I tell Merc only what I owe him.
“Merc, I should’ve picked you,” I say.
He perks up at this admission but is guarded.
“You know that now, eh?” he grins sadly.
“You didn’t have it in you to leave Evan then. I don’t know why you did now, but I know you didn’t have it in you then. We both know I’m too dangerous for you to be around. We can’t even be seen in public together,” Merc tells me.
I stare down at the floor of the boat.
He’s right. We missed the boat entirely.
“Time to go,” Merc says.
There’s no more time to talk.
Merc pulls up the speedboat to a private bungalow built over the water. As we drift underneath, I can see the reflections of a pool, the clear water above us and up to the sky, the glow of the sun blurred by the pool water.
“I think we’re too late,” Merc muses.
“Why?” I whisper.
“It’s too quiet,” he whispers back.
Merc moors the boat on the dock just as darkness closes in on us in its entirety. We wait for our eyes to adjust to the moonlight, then creep up the stairs towards the front door. It’s ajar.
Merc groans. He flips the switch on his flashlight.
The place is a wreck. Furniture is strewn about everywhere, tables are turned over, and empty beer bottles litter the room. There is the smell of stale food.
“Nothing,” he growls.
“Let’s look around,” I insist.
Merc walks ahead, gun in hand, as we creep through the silent villa.
“Check in there, scream if you need me,” Merc directs.
I nod and duck into the master bedroom. The beautiful four-poster bed has been hacked to pieces. One poster has fallen, and there’s blood all over the mattress.
Dried blood.
Any sane person would be bothered by this, but I’m not. Maybe I’m spending too much time with Merc.
This place has been emptied for several days. I search the closet, and the drawers, and find nothing. Then I think back to our boarding school days when Evan used to hide things under his mattress. On instinct, I pull it up, avoiding the blood.
A smashed-up laptop computer is there.
“Someone was trying to hide you,” I whisper.
I grab the computer and let the mattress back down onto the bed frame. It’s a small notebook version and useless. But the hard drive might still work.
“Anything?” Merc asks.
He’s got a bottle of whiskey in his hand, open. He takes a swig.
“Drinking on the job?” I tease him.
“They’re long gone. Though that’s a lot of blood. I’m surprised you didn’t scream,” Merc points. He laughs sardonically.
“I’ve been through war; that doesn’t faze me,” I say.
Then I giggle slightly as I hold up the smashed computer.
“I’m taking this with us. There might be something on here,” I explain.
“Good eye, where was it? Under the mattress?” Merc is joking.
“Yeah, actually,” I surprise him.
“That old trick,” Merc snorts.
“Come on, Bergmann, let’s go before someone does show up here. I don’t want to have to get into a shoot-out over you,” he explains.
I laugh, and we go back to the speedboat.
January 11, 2019
Back in Merc’s apartment, I’ve disassembled the laptop into several components.
I’ve always been good with computers, but hardware isn’t my specialty.
This one is custom built, and aside from picking it apart at it to locate the hard drive, I haven’t done much.
“I’ll just take it into work,” Merc offers.
When we landed, we went straight to his apartment, right from the tarmac, because a mob of paparazzi is looking for me. Merc went to buy a pack of cigarettes and came back with, to my surprise, a whole bunch of tabloids with my face splashed across the front pages. I saw the pictures of Evan, Vic, and Ethan out for dinner, and I’m trying to ignore my aching heart.
The magazines sit on the coffee table, haunting me, starting at me, teasing me. I’m ignoring them, for now, like I’m ignoring Evan’s calls.
“Well, I don’t think there’s much to take to the office, but, look here,” I say.
There’s an SD card stuck inside the reader.
“Looks like someone forgot something,” I say.
“She is amazing,” Merc says, with some admiration.
“Anyone could have done it,” I say modestly.
He raises his beer to me and tilts his head.
“Thanks,” I say with an eye roll.
“What?” he asks.
“You always say I’m amazing,” I retort.
“Because you are! You’d make a good agent, you know,” Merc mumbles through a mouthful of beer.
He wipes the foam from his kissable mouth. I feel something warming up…
“I highly doubt MI6 wants me,” I laugh.
I pop the SD card into my laptop. It’s nothing but files upon files, and I’m not all that interested in reading any of them. I notice a video and click it on instinct.
“What’s this?” Merc asks.
He sits cross-legged on the floor beside me, and we watch. It looks like a video of a cell, and at first, it seems like it’s running in a loop.
Then I see movement.
Blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
The man’s elegant jawline, so much like Evan and Levi’s.
“It’s Noah!” I gasp.
My hands fly to my mouth, and Merc’s hand is on my shoulder suddenly.
“Leigha, you can’t say anything about this to Evan,” he says slowly.
He’s looking at me with a crazed look. I don’t understand this!
“Merc, why?” I protest.
He shuts the lid to my laptop.
“This is my work, Leigha. That’s why. What you have seen, just now, it’s goddamn national security! You can’t go blurting this out to Evan! He can’t go running around the world again! I’ve already gone too far, bringing you along with me. This,” he points to the laptop, “this is one step I can’t take!”
