by Tia Siren
“You okay?”
“Not really. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Do what?”
“Treat women like objects. I can’t. I’m not going to become that person.”
“Eva really messed you up, didn’t she?”
“No. She opened my eyes.” Edward jumped up off the bed and started gathering his clothes. “I know what I have to do.”
“You need me to come get you?”
“No. I’ll catch a cab. I have some things I need to do. I’ll call you later.”
“What are you doing, Edward?” Joseph knew he was up to something.
“I need to get her back.”
“Eva? Dude, she is gone.”
“Yes, Eva.”
“Listen, man. Let me come get you. I can be there in fifteen.”
“No. I told you what I was doing. I need to find her and I’ll go to the ends of the earth to do it.”
“I think we should talk about this.”
“Unless you are going to help me, there’s nothing to talk about.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to start by flying to Morocco. Don’t try to talk me out of it.”
Edward left the hotel room and took a taxi to the travel agency. It took him a while, but he was able to purchase a direct flight to Morocco for that night. He headed back to his apartment and when he arrived, he paid the cab and reached into his pocket for his key. Walking up the steps he noticed the front door partially open. His heart started beating harder. He ducked back and crept up to the top step, keeping close to the door and peeking inside as he crept closer. Not seeing anyone inside, he tried listening but heard nothing. He didn’t know if the intruder was just inside the door or if they already took what they wanted and left.
Why didn’t my alarm go off? Where the fuck are the cops?
He, very slowly, opened the door, his eyes glued to the inside and anything that moved. He positioned his keys between his fingers so he had something to defend himself with if he needed to.
With the door open enough to get through, he darted his head inside and quickly looked around. Nothing was out of place.
Odd, he thought.
He crept inside and quietly went to the hallway closet. Opening the door with extreme caution, he crouched down and set the combination on the three-foot safe hidden on the floor. He opened the door and slid his hand inside. When his fingers wrapped around the cold steel butt of his pistol he could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. He slowly stood up, keeping his eyes on the front room as his fingers worked the cylinder on his gun. Once he confirmed it was loaded he carefully closed it and held it up to his shoulder.
He peeked around the corner, noticing his bedroom door was partially closed. Knowing he kept his door open all the time, he knew the intruder had gone in there. He kept a sizable amount of cash in another safe in his bedroom closet but it was virtually impenetrable.
He slid out of the closet and crept closer. When he got to the middle of the living room he heard noise from the bedroom confirming there was someone still inside. He froze and cocked his gun. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his cell and called emergency. When they answered, he set the phone down on the stand just outside his bedroom and crept closer to the door. He inched his feet closer, his eyes wide open and his adrenaline moving at a high rate of speed through his veins. When he couldn’t get any closer without being seen, he slammed into the door, driving it open so hard it cracked into the wall.
“Don’t move, mother fucker!” He held his gun outward toward the intruder who was in his closet. He could only see the back of the guy’s jacket and the only conclusion he could reach was that the guy was small enough that Edward could most likely wrestle him to the ground instead of shooting him. “I wouldn’t move if I were you. The only thing closer to you than I am is the pistol I am holding in my fucking hands,” he spat. “My finger is on the trigger and I’m itching to pull it, so just give me a reason.”
The guy didn’t move. Edward looked around the room then fixed his eyes on the intruder.
“Back up, slowly and put your hands in the air.”
When the intruder started to turn around, something fell from his hands and shattered all over the floor. The small figure jumped as the chards of glass slid across the wooden floor. Edward moved closer, confused at what he witnessed. The intruder wasn’t a guy at all. The long and slender fingers he saw as they raised into the air were those of a woman. He moved closer until the glass crunched under his feet, causing him to look down. Pieces of glass covered a picture that lay at his feet. He reached down once he realized the picture was of him and Eva at the park. He picked it up and looked back up at the woman.
“Turn around.” His demand was softer.
She slowly turned around and looked at him, petrified with tears in her eyes.
“Eva,” he whispered. He lowered his gun and wanted to run to her, but he didn’t know how she felt. “What happened? Why are you here?”
“I had to see you,” she sobbed. She squatted down, picked up a large piece of the thin glass and held it in her hand.
“The picture frame,” he exhaled.
“Yes. When I received it, I was leaving for Morocco that day. I left it on my bed with no intentions of keeping it. I got to the bus station and had to turn around to get it back before I left.”
“So, you did go to Morocco?”
She nodded. “I took it with me. I was so angry at you for not explaining everything. You have to know that finding out the way I did about killed me.”
“I’m sorry. I just didn’t know how.”
They walked over the broken glass and sat on the edge of his bed.
“I know that now, and I was selfish. I wanted the best of everything. You, Morocco, college, even the life you had before you met me.”
