Love Me Last

by Rhea Wilde

  John Sabin.

  Derek Jacobs.

  A wave of emotion hit me. My stomach had swallowed my heart whole. After everything that happened, I’d succeeded yet felt so empty at the same time.

  I raised my head up just as the men were getting into the car.

  “Derek!”

  I cried out to him and ran forward. I nearly collapsed into his chest as I wrapped my hands around his head and pulled him close to me. My eyes closed, I moved my lips to his. I sighed into his mouth. He rested his hands on my shoulders as he kissed me before gently pulling away.

  I opened my eyes and looked up at him. I saw his eyes glaze over. My emotions got the best of me as a tear streaked from the corner of both my eyes. My lips quivered as I spoke to him.

  “John Sabin. Derek Jacobs. I don’t care. I love you… I love… you.”

  When I said it, his throat shifted as he swallowed. He nodded slightly to me and his mouth opened.

  “I love you, Eva.”

  He moved his hand toward my face, gently wiping a tear from the corner of my eye with the back of his finger. I couldn’t look him in the eye any longer. I moved forward and wrapped my arms around him. I rested my head against his chest. I squeezed him tight. I didn’t want to let him go. I wanted it to last forever.

  “Captain Jacobs. It’s time.”

  It didn’t matter how hard I held him. Derek’s grasp on me loosened. I reluctantly pulled away from him then looked up into his eyes. A familiar seriousness looked back at me. He didn’t say another word to me, only nodding to me.

  I took a step back from him and away from the vehicle. Derek stepped inside of the car and they shut the door. I couldn’t see him because the windows were tinted black.

  I watched the car drive down Holt before eventually turning around the corner and disappearing.

  I walked back to Brandon and held his hand.

  “Come on,” I said. “We’ve got a long walk back to the city. I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

  I was so distracted I didn’t realize how close the police sirens were. When I raised my head up from Brandon, I saw a dozen police cars surrounding me. A fire truck raced toward the warehouse as they rushed to put the blaze out.

  The cops emptied their vehicles and each one of them pulled their weapons on me.

  “Freeze! Hands in the air!”

  I rolled my eyes at them and followed their instructions.

  “He’s a seven-year-old boy,” I said. “Is this really necessary? Oh, wait. You’re the New Gardens PD. Of course, it is.”

  A man exited one of the police cars and walked right up to me. He was a familiar-looking detective. He was easy to recognize. Detective Holmes had the worst haircut in the city and it hadn’t improved since the last time I saw him.

  “Eva Lynch,” he said. “I knew you were up to something.”

  “Hey, this is just how I found it, Detective.”

  “Just like the dead body you found at Sinful. I suppose you wouldn’t know anything about this now, would you?”

  “Actually, I do know something about this. In fact, I know the guy responsible.”

  “Really? Where is he?”

  “See that body? That’s your man.”

  Detective Holmes looked over my shoulder at Reese’s body then back to me, his eyebrows raised skeptically.

  “You have a lot of questions to answer,” he said.

  “I know. I’ll answer your stupid questions. Can you please tell your officers to put their guns away? He’s just a little kid.”

  Holmes turned to the police officers and motioned for them to lower their weapons.

  “Thank you,” I sighed. “Now, if you’ll take this child to the hospital and get him checked out, please. Oh, and there are some other people around that building in the alleyway, too. They’re the people who’ve been reported as missing.”

  I gave the detective a smug grin but he wasn’t in the mood.

  “Get in the car,” he said to me.

  “All right. No cuffs please. I’m going willingly.”

  I raised my hands up and got into the back of the police car. I stared out of the window at the scene.

  The smoke continued to rise into the air as the firefighters worked to put out the blaze. The sound of more police sirens echoed through the city.

  I was glad it was all finally over. But there was a piece of me that wondered if the hardest part was still yet to come.

  Chapter 26

  EVA

  Gray ash and dust covered my clothes and coated my skin. I was too tired to wipe it off. My head still throbbed slightly from the explosion. I could barely keep my eyes open. I wanted nothing more than to just lie down and rest.

  Recovery wasn’t an option at this point. Detective Holmes, in his infinite wisdom, decided it would be best to detain me until he learned all of the details. It always seemed like the police were the last people to figure out what was going on in this city. This was another case of them finally stepping in after everything had been done for them.

  I sat in my chair in the small detention room. The light from the ceiling was bright over the table in front of me but the rest of the room was dim. It was silent except for a faint ringing in my ear that remained from the explosion.

  I stared at the table, my eyes half-open, as I waited for everything to finally be over.

  Detective Holmes sat in front of me, sunken in his chair with one arm resting on the table. I could feel his eyes on me even though I wasn’t looking at him. He was staring at me, giving me this sideways glance like he was still suspicious of me.

  “How much longer is this gonna take?” I asked.

  “It’s going to take as long as it’s going to take.”

  “That could be hours.”

  “Then I guess you’ll have to wait hours, won’t you?”

  I didn’t have the strength to roll my eyes at him despite how much I wanted to.

