The Attraction File (Cake Love Book 2)

by Elizabeth Lynx

  She stumbled but finally righted herself just before leaving Jacob’s office.

  I slumped into one of Jacob’s office chairs, angry by what had happened. She fooled me. All this time I was trying to protect her from the bad guys and she was with them all along.

  “I’m sorry, Edgar. I had to do this for the company.” My brother came over and placed his hand on my shoulder.

  “But why, Jacob? Why would she do any of this? That’s what I’m having trouble with.”

  Part of me, no matter the evidence, no matter her refusal to deny the Attraction file, still felt like something wasn’t right.

  “I don’t know, Edgar. Maybe they got her too. I know Evaleen and she never struck me as someone who would be the criminal type. Perhaps someone got to her and threatened her? I’m sure when this plays out in court we will find out the truth.” My brother wouldn’t look me in the eye.

  But the hack wasn’t that big. About a month after Ashton went missing I figured out who had been compromised.

  “But only two customers had been targeted. We reached out to them and informed them what happened. I even told them what to do to secure their data and accounts. Everything is fine now. They aren’t pressing charges.”

  Jacob walked over to the other chair and sat. “Edgar, this wasn’t about the hack. A man is dead because of her. Killed. And now they have to find whoever was involved.”

  Hold up.

  “But you told me it was a suicide. You never said anything about Ashton being murdered.”

  It was obvious to everyone Ashton was killed but my brother kept insisting it was suicide. Why the change?

  “Uh, I meant suicide. Driving a man to suicide, which is the same as killing him.” My brother stood and walked over to the wall of windows, refusing to face me.

  “Why don’t I believe you, Jacob? I discussed Ashton’s death with you several times, even mentioning that I think he was killed but you insisted it was suicide.”

  He wouldn’t turn. The image of the detectives laughing as they came out of his office last week kept running through my head.

  “Is this some sort of set up, Jacob? Are you framing Evaleen for maybe something you did?”

  I stood just as he turned. His eyes wide as he waved his hands in front of him. “No, Edgar, it’s nothing like that.”

  “But it is something. Goddamn it, Jacob, she’s pregnant. You had a pregnant woman arrested for something you are trying to hide.” I ran to him and grabbed his arms. “Tell me right now what is going on. I love her. If anything happens to her you will have that on your conscience.”

  I was shaking him now. But I didn’t care. I hated what he had done to her.

  “Edgar, please stop. Stop and I’ll tell you.”

  I did as he said and my brother ran his hands through his hair to collect himself.

  “We’ll talk, but not in here.”

  Jacob walked to his private office bathroom and took out his key. It was locked at all times as only he used it. He even insisted on cleaning it himself, not letting anyone inside. I thought that was weird but he once told me it was the only place in the world that was his, and his alone.

  He opened the door and based on how secretive it was, I expected porn magazines and pictures of naked women on the wall. But there wasn’t any of that. There were framed posters on the wall, but they were of superheroes and even some villains. Growing up I knew my brother liked comics and was a bit of a nerd with it; he even once saved up to go to a comic convention in town.

  But what I saw in this bathroom blew me away. A rack of comic books lined the wall, Action figures on shelves. Even the towels were comic book themed.

  “Nerd.” I pretended to sneeze as I said it.

  “That is why I don’t let anyone in here. Let me have this one thing, Edgar.”

  He closed the door and turned to me. “Okay what is going on.”

  Jacob sighed. “The CIA contacted me right after those two detectives came here a few months back to question people. Apparently, they are involved with Ashton’s disappearance and are trying to frame Evaleen.”

  “And you let them. Wait, don’t corrupt cops get investigated by the FBI?”

  He held his hands up. “This goes beyond that. The FBI and CIA are working together. The guy who contacted me was with the CIA. Edgar, this involves Damien Rosen. Damien had threatened Ashton to hack the Mimir system. But he only gave them two names and lied to Damien, telling him he was caught hacking and couldn’t do more than that. He saved a lot of people from the attack.”

