Page 14 of Waiting For A Girl Like You
With her brave face on, Evangeline Fairweather silently made her way to the seat across from the laptop. Toby remained oblivious to her arrival, his gaze locked on the ceiling. Once in front of the camera, she said nothing, allowing him to finish.
Laughing still when his head dropped, Toby nearly fell out of his chair when he saw the woman he loved. There was an immediate shift in his demeanor, and he straightened himself, trying to look presentable.
“Hey.” Toby snuck in closer to get a better view, fixing his hair as best he could, even with the shackles limiting his movements. “Hey, Evie.”
“Hello, Toby.”
Liam moved to stand in front of Samuel, giving him his back in case he needed to block his friend from running over to his wife. Samuel couldn’t handle having Evie upset or scared, and since the attack on their home and family, the paranoid state he lived in had only been amplified.
Surprising them all, Evie didn’t show an ounce of fear. Rowan wasn’t sure what he expected, but it sure as hell wasn’t Evie being the brave one.With an icy stare in place, the only hint of emotion coming off her was annoyance.
And the entire day was working out in their favor. None of them could have asked for a better setup. Behind Evie, the dining hall’s high windows allowed the fall skies to roll past and serve as a backdrop to the oaks and floral gardens waving in the cool autumn breeze. It had been Liam’s idea to position the interview here, with the grand finale being Evie. He had wanted Toby’s last look at the outside world to be everything the man would never have again—the woman and home he’d left behind so many years ago.
“I knew they were lying,” Toby spoke softly as if only he and Evie were in the room. “I would know if something happened to you. I would feel it.”
Evie folded her hands on the table. “Women came to my home, Toby. They broke in with knives and had to be chased away by police.”
“They would never hurt you.”
“Scaring me is as good as hurting me.”
“No. It’s just sometimes…” Toby scooted forward, sinking into a childlike state. “Her selfishness gets in the way. These episodes never last long, and she’ll snap out of it soon.”
“Who is she?” Evie didn’t falter, holding strong. “Are you talking about Michael Sinclair’s sister?”
“What? No. I didn’t even know Mike had a sister. And why does everyone keep asking about him?” Toby snickered as if she’d told him a joke. “I mean, he’s a good guy and all that, but I hear he’s become a little unhinged since I got put in here.”
It was Evie’s turn to snicker. “A little unhinged? Toby, he blows people up for fun and came here to hurt us.”
Toby went so pale that the secondary laptop running a thermal scan registered the drop in body temperature. It was something Dr. Cohen wanted to do during the interview, but Rowan didn’t know what good the data would be in a situation like this.
“Is this another lie?” Toby demanded, his eyes searching Evie’s. “I didn’t think he would go there without us.”
“Oh, he came here.” Evie’s bottom lip trembled with outrage, her nose scrunching tight as she fought not to cry. “He came here, and he beat Simone and Annabeth. Then he tried to kidnap Jamison.”
“Mike wouldn’t do that.”
“And then he sent women here to die, and more to my home to kill me and my little girls.” A single tear fell, rolling down Evie’s freckled cheeks. “They wanted my baby.”
Toby’s gaze dropped, finally landing on her pregnant belly peeking over the top of the table. He leaned back, all the excitement over seeing her dissolving into an empty stare. “Congratulations,” he deadpanned. “Are you having a boy or a girl?”
Evie smiled at Samuel standing behind the laptop, looking dazzling and radiant in her maternal happiness. It was all an act, and after this was over, Rowan hoped someone had an Oscar to present to her.
“A boy or a girl? Hmm, I don’t know yet.” Evie sat up straight to speak in a condescending tone. “But what I can tell you is, I’m having myhusband’schild.”
Toby’s nostrils flared, and Evie smirked. “In our perfect home, where we live happily,” she continued, packing each word with malice. “And where Samuel has me whenever he wants.”
Ben lowered himself into a chair next to Dr. Cohen. “What the hell is she doing?”
Dr. Cohen glanced over the top of his glasses at Samuel and Liam. “I’m going to assume she’s engaging in a plan those two concocted and didn’t bother to let anyone else in on.”
Rowan remained silent, also in on the plan, but not about to let Dr. Cohen know. The idea was to enrage Toby enough that he would slip and reveal details that would help them determine where to head next. The deadest of ends had been reached, with wall after wall rising to greet them at every turn. Nothing was panning out. None of their theories. None of the leads they gained from the raid. It was driving them insane, but none more so than Liam.
And the trail for Sinclair had grown cold, the man slipping off into silence after freeing his nephew.
Claudia and her family were also missing. In the aftermath of the women coming to Haven, Claudia’s home was found empty, with no one knowing where she and her partner would have gone with their daughter. Before the raids, Damon had been enraged over Parker’s lack of concern and threatened to snatch his older sister and niece to keep them safe. They could only hope that was the case, and that Damon had takenClaudia and Madison to hide with him and Emily at an undisclosed location.
“Stop it,” Toby snarled in disgust. “Samuelcan’tlove you. He’s not capable of the emotion.”
