"Is there hockey here?" I asked. When the little bastards saw how good he was, they wouldn’t mess with him anymore.
Luce shrugged, "How the shit would I know?"
I ignored her, keeping my eyes on my boy. My boy who wouldn’t let me in, no matter what. He was pissed at me.
I made a few mental decisions, but before I could leave the store and go to the school and act on them, Coop and Jack walked in looking the same… unsure. "What's going on?"
I bit my lip, pushing aside my inner momma bear and waited for whatever bad news they had for us.
"There is someone who wants to see you. He's outside."
I frowned at Coop, "What?" Coop looked at Jack who nodded, "Just go outside and see what he wants. It's fine, trust me."
Coop gave me a subtle nod. I backed up, scared that they had sold me down the river for something. My eyes reached out at Luce with their stare, but she kept her gaze down. I felt like panicking or running but I didn’t. I shook my head, "If this is a trap, I'm going to lose my shit." I turned and walked out the back door, instantly stopping when I saw his face, "Steve."
He looked bad, beaten, and exhausted. His eyes had huge bags under them. He nodded, "Hey, Evie."
I swallowed hard, glancing around the alley for the person I feared and wanted. "What's going on?"
He shrugged, "Just came to get your help."
My stomach ache worsened, "Fuck Steve, you found us here, that easily?"
He nodded, "Servario installed a tracking device in those Louboutins."
I looked back at the door to the store. Luce had borrowed them before the fire. Of course she brought them with her.
I folded my arms around myself, "Why are you here? What help?"
He shook his head, looking like he might get sick, "They took him. They have him." He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, making me jump a bit when he reached for it. He passed me the paper. I gagged when I saw it.
"BRING MY WIFE HERE!"
The paper dropped from my fingertips, "How? How did he not die? You all shot him. How?" I would have known the writing anywhere.
He sighed, "So it is James' writing?"
I nodded blankly, desperate for answers. My body had a want for a bunch of bad things; Servario was still close to the top of the list, but at the very top was bitter hate and a need for revenge.
"For f**k's sake. How did he get Servario?"
He shook his head, "We got jumped in Venice. He has his hair long, a new plane, and no one knew we were there. I didn’t understand or see it coming, and I know he didn’t either. They tasered and beat the crap out of me, and tranqued him. He was gone when I woke up."
I looked around, "What if they followed you?"
He shook his head, "Impossible. I used the machine to check myself for bugs and trackers. Then I went to our secret house. No one can track you out of the place. It's an underground tunnel. Trust me, no one tracked me here. When I got back to the US, I hitchhiked, walked and rode a motorcycle in a circle for two weeks before I got here. I stayed for a week in the woods in a cabin I knew about."
It wasn’t enough. My heart was in my throat. I turned and sprinted from the alley to the school as the bell was ringing. Jules ran for me. She had a painting she wanted to show me. I ignored her, dragging her to the older side of the school. I couldn’t grip her small hand hard enough. Mitch rolled his eyes and walked by me. I followed him until we were where Luce, Jack and Coop were standing on the road, all breathing heavily and giving me a brutal look. Steve was next to Jack so I brought Jules to Luce and grabbed Mitch's arm. Jules instantly started showing Luce her painting.
I dragged Mitch to where Coop was standing and let it fall out of my mouth, "We are in trouble. Big trouble. I can’t lie anymore. Your dad cheated on me. He had affairs with everyone we knew. He never loved me and that isn’t your fault. He loved you, but he never loved me. He never was true to me." It felt low and seedy doing it, but I had to let him in on the whole story.
Mitch's face twisted, but I watched as a light came on. He remembered something. I could see it. Tears left his eyes, but instead of running away, he ran to me. I wrapped my arms around him, "We have another issue. He also cheated the American government. Our job lets us have access to highly-sensitive material. He sold information about something very big to some very bad people. I can't tell you anything else, but I have to tell you, we are in some danger. Montana is probably safe but I need your help. I need you to keep an eye on Jules and help Grandma. She knows about it all, she knows what to do. If she tells you to run, you do it, okay?" It was such a heavy burden to place on such small shoulders.
He nodded as he sobbed, "I hate him."
I nodded, "Me too, baby." I took the low road.