  “Can I get a glass of water at least?”

  He kept staring at me. He didn’t move from his spot. His grudge against me wouldn’t allow him to move. But after a few moments, he finally got up from his seat and moved over to the water cooler in the corner of the room. He poured me a cup then placed it down in front of me before taking his position back in front of me.

  I gulped down the small cup of water in front of me then pushed it forward to him on the table.

  “Can I get another one?”

  The detective glanced down at the cup then shifted his stare back to me.

  “I think you’ve had enough.”

  I sighed back in frustration, leaning back in my seat. I was too tired to even sit there. My desperation to leave was getting the best of me. I leaned forward and put my forehead against my palm. At least they had the decency not to cuff me this time.

  “Where did you get all of this information?” he asked.

  “I’m a private investigator. It’s what I do. I get information.”

  “Don’t you think it’s curious you were able to figure out what was happening before the police did?”

  “I don’t find it curious at all. Considering that you’re holding an innocent woman and interrogating her, I find it more annoying than anything else.”

  “You couldn’t have done this all by yourself. You had help.”

  “Yes, I had help. I told you that. Captain Derek Jacobs is a Green Beret in United States Army Special Forces. He’s dealing with a military criminal investigation unit. He’s out of your jurisdiction now.”

  “And what about the locations? How did you learn about them?”

  “He found them. I received some other information from Lee Taurus.”

  “Lee Taurus?”

  “Yes, Lee Taurus,” I said, leaning forward across the table. “You know, the multi-millionaire businessman? The richest guy in the city? He owns that giant building in the middle of town. I’ll draw you a map. You probably need it…”

  “How do I know you’re not in on it?”


  “Because I’m not. Once your men search those locations, they’ll find what they’re looking for.”

  I fell back into my seat. My head rocked back and my face pointed toward the ceiling as I closed my eyes.

  I gave Detective Holmes the last location on Underwood that Derek found on the shipping manifest. I also gave him the points of interest Lee Taurus had given me. I didn’t know what he would find but I knew there was only more evidence leading back to Reese. I had nothing to do with any of it. Now it was just a matter of waiting until the detective’s officers finished searching the locations.

  I was slowly beginning to drift off when the door opened. I raised my head up and watched as a police officer stepped inside. Detective Holmes got up from his seat and spoke to the cop in the corner of the room. I could barely see their faces, but Holmes was looking at me as he listened to the man talk to him. After a few moments, the officer excused himself from the room.

  Holmes stood near the door with his fists on his hips, staring at the ground.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “You’re free to go—”

  “Thank you.”

  I jumped up out of my seat. A burst of energy had reinvigorated me just enough to get out of here. Holmes wasn’t so quick about it though. He stood in front of the door, blocking my exit.

  “It was the money,” he said.

  “What?”

  “The money. Lee Taurus put a bounty on this case. There were investigators all over the city trying to figure out what happened. You were one of them. Am I wrong?”

  “What does it matter?” I said with a shrug. “That’s beside the point.”

  “Maybe not to you. But to me it matters.”

  He turned his head up and stared at me. Despite how goofy his haircut looked on him, Holmes was serious this time. I could tell just from the way he looked at me.

  “More than a dozen people went missing. There were two dead bodies right outside your apartment and you disappeared. There were reports you were involved in a motorcycle chase in the middle of the city. Two buildings just exploded. You solved this case but you have to look at it from my perspective. People were in danger. It was for the people. It was for this city.”

  “Good. You must be proud of yourself—”

  “Don’t you understand? It’s not about you or me. It was never personal. I had to do everything I could to make sure everybody was safe. I never had any reason to trust you completely. I had to do what was in the best interest in the city. You might think I was just trying to flex my power. I wasn’t. I was just trying to get to the bottom of this case, the same as you.”

  His voice sounded different. He wasn’t trying to sound intimidating like he did the last time he spoke to me. Holmes just sounded like an ordinary man talking to me.

  He was silent as he stared at me. I looked back at him, processing everything he just said to me. I knew what he was getting at. And I knew just how to respond.

  “You’re right. I was working for the money. But it’s about more than that now. There’s one thing you should know. If you don’t believe anything else I’ve ever told you, believe this. I care about this city. I care about the people in this city. I’m going to do what’s right. I’m always going to do what’s right. Because it’s not about me. Not anymore.”

  Holmes nodded to me slightly then stepped aside. He pulled the door open for me and I walked toward the exit. I was only two steps out of the room before Holmes called out to me.

  “Hold on a second.”

  “What now?” I sighed.

  “Don’t you want to know what the police found at the location on Underwood you gave us?”

  I stopped in my tracks then slowly turned around to face him.

  “Apparently your man Reese had made a deal with one of the local motorcycle clubs. The president of the club squealed as soon as he got caught. He’s spilling his guts out right now.”

  “I’m not surprised. Reese couldn’t have accomplished what he did in this city without some help.”

  “Then I suppose it’s a good thing we’ve got a lot of people on the other side willing to do what’s right.”

