In The Safety Of A Lie - COMPLETED!

Chapter 50

The words struggled to roll free from her tongue. There was no easy way of saying something that could sign a death warrant for herself. Evelina fought for the right words to say; to admit. "I lied to save Rose. I lied to save myself. I may have even lied to save Joey's feeling of losing me. It was selfish and undeniably wrong." Her blue eyes shot up and made immediate eye contact. "But you gotta understand that I was scared. I didn't want to die. I didn't want my baby to die."

"What are you talking about, Evelina?" Senator Downs searched her eyes. His expression proved that he didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

Tears filled Ev's eyes. She didn't let the emotion cloud her judgment or the clarity of her words. "When I first started dating Joey, you were worried about him telling me your secrets. The dirty deeds that you did, or, had them do for you. You wanted me dead. You wanted me out of the picture of your grand scheme of things. I understand that. I really do. But I had just found out I was pregnant, and I had just told Joey. His eyes lit up when he found out. But at the same time, Jimmy was trying to have me killed. It compromised Joey and what he felt he had to do, so... I lied to you." She let out a shaky breath. The weight of the lie left her, but the weight of not knowing the consequences remained.

Downs sat there in silence; piecing together the information that she had just given him. He didn't look at her; instead he was searching for the right words to say; the right words that were appropriate for the situation. After a long pause, words finally came through his mouth. "So... you don't have incriminating information on me?"

Ev looked point blank at him. She shook her head. "No, and I never did. I knew that you wouldn't risk information getting out to the police, or whatever government agency handled that kind of thing. It was too risky for you, for your campaign, to have me killed and have that information leaked to the public."

Downs nodded his head and looked away once more. He was very clearly still trying to make sense of what she was saying.

"I knew that if anything happened to me that Joey would go crazy. There was no way that I was going to risk him dying because of me either." She added quickly.

Downs's head shot up and pinned her with a hard look. "I would never have laid a finger on Joey."

Evelina wasn't sure what to say as some color crept into her cheeks. Her mouth opened and closed. All she could manage was to nod her head, showing her agreement.

Downs's look softened up somewhat. "Evy, I understand why you did what you did. It was all a matter of survival. To be quite honest, I'm glad that you took that chance. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten to know what an amazing woman you are. I consider Rose to be like that of a grandchild to me and I wouldn't have had that opportunity if things would have went the way I originally had planned. Not to mention, Joey's become much more protective and observant after meeting you. I can't tell you how valuable that is to my protection detail and me. You are family, and I will never change my mind over that." He looked at her and gave her a small smile. "You can rest easy. I wouldn't lay a finger on you or your family — only to give you a hug."

Tears dripped down Evelina's face. She blinked them back, but the stains on her cheeks had already formed. Her face showed her gratitude, which she was thankful for because words couldn't seem to come to her mouth. The relief that flooded her body would have been enough to knock her down if she would have been standing. She gave him her full attention. "Thank you."

Downs reached over and rubbed her shoulder. A shadow crossed his face as he hesitated on what to say next. "Evy, the doctor found something out while you were unconscious. While they were checking your injuries."

Ev swallowed a lump forming in her throat. She wasn't sure what to expect. "Go on."

"Evy, you were pregnant." Tears filled Downs' piercing blue eyes, making them look bluer than usual.

Ev cleared her throat. Her head was beginning to pound. "Excuse me?"

"The doctor said that your body couldn't handle both the incident and being pregnant. It could have been the stress, or, quite honestly, the pounding you took." The senator tried to say calmly. "I'm sorry, Evy. I truly am."

Evelina turned her head and stared out the window. "I had no idea." She mumbled, lost in an entirely different world. She could feel the senator put his hand over hers and squeeze it. Her attention snapped back over to him. "Joey? Where's Joey?"

Downs watched her for a moment before breaking eye contact. "He's in surgery. I haven't heard anything yet."

Ev nodded and looked down at the sheets on the bed. She wasn't sure where to let her mind wander to. Nothing seemed safe to think about. If she thought about losing a baby, she only felt guilty. Ways of how she could have protected herself better soon followed that feeling. If she thought about Joey, she could only think of the worst that could happen and the things that had already happened. Both thoughts brought pain and showed her how weak she truly was. She wasn't able to protect herself, let alone anyone else. She'd never wanted to feel helpless, but now the feeling of true helplessness flooded over her. She let her eyes drift back up to Downs. "Bob, how's Jimmy? Where is he?"

"He's fine, Evy." Downs attempted any form of reassurance that he could muster. "I have a great lawyer with him and I've paid his bail, so he doesn't have to be in jail while the cops sort things out."

Evelina nodded her head. It was something at least. She didn't need another reason to feel guilty. "When will he be released?"

"It's already happened." Jimmy leaned against the doorway, just about ready to bite into an apple. "Of course, I can't go on any out of town vacations any time soon. There goes the Bahamas." He shrugged, snapping his fingers together in mock disappointment.

Relief flooded over her, not stopping her from shaking her head. "You and food."

"I've been in a holding cell, Ev. I haven't been able to eat anything." He reminded her. "At least I'm being healthy."

A slow smile lit up Evelina's face. The muscle movement reminded her of her many bruises not yet healed. "That's true. How's Jacob and Dr. Wiley? They made it out alright?"

Jimmy gave her a smile. "They're just fine. Your doctor will probably stop in and check on you soon. I told him to lay low though; take a couple vacation days. Jacob's keeping tabs on Joey right now."

"Has he heard anything yet?" Her eyes grew more alert. She came close to stumbling over her words in her eagerness to ask the question.

"Not yet. Sounds like he was unconscious when they got him. He's lost a lot of blood." Jimmy kept his words casual before biting into his apple.

All Ev could do was nod. She wanted to know what was happening. She leaned back in her bed. Only time would give her a definitive answer. She had wanted things to happen faster; to get through the ordeals that they had went through, but that clearly wasn't happening.

"Rose! What about Rose?" Ev snapped back to attention. She looked searchingly into Jimmy's eyes. There had to be answers there somewhere.

"She's with my wife." Downs' voice drifted into her ears instead. "I was able to pull a few strings and get her released from County. You can have her back as soon as you go home."

Relief rushed through her. Ev couldn't remember the last time she felt peaceful about something. Knowing that her child was in good hands and safe was all that mattered right now. It was the only thing that she had even a little control over. "Thank you."

Downs nodded. "Get some rest, Evy. Either Jimmy or I will be here for you."

Evelina took advantage of the safety. Things were finally beginning to look up. She allowed her eyes to drift shut and her thoughts to stay on Rose. Thank you, Lord. She said mentally. He watched out for them, and He would continue to. She knew that deep within her heart. It was undeniable.