Mitch wiped his face and sniffled, "I hate him. I'm glad he's dead." He turned and stalked off, towards the house. I stood there hating myself. It was the easy way. Instead of being the better parent and earning their love, I besmirched their father's name and let them see behind the curtain. No matter how hard I believed I was protecting them, it didn’t feel like that. It looked petty and it felt worse.
Coop gave me a look, "Really?"
I shook my head, "I didn’t know what else to do. I need him to know how serious this all is."
He stalked away from me, after Mitch. I walked to Jules and Luce and headed home.
Mom gave me a look when we got there. I kissed Jules on the head, "Go wash up." She kissed my mom and bounced off.
"What?" Mom asked.
I swallowed, "Servario's man, Steve is here in town. He was tracking a pair of shoes I lent to Luce. He says no one followed him, but I can't be sure." I sighed and slumped onto the barstool. She slid a plate with a chocolate chip cookie on it at me.
"What is the thing you’re not telling me?"
I laughed, "James is alive. He took Servario captive and left a note for Steve to bring me in."
She leaned against the counter, "Time to stop f**king around, Evie and end him the right way. None of this looking away like you're a fragile little lamb. You hold the gun to his f**king head and splatter his face everywhere."
I choked on the cookie, but she was back to being Mary Poppins within seconds, "The cookies are good, aren't they?"
"They are." I nodded, "I know what I have to do, Mom. I have to keep them safe from him."
Her eyes sparkled, "I spoke to Mitch briefly, he seems awfully upset."
I nodded, wishing the cookie had poison in it, "I told him James was having affairs and leaking the information to the bad guys. I can't risk him coming back for them and taking them. He'll use them as ransom. He doesn’t care about them."
She sighed like she was annoyed with that and grabbed me a cup of tea; the Brit in my mom was obvious all along, I just missed the signs. She passed me the tea, her eyes searching mine for more truths I might have missed letting her in on. I laughed, "Stop, I've told you everything."
She nodded skeptically, "Okay."
I rolled my eyes, "Whatever."
"You look like Mitch when you do that."
I laughed again, "Mom, if I go after this, can you keep them safe?"
Her eyes darkened in a way that scared the hell out of me, "I kept you safe, didn’t I?"
I grimace, not sure what that meant, not sure I wanted to know. The story Fitz told me about her still seemed awfully hard to believe.
Chapter Six
Easy Evie
I tapped my fingers against the chair of Fitz's jet. He gave me a desperate look from the seat across from me, "Evie, darling! Stop that."
I shook my head, "How did she even find you?" My mom and Fitz had apparently been in contact from the very beginning.
He chuckled over his glass of sangria, "She posted in the g*y personal ads for South Beach." The way he said it reminded me of a shitty teenage girl, like I was ridiculously stupid for asking.
"So that's the secret? Post an ad in the South Beach personals and you will come running?"
He gave me a confused look, "I'm not a border collie!" He sipped his drink with his pinky out and rolled his neck for tension relief, "Firstly, it has to be in code. My code name is Scarlett and hers is Tara, and your father was always Rhett. The code is not easy to learn, but I suppose we have nothing better to do."
My neck was feeling tense too. I rubbed it as he did his, "You didn’t bring the magic bean bag with you?"
He sighed, "No. Forgot it. I need one for the jet. Now let's start this code training."
I shook my head, "First things first. Why did you fake your death?"
He drank the sangria slowly, thinking about his answer. I didn’t trust that, the pause was like plotting. Finally, he smacked his lips together, "I knew they would come for me. I've played double agent for a long time."
"Your name is on a list of not good names."
He winked at me, dazzling me with his smile, "I know. I worked hard to get it there. The CI thinks I am retired and incognito. The bad guys think I am with them. The Burrow thinks I am with them. It is a perfect set up."
I swallowed hard, "Perfect set up for what?"
He shook his head, "To know what everyone knows. Keep your enemies closer, my sweet. The man who knows everything, knows when he needs to run. I like being that man, as does your mother. Your father has always been blind to the fault of the Burrow. There is such a thing as believing too much and giving up too much, Evie."
My father had given up everything for the Burrow. I sighed, "Is he alive?"
I watched the change in Fitz's eyes as he shook his head, "That, I don’t know." He was telling the truth. To the rest of the things he had said, I could only assume he was being honest.
"Where did you get the jet?"
He laughed, "I made some money once upon a time."