I hate that I had to call Devon. Don’t get me wrong; he’s my brother, and I love him. But for so many reasons, he’s too much of a reminder of how my life could have turned out. I escaped my father by joining the Army, but Devon has suffered the consequences of being an Evans. He took the rap for him and ended up going inside for five years.
I haven’t seen him since I was seventeen, about a month before I enlisted. I’d dropped out of school, and Roger told me that I had to do something to change the life I was leading; that if I wasn’t careful, I’d end up exactly like Evans. He even drove me to the Army recruitment office.
Roger was the type of man who I can only wish to become, and I’ll do everything I can to make him proud. And right now, that means getting my ass back to New York, and back to Elle’s side.
2
I make it to the interstate out of Atlanta without being followed. I can’t have Gibbons finding me again. We don’t know if he is working alone, or whether he has other staff from the organization working with him.
As soon as I had got off the plane in Atlanta, and reached HQ, I knew something wasn’t right.
I walked into the boss’s office, and the confused look I saw on his face all but confirmed it. Straight away he got to his feet and shut his office door behind him.
“What’s going on Brax?” he asked.
“I thought you could tell me. Why pull me off the Halliwell case? I thought we were there until the threat was neutralized?”
He stopped moving and looked at me as if I’d grown two heads. “What do you mean? Gibbs told me that you and Elle had broken up, and you needed to get out immediately.”
“Fuck!” I clenched my fists, trying to talk myself out of turning around and seriously hurting Gibbons. “Gibbs must be the rat.”
“Hmm, that explains a lot,” he said, deadpan.
“What do you mean? You knew about this?” I asked, my voice demanding answers.
“Fuck, no. But with the GPS fiasco, his lack of follow through with the notes, and now this stunt, he needs to f**king explain himself” I raked my hands through my hair. “I need to get back to her, boss. She’ll be frantic by now,” I added, not being able to fathom how distraught she must’ve been. The whole situation was one big f**k up, and my poor Elle was suffering the consequences.
The boss walked back around his big wooden desk, taking a seat in his high backed leather chair. He leaned back, holding his chin in his hand. I could tell he was trying to work out what to do next.
“Okay Brax, from now on, you only deal with me and Shay. We need to get you off Gibbon’s radar and back to Elle’s side. You know what’s at stake for me, and I definitely can’t afford the feds getting wind of the money just yet. I’ve spent twenty years not being caught. I’m not going to risk it all now.”
“Right,” I murmured, wondering where the hell he was going with it.
“You can stay in my apartment upstairs here at HQ until we find Gibbons. I can’t have you out there without someone having your back, and Shay needs to stay on Elle,” he explained. “In three days, you’ll leave here and call Elle, telling her to meet you. Only tell her the necessary details. If you see Gibbons, or anyone you’re not sure about, you need to get to a safe place.”
“I understand, boss. What about Shay?” I asked. I knew Shay was going to be as angry as I was about Gibbons. We may have had our suspicions, but he was one of the last people we thought would double cross us.
He looked over at me, typing on his laptop. “Shay stays on Elle until we can get you two back together. I’m only doing this because I know you love the girl. She needs the stability you can offer. But Brax, you have to understand that Gibbons is an unknown entity.”
“And where is Gibbs now?” I asked.
“Come here and look.” He beckoned me to his side with his hand. “His GPS hasn’t pinged in over thirty-six hours. God knows how he got away with that without being noticed, but this definitely isn’t a coincidence.”
Then it dawned on me. “Fuck! I need to ring Shay and warn him. Thirty-six hours is long enough for Gibbons to get to Elle.”
The boss looked over at me, grinning like an idiot. “There’s my boy. I knew you had some fight in you. You ring Shay while I check travel bookings. If he’s left the state, I’ll soon know about it,” he mused, almost rubbing his hands in glee. The boss enjoyed this part of the game.
That was three days ago.
Gibbons turned up for his shift the next morning, acting completely normal. Only the boss and I know that he is compromised, so we decided not to rock the boat. We need to find out who he is working for before we confront him and, in the boss’ words, ‘throw out the trash.’ He’s not one to take something like this lying down.
He didn’t ask Gibbons why I’m back, so I’ve had to grin and bear it, acting like nothing is wrong. To be honest, it’s been the hardest three days of my life; being away from Elle and not even being able to contact her to let her know I’m okay. I’ve also had to keep my poker face on in front of Gibbons while the boss investigates him, trying to find evidence of who he’s working for, and any recent contact he’s had with anyone of interest. We think he has to be working for either Evans or Brimstone. My bet is on Brimstone. Evans is a lot of things, but he would never cross the boss man. The boss knows he is my father and their business may occasionally run in the same circles, but at the end of the day, even dear old dad wouldn’t risk my life.
I stayed in the apartment above HQ for three days until the boss sent me a text earlier tonight, telling me the plan. I was to get Elle to meet me out of town, somewhere totally unexpected and unpredictable. That’s why I picked the bandstand on the New Orleans’s waterfront. Elle has never been there, I’ve never been there, and by all accounts it is as public as can be while also being easy to escape from if need be. I’d even arranged a thirty minute window for tonight, getting Leo to cover my ass with Gibbons while I went off radar and called Elle from a payphone down the street. Everything was going to plan until I heard that gun shot.
I will spend the rest of my life making this up to Elle, and hunting down whoever fired that shot.
I will make sure she is never alone or put in danger ever again, if it’s the last thing I do
I’ve been walking for a mile along the I-85 out of Atlanta, hoping that a trucker will have mercy on me. Sure enough, an 18-wheeler pulls up a few moments later. Opening the cab door, I see a heavy set man wearing shorts and a plaid shirt grumbling at me to get in.