Warped (Maurissa Guibord)

retching sound and held the cloth tight over his face. He pointed a jabbing finger at Tessa, then he clutched his briefcase and staggered out of the store.

Chapter 19

Tessa sat crossed-legged on her bed, holding her cell. With her free hand she pulled at the white, frayed edge around the hole in the knee of her jeans. "Thanks for taking those books home with you," she said.
    "No problem," answered Opal. "What's a little grand larceny between friends? At least, I hope it was grand. I wouldn't want to do petty. Sounds, you know ... cheap."
    "It was the only thing I could think of," Tessa replied with a sigh, thinking of her early-morning dash outside to break the window, undo the lock and open the casing. Opal had waited inside to hand things through. They had grabbed a few books from various display cases. Then the two of them had snuck them out to Opal's car in the darkness. But the tapestry and the Texo Vita Tessa had kept. She'd wrapped them together in a bundle and stuffed them under her bed.
    "Have the police gone?"
    "Just now. The officer interviewed us and looked around, especially on the floor near the broken window and the front door. He said he was surprised we hadn't had trouble before, not having a security system." She didn't think her father suspected anything. "I'll return everything to the store once this mess is all straightened out."
    Tessa thought how ridiculous that sounded. Straightened out. Like this was some kind of mix-up at the dry cleaner's. Yes, ma'am, we seem to have delivered your flying carpet to the wrong customer. You can have fifty percent off your next order .
    And she hated lying to her father. But somehow she felt that the less he knew about Gray Lily, the tapestry and Will, the safer he would be.
    Tessa said good-bye to Opal, closed the phone and turned it beneath her fingers thoughtfully, all the while looking at Will de Chaucy from under her lashes.
    He stood by her window, watching the movement of cars and pedestrians below, his strong profile backlit by the warm afternoon sun. He'd spent most of the morning poring over her books, expressing disbelief that anyone could have so many. Tessa wished she could bring him downstairs to show him the store, but there was no way. Not while her father was there.
    He was wearing a pair of her father's old dress pants, a faded OLD PORT DAYS 5K commemorative T-shirt and Nikes. It was all she could muster from the back of her father's closet that she felt sure he wouldn't miss. Or probably even recognize. The pants were too big at the waist and hung low across Will's lean hips. The worn cuffs cleared the top of his ankles by two inches. The wrinkled T-shirt was white turned pale pink as a result of an unfortunate washing incident and had a goofy-looking pirate jogging across the front. It was the most ridiculous outfit she had ever seen. He looked completely amazing.
    Tessa frowned, considering Will's tall, athletic build, the contours of muscled shoulders and biceps beneath the thin cotton fabric as he leaned against the window frame. It probably wouldn't matter what he wore. It was as if he were made of something different from ordinary flesh and blood, something finer.
    "You're a very surprising person, Mistress Brody," Will said, turning as if he had been contemplating her and not the traffic outside.
    She looked away, hoping he hadn't noticed her doing whatever it was she'd been doing. "Huh?"
    "It was a clever ruse, and a daring one," Will remarked. "But did Gray Lily's emissary believe you?"
    "His name was Moncrieff," Tessa said slowly. She thought about the way the man's pale blue eyes had stared at her. "No, I don't think he believed me." She gave a shrug. "Would you?" she added, turning back to Will.
    "Believe you?" Will considered this. "I would want to believe you," he said softly. He folded his arms and looked outside. "But no. I wouldn't."
    There it was again. Why did she get the feeling she was talking about one thing and he was talking about something totally different?
    "They'll be back," he said over his shoulder. "Gray Lily will come."
    "But what can she do?" Tessa argued. "If you're here with me, and my dad? In broad daylight? In the middle of Portland?"
    "I confess I have seen but a small demonstration," Will said dryly, "but I would imagine she can do quite a lot. Anywhere."
    "Well, what do you suggest we do?"
    He turned around. "Ah. I had hoped you would ask. What I would like is ... a walk. Down there." He nodded