Evenflow // Pearl Jam

A week has gone by and nothing. No contact with Anita from anyone on our team. The silent war we attempted to wage comes to a screeching halt without our consent. In order to battle the beast, we need her presence. But to contact her would be to show our hand. None of us have ever reached out, meaning doing so would give her a reason to guard her intentions too closely.

So we wait.

I follow Jacob to set and back home. I work out when I have time. I watch Emily from afar because any more interaction between us will have people on set talking. As far as the cast and crew are concerned, I work for Jacob. No one knows I hid out at Emily's house guarding her for weeks on end. No one saw us around town or splashed across headlines because we laid low the entire time. But everyone knows I'm here to guard Jacob and follow him around everywhere. Seeing me too often with Emily will have tongues wagging with secret romance theories.

And they wouldn't be wrong.

Which is why the talking can't start. I refuse to give Anita any more ammunition to use against her own daughter.

The days drag as another week goes by with no contact, no decrees or demands from Anita come our way. We can't wait for her move much longer. Emily's mental health is strung tight with anxiety. She worries too much. I see it on her face every morning. I hear it in her voice. I feel it in her touch, the one she gives me in passing whenever she walks by. A gentle brush of her hand against mine.

Clinton enters Jacob's trailer on day fifteen with a declaration.

"I have a plan."

"Finally," I say, leaning back into the couch. "Drop it."

"Already in motion."

I sit up, back straight with the tension of anticipation. "What did you do?"

"Turned Emily's phone off. Told her to shut down the morning call to Anita. She hasn't made contact for the last two days."

Dragging in a lung full of air and rolling my shoulders, I recognize the buzz of excitement under my skin. That would work. The few times Emily forgot to check in, Anita showed up unannounced at Emily's beach house.

"And?"

"And her assistant contacted our office this morning. Rachel gave her non-answers as instructed in order to frustrate the process and draw the fly into our web."

"Did it work?"

Clinton runs a hand down his bearded chin, nodding. "My surveillance showed her entering the beach house this morning after Emily and I had left for the set. She'll be back either tonight or even earlier tomorrow."

"That tracks. So...ambush?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I'm sending Ryan home with Emily tonight seeing as Anita has been more forthcoming with him than anyone else."

Instant heat fills me. I don't like this plan. I don't want Ryan in her house. But I keep it to myself because it's the best chance we've got.

"And if she doesn't show up tonight?" I ask, not sure I want the truth.

"He'll stay over in hopes she shows up in the morning."

My jaw clenches to hold the curse in my mouth from spilling out.

"I see how much you hate this, Kid. But remember, it's a ruse to get to Anita. Our goal is Emily's freedom. And yours."

Leaning back into the couch, I try like hell to relax. "I know you're right, but damn it stings not to be the one there for her."

"I get it. Really, I do. But it's our best option under the circumstances."

"True."

"Ryan is trustworthy."

I give Clinton credit. He tried to say it without the cringe but I caught it, slight though it was.

"You don't really believe what you just said."

This time Clinton rubs a hand down his entire face, not just his beard. "No, I do. He is trustworthy. But he'll probably give us a heart attack on the way."

"Yeah, I can see it."

"He's like Jacob's emotional doppelganger."

"Interesting way to put it." I think over the interactions I've had with Jacob and can't help agreeing. "They both tend to leave debris in their wake, don't they."

"What's that saying nowadays? Written in the same font?"

I laugh. "Pretty much."

"I'm guessing you'll want to be on the surveillance team for this one. Am I right?"

"Are you offering?" I want nothing more than to be in the house with her during the confrontation with her mother. But if the closest I can get is listening in on the live wire, I'll take it."

"I am."

"Then hell, yes, I want in."

"I've already planned a spot for you on the team. I've rented the house next door. Sent the owners on a cruise for a month so we could have a 'housesitter' on the premises. The old guy and his wife were all too happy to accept. Something about escaping the den of iniquity for a while."

