Chapter 21

"Charles?" I wanted to pinch myself... was I hallucinating??

"Charles?" I repeated. I ran towards him, his arms open wide. I cried hard into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me. It was him, it was really him, but, where was his arm cast?

"What about your arm?" I asked, incredulous.

"What about it?" He smiled. "It's better now, you silly goose. Come on, we need to get you out of those ties. Guys, come out!"

I stepped back as six people emerged from the behind rows of cars on the runway. I stepped back, incredulous. I didn't recognize all of them, but I recognized one. Loraine. "What is she doing here?" I gasped.

"Eva, I had to-"

"No you didn't!" I snapped. "Do you realize what you just did?" Suddenly, I wondered where Will and Gio where, they weren't standing anywhere around me. I grimaced at Charles then went over to the strewn bodies, searching frantically.

"Eva, wait, your ties!" Charles called. Someone behind me ripped out some sort of knife and had me free in one swipe. I brought my hands together for the first time in over twelve hours, realizing how they had multiple cuts and were almost blue from blood loss. I faced my rescuer, only to realize I was now face to face with Loraine. As weak as my hands were, I still managed to form fists.

"So, you're the wealthy employer I heard so much about." She smirked, and I could almost feel the stain of her red lips on my bloodied hands. Someone groaned close by and I realized it was Will under the weight of one of the dead guardsmen.

"Will!" With all of my strength, I pushed the body off of him. He stared up at the sky.

"Eva, Is that you?"

"It's me." I held onto his shoulders scanning around.

"Where's Gio?"

"I don't know." He groaned, then sat up. When he saw Loraine, I saw all of the blood draining from his face.

"Long time, no see." She took out the same knife she used on me and reached behind him, freeing him instantly.

"L...Loraine? What are you doing here?" He stood, looking like the boy in the principal's office. Annoyed at everyone now, I searched relentlessly for Gio, only to find him unconscious beside Plymouth's abandoned 2ndcar.

"Gio!" I yelled. His body was completely limp. I checked his pulse- It was weak, but it showed he was still alive, probably hanging by a thread.

"We've called an ambulance, but we have to be out of here before it arrives."

Slowly, I stood up, facing all of them. "Why are you here?" I demanded, looking first at Charles.

He looked stunned by my reaction. "Eva, I just saved your life!" Right, out of the frying pan, but into the wildfire.

"Why is she here?" I asked. Loraine crossed her arms, a painfully slow smile crossing her blood red lips.

"Let's get one thing straight, miss, I'm just trying to get what I'm owed. I saved your life. Now it's up to you to bring methe diamonds." My mouth dropped open.

"You told her?!" I glared at Charles.

"It was the only way they were willing to help, Eva!" Will looked at Charles in disbelief. Charles must've had no idea what these gangsters were capable of. The nails could have just been sealed in our coffins now. With one snap of Loraine's gloved fingers, we were surrounded and led away, towards the vehicles that had arrived in the shootout.

I glanced back at Charles, the pain in my eyes evident.

"Your friend will live." Loraine said sharply. "I can't say the same for you until you tell me where I can find those diamonds."

"Loraine, you don't need this. Your bone to pick is with me." Will looked more regretful than I could imagine.

"Yes, honey, that was until you missed our last meeting."

"In the car!" She ordered sharply. Her platinum blond hair blew in the wind and I found myself staring at the woman who had ruined Will's life and was nearly ruining mine now. Now I could only hope Plymouth would be back and somehow distract both of them in time for the real help to arrive.

"Where are we going?" She asked. Her lighthearted manner made my blood boil, but I heard sirens in the distance, coming for Gio. Oh please let Gio be okay.

"We need to go to an archive." I said. "A family history archive." Will stared at me, dumbfounded.

We all loaded into the vehicles and sped off down a road. It all looked so familiar and I had the weirdest deja-vu sensation creep under my skin. Charles sat next to me looking confused.

"Do you know who these people are?" I whispered. He shook his head.

"Only that they said they could help me find you. I didn't know what to do after you went missing in Manchester! They were looking for Will, who they said was an old friend." I rolled my eyes.

Will looked exasperated. "Old friends?! I guess you could say that, if your old friends tried to kill you!" One of Loraine's guards glanced back at his sharp tone, but seeing that we were all sitting still, returned to looking straight ahead.

I forced down my annoyance and looked up at Charles, squeezing his arm with my mangled hand. "Thanks for rescuing me, even if it was with our 2ndenemy."

He smiled. "All they want are some bloody diamonds. Just give it to 'em and we can go free!" Right, bloody diamonds indeed. Bloody diamonds my Father never even told me about. Those diamonds didn't belong to anyone, and once we were free I would be sure to get the MI6 on a worldwide man-hunt for Loraine and her gang.

"Where's the necklace Austin gave to you?" Charles noticed my bare neck. I had to think for a moment.

"I—I gave it to Gio when we were in the tunnel. Under WWM." I looked back trying to find the smoke still rising from the airport and saw that ambulances were already on the top of the hill. Thank God Plymouth hadn't found him first.Now my necklace was safe, but I couldn't say the same for Austin. My heart ached thinking about what was happening to him—another hunt that was about to take place.

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Will's revelation astounded me. How did he always know what I was thinking about? I nodded, trying not to give too much away, lest I burst into tears. He pursed his lips and silently gazed out the window. I could feel his temper rising.

