Page 31 of Tapped

“You look like you’re running away from home.” With a fake smile plastered on her tortured face, she looks down at Chase. “What’s in there besides toys?”

“Underwear and pajamas and shorts.”

Evie bends at the waist and picks him up. She’s too small and he’s too big to be held like that, but at the same time, they’re a perfect fit. “Did you pack your toothbrush?”

Chase looks guilty.

“You have everything you need at our house. And you’re ready to swim? That’s all that matters. I’m sure your grandma will order you a whole wardrobe.” Hugh smirks at Chase who agrees vigorously.

“What am I going to do without you?” Evie pulls him into her in a tight embrace. “Give me a kiss. I’ll call you every time I get a break.”

Chase gives Evie a big smack on the cheek before wiggling away, and she’s forced to set him down.

Hugh mirrors the peck on her cheek before asking, “What’s on your schedule today?”

She shrugs. “I have to swing by the hospital to check on a patient, appointments all morning, and a funeral after lunch.”

A funeral?

“We need to go. I have a car waiting out front. But as soon as I get to the helicopter, I’ll arrange for someone to be with you all day. If you have to push your schedule back and miss the funeral, everyone will understand. Do not leave the house until you hear from me.”

I’ve never seen anyone be so businesslike about a funeral. It’s not like she’s a mortician. She’s a doctor and in the business of keeping people alive.

Evie sighs.

“Love you,” Hugh says to his daughter. “I’ll check in to see how you’re doing throughout the day.”

“Love you too.” She rustles Chase’s dark, shaggy hair and presses a kiss to the top of his head. “Love you, baby. I’ll miss you every minute, but have fun.”

Chase is clueless to the nightmare circling him and his mother. “Love you, Mama.”

I stay in the kitchen and wait for Evie to return after walking them to the front door and pull out my cell. “Give me your number.”

She walks straight to her coffee. “I filled out more paperwork than Medicare requires from my patients. The DEA has my number.”

“I sat awake at your house all night and you’re going to make me look that shit up?” I ask. “Give me your number, Evie.”

She picks up her coffee. “I appreciate you staying last night. I can’t pretend I wasn’t freaked. I hate to admit it, but in the dark of night, everything from yesterday caught up with me. I thought being in this house alone with Chase was bad, but sending him off to stay with my parents … that was torture.”

I move through the kitchen and round the island leaving a few feet between us. “Are you really going to make me look up your number? I was serious when I said I’m going to work on this.”

“You were also serious when you said it wasn’t your job. Let the PD investigate and do everything you can to put my husband away for drug trafficking. He’ll be out of my life for good. My only regret in life will be that I didn’t pick better for Chase. My dad is demanding and over the top, but he’s still a good father and always has been. It’s on me Chase won’t have that in his life.”

“Evie.” I pause, eat up half the distance between us, and lower my voice. “You’ve got a hitman after you and your son. Your husband paid for one, yet he has no fucking clue who it is. You just sent your son away to protect him and you still have to go to a funeral this afternoon. Do yourself a favor and accept the help I’m offering. Give me your number so that when I leave here, I won’t feel like shit if something goes down and I can’t get a hold of you before I can find your phone number in a mountain of paperwork like a needle in a haystack.”

She tips her head back farther to look me in the eyes. “Why are you so determined to help me?”

“Why are you so hardheaded and refusing help from everyone?”

“Because I’m used to doing everything myself.”

“How do you plan on finding the hitman who’s after you?”

Her teeth sink into her bottom lip.

“Exactly,” I confirm her silent answer. “Give me your number.”

She doesn’t hesitate this time. She rattles it off and I type it into my phone like a starved man who hasn’t eaten in a week and finally has had his first taste of food.

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