"It's me. Mom, I'm right here."
Her mother's face filled the screen, and guilt warred with anger. In thirty-two years, Evie had never seen so much as a single flyaway in her mother's perfect updo. But today, her hair wasn't even pulled up. Her mother's curls were loose and wild around her completely unmade face, which was another first for Evie. Her mother never left her bedroom without a full face of makeup.
"Oh, baby." Her mother's voice cracked. "Are you okay? Where are you, honey?"
Baby? Honey? Where had that come from? Her mother never used nicknames or pet names for anybody. "I'm good, Mom. I'm… somewhere safe." A movement from the side caught her eye and she glanced over to see Luca tapping his watch. "I can't stay long. I just wanted to tell you I'm fine, and that you have to let S.E.A.L.'s men explain everything to you."
Terror filled her mother's eyes. There was no other word for the raw, panicked emotion. "No, no, you have to come home. Right now, Evelyn."
"Mom, what's wrong?" Her stomach churned with unease. "Did Branson threaten you? What's going—"
Before she could finish her question, the screen went black, and she whipped her head around to glare at Jason. "What are you doing? Turn it back on!"
"I can't,tesoro. We don't know if he was listening, and you were getting too emotional."
"You're fucking right I'm getting emotional! Something is wrong; he's done something to them." The fear she felt now was all too familiar and all too real. She let him see it, and she saw the change in him the instant he did. "Daddy, please."
"Evie. Baby. Don't cry." He practically leapt out of his chair to circle the table and scoop her up into his arms. "We'll figure it out, I promise."
"I won't ever forgive myself if he hurts them. We have to do something."
The loud clearing of a throat had her looking up at Luca. His expression was carefully guarded, but she knew instantly she wasn't going to like what he had to say.
"What makes you think something is wrong?" Luca asked, his voice as carefully neutral as his expression.
And still, the hairs on Evie's neck stood on end. "You don't believe me."
Luca's expression never changed. "I believe you think they're in danger. I need you to help us understand why."
Fear and anger churned in her stomach until she thought she might be sick. "Because I know my parents, Luca. My mother was terrified, and her hair was down."
"Her hair?" This, from Teagan who had taken her place beside Luca, with the same neutral expression on her face.
Evie sighed, already tired of repeating herself. "Yes, her hair. It was down. Are you even listening to me?"
"Tesoro, calm down. We're trying to help."
"How can you help if you won'tlisten?"
For the first time since the so-called "op" had begun, Ro spoke up. "Sweetie. We are listening. But you need to take a breath and explain to us why your mother's hair being down matters so much."
Taking her sister's advice, she drew in a deep breath before slowly letting it out again. "My mother never wears her hair down. What's more, today is the first time in my entire life I've seen her without a trace of makeup on."
"Seriously?" Teagan's eyebrows winged up to her hairline. "Now I know where you get it from."
Evie snarled at the thinly veiled insult. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to look put together, Teagan."
"But," shaking her head, Teagan waved her hands in front of her, "never mind. Not the point. Your crazy mother puts her makeup on and does her hair every day, rain or shine. Even when she's sick?"
Fighting for patience, Evie answered through gritted teeth. "When I was thirteen, her appendix ruptured. She was too weak to do her own hair and makeup, so she brought in a personal stylist and makeup artist. To the hospital. Every day, for a week."
Luca scrubbed a hand over the stubble on his cheek. "Okay. She's obviously upset. That doesn't mean Montgomery has threatened them. Any mother would be upset by the idea of her only child being kidnapped, which she claims to believe."
"That's not—" Letting out a short scream, Evie rapped her knuckles against her head. "You're not—"
"Listening, I know," Luca finished for her.
"Why?" Twisting on Jason's lap, she faced him. "You believe me, right? Make him listen."