Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I can’t wait to see you, either!

Evie smiled wide as she sent the message she’d just finished typing on her phone. She’d woken to find a text waiting from Beckett letting her know his team had completed their most recent mission, and he’d be back home before dinner.

A dinner he was planning to make for them both…at his place.

I’ll finally get to see where Beckett lives.

Evie yawned as she sat the phone down onto the kitchen counter, grabbing the coffee pot and pouring herself another cup. Her first had been consumed earlier, when she’d come downstairs after her shower, but she hadn’t slept well since Beckett had been away, and the lack of a good night’s rest was starting to hit.

Just a few more hours, and he’ll be back where he belongs.

It was crazy to think someone who was such a recent addition in her life could have this much of a stark impact on her day-to-day living. But he did. Every day. And from what Evie could tell, there were no signs that was about to change.

Memories of the two of them laughing hysterically over leftover pizza would strike at the most unexpected of times. Visions of the two of them talking into the wee hours of the night about nothing and everything created hidden smiles from stories only she would understand.

And then there were the other times. Times when Evie would be taking a shower—or hell, just doing the dang dishes—and she’d almost feel the warmth of his hands caressing her body to new, exciting heights.

Logically, it didn’t make much sense, but in her heart, Evie felt as though she’d known the man her entire life. He’d somehow gone from being a stranger who’d helped rescue her and the girls to someone who owned a piece of her. The very best piece, in her opinion.

Because Beckett Stone owned every beating inch of her heart. Even if he didn’t know it.

You should tell him.

A shot of fear raced through Evie’s system at the thought of putting herself out there in such a vulnerable way. Could she do it? Was she ready to risk what she and Beckett had only just found by dropping a massive bomb like that at his feet?

Her nerve endings began to fire, and there was a slight tingling at the tips of her fingers. It wasn’t as if rejection was a new concept to her. She’d dealt with that her entire childhood.

Kids made fun of her unruly curls. Her deep dimples and upturned nose. The curves Beckett couldn’t seem to get enough of garnered countless unkind nicknames and whispers behind her back.

And though Evie knew inside her heart Beckett cared for her deeply, to lay it all out like that, and admit she was falling for him—that she had already fallen for him—was another level she wasn’t quite sure he was ready to face.

Soon, though. She’d tell him soon. Because life had already proven its unpredictability to her too many times recently to take too much of it for granted.

As for today, Evie was going to focus on what she already had planned. Lo was coming home tomorrow, and there were some last-minute things she wanted to do before then. And since she was presumably staying over at Beckett’s…

Laundry. Dishes. Dust. Floors.

Her goal was to have the place so spotless Lo wouldn’t have to lift a finger for at least a few days. It was the least she could do after the woman let Evie use the place as her own personal hideout.

She took a sip of her coffee relishing the extra dose of caffeine as she made her way out of the kitchen. Since laundry was first on the list, she’d get a load going and then set to work emptying the dishwasher.

Evie was walking through the living room on her way to the stairs when the sound of a car door being shut caught her attention from outside. She went to the large picture window overlooking the street, reaching up to push aside the curtains hanging low.

There was a car parked on the street in front of Lo’s condo. A man was climbing back behind the wheel of his yellow taxi, and there was a woman walking up the drive.

Her head was down, and a hoodie covered her downturned face as she pulled two suitcases behind her, and?—

Suitcases? Why would someone be here with… Ohmygosh!

“Lo!” Evie hollered her friend’s name as she excitedly ran the rest of the way to the front door.

Moving quickly, she nearly spilled her coffee as she set it on the small accent table positioned between the window’s edge and the door. Evie rushed to type in the security code she’d memorized weeks before, and as soon as the tiny light turned green, she opened the front door and ran outside.

“You’re home!” She hurried to the woman she considered a sister.

“Surprise!”

Lo released the handles attached to her bags and threw her arms around an incoming Evie. Squealing like a couple teenagers, they greeted each other with a mutual bear hug.

After a moment of tight squeezes and a few back-and-forth sways, Evie released her sneaky friend. “I thought you weren’t coming home until tomorrow.”

“I wasn’t, but I changed my mind.”

“How come?” Evie asked as she went for one of the wheeled bags.

“For one, I’m pretty sure my sister was ready to kick me out,” Lo teased, grabbing the other suitcase. “And two…to be perfectly honest…” Lo’s pretty blue eyes lifted to the condo as they walked side-by-side the remaining stretch of the way. “I was just ready to be back home.”

“What about blind date guy?” Evie propped open the door with her hip, holding the door open for her friend. “What was his name? Shane?”

