The Temp

by Cates, A. K

  “After it’s done, don’t stay there. You’ll have a perhaps an hour or less before the breach is detected and if you’re caught before you get”-he breathed heavily. “You’re on your own.”

  Eve swallowed, her mouth dried up. “You said you would help me.”

  “They will. I’ll do everything in my power, you have to follow the instructions to the letter. Come to the Bourbon Hotel Room 511, when it’s done.” There was a moment of numbed silence. “And Eve, take care.” He’d hung up with the last word.

  Eve tiptoed into the foyer towards the living room of Roman’s hotel apartment.

  Her fingers itched over the memory stick.

  It was now or never, now or never.

  “Eve?”

  “Roman,” she nearly jumped out of her skin. He sat amidst the cream lounge dressed in a light suit and pants. “What are you doing here?”

  “I live here.”

  “I mean, I thought you were still finishing up at the office,” her fingers numbed in her pocket. The memory stick fell to the bottom of it. Roman was here, he was here. It would be the last time he would see her before she committed the crime.

  Why couldn’t she stay with him? She was torn between the rational and irrational. It was a delusion to think she and Roman would have a normal relationship after this. It had been so clear all along, why was she only seeing it now?

  “Roman,” she breathed barely keeping it together.

  “What’s wrong?” he rose and held out his hands, their fingers interlacing and she elicited a sigh. That night when they’d held hands after sex, something had changed between them, something had become real.

  Roman Pierce was letting down his barriers. So was she.

  “I was so worried about you,” she choked. She couldn’t tell him, how could she? In a few hours she’d steal whatever it was the blackmailers wanted all to protect her hide and run away. Roman Pierce was a fantasy that was going to end.

  I love you. She couldn’t say that either, knowing she would break his heart.

  “Eve,” he pulled her in a sweet kiss and she weaved in holding him for dear life.

  “We’ll go sailing again,” he said as he drew her at arms length. His eyes crinkled at the corners. “We’ll get away from the chaos of the city and its problems.”

  They shouldn’t go, she knew as much. She needed to be here where she could commit the crime and get out. She stared deep into those eyes, the image of herself shining back. There was so much riding on his last request. The look was clear; Roman Pierce too needed to get away from the troubles of his world.

  “Yes,” she whispered. A few more hours with you.

  *

  “Trigger,” Roman was terse on the phone. “Can’t it wait?”

  He shouldn’t have answered, with what had been going on lately, he couldn’t risk not knowing if there were new leads. He’d just docked the yacht into a small leafy bay off a small island. The sun basked on his back over the horizon. It wasn’t the same island as last time but it was stunning and the reef and its fish could more easily be seen from here. He hadn’t expected to get a call, much less reception. Being away from the city was the best for him right now, for both of them.

  Eve was crumbling under the pressure of Carra. Eve was here, that’s all that mattered.

  “It can’t buddy. I’ve got some bad news.” Roman glanced to Eve huddled on the sundeck, he put the phone to the other side of his jaw. “The tech team has narrowed down your suspects and there’s one thing that sticks out. One key card was used on the night of the leak to access the building. It’s Eve, Roman. Her key card showed up at midnight. I thought you should know.”

  “It doesn’t mean she did it.”

  Trigger sighed over the phone. “I didn’t want to believe it either.”

  “Why am I only finding out about this now?”

  “The security team missed it at the time.”

  “What do I pay them for?!” Roman turned back to Eve; she met his gaze and waved him over. He put the phone down and sat down next to her.

  “Anything important?” she smiled up at him her big doe eyes shimmering in the sunlight. She was clad in a matching cream dress to his light cream suit. She folded her legs diagonally shifting to the breeze. Her hair flared out in wisps framing her face, marron and feint blonde, sun kissed, her neck arched catching the breeze.

  “I wish it could always be like this,” she whispered, closing her eyes. Roman stared at her, how could Eve be the one behind this? It wasn’t possible. She wasn’t capable and moreover she’d been with him that very night. Would she have been able to slip away unseen and unheard? This was Eve, clumsy, gentle and too innocent for corporate espionage. “Rome?” he sat down next to her. “Are you alright?” she said, worry marring her delicate features.

  His arms enclosed around her, holding her tight, breathing her in, she was so small and fragile to the touch. He could overpower her in a heartbeat. He could have her here on the boat and nobody would stop him. Nobody would hear her scream.

  “What was the call about?”

  “Nothing,” he tilted his head, the corners of his mouth turning up, his hand stroking her flesh playing a smile across her lips. “Business as usual.”

  He stood up and took her hand pulling her up to him.

  There was something he needed to say before he lost his nerve.

  “Eve I’ve known you only for a short time, everything comes alive when I’m with you. I know it’s a cliché,” his mouth found the nape of her neck.

  He pulled back and looked into those doe eyes.

  Eve smiled. “I like cliché. You’ve changed me.”

  “No, you’ve changed me.”

  “I’m no longer playing games.”

  “I don’t understand,” he caught the way she bit her lip, fear brimming to the surface. She was so vulnerable in this moment, so in sync to his rapidly beating heart.

