Servario never tried to touch me or talk to me.
When we landed, a helicopter was waiting for us on the tarmac. We were boarded on it, when I got my first glimpse of Roxy. Her eyes were swollen shut. She was a mess—fat lips and cuts. Her hands were wrapped in soaked bandages. He dragged her from the plane and shoved her in the back. Her blonde hair was ratty and missing in parts.
Luce and Coop shared the same blank expression, whereas I imagined Jack and I were both horrified.
He looked at me, terrified.
I nodded.
We were somewhere warm still. We flew down a coastline, rocky and beautiful. I was lost, completely.
I forced myself to see the stunning things, and not the dying girl in the back, who used to be stunning.
The helicopter circled a huge house. It landed on a large, cement pad.
James was walking down the path from the huge house. My breathing stopped completely, as my heart pounded out of my chest. I felt my face flush. Coop covered my hands with his, “No.”
I looked at him.
He shook his head, “No—to what you’re thinking or feeling. Shut it off.”
I tried, but my kids’ faces were all over his. My kids, who I hadn’t seen in, what felt like an eternity. My face pinched and balled. I fought tears so hard it hurt.
I sniffled and sighed, “I can do this,” I whispered.
We landed. James didn’t look up. He walked until the door opened.
Then he stopped, stared and then frowned. His girlfriend was tossed from the helicopter first. Servario had a gun drawn. He passed one to Luce and Coop, as he stepped down.
James put his hands up. He was completely lost and confused.
He hadn’t even seen me yet.
I climbed out last, following Jack.
His eyes darted as the helicopter turned off, making a huge wind surround us all momentarily, until it finally stopping spinning.
James’ eye caught my face. He put his hands out, “Evie!”
I shook my head and snatched the gun from Luce’s hand. I fired at his left kneecap.
He screamed out as crimson started to seep out from this beige, linen pants.
Luce reached for the gun, but when she saw my face, she stopped.
“How could you?” I asked just barely audible.
His face crumpled as he held his knee, “Evie, please let me speak.”
I shot at the other knee, missing. He dropped to the ground anyway.
Servario walked away from the nearly falling-over Roxy and came up to me. He looked down, lifting my face up. He brushed his lips against mine, “Let me. You don’t want this memory when you look at your children,” he whispered into my lips.
I nodded and stepped back. He pulled the gun from my hand and passed it back to Luce. She gave me an understanding look but Coop looked psychotic.
“Is Mel here?” I asked past Servario’s back. He wasn’t looking at me, he was trying to crawl to his girlfriend, Roxy. She swayed as blood dripped from her bandaged hands.
Finally James looked at me long and hard, “Your father did this, Evie. Not me.”
I pointed, “Just kill him. I want him gone for real.”
I turned and walked back to the helicopter.
I heard the shot fire but I didn’t look back. Then the second one.
I sat in the seat and waited. I wanted to look inside of the house. I wanted to know his secrets. I wanted it all to become clear to me but a voice, probably my father’s, told me I didn’t really want that.
It told me that I wanted to let this one go. I would find answers in other places too. I didn’t just need these answers. These ones would haunt me for all my days.
Chapter Seventeen – Princess Evie
The jet felt haunted as we crossed an ocean. I could only assume it was the Pacific. We were going to Asia. I wondered if he was taking me to an ashram. I needed it.
I looked at Servario, trying not to see the sadistic fuck I’d seen in that room. He looked like I’d killed his cat, when he glanced over at me. “I’m sorry, Evie.”
I nodded, “Me too. I’m sorry it was her.”
Coop glanced over from the notes Servario must have taken while torturing her. “So Mel is dead. She was the one in the car.” That hurt. Mel too, had been used by James.
I shook my head, “He didn’t need her anymore, because he had Roxy. Roxy, who wanted to find herself a millionaire like Servario.”
Servario stood and walked to the front of the plane.
Coop continued, “James was helping frame you to get your dad out of hiding. He had asked Roxy to take pictures of every meeting Servario went to. After your dad was dead, he and Servario met. Roxy got it on her cellphone so it must have been recent. It was the proof CI needed to use you to bring him out of hiding.”
I frowned, “They knew he was in hiding all along? He’s been dead for a long time.”
