Chapter 14

Evelyn

The living room is a mess. Kyle and I turned Noah's entire office upside down, dug through every cabinet and drawer, searched through all of his belongings until we found all of his electronics. If Noah knew what we had done, he would be furious. His office is his private sanctuary, where he can retreat when he needs time to himself. Unless he's in there making calls or arrangements, I don't often go in there.

My head is still throbbing with the remnants of a hangover, but I push the discomfort aside. Even though I told Kyle it was his responsibility to bring Noah home, seeing him gave me the push I needed to crawl out of my hole, and I'm not going to let him do it alone. With him here, I have a starting point, and if I want this done right, I need to be involved.

Now we're sitting on the sofa, surrounded by his paperwork, his two laptops, tablets and additional phones, in the process of booting up all of his devices. In front of me is the notepad where he wrote down all his passwords for me and what they belong to. While Kyle goes through the phones, checking for recent calls, I browse through the laptops until I find the folder with all the information on Mr. Lancaster and a link providing live access to the man's private calendar.

"Kyle, I found something," I say, and he immediately scoots closer, pressing into my side as he leans over me to steal a glance at the screen. I click on the entry for this coming Friday and for that night he has a memo for a private gala event along with details about it all.

"We need tickets for that," Kyle says, pointing at the screen where the notes mention the tickets.

"We have to get into this event somehow." I sigh and click on the comment Noah made in his notes about the calendar. The window pops up with a list of people's names, including how many tickets there are for each person. I mindlessly scroll through the names as if I might find something useful, and then, as if my prayers have been answered, two particular names catch my attention. My heart leaps in my chest and I immediately start digging through the chaos on the sofa, looking for my own phone.

"What are you doing?" Kyle asks but I ignore him, find my phone and immediately search for a specific number. Her words echo through my mind. If there is anything I can do for you, anything, call me. We will find a way. If anyone can help us, it's her. "Who are you calling?" He furrows his eyebrows, but I raise my index finger to my mouth, telling him to be quiet as my phone begins to ring with a video call and I prop the device against the laptop screen in front of me.

After the usual five torturous long beeps, the person on the other line picks up and a smile spreads across my face as her familiar freckled face, framed by shiny copper hair, pops up on the screen.

"Eevee," she sings, dragging out my nick name as her voice blasts from the speaker. "How have you been?"

"Hey Riley, please don't ask…" I chuckle nervously. "I'm sorry for calling again, but—"

"You need my help?" she cuts me off with a grin on her face.

"How can you tell?" I furrow my brows.

"You look exhausted, the circles under your eyes don't do you any favors, and," she draws out the last word, "that handsome gentleman peering over your shoulder is most likely not the psycho you call your boyfriend. He is not your type at all." She laughs and I turn to see Kyle looming over me, curiously looking at my phone.

I shove him aside. "No, that's actually his best friend. He's…" I turn to look at Kyle. "Do you have a nickname?"

"Hell no, Noah' s the weirdo who does that shit with the doves for fun. I'm not really known for anything."

"So the Dove Killer's sidekick, got it," Riley says bluntly, and I can't help but chuckle as Kyle's face changes to one of annoyance, furrowing his eyebrows as he glares at her. If looks could kill, Riley would for sure drop dead right now.

"Something like that," I say and Kyle grunts next to me as he slumps back into the sofa.

"Now to the matter at hand, what do you need help with?" Riley asks, her voice becoming more serious, and I quickly explain the situation to her, sending her the information Noah had gathered about the event and, most importantly, the two familiar names of my former colleagues who would be attending.

"I need their tickets, please," I plead with Riley, who is staring at her own laptop in front of her.

"I can't just give them to you; the guys have a job to do at the event," she explains.

"Are they hired to kill someone?"

"Yes. How do you know that?" She raises her eyebrows in confusion.

"They're walking into a trap," Kyle speaks up, interrupting our conversation, and I just nod in acknowledgment.

"What?"

"Let me guess, the client who hired these killers hired them a few years ago to get rid of someone associated with the Lancaster Group?" Kyle asks, lifting his eyebrows.

"Yeah…"

"Looks like they are not very creative. That's exactly what they did to Noah and me. They seem to lure in anyone who has harmed the company in any way over the years."

"That means the clients are most likely involved in the whole ordeal?"

"It's the only possible explanation."

Riley falls silent on the other line, narrowing her eyes at Kyle through the camera. "But you got away," she points out.

