Chapter 24
They were able to check the famous Madison Park. She pointed out the Hop-on-hop-off bus, and they ditched their car to join the public transport. The bus took them around some spectacular buildings in LA, and she pointed out whose celebrity lived in which building. When they highlighted it, she was feeling light-hearted from the excitement of jumping on the bus. Jason got them a drink each at the stand, and she took them through another route where a champagne brunch cruise ticket was being served. They got theirs and were soon shown their seats on the wide yacht. It was a peaceful ride. How she managed to fall asleep beat Jason who rested her head on his shoulder and watched her sleep. The cruise ended, and he told her he had had enough. When he asked for a tour, he didn’t mean taking public transports and sipping champagne off a yacht. What he had expected was a drive around the city. Still, it had been exciting to watch her jump and talk until she was out of breath. It had been a long he felt thrilled at seeing another person so happy. She was excited, and that was what counted.
“Welcome to my home.” She greeted as he stepped into her apartment. “I know you’ve been here, unofficially.”
“I did have an official reason. Still, thank you for having me now.”
They had decided to end the tour here where she could change, pick some clothes, and they can go back to Miami. “So, you were going to tell me about you and Logan.” She said while packing some clothes into her small bag. “What happened between you both?”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for putting this wall between you and him. I know you being a surrogate mother was what created this falling out between you too.” Though he knew that wasn’t entirely true, it had to be said.
“No. You don’t have to apologize. We had our issues even before all this happened. So, trust me.” She told him.
It somehow felt good to hear that from her. “You might want to seat for this.” Jason advised, deciding to tell her the whole story. “It happened a long time ago, but it left a mark.”
Evangeline sat down while arranging her things to listen to him. “Go on then.”
“Years back, we were to work on technology for the Government. It was a huge deal. The technology was to help the crime unit of the government, so everything was done on a secret basis. But due to the large capacity needed, three strong technology company were consulted. My company, Logan’s and another.” He tried to remember the third company’s name.
“I don’t remember the third company. From the start, they didn’t show up. My developers and Logan’s worked on the deal for close to 3months. He was still a startup firm then, so I funded all the deal.” He paused when she stood up to get a cloth she had dropped.
“No, go on.” She told him, picked up the piece and sat down.
“My best developers were involved. I flew in some others.” He continued. “It was a huge deal. Finally, we completed the deal. It was tested and approved. The next day was the payday. I got there to hear that the money had been paid to my partner’s account. Logan was leaving the company too. I was infuriated with the cashier. Who does that?”
“How can they pay into one single account when three companies were involved?” Evan questioned. It didn’t add up. She did business with other companies too and had on several occasions teamed up with other companies. The money wasn’t paid into a singular account. There was always a ratio to be paid into separate accounts.
“My point exactly.” He was glad she understood that things didn’t run that way. It was a shady deal. “From the documentation, the government was made to believe we were the same company only branched with different CEO. I was very angry to be duped, you know, by a freaking startup. I had James arrest Logan and hold him up. I made him pay for the breach of contract and demanded my share of the money. He kept claiming he wasn’t paid. So I had James and his team monitor his accounts. We couldn’t find the money and had no solid case against him. I let him go.”
“Wow. But where did he hide the money?”
“In an offshore account, maybe.” Jason recalled asking the same question too.
“It doesn’t sound like something Logan can pull off.” She said, disbelieve written all over her face.
“How well do you know the man? Logan is ruthless when handling business. We worked close up for 3months.”
“What about the third company? Couldn’t it have been them?”
“They did nothing. They didn’t even show up for the job. It was just Logan and me. Trust me. He did it.”
“This is freaking hard to believe. I still think you shouldn’t overlook the third company.” Evan suggested, “I am ready, by the way.” She told him. They started to head back to his plane pad. He held her hands then helped her into the jet. And they were settled in.
“I’m home.” Evangeline said as she walked into Adriana’s home. She was crushed into a foursome hug in seconds. The twins pushed their mother aside and dragged her to the room. Then they brought out a package.
“We made this for you.” Elizabeth said, handing her the wrapped box. Adriana nudged her sister to open it, curious to see what they had bought. When Noah had brought them in earlier, they had all been trying to make sure she didn’t have a look at it.
“You’ll ruin the surprise.” Ethan said and just walked her out of their room. She had left them to it then.
All four sat on Elizabeth’s bed to unwrap the present. It was a baby-shoe key holder for her car. “Dad said to always give back.” Ethan explained while they impatiently waited for her to finish unwrapping it. There seemed to be another hidden in the pack.
“We picked this at the grocery store yesterday.”
Though they had bought the gift, they didn’t know the significance of it. Evan’s eyes were misty instantly. “Thank you, guys.” She said cheerily, then mouthed to her sister. “Thank Noah for me. My first baby gift.” Adriana winked at her. “And I have something for you both too.” She announced while unzipping her purse. She gave each twin a chocolate box that was so big, their mother exclaimed. “Sugar, Evan.”
“Chocolate is good for the body.” Evan argued. “You should do your research.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Look it up. Dark chocolates especially. They are rich in antioxidants. They ease blood flow. And their sugar content is really low. Lower than that of milk. What do you do, Ad? Read law books alone.” She teased her sister
“Interesting! I didn’t know that.”
“Thanks, Linne.” Elizabeth hugged her. Ethan also came to hug her. “Thank you.” He said too.