  “Yeah… Yeah, you do.”

  “You’re still a person of interest, Miss Lynch. You may need to testify if the district attorney’s office decides to press charges against anybody Reese left behind.”

  “I’ll do what needs to be done. Just remember whose side I’m on.”

  “Miss Lynch.”

  “Detective.”

  He bowed his head to me. I turned back around and walked away from him as quickly as I could. The exhaustion from earlier came back to me. I barely had the strength to keep myself going but I knew I was close to the finish line.

  When I got to the entrance, I saw my friend standing next to the door. I walked right up to her and saw the worried look on her face. Her eyes had a tinge of red like she’d just been crying.

  “Wow,” Mya sighed. “You look like shit.”

  “I feel like shit,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Come on. You can rest at my place.”

  We stepped out of the police station together. The summer breeze hit me as soon as I got outside. The warm night air had never felt so refreshing. I closed my eyes and sighed a deep breath of relief.

  “I knew it was you,” she said. “When I heard about the explosions, I just knew it had to be you.”

  “I figured as much. I thought the last time I talked to you would be just that.”

  “You had me worried for a second. Exploding buildings. Gunfire. Drugs. You’ve been in trouble before but never something so dramatic.”

  “It wasn’t me. It was…”

  Derek.

  He came back into my thoughts and my heart sank inside of my chest. I sighed another deep breath, my eyes still closed as I thought about him.

  “I thought I was going to have to bail you out again.”

  “No. Holmes knew the truth. He knew I didn’t have anything to do with this. For once, the law worked itself out without you having to point out the obvious.”

  “It would have been easy if it didn’t. All they have is circumstantial evidence against you. None of that would hold up in court.”

  “I know. I’m just glad it’s all finally over.”

  “Is it?”

  I opened my eyes and looked at my friend. Mya managed to look worried even with a smile on her face.

  “He’s in the hospital right now,” she said. “That little boy you called me about.”

  “How is he? Is he all right?”

  “The doctors said he should make a full recovery. But there is a recovery period. They found drugs in his system and they’re not sure how long the effects will last.”

  I shook my head and looked at the ground. I thought about the lengths Reese went to. A sick feeling swirled in my stomach knowing everything he did was because of me.

  “The man got what was coming to him,” I said. “Brandon doesn’t have to worry about him any longer.”

  “Brandon? You know his name?”

  “Yeah, I know his name. I’m… I’m gonna have to be there for him.”

  “You?” Mya said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Doesn’t he have any family?”

  “He does. That doesn’t mean I can’t still be there for him, too. I made a promise.”

  I looked down at my right fist and flipped it over. I opened my palm and saw the two dog tags resting inside of them. I had the chain wrapped around my hand and clutched them ever since Derek first gave it to me. My emotions started to get the best of me as he returned to my thoughts. I closed my hand and looked back up at my friend.

  “There’s nothing more for you to do,” she said. “And since I don’t have to bail you out, there’s nothing for me to do either. You should probably get some rest. Brandon is going to be in the hospital for awhile. You can visit him tomorrow.”

  “Yeah… That sounds like a good idea.”

  “All right. Let me give you a rid
e.”

  “Thanks.”

  “It looks like you can use a shower. Try not to get any of that on my car seats.”

  “Hey! I—”

  “I’m just kidding.”

  Mya giggled at me and started walking toward her car. I rolled my eyes at her and muttered to myself.

  “Oh, blow me…”

  The police sirens continued to howl in the distance. Smoke from the warehouses rose into the sky and joined the clouds. There was still more work to be done for the city. But for me, the long night was finally coming to an end.

  Chapter 27

  EVA

  Lee Taurus needed a massive building for his company. He employed hundreds, if not thousands of people. He originally started in technology and computer software but after he accumulated a small fortune, he started dipping his hand into everything else. Real estate. Restaurants. Sports. Taurus was hands-on with everything major that happened in New Gardens. It seemed necessary to have a building that was more than a hundred stories high to house the countless number of people he employed.

  I sat in a chair in front of Taurus’s desk. Everything in the room seemed larger than life. From the art sculptures decorating the room on the side, to the oversized office desk right in front of me, it all seemed excessive. But nothing was more excessive than the view of the city. Up on the highest floor of the building, I could see so far beyond the New Gardens city limits and to the undeveloped land near the horizon. If you stared at the clear blue sky long enough, you would start to feel nauseous. There was this feeling inside of me that made it seem like I might start drifting into space because I was so high above everything else.

  As I lost myself in the view, I wondered about how much Lee Taurus owned and was responsible for. Still, I couldn’t help but think the only reason his building was so big wasn’t because of his need for it but instead for his massive ego.

  Before I could ponder what life as a near-billionaire was like any longer, I heard the two large doors open behind me. I remained in my seat. From the corner of my eye, I could see him making his way around the desk and near his chair.

  “Do you like the view?” he asked. “The city is amazing, isn’t it? It could use some work. There’s still a lot of construction that needs to be finished but what city doesn’t have that? It’s gorgeous.”