by Joyce Jordan
She dived straight into the story. “I saw Mitch in a lip lock with his secretary/assistant or whatever. Yeah, fool that I was, I had gone there to surprise him. But alas, I was the one who was surprised instead.” Evelyn picked her glass and took another sip of her wine. She was drinking more slowly now. At least she had eaten, so hopefully she wouldn’t end up drunk.
“I’m not faulting your eyesight, but are you sure?” Stefano asked her.
“Remember Gabe assumed the worst when he saw Stefano in my bed. Did he say anything?”
Evelyn shook her head. “I didn’t give him a chance to say anything, I just ran. I mean, after what I saw with my own eyes, not told by someone mind you, and I do have 20-20 vision. So yes, I’m sure of what I saw. And I didn’t assume that kiss happening. I was finally relaxing, giving him that chance you guys said I need to give him - cut him some slack, like you told me to.”
“Sorry,” Kelly said and took her hands. “We didn’t mean for this to happen. It’s just that Mitch looked like he was such a good man. And …”
“He clearly loves you,” Jes added. “Very much. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s the same way Gabe looks at Ana, and Rafe looks at Kelly. Even Manuel. He’s besotted with Stefano.”
“It was probably a momentary lapse in judgment,” Ana suggested.
“Yes, some men do that when they panic. When they realize they have something great.” Kelly frowned as her phone buzzed. “It’s Rafe. He wants to know what time I’ll be home,” she said reading the text.
“Just tell him you’re having dinner with us,” Ana suggested. “It’s the truth and it will probably buy us some time before they break the door down.”
“Anyway, back to the issue at hand. So is he at his apartment or office?” Stefano asked her.
She grinned. “Oh, no. Somewhere much better.”
“Oh God,” Jes said. “Please don’t tell me he’s bound and gagged and you’re hiding his body in this house?”
“Thanks for the idea. Maybe next time,” she said. “No, he’s in jail.” She grinned taking a huge bite of her pizza.
“For kissing his secretary?” Jes asked.
“Harassment.” She grinned again. “He kept knocking and calling my cellphone. Good thing I had blocked his number so he kept rolling to voicemail. Anyway, I called the cops and he got a warning. Then he kept calling my business line and fnally left a message on my answering machine. I don’t even know if it’s admissable or not, but when the cops came back I asked that they take him away, so they did. But he’s probably out by now anyway.”
“He probably called Lester,” Ana said.
“No, I called Lester and had him throw a restraining order, so I won’t be seeing his sorry ass for a good long time.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Did I hear you correctly?” Jes asked.
“Yes, me too,” Kelly jumped in. “You put a restraining order on Mitch?”
“Well, obviously. I asked that he leave my property, so he did but sat in his truck on the street just waiting. He was sitting there and calling me endlessly. I needed him out of my sight and knew he would come back once he was released. He’s like a dog with a bone.”
“Gabe called me endlessly too. It was hard, not answering his calls. The pain won’t go away Evelyn. I’ve been there and hope you two work it out soon, because the longer you’re apart the worse it can get.”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to take it one day at a time.”
“We’ll help, in any way we can,” Jes told her and hugged her from the back. “I can move in with you if you want some company.”
“Oh, no. That means Nate would have to move in too,” she said. “But thanks for the offer.”
“No, he wouldn’t.”
“Yes, he would,” Kelly told her.
“Yes,” Ana said. “He would.”
“What they said,” Stefano agreed.
“You guys…Oh, Hi Nathaniel. My meeting is running over, sorry. But don’t wait up for me. I think I might be late after all,” she said into the phone.
Nate heard the sniffles through the phone and wondered what Jes was up to. His brothers had said Evelyn, Stefano, Kelly and Ana were having dinner. Jes had said a business meeting. But who smothers their laugh at a business dinner? Were the five of them together? JESAK?
Fourteen
“Can you confirm Ana’s whereabouts? I have a feeling she’s with Jes and something’s not right.”