"Yeah, Noah was the one originally hired back then. I just went along for the ride because I was bored. I don't think I was ever a priority for them. They probably just used me to get to him, since I was the only way to contact him"

I turn and look at Riley. "You need to take the killers off the job; you can give the boss all the information I sent you. Even that they caught Noah. It will show him that this is serious."

"Wait, you will finally let me tell the boss that you know and are with the man he hates the most?"

"Yes…if that means I get a chance to go look for him. "

"I'll see what I can do," Riley says with a long, heavy sigh.

"Thank you." Tears sting in the corners of my eyes, but my lips curl into a smile.

"You know there is a chance the boss will want to talk to you directly on the matter? After all, he's the one who ultimately makes all the final decisions."

"I know." I sigh. "I'm ready to talk to him…"

I pace up and down the living room, dragging my feet protected by my fluffy socks across the polished wooden floor. The warmth from the floor heating fights the tickling cold in my toes from the nervous chills that run through my body. I clutch my phone in my sweaty palm and wait for the call from my former boss. Riley texted me thirty minutes ago that she had talked to him and that he would call soon.

At the sound of a spoon clinking against a bowl, I look up at Kyle sitting on the sofa, digging into a bowl of cereal. With each crunch and slurp, my irritation grows, grating on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.

I'm about to snap when my phone suddenly vibrates in my hand and I jump up, almost dropping it. Quickly, I swipe my finger across the screen, answer the call, and lift the phone to my ear.

"Boss," I say with a nervous tone in my voice.

"Evelyn, sweetheart," his deep, raspy voice sounds from the other end. "It's been a while, how are you?"

"I'm fine," I lie, squeezing my phone harder.

"Is that so? Riley told me something different."

"Everything was fine…until recently."

"She gave me a short run down but left out some information. Tell me what is going on. Even though you don't work for me anymore, you're still a part of our family."

"I need the tickets for the gala this Friday."

"That seems rather unexpected. Why?"

"Because I need them…"

"Evelyn, details please. You know how much I hate having to squeeze every last bit of information out of you guys. I know my men are walking into a trap, but I don't understand how you know that," he urges.

"Because they have my boyfriend…"

The boss on the other end remains silent for a couple torturous seconds before speaking again. "Your boyfriend?"

"Yes…"

He sighs. "How on God's green earth is your boyfriend involved with them?"

"He was hired to kill the new boss."

"Evelyn. Are you telling me you left this line of work behind just to date someone who's in it?" He groans. "I lost one of my favorite girls, which was devastating enough, and now you tell me you didn't leave it all behind like you said? I let you go on the condition that you get as far away from all of this as possible, and here you are breaking that agreement."

"I… He was retired too. He only took this one job because it was important."

Another sigh escapes him. "Who's your boyfriend?" he asks but I stay silent. "Evelyn?"

"The White Dove Killer."

"For fuck's sake, are you kidding me?" He raises his voice at me, and I flinch, squeezing my eyes shut. "Are you trying to tell me that you're dating the bastard who kills anyone who even dares to look at him? How do you know him?"

"That's a long story." I offer him a quiet, nervous chuckle.

"If you want those tickets, you're going to tell me how of all people you got with him."

In a brief summary, I fill him in on the events of last year. How Noah was hired to kill me, how he failed not once but twice, and how our cat and mouse game led to what we have today.

"So that's why no one has reported any kills involving him in the last seven months," the boss says. "Let me be honest, Evelyn. I don't care about him." My heart throbs, frantically beating out of rhythm. "He has single-handedly caused a lot of trouble for me, for our organization. Not only did I lose a lot of money because of him, but I also lost some good people. I would be delighted if he was dead." Tears sting in the corners of my eyes. It was naive of me to think the boss would help. "But," he pauses and sighs, "you really love him, don't you?"

"Yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, grow old together, maybe have kids and a family of our own…if that's what it takes to live a normal life," I say through quiet sniffles.

"You can have the tickets," he says after a moment of silence.

"Really?" My heart leaps in my chest with excitement.

"Yes, but on one condition."

"Everything!"

"If he is still alive, I want to meet him. There are some things I need to discuss with him."

"Of course, I will find a way to arrange that."

"Good. I will grant you access to our pick-up spot for the twenty-four hours before the gala. "

"Thank you so much," I mutter between sobs as my emotions roll over me in waves.

After bidding farewell to my former boss, I turn to Kyle with tears in my eyes, who looks at me with raised eyebrows and a mocking grin on his face.

"Kids? Really? With Noah?"

"Shut up." I throw my phone at him. "He'd make a great dad."

"I have no doubt."