The snow that the storm had dumped on Roan Mountain and the town of Bitter End had been cleared from the roads by the time Eva had left Linc’s place.
She had no problem getting back to Rosie’s just fine even if the Wilder men did disparage her car’s abilities. That car had gotten her around Skaneateles, New York for the past ten years and it was still going strong.
Ha! That showed how much they knew.
Upstairs, her apartment was toasty warm, just as it had been when she’d left it. It was as if there’d never been a power outage and she’d never been stuck with Linc for the night and had never found that box that was about to take down the first family of Bitter End.
What a freaking nightmare.
The thought reminded her of Linc and his nightmares. When this will mess was over—and God she hoped it would be soon—she’d have to do a deep dive into Linc’s military service and find where he’d been and what he’d experienced that still affected him so. It would go a long way in helping her understand the man who, on some levels, remained a mystery.
The sound for a video call emitted from her cell phone at the same time the call alert took over the screen of the laptop open on the table in front of where she sat.
“Yes?” she said as she answered the video call.
“Oh, thank God. She made it home all right,” Poppy said to Olivia next to her.
Poppy was situated where she so often was nowadays, on Olivia’s bed with her.
“Thanks for texting to let us know.” Poppy cocked up one blonde brow to reinforce her sarcasm.
Rather than defend herself, Eva went on the offense. “You two are starting to look like an episode of Sister Wives, always propped up there in Wyatt’s bed.”
“Ew. Stop. It’s Livvie’s bed too and Wyatt’s not even home.” Poppy scowled but still looked beautiful.
“Okay, you two. Enough banter. We need to talk about you know who,” Olivia said, sticking to the ban on the mention of Emmett’s name they’d instituted back in January.
Like Voldemort, Emmett had been the snake which shall not be named for almost a year.
Eva hadn’t appreciated how blissful that year had been. They hadn’t had to think or worry about him because, like snakes do, he’d stayed hidden.
But now, thanks to her and that damn box, they had to worry… and wonder. When would he rear his ugly head again? And what would they do when he did?
“There’s nothing to discuss. The snake is not getting half of that estate. Not on my watch,” Eva proclaimed.
Poppy tipped her head. “I agree. He doesn’t deserve anything. From what Ethan told me, the cockroach showed up last year begging for a handout. They gave him a job instead and arranged for him to live above Rosie’s, then he got Darcy’s nanny pregnant and ran.”
Eva’s lips tipped up in a smile. “Precarious position, being Darcy’s nanny. Wyatt’s two for two with his live-in employees getting pregnant,” she teased.
The difference was, Wyatt had proposed to Olivia the moment she told him that the amorous encounters between the boss and his nanny had resulted in a baby. Now, they were married and in love. They were building a family. Whereas Emmett was just scum.
Olivia narrowed her eyes at Eva’s comparison between her and her predecessor but couldn’t deny the truth of it given her basketball-sized belly.
“Can we discuss a plan to make sure the cockroach doesn’t get anything?” Olivia asked, redirecting the conversation away from her baby bump—or in this case, baby mountain.
“No worries. I have a plan,” Eva told them.
“Care to share?” Poppy asked.
“Not yet.” Eva noticed the glance that passed between her two best friends. “What? What is that look?”
Poppy pressed her lips tightly together while Olivia drew in a breath so big, her Mount Everest of a belly rose even higher.
“We just don’t want you doing anything illegal and getting yourself in trouble,” Olivia revealed.
Eva let out a laugh. “You think I’m going to get in trouble?”
That was funny. She’d done way worse than what she was planning for Emmett.
She’d gotten away with enough things that fell within that gray area of the law that she never considered getting caught, but this time she wouldn’t even care if she did. If she could prevent Emmett from getting anything it would be worth it.
Should that happen, which it wouldn’t, she’d never see even a day of jail time anyway. Her skills were too valuable and her connections ran too deep. She’d done jobs for governments both foreign and domestic. Helped—and hurt—high ranking officials, giving them exactly what they deserved, both good and bad.
Emmett Wilder was not going to be the job that took her down. But she’d be the one to destroy him.
