17. Evgeny #2
“He may want to help put the men you find away, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to want to help free Sasha,” I say.
“He’ll help me,” Niki says. “I’m not worried about that.”
“And why aren’t you worried about that?” my dad asks.
Niki types for a few more seconds before he lifts his head to say, “Because I’m offering him something that no one else can give him.”
“And what’s that?” I ask, afraid that I might already know the answer.
“I’m going to find out what happened to his sister,” he says.
“Niki,” my dad starts to say, but my cousin cuts him off by saying, “Uncle Matvey, I know the risk, and I wouldn’t be offering this if I thought I had another way, but this will help Sasha.
If there’s something going on with the police, then having someone on the inside will help us.
Agent Jackson has no idea who I am, and it’s going to stay that way.
He doesn’t even know that I know about his sister. ”
“You’re sure he’ll agree to it?” I ask.
“I’m sure,” Niki says. “At this point he’d sell his soul to the devil himself to get answers.
Lucky for him I have no interest in anything other than getting Sasha cleared of all charges.
It’s not going to be easy finding his sister.
She disappeared thirty years ago. It’s going to be a nightmare, if I’m being honest, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to find out what happened if that’s the deal I need to make to help Sasha. ”
“You shouldn’t have to make any deals,” I say, feeling the heavy weight fall right back on my shoulders where it belongs.
“Ev, everyone in this family knows what a genius you are with the law thing, but none of us ever thought you were a miracle worker. If this goes to trial, will you free Sasha? Fuck yeah you will, but trying to get the charges dropped before the trial’s even started is not something any of us thought you’d be able to do without one hell of a lucky break. I’m trying to get you that break.”
“Let him help you,” my dad says.
“He doesn’t have a choice,” Niki says, giving me a look that dares me to challenge him on it. “We’re family, Ev. We protect each other, no matter what. None of this falls on one person. You know that.”
“He’s right, son,” my dad says. “I wanted to take all the blame and fix everything on my own when your mom was taken, but there’s no way I could’ve done it without your uncles.”
“I’m not trying to keep everyone out,” I say, “but this is the whole reason I became a lawyer, and now that you finally need me, I can’t fix it.”
“You can fix it,” Niki says. “This is just bumping up the timeline a bit and hopefully giving you the ammunition you need to completely fuck this case up. Trust me, we definitely need a lawyer. They’re not going to listen to me if I walk in and drop evidence on the judge’s desk.
” He laughs and looks at my dad. “Then he’d be busting two Melnikovs out of jail instead of one. ”
“I still might end up there,” I remind him since he already knows about Harper.
“I doubt it. More like your future wife is going to have to learn how to live two very different lives.”
My dad laughs. “She’ll figure it out. My son would never fall in love with an idiot.”
“She’s definitely not an idiot,” I say, not even bothering to deny the love bit. They both know me too well for that.
“Did he tell you she has a dog?” Niki asks my dad. “Ev had to go pick him up and pack a bag for the two of them. It was pretty fucking sweet.”
I look over at my cousin. “I thought you said you stopped watching.”
“I stopped when you got back, remember? I warned you she was going to try and cut you with the broken mug.”
“Oh yeah,” I say, grinning at the memory. Her hand has nearly healed, but every time she touches me and I feel the rough, healing skin, it reminds me of how she’d gone from looking so pissed off to so utterly vulnerable in such a short time.
My family is right. I’m completely in love with her, and I have no idea what to do about it.
The thought of letting her walk out of my life is like a knife to my chest, but the only other option is to keep her locked up forever, and I’d rather cut out my own heart than do something that will inevitably lead to her hating me.
“She’s a fighter,” my dad says with an approving grin. “Does Yel know about her yet?”
“No one knows except you two,” I say.
“Well, Van knows, of course, because I try not to keep anything from her if I can help it, but she’d never say anything to anyone else.”
“I’m not going to waste my time asking you not to tell Mom or Yel,” I say to my dad, “but if we could wait to tell everyone else for a little bit, I’d appreciate it.”
“I think we all have enough to worry about right now,” Niki says. “We can always tell the others later. Let’s see what Agent Jackson has to say first.”
