Damsel Not In Distress

Chapter Three

I had left Evelyn lying in the dirt hopefully rethinking her plan to murder Doug in cold blood. I knew very well she would just devise a new plan, but the very least it afforded us time to adapt. I didn't bother to call Sam. I'd been awake for almost three days and if I didn't get a snack and a nap soon I too would be murdering someone. I drove straight to Carlito's, the patio bar Sam had met me at earlier. I had taken a glance at the menu while I was waiting and it didn't seem too bad. It was also the only place I knew in the whole city. I'd never been here or lived here, not even passed through and I could admit that was scary to me. Usually I had a plan, contingencies, and back ups. Here I was winging it, because if something went wrong I would just leave. Leaving presented it's own problems though. Leaving meant Sam had to clean up what ever mess I left in his home. I had to be extra careful.
I almost didn't get out of the car. I was ready to bolt right then and there, but I couldn't go without knowing if Evelyn was gone first so I forced my body to move. I sat down at a table. I even opened a menu. My fingers drummed on the table, perusing the pages aimlessly and tuning in on the conversations around me.
"Well, I don't get it, John. Who is she then?"
"Mer, I think I might love him."
"I want those papers on my desk this afternoon."
I sighed. Nothing even interesting going on."
"This is the car. I saw this same car in traffic earlier and then again at the gas station." I whipped my head around to see Micheal and Fi standing by my car very obviously looking in the windows. I stood calmly, walking towards the bathroom, but making a hard left to the kitchen. I peeked out of the window on the kitchen door, watching as Fi opened my door. Great. I'd have to get the locks fixed now.
Don't touch my baby.
I cringed as they ripped through my things. I didn't keep anything important for this very reason. All of my stuff was in my trunk. They were not even being discreet about it, both of them sitting in my front seat flipping through my CDs. They weren't actually looking for anything, just waiting to lure whoever it belonged to back to the vehicle. Micheal stopped suddenly seeming to focus deeply on something. I could not tell what it was, but he didn't say anything to Fi. I was just hoping it wasn't anything that said Harper Sunova's car on it. I reached for my phone, realizing too late it was in the glovebox. This was not happening.
"Hey, you can't be here." A bus boy covered in food announced approaching me.
"I know. Do you see that couple out there?" I asked pointing to Fi and Micheal. "That's my husband and that's my girlfriend." Way to think on your feet. "That is my car. You can see why I'm hiding." He grinned, nodding at me.
"The back way out is over there." He pointed at a door wedged between the oven and a fridge. I smiled back.
"Do you have a phone?"
THe nice gentleman pulled his phone out and I took it, handing him a twenty. "I'll bring it back." He shrugged as I exited the grill, walking behind the buildings near it and dialing Sam. " Sammy! Guess where I am?"
"Uh... Disney world?"
"Oh, so close. I'm actually standing behind Carlito's watching Micheal and Fi go through my car."
"I'm on it."
"You better be."
I peered around the corner of the building to see Fi receiving a phone call. They placed my items back where they were though I swear I saw Micheal put something in his pocket before they climbed out I'd have to check later. It was probably something he thought was a clue. I'm sure I'd hear about it later.
Fi grabbed my go bag. This was a strategic way to let me know they were there. If I didn't react they would know I'd been watching, but I could replace everything in it. It wasn't worth anything.
"Put it back, Fi."
"Why?"
"Just put it back."
She did and they retreated to wherever it was Sam had called them away to. She seemed mad about it. I was confused. Why would it matter if she stole some strangers bag of crap? Unless he didn't want me know they were there. I waited about ten minutes after they were out of sight, vowing to return the bus boy's phone later. I'm not sure I would, but intending to made me feel better. That thought alone gave me the ick. There was a time when I was ruthless. I cared about only me and I did my job which was to steal and lie and hurt people, good people sometimes. I never blinked an eye. I did it because I had to, for the sake of my family. I did whatever they needed until Micheal came along. He taught me to be better and exposed my family for it was. I'd never been the same.
My fingertips traced the sun visor searching for something I kept safe there. They didn't find it. I slammed the visor open expecting it to fall in my lap. Nothing fell. My head lulled against the seat as my heart dropped. That must have been what Micheal had taken. Not a clue, the clue. He knew I was here. That's why he told Fi to put my stuff back. There was no running from it now. He wanted me to know he knew it was me. He didn't look for me because he wasn't sure  why I was hiding from him. I sighed from the bottom of my soul. He hadn't just stayed to talk to me, because he didn't know why I didn't want to be found. He knew I was watching.
I reached for my phone, but it wasn't there either. Fi must have taken it in place of my go bag. Sam had probably called it already and was being interrogated about it or Micheal was keeping it to himself, stewing over it like he does. I had two options. Option 1: I do what I intended, finish this job and go. Option 2: I faced it head on, got my necklace back, and I left anyway. I banged my head on the steering wheel cursing myself for coming for here. I wasn't prepared for another set of painful personal discoveries. So I called Sam. 
"What's the plan?"
"We're turning Doug into the attorney general's so he can testify."
"And Evelyn's just going to let you?" I was hoping he would say 'why yes, we haven't seen her since earlier'.
"Not exactly. She threatened to kill Jasper, and me, and Fi, and Mike's mom. You get the gist."
I bit my thumbnail angrily, leaning my elbow on the car door. "Pretty standard."
"She's pissed because someone held a gun to her head."
I rolled my eyes. "Weird, seems like it didn't make a big enough impression." There was a chuckle followed by an uncomfortable silence. "He knows I'm here, Sam."
