by KL Donn
“Will they come for me again?” My voice is so quiet, I’m not sure Foster heard me. I can feel tears pooling in my eyes and my throat closing taut because the terror that I could be targeted again is genuinely real. “They knew Van by name. They knew I was there, Foster. What’s to stop them from coming after me again? I won’t survive it. I’d rather die.”
I do glance up at him again, and never in my life have I seen such a predatory look on the face of a man before. He’s like a lion on the hunt for a lamb.
“The only people who are going to die are the Diablos Cartel for touching you.” If death had a tone, it would be his.
Lifting up his phone, he dials a number and brings it to his ear. “I need to speak to him.” Someone must object because a vein pulses violently in his forehead. “Tell him it’s Foster Halsey, and he either speaks to me or I reveal a few things he’d prefer left unsaid.”
It’s a few more minutes before someone comes back on the line. “You speak to her today, or I tell her everything, and then I go to the press.” Something else is said that makes Foster laugh mirthlessly. “No, Director, you don’t understand. I don’t report to you. You are not my boss. My boss runs an entire country that will swallow you whole if I so choose it. You tell her, or I will. It’s as simple as that.” A genuine smile crosses his face after that. “She’ll be there.”
After hanging up his phone, he pockets the device and points his fork at my plate. “Eat, and then we’ll talk.”
I taste nothing as I do as he says.
I feel sick, as well as hopeful, as I wait to find out what’s going to happen and if I’m finally going to get the information I need to move on.
Foster
I’m against this. I’m utterly fucking against this meeting. I don’t want my Evie here, and I don’t want her anywhere near the man responsible for all of her turmoil. What I really want is to put him six feet under and be done with it.
He’s supposed to be her father, but he has no interest in her safety. In her life. She became a pawn in a game of cat and mouse that my team and I ended under the impression that he was worried about her safety.
What he ultimately wanted was a hit squad. Or so we suspect.
We were used, and everyone is furious about it. Especially Nix. And he’s not a man you want to piss off. Not like this. There’s no doubt that Van Gaines' organization has a mole somewhere because there's no way his private villa should have been breached, and while Ryder is working his ass off to find the leak, he can only do so much before he’ll have operatives on his doorstep and they'll be tossing him in some hole-in-the-wall cell for a few weeks until we can find him again. With Codie by his side now, it’s not a risk any of us are willing to ask him to make.
Except now, I might have to in order to adequately protect Everett.
“Don’t expect him to give you all the details you want.” I look down at Everett as she twists the strap of her purse in her hands while we wait in the lobby of a hotel on the other side of the city.
“I know,” she whispers as her gaze moves around the room.
“He’s not who you think he is.” This shit makes me sick. Van Gaines is a man who should have been castrated. He doesn’t have a caring bone in his body, and if I had to take a guess, I’d say he is a sociopath. He has no feelings towards Everett, but he’s damn good at faking it.
“I know. He’s not even my father.” Her words are so cold.
It’s my turn to be shocked. “What?”
Blowing out a deep breath, her body pivots towards me, but she looks down. Her upset is crystal clear to me. “A few weeks before I left for Puerto Vallarta, I was going through some old boxes at my mom's, and I found my birth certificate. He wasn’t listed as my father.”
“You’d never seen it before?” That’s odd as hell.
“No. I mean, maybe I had? But I must not have paid attention. It took me a while to notice because anytime I needed it for a license, passport, college, my mom was always with me and had it with her. She never physically gave it to me. I didn’t care before, but when I found it? I was so mad. I was hurt. I shouldn’t have let my emotions control me.” Her self-deprecation over the events that unfolded afterwards is palpable.
“This isn’t your fault, Everett.” I can’t stress that enough.
“Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I need to know why I was targeted. Why they knew I was there.” She’s going to be heartbroken before this fucking day is over, and there isn’t a damn thing I’m going to be able to do about any of it.
“Halsey.” Director Gaines stands before us, completely ignoring the girl he was supposed to have protected.
Standing, I don’t reach out my hand to shake his; instead, I grip Everett’s elbow and guide her to her feet. “Hello, Van.” His eyes widen at her greeting, and I barely hide my grin.
“Everett.” His tone is so damn cold it should be snowing. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?” Turning, he walks away towards the hotel's meeting rooms in the back, leaving us to follow or be left behind.
“Is he always like this?” I ask Everett.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since I was a twelve, and it was only for a few minutes.” Ten years? Holy shit. Even I see my family at least once a year, and they aren’t always my biggest fans since I can’t tell them what organization I belong to or what I do.
“This is going to be lovely.” The words are meant for me, but the woman at my side snorts and nods her head.
As we enter the room, Van is already seated at a table, a slim folder in front of him and his phone in his hand, texting or typing.
“What do you want to know?” He doesn’t even look up at Everett.
“Why I was taken.” It’s literally the only thing she’s asked.
“That’s classified.” The asshole doesn’t even have the decency to meet her gaze.
“Why don’t you tell me what I can know, then?” Good, she’s got some backbone left and doesn’t let him intimidate her.