We drove through the city I knew too well by now and arrived at the archives center once again. It was only a few days ago that I had been here with Will and found the letters and note from my parents. Part of me wondered if Dr. Chen would be here. Maybe he would see us in distress and alert the police. Not that Loraine's men couldn't handle them in seconds with all of the weapons they likely had hiding all over the place.

We walked inside and to my dismay a different receptionist was waiting there. I looked around, noticing how Loraine's men weren't holding any guns. They were all probably holstered inside those enormous unnecessary overcoats. I looked at my own outfit, wondering if the receptionist would take a clue from how ruddy and dirty Will and I were, but for some reason she kept staring at Loraine, which was ultimately no surprise to me. The woman didn't have an imperfection anywhere, besides the bruises I caught sight of beneath her long sleeves, covered in make-up. She was a perfect devil in an angel's disguise and the receptionist was falling for it.

"We need to look up records for the Westfield family. Do you know where we might find them?" Her voice was bewitchingly like honey. The receptionist, a rather plain-looking simple blond stammered slightly in turn, which caused Will to roll his eyes.

"R...room 207. Dr. Chen isn't in today so you will have to let yourself in." She handed her a key and my heart sank a little. Dr. Chen wouldn't be saving us this time.

Charles was forced to wait in the car so Will and I were alone against 5 of Loraine's overly-muscular minions.

She unlocked the doors and I found that we were in the W section of the room, on the other side of the building from where we had been previously. My heart skipped a beat thinking of what I might find hidden in these shelves. Loraine clacked with her stilettos over to one of the chairs at the white sterile-looking tables and sat down, looking impatiently at me. It was only then that I noticed her platinum hair and pale skin nearly matched the glossy white tiles on the floor. It wasn't necessarily an evil look, just ghostly.

"Okay, Eva, let's get this over with." She stated behind white teeth. I licked my lips nervously and glanced at Will who seemed to be sucking in gulps of precious oxygen. Westfield,Westfield. I immediately began scanning the isles. The file on my family had to be here somewhere. I raced up and down the isles of cabinets, letting my finger lightly touch the labels until I found WE.I ripped it open and realized only one file was inside. I lifted it out gingerly and scanned the documents inside. Sure enough, the file was for Frank Westfield and his daughter, listed as Nefeli Westfield, my real name. I covered my mouth, feeling as if I had just discovered my true identity. Not a citizen of the U.S., not Eva Westfield, a business major graduate of UCLA. I was Nefeli Westfield, a true Greek born on the island of Santorini.

"Will!" I called him over and he was immediately by my side, following my eyes to the document. A small, simple copy of my birth certificate, one I had never seen before.

"You mean, you've never seen this before?"

"No!" I gasped. "Not my real one I guess."

"What's going on?" Loraine demanded.

I bit my lip. "We still haven't found anything."

"Well, hurry up!" She barked. "Your friends in the CIA could be here any minute." They weren't all in the CIA, but I wasn't going to say anything. Part of me now wondered if she knew Will had even been a member of MI6.

"Looks like there's nothing of his relatives." I checked my Mother's maiden name, Therese Haik.

"Will, we need to find surname Haik." He set off immediately, holding his hurt arm. I nearly went into full Eva-mode, wanting to ask if he was alright, but I had the feeling Loraine would step on that point with extra force if she knew, so I kept quiet.

"Eva, here."

"Don't you mean Nefeli?" I knew this wasn't the time or place to be making jokes, but I knew that if someone didn't lighten the matter, I would go insane. He turned to look at me with a knowing smile and paused mid-way into handing me one of the gazillion folders under "Haik".

"Nefeli is a beautiful name, but you look like more of an Eva to me." I shook my head playfully then opened the folder.

"Jerome and Kali, your aunt and uncle, live just North of here on the cliffs." I couldn't believe my eyes. I had an Aunt and an Uncle—and likely cousins! But I could feel the joy at this discovery fade away quickly.

"Will, we can't take you-know-whothere. What if they hurt them?"

"Who hurts whom?" I was shocked to find Loraine behind Will. How long had she been standing there?

"If you're worried, sweetie, keep in mind we don't want any unnecessary blood on our hands. We are more organized than that, isn't that right, Will?" Her lithe fingers rested on his shoulder and my instinct wanted to shove her away from him. She looped her other arm through his, tightening her grasp and causing beads of sweat to form on his forehead. My jaw clenched as if I was feeling his pain. When she let go, there was some blood on her hands, making me feel suddenly faint. She held up her other hand and one of her minions came immediately to her rescue with a handkerchief.

"Give me a phone please." I asked abruptly.

She looked at me as if I had just asked her to leave the room. "Excuse me?"

"I said give me a phone." I repeated. "People don't show up at other people's homes without calling first. It's rude." I emphasized rude, hoping she would get the point.

With a scowl on her pretty face, she begrudgingly asked her leading assistant to get her phone. I looked at Will, who returned my gaze with a smirk. That's right, as long as I was master of this chess game, we were going to play by my rules—for as long as I could get away with it.

Author's Note

It's official, only 5 chapters left in the story! Do y'all think they'll find the "diamonds" Eva's Father hid??

It has been a long 21 weeks of editing and to be 5 short weeks from the end fills me with so much joy! Hard work truly always pays off! I have lots of edits to make in re-running through the book again but to have come this far feels amazing and I couldn't have done it without you, my lovely readers. :) <3