“She told me she was with Kelly and Stefano. I guess they met up with Evelyn somewhere and decided to have dinner. What’s so suspicious about that?”
“Just make the call Gabe. And you too Rafe,” he asked.
Gabe hung up. “You’re right. There’s something that is not adding up.”
“They must be up to some kind of mischief,” Rafe said as he too hung up. “Where’s Manuel?”
“He said he was going to pass by the club then come over later. He too claimed Stefano had said something about meeting up with the girls,” Gabe told them. “But I have to say, at the time, it was supposed to be just a short meeting, I presumed. Then later it was a quick dinner with a little wine. But who is to say how many glasses of wine they’ll end up consuming, especially when none of us can get a straight answer from one of them.”
“One of you needs to call Mitch while I call Ana’s body guards and fnd out their location.” Gabe’s eyebrows shot up at what he was hearing. “We need to leave,” he said as he hung up. “Now.”
“Mitch’s phone is going straight to voicemail,” Nate said.
“That’s because he is in jail.”
“Jail? As in behind bars, prison, in cuffs? That kind of jail?” Rafe asked.
Gabe nodded. “More or less. I’ll update you in the car. It’s better we use one,” he told them.
“And are we going to bail him out or what?” Nate asked.
Gabe laughed. “I honestly don’t know.” The elevator reached the first floor and they strode towards the front desk where some of their body guards were chatting with the night front desk guy.
“We just need one truck. The rest of you can follow in a second one, but there’s no need of more vehicles,” Rafe advised them.
As they organized themselves for the trip, Gabe updated his brothers on the late afternoon events. “Rumor is that our sister walked in on Mitch and his assistant kissing. She obviously ran out and went to hide out at her house. Hold on, that’s Manuel calling.” Gabe told Manuel not to bother coming over but to meet them at the police station where Mitch was being held. “I’ll explain later,,” he said. “No, wait. Let me put you on speaker so you can all hear this together.”
They piled into the SUV that was now waiting for them outside.
Gabe went back to the beginning for Manuel’s benefit. “So she’s been there since and when Mitch arrived she didn’t answer the door, nor his calls. In fact she called the cops on him and when he didn’t follow through, they came back and escorted him to their fine establishment. I’m not sure if he’s out or not, but Nate didn’t catch him, leading me to believe he’s still there.”
“I’d have thought he would have paid the bail by now, or worked his way out somehow,” Manuel said. “Doesn’t he have a lawyer to call? Or should we call Lester for him?”
“Except that Evelyn has an ex that works for the department,” Gabe reminded them.
Rafe laughed. “You think she called in a favor?”
“That boy never stopped loving her,” Nate guffawed. “He drives by her house often claiming he’s keeping the citizens safe.”
“I’m not sure that’s something Mitch needs to hear,” Gabe warned them, “at least not until they have ironed out their differences.”
“He was kissing his secretary,” Manuel reminded them.
“Assistant,” someone corrected.
“We don’t know the exact details, so we need to give Mitch the benefit of the doubt. Yes, I know Evelyn is our sister and obviously our loyalties lie with
her,” Gabe said. “But I was in Mitch’s position not so long ago, and I hope this is just a misunderstanding.”
“If it’s not, I just need you to know I’ll be the first to deck him.” Rafe looked at them challengingly and they both shrugged.
“I’ll be right behind you bro,” Manuel said. “How far are you? I just parked.”
“We’re parking too,” Rafe replied.
The four of them walked inside and were called aside by two men who looked like they worked for Mitch.
“What’s going on?” Gabe asked them after they had gone over quick introductions.
“Gordon is in there with the Chief and Evelyn’s lawyer…”
“Evelyn’s lawyer? What lawyer?” Manuel asked.
“A Lester James?” Luke said questioning the name.
“Why didn’t he call us?” Rafe asked.
“Later,” he said to Rafe. “Let’s get the details of what’s going on here first.”
