Evelyn

by C. L. Stone

  “Do I know Ace any better?” I pulled the cell phone from my pocket, showing it to him. “Oliver offered this, saying if I wanted to leave to surrender myself in Atlanta, he’d help. He’d do it if I wanted to face it myself if things got a little too weird. And honestly, things have been...weird.”

  “But you stayed,” he said. “Why?”

  I stared long and hard at him, at the dark eyes and the pursed lips. “I think after Ace promised, I just hoped it could be handled without incident,” I said. “I’ve always done things on my own, but never this. I didn’t know what to do, but Ace seemed to know. But with the vlogger at the restaurant and harassing him, I don’t know...He’s got so much going on. And the longer I go without going back to defend myself, it feels like I’m losing opportunity to state my side of things. To prove I had nothing to do with it. I’m not one to hide.”

  His eyes traced over my face, from my hair to my chin and back up to my eyes. “And you thought Loïc could help him?”

  “Oliver seemed to think so.” I pressed a palm to my chest, over my heart. “I couldn’t even tell you what anyone is doing on my behalf in Atlanta, and everyone is encouraging me to stay here. It’s really hard for me, because it’s my future, and I’ve never felt so out of control.”

  Soma pressed his lips together, looking at me.

  A car honked behind us. Soma glanced at the rearview, and then slowly left off the brakes so we could continue. “I should remind you that while you don’t know us, you don’t know Oliver, either. I will say that Ace is a good guy.”

  “I think he is, too. At least, I hope so.”

  Soma nodded. “I understand you’re hesitant. Trust may need to be earned, but you should really give a chance for people to be able to earn it.”

  “I’ve been trying.” I fiddled with the phone in my hands. “Wouldn’t this be what Ace wanted? A distraction for Loïc? Maybe it isn’t in the way he wanted...”

  Soma turned onto the street where the house was, and then pulled into the garage before he answered. “I...think you should get to know Loïc directly before you ask him for help.”

  “How?”

  “Let’s talk more inside.” He parked the car and then hurried out and around to open my door for me. He collected the garment boxes and we headed into the house.

  I followed behind him, concerned with all of this mess. We entered the house, silent like before. I was starting to believe they were the only two that ever entered the house. There was so much I didn’t know. Soma carried all the boxes for me and urged me upstairs. I pressed my fingertips to my eyebrow as we climbed the stairs. Again, I waited as long as I could, the thoughts dwelling inside of me. I never was very good at not saying something when I wanted to. “Am I a game? Am I a point to score? Is that why everyone’s so trust him or don’t talk to the other?”

  Soma stopped on the stairs, turned and took a step down until his face was level with mine.

  His big brown eyes took me in, but there was a frown on his face as he studied me. “Do you feel like a pawn?”

  My body tensed at the way it was all playing out. “Ace offered to help, but he didn’t tell me about this game he was playing, and what I was in this. So in a way, I do...”

  Soma frowned then suddenly put the boxes on the stairs and pressed his hands to his face. “I was worried about this.”

  “You think they’re doing the same?”

  He swallowed and instead of looking at me or answering, he picked up the boxes and resumed heading up. “Come with me.”

  When we reached the top of the stairs, he had me wait as he dropped off the boxes in the guest bedroom.

  When he returned to me in the hallway, he headed toward the locked door. He brought out his keys, finding an old skeleton key, and turned the lock.

  Inside, there was a row of cardboard boxes of various sizes, stacked like a wall, blocking further view from inside.

  Soma carefully moved the furthest boxes on the right over so we could pass through.

  On the other side, the room was larger than I thought. There was a desk in the middle, and it was covered with newspaper articles, photographs printed out, stacks of files, etc. There was a printer on a cart nearby. There was a file cabinet on the far side next to a window. The window was covered with gauzy curtains, but the curtains were thicker than the ones in the room I had been staying.

  Soma went to the file cabinet, pulled out an old and large file, and gave it to me. “Read this.”

