Impatiently Patient

by Amelia Shea

  On the wall, hung photos of parties they had thrown. She recognized a picture of Stone and Sadie from their wedding. There was also another picture of the whole family for the ribbon cutting at the opening. She bit her lips staring at the picture. Roxanne had begged her to come but she didn’t. She gave another one of her lame excuses. She had a lot of making up to do with Roxanne, realizing she had been a shitty friend the last year.

  “Can I help you?” A soft timid voice from behind had Emory jolting in surprise.

  Emory turned around, hand over her heart, to find Evie behind her.

  Evie’s eyes enlarged and she opened her mouth but Emory quickly held up a finger to her lips. She whispered, “I’m a surprise. Again.”

  Evie grinned, whispering back, “She’s going to be so excited. She just told me to hold all calls at eleven because you were calling.” Evie giggled softly. “She said unless someone was dying, no interruptions.”

  Emory softly laughed. “That’s my girl.” She turned back to the wall. “The place looks amazing.”

  “Yeah, Roxanne and Cassie have done an incredible job.”

  “You, too. Roxanne raves about you.”

  Emory turned to Evie whose face was peaked with a pink tint. Her mousy brown hair was in a messy bun, her wispy bangs hanging over the top of her thick rimmed plastic glasses. Evie would best be described as ordinary at first glance but now staring at her, Emory noticed her almond shaped brown eyes, her small perked up nose, and cheekbones that rivaled Roxanne. Evie was a knockout dressed up as a plain Jane. Interestingly odd.

  Evie pointed to a picture on the wall. “That’s from the ribbon cutting. We haven’t gotten the picture from Mr. Barrett’s party but I saw the print, it’s great.”

  “How come you’re not in any of the pictures?”

  “Uh, I’m sorry?”

  Looking back at the wall, then to Evie, she pointed. “You’re not in the pictures. From what Roxanne says, you kick ass at planning. You should be in them, too.”

  Evie’s face flushed red and her lips tightened forming a strained smile. She simply shrugged and looked as if she wanted to run fast and far.

  “Evie?” Roxanne called from the back of the office.

  “Yes?” Emory noticed the tremble in her voice. Did she make her nervous? Evie was fine a minute ago and now she almost looked afraid of Emory.

  “Hold my calls, okay?”

  “I will.” Evie turned to Emory forcing a smile and gesturing down the hall in the back, “Enjoy your surprise.”

  “Evie, did I say something to upset you?” Emory asked.

  Her eyes widened and she rapidly shook her head, “No.” She looked at her feet. “I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”

  Emory laughed. “No, don’t be sorry.” She was making Evie extremely uncomfortable for an unknown reason. She decided to end this girl’s misery. “Well, I should get on with my surprise.” She smiled at Evie and walked down the hall. She glanced over her shoulder to see Evie, staring at the picture with a sad look on her face. So strange.

  Emory stopped before she got to the doors at the end. The girls had their names on plaques next to each door. Cassie Miller on the left and Roxanne Barrett on the right. Emory stood next to the door and dialed Roxanne.

  Her smile was wide, feeling the excitement build as she heard the phone ring. Roxanne answered on the first ring.

  “You’re late, bitch!”

  Emory grinned, walking through the doorway. “Better late than never, bitch!”

  Roxanne’s mouth gaped open, dropping her phone to the desk, she screamed, “Holy shit, you’re here!” It took her less than five seconds to practically tackle Emory with a bear hug. Their laughter echoed down the hall and throughout the office.

  * * * *

  It had taken longer than his GPS said for Ethan to get up to Trent’s cabin. He made a call to Stone earlier, making sure he was on the right path. He pulled up the long hill and parked next to T’s truck. There were two other vehicles, both Jeeps, parked in front of a single car garage. Ethan turned off the engine and stretched his legs getting out of the car. This place was in the middle of nowhere. Tall pines outlined the area around the house and driveway then grew thick into the woods.

  “You found it? We were getting worried.”

  Ethan walked up the stairs, meeting Bogs halfway.

