by Lexi Lewis
“A…what?”
And there, sitting on the couch in the Santiago’s living room was her Aunt Michelle.
She hadn’t seen her in ages. Not since Devin had come to live with her instead, and it was shocking to see her sitting there now.
“Um…hi,” Eve said, walking over and glancing around for Devin who wasn’t in sight. “What are you doing here? Not that it’s not good to see you, but.”
Michelle laughed. “I know, I know. Completely unexpected. It was a spur of the moment decision if I’m honest. Aside from wanting to see you, I also want to see your father.”
Eve frowned. “Why?”
“Because there are things that I’ve wanted to say to him since you were a little girl, and I think it’s finally time I said them. And because I figured you could use some help, Eve.”
To be honest, she really could. The Santiagos helped a lot when she needed it, but there were things that were best left to family, and Michelle had looked after Devin while Eve had worked to make herself a better guardian.
“That would actually be really nice,” Eve said with a smile. She looked at Carla, tilting her head. “Where are the boys?”
“Went out for ice cream. Why they want it in the middle of winter I will never understand, but they were persuasive. They should be back very soon.”
Eve nodded and looked back to her aunt. “Let’s go over to my place,” she said. “We can talk and I’ll get some dinner going.”
Michelle waved a hand. “I can do dinner. You look dead on your feet already. And don’t worry about trying to find room for me. I got a hotel room for the week.”
The more she talked, the more Eve relaxed. God, she had forgotten how nice it could be sometimes to have someone else in charge. Ever since her mother had died, Eve had been the one to take the reins and try to keep everything running smoothly, and she had done it because she didn’t have another choice. Sometimes she didn’t even notice how run down and worn out she was getting because she just had to keep moving in order for things to keep getting done.
But her aunt had always been one of the more comforting and efficient people in her life. Eve would have fallen apart if planning and executing her mother’s funeral had been all on her, but Michelle had stepped in and taken the burden off of her shoulders completely, allowing her to work on dealing with her grief and figuring out what she was going to do next.
Somehow, having her here now when everything felt like crisis made her want to cry with relief, but she managed to get the door open and let them both in before she went to pieces.
“How have you been aside from your father rearing his ugly head?” Michelle asked.
Eve sighed. “Good, more or less. I mean, things are hard, but it seems like things are always hard, so.” She wasn’t sure if she should bring up Reese or not, and the thought of him combined with the buzzing of her phone in her pocket reminded her that she hadn’t talked to him properly today. She still needed to congratulate him for what he’d done that morning, but that would have to wait until she dealt with the family stuff first.
With the door partially cracked, it was easy to hear when Devin and the others came clattering down the hall, and Eve went to stand in the doorway to intercept her brother before he disappeared back into the Santiagos’ apartment.
He grinned when he saw here, and launched himself at her. “Eve! We had ice cream, and I got triple chocolate chip!”
“Did you now?” Eve asked with a grin, hugging him. “And you’re still going to want dinner tonight, right? Didn’t fill yourself up on ice cream, did you?”
He shook his head fervently. “No. I only got one scoop.”
“You’re so good,” she teased, letting him go and ruffling his hair. “And I have a surprise for you.”
“You have a surprise?” Michelle asked, coming to stand in the doorway.
Devin’s eyes widened and he ran to the woman. “Aunt Michelle!”
Eve would have been jealous at the enthusiastic greeting, but she knew that Michelle had played a large role in getting Devin talking and functioning again after the death of their mother. It was Michelle who had taken care of him while Eve finished school and got a job, and she knew that Devin had missed her.
Watching them hug, she smiled and ushered them back into the apartment, shutting the door behind them all.
Devin was crying softly into their aunt’s shoulder, and Eve looked at him, alarmed. But he was smiling, so she assumed it was fine. She took advantage of them being together for the moment to go into her room and change out of her scrubs.
Dinner was a nice affair, and Eve was impressed at Michelle’s ability to make something delicious out of the few things that Eve had in the refrigerator. In the hectic nature of the last few days, she hadn’t managed to get to the grocery store, and that was definitely going to the top of her to do list.
The two of them cleaned up while Devin had a bath, and Michelle put the little boy to bed which gave Eve a chance to have her own shower.
She was amazed at how much smoother and quicker things went with two people, and she wondered if she would ever have a partner or someone to help her out with things like this.
Reese’s face flashed in her mind, but she shook that away. It was too early in their relationship to be thinking thoughts like that anyway.
Eve had assumed that Michelle would want to talk about her father that night, but when she emerged from the shower, she found her aunt getting ready to head back to her hotel.
“We can talk later,” she said. “I’ll be here for at least a week, so there will be plenty of time. You go get some sleep, alright?” She kissed her on the cheek and then left.
It wasn’t until later when she was getting ready for bed that she remembered about Reese and how they hadn’t talked, and when she fished her phone out of the pocket of her scrubs, she saw that she had three missed calls and two messages.
As soon as she finished playing them, she was hitting the redial button and calling him.
“Eve?”
