Page 42 of Ache
“You can’t trust him,” I announce loudly enough so the whole room can hear.
“Like hell,” Alec growls, taking a step toward me.
“Explain.” Everly jumps between us with her arms out. She was always a spirited one.
Sighing, I press a few buttons on my phone and show her the evidence. These images could potentially crush her. Hurting her is the last thing I want, but I’ll be here to pick up all her broken pieces. She won’t deal with this alone. She won’t be alone, ever again. I hold up the screen and show her the pictures. Several of an older woman and a man conversing on the street and getting in and out of the same car.
“Is that—” She squints. She isn’t wearing her glasses.
“Alec, yes,” I bite.
“No.” She grabs the phone from me. “My . . .mom?”
“Your mom?” Alec spies over her shoulder to get a look of his own.
“It is,” I confirm. Everly stares at the picture heavily for several long seconds.
“She looks so different.” She frowns.
“You mean she looks clean?”
Everly nods sadly.
“Looks can be deceiving,” I warn her.
“This is the woman you were telling me about?” Everly glances back at Alec.
“What?” I stiffen.
“That’s her,” Alec confirms.
“What am I missing here?” I ask them both.
“Well” — Everly hands me back my phone — “before you busted in here like Rambo, Alec was telling me that he was approached by a woman who was threatening me. And him.”
“She threatened her?” I snarl.
“She said Everly has something she wants. She tried to blackmail me, but it didn’t work, so she resorted to threats. I’m concerned for Everly’s safety. She didn’t look well at work. I knew something was up. I confronted her.”
Definitely not the explanation I was expecting. Or hoping for. The ideal situation would be Alec was working with Everly’s mother, which would give me the perfect excuse to kill him. But no such luck.
“What is she after?” I press.
“No idea. She wouldn't tell me. She just wanted me to deliver Everly when and where she texted.”
“Well, that shit isn’t going to happen,” I grunt.
“I think I might know what she wants.” Everly wrings her hands together, pacing her apartment.
“Which is?” Both Alec and I are completely enthralled.
“A key, maybe?”
“A key to what?” I ask.
“I don't know.” Her green eyes jump frantically between me and Alec. She’s hesitant to talk, and it’s for a host of reasons. “I have to tell him,” Everly beseeches me.
“Ever—” I shake my head sternly.
