After taking in the majestic view, Evan turned to the task. He crouched down, balancing on the heels of his feet as he set out to install the new screen door.
For half an hour, Evan listened to Shadow hum as he worked out on the patio, which made the cold bearable. He’d look through the kitchen window every now and then, watching her for seconds at a time. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. The way she gracefully kneaded the dough and cut the vegetables—he could tell she was in her zone.
Evan listened to her sweet humming as he unhinged the old door and got ready to install the new one. There were some moments where Shadow would slip in a lyric and then gradually slide back into humming. He unconsciously smiled to himself. She had a beautiful voice.
Being around Shadow made him genuinely happy. He was falling for her and it was simple as that.
Chapter 15
What’s going on?” Venice asked, trying not to jump to conclusions. Bruce shook his head and flashed his hand as he paced back and forth in her office. His eyes were fixated on the floor.
Venice raised her eyebrows, knowing well enough to give him some space. Although it would put her at ease if he’d just come out and say what was on his mind. It made Venice antsy—sitting there, wondering what was going on.
She sipped on her coffee, knowing this had Evan written all over it. And the only thing she knew was that Shadow was no good for him.
She sat on the couch as Bruce continued to pace. For a brief moment, he stood by the window, peering out, looking side to side, as if he was keeping a lookout.
In silence, Bruce shook his head. Debating with voices in his mind, he turned around and stared Venice dead in the eyes.
“You have to take Evan away—far away from here,” he finally said.
Taking longer than a moment to process what Bruce just said, she blurted, “What?”
“He’s not safe here.” He paused for a moment, staring off into the ceiling, like he was going to find the answer to his troubles hidden in there somewhere. “No.” He slowly made eye contact with Venice, this time, wide-eyed, feeling he’d come up with the best solution. “We need to find a place where no one can find him. He’s going to have to stay there for a while or…he can change his name, move away—start a new life somewhere else. He can move to Honey View or Rein View. They’re both farther out. Actually, Brickwood is much better. I have a safe house out there just in case things got out of control, which they are. It’s a small—”
“Bruce!”
“What?”
“You’re talking crazy. Evan’s not going to move away—not on my say so, anyway.”
“He’s going to have to,” he objected. “He’s not safe here.”
Venice shifted in her seat, putting the mug down in front of her.
“Safe? What’d you mean he’s not safe here?”
Bruce clasped his hands together and walked toward her. He maintained eye contact as he slowly sat on the couch beside her.
He sighed. “Remember when I told you I was a contract worker?”
Venice nodded her head, feeling she was about to hear the real truth.
He continued, “I’m not exactly the kind of contract worker you’d think I am.”
“Oh?” she said.
“There’s an agency.” After a beat of silence, he finished, “I work as an agent.”
“So what do you do as an agent? What’s the name of the agency?”
Bruce sighed. He looked up at the ceiling again, knowing it was best if Venice didn’t know but the time for the truth had come.
He fished for the right words but struggled. “I work for people. Upper class people who need…help resolving issues…”
“Okay,” she said, closing in, trying to gather what Bruce was communicating. “What’s the name of this agency? Maybe I can look it up and get a better understanding of it. ”
“Here’s the thing…you can’t.”
Now he’d just confused her even more.
“I can’t?”
“No. The agency goes by the SEA, short for The Secret Eye Agency. It’s hidden; no one can find it. You won’t be able to search it on the Internet.” He paused for a moment. “It’s nonexistent.”
As confused as she was, Venice shook her head, not accepting what Bruce was saying.
“That’s impossible. There’s no way—it can’t be. How in the world is there some agency that no one knows about? And you can’t even look it up on the Internet?”
Bruce sat in silence. He fiddled with his fingers, looking past Venice. Explaining the agency was one thing but understanding it was a whole other aspect.
“No one other than our clients knows that the agency exists, which are all upper class folks.” When he said that, he met her gaze in all seriousness. “If you have money and you’ve done something wrong, and you need to cover up your tracks, we are the ones you come to. We control the issue. That’s what we do. We control. It doesn’t matter how. As long as the problem is being controlled—that’s it. ”
“Basically people throw money at a problem and it goes away, because you work for an agency who controls the problem?”
Bruce nodded in shame.
In a comforting voice, Bruce explained everything Venice needed to know and how he’d joined the agency.
An agent had been keeping track of him. His every move. The places he went to. Where he lived. Who he interacted with. The group of people he surrounded himself with. Bruce was under investigation in order to see if he was going to be the right fit for the agency.
One sunny day, a man wearing a nice suit came and sat with Bruce while he had lunch. The man proposed the best solution to his problems with a significant amount of money to reel anyone in—it had been just six months since Bruce had left his old life behind him. Having no idea what he was getting himself into, Bruce agreed for an interview. As soon as he agreed, the gentleman called in two other men also wearing suits. Shortly after, Bruce was escorted into a black SUV. The men, sitting on both sides, asked Bruce politely to wear a shroud over his face. “We are not at liberty to reveal the location of the agency until after the interview,” he remembered one of the agents saying. A part of him felt if he didn’t obey the order, it wasn’t going to end well for him.
