by Jamie Begley
“Want one!”
“No.”
The children and Lagi formed a circle around them as Manny set her on her feet, then squatted down beside her.
“We don’t have any money to buy anything,” he explained, lowering his voice.
“Money?”
“The tourists use it to get what they want to buy.”
“Want some.”
“We all do, but we have to get it first.”
“How?” she asked, determined to buy one of the flashy necklaces.
“We try to talk them into giving us some.”
“How?”
“You know how you sing to Gyi and Lagi?”
She nodded eagerly.
“If they like it enough, they’ll give you money. Then we can all buy something.”
Ginny remembered wanting to buy everyone something, too.
Manny turned her to face the crowd of tourists. “Sing the song you sang to Gyi yesterday.”
She eagerly started singing, not paying attention to Manny nodding at Lagi and the other children before they disappeared in the crowd. Wanting to buy the necklaces, she sang the song just like she had the day before.
At first, none of the tourists looked at her, then they gradually drew closer, smiling down at her. She loved singing in front of anyone. That so many wanted to listen to her had her smiling back up at them.
“She’s adorable,” she heard one woman say.
“She’s so talented.”
“I just want to take her home with me,” another cooed.
She gripped Manny’s hand. She didn’t want to go home with the woman.
When her song ended, she placed her hand on her waist and bowed the way Trudy had taught her when she sang for her. The tourists laughed and clapped, which made her want to do it again so they would clap again.
“Sing another one,” Manny hissed between his teeth.
She immediately started again as Manny laid a cloth on the ground in front of her and the tourists dropped coins and colored bits of paper down onto it. She instinctively knew this was the money that Manny had told her about.
When she finished and bowed again, even more money showered down on the cloth.
Manny had her sing three more songs before folding the cloth, then picked it and her up. “We have to go. Gyi will be returning to the boat,” he told her, starting to move away.
“I want my necklace,” she wailed.
Manny turned back to the stall, tilting her to the side so she could see. “Pick one.”
She already knew which one she wanted. With her little hand, she reached for the shiniest one.
Juggling her, Manny opened the cloth and took out one of the bills to pay for it. She wasn’t done, though; she reached out to take three more. Manny gave her an exasperated look but took out three more bills to hand to the person behind the stall.
Content, she stared at the necklaces in awe. They were the most beautiful things she had ever seen. Almost as beautiful as the boat.
As they walked back to the boat, Lagi and the three children ran up behind them to follow. No one talked until they were back on the boat and down the steps in the deck below.
Manny set her on the bunk this time, not in it, and the three children swarmed around her to see what she had.
Taking one that had a purple stone, she gave it to Fini. The one with the blue, she gave to Nati. Then she gave the one with the black stone to Fetu, keeping the one with the red stone for herself. She hung it around her neck as they excitedly compared them all.
As they did, Lagi started taking objects out of his pockets.
Her attention distracted from the necklaces, Evangeline watched curiously as several items caught her eye. One had her reaching out, and Manny hastily grabbed her wrist.
“No, Evangeline.”
“Want it,” she begged, trying to pull her hand free.
“You can’t have it. It’s Gyi’s.”
“But I want it,” she argued.
“We have to share. You only shared your part.”
“Want more.”
Manny and Lagi laughed at her, then their eyes turned fearful.
“He’s back,” Lagi warned, going to the bottom of the steps before coming back to the bunk to shove the objects back into his pockets.
Quickly, Manny lifted her up as Lagi rushed the other children above deck.
Finding herself lowered back into her hiding spot, she started to tell him that she didn’t want to play hide and seek anymore, when Manny pressed a finger pressed to her lips to stop her.
Nodding, she lay back and started playing with her necklace. She didn’t know how long she hid there, only that she was getting sleepy again. When the mattress was finally lifted again, she saw Manny’s face.
“Show Trudy?” she asked, twirling the stone hanging from the chain in her hand to watch it sparkle.
“If you show Trudy, I won’t be able to take you back,” he said, carrying her above to the empty deck.
Her smile dropped. “Wanna go back. Didn’t ride the boat.”
Taking her off the boat, he waited until they were on the footpath back to her home before talking. “If you want to go back, we need to hide your necklace so they won’t know I took you to Sherguevil.”
She pressed her necklace to her chest, unwilling to take it off.
“Your parents won’t let you keep it.”
She shook her head at him. “It’s mine.”
“Yes, it’s yours, and I want you to keep it. That’s why I want you to hide it,” he coaxed.
“Okay.” Taking it off, she held the necklace in her hand. “Where?”
“Let’s find a spot just for you.”
Loving her new game, she searched around the jungle, but came up blank.
“Here. You can put it here.” Manny placed her down, then took the cloth out of his shorts. Untying the knot, he shoved his money back into his pocket. “Put it in here.”
Evangeline laid her treasure onto the cloth, then watched Manny retie it with a knot. Taking her hand, he then headed the short distance to the beach where she lived. Stopping at a small building that her father and his workers had built, Manny looked around, making sure no one was watching them before sneaking her inside. He then took a small pocketknife from his pocket and pried one of the floorboards up and dropped the cloth inside before closing it again. Shoving a box over the board, he grinned at her.