“I could have given all of it to you.”
“I was angry. But it was more than that. I did some things, some things I’m not proud of, some things that can get me into a lot of trouble.”
“Eva, you don’t have to….”
“Yes, I do. Please listen to me.” She backed away from him when he stepped closer and reached out to touch her. “I want to tell you that I heard what you said in my house at the university that day. About changing who you were to get away from the reputation you were forced to live up to and get what you truly desire. I get it. It just took a while to sink in I guess.”
“How did you get in here? I have alarms. I could have shot you.”
“Your friend, Joseph helped me.”
“Joseph?”
“He met me here and let me in when I told him who I was. Actually, I think he would have picked me up and ran with me over his shoulder if I let him.”
Edward smiled at the thought of it. “He’s a good friend.”
“Letting strangers into your apartment? Yeah, I can see how that would make him a good friend,” she said, confused.
“He was just trying to stop me.”
“From what?”
“Nothing. So, how was Morocco?”
“The country itself was amazing. The culture there is so much different than what I’m used to.”
Edward nodded, hoping she would continue.
“Gerald wasn’t so amazing. In fact, he was horrible. I wanted to go with him so he could teach me and show me what he has experienced, and all he wanted was sex.”
“What happened?”
“I cold cocked him in his nose and walked away from him.”
Edward chuckled.
“For all I know, he could still be in Morocco. I did what I wanted to do there and went back to Oxford soon after.”
He couldn’t help but notice her holding something back.
“What else?”
“What?”
“There is something you aren’t telling me, something you need to open up to.”
Chapter 45
Eva nodded and looked down at
her hands that were folded in her lap.
“Morocco was more than just a trip for my thesis.”
He waited patiently as she searched for the words she needed to say.
“It was an excuse.”
“I’m not following.”
“Morocco… was my escape,” she said as she looked past him and out the window at the wind blowing lightly at the large cedar tree.
“Escape? From me?”
She shook her head, still looking out the window. She was silent for a long time. Slowly she turned to look at Edward. She searched his face for validation.
“I killed Gracie and her brother.”
Edward just stared at her. His body felt detached. “No, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
“Eva, you don’t know what you are saying.” He tried taking her hands but she pulled away from him.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“But, why?”
“She needed to go and it was her fault for dragging her brother into it. I had no intentions of….” She turned her head away.
“Eva.” He turned her face back toward his. “You need to talk to me. Why did you kill her?”
She pressed her lips together and took a big breath. “Do you remember that professor that was murdered a few years ago?”
“Yes. Professor Gains, right?”
She nodded. “He wasn’t killed when I was going to school there. I was still in high school.”
“So, why is that relevant to what happened?”
“My grades were perfect. With the scholarships I received, I had my choice to go wherever I wanted to go.”
“Okay.”
“I chose Oxford University because of what Gracie did to him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“My name isn’t really Eva Brooks.”
Edward’s eyes were glued to her.
“It’s Eva Gains.”
“He was your father.” Edward felt his heart swell for her. “My God, Eva. I’m so sorry.”
“The reason I went to Oxford in the first place was so that I could get close enough to her to make her pay for what she did. My life was good,” she nodded. “Ya know? I thought my parents were happy together, I was just graduating high school, I was top honors, I was popular and had a choice of any university in the world. When I found out my father was murdered, my whole world stopped. And then,” she laughed “when I found out why?” She stood up and walked to the window. “I had no idea my father was having an affair, until after the courts dragged every horrible detail through the newspapers.”
“It must have been horrible for you.”
“At first, it was completely incomprehensible. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. The only thing I could think about was murdering her like she murdered my father. I got through the year and started confiding in a counselor. She helped me realize my full life’s potential. After a while, I guess I talked myself out of following through with it. Until I met you.”
“Me?”
“I got to know you and fell so hard for you, Eddie.”
“Call me Edward. Eddie is gone, he wasn’t real.”
“Anyway, when I found out she sunk her claws into you, I couldn’t even imagine my life without you.”
“Did you really think she was going to kill me as well?”
“Yes. It is what she does. Why do you think she got her brother to beat the hell out of you? I believe he was supposed to kill you.”
“That’s why you were so afraid when you found out about that night.”
“Yes. I knew what I had to do. I knew it was never going to end. I wasn’t going to allow her to take two men I loved from me.”
“So, why did you go to Morocco?”
“It was part of the plan. I had to get away, an alibi.”
“Did Gerald know?”
“Not a clue. He was so involved in trying to get me into bed that he was oblivious. You can understand why I needed to do what I did. When I got to Gracie’s house, everyone had thought I already left for Morocco. It was the perfect plan, until I saw you inside arguing with her brother. By the time you left and I got inside and killed her, her brother had regained consciousness and saw everything. I couldn’t chance it.”
