Flawed Perfection (An Eve Sumptor Novel) (5 page)

“Good morning, Pauly.” She was thankful that her voice was lighter than she felt.

“Good mornin’, Mrs. Riley.” Pauly stopped sucking in his gut and puffing his chest out whenever Eve came in. His priorities changed drastically two years ago. Besides, Eve was married now, off the market. Not that he had a chance in hell before—besides he was married, too—but, he saw it as an act of respect for Adam. The luckiest man on this green earth as Pauly saw it.

Eve shut it down again, giving Lainey nothing. Not even a glance as she pulled into the parking space and cut the engine. Opening the back door, she started unbuckling Bella, smiling warmly at her and cooing.

“Come on, baby girl. Momma has you.”

Lainey’s heart clenched at seeing Eve interact with Bella. She was such a natural mother. Lainey could remember the terror in Eve’s eyes when Eve found out she was pregnant with Bella.

“
I lost my mother at an early age, Lainey. How am I going to do this? What if I fail?
”

Lainey reminded Eve of everything she’s overcome, and though she did lose her mother at age fourteen, what her mother taught her up until then—not to mention the journal she left Eve—was more than enough to help Eve be a great mother. Lainey was right. Eve doted on Bella, but did it in a way that didn’t spoil her. Too much.

“Let me help you.” Lainey reached for Bella’s diaper bag, but Eve hefted it onto her shoulder.

“I have it.”

“Eve, please.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Eve.”

“
I don’t want to talk, Lainey.
”

Eve’s tone had Lainey’s mouth snapping shut. Shit. She was going to have to do some serious begging to get out of the hole she just dug herself in. She stole a couple of glances at Eve on the elevator ride up to the gallery. Besides a scattering of grins to a murmuring Bella, Eve’s face was set in a frown. When the doors opened to the gallery floor, Eve’s face changed completely, taking Lainey by surprise. The look was pure pain and confusion.

“
Oh my God
.” Eve’s voice was barely above a whisper, and Lainey barely registered the words before she turned to see what Eve saw.

Eve heard Lainey’s gasp, but her focus was on the vision before her. The gallery—
her
gallery—was all but destroyed. Paintings and sculptures were scattered over the vast space, broken or damaged. Spray paint littered the wall that separated the space into a U shape in the middle of the room. Light fixtures were pulled from the ceiling, dangling menacingly above them. It was a disaster.

Eve stood frozen, her face a picture of torment. Seeing Eve like that grabbed Lainey’s heart in an iron fist, squeezing painfully. Lainey had to reach out to stop the elevator doors from closing on them when Mikey came racing up to them.

“Mrs. Riley!”

Eve snapped out of her stupor, effectively hiding her emotions in a blink of an eye.

“Are you okay?”

Mikey blinked, surprised by Eve’s question. Her gallery was ruined, but her first thoughts were of his safety. “Yes! I just got here a few minutes before you.”

Mikey’s eyes were rimmed red, and Eve knew he had been crying. Not because he was responsible, but because, Eve knew, he loved the art here almost as much as Eve herself. This was devastating for him. Not nearly as devastating as it was to Eve, but close.

“I called the cops,” he continued. “I didn’t touch anything! Oh …” He turned to look at the chaos again. “I can’t believe this. Who would do this?”

It was a question Eve wanted the answer to, and fast. She lost everything once before. She’d be damned if she would go through that again.

“You and Lainey take inventory before the police get here. I want to know what is damaged and if anything is missing.”

Mikey nodded solemnly while Lainey noted that Eve didn’t look at her once when she spoke, not even when addressing her.

“I’m taking Bella up to the nursery, then I’ll be in my office. Send whoever is in charge up when they get here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mikey rushed away, and Eve started towards the stairs. She paused when she felt Lainey’s hand on her arm.

“Eve.”

Eve spared Lainey a glance, but was too raw to risk having Lainey say anything kind to her right now.

“Do your job, Lainey.”

With Bella tucked safely away in the nursery, and Mikey and Lainey doing inventory, Eve retreated to her office. She had to pull in several deep breaths before calming herself enough to just think. Now, she stood at her huge, arched window and blindly watched the people below her. She had to remind herself over and over again that Tony was dead. There was no way he could be doing this to her. So, who was?

“Eve?”

Eve flinched at the intrusion of her thoughts, and confusion once again settled over her face. She turned, facing the man behind her.

“Captain Harris?”

His sandy blonde hair and full beard held a sprinkling of gray now. His golden brown, compassionate eyes had a few more wrinkles around them. Eve also noted the faint circles under them. He was tired, she thought.

Understandable. Two years ago, when he found out his partner was a murderer, and framing Eve, he had no choice but to go after him. When Maurice showed up at Eve’s apartment to finish what her father, Tony, couldn’t do, Harris—a detective then—had no choice but to use deadly force to prevent this.

Detective Charlie Harris was rewarded for his part in taking down Tony’s operation, even being offered the job as Captain. Eve learned later that the captain preceding Harris was also on Tony’s payroll.

Eve continues to think all of this was well deserved, but she could see now that what he had to do to his partner still weighed heavily on him. She went to him, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and offered him a small smile.

“What are you doing here, Charlie?”

“Investigating a crime.”

Eve’s brows furrowed deeper. “You’re a captain now. And, this isn’t a homicide. It’s vandalism.”

“It’s you,” he said simply, holding her gaze.