“No one will find it there.”
Ginny shook her head at her overly trusting three-year-old self at how gullible she had been.
“We need to go. Make sure you don’t tell, or they won’t let you go tomorrow,” he urged little Evangeline.
“I won’t.”
And she hadn’t caught on to the game. She hadn’t told anyone about the necklace, or the other necklaces that she had asked for when he took her back to the bordering island. Cringing inside that she hadn’t told her parents how he had taught her to steal—just like the other children had been trained to do. Using her as the singer to divert the tourists’ attentions, they hadn’t noticed the eagle-eyed, tiny bodied pickpockets. Once the children divested them of their cash—or whatever was in their pockets and handbags—they handed it over to Lagi, in case one of the children were caught. It was a well-organized theft ring, and three-year-old Evangeline had no idea she was being used as a decoy. Until it was too late.
So, she didn’t deserve Pastor Dean’s sympathy. She had spent most of her life living a lie pretending to be someone else with everyone trying to protect her. Manny hadn’t been the only one to manipulate her. The memories of her parents were the most painful. Children were born with the innate ability to love their parents, regardless of who they were, their income, or their physical beauty. A child’s love was with their whole heart. It was on that last horrible day at Sherguevil Island when she discovered the truth. Her parents, whom she’d loved with every beat of her childish heart, had been just as fake as the red stone hanging from that
tarnished chain. If living with the Wests made it possible for her to reclaim a portion of her life, enabling her to hide in plain sight from those who had to believe she was dead, then she would remain living there with a fake smile plastered on her face—just like Lisa.
Pointing at the problem again, Ginny was determined to steer Pastor Dean from the truth about the Wests. “Am I right?”
He unhappily gave up. “Yes, you’re right. If you continue at this pace, you’ll be tutoring me in a couple of weeks.”
“I doubt that.” She didn’t believe him, but it did give her the spark of confidence that she desperately needed.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to stop coming to church.”
“No, Pastor, I won’t. I promise I’ll be here every Sunday. Rain or shine.”
“The sun is always shining when I give a sermon; you just have to look to find it.”
Ginny stared at the pastor pitifully. “Pastor, your sermons are good,” she said, trying hard not to hurt his feelings but wanting to be truthful in God’s house, “but they aren’t that good.”
Ginny placed the wet umbrellas in the stand beside the front door of the church as the Wests went ahead of her to take a seat, since Pastor Dean’s sermon had already begun.
Seeing the Wests were sitting at the end of a pew that had no seats left, she was relieved. She hadn’t wanted to sit next to them anyway. Looking at the back of the heads of the parishioners, Ginny searched for one, wanting to avoid the same pew as the sheriff. Not seeing him, she found a seat in a pew that wasn’t full.
Sitting down, she was opening her Bible when someone edged into the pew she was on. She glanced up but only saw the woman’s back. Concentrating on finding the correct page, she didn’t look up when the woman sat down next to her.
“Excuse me. Could you scoot over? He wants to sit down.”
Ginny lifted her eyes to slowly double take, recognizing it was Trudy staring back at her. As she scooted over to make room, she then turned and saw the sheriff waiting to sit down. Scooting over farther toward Trudy, she wanted to hug her and burst into tears. However, a small shake of Trudy’s head stopped her.
Ginny bit her lip to hold back her tears as the sheriff sat down next to her. Thanking him with her eyes before glancing back to Trudy, she was afraid she would disappear in the brief time she had looked away.
Her sister placed her hand down on the pew next to her thigh with her palm raised. Ginny looked directly at the pastor as he gave his sermon with tears in her eyes, as she laid her hand down on Trudy’s.
At her next tutoring session, she was going to have to take back what she told the pastor. She had seen the sun through the rain during his sermon.
Chapter Seventeen
Gavin rolled over to look at the clock, seeing it was 3:04 in the morning. Groaning that he was awake and wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, he blamed himself for going to bed so early. That was when his senses went on alert, hearing the creak of the floorboards outside his door.
He knew it wasn’t Mrs. Langley since her hip problem made it difficult to navigate the steps. Besides, she had a cleaner to help keep the second floor orderly, and no cleaning service was coming up the stairs in the middle of the night.
“Fuck.” Cursing to himself for leaving his gun in the car, he jumped out of bed and grabbed his cell phone as he rushed the door.
He didn’t make it before it flew open.
He was stunned for a split second at the two men standing in the doorway, recognizing who they were with the hall light illuminating their features. That split second cost him.
Memphis was there, but that wasn’t what had him taking that second. It was the man beside him. Vincent Bedford, Mrs. Langley’s son-in-law. Had something happened to her and she called him to help her? Instead of reacting immediately, Gavin waited to see what they wanted, not initially realizing they were threats to his safety.
When Vincent’s hand reached out to turn the light on, he realized his second mistake too late; weaponless he should have used the darkness to his advantage. If a recruit in the club had made the same mistake, he would have fucked him up into the next day.
