A Brand New Twist Chapter 36 ~Evian, Sheridan, Tek, Alistair~
by Luvin_Evian
Eve pulled out of Julian’s kiss at the sound of a clearing throat. She looked
up to find Sheridan with an attractive African-American man. Sliding off the
bed and feeling slightly embarrassed, she gave them both a smile. “Hi.”
“Hope we’re not interrupting,” said Sheridan, a soft shade of rosy pink
coloring her cheeks.
Eve glanced over at Julian who managed a little smile even though she knew
he had to be feeling extremely anxious with what was about to happen.
“No,” Julian said. “We’ve, uh, we’ve been waiting for you.”
“Glad to see you’re feeling better, Julian.”
“Thank you. Eve has a way of doing that.” He motioned to the man with Sheridan.
“Who’s your friend?”
Sheridan draped her arm around the man’s shoulders. A bright smile touched
her lips. “This is Thomas. He’s the private investigator Luis told me about.
And I have to tell you, he’s wonderful.”
Eve watched the young man. He exuded charm and confidence, but somehow seemed
embarrassed by Sheridan’s words. She found it endearing.
“I’m just doing my job, Sheridan. She likes to forget, but I prefer the
name Tek,” he said to Eve and Julian.
Eve tilted her head. Tek? Aside from the obvious, why did that name sound
so familiar to her?
“You’re being modest, Thomas, and I didn’t forget. I don’t like that Tek
name, remember?”
“You said you’d try.”
“I did, and it didn’t work.”
“Uh-huh. I don’t think you tried too hard.”
Eve watched the two go back and forth. Did they just meet? They went on
like two old school chums.
“You seem very fond of him,” Julian remarked.
“You read my mind,” Eve said.
“I am quite fond of him, when he’s not trying to make me call him some computer
name,” Sheridan said with a playful frown. “Really, he’s the best. He’s done
so much in so little time, and that’s why I brought him along with me. You
won’t believe what I have to tell you.”
“Funny you should say that,” Eve remarked, putting her pondering of the
name Tek aside for the time being and sliding her hand into Julian’s. “We
have a bit of unbelievable news to share with you, too.”
“Yes, everyone has news,” said Alistair, coming in and marching to the middle
of the room.
“Father, why are you here?”
Alistair groaned. “God, how I shudder at the sound of that word.”
Sheridan folded her arms. “What word?”
Julian’s hand tightened around Eve’s as the old man’s gaze met his son’s.
“You want to tell her?” Alistair asked, producing a cigar from the breast
pocket of his suit. “I have no problem sharing the news myself.”
Eve fretted. She and Julian wanted to break this news as easily as they
could, and Alistair would do his best to make this as big a scene as possible.
“Alistair, nobody wants you here.”
“That’s not a surprise, but I am here, and I’m not going anywhere.” He swirled
the unlit cigar around in his mouth, then pulled it out with a soft plop.
“No, I’m going to be here until the bitter end. And I suspect it could get
quite bitter.”
Thomas backed up to the door. “Look, maybe I should go. This seems to be
a family thing, and I...”
Alistair chuckled. “All the more reason for you to stay, my boy.”
Sheridan glared at Alistair as she moved over to Thomas. “I don’t know what’s
going on with him, but he’s right, you need to stay. Eve and Julian are going
to have questions, and you need to be here to answer them.”
“Yes, they will have questions, but I suspect you’ll have your fair share
of them, too, Sheridan.”
“What are you talking about? You’ve been tap-dancing around something since
you waltzed in here, and I want to know what it’s about so you can get out
and Thomas and I can talk with Eve and Julian alone.”
Alistair turned his attention to Eve and Julian. The smug grin on his face
put Eve on edge. He was chomping at the bit to lower the gauntlet.
Eve pointed at the door. “It’s time for you to leave, Alistair”
“No, I can’t do that, Eve. Sheridan wants me to tell her what’s on my mind.”
“Father!” Julian thundered.
Eve touched Julian’s shoulder. “You have to stay calm,” she reminded him.
He closed his eyes. “I know, but he…”
“I know, Julian. I know.”
Sheridan looked from Julian and Eve to Alistair and back again. “What’s
going on? This is starting to make me a little uneasy.”
“Me, too,” said Thomas. “I really think it’s time for me to go.”
Sheridan’s wrapped her hand around his wrist, halting his progress to the
door. “Thomas, wait. I want you to stay.”
“Sheridan, I…”
“Please.” She clasped her hands around his. “I really need you to stay here
with me.”
Eve watched the interaction between Sheridan and Tek, intrigued by their
obvious closeness. She didn’t sense any romantic vibes, but there was a natural
chemistry between the two. He was her friend. Maybe he should stay. Sheridan
would definitely need someone after she heard this news.
Tek nodded. “Okay, I’ll stay.”
“So, Father, what is it now?” Sheridan asked.
“Ugh!” Alistair groaned, flailing his hands above his head. “Girl, you’re
about as dumb as box of rocks.”
Tek stepped in front of Sheridan, meeting the venom in Alistair’s eyes head
on. “You will not talk to her like that.”
“I will talk to her however I damn well please.”
“The rest of the world might be intimidated by you, Crane, but I’m not.”
“You should be, and before long, you will be. Your little stint with the
ISA and duty with the Salem Police Department could never prepare you for
a one-on-one with Alistair Crane. You’d be wise to remember that.”