With no complaint, Bruce slipped the bag over his face, seeing nothing but darkness. Then one of the men slipped on noise-canceling headphones over the bag, which played music of all sorts. He realized soon after that this ride was going to lead to a whole other life—a life that he couldn’t escape from, even when he wanted to the most.
The ride hadn’t felt long since he’d lost track of time while listening to music. The headphones and duffel bag were removed once he was sitting in the same chamber he’d gone to for his appeal, except this time, there was no brunette. And that was when the interview took place, explaining in great detail what the job description was for a Secret Eye agent. He was informed by one of the men if Bruce rejected their offer, he was free to go, but in order to maintain the low key of the Agency, they would monitor his every move until he took his last breath. It was clear Bruce had no choice but to agree. Before he knew it, he was being signed in as Agent 115 and started his first day in training the same day.
For the sake of his family, he left his old life behind but deep down, he couldn’t leave it all behind him. Bruce managed to show up to both Denise and Evan’s graduations—elementary, middle, high school, and college—he kept track of where they were going in their lives. Making sure they were safe was still his number-one priority. The only difference was he had to do it from afar otherwise he would have placed Venice, Denise, and Evan in jeopardy as well as their future families.
For the last two years, he’d contemplated whether it was a good idea to come back into their lives. Going back and forth about the right way to go about explaining everything to them, he rea
lized there really wasn’t a right answer. He had to just do it and explain everything along the way.
Bruce saw Venice’s reaction. He reached and placed his hand over hers, giving it a squeeze.
Venice leaned into the couch, taken aback by everything she’d heard. Her eyes focused on the beige carpet, processing it all. Her hands began to tremble. She clutched her knees to keep herself from spiraling out of control.
She closed her eyes tightly as tears began to well up. She gripped on to Bruce’s hand just as tight.
“I didn’t hear from you for a really long time. I thought you were dead,” she whimpered. “I wasn’t sure if I’d ever know if anything happened to you. I couldn’t figure out how to get in touch with you and I couldn’t let Denise and Evan know about any of it. They were all I had after you left,” she said, leaning over to the Kleenex box, pulling out a tissue. “Now you’re here. You’re here,” she said, blowing her nose and using another one to wipe away her tears.
Bruce pulled Venice closer, kissing the top of her head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
They sat in silence.
At the time, going away for a while was a way for Bruce to cope with everything that happened. It was the easiest solution. Having his kids see him drunk, coping with the loss of his wife in odd ways, wasn’t the way he wanted them to remember him.
Venice leaned forward and reached to grab another Kleenex to pat her face dry. With the crumpled tissue, she wiped her nose, stuffing it in her cardigan pocket.
“I can’t protect Evan the way I was able to.” She looked into Bruce’s eyes, helplessly. “He’s all grown up now. I can only talk to him and hopefully instill some common sense in him.”
Bruce’s focus was scattered all over the place. This was not how it was supposed to play out. He’d done everything he could to make sure they were protected. Evan wasn’t supposed to end up in the middle of a battle—seeing Marvin’s history, this indeed was going to be a battle Evan would not be able to win.
He pressed his hands together, bringing them up to his chin, knowing there was one card left to play. Bruce softly squeezed Venice’s knee before getting up from the couch.
Venice’s eyes followed.
He positioned his body toward Venice before reaching for the door. “There’s someone who will kill Evan and he won’t flinch when he does. I need to protect Evan from him and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure he’s safe. You need to make sure he…listens and stays away from Shadow.”
Venice nodded, not knowing what she had to do yet. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.”
Bruce quietly shut the door behind him as he left the office.
Venice navigated toward the window. She peered out into the busy street from the third floor and watched as cars drove past while pedestrians waited to cross the street. As a sense of relief finally entered into Venice’s life, it went away just as quickly.
***
“Wow,” Evan exclaimed as he chewed on a bite of pizza, wishing he’d waited just a little longer since the sauce underneath was still boiling hot—this wasn’t the first time he’d done this. “This is really good pizza. I think it’s safe to say that cooking is probably one of your areas of expertise since we didn’t have to use a fire extinguisher or call the fire department. I was kinda worried for a bit,” He grinned as he dabbed the side of his mouth with tissue, catching the bit of sauce.
“Very funny,” Shadow said, holding a pizza slice in her hand and softly blowing over it. Shadow took a bite, feeling it was safe to do so. “Thank you for installing the door for me. I really appreciate it.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said with a boyish grin. “Now you won’t have to worry about keeping Mr. Jingles cooped up all day.”
Shadow nodded as she washed the pizza down with her glass of wine. Her tongue did a once-over on her lips. Evan halted and watched.
Evan sat back in his chair. All the memories of him and Samantha came rushing back in this one moment.