Using his thumb without looking down at his hand, he hoped neither man noticed the action as he braced himself for what the men would do next.
“Memphis—” Gavin began, trying to find a way of talking the brother out whatever plan he had conspired with Vincent, though he could tell it was going to be a useless endeavor.
“I would keep the fuck quiet if you don’t want that old bitch dead.” Memphis jerked his head toward Vincent. “Give him your phone.” The man he called brother raised the gun in his hand, showing he was serious, but Gavin had no intention of giving up the phone pressing nine, then one, one. It might take time for the dispatcher to find where the call originated, but it provided a small chance of survival, which was looking slimmer with the gun Memphis had trained on him.
“You want the phone, you motherfuckers can come and get it,” Gavin snarled.
Memphis’s lips curled up in a sarcastic smile. “I’m not stupid.”
“I don’t know about that. You’re dumb enough for me to find out you’ve been switching the patents into your name. If anything happens to me, Viper will know it’s you.”
Memphis kept the gun trained on him, while Vincent went to the doorway and looked outside worriedly.
“Viper doesn’t know shit.” Memphis’s grin turned triumphant. “I’m still breathing, aren’t I? I found the letter in your glove box. Damn, Gavin, I should have been the one who joined the SEALs. I’ve known every move you made in the last month. The only thing you’ve done right is kept your mouth closed to Lucky. The brother won’t even know you saved his life, but we will, won’t we?”
Gavin frowned. He thought Memphis was about to kill him, yet the way he was talking it sounded as if he had other plans.
“Hurry up!” Vincent moved from the doorway to Memphis’s side. “We need to get out of here.”
“Playtime’s over, Gavin. Put your hands behind your back.”
“No.”
“Just remember, I tried to do this the easy way. Go ahead.”
Gavin immediately recognized what Bedford took out of his coat pocket. His only option left was to charge Memphis.
He was an inch away from him, before falling to his knees then to his side, twitching.
“Tase him again,” Memphis barked. “I want to make sure he’s not able to break my neck when I put the cuffs on him.”
Gavin felt another shock of electricity flow through his body, helpless and unable to do anything but lie on the floor as his body rebelled against the current.
“That’s enough.” Memphis handed the gun to Bedford. “If he touches me, shoot him.”
Rushing to where he was lying on the floor, Memphis jerked his hands behind his back before the charge wore off. When feeling started coming back, Gavin tried to twist out of Memphis’s hold, only to have a boot press down on his back, holding him immobile and unable to stop Memphis from handcuffing him. When he was done, Memphis flipped him onto his back.
“You’re a dead man.” It was Memphis’s only warning.
Pressing his back for traction, Gavin swung his legs up, circling Memphis’s head in a headlock. Twisting his hips and using the strength in his legs, he forced Memphis down to the floor. Tightening his thigh muscles, he began cutting off Memphis’s oxygen.
Memphis flailed like a fish, trying to break his hold on him by trying to pry his legs off. Gavin tightened his legs even tighter as he stared up at Bedford, waiting for his reaction, and praying that Memphis would pass out or he could break his fucking neck before Bedford reacted.
He was prepared for another current or for Bedford to shoot him, but he didn’t do either. Instead, he rushed them and brought the side of the gun down on Gavin’s forehead. Despite the pain, he refused to release Memphis, but it was too intense. Writhing in agony from the hit at the side of his eye sock
et, Memphis gained his freedom.
Incapable of movement, he endured Memphis’s kicks to his ribs, knocking the air out of him. Memphis jerked the gun away from Bedford. “If you weren’t worth more money to me alive, I would blow your fucking head off.” Gasping for breath, Memphis kicked him again. “Get your shit together,” he ordered Bedford. “Make sure you don’t leave any of his crap behind.”
Gavin was trying to regain the breath Memphis kept knocking out of his lungs.
“Got it. Let’s go.”
Memphis cruelly kicked him once more before lowering his face to stare down into his eyes. “Nighty-night.”
Flashing starbursts exploded behind his eyes, making him senseless to what was going on around him. His jumbled, pain-riddled thoughts couldn’t bring one name or deity to call out to as Memphis lifted him over his shoulder, the jarring motion finally causing the unconsciousness that Memphis had been trying so hard to achieve.
It was another jarring motion that jolted him back to awareness. Keeping his eyes closed, he listened to the sounds surrounding him while assessing the pain in his body. His head hurt like a mother, his ribcage wasn’t much better, and he no longer felt the handcuffs around his wrists. There was a cold, stone floor under him, and he still only had on the thin T-shirt and shorts he had worn to bed.
His mental evaluation of his injuries over, and not hearing any sounds, he raised his eyelids. He was in complete darkness. There wasn’t a speck of light giving him any indication of where he was.
He wanted to rise up, but he knew it would set off the pounding of his head even worse. So, using minimal movements, he levered himself up onto his elbow, biting back the groan of pain from his ribs. It was everything he could do to remain silent as he finally managed to sit upright. He wanted to get to his feet, but he didn’t think his body could handle the strain.