Remembering Everly (Lost & Found #2) (25 page)

“I’m going to decline my acceptance to culinary school,” Everly said, her voice cutting through the happy silence like a jagged steak knife.

I froze, turning toward her in the darkness. Her eyes caught the faint light above, reflecting sadness and remorse.

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“There’s too much going on,” she said quietly. “I would have to start in two weeks, and—”

“And what?”

“I don’t think we can afford it,” she admitted sheepishly.

The statement hit me hard, like a punch to the stomach. She was right. Besides this house, which was only ours at the moment to keep up appearances for the sake of the case, we were downright poor.

I didn’t have a single cent to my name.

Before I knew what to do, I was laughing.

Doubled over, rolling on the floor.

“Do you seriously think this is funny?” Everly asked, her expression contorted in complete bafflement as she flicked the night table lamp on to get a better look at me.

Grasping my sides, I tried to contain myself.

“No, I’m sorry. I don’t think you quitting school is funny. In fact, I think it’s the opposite. And it’s not happening. However, the fact that I am broke—the former Mr. Moneybags himself? Yeah, I find that kind of humorous. Don’t you?”

I watched her process what I’d said, and suddenly her eyes went round and laughter burst from her mouth.

“Can you imagine what the old you would have done? All of those watches?”

“And the suits? Dear god, the suits. And the shoes. My precious fucking shoes.”

My life had been consumed by material goods for years as I collected meaningless crap. Years and years’ worth of stuff that meant nothing.

In a blink of an eye, it could be gone.

And what would I be left with? The memory of a nice watch?

No thanks.

“We’ll figure out how to pay for your classes,” I consoled her, pulling her into my arms.

“How?” she asked, the worry evident in her voice.

“How do normal people do things, Everly? School loans, financial aid, good old-fashioned hard work. It’s your dream. We’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you,” she said, her arms wrapping tightly around me as my eyes closed and peace settled around us.

For once, I didn’t listen to the sound of the waves that night.

No, it was something else entirely that drifted me off into dreamland.

Something I knew I couldn’t live without.

The rhythmic sound of Everly’s heartbeat.

“We’re all set?” I asked as the wires were placed back on my chest.

“Yep, we’re ready,” Agent Martin replied as he watched the other men in the black van finish me up. I was given the thumbs-up, and I quickly rebuttoned my shirt, feeling antsy in the enclosed space.

We’d selected a neutral, public space for this next push.

Less risk of things spiraling, Agent Martin had said. As I said good-bye to Everly, giving her a long hard kiss, I had to agree. I didn’t say the words, but I knew she felt them. I could see the promise in her eyes as the lock slipped into place and my heartbeat stilled slightly. She was safe, and that was all I needed to know.

“Okay, you’ve got about fifteen minutes to get to the meeting point. We’ll be around the corner. If anything happens, we’ll be there. Got it?”

I nodded once, hopping out of the van into the bright afternoon sun. San Francisco was well into winter, which meant a higher than average number of sunny days. The proximity to the bay made the seasons almost reversed. Summer brought fog. Winter brought sun. It pissed a lot of tourists off, but for us locals, it was like a little secret we never intended to share.

Despite the slight chill in the air, many city dwellers were enjoying the sunny day. People sat outside, enjoying warm cups of coffee and sandwiches. Laughter could be heard as I walked through the streets, approaching the small plaza I’d chosen to lure Trent.

I didn’t know what to expect when he arrived, but I was planning on him being something close to livid.

About an hour ago, I’d sent an e-mail to his work address containing several snapshots of the documents I’d collected over the years.

In the e-mail, I’d written, “Looks like I was the smart one all along. Meet me in an hour.”

The address had been attached and the FBI nerds Agent Martin had been corresponding with had monitored the e-mail to make sure it had been read. When I’d called him this morning, this was the plan I’d given him—to go all in with guns blazing. Thankfully, he’d agreed.

I don’t think I was the only one who was getting antsy.