  “Well, I’m not actually sure how I did find it but I’m here.”

  Bogs turned to the door but Ethan snagged his arm. “You know anything about this?”

  Bogs shook his head. “No, they didn’t say anything on the phone except we had a problem. A big problem. Trent seems on edge so it must be serious. You know him, always Mister Laidback but something’s going on, the way he’s acting. Refused to talk until we were all here.”

  Bogs turned back to the door and opened it. Ethan followed behind into the cabin.

  Trent and Declan’s cabin from the outside looked like nothing more than a big hunting cabin but inside it was incredible. Dark wood marred the walls, it was a true log cabin. A large kitchen to the right and a big great room with a floor to ceiling stone fireplace on the left.

  Stone, T, and Trent were sitting in the room. Ethan nodded in greeting.

  “Thanks for coming, heard you were on a vacation.” Trent walked over and shook Ethan’s hand. His grip was firm but friendly. He’d always gotten along with Trent. Both Trent and Declan had served with Stone and T in the marines. Once they got out, they, too, had started a security agency, although their clientele was different. They teamed up with him and his brothers on their “special” jobs. Roxanne had dubbed them the clean-up crew.

  They handled the aftermath. As far as Ethan knew, they were the only ones aware of where the bodies ended up. Some questions were better left unanswered. More recently, he had sold them the Garrison Bail Bonds company. They had started working directly with Garrison Securities. They were the only people Ethan considered selling to and it would prove lucrative to all the men.

  “Not a problem. I understand we have an emergency situation?”

  “You could say that. Come on in, Declan is just out back, he’ll be in, in a minute.”

  Ethan walked further into the room, noticing all the animal heads mounted on the walls.

  “Quite a collection you’ve got.”

  He caught Stone’s eye and stared back at him in question. He smirked. “How was your vacation?”

  Ethan didn’t bother answering. His brothers were notorious ballbusters. Up until now, they had all remained quiet when it came to him and Emory. However, with their relationship going in full force, he knew this was just the beginning of the teasing. Fuck it, as long as he got Emory, he’d take the shit! He knew them being together would change the dynamic of his family but in a way that would bring Emory deeper into the fold. She had always been a part of them but now she was his, forever. There was no doubt their relationship would be embraced by his brothers, however, it would not be immune to the relentless ribbing either.

  “Heard you brought back a souvenir? Hot little redhead?”

  Ethan cocked his brow and scowled at Bogs.

  Ethan took a seat next to T on the couch and watched as Declan came through the long hall leading from the back of the house. He acknowledged Ethan with a chin lift but said nothing else. Declan was always very quiet. He was also intimidating as hell. Ethan considered himself in great shape and fairly strong but Declan was the type that would have him second guessing his ability in a fight. Luckily, they had always been on the same team.

  “I’m just gonna start from the beginning.” Trent walked into the room from the kitchen, handing Ethan a beer, and sat in the chair across from him and T. Placing an envelope on the table between them, he started.

  “Got a call from an associate we work with sometimes. Needed our help in finding someone. He was hired by Jude Skoda, big time dealer in the coke trade. And when I say big, I mean one of the top
dogs. Skoda’s son was killed eight years ago when he was sixteen. He was stabbed to death along with a friend of his.”

  “Damn, they find who did it?” Bogs asked sipping his beer.

  Trent shook his head. “No, no one, and they never did have any suspects. At first, they thought of a revenge theory against Skoda, guy’s got a shitload of enemies, but in their world, the do’er would have taken credit for it. No one ever stepped up to claim it.”

  “No fucking leads? That don’t sound right,” T said.

  “Not one lead. Case went cold. From all the intel we got, case went cold before the investigation even got underway. Police did routine search but at the bare minimum, and for a guy like Skoda, all that power, you woulda thought they’d do more. People speculated a cover up, feds were called in, but nothing.”

  “Why would the police do more for a drug dealer?”

  Trent’s face tightened. “Skoda’s got everyone on his payroll.” His eyes were hard on Ethan. “Everyone.”

