“Why in the hell did you tell them I’d stay away? You understand what they’ll do to my kids?”
“But Emmitt will help you find somewhere. You can get better and stay off the grid.”
“You don’t even know me,” he argued, punching his hands into his forehead. “If I could stay away, I’d have done it before my marriage fell apart. I’d have done it before I lost everything.”
“You do understand the alternative was you dying tonight?” Evie asked incredulously. “If you hadn’t walked out with us you wouldn’t have walked out at all.”
“It’s not me who needs to understand the alternatives,” Charles sneered. “It’s you who needs to wake up and realize the mess you just caused. They might not have killed me tonight. Broken my legs maybe or maimed me in some way, but I probably would have lived once they had their money. Now the deal you made sentences my daughter to a lot worse.”
“All you have to do is not gamble, stay out of the circles you ran in, and cause no more problems. If you know the risk is your daughter or granddaughters getting hurt, then just don’t do it.”
“Foolish,” he said, biting frantically at his thumbnail. “You have no idea how this works. You shouldn’t have done that. You shouldn’t have said anything. Emmitt was right. He was right about all of it.”
“You should be grateful,” she argued, now feeling angry at his lack of personal responsibility for all of this.
“Tell me that the next time I get pinched by these guys and they come knocking on Harlan’s door.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but a pounding on the passenger side door had her snapping it shut quickly. Emmitt was standing there, glaring at both of them as though they were dog shit that needed to be wiped off his very expensive shoes.
He pulled open the door and yanked his father out. “Let’s go in,” he said coldly as he gestured toward the hotel.
“You shouldn’t have let her do that,” Charles shot out, trying to make his point before Evie could get a word in.
“I didn’t,” Emmitt replied, not looking at either of them.
“The danger for your sister now—” Charles started, but Emmitt cut in.
“I know.”
“Are you two out of your minds?” Evie asked once the elevator doors closed and provided a bit of privacy. “We all walked out of there.”
“You weren’t supposed to walk in,” Emmitt said. “You were supposed to leave and let me handle it.”
“It didn’t sound like it was going very well,” Evie contended. “He was asking for more money.”
“That’s how it works,” Emmitt spat out angrily. “I had more money for him. It’s a dance, a game, and you walked in right in the middle.”
“You have to move Harlan and your mother,” Charles said, still frantically biting at the same thumbnail as the handcuffs clinked together.
“I know,” Emmitt groaned.
“Can’t you just get him treatment somewhere? You’re filthy rich. Send him to an island. Send him to the other side of the planet for God’s sake,” Evie said, her voice rising a few octaves.
“He’s a persistent bastard,” Emmitt said as he slid his electronic key into his hotel room door and shoved his father in. “There isn’t a corner of this earth that would keep him from the game. He’d find a way.”
“This is crazy,” Evie protested.
“Making a promise for a man who is incapable of keeping one himself is crazy,” Emmitt snapped. “Saying that man who has never, up to this point in his life, done the right thing, suddenly will, is crazy. Even he knows it.”
Charles shook his head but averted his eyes. “I didn’t know, Emmitt,” he said quietly, as though he’d been waiting patiently for the opportunity to tell him again. “I didn’t plan this with them. I would never use your sister or the kids to get your mother to pay.”
“How did you plan to get her to pay, since that was the angle you were working? What exactly did you have up your sleeve?”
“I don’t know,” Charles shrugged and even Evie could tell he was lying. “It wasn’t really a plan.”
“Tell me,” Emmitt demanded loudly, and Evie jumped. “What were you going to do to get Mom to pay two hundred thousand dollars?”
“I was going to tell her I’d been clean for a while, and I wanted to have roots in the area so I could be around you kids. That’s all she ever wanted, was for me to be a part of your lives. I knew that.”
“And you planned to exploit it.” Emmitt growled.
“Yes,” Charles admitted with a pained expression on his face. “I was going to tell her I wanted to put a down payment on a house close by. If she’d help me with that I’d be around. I’d be a new man.”