  “Oh God. I had seen Damien around. That’s why I asked Evaleen to move in with me. I felt she and her mom were in danger.”

  “But why would she be in danger?”

  My brother didn’t know about Evaleen’s past or my relation to it. It was time I told him. We spent the next fifteen minutes updating each other.

  “So you have been in love with her this whole time? She’s ‘blue eyes’ you always talked about,” he said leaning against the marble sink counter.

  “Yes.”

  He rested his hand on my shoulder. “That must have been hard. I wish I had been there to help you through that. Maybe if I tried to be more of a brother to you instead of trying hard to make up for Dad’s absence, you would have trusted me with that.”

  We hugged and I felt the distrust and any anger I had of my brother since I was a kid melt away.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket and I took it out. It was a text from Mr. Marks.

  I saw Evaleen being taken from the Mimir building in handcuffs by the detectives. But they didn’t take her to the police station. They kidnapped her. I followed them to a warehouse just outside of Chicago.

  FORTY-SIX

  Evaleen

  “Ugh, it smells,” I said.

  “It’s a warehouse. What do you want, a fancy hotel, sweetheart? You could have had that if you married me like I wanted so long ago. Not run away on your eighteenth birthday like a scared little bitch. It was as if you didn’t like me.” Damien frowned. His voice just as gravely, just as menacing, as when I was a teenager.

  Only this time I wasn’t a scared little girl. I was a woman with anger coursing through my veins. That fury took root the day he walked into my house fifteen years ago. But it has grown and flourished since.

  He’s just a sad bully past his prime, believing he could tie me up and scare me. I’m not frightened anymore.

  I tried to pull my arms from behind the chair, but it was no use. There was another chair beside me. I tried to shift mine toward it but discovered the chairs were bolted to the ground.

  Those dirty detectives took off the cuffs once we got here and then tied me with a rope to the cold metal chair.

  “Yes, because that’s what a teenager dreams of. Marrying a man old enough to be her father and living a life of crime. How dreamy.”

  I glared at him as he pushed off the table he was leaning against and strolled toward me.

  “You always had a mouth on you,” Damien said as his fingers curled around my jaw, with a grip just tight enough to cause pain. But I still didn’t give him the satisfaction of showing him. Instead I smiled as best I could. To show him he no longer scared me. Even tied up I held rage.

  Frowning at my reaction he brought his hand back, slapping me. The burst of pain was so intense I thought for a moment my eyes would explode. “At least your slut mom learned not to piss me off. She was a quick learner; you, not so much.”

  I raised my head, my cheek and eye still throbbing, and spit in his face. Damien’s stubble covered jaw tightened as his lips thinned. He raised his hand again and I stiffened, bracing myself for another slap but he stopped when the door behind him opened.

  I heard someone walking but only saw darkness. It wasn’t until the person stepped into the light that I said, “No, it can’t be you.”

  All the background checks I did on him and he was working for Damien.

  “Nice to see you again, Ms. Bechmann.” Trey Larson t
ipped his head toward me with his devastating smile.

  My heart sank wondering how far this went at Mimir. Jacob had no idea his recent hire was working for a very bad man. Maybe no one knew.

  “Trey, why would you do this?”

  Damien turned his back to me and waved his hand. “Never mind the bitch. Is she there?”

  Trey nodded. I twisted my fingers, attempting to pick away at the knot. It was a long shot, but I had to do something.

  “Yeah. Do you want me to get her?”

  Damien nodded and turned his head to me with a smile on his face. “It will be nice to have a little family reunion again. I will enjoy playing catch up with Lucy.”

  I let go of the rope. Strands of hair stuck to my face as I shook my head furiously. “No, not her. Not my mom. You have me, Damien. Why do you need her?”

  Damien waved Trey off. I yelled after him as Trey walked away, “No, Trey. Please. What have I ever done to you?”

  My face burned with tears and fury as I twisted in the chair. I had to get out.

  “I need backup, Evaleen. For when I call the senator. He may not care that I have his daughter, but when the police find Lucy’s body, they will do some digging into her past. He will pop up. That would be terrible for his career.”