  How could he tell her he felt the same way? He felt the vulnerability for the first time in forever and the sensation was…

  “Eve, I love you.”

  86

  Eve cried in deathly silence.

  Tonight had been perfect. Absolute perfection and it broke her heart to know things would never be like this. She would never be Roman’s. Never. It wasn’t meant to be. I love you, he’d said the words. How could he not have seen through her? Her heart ached from its imminent betrayal. Roman was finally her knight in shining armour and she was going to throw it all away.

  Tonight had been perfect, a perfect ending. They’d made love on the yacht and again in the bed where she now lay with him side by side. She’d been curled inside his embrace, whispering her final goodbye as he slept. He was fast asleep, she could tell by the even rise and fall of his chest.

  After tonight, she would never see him again; it was the bitter truth she had to face. The tears had come without any prompting. She was a sick and twisted person for doing this. She’d whispered the consequences over in her head. Over and over.

  She turned one last and final time to Roman sleeping in a world away. “I love you.”

  There was a numb ache were her heart should have been, a silent shattering. Eve rose from the mattress in agonising motions. Her cheeks were wet, her hands hot. She grabbed her things and tiptoed down the stairs into the living room.

  She dressed herself in her day dress, the cream one she’d worn that day, it was an easy slip-on dress chosen for how quick she could put it on if she was against the clock. To think that’s what she’d chosen it for, she was so conniving it made her sick.

  The apartment was all shadows and shapes, spilled curtains and silver clouds.

  She let her vision adjust. She knew enough of the layout to know where the office was.

  It was downstairs next to one of the guest bedrooms. Roman kept it locked when he left during the day; she’d seen him in there before. Maybe it was unlocked. Maybe.

  Eve gripped the door handle and pushed. It didn’t relent.
Her heart slammed against her chest. Not that she wasn’t prepared for it being locked. It just hit her hard, Roman even if he loved her did not trust her.

  Of course he shouldn’t. Why would he?

  She held the key with trembling hands. It had come from Roman’s side dressing table; she’d seen it there before and hoped it was the key she’d need. Another part of her hoped she’d fail and nothing would come of it.

  She put the key into the lock and turned. Her blood pounded hard in her ears. There was a feint click and the door released. She sighed in a whimper.

  The room was black as night. She’d never been in here before, had no idea of its layout. Eve put out her hands and edged into the room one foot at a time. She didn’t dare turn on the lights. It was painfully slow as she touched around a chair and finally a desk. Her fingers trailed onto a computer screen and eventually she found the button and the screen came to life, bright light flared out on the screen. She squinted back.

  Then came a noise.

  What was that? Roman? A siren wailed in the city below and died out seconds later. Eve panted in the dark. For a moment she was convinced they were coming for her. The memory stick was hot and moist in her fingers. Her hands were shaking, she had to relax. She pressed it into the USB slot.

  The stick worked fast, spooling through links and passwords and suddenly Eve was looking at the blank screen of a desktop. She let out a breath she’d been holding ever since she’d entered the room.

  Oh god. What was she doing?

  She pressed her finger to the touchpad and clicked away.

  -

  -

  -

  Oh my god, I’ve committed a crime.

  Tears ran down her cheeks as she got up and took the stick out of the slot. There was no turning back now…no forgiving her sins. What had she done? How could she?

  She slid out the office making sure to close the door again. The key was hot in her fingers. Should she put it back? Was she able to? In a part of her mind she wanted to return the key and have Roman believe it wasn’t her. Even if it was. Only the worst kind of person would want that.

  She slipped upstairs and put the key back crying all the while.

  87

  Bourbon Hotel-Room 511-Midnight.

  “Trigger,” Eve collapsed into his arms.

  He was cold against her hot skin, so much colder than she remembered. He wore a long sleeved cream jumper and black pants.

  She sunk into his weight feeling her legs jelly. For a while all she did was cry.

  “Is it done?” his words sounded so far away though they were right in her ear.

  She shook her head. “Yes,” she pulled back. She had to learn to start distancing herself from what had happened, from Trigger and his comforting words. She wiped away the tears on the sleeve of her jacket, promising they’d be the last.

  “Eve, darling, this is who you are,” Trigger’s thumb traced her jaw line. Eve nodded and turned away into the room.

  …

  …

  Then it occurred to her…

  Her blood ran cold in her veins, goose bumps rising on her skin so suddenly. “You’ve never called me darling before,” she whispered too softly to hear. Only one person had, only the once and the memory of it could not be erased.

  You’ll do as I say. Is that clear, darling? The voice on the phone.

  “I’m sure I have,” maybe he had, Eve couldn’t be sure. The way he said it now in a mellow tone sounded too familiar to her ears, too much like…

  “When was the last time you spoke to the blackmailers?” Eve said. Her voice was devoid of her usual innocence and sweetness. She was beyond the Little Evee she once was, way beyond.

  “Recently,” Trigger found her gaze, his eyes steelier than ever, devoid of whatever ocean or sky she’d ever seen in them before, colourless, heartless.

  The room was a cheap hotel with threadbare sheets and stale walls, a typical room with a bed, desk and an armchair a foot away from her.