I am not listening to him.
It’s Noah Stone! Alive!
I try to grab my pc, but Merc seizes it and places it out of my reach.
“But Evan! He needs to know!” I protest.
“Leigha!” Merc roars.
He takes both of my shoulders firmly.
“Do you understand me when I say I cannot take the risk of Evan getting in my way this time? I need to find Olivia without his interference. Evan chasing after his father is interfering with my operation,” Merc is firm with me.
“No!” I shake my head.
I keep repeating it, but it’s no use.
Because no matter how much I shake my head and tell Merc no, I already know that he’s done me a huge favor. I cannot betray his trust.
“You have to promise me, Leigha,” Merc says, ignoring my pleas.
“Promise me,” he repeats.
His grip is just this side of painful. I can’t just let Evan go on, ignorant of Noah being alive! Can I?
The glint in Merc’s eyes tells me just how important this is. It reminds me of how much Merc has given up for this job. Merc’s married to his work: he loves it; thrives on it.
I can’t take that away from him.
“Okay, okay, Merc, you win. Okay,” I concede.
He releases me. I rub my arms, to get the circulation going again. I am oddly thrilled by this manhandling, but I turn away, I’ve already decided that I will not hurt Merc any more than I have.
“But you know he’s going to find out, eventually?” I tell Merc.
“Hopefully, that’ll be when I bring Noah home,” Merc says, trying to dissuade me.
“We,” I correct him. “When we bring Noah home. Don’t think for a second I’m going to let you do this alone,” I add.
Merc groans. He puts a hand to his forehead, and shakes his head.
“I knew this would happen!” he says.
“Did you now?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
“Yes,” he replies wryly.
I have a hunch that Merc won’t refuse me this time. Not again. My previous successes with him buoy me. And, I know that he feels we at least owe Evan this much - both of us bringing Noah back to him, safe and sound. If Evan finds out that I knew his father was alive, and that Merc and I kept this precious secret, I know for a fact Evan will never come back to me.
Not that I expect Evan ever to leave Vic’s side again…
I glance at the magazines again, ‘Happy Family’ plastered all over the covers.
At least I’m painted out to be the victim.
11
Evan
January 11, 2019
“The Stones are officially cleared of all suspected charges,” Ava sings, as she slaps a copy of The Times down in front of me. She slams it down so hard that my grapefruit juice wobbles on the table, and I reach out to keep it from tipping.
“Good old Noah,” Magda comments as she sets the croissants down.
“He should be here for this,” I tell Ava.
“He’s alive. He’ll know, Evan,” Ava insists.
I’m running weak on hope for my father. Athena and Aidan turned up nothing. Lucius can’t find hide nor hair of my father.
“What if he’s gone?” I ask Ava.
“He’s not,” Lucius grunts.
He comes storming in, turning everything upside down, as Tinsley’s eyes go wide with hope. But I pray that Lucius is at least careful enough not to give her false hope, only to have it dashed to pieces once more. I can’t handle her falling apart again.
My mother sits quietly, expecting Lucius to say something else.
What is Elizabeth even doing here again?
Oh, right!
Tinsley insisted on helping my mother through rehabilitation after her brain surgery. Now she’s as fit as a fiddle, lurking around the house like a ghost. Mostly she writes things down. Observations, she tells me. Things she remembers.
“Look at what I’ve got,” Lucius says, proud of himself.
He pulls out his iPad and swipes around the screen before presenting us with a video.
“This was caught, the same day Noah disappeared; the same day Olivia disappeared,” he says.
“Watch the boat on the side of the frame,” Lucius points.
We watch as Olivia gets out of the boat, looking like a drowned rat.
Then, my father willingly steps off the boat behind her. I can make out handcuffs on his wrists.
They release him. He disappears out of the frame.
“When was this?” I ask.
“Months ago,” Tinsley sighs.
“She’s right, it’s from when your father first disappeared, but he’s alive,” Lucius announces.
“I’m not convinced.” I think to myself.
Or at least, I think I am only saying it to myself.
Imagine my surprise when there’s an audible gasp from everyone else in the room.
“Did I say that out loud?” I groan.
“How are you not convinced that Dad is alive?” Ava demands.
“How do we know that’s not Olivia’s body double? Or Noah’s? She might not be real for all we know,” I say, pointing to my mother.
“I’m real Evan,” she says dryly. “I changed your diapers, and burped you, and cared for you when you were throwing up all over me. I’m still your mother, and I can and will smack your bottom, if I so please. Son,” my mother snaps back, with a wicked smile.
“You’re about twenty years too late for that, Mother Dear. I’m twenty-four now,” I remind her.
“That does not mean I can’t teach you a lesson,” she growls.
“Stop it! Elizabeth! Evan! Focus!” Ava says, yelling over both of us.
“The bastard’s alive!” Elizabeth says with conviction.
Tinsley recoils a bit.
“Sorry, Tinsley, but I know that man is alive! Noah Stone isn’t about to be taken down by some paltry little hurricane,” she hisses.
Then, she pauses, examining her nails.
