by Cates, A. K
Eve remembered the man with the scarred face and how his familiarity had struck her. The Bear. What if they really could have helped her? “You’re lying,” the words tasted like acid on her tongue.
“Darling, these are for you,” he held up the envelope.
“You’re disgusting,” Eve snatched them but he pulled her in before she could fight back. His lips hit her hard and hot.
“I love it when you talk dirty,” he breathed against her ear. Eve shoved off him and grabbed the documents.
“We make a good team.”
88
Roman received the call early the next day.
It was Trigger. “Turn on the TV.”
Roman obliged and switched it on.
“-in other news today another leak has occurred with Roman Industries. This time the damage is”-This was déjà vu, this was…how could this have happened again?
“How did it happen?” Roman growled. “How did you let it happen? I thought we put in new security measures. We took preventative steps.”
“Come into the office.”
“How did it happen?!”
There was a sigh on Trigger’s side. “It was Eve.”
“What?” the air left him so suddenly. His eyes skittered around the living area. No, it couldn’t be. Eve. She was probably upstairs. She hadn’t been when he’d woken up. He assumed she’d been in the kitchen, now that he thought about it, she was-
“We installed the camera in your office like you suggested. It was activated by motion sensor. Meaning it only comes on when someone is inside. Eve was in your home office at midnight. It looks like she had some sort of overriding mechanism”-
Roman ran to the stairs, taking two at a time. He went to the bedside drawer and pulled it out, the key was there, the one for his office. Had Eve known it was there?
Despite everything he couldn’t believe it.
The phone dropped to his side.
“Eve?” the bed was unmade-empty. The bathroom-empty.
He didn’t talk into the phone for the longest time as he called out to her.
Again and again. She wasn’t there. Her things were gone.
“What did she take?” he remembered the phone. Trigger didn’t respond at first. “What did she take?!”
“The product schematics for project Storage. As you know it was worth”-
“Billions,” Roman finished.
He dropped the phone. He grabbed his coat and ran into the foyer pressing the elevator button a thousand times. He groaned and flew into the stairwell jumping down flights. Where was she? It couldn’t be…it just couldn’t be.
He ran out into the street. It had to be a mistake. It couldn’t have been Eve.
“Have you seen the woman I was with?” he said to the doormen.
“No sir, my shift started thirty minutes ago.”
Roman ran into the street. His hands flew to his head. He didn’t know what he was doing. He was crazed. He felt high. Above all, he felt betrayed.
Eve. How could she? Even as he’d heard it he couldn’t believe it. It had to be a mistake. She did this, his gut spoke to him like an omen. He’d been warned before and he hadn’t listened.
Beep.
Beeep.
Beeeep. He stepped back on the pavement watching as the traffic swept by without a care as his entire world collapsed around him. How could he let this happen?
He saw them in slow motion. Hoards and hoards of reporters and journalists and cameras flashed and microphones were held up to his face.
“Roman Pierce any comment on the leak”-
“Do you have any idea who’s behind this?”
“Do you think this is the end for Roman Industries”-
They’d come out of nowhere.
He raised his hand to shield his eyes and the doorman ushered him back in.
He returned to the apartment and found the tablet. He picked it up and clicked to view the footage Trigger had sent him days ago. His curiosity had boiled over. He should have been more careful but he felt like a loose cannon these days.
The home phone rang incessantly. He ignored it and flipped up the screen of the tablet. It didn’t take much searching. The episode was logged under a separate title as if Trigger had known he may want to watch this.
How could he have known? Had Trigger suspected?
Of course he had…he’d warned him.
Roman looked up at the empty apartment. If Eve was here now he’d ask her. He’d demand answers. If she was here now she’d tell him. Or not. She wasn’t the woman he thought she was. She had too many secrets.
He clicked play and sat back.
He watched the two figures in the subdued light. Eve wore her silk dress and overcoat, jeans and boots. Carra wore a cream coloured coat, her hair was paler and wilder than he remembered, seeing them from the same angle, they were very much alike. Both women sat on the lounge turned towards each other. He’d watched the awkward reunion and sensed Eve’s hesitation.
He’d seen himself leave.
“Evee, be careful who you trust,” Carra took Eve’s hand. There was something anxious about her voice and occasionally he watched Carra’s eyes skit around the apartment. He knew that look. He’d seen that fear in people before.
“What do you mean?”
“Eve, I don’t know how you found me, I’ve stayed hidden for a reason. Nobody can know I was here, do you understand?”
“Carra, calm down,” Eve said. “I don’t understand. Who’s after you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Eve you’re in danger,” she said. Roman noted how the girl became more agitated by the minute.