“Shawn? Yeah…no.” Lo lifted her suitcase over the slightly raised threshold before entering her home for the first time in weeks. “That’s gonna be a hard pass for me.”

“Really?” Evie fumbled with the suitcase a tad as she followed the other woman inside. With the door falling shut behind her, she rolled the bag out of the way, butting it up against the nearest wall. “I thought you said he was cool.”

“He was…at first. At least, I thought he was. But then things got…I don’t know. Weird, I guess.”

“Weird how?”

Lo smiled wide, her shoulders falling with a friendly sigh. “I promise to tell you all about it, but I took an insanely early flight to get here, and their in-flight coffee tasted like ass.”

“I’ve got you covered.” Evie chuckled as she retrieved her own forgotten mug. “I made a fresh pot an hour ago, and it’s still steaming hot. I’ll fix you a cup.”

“See?” Lo started to follow. “This is why you’re my best friend.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m your only friend.”

“Fair enough. But hey, listen. I’ll tell you all about Shawn if you promise to share more about your trip to Afghanistan. You haven’t said a whole lot, and I know there had to be at least one exciting thing happen while you were there…I mean, it’s the Middle East, woman! I’d die for the chance to go someplace like that. Can you imagine the pictures I could capture? What am I saying, of course you can. You were there. ”

Evie’s footfalls nearly stuttered, and she was thankful her back was to Lo so the other woman couldn’t see her face. Giving vague answers and hiding the truth over the phone was one thing. Even during their few video calls they’d made, Evie had been able to hide the truth.

All she’d had to do was either turn the camera away or pretend to become distracted by something on T.V. But now…

“Evie?”

“S-sorry, what?” She cleared her throat as she stopped in front of the coffee pot and began pouring her friend a cup.

Lo turned and pushed herself up onto the countertop, letting her legs dangle over the edge. “I was saying I want to hear all about your trip.”

“Oh. Um…there’s not much to tell, really.” Heat crawled into her cheeks from the lie.

This is so much harder than I thought it would be.

“Come on, there has to be something interesting. The food…the clothes…the men .” Lo waggled her light brown brows up and down with a suggestive expression.

A man’s face did flash within Evie’s mind, but unfortunately it wasn’t Beckett’s. Instead, it was the guard. The one who’d hit and kicked her when he learned her so-called father wouldn’t pay.

Don’t think about that now. Quick! Change the subject. Talk about something else. Anything, as long as it has nothing to do with ? —

“Oh, before I forget, I think you only have maybe one more load of laundry detergent left in the bottle.” She turned slowly, carefully handing her friend the steaming white mug. “I was planning on getting more when I go to the store later, but if you want to throw a load in now, I can?—”

Lo’s doorbell rang, the sound taking both women by surprise. Nearly spilling the coffee she’d been preparing to sip, a startled Evie sat it back down and headed for the door.

“Wait.” Lo slid from the counter, effectively blocking her path. “I’m back, remember?”

“So?”

“So relax and enjoy your coffee while I answer my door.”

Evie smiled as she watched her friend turn and walk away. She understood what the other woman was saying. Her door, her responsibility.

Which was perfectly fine with her because whoever was at Lo’s door obviously hadn’t come to see?—

“Um…Evie?”

The uncertainty in her friend’s tone caused Evie’s brow to furrow deep. “Yeah?” She began making her way to the door where Lo stood.

“This woman says she’s here to see you. She said she has a package for you that’s really important.”

An important package? For her?

Frowning, Evie picked up her pace and covered the remaining distance between her, Lo, and a woman she could barely see. When she got to the door, she found a young, attractive woman standing on the other side of the threshold, and in her hand was a large manila envelope.

“Evelynn Mitchell?”

Evie nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Hi. I’m, Ashley, and I was asked to hand this directly to you.”

“Okaaay…” She let the word dangle in the cool morning air as she took the offered envelope. “What is it?”

The young woman’s smile grew a bit more. “I think you should open it up and see for yourself.”

“Wait, you can’t just tell her what it is?” Lo interjected with a slight bite to her tone.

Evie fought the urge to chuckle at her overprotective friend. Lo always was the first to come to her defense.

As it turned out, however, the unsolicited protection wasn’t actually needed.

“Mr. Stone’s instructions to me were to deliver that envelope to you ASAP,” Ashley explained to Evie, rather than Lo. “He didn’t give me permission to share what’s inside, but he did say he’d like for you to read them over at your earliest convenience, and that you’d understand.”

Mr. Stone?

“Beckett sent this?”

“He did.” The woman smiled. “But since that has yet to be signed, I didn’t want to reveal anything you weren’t ready to share.”