  “Sounds like you two are searching for a ghost,” Stone said.

  “Yeah, well this ghost got a name six weeks ago. One of the detectives from the scene gave a deathbed confession of sorts. He had cancer, real bad. Fuck load of debt from hospitals and treatment was about to leave his widow with all that. He contacted Skoda with a name in exchange for paying off his debt, taking that burden off his family.”

  “Crooked cop with a conscience, interesting,” Bogs chimed in sarcastically.

  Trent shrugged his shoulder. “Guy claims it wasn’t on him or his partner. They called it in and Feds swarmed the place, the son was barely breathing before they got there but he was able to give a name right before he died. The cop passed that along to the higher ups and all of a sudden they were being called in, questioned, and according to the cop, threatened. Guy said he and his partner had no choice to stay quiet. It must have been a heavy threat. They were given promotions for their cooperation if they kept their mouths shut. So they did.”

  “How’d you get on this? Did they reopen the case?”

  “Skoda skipped going to the authorities when he got the name. He’s looking to get his own retribution for the person who killed his son.”

  “You got a name and you still ain’t got him?”

  “We got the name Jamie Procter. Used all our intel, coming up with nothing. No family, no social media, nothing. Whoever was hiding Jamie Proctor did a damn good job. Again, like a fucking ghost.”

  “Maybe he’s dead. Eight years is a long time,” Ethan offered.

  Trent nodded his head. “We considered that.”

  “You need me to find him?” Bogs asked, sitting up in his seat in the chair next to Ethan.

  “Took us over four weeks but we found Jamie Proctor.”

  “Four weeks?” Bogs didn’t try to hold back his shock. “Damn, guys, shoulda called me. Coulda got that guy in days, possible hours.”

  “No, you wouldn’t have.” Declan spoke for the first time since they’d gotten there. His tone was harsh.

  Bogs snorted. “No offense, Dec, but I woulda had that guy in way less than four weeks.”

  “You wouldn’t have found the guy because Jamie Proctor is a woman,” Trent said.

  “What? A chick stabbed them to death? Holy shit!” Bogs retorted, surprised.

  “We have some contacts deep in the system, reached out and got nothing. Filtered into the system and there was nothing. Except a memo, something that should have been destroyed eight years ago, it was even marked as ‘destroy’ but there it was. Jamie Proctor was put into protective custody; her identity was washed out. Not one single trace of Jamie Proctor except a four sentence memo with her new alias.

  “There’s got to be more to it. Cops, even Feds don’t hide random people who commit double homicide.”

  “Agreed. But there was a cover up and this Jamie girl was hidden.”

  “So, what did you tell your associate?”

  “Told him we don’t mess with women or kids. Ever.” Declan growled from the wall he leaned up against.

  “We, also, didn’t tell him we discovered her alias. Something about this doesn’t sit right. They went through a lot of trouble to hide her, I’m thinking it’s not black and white. We told him he’d have to find someone else, we weren’t interested since finding out she’s a woman.”

  “Okay, so why are we here, then? Sounds like it’s out of your hands.” T said.

  “Like I said, something just doesn’t sit right here. We decided to check her out, find her. It took some time. Like I said, whoever is hiding her knows what he’s doing. And Jamie Proctor has definitely learned to fly under the radar.”

  “With all due respect, Trent, I fail to see how this is our problem,” Ethan said, growing impatient.

  “Wait for it,” Declan muttered under his breath. Ethan looked over at his stone face.

  Trent lifted the envelope, reaching inside as he spoke.

  “Her name is Evangeline Smith. Currently resides in Houston. If you look her up on the internet, you’ll come up empty. Nothing on her.”

  “Ha, a serial killer in our own neighborhood. You know, they say everybody passes at least five serial killers in their life and they don’t even know it. Evangeline Smith, huh? Odd name for an alias.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Bogs,” T snapped.