"He hasn't said anything."
"He took something. He knows and he wanted me to know he knows."
"Maybe it's not such a bad thing."
"Sam."I said sternly. "Look, all I'm saying is you did a good thing." I wouldn't change it. I wouldn't regret it. I did what I did and I meant it. I just didn't turn out the way I expected it to. I never even expected to make it this far and i wouldn't have if it weren't for Sam. In truth, I was just afraid to face him. Sam ended the phone call by telling me they would be delivering Doug as soon as the office opened the next morning. So that's where I went. I was posted outside the attorney general's office, because I knew that's where Evelyn would be. It didn't take long to pinpoint the window with the best view. I was on the eighth floor of an office building the front of the attorney general's. My first instinct was to grab my go bag. I pulled a pair of black cargo pants and a solid black t-shirt out quickly changing in my back seat. It is much easier to use maintenance as a cover story when you're a man so just for good measure I wiped grease from the engine block on my face.* It would prove pointless. The receptionist at the front desk didn't seem to be concerned about my presence, acting as though she would rather me just get out of her lobby. She didn't ask for I.D. Or barely look at me before buzzing me in when I said I had to fix the AC despite the fact that it was freezing in here and the middle of the night. I'm not sure what kind of meetings were held in this building but there were not very many cameras which for some reason made me queasy. What was going on in these board rooms? As if to answer my question, A scantily clad young woman and an older man in a business suit exited one of the rooms. I shivered on the inside, but walked past them as if I hadn't even seen them. 
The door I was searching for was frosted glass on the right side of the hall, the window facing out towards the street. If Evelyn showed her face it would be here or I would at least be able to see where she went. This is where I would be but I wasn't a trained spy or an assassin and everyone had their preferences. I had observed Evelyn enough to know she didn't mind being out in the open, but discretion was generally part of the pay. My bet was one of those roof tops. Better safe than sorry so I sat down in one of the rolling office chairs and pulled it to the window, slightly opening the blinds so I could peer at the street.
----------------------------
Right around the sunrise, moving on the street before anything else, Evelyn appeared. She was carrying a large black case, no doubt a rifle. I checked my watch blinking my eyes that had glazed over a few hours ago. 7:45. Doug would be here soon. I gave her a few minutes to get settled so she wasn't ready to bolt when I arrived before sneaking across the square to the highrise she'd gone into ten minutes before. The lobby was empty, not even an unbothered security guard. That's suspicious. It made it easier for me but it also made it easier for the assassin to stroll on through to the glass elevator I was now stepping into. I could see the street below as it went up. Micheal's Dodge charger was driving up the street followed by Sam's caddy. Sam and Fi exited the vehicles with Doug, Sans micheal. No doubt he was right behind me, if not headed up the stairs that very moment. He couldn't be hiding up there I would have seen him. *1 The elevator door opened on the top floor where the roof access staircase was. I checked my watch again as I raced up the stairs, footsteps following behind me. I quietly slipping out of the partially opened metal door. Evelyn was poised to take Doug out as if he was nothing. There was no remorse or regret on her face. There would never be. I raised my gun.
"Put it down."
She didn't move. "You are being a real pain my ass, kid."
"I'm good at that. I'm holding a gun to your head for the second time in two days. Do you really want to tempt me? I've got a reckless streak and I don't mind if it starts with you."
"You won't do it because of him."
"Mike-y cares because you're breathing. I don't. Put it down or it's over either way." She finally held her hands up, turning towards me.
"What now, Micheal?"
I knew he would be here. It was just in case. I could hear the rhythm of him breathing. It was steady, always. I backed out of the way slowly rather than turning around. Don't turn your back on anyone with a gun. He tossed a large plastic zip tie at her.
"Put them on."
"Micheal, is this what your really want? Helping out civilians with their little problems, trying to get your government job back?" She stood up, enclosing the plastic around her wrists and tightening it with her teeth. I moved forward to help her down but she moved away from my hand, taking a seat on the rail. "It's pathetic. You're better than that." She wasn't wrong, but Micheal was different. He was better than us. He had morals and pride. He believed in what he did.
"Let's go. We've got a big day ahead of us. I have to turn you in, there'll be questions. It'll be passed lunch before we're done."
She seemed amused by that. "Turn me in? Lot of secrets, lot of enemies. Think it'll be a short stay, don't you? Now don't you think we could come to some arrangement."
Micheal smirked. "I don't think so." He had lowered his gun at this point, but I hadn't. Occupational habit. She inched backwards towards the edge, making me shift forward uneasily.
"Now, be honest with me. If circumstances we're different, do you think we could...?" For the first time I glanced back at Micheal. He was uncomfortable but calm all the same.
"Not in this lifetime."
"Perhaps in the next one." She turned nonchalantly shifting her body weight over the railing. I stood, frozen, unable to look as a resounding thud echoed the square. Micheal was just as frozen.
"You okay?"
"We have to go."
I nodded, following down the stairs to the back service hallway, away from the surveillance. The employee elevator was silent, dim, cold metal. Most of the ride was silent, Micheal glancing at me occasionally until he reached into his pocket halfway down.
"I knew it was you." His voice was quiet, his features soft in the dim light as Micheal unclipped the chain of my necklace, placing it around my neck and resecuring it. I held the tiny gold compass between my fingers. I was scared. My voice cam out was small and child-like.
"I knew it was you."
————————————————————
*Do not do this. I'm so certain engine blocks are hot and so is the grease.
*1 He absolutely probably was in the show. He orchestrated the whole thing. It's for the plot.