Her two friends were still looking at her as if she was on death row. “Okay, let me ease your minds. I’m not going to do anything illegal.” Much.
“You sure?” Olivia asked.
“Cross my heart, I promise you I won’t get in trouble.” At least that was the truth.
She hid her signal so well, there were only a handful of computer experts in the world who’d be able to track her, and those few worked with her, not against her.
“Okay. But I wish this whole thing was over. Wyatt’s worried,” Olivia said.
“Yeah. He’s even more silent and solemn than usual,” Poppy confirmed. “And Ethan is the opposite. He won’t talk about anything else. All he does is rant about you know who.”
“I know. I’ll fix this.” A knock on the door cut off anything further she would have said. “All right. I gotta go. Talk later.”
“Love you!” the two called out as she flipped the lid down.
“Love you back,” she said before the laptop closed completely and disconnected the call.
Flinging open the door, she expected to see Rosie checking up on her after the storm. Instead she found Linc standing there.
“Um. Hi?” Since she’d just left him a little while ago, she was a bit confused. Then their conversation about her car came back to her. “If you’re here to make sure I didn’t crash and die on the highway, I’m fine.”
Was she supposed to text the group message whenever she arrived home? She wasn’t used to having people in her life who worried about her. She was still up in the air about if she liked it or not.
“I know you didn’t crash,” he began. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” she agreed, mainly because all of her precious heat was flying out the open door while he stood there. “And how did you know? Did the report from Poppy and Livvie already make it around the Wilder mansion?”
His lips twitched with a smile, but he shook his head. “No. I figure Billy would’ve called one of us if you’d crashed. He monitors the police scanner for his tow business.”
“Ah.” She nodded. Small town living…
“I wanted to catch you up on the…situation.”
She didn’t need to ask which situation that was. “Okay.”
“Wyatt called a family meeting—“
She held up one hand to stop him. “Family meaning Livvie too or just those family members with a penis?”
“Just us brothers and Dad.”
“Sausage fest. Got it.” She nodded. “Proceed.”
“Dad stepped up and confirmed that if Emmett were to show up, and if we have proof that new will is valid, the four of us would vote on what to do. But until then, the will and the secret remain locked down tight.”
“Good.” Locking that will away was good. Burning it would be better but she’d take what she could get with this family.
Eva still wasn’t sure which way the vote would go, should it come to that. But it didn’t matter, because she planned on having an alternate course of action to present to the family as soon as she finished her research. Plus, she’d make sure she’d gathered enough evidence to ruin Emmett if he ever showed his face in this town again.
“Dad’s researching to see about the validity of that will.”
“I’m doing my own research too. Not just regarding John T, but I’m also digging deeper into your bastard cousin.”
He frowned. “What are you looking for?”
“Any new online dating or social media profiles he might have set up. Anything I can find on the web, really. I can’t do a reverse image search since I’ve never actually seen him, only the pictures he used of yours and Ethan’s so unless you have a picture of him—”
“I don’t.”
“That’s fine. He’d likely set up a new account using a fake photo anyway. That seems to be his MO.”
“You seem like you’re a little obsessed with him,” Linc said, watching her closely.
She took offense at the comment. “I’m obsessed that he flew under my radar. That I, of all people, didn’t smell his bull shit right away. It's what I do for a living. Expose bull-shitters. Uncover the truth. And I didn't with him. That's what I'm obsessed with. Not with him. I’d never let myself become obsessed with any man. Ever.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“So, anything else happen at this all-male meeting of the minds?” she asked.
“Actually there was one thing. Wyatt told us he’s had a PI looking for Emmett since you all arrived here.”
“Why?” She frowned.
Linc shrugged. “I’m not sure. He is protective of Olivia. Maybe to make sure Emmett stays away from her and the rest of you? Anyway, after almost a year, Wyatt’s guy finally got a lead on Emmett.”
“And?” she prompted.
“It looks like he’s in Kentucky.”
Her eyes widened. Kentucky.
Thank you Wyatt’s PI, for that very helpful lead…