“What happened?”
“Oh, thank god,” Reese said, letting out a messy breath. “I was…god. I was worried something might’ve happened because you weren’t answering for so long. I can’t relax tonight, apparently.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m fine, I swear. My aunt surprised us with a visit, so I was dealing with that. Apparently at the worst possible time. What’s going on?”
He sighed. “So. Figured out who’s been behind all the stuff. Well. Some of the stuff, I guess. There’s another guy working with Paul, and I don’t know who he is, but he’s out there, and I guess I need a new agent now.”
She could hear the heaviness in his voice, and it distracted her from his words for a second before it hit her what he had just said. “Wait. Paul? You’re saying Paul is behind this?”
“Some of it, yeah. He’s the one who put the note in the mailbox, and probably the one who messed with my gear before I got hurt. It’s the reason why he was gunning so hard for me to step down the other day.”
“But…why?” Eve asked. As far as she knew, Paul was one of Reese’s best friends. He had always seemed nice and like he had Reese’s best interests at heart when she’d met him, but apparently that was not the case. Still, she couldn’t understand what would make someone do something like that.
“Money,” Reese answered. “Apparently he’s gotten some offers from better clients, and it’s all the sweeter if I’m out of the picture or something.”
Ah, well, that did explain it somewhat. People were so dumb when they were motivated by money most of the time. Not that it excused Paul from betraying Reese, but it painted a clearer picture. “I’m so sorry,” she said again. “That really sucks.”
“Yeah. He says he doesn’t want to hurt me, though, just get me out of the games. Apparently it’s the other guy who’s the dangerous one.”
“And he didn’t tell you who it is?”
“Nope. Just that he used to compete an
d doesn’t anymore, which doesn’t narrow it down at all. I need to make a list, I guess. Probably tomorrow because my brain hurts right now, and I’m just…really sad. Is that pathetic? That I’m so sad over this?”
“No,” Eve said, voice soft. “It’s not pathetic. You trusted him. You counted him as a friend, and he betrayed you. There’s nothing pathetic about reacting negatively to that.”
Reese sighed again, and it made Eve ache to hug him. “I guess. On the plus side, if my mom ever sees him again, she’ll probably hit him with his car. I got my first real hug from my mother since I was like ten tonight, so that was kind of nice.”
“I’ll bet. You know I’m here for you, too, right? If you need anything. My aunt’s in town, so she can watch Devin for a while, and I’ll come pick you up or whatever you need.”
“Thanks,” Reese replied, and the relief in his voice was easy to hear ever over the phone. “I don’t wanna be a burden or anything, but I’m just… I could really use a hug or something from you, I think.”
That made her smile. She felt guilty about feeling that surge of happiness considering the circumstances, but the fact that he felt comfortable with her and wanted to see her when he was upset made her feel good. “I can give you a hug or something. I’ve got to work tomorrow and the next day, but I’ve got the day after that off, so I could come get you when I’m done.”
“Is your aunt gonna be okay with having me over?”
“It’s my place,” Eve reminded him. “And she’s staying in a hotel for the most part. But she’ll be fine. I mean, I’m gonna have to do the whole awkward introduction thing more than likely, but other than that it shouldn’t be a big deal.” If anything, Michelle would be happy that she was managing to have some semblance of a social life while she was raising Devin and working.
“Sounds good, then. And you’ll be careful? I don’t think Paul’s gonna do anything, but I don’t know about this other guy, and I don’t know how much he knows about you or us or whatever.”
Eve made a face. “Yeah, I’ll be careful. Don’t worry about me.”
“Can’t help it. You’re important to me. And I’m really sorry that I’ve just dumped another crisis in your lap. I know you’ve got enough stuff to deal with when it comes to work and Devin and your dad being back around. I promise I’m not as needy as I’m making myself sound right now. I won’t be another thing that sucks up all your time and energy.”
“Shut up,” Eve said, laughing. “I like it when you suck up my time and energy. I mean, yeah, this is a sucky situation, but I’m kind of used to working through a crisis. It’ll be fine.”
Reese’s answering sigh sounded so weary that she wanted to hug him right then and there. “You’re a gift, you know that? Ugh. I feel like I need to sleep, even though that’s pretty much all I did today after the interview.”
“Crisis is super draining, so that makes sense. Oh, I meant to tell you that you were amazing this morning. A natural on morning television.”
He laughed softly. “Thanks. If only it had had a better reception all around, huh?”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Reese. You knew going into it that you were going to be pissing someone off. The fact that it was Paul is awful, but either you meant what you were saying this morning, or you didn’t.”
“I meant it.”
“Then you’ve got to own that.”
“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”
They talked for a few more minutes, until they were both yawning into the phone, and when they said their goodnights, Eve could hear a hint of wistfulness in Reese’s voice. He wanted to be with her, and she wanted him to be there.
If nothing else, that boded well for the future.
