Chapter Fifteen.
Tabbitha.
Oh, Evaline. What have you gotten yourself into now?
She actually had the nerve to call me at such an ungodly time this morning to ask for the day off. She has never called in sick, and she didn’t even try to tell me that she was sick. It was immediately obvious to me that she is up to something… But what?
It is most definitely not housework. She is incredibly obsessive about the cleanliness of that little apartment of hers, and she knows that I can tell when she is lying to me. It’s all in her voice. She tries way too hard to sound nonchalant, and it works against her every time.
I shake my head and laugh a little to myself. She will tell me what is up with her when the time is right, this I know for certain. Usually if she can’t tell me something right away, it is only because she hasn’t quite figured it out for herself yet. And that is fine. The only problem is… Ethan has called the store three times already this morning, so I know for a fact that she isn’t with him.
That only leaves Ross.
Why is Ethan calling so much? Doesn’t he realize that it is going to cause suspicion? I’m sure he doesn’t know that I am aware of everything that has been going on, so why isn’t he worried about someone like me, or my employees finding out? He is being reckless. She has a cell phone…
It’s probably turned off.
I feel a small smile stretch my lips.
My Eva is being daring. Perhaps she is the reckless one.
“Tabby, that guy called again!” Katherine walks up to me holding the phone in her hand. “I didn’t answer.”
“Ah, thanks.” I shake my head. “He’s being persistent.”
“What does he want?” She asks.
“More like… who does he want.” I laugh a little. “It seems Evaline has got this one wrapped around her little finger.” I notice her body immediately perk at my mention of Evaline.
How peculiar…
“Oh! Like…mates?” She asks.
All right, now this is a touchy subject. I am sworn to secrecy about this whole dilemma, but what can I tell her to put her curious mind at ease? Tell her that Evaline and Ethan are mated? That would seem normal enough… as long as she knows nothing about Ross. Or lie about the whole thing? Maybe I can pass Ethan off as her brother…
“Tabby?” I snap out of it at the sound of my name.
“Oh, sorry dear! I zone out sometimes.” I pull at my hair. “It’s all of this hair, you know? The roots just tickle my brain and I get so easily side tracked.” I grin.
“I see…” Her voice is wary, and she looks at me as if I am short a few screws.
Can’t really blame the girl.
“So are they mates?” She presses.
“Yup.” I pop the ‘p’ at the end. “Newly initiated mates.”
“So why does he keep calling here?”
Damn, why is she asking me so many questions!
“Uh, because she must have her cell phone off… or she is sleeping. Probably sleeping.” I nod. “You know how antsy new mates are!” I wave my hand dismissively.
“Right.” She says. “Makes sense.”
“Well, enough of our pitter pattering let us get back to the art of flower making!” I enthusiastically say, and right before I turn around to my workstation I don’t miss her rolling her eyes at me.
The afternoon comes and goes quickly, and just as I am finishing the last order of the day, the damned phone rings again. I quickly pick it up after the first ring.
“Perky Petals, Tabby speaking. How can I be of service to your floral needs?” I say over- enthusiastically. Anyone who knows me, knows that this is how I roll. I’m perky and sarcastic.
“Uh, hi… Tabby.” A male voice returns my greeting.
“Are you calling to place an order, dear?” I ask, anxious to get home.
“Actually… no.”
“What can I help you with then?”
“I was wondering if Evaline is there?”
I shake my head.
“No, she is not in today. May I ask who is calling?” Even though I already know.
“It’s Ethan. I can’t get a hold of her… and I have got this terrible feeling.” His voice sounds desperate.
You have got a terrible feeling because she is with Ross, doing unthinkable things… probably.
“Ah, I see.” I look over my shoulder to see Katherine looking at me from the corner of her eye. She is obviously listening in. “Just give me a sec, okay?”
“Sure.” He replies.
Pressing the phone close to my cheek I calmly walk towards the back and hide myself in the large walk-in fridge. As cold as it is, it is much safer to talk discreetly with the noise and the walls.
“Sorry, Ethan?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Great. So you were saying… terrible feelings?”
“Ever since early this morning I have had this terrible feeling that something is wrong with Evaline. I haven’t heard from her in weeks and then all of a sudden I get the gut-wrenching feeling that something has happened…” He pauses, and I start to shiver from the cold. “I don’t know how to explain it, really.”