  Her body? No!

  “What are you talking about? Daughter?”

  His eyes widened and a few moments later, he threw his head back in laughter.

  “She never told you?” Damien’s dark eyes twinkled in the sparse light of the room.

  My heart pounded in my chest as my mind raced with anything my mom would have said that would have caught Damien’s interest. As much as I sought to escape, run from this monster, a part of me wanted to find out what he was talking about.

  “Oh, that’s wonderful. Her own daughter doesn’t even know her father is a powerful senator in Washington,” he said.

  My father? How would Damien know about my father?

  My mother always told me she had a one-night stand and couldn’t track down my dad. I believed her because my mother would never lie to me. Would she?

  Damien leaned down so that his nose was only an inch from mine. “Why do you think I wanted to marry you all those years ago? You had an in. I thought when I hooked up with your mom it would be a one-time thing, but then she let it slip that your father worked in DC and wanted nothing to do with you. A few choice questions and I had enough information to do a little digging.”

  Damien’s lips curled into a sneer and he stood beginning to walk behind me. A shiver went down my spine as he ran his fingers through my hair. “Senator Gabe Thomson. Yeah, that one.”

  Everyone knew Gabe Thomson, the Senator for Wisconsin. There was talk that he might run in the next presidential election. My mind raced with images of the man. His eyes, his nose, the shape of his face. I had my mother’s eyes and hair color, but his nose and jawline . . . it was all so clear.

  Damien was right.

  “He probably doesn’t even remember my mother. And if he does, that was over thirty years ago. Even if he runs for president and anyone uncovers this, he can claim he didn’t know me, and has nothing to do with her.”

  That’s what most people didn’t think about when they planned things. They didn’t look for the holes. That was my job. In HR, I had to look for the holes in the résumés, the background checks, and in candidate’s stories.

  He yanked my head back, pulling on my hair until every follicle felt like it was bleeding. I stared up at him as my eyes watered. He waved a wrinkled piece of paper in front of me with a perfect evil grin on his face.

  “That’s where this beauty comes in.” His laugh matched his smile.

  “I found it behind one of those pictures of you as a kid in your mom’s kitchen. It’s from dear old Daddy.” He frowned but began to read from it. “It says here Daddy was surprised by Lucy’s letter informing him of her pregnancy. But he worked hard to get a foot into his career.”

  Damien cups the side of his mouth and whispers to me, “I’ll give you a hint. He gets into politics. He didn’t have time to help raise a child. There was mention of a check in the envelope to help your mom financially, but that was it. You, Evaleen, are his secret.”

  He let go of my hair.

  “I laid low for a while after you ran away, but I kept this note.” Damien walked around me. My scalp throbbing and I wondered if that was blood or sweat rolling down from my temple.

  He moved in front of me, his finger reaching for my neck as he slid a lone finger down. My blood ran cold as it moved closer and closer to the edge of my blouse. I could feel his fingernail digging into my chest as my breathing picked up. His smile slipped as his gaze became lost. “You were my prize. So sweet and innocent. Beautiful, sexy, and worth so much money. I knew the senator would pay if you only hadn’t slipped away in the night.”

  The collar of my blouse dug into my neck as he yanked and tore the fabric. He grabbed my breast and yanked at my nipple. It hurt but I was thankful the adrenaline racing in my veins kept the tears away. I ground my teeth and held back a painful scream.

  Just as quickly as he grabbed my breast his other hand came at my neck. Gripping just as hard. Any pain disappeared grasping for breath as his fingers tightened around my throat.

  He pressed his forehead to mine, his hot breath scatted over my cheeks. “When I was offered the chance of a lifetime, money and power, I was done with hitting up desperate women willing to give me anything to make them happy. Now I can use that note, my golden ticket, to get me one step closer to everything. All thanks to you and your stupid mother.”

  Just then the door opened and he let go. My head fell forward and I gulped at the musty air thankful for the interruption. My eyes a blur as I gained my breath but I could hear two sets of legs moving toward us.

