Evie squeezed her hand. “I like hanging out with you. Really. If you need anything, I’d like to help.”
For a moment, appreciation rose in Sam’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced with another unexpected emotion. Anger.
“You weren’t supposed to be nice,” Sam said. Evie frowned.
“What?”
“You were supposed to be mean. That’s what they said.” Sam glanced down the street, suddenly looking scared.
“Sam, what are you talking about?”
“Shut up,” she said quietly. She sounded a little panicked.
Feeling uneasy, Evie scanned the other tables until she spotted Flea lounging nearby. When he caught her eye, his lax posture vanished, and he sat up straighter, looking serious.
It was rare to see him serious.
“Sam, you’re kind of scaring me right now.”
Sam bit a nail, looking to be struggling with something. Then she took a deep breath and turned to Evie. “You have to go.”
Evie leaned back, surprised. Sam continued before she could say anything.
“They’re down the street, waiting for me to get up and leave. That’s their signal. Pretend you’re going to the bathroom and then go out the back. That way, they might not see you.”
“They?” Evie shook her head in confusion. “Who’sthey?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Sam said in a panicked whisper. “Scary guys. They found out I worked at the dance studio. That I ran into you there. They said they would pay for Rachel’s care if I got them you.”
Slow, horrible realization came over Evie at the words. Sam hadhappenedto appear at The Five-Leaf after she’d scared Evie at the studio. Then later, she’d been on the phone, nervous about someone secret she was meeting with. And she’d tried to get Evie to go with her to other places than the Chains-affiliated bar.
There was a reason all those things occurred. It was because she had a plan. She’d been hired to lure Evie out.
“You’re working for Varro.” Evie’s fear was mirrored in Sam’s eyes.
“I don’t know a Varro. I never got any names other than yours. Your real name, Evelyn Atkins. They said you were a stripper from New Orleans who ran out with a lot of money. They said they just wanted to talk to you and scare you into telling them where you stashed it.”
The world was going sideways. Evie’s sight was blurring.
“You brought me here for them,” Evie said, remembering how Sam had insisted they meet at this bar rather than The Five-Leaf. “You planned for them to take me.”
“I’m sorry, Evie. I didn’t know what else to do.” Sam’s face was wrought with guilt. “We don’t have any money. And I thought… They told me a bunch of things about you. They said you were selling drugs and that you were addicted. That that’s where all your scars came from.”
Evie hugged herself without thinking. Terror and panic rushed through her body, growing with every word Sam said.
He’d get her again. She should have known Varro would never stop trying to get her back. When Stefano attacked her in the apartment, he even said they’d sent humans to find her. She should have seen this coming.
She thought the daylight was safe. She thoughtSamwas safe. Evie had believed she could have something normal with her, just a regular friendship. It made the betrayal hurt even more.
“You have to go.” Sam’s eyes were pleading, and she grabbed Evie’s hand. “I’ll say you caught on and ran. Just go. Go to the back andleave.”
Evie couldn’t move. She was frozen in place. In her periphery, she saw Flea stand up.
Behind him, two men were standing next to a black windowless van. They were looking at her and Sam. They looked cruel.
Sam’s nails dug into her hand. “Evie, go!”
Evie staggered to her feet, backing away from the table. She moved inside the bar, pushing through the room towards the back where the kitchen was. She didn’t think as she walked in, stumbling through and almost knocking over a stack of plates. Her phone was ringing, and she pulled it out of her pocket as she pushed out of the back door into an alley.