Eve ignored the threat Alistair gave to anyone who dared to stand up to
him. “Salem?” she said, remembering where she knew the name Tek. “You know
my friend Dr. Alexandra Carver.” As she thought more, she remembered Lexie
talking about him with a lot of enthusiasm. Considering she’d just lost her
husband, Eve encouraged her to spend time with this man once he got back
into town. Now, for some reason, she didn’t like the thought of that at all.
Tek was a very attractive man, but much younger than her friend, and being
newly widowed, Lexie wasn’t in the right emotional state to be with a man,
especially not this man. Eve wanted to kick herself. Why did she care? This
wasn’t any of her business. She gave him a smile. “Lexie said many nice things
about you.”
“Lexie is a wonderful woman.” Tek shoved his hands in his pocket and lowered
his gaze. “Too bad about her husband.”
Julian snickered. It seemed the sincerity in Tek’s heartfelt words and contrite
expression came off as hollow to him as it did to her. As genuine as he might
feel about Abe being gone, he wasn’t too broken up to want to go after Lexie.
There was something about that look on his face. Something familiar. It was
just like…like the one she’d seen on Julian many times before. Eve’s gaze
shot to Alistair.
The old man made his way to the bed, grinning. “I’ve seen the way you’ve
both been watching those two,” he said in hushed tones. “Trying to figure
out what it was you couldn’t quite put your finger on. My idiot son is a little
slow on the uptake, but you figured it out, didn’t you, Eve? He’s a chip
off the old block, isn’t he? A chocolate chip.”
Tears filled Eve’s eyes. “You bastard.”
“No, that would be those two over there. They don’t even know about their
connection and they are so close. Your son is very protective of his sister,
and he’s in law enforcement. I do wonder how he’ll react when he learns his
father tried to kill his sister a couple of times, and when his sweet mother
found out, she never said a word. How will Sheridan react?” Alistair shrugged.
“No point in speculating.”
“Don’t do this, Father.”
“Don’t do what, Julian?” Alistair said, raising his voice. “Tell Sheridan
you already know the news she and her Thomas want to tell you? That Eve gave
birth to twins. A little boy and a little girl.”
“You know?” Sheridan said, approaching. “Eve, when I talked to you earlier
you insisted it wasn’t possible. That’s why I wanted Thomas to come over with
me, to show you the proof and have him explain. How did you find out?”
“I told her earlier today. After you spoke with her,” Julian answered. “I
learned about the babies days ago, but I kept it to myself because I was afraid.”
“Afraid? Julian, you love Eve. To tell her you had twins, is great news.
Why were you afraid to tell her?”
“Because he also learned the identity of one of those babies,” Alistair
readily explained. “And he knew, or he thought he knew, if he told Eve, he’d
lose her and the sprout she’s carrying right now You see, Eve knows what
kind of man Julian is. All the skeletons rattling around in his closet, and
well, as you can see, nothing is more important to Julian than this woman.
So, he kept quiet, until she forced him to come clean.”
Sheridan shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Eve knows exactly
the kind of man Julian is, and she also knows any bad thing he’s ever done
was in direct orders from you. He would have never left her all those years
ago if it weren’t for you. She wouldn’t leave him for telling her they had
twins, much less for telling her the identity of one of those children.”
“Really? Even if Eve knew he tried on a couple of occasions to kill this
love child?”
“Kill?”
“That’s it!” Julian flung the covers off his body and swung his legs off
the bed. “Father, you’ve said enough, and if I have to throw you out of this
room, you will get the hell out! I will not let you do this.”
“You can’t stop me!” Alistair fired back.
Eve grabbed Julian’s shoulder, urging him back to the bed. Though a noble
attempt, there was nothing he could do to stop Alistair. They could only hope
to do damage control when all the carnage was over.
Alistair cleared his throat. “As I was saying, Julian told Eve about all
the things he’s done in the past, and Eve gave him a pass, because she loves
him so. But would she be so understanding when she learned the object of the
deadly threats was her child? That was Julian’s dilemma, Sheridan, and why
he kept quiet until Eve found a picture of herself with the two babies. That
same picture you have in your purse. So, he had to tell her the truth. He
had to tell her she had twins, and you were one of those two children.”
“Me?” Sheridan turned to Eve and Julian, searching their eyes for confirmation.
A shaky hand covered her mouth and clear streams slid down her cheeks as the
truth stared back at her. “Oh, my God,” she murmured. “It’s true.” She turned
to Tek who waited with open arms and comforting words. “It’s true.”
Alistair nodded. “That’s right, Sheridan, it’s true,” he affirmed. “And
the real kicker is, and you’re going to love this part, Thomas, your P.I.
and ready available shoulder, is your brother.”
Tek’s arms dropped. Sheridan peeled her tear-stained face from his chest.
“What did you say, old man?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I didn’t stutter, boy. There’s a reason you two felt a connection. You’re
twins. Brother and sister. And those two,” he said, pointing in Eve and Julian’s
direction, “are your parents. You didn’t want to come in here before. You
said you felt like everything would change. How right you were. How right
you were.” Alistair brushed his hands together, laughing. “My work here is
done. Now, I’ll leave you all to your reunion.”
The absence of Alistair’s caustic laughter left the room mired in deafening
quiet. Confused eyes of blue and brown stared straight ahead, unwavering.
Waiting for answers, needing answers. Eve held fast to Julian’s hand as they
looked on at their dazed children. However would they find the words to explain
the secret that had changed their lives forever?