Ready to ? —

“Beckett?” Lo turned to her with a frown. “Who’s Beckett?”

Evie turned to her friend, only then realizing what Ashley had been trying to say.

Oh, shit!

She’d been so thrown off kilter by the unexpected visit—and subsequent mysterious envelope—and then to learn Beckett was the one who sent it, despite him not having said a word about it in any of his earlier texts…

And now you’ve said his name in front of Lo, and she’s staring back at you expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“Beckett’s, um…” Evie felt like a deer caught in a car’s headlights. “He’s…this guy I know.”

“A guy who sent a hand-delivered envelope to you at my house with instructions to read its contents at your ‘earliest convenience.’” Lo used air quotes on that last part for emphasis.

More focused on what she should say vs whatever it was she was holding in her hands, Evie opened her mouth but closed it again. Twice more, she’d start to say something—she had no idea what—before clamping her lips shut for fear of inadvertently breaking the law.

When she began the fish-out-of-water impression a third time, the woman still standing at the door became a sudden and surprising ally…

“Miss Mitchell, if I may.” She flashed Evie a genuine smile. “I believe this whole situation will be much easier for you to understand and to”—her blue stare slid from Evie’s, to Lo’s, and back to Evie’s—“ explain once you’ve seen what’s inside the envelope.”

The contents. Right.

Blinking quickly, Evie gave herself a mental slap so she could look over whatever Beckett had sent with a clear head. With hurried moves, she released the small metal clasp holding the envelope closed before lifting the flap and reaching her hand inside.

She pulled out a set of stapled papers, and for a moment, she felt even more confused than before. But after a quick scan of the very front page, she realized…

He didn’t.

“Evie” Lo’s voice became protective as she tried seeing the paperwork from over Evie’s shoulder. “Why did this Beckett guy send you something from…holy shit! Does that say Homeland Security?” The other woman slid more to the side to reveal the shocked look all over her face. “You have an NDA from Homeland Security?”

Ohmygod. He did.

Tears welled in her eyes, and it took several emotional swallows before Evie finally found her voice again.

“I-I do,” she answered Lo with a jerky nod. “But this one isn’t mine.” She held out the papers for the other woman to take. “It’s for you.”

“Me?” Lo snatched the documents from Evie’s hand, her eyes frantically scanning the top page once more. “Holy hell. This has my name on it.” She looked back up at Evie. “Wanna tell me why ‘some guy you know’ sent you a Non-Disclosure Agreement with Homeland Security for me to sign?

Because he’s the most amazing man I’ve ever known.

“You want to know all about my trip to Afghanistan?” She stared back at her best friend in the whole entire world. “Sign that and I’ll be able to tell you everything.”

Another rush of emotion blew past, and it was all Evie could do not to break down and cry. Beckett knew how badly it hurt not to be able to share what happened with Lo, so he’d somehow managed to make it possible for her to do so.

The man was on a mission to who knows where to do only God knows what, and he’d still managed to pull something like this off. And he’d done it, not for himself…but for her.

He did this for me.

“You’re serious.” Lo looked to the woman still standing before them and asked, “Do you have a—” She cut herself off when a shiny gold pen appeared twisted and ready for use. “Oh. Um…thanks.” Bending down, she popped one knee forward and used the top of her thigh for support as she scribbled her name on all the lines flagged for her signature. “There.” Lo handed the stranger the papers when she was finished.

“You can keep the pen.” The other woman smiled. “I have loads more.” To Evie, she added, “I’ll take care of the notarizing and filing.”

“Hang on.” Lo frowned. “Aren’t I required to be present with the notary? Or at least show someone my ID…”

“Typically, yes.” Ashley’s rosy lips curved into a sly grin. “Lucky for you, the man I work for is anything but typical.”

“So, that’s it?” Evie needed to be absolutely certain moving forward. “As far as our end is concerned, it’s done?”

She needed to be absolutely certain.

“It’s done.” The other woman nodded.

She wasn’t sure what to say except, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Ashley waved as she spun on her heels to leave. “Have a great rest of your day, ladies.”

“You, too!” Lo hollered after her as she shut the door and turned around. With her arms set in a tight crisscross across her hoodie-covered chest, she arched a brow and gave Evie a demanding gaze. “Okay, woman. Let’s talk.”

An hour and a half later—after Evie sent Beckett a thank-you text that included the promise of more at his place later on—Lo knew everything there was to know about Afghanistan. The girls. The kidnapping. The men who’d held them hostage. Being rescued by Beckett’s team.

Evie also shared the part about her father’s response to her desperate call for help…and everything she learned about him after the fact.