“Who wants to watch another episode of Frozen?” Adriana said. The twins ran out immediately. It was exactly what she wanted. Turning to her sister, she said, “Now spill everything out.”
Evangeline’s laughter rang out all the way to the next building. “You’re so into petty talks, Sis.”
“Mom?’ The twins yelled.
“You better start talking.” She said, walking to the living room, “Coming.” She replied the kids as they called out to her again. Evangeline packed her present and her small tote bag and left the twins’ room too. She undressed, showered and went to join the family in the living room to watch Frozen with the kids.
“Is that Anna?” She asked, hurrying beside Elizabeth, who adjusted so she could seat then rested her head on her boobs.
“No, that’s Elsa.” Elizabeth told her. “The one with magic.”
“They look alike to me.” She complained
“Shhh.” Ethan cautioned. “I love this part.”
Adriana and her sister exchanged knowing looks.
The next morning while Adriana dressed the kids up for school, Mrs. Swiss called, telling her to come to the office as early as possible. Something was up. She could sense it immediately. Noah had prepared breakfast and packed lunch before she woke up. He was gone for an urgent meeting too. When they were ready to leave, Adriana peeped into her sister’s room. Evan was still sleeping, so she left a note on her dresser and left the house.
While the twins chatted nonstop, she was able to drive them to school. But her mind was barely with the kids. Mother’s call left her in turmoil. As the twins got down from the car she told them, “Pay attention in class. You both.”
“Bye, Mom.” Elizabeth pecked her. Ethan came round to do the same too.
“Bye.” She said and reversed the car.
The drive to the office took just a few minutes. Her office was the first on the floor, but she didn’t bother going in. she headed straight for her mother’s. “So, mother. What is going on?” She asked, stepping into her mother’s office. The opened ledgers on the table and scattered papers were enough pointers that all wasn’t right.
“Sit down.” Mrs. Swiss said, “We need to talk.”
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Somewhere in the suburbs, Noah was meeting with two men that were supposedly clients. Only they weren’t. Two looked so like him in every way. They had the same grey eyes for one. They also had an accent almost like him. These were his brothers. They were seated at a hidden corner of a pub around the rarely used streets. They had on hooded caps and were seated with their backs to the door.
“I don’t like this visit.” Noah told them frankly. “I told you I have it covered.”
“Not covered enough.” One of the men said, the younger.
Noah looked at his younger brother. Though a stepbrother, he had always treated Nathan like family. “Watch your tone with me, Nate.” He said so low the boy cowered back, intimidated.
“He is right, though. You’ve gone soft on them. What is happening?”
“I told you, Gaby, I’m handling it.”
Gabriel, his older brother, hit the table angrily. The people at the pub turned towards them. Noah smiled at everyone so they could relax, then scowled at his older brother, “Really? Are we trying to draw attention to ourselves now?”
The three men laughed casually as if one of them just shared the funniest joke. The people in the pub seeing this, relaxed. “When was the last time you delivered?” Gaby asked in a deep, timbre voice.
“I have eyes on me now. I need to lay low for a while. I’m just being cautious. That’s all.” He said. The brothers didn’t look like they believed him. “We’ve come a long way to make petty mistakes now that could ruin everything we’ve worked so hard for.”
“True. But still.” Gaby argued. “We need the big move now.”
Noah suddenly felt desperate, that big move better be hold down for now, he thought, trying to think of what to do “Look, give me time, and I’ll have this cleared.”
“How much time do you need?” Gaby asked, looking at his brother doubtfully.
“I’ll let you know when I have it.” Noah said instead, refusing to specify the time he needed.
Gaby scoffed, “How long?” He asked again.
“A month or two till the coast is clear.”
“Note that Nathan.” Gaby said, and both men stood up. Noah watched them leave. From the corner he sat, he watched them through the transparent mirror until they got into their car. Then he waited a few minutes before stepping out too. He eyed the street warily for any suspicious movement before stepping into his car.
******
Cold sweat broke out on Adriana’s forehead. Her mother had just told her the most disturbing news. After series of evidence and stories, her mother had said someone was taking money from the company. That wasn’t hard to believe. But claiming Noah could be the thief that was the height of it. Could this really be her husband’s doing? Her husband had joined the family business shortly after they got married though he has his own business. Noah came from a rich family himself. So it didn’t sit right to say he’s stealing from them. He had given as much as any Swiss to see the company grow. He was the travel agent as well as the managing director. “He rarely even handles the money. Did you go through every file?”
“You need to confront him.” Mrs. Swiss stated plainly.
“No. no, I won’t do that. I will not ruin my marriage based on speculations and unproven statements. We still need to check and double-check” when her mother wanted to talk, she quickly added, “With an open mind that someone else might be doing this.”
“I did already.”
“Do it again. I want this on my terms, okay. I’ll pay extra attention at home. I’ll do all I have to. But I need solid proof first.”
Mrs. Swiss sighed. “Fine. We do it your way then.”
Her phone chimed. She checked to see the message from Noah, “He’s travelling.” She said gloomily. It was as if on cue: he knows he’s been found, and he’s escaping? She shook her head to dismiss such a disdainful thought. But from the look on her mother’s face, she had been about to say just that too. Adriana stood up and left the office angrily. She had to prove her husband’s innocence. It wasn’t going to be easy, but she would. And even as she walked back to her office, she knew she had to first convince herself that he indeed was innocent.