He shrugged, “Must have suspected something. Anyway, Servario beat her and broke her and she confessed. The plan was to take the money, leave you screwed and leave the kids with your mom. She actually said James never really cared what happened to the kids. He just wanted his easy life in his beach house with his blonde.”
It didn’t even hurt anymore. Not even for my kids. I didn’t even care a little. I couldn’t. If I cared about one thing, all the emotions I was shutting off would find their way in.
I sighed, “He was a douche nozzle.”
Coop snorted, “Yeah. Dumb fuck. Who does that to their own family? Anyway, Servario used Roxy’s cell to text James and send the helicopter. James was expecting her to get off alone. They were going to start their new life together. Roxy had been letting him in on the progress of the fuck-Evie campaign. Apparently, he was quite satisfied with how it had turned out. You were a fugitive and Servario was forcing sex on you all the time and humiliating you.” His tone was filled with disgust.
I blushed at that. My lips curled into a grim smile, “She was thorough.”
Servario brought a tray to Luce and Jack and then one to us. It was filled with snacks and things. He smiled at me, “I’m so sorry, Evie. I had no idea it was her. I assumed Steve.”
I shrugged, “They got the death they deserved, then I guess.” I smirked, “The account is still there right?”
He nodded.
My eyes flashed, “Excellent.”
We landed hours later in smoggy Tokyo.
I frowned, “Japan?”
Servario bowed, “Yes, Princess Evie.”
We climbed into another helicopter. I shook my head, “It’s too much. I need to be away from all vehicles—all. I need a vacation from this vacation.”
Jack moaned, “Not another flight.”
We sat in our seats and instantly started for the mountains.
Servario grinned, “This is going to take about two hours. So buckle up and try to enjoy the ride.” He seemed tense.
I supposed I would too.
I, on the other hand, felt a renewed sense of freedom. My marriage had never had confines that I was aware of. Looking back, I could see the sense of freedom I was feeling was stemming from a lack of confines. Ones I had gotten so used to that I didn’t see them.
The money in the account freed me from worry, guilt, and obligation.
The kids were mine. I had never considered divorce, seven months without sex and I never considered divorce. I knew why that was. I never wanted to battle it out like our friends had.
I glanced at Servario and smirked. He was a savage and a complete fiend, and yet he made me feel like a woman. I finally understood the damned song, “A Natural Woman.” Looking at him, I would swear I could hear the bloody lyrics.
He scared me.
I liked that. Was there shame in my feelings for him, after everything? I couldn’t find any.
We would never fall into a routine. We would never go seven months without sex. I would never be truly safe with him.
I liked that a lot.
Clearly, he wasn’t the only freak in the relationship that would never be a relationship.
Looking out over the city, I wondered if he was taking me to my kids? I was scared we were never going to get them back. I couldn’t let myself dwell or I would cry.
I closed my eyes and laid my head back.
The next thing I knew, I was being shoved. I opened my eyes with a start.
Jack grinned at me, “We’re here.”
I looked around, he was waiting for me. Everyone else was outside stretching their legs.
I smiled, “Where are we?”
He beamed, “I could cry. It’s genius. It actually makes perfect sense.”
I rolled my eyes, “You are such a nerd.”
He nodded, “I know.”
I climbed out to see nothing but forest.
“What is this?”
Servario gave me a look. I wasn’t sure what it meant. “This is where I leave you.”
I frowned, “No. What? No. I don’t want you to leave.”
He nodded, whispering, “I have to. I can never set foot in there. It’s a rule. The Master Key may never set foot in the Princess’s temple, once he has taken on the role. I know I’m safe right now but they don’t know that. They assume I could bring the bad people down on them. I take the role of Master Key and I walk away. Always leading the suspicious people away from this spot. This temple.”
I looked around, “What temple?”
He pointed to a small black cave-looking thing, “That’s the entrance. You have to go in there and walk until you see the light again.” He held a hand out, “I need all of your clothes, and phones, and every piece of electronics.” I looked down at the others. When they looked up at me, they could tell something was wrong.
It didn’t matter that we griped.
We eventually got naked, one at a time behind the helicopter, and left everything with him. We put on the robes he left us. They were stunning Japanese traditional-looking robes.
Luce smiled when she came from behind it in the robe. It wasn’t her usual smile, but it counted as effort, after everything we’d been through.
“It’s nice, huh?” I asked.
She nodded, “So pretty.”