  “What is it?”

  He waved to the file in my hands. “This is me. Every resume I’ve ever compiled. Every plane ticket I’ve ever bought. Every report card I’ve ever had. Everything I was able to find about myself.”

  I pressed my lips together, looking at the file in my hand with Soma’s name printed on a little strip of manila. “It’s a little light for a lifetime of records.”

  Soma stepped closer, gazing at me. “I put this together after I got to know Ace. Ace refuses to research a person. He goes by instinct, mostly. It’s just the way he works.”

  I looked up at him. “And Loïc isn’t like that?”

  “He’s very meticulous. Let’s just say Loïc is the one that treats it like a game where the score actually matters. And sometimes, he likes to put Ace in the middle of one of his...games. Like a pawn.”

  “The vloggers?”

  “Exactly.” He motioned to the file. “I gave this to Ace because Loïc otherwise had every advantage when it came to me. Loïc doesn’t need to be handed a file. He knew everything before I met him.”

  I held the file closed, but away from myself. I was unsure about looking at any of it. “Ace didn’t know anything about me before deciding to help. How did he know I didn’t lie to him?”

  Soma smiled. “I asked him that, but he’s usually got a good feel for people. Call it a gift. He’s pretty good at rooting out the truth from people. Maybe it is his honest face.” He leaned into me, his gaze intensifying. “I don’t think you’re like Ace. I think you’re more like Loïc. You doubt your intuition.”

  My lips twitched. “I’ve been wrong in who I trust.” Now that I was holding his information, it was strange to me. “Not everyone would just tell me openly about everything. But...I never had the knack to hide myself. To lie or mask what I was thinking.”

  Soma nodded slowly, his features softening. “A constant state of vulnerability.”

  “After a while, I just learned to avoid most people on a serious basis, or they tended to use it against me. Even when I’m dating someone, I go off on my own.” I sighed. “Which was why I wasn’t around my ex a lot to notice if he was up to anything. I baseline trusted him to just mind the apartment while I was gone, and he didn’t ask questions about where I’d go.” I put the file down on the desk and then looked over the room. “Why hide all this?”

  “Because it’s private information,” he said. He nodded toward the filing cabinet. “People like Mrs. Harvey, Ace wouldn’t go after them unless he could back up any rumors. Like you, he wants to be sure he’s in the right. If he’s going to expose anyone for being a fraud, or for being unethical in some way, he wants the evidence to show. However, he jumps in first and sees what they are all about himself. I’m the one that collects the details usually. And most of the time, he’s learned to wait until I dig up everything. We keep records of everything we’re doing.”

  “This doesn’t sound like a game.”

  “It’s not a typical one.”

  I fiddled with the hem of the T-shirt, taking in the room and the depth Ace would go to for whatever it is he was doing. Exposing people seemed dangerous, although it was intriguing. I considered my next thoughts. “Soma?”

  He didn’t answer, but lifted his head, attentive. There was an excitement in him, a spark of eagerness.

  “I know I have an issue in Atlanta—”

  “We’ll fix it,” he said before I could continue. “Ace is doing what he promised.”

  I brushed his arm gently with
my fingertips. “It’s not that. I mean, I should have handled it perhaps, but now it’s done. I’ll accept it.” I motioned to his file. “I don’t need to read this. I just need to know I can trust you and Ace and...maybe Loïc?”

  “He’d never harm you,” he said. He reached out to me, cupping my chin and drawing my gaze to his face. “In your case, with what was going on in Atlanta, someone could have held it over your head as blackmail. Which is why you need to be careful. You didn’t know Oliver or Loïc. You were lucky they weren’t someone who would have placed you back into Atlanta custody. Or they could have done much worse. I hope it shows we’re different. Trustworthy.”

  “Although Ace had sent me to Loïc without warning...”

