The Red Evening

Chapter Forty-Three

Felix held his finger up, ready to defend his friend. "Elijah might have lied to us but if anything is true, it's his love for you."

I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. "As much as I want to believe that's true Felix, I won't allow myself to believe it. If worse comes to worse and Elijah is lying to me about his love, I won't be able to take it. I refuse to lose any more hope."

He opened his mouth to speak but Pia glared at him as she shook her head.

"My dad gave Elijah in total, 5 million, for keeping an eye on me. I've check bank statements and have seen no traces of it. I assume it's all in cash. Would you know where he would keep it?"

"Actually, yes," he said, standing up and pointed down the hall. "Let's go."

Everyone followed Felix, I couldn't blame their curiosity. I never would have imagined that my life would play out like this. I had an over protective and off the rail father who framed my husband, who intitially watched over me for money. I shook my head and continued to find myself in disbelief of my life.

Felix walked into the gym room and walked over to a large painting that hung above the bench press. He placed his fingers along the edges and pushed it up and off, to reveal a large safe. Pia and Xavier's jaw dropped, and I could only cover my face.

"Is this real?" I groaned.

"Very," Felix said. "It has a code. We probably have three tries, but if we fail, it'll be on lockdown."

Felix began typing in a few numbers and his eyes flickered with anger when the keypad displayed red.

"Two more tries," Xavier whispered.

Felix shot him an annoyed glare.

"When's your birthday?" Felix asked me.

"August 23rd. Why?"

He turned around and punched in 0823 but the keypad turned red again. "It has to be a date."

"Did you try his mother's birthday?" I asked, realizing I didn't know it.

"That's the first set of numbers I tried," he said, rubbing his chin.

"Graduation date?" Xavier suggested.

"Doubt it. College didn't mean much to him," Felix responded.

"The day you guys dated?" Pia asked, elbowing me.

"That could work. When is that?" Felix asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "We don't have an official date day. We were back and forth in the beginning."

"When's the night you slept with him?" Felix asked.

"I don't know?" I sighed. "Some time in mid October?" I offered but was completely unsure.

"How about our anniversary? Feburary 16?" I said, hoping that it would be of help.

"Oh so you remember that day," Felix quipped.

"It's my anniversary!" I defended.

"It could be that but that feels too obvious."

"Oh and my birthday isn't?" I scoffed.

Felix rolled his eyes and stared at the keypad. He started hovering his fingers over the keypad and creating strange motions with them. "I don't know," he sighed in defeat.

"Try 0802. Worse comes to worse, one of you could let me borrow 5 million and Elijah could repay you?" I asked casually to mask my hopefulness. Both Felix and Pia were beyond rich on their end so I knew it shouldn't be an issue.

"I'm in debt," Xavier informed, scratching his head.

"It sucks to be poor," Felixed yawned. "I'll take you on that offer plus with interest."

I shrugged. "That's on Elijah."

Felix faced the keypad and slowly input the numbers 0-8-0-2. The keypad lit up green and the safe opened. "What's the significance of those numbers?"

"He received an email from dad's associate on August 2nd regarding his task to over see me. The money is linked to me, which was linked to that day."

Felix nodded, impressed by my power of deduction. "We could use a female on the team."

"No thank you," I said, shoving past him to look into the safe. There were bundles of cash in the very back, along with currency from other countries. "It seems like it's all here," I said, pulling them out and tossing it onto the floor.

"What are you going to do with this money?" Felix asked. "Don't tell me you're going to leave him. That would kill him, Morena." He genuinely seemed worried about my next move.

A part of me did want to take part of money, it's the least I deserved for being lied to for months. I couldn't go through with it considering I was planning on giving it all to my dad. I didn't want him having anything to hold over us. It was better to let go of his blood money.

"It's going back to my dad."

"What exactly is your plan?" Pia asked. "You're not seriously thinking about going there, right? It's dangerous and someone in your state can't take those risks."

I glared at Pia, irritated that she had almost outed my pregnancy to Felix. If Felix knew, he would tell Elijah and I didn't need that additional stress. No one needed it.

Felix eyed me suspiciously. "What state is she referring to?"

"My mental state," I disclosed. "I'm obviously going through a lot. I don't think seeing my drug lord father is the best, but it needs to be done."

"I'm all about mental health but at the moment, we need to get Elijah out," Felix said, facing Pia.

I agreed with a nod but my other two friends glared at me with disapproval. There love for me was too strong to reveal my secret, even if it did put me and child in danger.

"You should hear back from the FBI tomorrow. They've been wanting to catch your dad for decades. They're ready and you should be too."

My stomach reeled with guilt for helping the government put my father away. He betrayed me at the age of three and decided to enter my life at eighteen like God, but wreaked havoc like Satan. Not only did he pose a threat to Elijah and me, but to our child. He had to go even if it means becoming a traitor myself.

The night went on with my friends and Felix keeping eachother company in the living room. Minimal words were exchanged and everyone seemed to passively watch the movie we collectively picked. There was too much tension in the room and it made it unbearable to breath.

"I'm going to call it a night," I said, excusing myself.

Even when I had the room to myself I couldn't manage to fall asleep. I tossed and turned, flipped pillows over, laid diagonally and still remained bothered. I managed to doze off at some point but I could feel that my body wasn't absorbing any of it.

I shot up from my bed, mid gasp, when I heard my cell phone ring. An unknown number was calling me. I hesitated to pick it up, it could've been my father, my husband, or the FBI. I didn't want to speak to any of them, but had to take the chance.

"Hello?" I answered, my voice softer than intended.

"Hello, Morena. It's Agent Asher and we are ready to move forward."

It was time.