Luke nodded and continued. “He’s trying to extended Mitch’s stay. And he also slapped him with a restraining order.”
“This isn’t funny,” Manuel said, “but I’m sorry because I just have to laugh at the absurdity of the whole issue.”
“Where is Mitch right now?” Nate asked smiling at his sister’s bravery. Only a brave woman would do that to a man like Mitch.
“Behind bars.”
“Manuel, I just saw Evelyn’s uhh, Officer Reynolds.” Gabe cleared his throat and pointed to someone in a group of other cops. “Can you see if we can see Mitch?” Gabe asked.
A few minutes later the four of them were led to Mitch’s cell. He was talking to some young man who seemed to be hanging onto his every word.
Mitch swore when he saw the brothers. He had hoped to be out by now, but someone was holding up his release. Gordon had been surprised and told him something wasn’t right. He had finally called the Chief who had come back grumbling about his dinner.
“Come to finish off what your sister started?” he asked.
“That’s between the two of you. But we’d like to hear what happened.” Gabe told him.
Mitch sighed and wondered where to even begin. From the beginning, he thought and for the first time was glad to have bars separating them. He told them of how he had hired Gina who had been having a hard time getting a job, yet had good qualifications. “She’s good at her job. Always has everything done and on time and knew what I needed every time.”
Rafe snickered.
“Wrong choice of words,” he gave a pained smile. Anyway, I had no idea that what I mistook for gratefulness was actually someone secretly pining away for me. We were talking about a file I needed and the next thing her lips were on mine. I froze and that was when Evelyn walked in. You know the rest,” he ended.
“She’s got your balls, man,” Gabe told him. “She hired Lester to make noise and keep you in here.”
“And slapped me with a restraining order. Yes, I know.”
“So what are your plans?” Manuel asked him.
“Get released and then find a way to see her.”
“You’re a braver man than I am, bro,” Nate told him and shook his head. “Evelyn won’t give you the chance to get near her. And as long as she’s in Jersey, she has the whole force behind her.”
“I’m beginning to see that. There’s some kind of divide within the force though. Some seem to be relishing the fact that I’m behind bars and think I’m some kind of threat to her; then there’s another camp that although they think Evelyn has been wronged by me, they want to help, but don’t know how.”
“We weren’t going to tell you this,” Gabe said. “But she has an ex who works here and I’m sure he has gathered the troops to rally behind Evelyn. “She’s a favorite of the whole force actually.”
Mitch laughed. “You’re shitting me right? Look, I’m already behind bars, so there’s no need to add insult to injury.”
Gabe’s laugh rumbled through his chest and so did his brothers’ as they laughed at Mitch’s shocked expression.
“I wish I was, Mitch. Why do you think you’re still in here for something so simple and when you could have easily posted bail and been out in a matter of minutes really?”
“Shit.” Mitch grimaced. “How much of an ex is he? How much competition do I have?”
“Mitch,” Manuel said, “you’re behind bars. How much of a chance do you think you have with her?”
“Your paperwork could go missing all night long and you’d have to sleep in here,” Rafe added.
“I need to see Gordon, and the Chief. Please,” he asked. “I can’t win her back as long as I’m in here.”
“Evelyn will have our hides,” Gabe told him. “But we’ll see what we can do. Not directly though,” he added.
Mitch nodded.
Gabe turned to leave, then turned back. “I need evidence of this day,” he said and took a few pictures of Mitch scowling at him. “Leverage,” he said. He shook his head in thought. “And it would have been all the more better if you had an orange jumpsuit.” He grinned at Mitch and then the brothers walked out and asked to see the Chief. A few minutes later they were asked to join the ongoing heated debate.
“I’m sorry guys,” Lester said as they walked in.
They greeted the Chief like boys who had grown up in his city. Fortunately they had never been on the wrong side of the law, which helped bring them into the meeting.
“You couldn’t pick up the phone, Lester?” Manuel asked him.
“Evelyn invoked the client-attorney priviledge statement. She’s your sister, you know her better.”