"Ah, that guy." The neighbor I had a run in with oh so long ago who was obviously on Anita's side and didn't think much of Emily. "He has a good view from his place. It works." I'm not excited he got a cruise out of the deal, but I am glad we're using his house as headquarters. Maybe I'll leave some cookie crumbs on his couch. Or better yet, in his bed.

"Pack a bag. I'll swing by Jacob's before heading down there. Wear dark glasses and a hat just on the off chance that someone in the neighborhood is watching."

"Got it."

Time can't move fast enough now that the plan is in motion. Thankfully it's a short filming day. Jacob is released before dinner. Emily has one more scene to work on which gives me time to pack and drive to the stake out house. I drive Jacob home and prep my gear.

Of course, Ryan's emotional twin is up in my business the entire time.

"You need a second, just let me know. I've been waiting for a chance to put my karate training to use for something other than a movie."

"How far have you gotten in training?" I already know the answer, but making Jacob say it outloud is payback for following me around like a fanboy.

He coughs before answering. "Yellow belt."

"Isn't that the first level after Novice?" Again, I know the answer but it's too fun not to ask.

Another cough. "Yes."

I nod. "Hmm, maybe on the next stake out."

Jacob crosses his arms over his chest, rocking back on his heels as I finish stuffing supplies and a change of clothes into my duffel.

"Sounds good."

His voice sounds the opposite of "good" but I don't comment.

My phone vibrates with Clinton's alert. "He's here. I've got to run, but one of the other guys will be here in the morning to escort you to set."

He shrugs. "I don't really need a guard. You were here for "reasons," remember?" He says "reasons" with air quotes. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, you will. But Clinton wants you covered in case Anita has anything up her sleeve. You're part of the inner circle, after all."

Jacob's back straightens. He looks me in the eye with a spark of determination. "That's right. I'll keep my eyes open for anything suspicious."

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. He's so predictable. I knew he felt left out so I gave him a thread of connection to our operation. And he snatched that thread up.

Now to get Anita snatching at threads...

"Alright, I'm out. See you on the flip side."

"Good luck with everything, Javier. I like you with Emily. She needs someone like you in her life."

I give Jacob a tight nod, not trusting myself to speak. He understands how stifled Emily has been even if he doesn't know the entire story.

But I do. I'm the man she trusted with her deepest, darkest secrets. I'm the person she shared her heartache with. Her son. And I intend to hold her and his memory as precious gems in my care. Starting now.

Hopping in the car, I turn to Clinton ready to finish this tonight. "Let's roll."

"Damn straight."

Almost 2 hours later Clinton pulls his truck into the neighbor's garage next to a Jaguar and a Tesla. Grabbing our bags, we enter the house and follow a bundle of electrical cords up the staircase and into a back bedroom set up as the stake out room. Several guys sit in front of monitors showing every possible angle of Emily's house. We're handed earpieces which everyone else is already wearing.

"This room doesn't have a view of Emily's house at all," I say as I glance out the window.

"By design," Clinton says. "We have enough cameras and mics monitoring the location I decided to set up in the spot furthest away from it. That way when one of us gives in to temptation and peeks out the window," he gives me a pointed look, "our mark doesn't get suspicious that she's being watched."

Without cringing, I nod. "Good call."

"Yeah."

"Anything yet?"

"No. Emily's ETA is forty minutes. Ryan arrived earlier. He's mic'd up and in place on the back deck with a flavored sparkling water and a book." One of our team explains.

"And that doesn't seem suspicious? Shouldn't he act typically?" I ask with brows raised. A rock star reading while drinking sparkling water?

"Ryan tends to read in his downtime. This is typical for him." Clinton smirks.

Guess he does know the guy pretty well.

"Ok."

"Hold up," another guy says, grabbing our attention. "Incoming." He screen grabs one of the camera angles, setting it to spotlight. We watch as a Towncar pulls into Emily's sunken garage. The doors close as our guy switches the spotlight to a different monitor, one that shows the elevator door in Emily's foyer. It must be set up in the frame of the siren painting which seems fitting considering Anita Brooks fancies herself some sort of seductress.