She turned and faced him. “I’m so sorry you almost took the fall, but I had a feeling you would be arrested and charged since you had been there before I was, so I planted evidence to make it look like she tried setting you up.”
“This is… so surreal.”
“I’m sure there are still investigations going on, but last I heard they had no suspects.”
A hard knock on the front door startled Eva as she backed up toward the window.
“Police. Mr. Caldwell, are you there?”
Eva looked at Edward with terror in her eyes. She wanted to say something but she closed her mouth and turned back toward the window.
Edward walked to the door and opened it.
“Is there a problem, officer?”
“There was a call made to emergency personnel from this address. The operator detected a disturbance over the call and dispatched the Sussex Police Department to check it out. May we come in?”
“Absolutely. I apologize for any misconception. When I arrived home, I did notice my door open but couldn’t understand why my alarm didn’t go off. I guess I jumped to conclusions thinking it was a burglar and I made the call. Turns out it was just my girlfriend trying to surprise me.”
“Do you mind if we take a look around?”
“No, not at all. Help yourselves.”
He backed up and opened the door, allowing the two police officers to walk in and look around. He followed them into the bedroom where Eva was still facing the window.
“Miss?” One of the officers stepped toward her. When Eva finally turned and looked at him he smiled. “Is everything okay here?”
She looked at Edward in an eerie manner and then looked back at the officer. “Yes,” she said simply.
“Well, it looks like everything is in order and if there are no complaints then I suppose we will be off.”
The officer hesitated while looking at Edward, waiting for his approval that they could be dismissed. He looked over at Eva and smiled at her.
“Yes, everything seems to be fine. I’ll double check my alarm system and have it tested first thing Monday morning.”
He walked them out of the house. “Thank you for checking up on everything. I do appreciate it.”
“Have a good day, Mr. Caldwell.”
“You as well.”
He waited on the front step until they left and went back into the bedroom.
“You didn’t tell them,” she said plainly.
“Did you think I would?”
“I knew you wouldn’t.” She walked to him and put her arms around his neck.
“Where is the broken glass?”
“I swept it underneath the bed. I didn’t want to give them reason to stick around and ask unwarranted questions.”
“Always thinking.” He smiled and pulled her closer.
She stretched her face up to his and kissed him tenderly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes still closed.
“For what?”
“Everything. Not believing in you, ditching you when you may have needed me most, making you think I had something going with Gerald.”
“I never thought that,” he teased.
She smacked his arm playfully. “You lie.”
“I’m just happy everything is finally out in the open and I can go back to loving you the way it was intended.”
“Well, almost everything is out in the open.”
“Some things are better left tucked away,” he said, kissing her forehead. “We all have secrets.”
She turned away from him and walked to his closet, her hand running along the many pressed suits he had hanging up. “So, is this what I can expect to come home to every night? Is this the real you?”
&nb
sp; “I confess. It really is.” He walked up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. “Can you handle it?”
“I will definitely give it a try.”
He spun her around, picked her up and kissed her deeply. His head swam with the feel of her back in his arms. He didn’t want to let her go. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He was afraid that if he did, he would wake up and realize it was all just a dream.
“Eva,” he whispered as he kissed her again.
“Hmmm.”
“You do realize you are stuck with me from now on, don’t you?”
She pulled back and gave him a smirk. “Am I? Who says I want to be?”
“You wouldn’t want to upset an old man, now would you?”
“An old man? I doubt you are much older than I am.”
“Not me.”
Eva face contorted into a state of confusion. “Then who? What are you talking about?”
“You don’t remember what the old man said? I’m appalled.”
She shook her head when the memory didn’t ring any bells.
“The old man at Le Petite Rose des Sables.”
“Le Petite….” She gasped. “Paris. The first place we went out together. How did you remember that?”
“I believe he said something like, Vous avez quelque chose de très rare.”
“You have something very rare, yes,” she said with a glazed look in her eyes. “He said he could feel it and that he was hardly ever wrong.”
“And he said, Aimez-vous les uns les autres et aimez la vie.”
“I thought you couldn’t speak French?”
“I have learned a few things since I met you.”
Eva was mesmerized at Edward’s dedication to her.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, his eyes glued to hers until he opened his wallet. He pulled out a small piece of paper that was ripped from the corner of a page and held it out to her.
“What is this?” She took it and unfolded it. “My number and address? You kept this?”
“It was the first thing you ever gave to me. I had to keep it.”
He handed her another small ripped piece of paper.
“What are you doing?”
“Open it.”
She unfolded it and looked up at him. “A heart?”
“It was the first thing I ever gave to you.”