“I’m yet to meet her,” Gordon said introducing himself. “But she has Mitch in a chokehold.”
“Look,” Gabe said. “To us, this is frivolous, but we understand where she’s coming from. However, we can’t step in and help Mitch here. All we can do is try to see her and see if she can call this off.”
After some back and forth requests from all sides, the brothers left the police station and parked outside Evelyn’s house.
“We need to hit them from all sides so that we can at least get to enter her house,” Gabe suggested.
“You mean we all make calls to them and have one of them open the door?” Rafe asked.
“Or we could call her directly and try and coax her into letting us in,” Nate suggested.
“If that doesn’t work, we can always threaten to call mum,” Manuel followed.
“This is her house, so let’s start with her then.” Gabe dialed her number and drew a sigh of relief when she answered.
“Evelyn? Are you okay?” he asked and pressed the speaker button so they could all hear.
“Never better,” she slurred.
“Please open your door. We’d like to come in.”
“Who is with you?” she asked.
“Just Nate, Rafe and Manuel.”
Evelyn waited a moment and saw her friends worried expressions. “Are we in trouble?” Ana whispered.
She smiled. “I doubt that. They are woried and I knew it was just a matter of time.”
“She placed us on mute,” Manuel said. “I guess she is conferring with the others.”
They looked up as the door opened and quickly piled into her house.
“I’m not sick or at death’s door,” she grumbled as they all hugged her.
“Yeah, but we heard what happened. 911 really sis?” Manuel questioned her.
“It seemed the best option at the time. Besides, it wasn’t 911. I just dialed straight to the precinct.”
“And now?” Nate asked.
“Still a good idea, but maybe the restraining order was a tad too much?” she asked with a frown. She walked back towards the dining room table where everyone was still sitting and drinking the wine Ana had brought over.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Rafe asked her. He slung his hand around her shoulders.
Evelyn shrugged him off. “Not to my brothers, no. Besides, we’ve already dissecte
d the carcass and we’re done here.”
“Can you at least ask Lester to back down? It’s a waste of tax payers money for him to fight to have Mitch kept in jail when the cops could be out fighting crime,” Gabe told her.
Rafe placed his arm back on her shoulder. “Reynolds seems to have called every officer on the force and they are all gathered at the precinct.”
“Reynolds? Oh, dear!”
“Exactly,” Gabe told her.
“Oh, okay. I’ll call him,” she said and walked to a quiet corner in her kitchen. She laughed as she heard Lester’s sigh of relief when she told him to back down. “Thanks Lester,” she said to him. “Just send me my bill and I’ll send a check.”
“This one’s on the house, Evelyn. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy myself to a small extend. But if that ever comes out, I’ll deny it,’ he warned.
“My lips are sealed,” Evelyn said laughing, then hung up. It was getting late. She watched her brothers mingle with their significant others. They were happy. She smiled. Despite what had just happened today, she was glad her brothers had found great partners.
They had come when she had called. She hadn’t expected that. She had only asked that Ana get her a few clothes, but instead they had even brought wine. Bottles and bottles and promised to keep coming until they had gone through their stash.
“It’s done,” she said to Gabe. Then looked at all of them. “Thanks for coming, but I think you all need to go and sleep. I’m fine now. She walked over and hugged her friends. “Thanks Ana. Kelly. Jes. Stefano,” she said as she made her rounds. “I’m good seriously.”
Ana hugged her back. “Don’t hesitate to call. I mean it, Evelyn. Even if you just want to go shopping,” she told her.
“You know you can come and stay with Rafe and I?” Kelly asked her. “No pressure, just keep that in mind.”
“If you need me to come and stay, just holler. I’m glad we reconnected.”
Evelyn watched them walk towards the door and followed. She held the door open and watched them get into their respective trucks, her brothers riding with them. She closed the door then made sure she securely locked all her doors. She went to bed, but sleep was in small doses until the sun rose.