Chapter Twenty-Five
Evie
‘Are you okay?’ Evie asked Nicole, both of them sitting side by side on the kitchen chairs Uncle Brett had lined up along the wall, out of reach of anything that could help their plight.
‘Shut up!’ he yelled at them. ‘Right, this is how this is going to work. You,’ he shoved Nicole’s shoulder with the hand that wasn’t holding the knife, a dirty old knife with a blade that looked rusty, but Evie suspected wasn’t at all. ‘You are going to go to the nearest ATM and withdraw as much cash as you can, from every account.’
‘There’s a limit of—’ Nicole tried.
‘Shut up!’ The blade wiggled in his hand and Evie knew he was nervous. She was pretty sure he’d never have the guts to use the weapon, but she couldn’t chance it. ‘You will get as much cash as you can and bring it back here. I’ll keep young Evie as my insurance policy, so if you try anything, involve the police, tell that fat doorman downstairs, doanything, then what happens to her is your fault. Do you understand?’
Nicole nodded, genuine terror etched across her face. Her uncle had already raided Nicole’s jewellery box, made her open a safe Evie didn’t even know she had, taken Nicole’s gold watch, and a charm bracelet she’d been collecting pieces for since the day she met Evie, to give to her when she thought she would accept it.
What had she done bringing this man into Nicole’s life? Jack had been right. With her came trouble, and that meant trouble for Nicole.
Evie had arrived at the apartment ready to tell Nicole all about the photographs, all about the nude modelling. She’d joked with Reggie when a dog had done its business in the foyer and the stench had sent her running for the elevator. She hadn’t seen her Uncle Brett until she’d stepped in and he’d grabbed her from behind, a hand covering her mouth to silence her as the elevator crawled up to Nicole’s floor. And then, rather than hear everything from her, Nicole had heard the sorry story from him, his words twisting Evie’s insides as they echoed around the apartment, all her secrets out at last.
Nicole picked up her purse from the counter and made her way to the door.
‘And don’t try anything.’ Uncle Brett came over and yanked Evie from her chair, to her feet. He held a knife against her throat, a move she hadn’t expected. She froze, the cool metal against her skin a threat if she so much as squirmed.
When the door shut behind a terrified Nicole, he ordered her to sit down. It was a welcome relief to be away from that knife.
‘There could’ve been an easier way round this, you know.’ He came up to her now, his face so close she felt the spittle escape from between his lips.
‘Well, when you’ve got your money, you can go.’
‘That’s just the thing. I’m not sure if I can.’
‘You’ve got what you came for,’ she said, doing her best to look as though she wasn’t scared.
‘Have I? I’ll always have those photos, but there’s something else you can do for me.’
Evie didn’t like where this was heading, not one bit. Her body tensed up as he moved around her like an animal sizing up its prey. She wanted to stall him, keep him talking until Nicole got back with the money, then hopefully he’d forget all about wanting her for anything else.
‘What happened to family loyalty?’ she asked him. It seemed to work. His facial expression went from leering at her to actually thinking about what she said, but it didn’t last long.
‘All the family I’ve ever known have walked away, including you. I don’t give a crap about family loyalty. To me, it doesn’t exist.’
She had to keep him talking. Come on, Nicole. Evie counted in her head how many steps it would take to reach the ATM at the end of the street. She imagined Nicole’s hands shaking as she put in her PIN, withdrew the cash, pushed it into her purse and made her way back through the darkened streets.
Uncle Brett went over to the kitchen and scooped up a pile of photographs, flicking through each of them. Evie looked at the door. It was only her to get through it now, Nicole was out. If she ran, past the kitchen area, while he was perving at those photographs, she could get out. She could escape.
Her legs twitched, she almost left her seat, but he was sharp enough and looked up before her feet even moved.
‘Plenty more where these came from.’ He taunted her with the photographs.
‘They don’t matter to me now, Nicole knows everything, and you’ve told my employer. I’ve got nothing to lose.’
‘Oh, so confident aren’t we, Evie? You’re so sure of yourself. That was always your problem.’
She shrugged. She was anything but.
‘Just remember how small the world is with technology. I could see these go viral, pop up everywhere. You’d be a global sensation. I might even Photoshop a few of them, get you doing something else. Maybe when your friend comes back, I could take some more shots.’
‘My God, you’re sick.’
He lunged at her, the knife stopping before it reached her throat. ‘Careful now, don’t tempt me.’