“She’d have done it,” Emmitt said, his expression filled with disappointment. “Mom would have taken that chance on you, even after all you’ve done, because all she wanted was for you to be a father to us.”
“What are you going to do?” Charles asked, pleading for some kind of outside interference Emmitt could run to save him from himself. “You can’t just let me go off somewhere.”
“I know that,” Emmitt said, still looking like the situation needed more thought. “You and I are getting on a plane tomorrow.”
“Wait,” Evie said, feeling panic set in. The only thing she could compare it to was the time in her grandmother’s pool when she got stuck under a large float and she thought she’d never get out from under it. “What do you mean?”
“I mean he and I are boarding a plane tomorrow and not telling anyone where we are going. Harlan wants a relationship with him after all this, and I’m not giving her the opportunity.”
“She does?” Charles asked hopefully, but it was dashed by the angry glare from Emmitt.
“How long will you be gone?” she asked, feeling stupid and selfish but not caring at the moment.
“As long as it takes,” Emmitt said, already starting to pack his bags.
“I don’t know what that means? As long as what takes? Are you going to get him into treatment?”
“Evie,” Emmitt shouted, then drew in a breath to right himself. “I can’t do this right now. I can’t deal with your ‘life through rose-colored glasses’ glued to your face. My father is not trustworthy, yet you made a deal with a man and hung my family in the balance. I need to fix that.”
“I was trying to help,” she cried. “They might have killed him tonight.”
“And they might kill us all if he screws up again. I’m no gambler but his odds of doing that are pretty high. Now pack your bags and tell me where you want to go. I’ll make sure you have travel arrangements and enough money to help your mom if you’re still going to throw it away on that.”
“What about the Barringtons?” Evie countered, hoping maybe his responsibility there would be enough to slow down this run-away plan.
“I have enough of what I need to give Asher something tomorrow morning. With any luck he’ll be satisfied enough to meet with Mathew. Everything worked out for everyone,” he bit out angrily.
“How can you say that?” she questioned, wiping hot tears from her cheeks.
“My family is safe, Mathew gets the meeting he was hoping for, and you have the money to do what you think will help your mother. That’s why you got on that plane that day, right?”
“You said you loved me,” she cried, ignoring the fact that they lacked privacy right now. “You said you were glad I look at things the way I do.”
“I’m getting on a plane tomorrow, Evie. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone or if I’ll be in contact. Just go do what you need to do, and I’ll do the same.”
“Then what?” she asked, croaking out a little bit of hopefulness that he may give her something to hang on to.
“Bye, Evie,” he said, kissing her and moving her toward the door. “Pack your stuff. Trust me, this will be for the best. You’ll look back and be glad you walked away.”
She lost her breath as the heavy hotel room door closed
in her face. Sobbing as she dragged her feet toward the elevator, she couldn’t imagine how she could pack anything tonight. All she wanted to do was bury her head in a pillow and cry until her sides ached and her cheeks stung. Everything seemed so clear in her mind as she walked into that warehouse earlier tonight. Now it was like someone poured mud in her ears and clouded up every thought she had. Maybe Emmitt was right, maybe she took a risk that wasn’t hers to take, and now she was paying the price.
Chapter 32
Emmitt stared at his phone and nearly dialed her number a dozen times. Evie hadn’t waited to say goodbye in the morning. She hadn’t taken his money or his offer of making travel arrangements. She was just gone. And that was part of what he liked about her. No matter how tough things got, Evie seemed to face them. She rarely fell apart or played damsel in distress. He wondered where she was right now. Did she grab a bus ticket back to the Midwest or maybe a train back to Texas?
“I appreciate this information,” Asher said as he reviewed the paperwork Emmitt left in front of him. It wasn’t his best work, but luckily Lance Barrington’s security was lacking enough he was able to make plenty of recommendations just on the data collected and the recon he did.