“Holy shit.” Lo sat back against the couch, the look of utter shock still plastered all over her beautiful face. “I can’t even…I mean…” Her wide eyes blinked several times. “God, Evie. I don’t know what to say.”

“Not much to say, really. But at least now you know everything.”

“Wow.” Her friend sounded as stunned as she appeared. “I mean, that’s…so fucked up in so many ways.”

“Pretty much.” She gave a watery laugh. With a sniffle, Evie wiped her eyes with the wad of tissue still crumpled up in her fist.

“So now what? I mean…what are you going to do? Will you still go back to the Hamptons, or do you think you’ll move someplace totally different? Not to sound harsh, but it’s not like there’s really anything left there for you.”

Ouch.

The sting from her friend’s words was as real as the truth behind them.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.” She gave Lo the most honest answer she could. “I mean, I’ll have to go back to my apartment at some point. The school year will be over soon, and I’ll have to figure out things with the district.”

Until she and Beckett had a chance to sit down and really talk out things as far as they were concerned, it was impossible for Evie to even try to plan for the future. All she knew was that she wanted him to be a part of it.

“And Beckett? How does he fit into all this?”

She looked over at her friend and smiled. “I think this part of the conversation calls for something a bit stronger than coffee. I bought some orange juice the other day. And I’m pretty sure that bottle of champagne on the top shelf is the same one what’s-their-names gave you last Christmas when you did their family pictures.”

Lo burst out laughing. “It is. But I mean…who just randomly opens a bottle of champagne and starts drinking it?”

“Uh…we do.” Evie pushed herself up from the couch. “Sit tight. I’ll fix us a couple of glasses and bring them in here where it’s more comfortable.”

“Good idea. But you may as well save some time and bring the bottle in here, too.”

“On it!” She gave her friend a thumbs up before disappearing into the kitchen.

She moved around Lo’s kitchen with familiarity and ease. “Hey, Beckett’s team is coming home today, and we’re supposed to have dinner at his place.” Evie spoke loud enough her friend could hear her in the other room. “But I can reschedule for tomorrow since you got home today instead of?—”

“Don’t you dare reschedule!” Lo cut her off sharply. “Any guy who can make you smile like that at the mere mention of his name is not a man you should keep waiting.”

Her shoulders shook with soft laughter as she reached high in one of the cabinets for a set of crystal flutes. “You don’t even know what I’m going to say about him.”

“Don’t have to. I saw the look in your eyes when that Ashley gal told you he was the one who sent those papers.”

Evie grinned even as a rush of heat crept up the back of her neck. She’d had a look? She never realized that before. Of course, she’d never had anyone in her life like Beckett before, so there was that.

God, I can’t wait to see him again.

“Okay, but if you’re sure.” She walked over to the refrigerator, pulling open the stainless-steel door before reaching in and grabbing the bottle of champagne. “Hey, what if I have dinner with Beckett tonight, but you and I do something tomorrow?” She smiled wide as she used her hip to seal the appliance up tight. “We could go out to dinner, or stay here and relax with a PJ, popcorn, and movie night…whatever you want.”

Evie started for the living room but stopped when a soft thud reached her ears. The sound was odd enough to give her pause, so she set the two flutes and the bottle of wine down onto the kitchen’s generous island before starting her search.

She looked toward the wide archway that led from the kitchen to the living room. “Lo?” Evie started back to where her friend was waiting. “What happened? You already crash and burn from the red-eye?”

With a smile on her face—and a far lighter step than normal—she bounced into the living room expecting to find Lo crashed out on the couch. But her friend was no longer on the couch. She was lying face-down in the middle of the floor.

And she wasn’t moving.

“Lo!” Evie called for her as she ran over to where she lay.

Dropping to her knees, she ignored the sharp pain rolling through her joints from the impact and began moving Lo’s hair away from her face to see if she could figure out what the hell happened.

“Are you okay? Lo, can you hear me?” Evie’s heart dropped when Lo’s face came into view.

The other woman’s eyes were closed, and she still hadn’t moved. So no, she didn’t think Lo could hear anything anymore.

No!

Evie pressed the pads of her index and middle fingers against the side of Lo’s neck. Relief flooded her eyes with tears when she found a steady pulse and saw the shallow rise and fall of the other woman’s chest.

Thank you, God!

Reaching behind her back, she attempted to grab her phone. But when her hand met nothing but denim, Evie remembered setting it down onto the counter earlier, right before Lo’s unexpected arrival.

Dammit!

“You’re going to be okay,” she promised her unconscious friend. “I’m calling for help!”

