Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
“You can sleep, you know. I won’t creep on you,” Evie says. We’re currently cuddled up on her bed, watching some shitty romance movie. Well, she’s watching the movie. I’m struggling to stay awake.
“Are you saying I’m not pretty enough to creep on, mi alma?” I ask her.
“No, you are. I’m just not a creeper.” She chuckles.
“I wouldn’t mind you creeping on me,” I tell her. “In fact, I’d welcome it.”
“Good to know. But seriously, you look exhausted,” she says.
“It’s been a busy couple of days. Add that to the fact I didn’t have you with me, and it just made it hell.” I truly have never missed anyone the way I miss this woman when she’s not with me.
“E? How did you find the doctor? How did you know who he was?”
I’ve been waiting for her to ask this. I continue to twirl my fingers through her hair. “I sent someone to talk to your mother. She gave us a list of names, every asshole who touched you. I started with the doctor.”
Evie sits up, moving away from me. “Did you… did you kill my mother?”
“No,” I answer quickly. “I sent someone else to talk to her. Because if it had been me, knowing what she did to you, I probably would have. And I won’t do that unless you want me to.”
Evie shakes her head. “I don’t,” she says. “I don’t want to see her again, or talk to her, but I also don’t want her to die.”
“You are too good for this world, Evie Carter,” I say, pulling her back into my arms. It feels right, being with her, holding her. “I want you to come to Vegas with me.”
“I can’t,” she says.
“Why not?”
“Because my store just burned down, E. I need to sort it out. I need to be here to rebuild. There are probably a million things I need to do that I don’t even know about yet. I’ve never had a business burn down.”
“You didn’t own the building, Evie. All you have to do is submit your insurance claim and find a location for a new store. Order your stock and go from there. You can do that from Vegas,” I tell her.
The shrill ringtone of her phone interrupts us. “Shit, it’s Charlotte,” she says. “Be quiet. You are not here.”
I raise a brow but don’t say a word as Evie answers her friend’s call.
“Charlotte, hey, how’s married life?” I don’t hear the other side of the call, but Evie responds with, “I didn’t want to bother you. You are finally happy, Charlotte. You don’t need to be bothered by my problems.”
Their conversation continues for about five minutes before there’s a knock at Evie’s front door. Standing, I pick up my pistol from the bedside table. Evie’s eyes widen at me.
“Um, Charlotte, someone’s at my door. I’ll call you back,” she says, dropping the phone while glaring at me. “What are you doing?”
“Seeing who the fuck is knocking on your door at seven in the morning,” I tell her. “Wait here.”
“No. Put that away. It’s probably Rachel.” She barges past me.
“Evie, don’t open that door,” I growl behind her. She looks back over her shoulder at me.
“You are overreacting.” She rolls her eyes. “But by all means, open the door if it means that much to you.” She steps to the side and gestures in front of me.
Blocking her body with mine, I swing the door open. “Who the fuck are you?” I ask the man who has his fist raised halfway as he prepares to knock again.
“Ah… is Evie here?”
“Who the fuck are you?” I repeat.
“Oh my god, E, stop.” Evie shoves her way through the small gap between me and the opening of the door. “Phil, what are you doing here?”
“I… ah… There was an update on the investigation at your shop. Thought you’d want to know,” Phil replies, his eyes bouncing between Evie and me.
“What update?” she asks.
“The fire wasn’t an accident. They found evidence of arson. I shouldn’t even be telling you this. I just wanted to give you a heads-up, because the cops will be here soon asking questions,” the asshole says what I already suspected.
“What? I don’t understand. Amy said she was steaming a dress and the fire just started. Why would she lie about it?” Evie questions.
“I don’t know. But I figured you didn’t know anything about it. I’m sorry, Evie.” Phil shakes his head from side to side. “I’ll catch you around,” he says as he turns to leave.
“Who the fuck is Phil and why is he so concerned about you?” I ask Evie as soon as the door is closed.
“You need to get a grip, Emmanuel. Phil is Charlotte’s ex. He’s also a firefighter at the local department.” Evie walks towards the kitchen. I follow her.
“Your friend has some seriously awful taste in men,” I grumble.
“She married one of your best friends,” Evie retorts.
“My point exactly,” I tell her. “I’m going out for a bit. I’ll have Paz stay here with you. If the cops come, let Paz talk to them. You don’t tell them shit.”