“The analysis is fairly basic,” he admitted. “There was a lot of low hanging fruit. He does have the opportunity to tighten up quite a bit. A new badge system. More screening in the lobby.”
“Good,” Asher said, still reading.
“Also,” Emmitt said, as he pulled out his phone, “there’s a contractor that will likely be interested in bidding on some of the work in Lance’s proposal: Restoration Consultants, Inc. Watch out for them. They have a history of breaching company’s databases to get an early look at plans and competition before they make their proposals. They’re slimy. I didn’t see any evidence that they’d already breached Lance’s office, but as you can see I had no problem downloading any file I wanted from an unlocked utility room. I’d start there with the security upgrades.”
“Fair enough,” Asher nodded, pushing the paper back into a pile and standing. “Have your brother text me on this number.” He handed Emmitt a business card. “I’ll set up some time to meet with him.”
“Thanks,” Emmitt said, throwing a small nod back at Asher and heading for the door.
“You have the flu or something?” Asher asked before Emmitt could leave the office.
“No,” he said, confused by the question.
“Good I wasn’t sure if I had to have the cleaning service in here bleaching the place. I figured you were sick, considering last time you were here you wouldn’t shut up. You had plenty to say about how things would go down. Now you’ve got nothing to say.”
“I had a job. It’s done. You held up your end of the bargain. My brother gets what he wanted. Not much to stay.” Emmitt buried his hands in his pockets and let out a long annoyed breath.
“Right,” Asher said flatly. “But I still figured you’d come in here demanding something else. I was fully prepared to tell you to go to hell.”
“Sorry I robbed you of that,” Emmitt retorted as he looked at his phone again. Still nothing from Evie.
“Do you still think your brother is worth my time? You were making a strong case for it last time.”
“My brother knows business. Whatever he’s doing with West Oil you’ll want to hear about. Give him an hour. You won’t regret it.”
Emmitt turned and left the office without another word. Half his responsibilities were done. Mathew would now have what he wanted. It was on to ridding them of the plague that was their father. It was time to do what he did best. Leave.
Chapter 33
“She’s something,” Charles said as he watched Emmitt check his phone for the hundredth time. He fastened his seat belt tightly in the seat directly next to Emmitt.
“The whole jet’s ours, no need to sit right next to me.” Emmitt sighed as he rolled his eyes.
“We can talk,” his father offered with a toothy smile that set Emmitt’s nerves on edge.
“We have nothing to talk about.” Emmitt poured himself a drink and didn’t bother offering one to his father. “Just be glad I took the cuffs off.”
Charles absentmindedly rubbed at his wrists where the marks still stung. “You shouldn’t leave her behind. Take her with us. She’d come. I could tell by the look in her eyes when you told her we were leaving. There’s still time. This jet’s on your dime. You can tell them to wait.”
“She’s not coming,” Emmitt asserted. “I’m doing her a favor by ending it now.”
“Right, I know that argument.” His father laughed but stopped quickly at the sight of Emmitt grinding his teeth together. “All I’m saying is protecting people from yourself is a joke. That’s not really what you’re doing.”
“It’s not?” Emmitt asked with a look of frustrated disgust. “Please enlighten me.”
“You’re not protecting her from you, you’re saving yourself from how she makes you feel. The fact that she makes you feel anything at all when you’ve gotten so good at stuffing that down. You can say all you want that you’re doing this for her sake, you can fool a lot of people with that. But men like us—” His words were cut short by the banging of Emmitt’s fist against the armrest.
“I’m nothing like you,” he boomed. “Don’t pretend to understand my motivations. You’ve never cared for anyone more than yourself.”
“You’re right,” he said, raising his arms. “You do plenty for the people around you. You’re a better man than me. But breaking that girl’s heart now just so you don’t risk breaking it later isn’t sparing her. Stop the plane. Call her.”
Emmitt squeezed his phone tightly in his hand, nearly crushing it. “We have connecting flights. I’m not delaying this. The sooner I get you the hell out of here the better.”