  “No,” Soma said. “He asked you a favor and was very plain with what he wanted, because he didn’t want to involve you directly with...” He released my face and motioned to the file cabinet. “All this. You weren’t a point to score for him. He just thought he could get Loïc distracted trying to figure out who you were. Loïc likes to know everything on everyone. It would normally take time for him to dig up everything. Ace knew this and while Loïc was busy with you, it gave him some time to work on a few points for himself. The only reason he didn’t tell you is the same reason you had talking to Oliver. It just takes time to get to know someone to trust them.”

  I walked away from him, around the room, not really reading anything. I checked out the window, noting how it was effectively protected so no one could look in.

  Thoughts in my head were circling. The game. Ace. Soma. This was what they did. They didn’t cruise around the world looking for excitement like I’d witnessed with other wealthy people with extra time on their hands. They didn’t go find what other deals could be made. Maybe they weren’t volunteering at the homeless shelter, but they were helping people. Exposing people and trying to turn them humble, as Soma had put it.

  There was a doorbell sound that echoed through the house. Soma blinked and stepped away from me. “Stay here. Read through the file if you’d like. Read through them all, if you wish. Ace has given me permission to show you everything.”

  “Why though?”

  “For the same reason I brought you to Mrs. Harvey,” he said. “Because Ace is willing to trust you with everything after spending a little time with you. Now he knows more about you. That you were playing the same game for a while, you just didn’t know you were playing it.” He went through the space between the boxes, walking out of the room.

  Alone in the room, I gazed over the material. The sensation of being lost crept into me, a conflict of different ideas. My blog I’d kept for a while often featured great little boutiques with verifiable sourcing. Only not just that. For a long time, when I heard about anything, a bad restaurant that snubbed people depending on race or religion, or fashion companies and their supply chains...I found the actual facts and tried my best to provide some information. Mostly it was for myself, noting local places I chose to put my money into. But since I’d done the research, I shared it with others.

  I did so with my blog, my Instagram. I didn’t think I had the power to go after anyone directly. Often, it felt like I spoke to the void, maybe hoping to convince one or two other people, who may spread word to avoid a place, or to not buy from a company.

  Ace was doing something different. And in a town where people actually did listen. Like Gretta, who had read my blog. She’d promised there was more.

  I went to the file cabinet, three shelves tall and unmarked on the outside.

  I pulled back the top one, and I read the names on the files.

  Loïc had one, as did Oliver and Zoey.

  Mine was near the front. It was thin.

  I pulled it out, and it only had a picture of me, printed from my blog.

  Empty.

  But why? Wasn’t he going to print all the articles that people had written about me? Wouldn’t he file any information about me at all?

  But Ace put his trust in me. The thought left me unsteady.

  Not a lot of people would be this open. And he had been honest with me from the start. He just couldn’t tell me everything. If I were another sort of person, I could put him in serious trouble.

  I was tempted to open the one with Zoey when I heard something like shouting on the first floor. Soma was yelling at...someone.

  Curious, I closed the files and went to the box wall, replacing them all and closing the door before heading to the stairs.

  Soma was at the front door and trying to back up but still hold on to the door to close it. He held himself wide, trying to block off access.

  I leaned on the stairs. Zoey was at the door. Her friend was holding a phone, while Zoey had lifted the shirt she was wearing, and was dipping her fingers into her bra, ready to lower it. Zoey’s hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her shirt was sheer, so you could see the bra underneath, and she wore a short skirt of shiny gold. Her eyes were wide, her face in heavy makeup perfection. It was the glint in her eyes, toying and wild.

  Her friend frowned and shifted on her feet, worried and uncertain. She wore plain shorts and a T-shirt, her hair was in a bun. “Let’s just go,” she said.

  “Don’t try to shove me out again,” Zoey said to Soma. She crept forward an inch, nearly nose to nose with Soma. “And tell us where Ace is, or...” She redirected her gaze to me, blinking and looking confused.

  “Go back upstairs, Emily,” Soma said to me, in a calm yet clearly irritated voice. “Every time I move or do anything, she’s flashing herself and throwing herself on me.” He squared off his shoulders at Zoey. “I’m warning you. Back off.”

