Now he had an ex and a brat, and between them they’d managed to ruin everything. If only he’d stuck to his plan, he’d be sitting pretty on Easy Street, a bereaved widower with a small motherless child. Jamie, his daughter, would have inherited her mother’s share of the millions, and he’d hire an au pair to take care of the sniveling brat, while he lived the life he deserved. Everything would have been perfect, exactly like he’d pictured in his mind a thousand times. Until Tessa and her sheriff boyfriend ruined all of his perfect plans.
He closed his eyes and drew in a long, slow breath, holding it for a minute before exhaling. Calm, he needed to be calm. He couldn’t afford to tip his hand. Not when things were finally falling into place. Patience was the key.
His eyes flew open at the sound of his cell door opening, and his roommate stepped through, his lips twisted in a sardonic smirk. The cold, black deadness of his eyes chilled Evan to the depths of his soul, but he couldn’t afford to be squeamish, not with his whole future in the other man’s tattoo-covered hands.
Neither spoke until the door was secured and the guard was out of earshot. “Well, how’d it go?”
“Looking’ good, dude. My cousin and his old lady got everything lined up. Long as we meet up with ’em, they’ll make sure we get across the border into Mexico. They know a place to cross without getting caught.” The tall African-American man strode past Evan, flung himself down on his bunk, and folded his hands beneath his shaved head. Though he did his best to hide it, the terror inside Evan stank like putrid flop sweat. Compared to Axel, who worked out every day and had muscles a steroid abuser would worship, he felt like a ninety-eight-pound weakling.
“When?”
“Chill, man. It’ll happen when it happens. Soon, though. Things are coming together; it won’t be long now.”
Evan’s frustrated growl evidenced his irritation. He hated being at the mercy of others. Look what happened the last time he’d listened to somebody else. Trevor had screwed up. Now he had to trust another, and his gut roiled at the thought. Too many things could go wrong, as he’d learned the hard way. But he had to wait on Axel, because this was his plan and his people.
Getting out from behind these bars, these walls, had become his one priority, his sole focus. Only then could he put in motion his real plan. Axel and his buddies had made it clear: they were heading for the border and crossing into Mexico the minute they escaped from here. Evan had other ideas, and he planned on splintering off from Axel and his crew the first chance he got. While the locals and the feds were chasing after the escapees, Evan planned on being hundreds of miles away, deep in the heart of Texas.
Specifically, Shiloh Springs, Texas. Where his ex-wife and child currently resided, along with his traitorous sister-in-law.
Revenge against Tessa would be sweet, unfortunately, it wouldn’t be swift. She was too well-guarded by her boyfriend, the sheriff. No, his plans focused around his ex.
He knew she’d obtained a divorce. His lawyer brought him the papers, and advised him to sign them. Blathered some nonsense about it looking good on his record that he was cooperating in the face of all his charges. He’d signed them. Let them think he was a model prisoner, right up until he slipped through their fingers like a puff of smoke.
“You listening to me, man?” Axel shifted on the narrow cot, leaning against the painted cinderblock wall, his face obscured by shadows from the upper bunk. The deep baritone of his voice matched his muscular frame, the sound menacing and disturbing. Evan felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face. Axel had been behind bars on and off for the better part of his adult life, for a string of bad choices and worst acts. Nobody with half a brain would ever accuse Axel of being a nice guy. They didn’t cross him, either. Somehow, and he still wasn’t quite sure why, Axel had befriended him almost from the day he’d walked through the cell door into their shared space. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and frankly terrified about spending what could be a good chunk of the rest of his life in Huntsville, Evan latched onto Axel’s offer of friendship and protection, never realizing the big black man held the answer to his prayers—getting out of this hellhole.
“I hear you. I’m just sick of these four walls.”
Axel shrugged. “You get used to it.”
“Never.”
“Keep things on the down low, few more days, man. Then it’ll be tequila and senoritas, and beaches for miles. No bars on the doors and windows, and especially no cops.” Axel let out a contented-sounding sigh. “I ain’t never coming back to Texas, man. I’m gonna live the high life down south of the border, you feel me? Little bit of money down there buys a lot of happiness.”
“Can’t be soon enough for me,” Evan muttered, pacing across the narrow space to stare out the small barred window overlooking the yard, staring at the swath of concrete and dirt. He focused his mind on his main objective, repeating it over and over, like a personal mantra.
I’ll have my freedom and Beth will pay.
CHAPTER FIVE
The next morning, after having helped Beth move over to Tessa’s rental, Brody drove over to the Summers place.