“You still haven’t said where we’re going,” Charles grumbled, seeming not happy with the lack of control he had over the situation.
“You’ll know when we get there,” Emmitt said as he grabbed his headphones from his bag and put them on. Turning the loud pumping music up as far as it would go, he closed his eyes. His father wouldn’t want to stop the discussion, so he put a forcible end to it instead. As his eardrums vibrated to the rhythmic beat, he pushed all thoughts out of his head. The familiar feeling of nothingness flooded his body and he could breathe again.
Chapter 34
The pit of Evie’s stomach was blazing with anxiety and motion sickness. The bus ride was nearly over, and while everyone next to her was probably dying to get off, she considered hiding under her seat and riding back to the bus depot for the night. Then she wouldn’t have to tell anyone she’d been fired from the movie set months ago. She wouldn’t have to face her mother and whatever downward spiral she fell into after leaving treatment.
“Isn’t this your stop?” the old man with the narrow sinking eyes asked her through his crooked smile.
“It is,” she said with forced cheer as she grabbed her bag and made her way down the narrow aisle. Stepping off the bus, she felt the difference in the air. She knew she’d be back here one day; she knew she’d have to face everything she was hiding from, but now that she was here it felt worse than she imagined.
Evie pulled the rest of her cash from her pocket and considered the best way to get home. She could grab a cab or call her brother. At least the cab would buy her more time of anonymity. She could hold her secrets a little longer.
“Evie?” a familiar sunny voice called from behind her. “What are you doing here?”
“Sara,” Evie said in a singsong voice as her oldest friend came barreling into her arms.
“Are you on a break from the movie?” Sara asked, pulling away and looking her friend over appraisingly. The bleary look in Evie’s eyes gave her away. “Are you all right?’
“No,” Evie admitted through a stifled cry. “It’s terrible. Everything is awful.” Sara led her over to a bench as she recounted how the last few months had unfol
ded. Retelling the sordid tale of all of her dreams imploding was more painful than Evie had expected.
“You need to go, Evie,” Sara said simply as she glanced around for any other familiar faces. “You don’t belong here. You never have. If you come back now you’ll end up working at the local diner for pennies and giving them all to your mother to help her get better. This place,” she gestured around and whispered, “it’s not big enough for someone like you. You can get right back on that bus and try again. But if you stay now, you’ll be stuck here forever. I just know it.”
“But my mother,” Evie said through tears. “I can’t just leave now and not help her.”
“You will do exactly what you intended when you left the first time. You’ll get wildly famous and have everything you need to really help her. If you stay, the sadness and the helplessness is going to suck you in and destroy you.”
“I thought maybe you’d be the first person in line to say I told you so,” Evie sniffled.
“Never,” Sara asserted. “I’ve always known you were going to do something great that would help your entire family. I thought maybe by now you and I would be walking the red carpet, photobombing celebrities, but I’m willing to wait.”
They laughed the way one does when tears are still in their eyes, that defeated type of chuckle that lets in a small ray of hope.
“Call him. What you told me about Emmitt, I have to believe he’s hurting as badly as you are right now. You don’t belong here in this dusty, shitty place. Think of yourself as a life raft. Don’t go back to the sinking ship, just go get help for the rest of us.” Sara playfully nudged her shoulder into Evie and tried to get her to smile. Evie reluctantly obliged, but her stomach still ached with worry.
“So I just turn back around?” Evie asked, gesturing at the bus. “Do I go to Texas? Boston? I don’t know where Emmitt was heading.”
“Go where your heart tells you,” Sara giggled. “I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. If you need any more convincing, use this for motivation.” Sara reached into her bag and pulled out a name tag and pinned it to her chest. “Stay here and you can add this fancy badge to your outfit. You could stand right next to me and scoop ice cream cones for people who want a thousand free samples and stuff stacks of napkins in their pockets. Run now while you still have a chance.”
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