A SIMPLE SECRET™

Love comes calling

CHAPTER 9

After a night of hell, watching families console each other over the loss of their loved ones and praying the body count doesn’t get higher as one of the agents was currently in critical condition. Noah wanted to lay in bed and start over yesterday, he could still hear the screams of Jake’s wife as they showed his body. The woman had screamed at Jake not to leave her then scream at Noah and Cooper as the culprits for taking away the father of her children. Cooper had even vowed when they were leaving the morgue to check on her regularly in one of his rare moods of compassion.

Seeing his phone vibrate on the nightstand, he picked it up absently thinking it was either work or Cooper he said “Yeah Marshall here.”

“Noah?” a voice said that cause him to straighten up in bed and stupidly check his hair as though she could see him.

“Evaline?” He asked stupidly even though there was only one voice that made his heart race like that.

“I saw the news” she said then asked quietly “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m not hurt thanks for…” Noah began.

“No Noah, I meant are you ok?" Evaline said stressing the words.

He grew quiet for a second then replied “I’m good Evaline”

“No you’re not.” She said in what Noah was coming to recognize was her bossy tone. “I can come over if you like Noah”

“That’s not necessary.” He said too quickly panicking at the thought of Evaline in his bachelor pad. Speaking more calmly “besides I have work to do.”

“Ok then” she said disappointed then commanded “If you need to talk, you will call me.”

“Yeah , I’ll do that.”

“You better” she threatened. “Be safe Noah” she said hanging up.

Noah stared at the phone realizing how screwed he was. Here he sat in bed with a beautiful woman offering him comfort and he didn’t even think to call her after what went down. This is why he didn’t do relationships he didn’t have time for them. Either he forgot they existed or they walked out on him. In love with the job one woman had screamed at him. He should end it now with Evaline. How long would it be before she was screaming at him too? Besides, Evaline deserved better than wondering if her man was coming home for dinner or at all.

Thinking to call her back and get it over with because something told him dumping Evaline in person would end very badly, so he opted for the cowards way out. He then saw several missed calls on his phone, one from Evaline, she must have tried to call him last night when he was at the hospital and he had switched off the his phone. His mother made up the rest. He should call her Noah thought but didn’t want to hear the same argument that she didn’t want to lose her son the same way she lost her husband.

Noah’s father Sargent William Marshall, which was his rank when he was killed on the job two days before he took his desk job, was a decorated Marine. He only signed up for the desk job because his wife Anabeth had nagged him into it and she was also the reason Noah was an FBI agent and not in the Marine corps thinking he’d be safer state side but not banking on Noah becoming a field agent.  He’d call her on the way to work he thought finally that way he could at least limit the call to 10 minutes.

Thirty minutes later Noah was approaching his desk, seeing a crowd of agents surrounding it he spoke getting their attention. “Hey you all better have a damn good reason for just standing…” The words died in his throat because as the crowd, which he suddenly realized was all male, parted he saw Evaline sitting in his chair smiling up at him.