Chapter 5 - EVELYN'S SECOND PHONE
We hit the emergency exit and spilled into the alley.
An alarm screamed behind us.
Rick carried the recorder beneath his jacket.
The injured fighters scattered.
I grabbed Dustin.
“You’re staying with me.”
“For protection?”
“No.”
I pushed him toward my truck.
“So you don’t run.”
Sirens sounded somewhere in the distance.
Good.
Someone had heard the alarm.
Maybe.
Then my phone rang again.
Eleanor.
I answered.
“We’re okay,” she said before I could speak.
I exhaled.
“Where is Evelyn?”
“With me.”
“Put her on.”
“She’s awake, but Frank…”
“What?”
“She wants you to know something.”
A weak voice came through.
“Dad?”
Every ounce of anger inside me changed direction.
“Baby, I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I lied.”
“About what?”
“The flash drive.”
Dustin looked at me.
I put the call on speaker.
Evelyn continued.
“I knew Dustin would search my purse.”
I stared at him.
His eyes dropped.
“So I gave him a fake drive.”
Rick slowly smiled.
Smart girl.
“Where is the real one?”
“I don’t have it.”
My heart sank.
Then Evelyn said, “Mom does.”
Silence.
I looked at the phone.
Eleanor sounded equally surprised.
“I do?”
“Remember the little red makeup case I gave you last Sunday?”
Eleanor gasped.
“Evelyn…”
“The drive is sewn inside the lining.”
I almost laughed.
Even half-conscious with broken ribs, my daughter was three moves ahead.
“Listen to me,” I said. “Give that drive to hospital security.”
“No,” Evelyn said immediately.
“Why?”
“Because Kessler has people there.”
Dustin whispered, “She’s right.”
I glared at him.
Evelyn heard his voice.
Everything became silent.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“Is Dustin with you?”
“Yes.”
Her breathing changed.
“Don’t trust him.”
Dustin shut his eyes.
“I’m not.”
“No,” she whispered. “You don’t understand.”
I waited.
“When I found the recordings, Dustin was already in them.”
He looked up sharply.
“What?”
Evelyn’s voice became colder.
“He wasn’t just helping his uncle.”
Dustin shook his head.
“Evelyn—”
“He recruited people.”
Rick stared at him.
“For what?”
Evelyn answered.
“Victor’s illegal fights.”
Dustin’s shoulders collapsed.
May you like
But my daughter still wasn’t finished.
“And some of the fighters never came home.”