The location I’d chosen was in a popular shopping area. Boutiques and upscale eateries lined the streets, and in the middle, a small fountain trickled audibly as children threw pennies from their mothers’ purses in hopes of getting their secret wishes fulfilled.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a single quarter I had left over from a toll road. Feeling nostalgic, I walked over to the fountain, seeing in it the glimmer from a thousand wishes at the bottom. I held out my tiny offering.

“What are you going to wish for?” A little girl asked me. She had strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes. Tiny freckles dotted her porcelain complexion and she wore a bright pink shirt that proudly displayed the words “Daddy’s little angel” with tiny devil horns holding up the halo.

She couldn’t have been much older than five, but I’d never been good at telling ages—especially in children. I was an only child, and with most of my memories still under lock and key, children were still very much a mystery to me. This was something I hoped to change.

“I don’t know yet,” I said, smiling down at her. “What do you think I should wish for?”

Her face scrunched together as she looked me up and down, taking in my faded blue jeans and messy hair. Her eyes went to my hand, checking for a wedding ring I assumed, and then she frowned.

“Are you married?” she asked.

“No, but I have a girlfriend I love very much,” I replied, checking my watch. I still had a few minutes.

“You should get married,” she advised, putting her hands on her hips in a very womanly fashion. It caused me to smirk, and I couldn’t help but ask why.

“Because then you can ask for a kid.”

“And that’s what you think I should wish for?”

She nodded with enthusiasm.

“And what’s so great about a kid?” I asked, wrapping my arms around my chest in mock defiance.

“My daddy says I’m what love made. He says he and my mommy had so much love for each other that it made me! He says when he looks at me, he sees me and my mommy shining back at him.”

She glanced back at a man about my age who was holding an infant in his arms at a nearby table. He waved back at her and she smiled.

“Your daddy seems like a smart man.”

“He is,” she said proudly.

“Well, I don’t know if Everly and I are ready for someone as cool as you yet. But why don’t I wish for happiness?”

“That sounds good. My daddy says my little brother and me bring him happiness, so maybe you’ll end up with everything?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “Maybe I’ll end up with everything.”

I helped her up on the fountain ledge and with her helpful hand, we tossed the single quarter into the water. I watched as it floated to the bottom, sparkling with promise among the other wishes and dreams.

I said good-bye to my new friend and watched her skip back to her father. It made me wonder where I’d be in five years. Ten, even. Would I have a similar life? Baby bottles and life lessons with a toddler?

Only time would tell, and Everly and I would finally have plenty of it soon.

At the thought of time, I suddenly lifted my watch to my eyes, seeing the specified meeting time had passed. Not knowing what to do, my gaze shifted around the plaza, searching for Trent.

He was nowhere to be found.

Having been so sure Trent would take my bait and meet me, we hadn’t spoken of a Plan B. I had no idea what to do. Did I wait? If so, for how long?

Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket, I contemplated what to do. Before I had the chance to decide, it began to vibrate with an incoming call.

Trent.

“You’re late,” I answered, each word spoken through clenched teeth.

“Now, why would you say that? It seems you are the one who’s late, my friend,” he replied, that cool calm edge to his voice back in place.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, looking around the plaza but still coming up short.

“How’d you like to say hello, sweetheart?” he said, the phone’s sounds becoming muffled, and then I heard a sharp female cry.

Everly.

“August!” she screamed, as more shuffling commenced and I began to run. Darting through shoppers and smiling children, I sprinted until my lungs burned.

“Where are you?” I asked, looking around at the crowd. I felt useless, utterly useless. There were too many people and he was nowhere to be found.

“You threatened me,” he said. “That’s not cool. I just stopped by your house to try and solve the matter—man to man. But you weren’t home. It was so very nice of Everly to let me in, though.”

My car. I had to reach my car.

“If you touch one fucking hair on her head, I swear to god—”

“You’ll what? Do nothing? Come on, August. You’re not really going to do anything—you never do. That’s why you’re you and I’m me. Because I get shit done and you sit around and take orders. Now I gotta give you kudos for this e-mail you sent me. It’s great—really. I can’t imagine how you managed to collect all that over the years. But what exactly do you plan on doing with it?”