Pushing the folder in front of him towards Everett, he still doesn’t glance up as she stares at me with trepidation. I already know what the file will contain. A report that’s blacked out and the only words she’ll be able to read are her name and maybe the country and only those because they're obvious.
Silence permeates the room, and I know exactly what I have to do.
Chaos: Yo, boss. Van’s blacklisted the file. Ev needs details.
I know that even if Van forbids me from telling her anything, Nix will have my back and let me know if there’s any information I really can’t tell her.
“This says nothing.” Her voice does wobble now, and I place a supportive hand on her shoulder.
“It includes everything you’re allowed to know,” Van counters, finally looking at her as he stands up.
“No, it shows what you want me to know. Why was I taken?”
“Don’t get hysterical.” His condescending tone is going to land him in some shit.
My phone buzzes in my hand.
Knot: Tell her everything that has nothing to do with the current mission. There are still 3 men in deep cover.
“The Diablos Cartel is out for revenge,” I explain.
“You son of a bitch. I told you that was classified.” The man is full of seething rage now.
“And I told you I don’t answer to you.” Spinning Everett around to face me, I explain what I can in small bursts. “You were a pawn meant to hurt Van, to get him to back off his infiltration.”
“It didn’t work.” Her horrified words are drawing the conclusions I was hoping to avoid. “You knew they had me. What you had to do to set me free, yet, you ignored them. I was beaten and raped!” she spat out at her supposed father.
“I’m well aware of what happened.”
Motherfuc– “How the fuck can you be so goddamned cold about this?” I shout. The grip on my phone is so tight, I can feel the case bending.
“Because it’s my job. The mission comes first.
You know that better than anyone.”
Before I can respond, my phone is buzzing again.
Knot: Don’t do anything fucking stupid.
Tac: Alibi is ready to go.
Shaker: Don’t worry, I’ve got band-aids for the pussy.
Phantom: Need some help?
Jesus. I don’t know which of them is worse. I do know it's exactly what I need to calm down and think rationally.
“Director, I get it, you’re a mission first kind of asshole. That’s blatantly clear; however, not all operatives are the same. And I promise, after today, things won’t be so sunny for you.” Grabbing Everett’s hand and the file she dropped on the table, I drag her from the room and back to the lobby.
Unphased to see three men in suits with bulges under their arms ready, and willing, to take us both in, I keep walking with her. What they don’t see, though, is my team standing behind them.
“Foster?” Evie’s worried voice penetrates my perusal of the room as the suits walk closer to us.
“It’ll be fine,” I whisper in her ear.
As soon as the men are standing in front of us, Tac and Shaker come over. “Hey there, pretty girl.” Shaker winks at her, and she looks to me for guidance.
“This is Weston and Ryder, go on with them.” She nods and follows along, looking back towards me twice before they get her outside.
Theo and Nix flank me. “Gentlemen, whatever you were instructed to do, I don’t advise it,” Nix warns.
The men share a look.
Theo puts his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, Chaos, why don’t you tell me about that explosion you rigged in Morocco again. The one where you wired that guy up to lose a limb or two but still live.”
“I hear he still curses my name.” Phantom’s recollection has Van's lackeys backing away from us.
“Didn’t he lose his jellybeans, too?”
“Oh, he lost it all. It’s what he got for ordering the rape of kids.” Joking aside, the bastard deserved everything I gave him and more.
“Time to go, boys.” Nix rains on our amusement, but he’s right. I don’t give a shit about the monkeys in suits because, in the long run, they’re following orders from a man who's as frigid as Pluto.
“See ya!” Theo salutes them as we walk past.
Taking in Everett’s worried face in the back of Ryder’s truck, I know I have to figure out what’s happening with her and whether she’s truly safe or not.
Everett
“I remember you,” I murmur to the man sitting in front of me. I recall Foster saying his name was Ryder. “Thank you.”
He looks back at me. “No need for thanks. Rescuing you was an easy decision to make.”
“Maybe. But you were injured.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. Maybe with his size, it isn’t, but for me, it’s everything. “Are you okay now?”
“I’m fine, Ev. Better than fine, actually. I’ve somehow convinced the love of my life to marry me.” His entire face softens at the mention of his other half.
“Congratulations.” That must be wonderful, to love and be loved so thoroughly.
“Thanks. Codie was a tough nut to crack, but damn was she worth every minute of it.” I weakly smile at him because, well, I’m sort of jealous.
Until my life began to spiral, I had wanted that type of happiness. Now, I’ll simply settle on not waking up from nightmares every night.
Waiting in silence for Foster to come out is stressing on the nerves. The longer he takes, the more worried I become. I know he and his team can handle anything thrown their way, but I can’t. And that’s what makes me bite my nails.
“None of that.” Weston pushes my hand back into my lap. “They’re just warning the guard dogs off.”
Until Foster walks through the lobby doors, I’ll fret. I hate not knowing what’s happening. It seems to be the only constant in my life nowadays. With how emotionless Van was about his lack of revelations, I suppose that will continue to be how life is for me.