  “Perfect timing, Trey.”

  “It’s not Trey. It’s Dino. Found someone lurking around outside.”

  I heard someone stumble and watched as Edgar fell to the floor. Just as fast as my heart rose to the moon, it tumbled just as hard.

  Edgar found me. He knew I wasn’t guilty of the awful stuff the detectives accused me of and tracked me down. But now he was caught too. What would they do to him?

  “Ah, the little brat who thought he was a big boy and tried to track me down.” Damien grabbed Edgar by the back of the shirt and lifted him just enough to punch him in his stomach.

  “No, stop. Please. Haven’t you done enough, Damien?” I screamed, my voice hoarse from what he did to me.

  Damien just smiled as he punched Edgar in the face and once more in the stomach. When he was done he threw Edgar to the floor. I tried to pull at my ties but was too weak to make any difference. Even if I had my strength, Damien and his crew weren’t dumb enough to not know how to tie someone up properly.

  Damien pointed to Edgar and stared at his thug. Dino lifted Edgar and threw him onto the chair next to me. I watched him moan, hunched over as he got tied up.

  Damien and Dino went to talk near the door so I couldn’t see them anymore.

  “Edgar. Edgar,” I whispered leaning toward him.

  He lifted his head. As Edgar turned toward my voice, I noticed his right eye was red and swollen.

  “Oh, Edgar. I’m so sorry.” I tried to hold back the tears but my emotions were raw. I felt tired and wanted this to end. But I had a bad feeling it was just the beginning.

  “Evaleen, how are you? What did he do to you?” Edgar’s eyes cemented on my chest as he tightened his jaw. He tried to pull out of his binds. I shook my head.

  “It’s no use Edgar. I’ve been trying since I got here.” I forced myself to smile to settle him. “I’m fine. You shouldn’t have tried to find me. You should have gone to the police.”

  He turned his head toward where Damien and Dino were before turning back to me. He lowered his voice. “Don’t worry about that. Why do you think I’m here? This is all part of the plan. The CIA and the FBI are outside, but they need to lis
ten in to what’s happening. I’m their microphone.”

  “They put a wire on you?”

  He nodded.

  Oh, thank goodness. Any moment that door would open and the government would come in to rescue us. I felt relief.

  As if on cue, the door opened and I heard some voices.

  For the first time since I left Mimir, my heart filled with hope. The good guys were here and we would be free at any moment. I forgot about my blouse. I forgot about my father. I only focused on the footsteps moving out of the darkness and the hope they brought in the form of CIA agents.

  But I was wrong. Horribly wrong. Trey and Dino moved closer, untouched, smiling, and still with guns strapped to their chests.

  How did Trey get back in with the agents outside? I turned to look at Edgar as they were untying us and he gazed at me. Maybe there was a deal and we are being let go.

  “Are you letting us go?” I asked.

  Both men started to laugh. “Oh, honey, that’s the funniest shit I’ve heard all day. No, we are locking you up so we don’t have to hear your blubbering faces anymore. Then Damien will be able to take care of all of you the way he likes.”

  Both men chuckled even louder at that. I had trouble swallowing as bile rose in my throat.

  We were taken to a room in the corner and shoved inside. The door closed and it was dark. I couldn’t see anything, but I heard a voice.

  “Hello?”

  “Mom. Oh, Mom, are you okay?”

  “Yes, Evaleen, I am. How are you and the baby? I’m tied up so I can’t come to you.”

  My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I made out my mom’s form, seated in the corner with her hands behind her. I went to her and was thankful they untied me just before shoving me in this room so I could hug her.

  “What are we going to do, Evaleen?”

  “Edgar said agents were outside and going to rescue us. Can you tell them, Edgar? Talk into the wire to let them know we are in a room locked up?”

  “Yeah.” He repeated where we were several times but we heard nothing.

  We sat there for a while in silence, desperately listening for any clues. Finally, we heard a man’s voice outside the door. The longer we sat there the more dread filled me. Thoughts of the agents being discovered and killed before they could get to us took over my thoughts.