Chapter 25
EVELYN
My guys were all sitting on the couch when I let myself into the penthouse. Adrian and Marcus saw me first, sitting in the armchairs that faced the couch. I motioned to them to stay put while I rounded the corner of the couch.
After a brief hesitation, I crawled onto Alexander’s lap and turned to face the room. His arms wrapped around me, and it felt like the whole room took a breath.
“I’m sorry for having a freak out and shutting you out,” I said, blowing out a breath. “You guys didn’t deserve that.”
“Hey.” Sebastian leaned over. “Everyone deserves a moment after that.”
“He’s right,” Marcus said, his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“Awww, did you hear that, Evie? Marcus said I was right, which is how you know it’s true.” Sebastian waggled his eyebrows. Marcus and I rolled our eyes, and Sebastian just grinned at us.
“Are you feeling better after talking to your friends?” Alexander asked, shifting so I could nestle tighter into his chest.
Izzy must have messaged him that they were coming over. Or actually, Alexander probably messaged Izzy to let them know I needed them. Warmth bloomed in my chest at how well he took care of me.
“I am. They knocked some sense into me.”
“What did they have to say?” Adrian asked.
“They just reminded me that I’m not alone.
Which I knew,” I said quickly, seeing Sebastian opening his mouth.
“But I think…it always felt like the Archers was my responsibility, and somewhere along the way, that turned into it was only my responsibility, and asking anyone to carry responsibility in an organization I created felt like I was failing them. But the Archers has worked as well as it has because of everyone in it. They know the weight of our mission because they’ve carried the weight too. I just didn’t see it that way.”
“It’s easy to lose sight of that,” Alexander said. “But you have them, and you have us. And we’ll keep reminding you when you need the reminder.”
“And we’ll help you carry the weight,” Adrian said.
I smiled at him. Adrian had carried the weight of my secret for longer than anyone else in this room. But I knew they all would.
“What do you need now?” Dominic asked.
“I need your help to make a plan,” I said. “A plan to take down Drake once and for all.”
Sebastian grinned, the light in his eyes slightly unhinged. “My darling, all you had to do was ask.”
My spacious apartment felt small and cozy with everyone crowded in the living room.
Sebastian and Dominic brought chairs over from my dining room table so we could all fit around my coffee table.
Marcus had brought down the rolling whiteboard and put it in front of the TV.
He handed me a marker with a sweet kiss.
With everyone settled in and their attention on me, I took a deep breath. Communities don’t survive because one person holds everything together. They survive because everyone takes ownership, shares the load, and believes in it.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s get started.”
I quickly recapped the last twelve hours.
Ginny’s eyewitness account placing Drake at the scene of the trafficking, Mercer’s willingness to reopen the case if we had something concrete, and Drake’s press conference.
While most of them knew at least some of this information, it was good to get everyone on the same page.
When I finished, everyone was quiet for a moment. Marcus leaned forward. “We need to control the narrative before Drake does it for us.”
“Agreed,” Alexander said. “He framed the Archers as a criminal organization terrorizing the city when it’s the exact opposite. We need to flip the story quickly before it settles into the news cycles.”
“We could reach out to Mercer,” Dominic suggested. “He said he would help when we’re ready. A statement from a federal agent saying the Archers assisted with the raid would help set the record straight.”
I thought about it. It could definitely help. It also would shine a light on the Archers organization. I’m not sure I wanted to do that just yet. Our work still depended on us not being well known.
“What do you think?” I asked Izzy. “I’m worried about exposing us too much.”
Izzy inclined her head as she thought. “I agree it’s a risk. We still have several sensitive operations I would rather people not dig into too much. But what if there’s a compromise?”
“What are you thinking?” Alexander asked.
“The nonprofit,” Izzy said. “We could launch that publicly, and that could be what Mercer names in his statement. That would lend legitimacy to the nonprofit as well as give us a public face but still protect our more sensitive operations.”
I pursed my lips. I actually liked that idea a lot.
The nonprofit was a good idea; we just hadn’t done a ton with it since Marcus presented it to Izzy and me.
To be fair, we had a lot going on but still.
Revealing some of our organization to the light would change the story while not exposing all of our operations.
