After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, she cleared her throat. “You’ll let me know then?” And that was all she said.
“Of course.”
Itching to go back to the master bedroom to search the boxes, she grabbed her shoes and stood. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to work, but I would like some time alone. To explore the house. Familiarize myself, I don’t know, just get used to the outside world.” She didn’t know any other way to explain herself other than just to say what was on her mind.
“Okay. I can see about stocking the refrigerator, get this place up and running again. Is there anything you’d like from the grocery? Publix delivers, so I won’t have to leave you.”
Tessa shook her head. “Not really.” Then, “Sam, I know you’re acting as my guardian, but does that mean you have to monitor me twenty-four/seven?”
Sam stood up and walked down the few remaining stairs, putting distance between them. “Pretty much. I’m to keep you within my sight.”
Surely he wasn’t serious? Then again, why would Sam make light of her situation? He wouldn’t. Incredulous, she replied in a tight voice, “Okay. I see.” She didn’t really, but was not going to tell him so. She had planned on his being in the house during the day, but around the clock, no. This was going to be a problem. She had to find some way around it, and she would. She had to think and plan. She had to figure something out. It wasn’t as though she had a choice.
“I’m going to tell Cal he can call it a day,” Sam said. “He’ll be driving us wherever we need to go.”
Tessa’s heart beat double time hearing this. “Sam, where exactly does Cal live?”
He shifted his gaze away from her, cramming his hands in his pockets. “Here.”
“In my house?” she asked, knowing his statement needed no clarification but still wanting to hear him confirm this. “Around the clock?” she added for no reason.
“It’s part of the terms of your release. The pool house has been converted to a guesthouse.”
She took another deep breath and nodded, then could not help but wonder if any evidence had been compromised during the conversion. “Sam, tell me everything. Don’t bullshit me. What other terms of my release have I not been told? I need to know.”
Glancing around as though he were searching for an answer from some unseen source, Tessa watched him. “Sam, is there more? Seriously, I need to know.”
“No, not really,” he said a bit sheepishly.
“That sounds like there is, so just tell me.” She wasn’t used to playing cat and mouse. In prison, dialogue was fairly succinct and straightforward, at least most of the time.
“I’m to keep you within sight at all times. That’s it. Cal’s staying here is merely a convenience,” Sam explained.
“Basically, I’m not allowed any privacy. Is that it?”
“Tessa, I am not going to sleep in the same room with you. I’m not going to watch you shower or take a bath, and if you want me out of the way, this is a large house with a number of rooms where I can go. I’m not a prison guard, okay?”
He sounded a bit ticked off, but she didn’t care. “All right,” she relented, “but if something changes, no matter how insignificant you think it is, you’ll tell me, right?”
“Of course I will.”
She hoped he was being honest with her but didn’t tell him so. Whatever it took, she couldn’t raise his suspicions. She needed time to prepare. Nodding in agreement, she spoke softly. “I’d like to see the girls’ rooms, maybe go through a few of the boxes in the master bedroom. You’ll take care of the groceries while I do that?” Her way of telling him she wanted to be alone and that he could do whatever he needed. Groceries, anything, it didn’t matter, as long as he was out of her way.
“I have got it covered,” he said.
“I appreciate all that you have done for me, Sam. I really do. I’m very sorry if I sounded mad at you.”
“I know,” he said, and headed to the kitchen.
Finally, she thought.
Alone.
Chapter 8
“About time,” Tessa muttered to herself as she returned to the master bedroom. She was grateful for Sam’s taking her case to Lee, but having him and Cal underfoot twenty-four/seven was going to be tough, given her plans. She would have to make adjustments.
In the master bedroom, she saw the boxes against the wall and decided there was no time like the present. Before she could stop herself, she ripped the heavy-duty packing tape off easily as the tape was dry and yellowed with age. Tessa assumed these boxes had been sitting there for a very long time. Possibly as long as she had been in prison. Had Sam packed the boxes himself? Did it matter who packed them? Maybe. Maybe not.
Removing several pieces of balled-up newspaper from the box, Tessa dropped them into a small pile on the floor. Not knowing the contents, as they weren’t labeled, she took her time when she reached inside. Carefully, she removed a stack of envelopes held together with a rubber band. The return address read, The Bank of The Cities, where they’d shared a personal checking account. Tessa sifted through a few of the statements. Seeing nothing important, she crammed the envelopes back in the box, along with the old newspapers. No point in making a mess as she would be the one responsible for cleaning the place.
Tessa thought of Rosa and wondered what she had seen on her last day of work. Knowing she had spent more than ten years with information that might have cleared the way for the investigation to focus solely on Liam, or at least on someone other than herself, Tessa wanted to question her privately. She added this to her mental list of people who could