  If they were recording, then they could go back, cut up what they wanted and make it look like he was harassing and attacking her. That was probably the plan for Ace as well.

  This was too far.

  I reached into my pocket, ready to take out the phone and call the police.

  Zoey released her shirt to point a long finger at me. “I recognize you,” Zoey said. “What are you doing here?”

  Her friend turned the camera onto me, although casually. She seemed unsure of where to point it.

  Soma held up his hand in the way of the camera. “You’re breaking the law coming in where you’re not wanted and filming it,” Soma said.

  “We just want to see Ace,” Zoey said. “We just want to talk to him. We were invited over.”

  “I doubt that highly.” He spoke over his shoulder. “Get upstairs, Em. Call security.”

  The way he said security and not police had me wondering what he meant. Oliver? It’s the only other number I had.

  I tugged the phone out of my pocket. I dialed Oliver and then held up the phone, showing it to Zoey. “You really should go,” I said, more calmly than I expected to be. I didn’t want to be intimidated, even if they wanted to shove a camera in my face. “He’s out in the garage, but he’ll be here in a minute.” I turned to her friend with the phone who had been anxious already. “Don’t let her drag you down with her,” I said.

  “Don’t talk to her,” Zoey said. “Don’t listen to them, Claire.”

  “Claire,” I said, taking a step down.

  Claire shifted on her feet, again unsure, inching a step back.

  The phone clicked, and I could hear Oliver talking, asking what is going on. I spoke to it. “Zoey is here.”

  “On my way,” Oliver’s voice rang out. “One minute, don’t hang up.”

  “Hear that?” Soma asked. He focused on Claire, too. “You’ve two minutes, or private security will take you downtown. And you are holding the evidence in your hands. Intimidating us and trespassing. If this is your first offence, you may get away with only three years in jail.”

  Claire’s hand started to shake. “Zoey, we can’t do this again,” she said.

  “Just shut up,” Zoey said. “They aren’t...”

  There was a siren in the distance. It started out with a blip, silenced, and then continued, getting closer to Ace’s house. />
  Claire stopped aiming the camera and ran off the porch, running to a car parked across the street.

  Zoey rolled her eyes and pointed a finger at me. “You’re on my list, now.” She ran off after her friend. They got into a small sedan and peeled out.

  Only brave when she had someone else around to do her dirty work. I was familiar with the type.

  Soma slammed the door and pushed a palm to his forehead. “I should have looked before opening the door. I know better. She bombarded me and kept trying to barge in. She may have video of her throwing herself at me.”

  “She really is out of control,” I said. “Are we sure we shouldn’t call the police on her?”

  “It was a favor to Loïc that we try to avoid the police if possible, as she’d only use it for attention.” Soma turned, checking through the peephole and then angled himself to look out the side window. “Loïc bribed them last night to get out of town, but it clearly didn’t work.”

  I sat down on the step hard, looking at the closed door and holding the phone in my hand. Realizing it was still on the call, I lifted it to my ear. “Oliver?”

  “Around the corner. Are they still there?”

  “Was that you with the siren?”

  “No, I don’t use sirens. If there was one, it was just good timing.”

  “They left. They’re in a silver sedan. I didn’t get the plate.”

  “Are you two okay?”

  “I think so.”

  “Have Soma call in a security team. A private one. Right now. You’ll need twenty-four-hour protection. I’ll find the girl.” He hung up.

  Soma came to the steps, putting a foot on the first one, a hand on the rail. He looked up at me. “I asked them to leave, but they shoved the camera in my face. They threatened to leave horrible messages about us on the internet, and give our address to people if I didn’t give them Ace. That may happen now.”

  I pressed my lips together, thinking I should have been shaking. But I was angry. I was mad at Zoey for being so belligerent. “We need to do something about her.”

  “I know,” Soma said. He moved so he could sit beside me on the step. He sat very close, looking at my face.