“Sorry, I have to take this. Bad timing, I know, but it's important.”
“Hi, Ben... uh-huh... Seriously? Right now? Damn, alright... Yeah, I know it's serious. I'll be there right away.”
He put the phone down on the sofa, and I could see from the look on his face that something serious was going on.
“Drug situation,” he said grimly. “I am so sorry, Viv. I have to go, right now. Do you mind keeping an eye on Janie while I’m gone?”
“Of course not. It's alright,” I said. “I know you have to do what you have to do.”
“Where did I put the truck keys,” he said like a rhetorical question. He placed his phone on the sofa next to me, and he got up and hurried to his bedroom to search for the keys.
His phone buzzed as a message came through. I glanced at it, curious, and as my eyes read the first part of the message, which was visible on the screen without me having to unlock the phone or even touch it, nausea started spreading like poison through my veins.
“Hi Everett, it's Liza again. I just wanted to say that I can't stop thinking about how amazing it felt when you put your arms around me this afternoon, and I've been longing for you…”
That was all I could see – but it was all I needed to see. Everett hurried back into the room, now holding the keys to his truck. He grabbed his phone and stuffed it into his pocket without noticing that there was a message on the screen.
He leaned down and kissed me sweetly and warmly. It was very convincing.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, and he jogged out of the house.
I didn't reply; I simply stared blankly at the door as it closed in his wake and watched as even more pieces of my world began to shatter around me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Everett
As I jogged out of the house, I couldn't help but feel a strange mixture of emotions. I was kind of annoyed that I had to leave just as I was about to get comfortable and relax with Vivienne. It was an immense relief that I had finally opened up and gotten some things off my chest and told Vivienne the truth about my past. She had handled it with such compassion and care it only reinforced my feelings that she was the right woman for me.
And then, of course, there was the excitement about what Ben had just told me. William Stevens, one of those little punks who had been buying drugs when Kendrick had gotten shot, had been caught trying to sneak back into his house. Weirdly enough, his dad, that slovenly biker with the bad attitude, had been the one who had called us. I guess the news that his kid had been involved in a shooting had forced him to be a bit more proactive in the way he was bringing his son up.
This time, I was more careful than before; I took a semi-automatic Colt .45 pistol with me and made sure I didn't forget my phone this time.
I took my phone out to message Ben and tell him I was leaving and groaned as I saw what was on the screen: another message from Liza. I sighed and opened it.
It read: “Hi Everett, it's Liza again. I just wanted to say that I can't stop thinking about how amazing it felt when you put your arms around me this afternoon, and I've been longing for your touch so badly. I should never have done what I did to you. Losing you remains the greatest regret of my life. I would do anything – just anything – to have you back with me again. Please, please Everett, can't we give it one more go? Can't you give me one more chance? I miss you... I miss us. My desire for you has only increased over all these years that we've been apart. Please, Everett... Give me another chance.”
I had no time to reply to this now. Shaking my head, I sent the message to Ben and then shoved the phone back into my pocket and drove off. With everything else that was going on, any drama with Liza really was the last thing I needed.
I reached the Stevens’ house after about 15 minutes of much too fast driving. Ben was pulling into the driveway ahead of me just as I arrived; the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
“Hey, Ben,” I said as I stepped out.
“Hey, Everett. Sorry to spoil your Sunday evening like this, but I'm sure you know how important this is.”
“I know, Ben, I know. I didn't think we'd be seeing either of these two anytime soon, not since we got word they had gone into hiding in LA.”
“Yeah, we're lucky Mr. Stevens was alert enough to catch him.”
“What was he doing back here anyway?” I asked.
Ben chuckled dryly. “He came back for his iPad.”
I shook my head. “Kids these days and their damn technology. I'm glad I didn’t grow up with this stuff. But hey, I guess we should be grateful the little punk is so addicted to his iPad that he risked his freedom to sneak back here and try to get it.”
“Yeah,” Ben smirked. “Lucky for us, very unlucky for him.”
“Well, let's go on in and give this little criminal a good talking to.”