“I for one would like to see your father alive,” she adds.
“Why, so you can kill him?” I spit out.
“So, I can apologize, you silly little boy,” my mother ripostes, not missing a beat.
“I’m so sure,” I exaggerate my words.
“Dear Lord, do you two ever get along?” Lucius asks.
“Never,” Ava and Tinsley respond in unison.
My mother and I laugh together for the first time.
I see the twinkle in her eye, and I wonder if I'm too hard on her.
“Evan, Merc has to know what’s going on. You have to talk to him,” Lucius tells me.
“I know,” I sigh.
He’s back from his trip with Leigha. The picture of her standing in the middle of Heathrow alone with ‘Who is Leigha Stone’s Secret Lover?’ as the headline stunned me when I first saw it.
It was Merc, and I wonder if MI6 was upset, they were seen together. I know I wasn’t keen on the idea.
My imagination had them returning from a foreign trip to ‘Fuck Me Hard Island’, where my soulmate was railed for days by my former best friend.
I decided I was being overly melodramatic until I noticed she was no longer wearing her wedding band.
Nor her engagement ring…
I grunted.
Now that I know they’re back from their trip, I decide that there’s never a better time to visit Merc.
I knock on Merc’s door.
Leigha is the one who answers. She looks exhausted, but that quickly fades into shock.
I raise my eyebrows.
“May I come in?” I ask.
Leigha steps aside and lets me into the foyer. Then, she closes the door behind her, refusing to let me go further, blocking my path.
“You should go,” she tells me.
“I’m here for Merc, not you,” I spit back angrily.
“He’s not home,” Leigha says calmly.
“Then, why not let me in, anyway?” I tell her.
“No,” she says.
“Yes,” I argue.
“No,” she says.
“Yes,” I reply.
“Evan stop,” Leigha says, ending our childish back-and-forth.
“Why? So, I can’t see your lingerie scattered all over the floor and all the used condoms everywhere?” I snarl.
I want to hurt her. I see that I do precisely that: Leigha’s face twists into a painful grimace.
“Are you two fucking, or what?” I ask, casually.
“No, Evan, I wouldn’t do that to you. Although I’m sure you’ve had your fair share of fun with Vic,” she retorts.
“I wouldn’t touch her if you paid me, because the woman I love just shattered me,” I say slowly.
Leigha sucks in a breath.
“Evan, I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m not moving on with Merc. That was not my intention. I just needed somewhere to stay,” Leigha tells me.
“Then come home, you won’t need to stay here with Merc,” I plead with her.
She acts frustrated, blowing out her breath, so her hair flies around her forehead.
“Evan, just go,” Leigha insists.
Then, she realizes something.
“Why are you even here?” she questions.
“I want to talk to Merc about my father,” I admit.
“Well, I already tried that,” she says, but I get the feeling she is avoiding something. “You know he’s married to his job, and he refuses to tell me anything. I doubt you’d get more out of him than I have,” Leigha adds.
I take a step back.
“You asked about my father?” I gasp.
“Of course, I did!” Leigha snaps.
I am amazed. She looks at me as though she’s seeing the ‘World’s Dumbes
t Man’.
“Why wouldn’t I? You think just because we’re not married-” she suddenly cuts herself off.
“Do you still love me?” I ask.
“Don’t ask me that,” Leigha says evasively, and hugs herself.
“Do you still love me?” I persist.
I spin her around, and her arms are at her sides. I put my hands on either side of her, gently.
I stare into her face, looking for any hint of what’s going on behind those lovely eyes. She turns her head away.
“Evan, feelings don’t just stop. They don’t go away because you have a family that I’m not part of,” Leigha says.
Her voice is laced with so much pain. I know I need to go.
“Leigha, I’m-” I start.
“Evan, don’t apologize again, for fuck's sake! Like that’s going to make us get back together!” she snaps again.
Then she disappears inside Merc’s apartment and slams the door.
Hard.
I wait, expect her to open it again.
But in return for my patience, I get nothing but the noise of the birds in the garden.
12
Leigha
January 19, 2019
I drive by the house Evan and I shared to make sure his car isn’t in the driveway. Then, I pull into the garage.
All is silent. I can hear my heels clicking against the hardwood floors as I walk through to the kitchen. I just needed to see this place, one last time. Now that I’m here, I don’t exactly know what to do. I shrug off my white cashmere coat and dump it on the kitchen island before pouring myself a glass of wine. Since there’s no one here, and I am entirely alone, I sit right on the island, my legs swinging as I sip my wine.
What did I expect from coming here?
The only thing I feel is the melancholy of what Evan and I have lost, and what we’re going to lose if I don’t tell him Noah is alive.
But I made a promise to Merc, that I wouldn’t say anything. And, I knew I was making a promise that I probably wouldn’t keep.
I sip the wine, flipping through the tabloids on the counter because I’m a glutton for torture. There is one of me at Heathrow when Merc went to grab his cigarettes, and I was waiting around.
I’m looking at my watch. I’ve come back from an exotic island vacation with my new mystery lover.
FRACTURE: Hearts of Stone Book Six Page 7