“What are you thinking about?”
He looked away for a second and then met her gaze once again. “There’s something I want to show you.”
Evan looked down at his plate. There was one bite left, which he shoved into his mouth.
He excused himself as he rinsed off his dishes in the sink.
Shadow turned to face Evan in the kitchen. “What is it?”
He gave her a cheeky smile. “You’ll see.”
Shadow picked up her plate and glass, meeting Evan in the kitchen. She couldn’t help but smile as she rinsed her dishes. “Where is it?” She grabbed the kitchen towel off the counter and wiped her hands.
They faced each other, close enough to smell one other’s aroma.
“It’s here in Lake View and we should get going before it gets too dark.”
“Okay,” she said with a grin. “Let me just get my coat.”
“I’m gonna go get my coat too. I’ll be right back.”
Shadow nodded and hurried up the stairs to grab her long black military coat.
She quickly walked down the stairs, keeping a grip on the railing. When she neared the end of the staircase, Evan was already standing there in a black trench coat, waiting patiently.
He looked up as he heard the soft sound of footsteps approaching. Evan couldn’t help but smile.
“You could have borrowed one of my coats.” She smirked. “It would’ve saved you the trip.”
Evan chuckled. “I don’t want to have to question my sexuality again.” He winked. He softly brushed his hand against her back. “Come on, let’s go.”
***
Bruce waited outside of the Secret Eye Agency in anticipation. He had no idea when Marvin would leave the premises, but he was going to wait until he walked out through the invisible doors. He paced back and forth in front of the intercom. Waiting an hour for Marvin felt like a century.
He stood still for a moment. The cold breeze brushed against his face as he pushed the dirt around with the tip of his shoe. Bruce contemplated the different ways this might go down. Marvin as he knew was not the type of guy to step down from a fight. Bruce didn’t want to be violent. Surprisingly after all the years at the agency, his humanity remained intact. This was rare for agents who were on the fifth floor. In most cases, by the time agents reached the third floor, they already crossed lines which they knew they shouldn’t have but the authority and the adrenaline rush after handling the issues for their clients, humanity didn’t matter anymore to them. They did what gave them temporary satisfaction. For Bruce, as much as he wanted a peaceful confrontation with Marvin, he already knew that option was out the window. However, Bruce he was confident the leverage he had over Marvin was enough for him to back out of his mission.
***
“Oh my god,” Shadow said, looking up, turning slowly. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Weeping willow trees surrounded Cherry Park, making it seem like they were in a green bubble. Benches were placed half a mile from each other. Far into the middle, there was an immense lake. Joggers made their way around Cherry Park, running in the distance, far enough away that in moments, they were once again all alone.
“This is the most peaceful place in Lake View. I can guarantee you that.”
“It’s definitely peaceful,” she said in awe.
Shadow was amazed by how Cherry Park made her feel like she was in an entirely different world.
Evan let Shadow take in the scenery before they walked to the nearest bench and sat side by side.
The lake was calm. No sight of ducks or geese, like Evan usually noticed when he’d come for a run.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. I mean, there’s nothing like this in Pool View. There are parks there, but definitely nothing like this.” She absorbed the bea
uty and simplicity Cherry Park had to offer. The green grass surrounded them, as if it was a sign there was hope in her own life to see the light where there was once darkness. “Do you know why it’s named Cherry Park?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. A long time ago, a married couple bought this land and they planted cherries here. When the husband passed away, his wife died soon after. Since they didn’t have children of their own, no one was in line to claim the inheritance, so it went to the county. After about a year or so, maintaining the field became too much of a hassle. They ended up changing it to a park and planted all these beautiful trees here,” he said as he looked around them.
“To sum it up, the name comes from the original plantation?” she said, turning to Evan.
He broke into a wide smile. “Was my story that long?” he said, staring off into the lake.
“Just a tad.” She playfully nudged him. “Is it usually this vacant during the winter?”
His brows furrowed as he thought. “During winter, it’s kind of unpredictable. Sometimes there are crowds of people scattered all over the place, everyone’s doing their own thing and sometimes, it’s like this. In the summer, it’s a whole different scene.” He paused. “It’s really nice in the summer.”
“It feels like we’re the only two people who exist right now.” Her words trailed into the thin air, each one sounding softer than the last.
Evan rested his forearm on top of the bench. “It certainly does.” He paused for a moment and then looked at her. “This used to be a safe spot for me growing up. I’d come here just to think.” He laughed. “I want you to know that you’re always safe with me.”
Shadow said nothing but smiled.
In silence they sat. Evan’s mind jumped from one thought to another. He could see Shadow in the corner of his eye, enjoying the moment, the peacefulness. But he knew something in the past was hanging over her and for the life of him, he couldn’t simply ignore the fact that there was a bigger picture.
“I have to ask…” The words trailed off. He didn’t know exactly how to finish his sentence. He looked away briefly and gathered his thoughts. “Was he abusive?”
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