“I won’t.” Another lie. “Take care, Landy.”
“You, too, honey.” With a parting grin, he disappeared inside the house.
Finally alone once again, Evie drew in a cleansing breath and made her way down the mansion’s front steps. She pulled her phone from her purse and quickly ordered a ride from the previously used app before embarking on a reflective walk down the quarter-mile paved driveway.
Less than ten minutes later, the expected blue sedan arrived at the property’s wrought-iron gate. And as she left her family home—and a lifetime full of lies—behind, Evie realized she was finally and truly…
Free.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Four hours later…
“Areyou sure this is a good idea?”
“Nope.” Beckett kept his chin up and his shoulders back as he made his way through the hotel lobby. The confident stature creating an appearance of belonging, despite the answer he’d just given.
“She may not want you there, you know.” Shadow didn’t pull punches. “Going toe-to-toe with her father about what he did…that couldn’t have been a pleasant conversation.”
His grip tightened around his phone at the thought of Evie’s piece of shit dad. “Why do you think I’m here?”
“You’re there because you care about this woman. But as someone who cares aboutyou, I want you to be prepared for the possibility that she may not be elated when you show up at her hotel room unannounced.”
“Who wouldn’t be happy to see me?” Beckett teased, boarding the elevator and pressing the button to Evie’s floor.
“Bones…”
The brilliant woman’s warning made him grin. “It’s like I said earlier, when I first called. I just need to see for myself that she’s okay. Once that happens, if Evie wants me to leave, I’ll be on the next flight back to Charlotte.”
“Mmm hmmm…” She sounded less than convinced. “Well, unless Owens says otherwise, the team’s in-house the rest of the week. Oh, and your five-day vacation request was submitted and approved before your plane ever left the ground. You know, just in case you do decide to stay.”
The corners of his lips curved even higher. “One of these days, you’ll have to tell me how you do that.”
“Do what?”
Her overtly innocent tone didn’t fool him for a second.
“How you seem to know exactly what we need at the exact time we need it.”
“What can I say?” Shadow asked rhetorically. “It’s a gift, really.”
It sure as hell was.
“You’re one of a kind, you know that?”
“Of course, I do.” The woman didn’t miss a beat. “The world couldn’t handle two of me.”
Beckett’s chuckle echoed off the elevator’s reflective walls as the cart came to a stop and the doors slid open. “Bye, Shadow. Thanks again.”
“Good luck, Bones. And, for what it’s worth, I really do hope she’s happy to see you.”
The line went dead before he could respond.
He stepped out into the elevator lobby. Taking his cue from the signs mounted on the wall opposite from where he stood, Beckett turned right and began making his way down the long, empty hallway.
His footfalls were swallowed by the hotel’s soft, patterned carpet as he passed by several numbered doors. The closer hegot to room four-fifty-three, the more he began to question his impulsive decision to come here.
What if Shadow was right? What if Evie isn’t happy to see me?