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I could only pick up bits of the conversation, not that I was paying too much attention. I was only interested in information on Eve. Or Everly, as the case may be. I doubted those teenagers knew anything about her.
The waitress, Shiloh according to her name tag, hurried from the table as the man in the kitchen called my order.
“Shi — you can relax after this.” The man seemed to be more familiar with the girl. “I can handle whatever customers come in. And that gentleman doesn’t look like he’d be a lot of trouble.”
He was, of course, referring to me. I was glad that he saw me as non-threatening. I had no intention of making trouble and wanted to maintain as low a profile as possible. It wouldn’t help to draw unnecessary attention to myself.
As I ate my burger, I scrolled the messages on my phone. The most important ones were from a hacker called AntMan. I’d found him while searching a forum on the darkweb. He mined information and then sold it. His rates were steep, but he promised discretion and had a one hundred percent success rate of evading law enforcement.
He was the one who had sold me the information on where to find Eve Halle. Actually, he was quite prepared to help me and take my money. But as soon as he found out her real name, he tried to back out of our agreement. He even went as far as offering to refund my money.
In the end though, after some begging and threatening, he gave me what I needed. Confirmation that Eve Halle and Everly Hale were the same person. He also provided me with her address, cell phone number, and private email account. The ones I had been using were for her fans that her manager mostly managed. I hadn’t used that one in so long, since I never received a reply to any of mails to her.
The information packet also let me know that she was a mother. What it didn’t tell me about was the father of her child. I didn’t stick around for long after they found my parcel, but I witnessed enough to know that Moore was the father of her kid, and that he was somehow involved in her life. They looked far too cozy together.
Rage flowed through my veins. How dare she get pregnant by another man? I always knew what happened between her and Moore that night at The Dane. I’d forgiven her for that, after all, we all had transgressions, and she was just acting on her primal urges.
But to get pregnant and still be with that same guy for all that time,thatshe needed to pay for. And only after I had metered out her punishment, would our life together begin.
A phone rang and the woman who looked to be the mother of the girls at the birthday celebration, pulled a phone out of her purse.
She smiled as she looked at the screen. “Hey, Everly.”
That got my attention. Apparently, Everly was well known in the town. I listened intently to one side of the conversation.
The woman nodded. “Sure, you can drop her off at the diner, while the police do what they need to do. I can drop her off at your place when you’re ready.”
The woman nodded and I waited for more information. “Yeah, it makes sense that you wouldn’t want her to be there. I’ll keep her with me until you tell me what the plan is.”
She nodded some more. “Oh, you’re almost here? Should I wait for you outside or are you coming in?”
I didn’t wait for an answer, it was my cue to leave. If Eve was on her way to the diner, I didn’t want her or Moore seeing me. If she was well connected in town, it would be more trouble.
I knew she had the Salingers arriving minutes after the little brat had found the package. The kid screamed before she even got to what was inside. Not only was the package not meant for her, her little outburst had Moore rushing to protect her and ensured that Everly never even got to see what I sent her, let alone the note I had written.
It took weeks of planning. I had to ensure that she would be away from the cottage, and that no one was in that house. With the brat still having dance classes despite the holidays and everyone else either at the Salinger farm or away with family, it was the perfect time to sneak onto the property.
I actually wanted to pick her rudimentary locks and leave the package inside, just to let her know that I could get to her if I wanted. But that mutt wouldn’t stop barking and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.
Low key was how I was going to win her over.
What I hadn’t counted on was Moore being part of the picture. I didn’t account for him and for some reason AntMan had not mentioned his presence in her life. I needed more information on him. I wasn’t sure if AntMan would help me though.
He was very interested in my business until he found out who Eve really was. Or maybe, something else in the information he found on her had spooked him. Either way, I thought it was prudent not to mention that Moore was connected to Eve if I wanted information on him.
I climbed into my car and fired off a quick message in the app AntMan told me to use.
G:Hello AntMan. I have some business for you.
AntMan:G, it's good to hear from you again. As long as it doesn’t involve the same people as last time, I’m sure we could come to some arrangement.
G:This is for a different person. I need some information.
AntMan:You know my fee.
The hacker did not come cheap. Even if I only wanted a basic background check it would be more than the average cyber investigator. The deep dive I required would use up a sizable portion of the budget I had set aside for setting up a life for Eve and myself. But the information was necessary. I could only eliminate the competition if I knew as much as possible about him.
G:I will wire the money as soon as I can.