“I think I understand more than you could possibly realize.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I am Eva’s best friend.” I pause. “So I do know about your little triangle situation…”
His exhale of breath is audible through the phone.
“You know everything?” He asks, clearly surprised.
“Pretty much!” I exclaim. “But you need to stop calling here, it’s too suspicious…”
“Oh, alright. It’s just that… I need to talk to her somehow. I need to know that she’s alright.”
His worry is sincere and I realize just how desperate he must be at this moment.
“I can assure you that she is fine, Ethan.” I inhale a gulp of cold air, exhaling I say, “I don’t want to upset you… so just take it from me that she is in good hands.” I hang up.
I can’t help but to think of whether or not what I just did was a good idea or not. The poor lad needed reassurance, and he could tell that something is up with her through their shared bond. It’s really a question of how strong their bond really is compared to Ross and hers bond. The fact that Ethan can only feel that something is off tells me that their bond together isn’t as strong as the latter anymore… Which also means that Eva and Ross have done something to make their bond stronger that is evidently blocking out Ethan from knowing the truth.
Ay! I didn’t sign up for all of this nonsense!
In a hurry I open up the fridge door, only to see Katherine jump back from it.
“What the?” I exclaim.
“Terribly sorry!” She says frantic, clutching her hands to her heart. “I was just coming to grab some lilies for our last order.”
I eye her suspiciously, knowing that for certain I had already retrieved the last of the lilies, and have in fact almost finished the last order just before Ethan called. What is this little chit up to?
“How much did you hear, Kat?” I ask, shutting the door to the walk-in.
She looks at me taken aback, obviously not expecting me to question her intentions.
“Katherine. And excuse me?”
“You heard.” I push my hair back into a ponytail and look at her expectantly. “I wasn’t born yesterday, and I know you have the curiosity of a two year old.”
Her mouth flaps open and shut like a fish taken out of the water.
“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about. Like I said, I was just coming to get the lilies…”
I cut her off, not wanting to hear her lame excuse again and say, “I already got the lilies an hour ago. You watched me place them in the final order. Let’s not play dumb here.”
Her eyes narrow in on me, and within a second of my final sentence her whole demeanor changes. She straightens her composure, rolling her shoulders backwards. She flattens out her tightly fitted blouse with her hands and separates her feet flat on the floor. A sly smile replaces her recently shocked expression, and she no longer feigns innocence. The small woman has transformed into a devious fox, and seems as hard as stone.
“Okay, no more playing.” She says, her voice firm. “I need to take you in for questioning.”
“Questioning? Take me in?” I laugh soundlessly. “What are you talking about?”
She places her hands behind her back and arches a brow.
“I am an undercover Official, Service Agent Katalona Mince.” My jaw slacks and I feel my mouth gape open. “I have been sent here to look into a case that is of much concern to our Government.”
“And that involves me how?”
“Well you see, originally I was just sent here to investigate the possibility of a case. You know, word gets around in small towns, and not many things go unnoticed by our civilization… but rumors do exist.”
“So you were sent here to see if these rumors were only rumors?” I can’t believe this.
“Precisely.” Her sly smile deepens, as if this is the best day of her existence. “And I think that my partner and I have gathered enough evidence to prove that these rumors are far more than just small talk.”
“Partner?”
“Why, of course!” She humorously laughs, but to my ears it sounds bitter and dry. “They wouldn’t just send one agent on a mission like this, that would be absurd!” Her eyes dramatically bulge. “They have had another undercover, like myself, woven into this case for a very long time. Much longer than I have been here.”
“Who?” I whisper, racking my brain for answers. Different faces come in and out of my mind…
“Oh, don’t you worry about that. You wouldn’t know him anyways…” She pauses. “But my mission is almost complete, all I have to do is take you in for questioning… where someone higher than me will interrogate.”
“Are you shitting me?” I laugh. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about lady! I’m a small business owner, with no worries and no life. There is nothing to question me about, and nothing that I have the answers to. You are wasting your precious time here.”
“You’re not going to be able to play that card with me.” She slowly walks up to me, and places her small hand on my shoulder firmly. “I know that you are involved, and by law, you have got to come with me – now.”
Well shit.
You really did it this time Evaline, and I don’t know what I can do to save you.
Feeling defeated and hopeless is not something that happens to me often, but when it does, it’s as if someone is holding a vacuum to my mouth and it is sucking all of my enthusiasm and life right out of me – until I am drained.
I numbly follow the fox like woman to her car.