Evie pushed herself back up to her feet and sprinted for the kitchen. The phone was exactly where she remembered, and she grabbed it so quickly, the damn thing nearly fell from her hands.

She dialed nine-one-one as she ran back to where Lo still lay. Crouching down beside her sweet friend, she did another check to make sure the woman was still breathing.

“Open your eyes, Lo.” Evie shook Lo’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her. “Come on, damn you. Open your freaking?—”

“Nine-one-one, what’s the address of your emergency?”

“Hello?” She spoke to the man on the phone. “Is this?—”

“This is nine-one-one, ma’am. Are you experiencing an emergency situation?”

“Yes!” Evie blurted loudly. “Um, I-I mean, not me, but my friend. We were just sitting and talking and laughing and I left the room for like two minutes, and when I came back she was lying unconscious on the floor.”

“Okay, ma’am, I understand, and I’ll send first responders your way as soon as I have the address where you and your friend are located.”

Evie rambled off the address to Lo’s condo as quickly as she could. “Please. You have to hurry! I have no idea what happened. She just got home from an early flight, so maybe she’s just exhausted? I don’t know. She seemed fine just a second ag?—”

A gloved hand filled Evie’s vision half-a-second before it pressed painfully over her lips. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she instinctively dropped the phone and began clawing at the meaty arm holding her against her will.

No!

She tried to scream, but the muffled cries for help became lost behind a wall of black leather. Her attacker was big and strong, and she was no match for his bulging muscles. But still, she continued to fight.

Flashbacks consumed her, painful memories from the day the Taliban had stormed into her classroom, filling her every thought. It was still so heart wrenching, still so very real, but Evie managed to separate the past from the present.

If she let the memories of what happened in Afghanistan take over completely, the bastard pulling her away from Lo would succeed in his plan to do whatever he came to do.

Whatever it is, it sure as hell isn’t good. So fight back, Evie! Fight back as if your life depends on it!

Another memory filtered through with the encouraging thought. Another time when she had fought back.

Evie had been no match for Beckett that very first day inside the cave. And she was probably no match for the man attacking her now. But at least she’d know she tried.

For Lo. For Beckett. And dammit, for herself.

I love you, Beckett! I love you, and I’m not ever giving up!

Evie flung her right elbow back as hard and fast as she could. Pain shot down her forearm, her fingers on that hand tingling on impact. The deep, male grunt she heard was more than a little satisfying, but she was too busy trying to get free to celebrate the minor victory.

Let me go!

She screamed the words nobody could hear thanks to the hand still covering her mouth. Evie’s sneakered feet scrambled to find purchase, her feet and legs kicking and flailing about as she was forcefully dragged through the room.

Away from Lo, who was still lying helpless on the living room floor. Away from her phone—and the emergency operator who had hopefully put the call in to send somebody here. Away from…

Beckett.

Tears poured from the corners of Evie’s eyes, but her fight against the hand at her mouth and the arm squeezing painfully around her waist prevented her from wiping them away. She twisted her body this way and that, but nothing she did was enough.

A sharp sting burned at the exposed side of her neck. Evie cried out in pain, but any sound she attempted to make was in vain.

Just like her efforts to fight off a man twice her size and triple her strength. No, make that quadruple…

Evie’s legs kicked with a little less force, her muscles feeling heavier and heavier by the second. Her arms fell limply to her sides after having rapidly lost all her strength.

Whatever they’d given her was acting damn fast. So fast, Evie barely had time to panic.

A cloud of black began filling her vision, and before she knew what was happening, her entire world turned upside down. Her face became chilled by a sudden breeze, and just before she lost the battle completely, Evie realized…

I’m outside.

She was also upside down, hanging over the man’s broad shoulders. Though her vision was fading more with each second that passed, she could make out just enough to know he was carrying her to an SUV parked in the alley behind Lo’s condo.

Big. Black. Tinted.

This was it. He was going to stuff her into the back and drive away. Why, she had no idea. It wasn’t as if Phillip was going to have a change of heart where she was concerned and decide this time he’d pay the ransom. He sure as heck wouldn’t pay to have someone risk their own life to find her.

I’ll find you, darlin’.

Her racing heart kicked hard against her ribs. That was Beckett’s voice. She was certain of it. He was…here, and he…promised to…

Please…find…me…Beck…ett. There’s something…I need…to tell…you.

There was something she wanted to tell the mouthwatering former Marine. But as the world began to spin and Evie was unceremoniously dumped into the back of the SUV, for the life of her, she couldn’t remember what it was.

Oh yeah…I…member. I wanted…to say…l-love…

She didn’t finish the last of the fading thought because she couldn’t. Evie had already fallen unconscious.