Eve’s features softened, and she gestured to the chair in front of her desk. When she was settled in her own chair, she got down to business.

“Lainey and Mikey are taking inventory. I’ll have a list for you as soon as they’re done.”

“And, after you’ve done the inspection yourself.”

“They’re more than capable.”

“It’s your gallery, Eve. You won’t leave it to anyone else’s hands, no matter how capable those hands are.”

She stared at him for a moment. He was right. It unnerved her, just a little, that he saw that in her.

“You’ll have the list soon,” she said again.

“Good. Do you have any ideas on who would do this to you?”

Eve knew he was thinking about Tony.

“My father is dead, Charlie. You know I killed him. This can’t be about him.”

“Are you sure? Maybe associates, or someone he owed money to?”

“After two years? Why wait that long for a payout?”

“To catch you off guard.”

His answer sent chills down Eve’s spine. She shook it off, refusing to believe that this was about Tony. That part of her life was over. She made sure of that when she put two bullets into him, and taking one herself.

Harris saw the refusal in her eyes and changed directions.

“Do you have any enemies you can think of that would want to hurt you this way?”

Eve smiled grimly.

“I’m a successful woman, Charlie. You don’t get that way without stepping on a few toes.” She leaned back in her chair, lacing her fingers together. “It could be other gallery owners who don’t like the fact that I can afford all of the priceless art. Or, protestors that think the art I feature is morally reprehensible. I have a drawer full of threats.”

“Why have you never reported those threats?”

Eve laughed.

“I have been doing this a while, Charlie. If I were to report every threat I had from bible thumpers, I’d be known as the woman who cried wolf. You’d never know when the threat was actually real.”

“It’s real now.”

“Yes, it is,” Eve’s mood turned somber.

Harris leaned forward, recognizing the resolve in Eve’s eyes.

“Let me take care of this, Eve.”

She held his gaze for a moment. “Billy can help.”

Billy Donovan was an agent for the FBI, and though he helped Eve when she needed it with Tony, Harris didn’t trust his motives.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Eve.”

“You think he is attracted to me.”

It wasn’t a question, but a teasing statement. Still, Harris answered.

“He’s a man. Of course he’s attracted to you.”

“You’re a man, Charlie.”

Harris shifted in his chair, uncomfortably. He couldn’t deny feeling a certain attraction to Eve. Hell, he was a red-blooded male, wasn’t he? But, he knew his boundaries. Harris wasn’t so sure Agent Donovan did.

“I’m married.”

“So is Billy. So am I.” Eve sighed. She had to think about the gallery, not the feelings that people may or may not have for her. “He has connections beyond your jurisdiction, Charlie. Use his resources.”

Harris nodded curtly. If this is what Eve wanted, he would give that to her.

“No one else, Eve. Let’s keep this legal.”

She knew he meant James. James often fell on the wrong side of the law. An occupational hazard, but extremely beneficial for anyone who needed answers.

“When this happened before it was just me, Charlie,” Eve began. “I lost everything in the fire that destroyed my gallery before, but I survived and I rebuilt. Now, there are people here that I love.”

She leaned in, pointing towards the furthest wall.

“My daughter is in the next room.” Eve moved her point towards her door. “Lainey and Mikey are downstairs sorting through this mess. It’s not just me anymore. I will do whatever I have to do to keep them safe.”

Harris knew she meant that. She took a bullet, could have died, to save Lainey when Tony came to Eve’s gallery that fateful night. Both women reported that Tony had surprised them, holding Lainey at gunpoint before Eve somehow talked him into letting her go. He couldn’t know that Eve promised her father her body in exchange for Lainey’s life. The report claimed that Eve and Tony struggled before the gun was discharged three times, hitting Eve once in the stomach and Tony twice, killing him.

“The last time you involved others, they got hurt or dead, Eve,” he reminded her.

She raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I didn’t involve Pauly, yet he was beaten—almost paralyzed—just so Tony could position a man in my parking garage. The only involvement Christine had in this was knowing where I went on vacation. She was severely beaten for information, which she lied about to protect me. Katherine involved herself with Tony. The only reason she is alive today is because I helped her. Meredith dug herself in too deep with dear old dad, not my doing. And, Jackie …” Eve’s voice wavered. She would feel guilty about Jackie until the day she died. The young woman had no involvement whatsoever in the battle between Eve and her father. Yet, she was murdered for the contemptible fact that Eve had spoken to her. While she may not have involved them herself, she knew all that happened was on her. She would cross lines if it kept everyone safe.

Eve sucked in a breath, releasing it slowly through her nose. “My resources go far beyond yours or Billy’s,” she continued. “Beyond the limits of the law. If that’s what I have to do, that’s what I will do …”

“Stop talking, Eve.” Harris lifted a hand. “I looked the other way two years ago. I’m a captain now. I can’t look any way but the right way.”

He stood.

“You do what you have to do. Just don’t tell me about it.”

Moving to the door, he paused and turned to Eve.

“Get me the list, and Agent Donovan’s number. I’ll have the best I have working on this. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as we can.”

After Charlie left Eve, she emailed him Billy’s information, emailed Billy with a head’s up and emailed James with the new development. Eve knew she was taking the easy way out, not picking up the phone and discussing this personally, she just didn’t care. Between Lainey and this mess, Eve was wiped. Completely, emotionally dispirited.