“I like it,” Maya said. “We should do our own press conference. We could get Mercer over here to do a live statement next to Evelyn.”
“I could also reach out to Donna Keesecker,” Marcus said. “If you’re interested in having her on the board, she would be a good ally and not someone people would mess with.”
Donna was a wealthy widow who ran several food banks around the city. She was a huge philanthropist, and I could see our mission being a good fit for her interests. Plus, she was very influential in the city and a long-term client of SDS.
“What parts of our operations would we move under the nonprofit?” Grace asked.
I bit my lip. “I’m thinking of two parts.
First, our safehouses. We could move those over as shelters for women.
The locations should still stay private, but we could be more public about their existence as a resource for women and children escaping bad situations.
And then the second part is a bit more complicated to untangle from Archer operations, but think of it like a resource network.
Right now, we connect people organically as they need it.
We could partner with Donna’s food banks for food scarcity resources and have a fund to help pay utilities.
Basically, we could formalize the resources we already connect people with now but under the nonprofit. ”
“And raise money around those resources,” Izzy pointed out.
“You already help with people’s utilities now?” Adrian asked.
I nodded. “It’s more of a community fund now. People contribute what they can, and we distribute it as needed.”
“We also…liberate certain assets from certain people.” Liam smirked. “And that money goes into the fund.”
“Yeah, that’s the complicated part we would have to be careful of,” Grace said. “We would have to figure out how to keep it separate so it doesn’t cross over.”
Izzy nodded. “Liam and I can work together on that.”
“Speaking of funding sources…” Maya said. “The food banks, if Donna is interested, plus the utility fund should definitely be something we mention at the press conference.”
Marcus nodded. “It helps with the reframe from criminal organization that’s been operating in the shadows to a community organization that’s been quietly doing the work the system hasn’t.”
“And if the announcement comes after Mercer’s statement, then Drake’s story falls apart,” Adrian said.
“Does that work then?” Izzy asked, looking at me. “Are you okay with exposing that part of the organization?”
“I think it’s time,” I said. “But it’s not just my call. It’s your organization as much as mine.” I looked at all of them.
Izzy beamed at me, a proud look in her eyes. “I think it’s the right choice.”
“Me too,” Maya and Liam said at the same time, mock glaring at each other after they spoke.
“Same,” Danny said.
“Agreeing with Danny twice in one day? Are pigs flying?” Grace joked.
Laughter echoed in the room, and I smiled. “Perfect. Let’s do it.”
“I can get the paperwork moving tonight,” Marcus said. “I’ve had the structure ready for a while. We just need a name, and then I’ll reach out to Donna tonight.”
“What do we call it?” Maya asked, looking around at us.
Everyone was quiet as they thought, but I didn’t need to think about it. I looked at Danny, my cousin and one of my best friends. He had been there for me throughout everything in my life, and he was also stupidly good at naming things. He grinned back at me.
“Merrywood,” he said. “For the Merry Men and Sherwood Forest.”
“Robin Hood.” Sebastian nodded approvingly. “I like it.”
“It was a safe haven in the legend,” Danny said. “And that’s what this is, right? A safe haven that you’ve built.”
My throat felt suspiciously tight, and I swallowed hard. “Merrywood it is.”
“Okay,” Alexander said. “Press conference tomorrow. Mercer gives his statement, Evelyn announces Merrywood with Donna Keesecker there at her side. We shift the narrative and get ahead of whatever Drake is planning next.”
“What about Drake himself?” Liam asked, his laptop open on his lap. “What are our next steps there?”
“We have Ginny’s testimony and the manifest,” Dominic said. “What we need now is financial evidence. Asset tracking, deposits, withdrawals—anything that connects him financially to the trafficking operation. We either need original copies or account numbers the SID agents can look at and verify.”
Liam nodded. “Sebastian and I will keep working through shell companies. I’ll get a list of account numbers together.”
“Carefully,” Izzy reminded him.
“We’ve been careful.” Liam rolled his eyes with the mild offense of a younger brother being reminded to clean his room again. I wasn’t worried about it, though. Liam knew what was at stake here. They all did.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s get to work.”