“I’m okay with that,” my dad says. “Harper’s not a threat to the family right now, and I’m still confident her love for you will trump everything else, but I’m also not going to ignore the possibility that this might not end well.
If it doesn’t, we’ll figure out how to handle it when the time comes. ”
“She’ll never be a threat to the family,” I say. “She knows nothing about our family. She knows who I am. That’s it. It’ll be my life she ruins, if it comes down to that. I wouldn’t be this lax about everything if she had something that could destroy everyone’s lives.”
“Having our only son on the run for the rest of his life would destroy your mom’s life and mine,” my dad says.
“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Niki says. “I’m still on Team Harper, for the record.”
I’m grateful for my cousin’s belief that love will conquer all, but I’ve never been the kind of person who can fully believe that. Even though it’s apparently worked for every member of my family, the real-world evidence leans heavily in the other direction.
“Write your email,” I tell Niki, “and let me know as soon as you hear anything. I need to head to the police station and check in with Caleb before I can go home. Today was visiting day at the jail, so I’m guessing Cindy and the girls are going to have a hard night.”
“The girls are doing okay,” my dad says.
“They still don’t realize their dad is in jail, but I swear Reese is onto us.
She knows something isn’t right, and none of them understand why they can’t call him.
They get a call from him every day, but they want to call and text him and FaceTime.
Cindy’s having a hard time with all their questions, but we’re all helping her as much as we can.
She’s still staying with Lev and Jolene, and we all take turns visiting.
Yel’s having the girls sleep over at her house tonight.
Your mom and I are going to go over to help her out. ”
“I’m sure the kids will love that,” I say as I stand and then start to gather up my things. “I’ll give you a call if I hear anything new.”
“I’ll do the same,” Niki promises, barely looking up from his screen. I have no doubt Agent Jackson will be getting one hell of an email in a few minutes.
My dad stands and gives me a hug. “I love you, son,” he says. “Call me if you need anything, and I know your job has made you jaded and cynical as hell, but try to give Harper the benefit of the doubt. If she’d wanted to, she could’ve just gone out onto your back deck and screamed for help.”
I laugh because of all the ludicrous scenarios I envisioned of her trying to escape, I never once thought of the insanely obvious just go outside and scream for help one.
“I can’t believe it never occurred to me that she might do that,” I say, shaking my head at my own stupidity. “Rookie mistake.”
My dad grins and squeezes my shoulder. “Like I said, she never did it.”
“Well, I’ve also been giving her insider information for her articles, so that’s most likely why she decided to go along with this whole captivity thing.
This whole time I thought I’ve been keeping her against her will when really she’s just chosen to stay.
I’m feeling like a real dumbass right now. ”
Niki laughs without looking up and says, “Love will do that to you.”
“It definitely will,” my dad says. “Go home to your very willing captive, and enjoy the night with her, Ev. There’s nothing more any of us can do right now.
I can’t believe our asses might be saved by a fucking federal agent, but life is full of irony.
” He has the nerve to grin at me and add, “You should know that better than anyone. My son, the man whose whole life is a well-kept secret, has fallen for an investigative journalist.”
I don’t join in with their laughter.
“I’ll talk to you both later,” I tell them, leaving the room while they continue to share a laugh at my expense.
Once I’m in my car, I drive over to the police station, but before I get out, I grab my phone and check the camera feed at my house.
Harper is on the veranda, trying to get Watson interested in fetching the ball she keeps throwing and he keeps ignoring.
Instantly, I’m smiling and wishing I was with them.
My house no longer feels like the place I go to so I can eat and sleep and shower.
It’s starting to feel like a home, and it’s all because of her.
It’s a dangerous thought. One that has me forcing my eyes away from her sweetly irritated face and Watson’s stubborn refusal to do anything energetic and shoving my phone back in my pocket.
Opening the door, I get out and make my way inside.
I go through the slow process of waiting for Betsy to stop hating me long enough to do her job and buzz me through, and when I’m allowed in, I make my way to the back, looking for the last person I actually want to find and talk to.
Detective Alvarez looks up from the papers in his hand when he hears me coming and immediately scowls at seeing me.
The feeling is definitely mutual.
“Mr. Nikitin,” he says, “I didn’t realize you’d be stopping by tonight.”