and reset her driving mirrors. The entire time, she felt like Jack should be in the car beside her.
Once she strapped herself in and fastened her seatbelt, Tess rolled down the windows. The chill didn’t bother her. She had to air out the car.
As soon as she was home, she would sell the damn thing. There were just too many bad memories attached to it.
For now, though, she needed it. With a final wave to Maria, she backed out of her spot, almost ecstatic that she was leaving the dreaded station house in her rearview mirror. She never wanted to see that place again.
Not even the small pang of guilt she felt at not saying goodbye to Willie was enough to compel her to set food inside. Just like the way Jack’s presence was still in the car, Caitlin De Angelis would be haunting the sheriff’s station.
She couldn’t do it. No.
Instead, Tess strained to remember the path to Lucas’s office. She was willing to bet that she would find him there. She had to. With him spending all of his spare time at Ophelia, there was no reason for her to discover where his home was. But she knew he was a workaholic—he had to be at his office.
The candy apple red Mustang in the driveway was a pretty big clue that she was right.
Tess parked behind his car. She left her purse on the floor of the passenger seat, making sure to grab her car keys before she climbed out. There was no way she was letting those babies out of her sight any time soon.
Her eyes flickered to the chipped brick on the front of the building. Six days ago she’d been walking down this same driveway, visiting the doctor in his office for the first time. It was amazing how drastically everything could change in less than a week. The sheriff was still alive then. Lucas hadn’t been shot yet, either.
No one had ever been charged for that crime. Mason adamantly denied shooting at Lucas and Tess. Of course, he also tried to convince her that he had nothing to do with Jack and Caitlin’s murder so there was that.
Tess strode forward. She thought about knocking, then decided against it. With a deep breath, she let herself in.
He wasn’t in the waiting room—she didn’t expect him to be—and after looking for him for a few minutes, she found Lucas in his lab. He was sitting at a low table, bent over a microscope, staring intently at something on a slide. If he heard the echo of her heeled shoes against the tile, he didn’t act like it. His attention stayed on his work.
Tess tried not to let his lack of reaction sting. She cleared her throat. “I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in.”
“I thought you’d be by sooner.” Lucas kept his eye pressed against the microscope. His voice was curiously empty as he added, “The funeral services were yesterday.”
“I know.”
Tess had almost gone. Just because she signed off on having Jack’s remains cremated immediately, it didn’t mean that Caitlin wasn’t going to have a funeral befitting of her status in Hamlet. According to Maria, the whole town had shown up to pay their respects to the fallen sheriff. It wouldn’t have been out of place for Tess to go, if only because she was tied to Caitlin through the tragic circumstances of her death.
Which, in the end, was the precise reason why she stayed away. No matter which way she looked at it, she was the reason why Caitlin De Angelis was in a casket.