The elevator door opens and the woman in question walks out. She pauses to adjust her necklace and brush a strand of hair back into place. With the arrogance of a creature able to command the ocean or the fate of men, she strides into the kitchen, continuing to the deck through the stacking doors Ryan must have left wide open in order for Anita to find him there. All the while, our surveillance team shuffles spotlight monitors to keep our focus on our mark.

"Is the sound up?" Clinton asks. "She's talking but I can't hear her."

He says it before I'm able to. Another guy on the team fiddles with a sound board similar to something Brianna uses to mix an album. Suddenly I wince at the woman's voice filling the small space.

"That's not what we discussed, Ryan, and you know it."

"So you're telling me I'm not supposed to chill at her house, eat out of her fridge and generally act like a kept man while I'm dating your daughter?"

"You are not this obtuse."

"Oh, yeah. I probably am."

Ryan continues lounging in a deck chaise as Anita hovers over him. He picks up his can of water causing Anita to scoff.

"And drinking? Really. Do we need to revise your contract to include abstinence from alcohol?"

"Ah, but just a couple of weeks ago you gave me the all clear to indulge, if you know what I mean." The picture is grainy but I think I see him wink.

"You are obtuse. We both know I wasn't suggesting you over indulge in chemical substances."

He tips the can in her direction. "Just water. No chemicals." He glances at the can, pulling it closer to inspect the label. "Well, not mind altering chemicals. Just the usual kind."

"You certainly are acting as though you've indulged in something mind numbing."

"Thanks. I get that a lot," Ryan says with a finger gun pointed at Anita.

I chuckle. "He really is Jacob 2.0."

"So...am I only allowed to indulge in the horizontal tango? Is that what you're saying? Cause I gotta say, I don't think Emily will be into it." He swings his legs over the side of the chaise like a casual motherfucker while my heart is about to explode.

I hate hearing him talk about Em that way, but I understand what he's doing. And I can respect him for his effort if not for the mental images I'll have to scrub from my brain with bleach.

"I think you know that's not what I was implying."

"Damn," Clinton mutters. "He's going too hard. She's going to see right through it."

I guess this is where Clinton's heart attack comes into play; Ryan butchering the job.

"Give him a minute," I say, surprising even myself at my confidence in the guy.

Ryan stands up, moving in closer to Anita as if he needs to whisper in her ear.

"You implied I should attempt to impregnate her. That our collab beneath the sheets would be good PR for both of us. And that you'd take care of things so that before things moved too far, your daughter would suffer a loss. Something you also implied she'd already gone through. Am I wrong? Because I might be open to something along those lines."

Anita clears her throat before speaking quietly. "How the two of you interact is none of my business. However, if those scenarios became public, it wouldn't hurt either of your reputations."

Ryan steps back, nodding. "Now see? I'm not as obtuse as I thought I was."

"Noted. Now, please have my daughter call me at her scheduled time tomorrow. I need the documented contact for my records."

"Will do," he says with a salute. "You can see yourself out, if you don't mind."

"Of course." Prim and proper as though she didn't just pimp out her own daughter for headlines, the evil witch retreats from the house to the elevator, disappearing from out of camera view.

"I feel sick," Ryan whispers as soon as she's out of the house. "I hope you got what you needed because I can't do that again."

One of the guys reviewing time stamps from the monitors gives Clinton a thumbs up.

"We got it. Your job is done." He looks at me. "Now the real work begins."

We got the fly into our web but now we have to stun the bitch and wrap her up in our threads. Blackmail.

"Let's fucking go."

Whew! We got her where we want her, now its time to strike! Will Clinton's famous hands-off method do the job? Or will someone have to take her down to the literal ground? Time will tell. A couple more chapters until THE END and I'm shook that we're almost there.

PLUS Inevitable is now FREE!! Read it to your little hearts delight until October 1st.

This is just an absolute 90's classic so yes, it had to be on the playlist. It's a little angry with a hint of desperation. The pace and intensity feel like a rush to the finish line. Fitting for this part of the plot.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]