  A shiver spider-walked down her back. Her stomach muscles quivered to release, she clamped it down. “When? Show me your phone,” she grabbed his phone on the desk and surprisingly he didn’t stop her. “Password?”

  “51191,” he said.

  Eve blinked and put in the digits.

  “Why is that your password?” they were her numbers, her birth date. “Why?”

  “You tell me.”

  She scrolled through the phone. There were no blocked or unrecognisable numbers. All had names, ones she recognised, unless, the blackmailers were in the same company. Eve put down the phone, her fingers frozen; her heart was dying all over again. Something was wrong and yet all she wanted terribly was to get away and never know about it and live in infinite denial. If it was what she suspected, she couldn’t handle it, she knew as much. Her eyes swelled over. “I just want the passport so I can be on my way.”

  “Where’s the memory stick?” Eve took it out of her pocket and threw it to him.

  “Passport,” she demanded. “Now.” She was on the tip of falling.

  “Eve, darling, I’ll give you your new identity,” Trigger sat down in the swivel chair and crossed his arms behind his head and stretched out his legs gaining control over the room. “I’ll give you the money you need to disappear but first I’m going to tell you a little story and you’re going to listen right up until the last word.” His tone changed suddenly into authority and there was an edge there Eve had only seen once before, when he’d threatened those guys in the alleyway.

  Her pulse sped up. She didn’t know what was going on, she was on the precipice of something very bad, on the verge of a crash. “No,” she whispered.

  And. She. Could. Not. Look. Away.

  “Sit down.” She sat in the armchair faced towards him, her hands beneath her legs, bile brewing in the pit of her stomach.

  There was a glint in his eyes she’d never seen before, slicking her blood ice cold.

  “I won’t bore you with all the details of how this all began,” he sighed. “I’ll tell you what the real game changer was for me.” His attention bored into her and he pushed up putting his elbows on his knees leaning forward so he had only her in his sights. “It was you.” Eve swallowed. “Who would have thought everything could change with one little temp? A simple innocent little temp. You’re far from innocent though aren’t you? You act like the victim but I know where you came from, who you are. I know your secrets.”

  “You told me I was more than that,” Eve bit her lip, her body trembling.

  “Oh you are, very much so. Don’t ever think being a temp devalues you in any way. You were really a pawn in this infinite game who turned out to be my queen in disguise,” he laughed so deep it vibrated through her.

  “Get to the point,” Eve clenched her jaw, tears fighting their way out.

  How could it be Trigger? Of all the people…for it to be Trigger all along.

  “Well,” he sank back and folded one leg over the other, clasping his hands together leaning against the desk. “I needed someone who was innocent and could be manipulated. I needed you.” The intimacy of his words touched her cheeks and the bile in her stomach twisted and surged.

  “You’re unbelievable,” Eve whispered.

  “No, you are. Who would have thought you’d turn out to be so lucrative? How was I to know saying no to Roman Pierce would have the desired affect?”

  “You were the blackmailer all along.”

  “You were only willing when you knew I was unwilling.”

  “You were my friend. I thought you”-

  “Eve, you needed me and I reciprocated. But you really were naïve.”

  “So you leaked the information?” Eve said.

  “Yes. It was really quite genius. It put me in a far better position to spark a distraction while I moved in and lay in wait.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Nothing to concern you with.”

  “Trigger.”

  “Baby,
you’ve held up you’re end of the deal and now you’re finally free of your ties.”

  “But Roman Industries-”

  “Will fall like the ancient Empire it was from the very beginning.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because it’s my job to.”

  Her hands shook beneath her thighs. She wanted badly to slap that grin off Trigger’s face but he’d never looked so dangerous before, so trigger happy.

  “You told the office I was a virgin,” her voice left her. “You lied to me.”

  “A given, I only had to tell the right person.”

  “Why would you do this?” Eve said.

  The glimmer in Trigger’s eyes darkened the light extinguishing. His smirk disappeared. He leaned forward. “Because payback is a bitch.”

  “Revenge?” her mouth opened, closed. “I’ll tell him it was you.”

  “And risk imprisonment? Eve, baby, you’re forgetting everything I have on you and who you are. I know everything there is to know about you.”

  “It wouldn’t put me in jail,” her fingers clutched the edge of the armchair.

  “Oh, but this will,” Trigger waved the memory stick. “It’s a camera feed of you stealing the data. You see Roman had me set this one up, per my advice. It’s a motion activated camera in his personal home office, able to see in complete darkness. I knew you’d do your job.”

  “You set me up.”

  “Rather you than me.”

  She was sick to her stomach. How could she never have guessed what Trigger was capable of? How could she not have seen beneath the façade all along?

  “The man who followed me a few weeks ago, that was you.”

  “Right.”

  “The white van”-

  “All me.”

  “You sent those men after me in the alley, that’s why you were there, wasn’t it?”

  “Actually, out of everything, that was purely coincidental. I suspect the men who were following you belonged to the very past you were running away from and landing in my arms was a bonus, especially when I helped you fool them into thinking you’d changed you’re address. Family huh? I believe they might have even been trying to save you. It’s funny. They could have helped you if they hadn’t scared you in the first place. Instead, you made sure they wouldn’t find you again.”