“Roman’s fine. He’s protecting me,” the words burned his ears. Roman pulled back again. What was he protecting her from? Was she really in danger? She looked so lost and forlorn. This was the Eve he knew and loved. Loved.
“Then someone else is out to get you. They know about your past. You only told me once but I feel you’re on the verge of something.”
“Carra you’re not making sense.” Roman stared at the screen, nothing, absolutely nothing was making sense.
“You’re in danger.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Tell me what you know.”
Carra faced away. “I can’t. But if you tell me what you know, maybe I can help.”
“I can’t tell you everything,” Eve began.
Roman leaned into the screen. This was it, it had to be.
“Eve, are you in some kind of trouble?” Carra said.
“Do you remember when we were younger? Do you remember what I told you about my family?”
“You said your parents died in a car accident.”
“I lied,” Eve paused. Roman leaned in, she’d never divulged on her past. “My mother died of cancer when I was five. My father was, is still alive and living with his family.”
“What has this got to do with anything?”
Eve leaned in and whispered something in Carra’s ear. The woman gasped.
Roman rewound the last frame and turned up the volume. No matter how much he tried he couldn’t hear what Eve had said.
She pulled back. “I was his illegitimate child. The wife didn’t want me around as the constant reminder of what had happened. She threatened me if I didn’t leave. I grew up in foster care, then with my grandmother and when I was old enough I changed my name so they wouldn’t find me. I’ve seen too much of what I shouldn’t have.”
“And you’re still running from them?”
“Yes,” she hesitated, “and no. My dad wouldn’t hurt me, I don’t think. His wife, if she finds me-” she broke off. “I’m being blackmailed.”
“By them?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. They’ve got my real identity and the photos.”
“Oh Eve,” Carra moved forward embracing Eve.
Photos? Roman stood mesmerised by the screen, was this true? Was Eve really being
blackmailed?
“Carra you have to get out of town before they find you.”
“I have the original photos here,” the woman pulled out an envelope from the inside of her jacket. “I owed you this much. If they try to use the photos against you then you have these, at least it’s a start.”
Eve took the envelope. “Why did you take them in the first place?”
“I didn’t.” There was a moment of silence between them. Roman could feel another secret brimming to the surface.
“What happened to you Carra?”
The woman shuffled on the lounge and turned away. “A lot.”
“But”-
“Eve you shouldn’t know, nobody deserves to know.”
“The police showed up at my foster parent’s home, they said there was a child porn site.” Carra shuffled in her seat.
“Eve, the less you know the better. What happened, is in the past now.”
“Oh Carra,” Eve grabbed her hand and the woman against her. “Carra, please tell me what you know.”
“I can’t,” the girl whimpered. “You’re in danger Eve, that’s all I know. Someone knows about your past.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“No, Eve, I could never,” it sounded like genuine surprise from the girl.
Roman sat back, what secret? Clearly there was something he should know.
“I have to go, I shouldn’t be here.” Roman watched the envelope as Eve showed it down the side of the lounge.
“Carra,” the two stumbled to the door. His hand felt to the lounge, tugging deep into the crook of the pillow. He felt something and pulled it out. It was…the same…envelope from the video.
He opened it and…sat back. Oh, Eve.
How could anyone do this to you?
89
“Shocking news today as Roman Industries’ stocks plummets another twenty points in minutes,” said the news anchor. “Investors are pulling out over the security breach and leaked information overnight. They are sceptical whether the company will recuperate from this loss.”
“Gerry, tell us, do you think Roman Industries can save itself?” said the anchor.
“It’s a sinking ship and fast. It’s the end of the Roman Empire as we know it.”
Eve turned away from the TV screen her body wracked with new tremors. She had the documents pressed against her chest as if holding her heart in its cage in case it should fly away.
The overhead announcer rang out. “We are now boarding flight 9734 to Brazil, that’s flight 9734 to Brazil. The crew will be boarding economy class first.”
Eve stood at the departure gate.
She should go. Everything said she should get away, her conscience fought against it. The voices battled and raged inside her. Maybe if she went back, she could-No, stop thinking like that. How could she make amends? How could she undo this?
What if she got Roman to believe she was blackmailed from the very start?
No. She’d been the one to commit the last act not Trigger.
She’d done the crime. She was the culprit all along.
Eve shifted her weight from one foot to the next. She still stood there as time and people passed her by and the overhead announcer rang again.
“This is the last call for flight 9734 to Brazil. The last call. Any remaining passengers should make their way to Gate 53.”
END OF BOOK ONE