CHAPTER 3: CONSPIRING
If it were possible to radiate anger, then Chris Hamilton was sure he’d be positively glowing with it right then. He paced the living room floor in his small, dingy apartment, watching the recap on the nightly news of Reese’s interview from that morning. Even on the grainy, small screen of the television he had, that smug, irritating smile shown through on Reese’s face, and it made him want to throw the TV out the window.
Instead he grumbled under his breath, hands clenched into tight fists at his side.
Paul had texted him to say he was on his way over, and the longer it took, the more Chris’ ire grew. What was taking so long? Clearly, working with Paul had been a mistake. The man had been so confident that he could do what needed to be done, and in the end, he definitely had not.
Reese Abbot was still very much a competitor, and judging from the bright grins on the faces of the newscasters, they were all pleased about it.
“But what are his chances of rising back to the top after his recovery, Malcom?” One of the pretty blonde anchors asked the sports guy.
“You know, that depends entirely on Reese. I’ve seen that kid do some amazing stuff over the years, but coming back after a half year’s hiatus isn’t going to be easy. Doable? Yeah. But not easy. But we all know that Abbot’s got skill and drive, and judging from what we saw in that interview today, I’d say he’s not about to give up until he’s back where he belong.”
“Well, I’m sure we’re all wishing him a speedy recovery and effective physical therapy,” she said and then turned back to face the main camera. “A jewelry thief in Michigan might become a problem for local shop owners, as police state the man has been crossing state lines to throw them off his trail.”
Chris stalked over and turned the TV off before the full story could play, not interested at all in hearing about that. No, he’d heard all he needed to from the news, and now he needed to hear from Paul what had gone wrong and what they were going to do to fix it.
No sooner had he glanced at the time on the stove than there was a knock on his door. “Finally,” he muttered under his breath and went to yank it open. “What took you so long?”
“Well, I had to drive here, you see,” Paul said, walking in and looking around distastefully. They’d met here once before, and the smug idiot had worn the same look on his face then, too. It made Chris want to punch him in the face, but he was aware that doing that wasn’t going to accomplish anything. “I know things didn’t proceed according to plan today.”
“Didn’t proceed according to plan?” Chris asked, incredulous. “The plan doesn’t even exist anymore. He took the plan and punted it. You said that you were going to handle it. You said he was going to listen to you. What happened?”
Paul sighed. “He’s Reese Abbot. He’s head strong and more stubborn than he should be. I was sure that he would listen to reason if I got involved, but apparently that’s too much to ask for.”
“Apparently,” Chris spat. “So now what do we do? We warned him what would happen if he didn’t listen.”
“You warned him what would happen,” Paul interjected. “I already told you I’m not hurting anyone.”
Chris scowled at him. “Newsflash, buddy. You hurt someone the minute you got involved in this. You helped me bring him down at that competition, so you’re just as much at fault here as I am. Don’t come in here acting all high and mighty like you’re too good to get your hands dirty.”
“Fine. Whatever. My point is that I’m not going to shoot him in the head or hurt his parents or whatever because this didn’t work. We’ll find another plan.”
“Y’know, I’m starting to lose faith in your plans. You tell me he’s gonna step down, that I don’t have anything to worry about, and instead he’s more popular than ever. It’s all people have been talking about all day! The brave, determined, and did we mention good looking, Reese Abbot returning to the games as soon as he’s better. This is the opposite of what I wanted!”
He hadn’t meant to shout that last part, but he was irritated. Why didn’t anyone see Reese for the smug, self-centered, cut rate hack that he was? They should all have been glad to see the end of him and not celebrating the news that he would be returning.
And Paul. Paul just stood t
here, looking unruffled, like he could care less that their entire plan had just fallen down around their ears.
“What are we going to do?” Chris asked, voice tight. “You got some new way to manipulate him?”
“Nope. I’m fresh out of ideas. And it doesn’t matter anyway because he fired me tonight.”
“He what?” No. He couldn’t have heard that right.
“He fired me. Told me to get out and essentially never come back.” Paul looked like he wasn’t even bothered, though Chris was pretty sure there was a flicker of something like unease or regret in those eyes.
“Why would he do that?”
“Oh, because he found out I was involved in this.”
“How?”
“Because I told him.”
Was it possible to explode from anger? Chris felt like it was. He wanted to scream at this man who had come along and claimed he could help him but had done nothing but ruin everything. What he really wanted was to hit him in the face. Or the stomach. Or somewhere so he would stop looking so calm and collected while everything was falling apart.
“Are you an idiot?” Chris demanded. “Are you trying to double cross me? Is this suddenly some dumb kids’ movie where you’ve been secretly working for the good guys the whole time? I feel like I’m being Punked here, and I don’t know why! Why would you tell him?”
“Because he’s not stupid. We’ve been doing this the wrong way this whole time. If there’s one thing you need to know about Reese Abbot, when he’s backed in a corner, he’s gonna fight. Plain and simple. He’s gonna fight, and he’s not gonna stop fighting until he wins. That’s how his brain works. Trying to threaten him and get him to quit was stupid, because it’s clearly not gonna work.”