  “It’s actually kind of brilliant, whoever came up with it. Most aliases are kept generic, Jane Smith. Smith is a generic name but that’s what someone would expect and look for. Same goes for an exotic or unusual name like Evangeline DaVinci. But you take two names, one generic and one exotic and you have a name, someone searching would most likely pass over. You look for Smith, with someone who’s in hiding, you’d pass over Evangeline, it’s too unique, right?”

  “Again, I have to ask, how is this any of our concern?” Ethan was growing irritated. He was eager to get back home to Emory.

  Trent stared at Ethan before pulling out the pictures and placing them in front of T and Ethan on the table. He was aware of Stone and Bogs leaning over their shoulders.

  Ethan gasped when he made out the face in the pictures.

  “Fuck me,” T whispered in shock.

  “This is Evangeline Smith.” He pointed to the timid brunette in the photo. “You know her as Evie.”

  In a mirage of photos, which included Roxanne and Cassie, stood Evie in the background.

  “We said ‘no’ to our associate but there are plenty of guys that will say ‘yes.’ If we found her so can they.” His voice changed to a grim tone. “They will find her, and when they do, they’ll find her surrounded by your women.”

  “Fuck!” Stone uttered.

  “Any chance your associate will stop with you guys?”

  “Not a fucking ounce, bounty on that girl is way too high. They’ll look until they find her.”

  “How much?”

  “A million.”

  “Holy fuck!” Bogs said, pulling back from the pictures.

  Trent pointed to the pictures. “This girl is the walking dead right now. It’s only a matter of time. And that time is running out.”

  Ethan sat back on the couch, his hand drawing to his mouth. This situation had to be handled. Now.

  Chapter 15

  “AND here I am.” Emory reached forward grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the coffee table at Roxanne’s house. She sat back into the corner of the couch that had been her spot for the last two hours while she gave Roxanne the rundown of the last week and a half.

  She ate a piece of popcorn and asked, “Did you salt this?”

  Roxanne stared at her as if she grew another head. “Wait a minute, so what you’re telling me is that you left here last Saturday, lied about why, Ethan followed after you, pretended to be a client, confessed his love for you, you guys did it,” she cringed, “which by the way, you could have left that part out, he was going to move there but instead you came back with him becaus
e you were fired. Now you’re living with my brother, with no immediate plans to move out, and you’re home for good? Did I miss anything?”

  Emory lifted her hand with the popcorn. “Yeah, did you put salt on this?”

  Roxanne’s lips quirked up and her eyes teared. “You’re home?”

  Emory nodded, smirking. “I’m home.”

  “With Ethan?”

  Emory nodded, her smile so big it hurt her face. “With Ethan!”

  The front door creaked open and Emory looked over her shoulder to see the guys walk in one by one. Stone, T, Bogs, and then Ethan.

  She stared at Ethan as he came through the door. This was slightly awkward. Their relationship was not only new to them but to everyone in the family. Her stomach filled with nerves, not quite sure how to handle this situation. Had he told the guys? No one looked surprised to see her. In fact, they just ignored her. Were they cool with it?

  She watched him close the door behind him. Should she get up? Stay where she was? Was he a fan of PDA? Usually, Emory was not, but with Ethan, all her so-called dating rules were out the window. He was a game-changer; the rules didn’t apply when it came to Ethan. What the hell should she do?

  He met her stare and she could sense his confusion. His eyebrows burrowed and his head tilted in question. He looked over to Roxanne then back to her. He dropped his jacket on the edge of the chair and walked to the back of the couch where she was sitting.

  He leaned down, grabbing the back of her neck, pressing his lips to hers. It wasn’t a quick kiss, his mouth lingered over hers. There was no tongue or “rip your clothes off kind of passion” but it was anything but a friendly kiss. He pecked her lips, two more times, then straightened up to sit on the back of the couch. His hand brushed up her neck through her hair.

  His smile went right through her. She had gotten her answer.

  “Oh my God, I don’t know whether to cry or puke,” Roxanne gushed.

  “You puke, I’m not cleaning it up,” Bogs yelled from the kitchen.