I know I must find out the particulars. Why I was taken, and with him refusing to hand over the information, I’m going to have to find it out for myself. Which means getting home to my computer.
Taking so many computer and technology courses in college is going to work to my advantage. One of my professors used to say, follow the money. It will always lead you to the secrets and lies. After learning how to encrypt my laptop, I made sure it was safe to do that from home. As long as I’m careful and don’t hack beyond the surface, I can find out who was hired and by whom.
I hope.
It’s not always easy, and when it is, it’s usually a trap.
Staring at the two men in front of me and the three now leaving the hotel, I wonder if I could ask them for help. A glimpse of Van as the lobby doors close changes my mind. It could get dangerous, and I have no desire to include anyone else if I can help it.
Foster gives me his crooked grin as he walks up and holds a hand out for me, and I know I can’t involve them. This is something I have to do on my own.
4
Foster
There’s a change in her. I noticed it the minute I walked out of the hotel. She’s not trying to hide anymore. If anything, Everett has grown more alert since we left the hotel, went and did a little shopping, and had dinner.
“This is really nice.” Her soft voice draws me in like a bee to honey. I could listen to her for days.
“Have you never been to D.C. before?” We’ve been wandering around the Smithsonian for over an hour, and she appears to be fascinated by the old plane replicas in the National Air and Space Museum.
“No. Mom avoided Washington like the plague. Plus, we couldn’t really afford it. I think we left Arizona a total of twice. Once was for a friend’s wedding in Nevada, and the other was a work retreat in New Mexico.” Her cringe says there’s a story there.
“What was so bad about those?”
“Well, at the retreat, I was eleven or twelve, and there was this boy there, a couple years older; he tried to kiss me. Mom smacked him upside the head and gave him shit for it. He was her boss's son.”
I can see where this is going.
“The wedding turned out to be his. I was seventeen, and he didn’t recognize me, but on the eve of the wedding, he tried it again! As soon as Mom walked into the rehearsal dinner, he recognized her, and then it clicked who I was. We never spoke after that and haven’t since. In fact, I don’t think we were even invited to her boss's anniversary party a couple of years ago.” Her laughter is a beautiful thing. And addictive.
“Sounds like a real stand up guy.” The jealousy rushing through me is so fucked up. Pulling her to a stop in front of the Early Flight exhibit, I grasp her by the hand and pull her body into mine. “I don’t know what it is about you, Evie, but I can’t get you out of my head. Even when I’m with you, I want to be closer to you.” Nothing makes sense when I’m around her.
Maybe that’s my cue to walk away, now, before either of us gets hurt.
“You do?” There’s a hesitance in her words.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe it’s not supposed to?”
“I wish it were so simple.” Fuck do I ever.
Standing there with the lights dimming and some loudspeaker blaring that they’re closing, I can’t help but be regretful. I want to explore this connection we share, but I'm also hesitant. I’ve done marriage and carry the scars to prove it. I don’t need another attachment in my life, the disappointment in knowing I’m not good enough because my strongest loyalties lie with my country. It's not a mistake I wish to repeat.
“I go home in the morning,” Everett murmurs, stepping closer to me. “I need to get back to my life, learn to live again.”
“You should,” I whisper as her head tilts up to mine. “Live, that is.”
“We could have one night. No regrets, no commitments. Just two people.” Our lips are nearly touching, and I can feel every puff of air she exhales.
“A
re you ready for that?” I don’t want to do more damage to her psyche.
“We’ll never know unless we try.”
Everett
I can’t believe I’m doing this. We’re doing this. Never in my wildest dreams have I imagined that I would be so eager to accept a man into my body again.
It could be that I don’t think I’ll ever see Foster again. Or maybe it’s because I know I’ll be safe with him. I could also be completely deluding myself and have a total meltdown the minute we begin to undress. I do understand that I’ll never know unless I try.
“You sure about this, Evie? No harm in saying no.” Standing in front of my hotel room door, key in the slot, hand on the handle, I'm grateful he’s behaving like a gentleman.
“There are a lot of things I’ll never be sure about again, Foster, but this isn’t one of them. I don’t want to be afraid of my own body anymore, and I know you’re the only person I trust to help me through it and understand while not making me feel like I’ve lost my mind.” While my words are rushed and likely make me sound insane, I know he comprehends my desires.
Brushing his fingers through my hair, he kicks the door open with a foot and leans forward to kiss me. Not a soul-searching, heart-palpitating kiss, but a slow exploration. A show and tell of what’s to come.
No matter what happens next, I know I’m in safe hands, and I can slowly begin to heal and start my life over.
As the door closes behind us, I know that thanks to Foster Halsey, I’ll be me once again.
Somewhere over Kansas – The following morning
I’ve dried my tears for what feels like the hundredth time. Walking away from Foster in that bed hours before I was set to leave was agonizingly difficult. Last night was far more tender than I ever thought possible.
The way he kissed me like I was the only woman in the world.
The way he touched me like I was a precious diamond.
