WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, EVANS?

Tyler’s POV      

"Boss, the police called. Your wife might have been involved in an accident."

Smoke rose toward the sky while naked girls danced on poles and rubbed their butts against male bodies to the tune of mid-tempo hip-hop.

The rooftop was the best spot in the city on a Friday night.

I had a girl smooching my lips and rubbing against me; she felt good, and I was already preparing to take her somewhere private to fuck her real good when William, my right-hand man, whispered something in my ear that turned my blood to ice.

"What?"

I shoved the whore’s legs off me and stood up.

"Her car was found in the over the bridge, drowned inside the water. Witnesses said she swerved over the bridge by herself. From the information available, it looks like a suicide, boss."

"And her body?"

For reasons unknown to me, my heart felt as if it were being ripped apart. I felt torn, broken, and damned.

Evans was only collateral to me; I never loved her.

Ever.

So why was this news hitting me harder than the news of my own mother’s death?

"What about her body, William?" I repeated the question, my voice harsh and threatening.

"The police reported that it hasn’t been found yet, boss. I’m sorry."

My face twisted in pain, my jaw clenching until it ached. My eyes felt as though they had been sprayed with red paint.

There was no way Evans would commit suicide; well, there were a million reasons why she would, but… I felt a visceral hurt.

Perhaps, if I had known she had such intentions, I would have treated her better. Like a person. Or a woman.

Soft thoughts that would never cross my mind over Evans’s affairs kept bubbling in my mind. Like I had turned a saint overnight.

I did not know excatlt the fuck that was wrong with my sense of reasoning. Maybe because I had had too much to drink?

"Pack up. We’re heading to the scene."

I did not have a second to spare to think before I suddenly ordered Williams.

I waled out before William could even acknowledge the command. It was already midnight. Searchlights could be seen scanning the water, carefully checking for any sign of Evans’s body.

The thought occurred to me that I should go home, if not anything, to be certain she hadn't tried to run away. I was willing to find her and bring her back to me if she had.

"You stay here," I told William. "Call me if they find anything. I’m going back to the house to check the CCTV footage and see what I can find there."

"Okay, boss," Williams bellowed, nodding slightly.

My tires screeched as I peeled away; I was restless. My eyes were pinned to the road, but my mind was wandering through a maze of thoughts. Maybe she’s with her father? No.

The gate opened automatically as I approached. I didn't even park properly; I practically fell out of the car and barged through the front door, flying into the house.

"Evans?"

The house was as quiet as the night itself. I sprinted up the stairs and glided into our room.

Her cosmetics were still there; most of them, at least. I threw open the wardrobe and found her clothes neatly arranged, just like always.

"She didn't run away after all."

But if she was in that car, where was her body? I swear to God, Evans, if you’re playing with me, I’ll make sure your life is a living hell when I find you.

My thoughts were loud and my emotions were scattered. I sat on the bed with my laptop, pulling up the security footage from the previous day.

I watched Evans run into the living room from outside just to catch my call.

"That's why she was panting over the phone," I muttered.

There was something obvious I was missing, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I fast-forwarded the footage.

It showed her walking back into the living room from the stairs carrying her luggage.

She stared intently at the wall clock; it was 8:00 PM. After standing there for a few seconds, she struggled to drag her suitcase back up the stairs and into the room.

"If she changed her mind about leaving, where was she going before the accident happened?"

My mind was out of control; I was dazed and puzzled. My phone’s ringtone jolted me back to reality. It was William. I hoped he had good news.

"The police have combed the entire area and beyond, and there’s been no trace of a body, boss. Something isn't adding up. They’ve called off the search until tomorrow morning."

The call ended. I sat in the silence of our room, the weight of the mystery pressing down on me.

Something very vague in her hand caught my attention.

I zoomed it.

I figured it was her cell phone, which she placed on her ears and took it out almost immediately.

‘Who might she have called at that time?’

  The room fell dead quiet and the cold chills on my body became intense, I felt weak to my bones.

I wanted to be certain if she was dead or alive, maybe it could cure the way I was feeling.

My involuntary and untamed thoughts moved me to call her dad.

It rung but I never got an answer. The second time, he picked up.

‘Where is your daughter? And don’t make me ask again.’

My voice sounded cynically deadly. As if hell was going to break lose if I hadn’t got the answer that I wanted to hear.

‘I-I don’t know Tyler. I haven’t heard from her in months.’

He sounded convincing. However, I wasn’t just going to buy that.

‘This is a good chance for you to give her back if you truly you love her and yourself Terry. I won’t repeat myself’

‘please, I swear, I don’t..’

I ended the call before he could give another protest.

Evans is mine and mine alone, she is not allow to detach, or run away or even die. No.

I didn’t know what I felt exactly. Pride or love. Maybe both.

The laptop became pretty blur to me and I threw it over the bed and laid there with my back, still in cognitive thoughts of where Evans could be.

She had no friends, well except the doctor whom she was very familiar with.

Wait, the doctor? She went to see Nathan this morning.

Before my thinking faculty could process another scenario, I was already dialing his number.

‘Hey Tyler, Is Evans okay? Why you calling in this dead hour?’

‘Did Evans come visit you at the hospital earlier this morning?’

I ignored the series of questions he asked. Unlike a normal non-suspicious fellow, he took a few seconds before he answered.

‘Yes, she came around the hospital. I tested her and sent her home. She complained of headaches and dizziness. It was nothing serious really’

I exhaled deeply and allowed my brain to process the information he gave me before I gave a verbal reply.

‘Okay Nathan, I don’t really believe you, but till I get evidence, you’re a free man.’

I never miss a chance of threatening anybody who I feel is intentionally lying to me. I could smell and taste anything that sounds like a lie to me easily.

I got that from my father. He has been in Greece since I was twenty-five, hiding from his personal enemies.

We ran the business together in Los Angeles before our cover got threatened by our rival, the state authority was never a big threat to us.

Mom was cold to our path; she divorced my dad and later died of cancer. My dad is a full-lived role model to me. I literally glow when I’m around him. He made me who I am.

The only twist was that I never loved him as much as I loved my mom. He was cold, stoic and too rigid.

 And, I’ve never loved anyone in my life aside them anyway. Well, until now.

It was hard to admit that I feel something for Evans. She only served as a replacement to my lost goods and more of a pleasure toy in my house that I could discard anytime.

Maybe her demise was just too sudden and unexpected. Maybe that’s why I feel this way.

 Bothered and unsatisfied because I wasn’t ready to discard her.

At least, not yet.

Where the fuck are you Evans?