“Where are you going?” she asks.
“I have an errand to run.” I lean in and kiss her cheek. “I won’t be long.”
Evie frowns. “Okay.”
Paz knocks on the front door. When I open it, I tell him what I’m doing in Spanish and mention that the cops could turn up to question Evie. What I’m about to do, well, it will be easier to ask her for forgiveness than permission.
Tomás is waiting for me out on the street. “Ready for some fun?” I ask him.
“Always, jefe.” He smirks. The bastard is twisted in ways I’ll never understand. Then again, to make it up the ranks, you need to be twisted as fuck.
It takes ten minutes for us to stop four houses down from Amy’s. She shares a place with her boyfriend, Hugh. As Tomás and I get closer to the property on foot, we can hear the screaming coming from inside the house.
“You’re a fucking idiot, Amy! I told you it would be okay. You had to go and burn the fucking place down,” a male voice yells.
“She was going to figure it out, Hugh. I couldn’t hide the fact that money was missing.” Amy replies.
I wave my hand towards the back of the house. Tomás follows my lead. I turn the doorknob and it opens. I walk through the kitchen, following the shouting until I find both Hugh and Amy in the living room.
Amy gasps when she sees me. The boyfriend puffs out his chest. “Who the hell are you?” he asks.
I tilt my head to the side, raise my arm, and pull the trigger. The fucker drops to the ground with a thud. I’m not here for him. Amy lets out an ear-piercing scream.
“You fucked up,” I say, pointing the gun in her direction.
“No. He made me do it!” she cries out. “I didn’t mean to.”
Tomás walks behind her, covering her mouth. “You know I can make her pay in ways you won’t, jefe,” he tells me in Spanish.
“No.” I shake my head. “You stole from my girlfriend. Burned down her store, her dream.”
I walk around the room. I don’t want her death to be easy. Fuck this girl. She fucking broke Evie’s heart.
“You got a light?” I ask Tomás.
“Yep.” He reaches into his pocket and hands me a lighter.
“Bring her here.” I walk down the hall, opening each door until I find the bedroom.
Amy kicks and screams against Tomás’s hold. It doesn’t do her any good, though.
I pull the sheet from the bed and twirl it around, creating a makeshift rope before tying it around Amy’s body. I return my attention to Tomás. “Keep her there. I’ll be right back.”
I head into the garage, glancing around until I find what I’m looking for. A bottle of starter fluid. This will work. When I make my way back into the bedroom, I pour the liquid over the sheet.
Tomás smiles at me, knowing exactly what’s coming next. “You torched her dream. I’m going to torch you,” I tell Amy.
“No… please. Don’t do this. I didn’t mean to!” She screams when Tomás lets go of her.
Amy attempts to stand up, but stumbles back to the ground. I flick the lighter and toss it in her direction. The sheet ignites. Her screams get louder, her body thrashing around on the carpet.
“Damn, jefe. If I’d known we were barbequing, I would have bought s’mores.” Tomás chuckles.
“You have issues.” I laugh, watching as Amy’s body finally stops moving. “Let’s go.”
Tomás follows me out the back of the house. As we climb into the car, the sound of sirens can be heard in the distance.
“They’re quick to respond here,” Tomás says, starting the engine.
“Small fucking towns,” I grunt. I hate them. But I don’t plan on being here much longer.
When I get back to Evie’s, the cops are on her doorstep with Paz.
“Is there a problem?” I ask, stepping up behind the pigs in uniform. I could have taken them both out and they’d be none the wiser. Fucking idiots are too comfortable with the locals.
“You are?” The taller one looks me up and down.
“Emmanuel Lopez. Why are you at my girlfriend’s house?”
“We have some questions for Miss Carter, regarding the fire at her store yesterday,” he says.
“She was at lunch with her friend when that fire started. From what we understand, her employee, Amy, told her it was an accident. She was steaming a dress when the garment burst into flames,” I tell him.
“We have reason to believe the fire was deliberate,” the other officer chimes in.
“Deliberate? What would anyone have to gain by burning down a dress shop?” I counter.
A voice comes over the radios they’re wearing. They pause to listen to it before adding, “We will be back.” Then they both rush away.
“Guess they have more burning matters to attend to,” Paz says with a slight smile on his face.
“Guess so,” I agree, watching the police car pull out of the driveway. “Get the jet ready. She’s coming home.”