I knew we already had what we needed. He’d threatened Everly…broken into my home. He was going away for a long time. Now I just needed to keep him there long enough to get home.

And keep Everly safe in the process.

“I just wanted out,” I lied as I hopped into my car and started the engine. I had no idea where Agent Martin was. He’d said if anything went south, he’d be there. But this was completely north of what we’d planned and I wasn’t taking any risks.

Not when it involved Everly.

“I figured this was my ticket.”

Cars flew by as I sped down the road, inching closer and closer to the cliffs, thankful we’d chosen someplace close by. I only needed another minute and I’d be home.

“Was this something you’d planned all along? Were you going to try to rip me off again and run?”

Rip him off?

He thought the fifty million dollars I’d lost was a failed attempt to steal from the company?

“That money, Trent,” I said calmly. “It was for you, I swear. I was just trying to leave, and I knew your money would help, but I’d never done a deal that big. I got in over my head and lost it all.”

The car skidded to the curb right behind Trent’s flashy black Mercedes. I didn’t even bother parking in the driveway, and I barely took the time to slam the driver’s side door as I raced toward the front door, still wide open from his forced entry.

The small table we used for keys and whatnot had been knocked over, the glass bowl I’d bought at a small antique shop smashed into a million pieces. Tiny jagged chunks of glass caught the sunlight, twinkling in the chaos of Trent’s destruction.

“Is that you, August?” His voice rang through the house. “Come to teach me a lesson?”

Laughter followed, then whimpering.

Everly.

Following the sounds of their voices, I took quick but careful steps into the living room and felt my heart drop. There on the couch where we’d made love a dozen times, the place where we’d shared countless meals and endless memories, the love of my life sat with a gun pointed at her head.

She trembled with fear as tears trickled down her beautiful face. Trent sat next to her, looking passive—as if he was getting ready to go grocery shopping or mow the lawn.

Except for his eyes. I’d almost missed those. Usually steely and ice cold, the windows to his soul were on fire today. Maniacal.

And they scared me to death.

This was not the man I was used to—the one who kept everything and everyone at arm’s length. This was not someone who had everything under control. This was what happened when you capped a volcano too long. It stewed and boiled beneath the surface until there was only one way for the lava to go—up.

Trent was about to explode, and he was planning on taking Everly with him.

“Do you have any idea what I did for you? What I gave you?” he said, his voice shaking with intensity. My eyes were glued to the gun he held. Every movement, every shift or careless jolt had my breath catching, my body rooted to the floor in absolute horror.

“Just put the gun down,” I urged, holding my hands out like a white flag of surrender. “And we’ll talk this out. No one needs to get hurt. Nothing needs to happen. We can all walk away from this.”

“What’s going on with the Yorke deal?” he asked, the words spilling out of his mouth like liquid venom.

“It’s fine, I swear,” I lied, my gaze shifting to him and then back to Everly.

“You lie. You fucking lie! About everything!” His hold tightened around Everly as he stood, and I watched as her eyes filled with panic.

“You think I’m stupid, August? You think I haven’t figured all this out yet?”

I honestly didn’t care what he’d deduced from this. All I wanted was that gun as far away from Everly as possible.

“You don’t think I’ve caught on to your plan? You were never going to give up Yorke. You were just going to dangle him over my head, distract me while you took the money and ran. Then while my head was still spinning, you’d turn over that evidence to the authorities and play the poor innocent partner who didn’t have a clue. Well, fuck that, August! I’m on to you. You may not have had any idea what was going on in the past, but you do now. If I go down, you sure as hell will be going down with me!”

Each word was louder than the last. He was livid, rage and spit flying from his mouth, sweat pouring from his temples. With one arm wrapped firmly around Everly’s waist and the other tightly gripping a 9-millimeter, he made me feel like I was out of options.

I couldn’t play it safe, and I couldn’t hide from this danger. Not anymore.