Page 110 of Stripping Bare
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Tessa’s insideswere in a jumble over what she’d discovered about Charlie Cartwright, but she had to set that aside for now. Had to set aside that Jonah had been anything but honest. The most important thing she could do now was to find KeithBenery.
“Do you think Micki would mind if I borrowed her car?” Tessa asked Miss Joan, keeping her tone as casual aspossible.
Apparently not casual enough, because Jonah’s mom looked up from her grandbaby-spoiling list and frowned. “Why?” Her attention locked onto Tessa’s computer. “What did you just findout?”
Even as an adult, she found it hard to lie to a parental figure, and Tessa wasn’t much of a fibber to start with. She sighed. “Apparently, one of the men who raised a red flag for me when I was going back through my client files grew up not far from here. His parents still live here, so Ithought—”
“That you’d just run off and check out the situationyourself?”
“After I text Jonah and ask him to meet me.” She almost choked on thelie.
Miss Joan patted at the part in her hair. “I swear, this is the reason I have to use Miss Clairol on a regular basis. Kids grow up, but that doesn’t mean they ever grow any darn sense.” She pointed at Tessa’s phone. “Go on, then. Send him atext.”
Tessa typed up the text and pretended to hit send.Keith Benery. His parents live in Bryson City. 1612 Connamere. Meet thereASAP.
“Done,” she said, pushing back her chair to stand. “Do you know where Micki put herkeys?”
“Nope,” Miss Joan said cheerfully, “but I know exactly where mineare.”
“But—”
“Sweetheart, you didn’t think I would let you go alone, didyou?”
That was how Tessa found herself riding shotgun in Miss Joan’s sturdy little Subaru with the radio tuned in to an oldies-but-goodies station. Buddy Holly crooned out “That’ll Be the Day” as they headed west on Highway74.
Before long, though, Jonah’s mom turned down the volume. “You love him, don’tyou?”
Tessa had a feeling she wasn’t talking about one of the 1950s heartthrobs on the radio. And honestly, after what she’d uncovered today, her feelings for Jonah were swinging from one extreme to the other. Her body felt achy and slow from the toll of discovering what he’d done behind her back. How he’d kept it from her the past few days when he knew how important the truth was to her. “And you don’t pull any punches, do you?” she asked hismom.
“I should’ve expected someone in your profession to answer a question with a question. He would die if he ever heard me say this, but Jonah’s always been sensitive. Big heart with a huge capacity for being hurt. That’s one of the reasons he alienates himself from other people, even his familysometimes.”
Tessa held her thoughts for several minutes before asking, “How was he,after?”
His mom drew in a long breath. “Withdrawn, moody. But we all chalked that up to Micki taking off right after they graduated. You think he was impacted by what happened toyou.”
“Yes, and I…I think he might’ve tried to get back at myattackers.”
“What do you mean? How would he have done something likethat?”
“I don’t know exactly. He just told me once that he didn’t feel as if they paid enough. I don’t think he liked the fact that my parents and I never went to thepolice.”
She shouldn’t have mentioned it. Jonah’s mother loved him and would always come to his defense. It was what parents did.Change directions,Tessa.
Miss Joan grabbed for Tessa’s hand, hung on tight. “One time when Evie was in middle school, some kids were teasing her at recess. Jonah caught wind of it somehow, and the bullies found themselves signed up for thirty hours of community service, cleaning up a piece of public property where folks had dumped a bunch of trash. If I remember correctly, there were piles of dirty diapers and rotten food out there. Jonah went out there every day to watch them. He tries to hide it, but he has a very protective streak when it comes to those heloves.”
“Which means he’s willing to do just about anything for them, right?” The only thing keeping Tessa from screaming right now was the fact that Jonah’s punishing her rapists meant he’d had feelings for her for years. Maybe not the feelings she wanted, but the violence she’d faced all those years ago had jumpstarted something insidehim.
They were drawing close to the Benerys’ home, so Tessa shelved her thoughts. They pulled up in front of a neat brick rancher that looked as if it had been built in the 1960s. The lawn was dormant, but a trio of evergreens added some seasonalcheer.
Miss Joan unhooked her seatbelt. “I’m coming withyou.”
“No.”
“Sweetheart, I wasn’t asking for permission. I wouldn’t let you drive out here alone, and I’m certainly not going to let you walk up to the front dooralone.”
A quick debate waged in Tessa’s brain and conscience. If anything happened to his mother, Jonah would never forgive Tessa. Then again, Keith’s parents weren’t the potential threat. He was. “If you see a man, blond and in his twenties, I want you to come back and lock yourself inside thecar.”
