Evie’s mouth pulled tight. “It doesn’t.”
“So . . .”
“So that day Amanda cried her guts to me, she told me she’d made me legal guardian of Christina in case anything happened to her. And she made me swear I would never, ever let Wahlman be a part of her life.”
Clancy felt his eyes widen. “That’s pretty intense. Did she say why?”
Evie turned her head away, trying to compose herself.
“Sure. Amanda said that when Wahlman found out she was pregnant, he tried to give her an envelope full of money, insisted she get an abortion, and made reference to how young women in her situation had been known to disappear from Capitol Hill and are never heard of again.”
“What?” Clancy’s jaw dropped. “He threatened to physically harm her?”
“The conversation took place between my sister and Wahlman’s chief of staff. He sent her to Amanda’s apartment to deal with the situation because he didn’t have the balls to do it himself.”
“But Wahlman claims he never knew your sister was pregnant.”
Evie laughed bitterly. “Yeah. He says a lot of things that aren’t true. Like that he won custody.”
“He didn’t?”
“No. I can’t figure out what he did, but he used his influence somehow to steamroll us. He basically stole Christina from her family.”
Clancy stared at her. She did have her reasons. And they were good ones, if they could be proven.
“So.” Evie lowered her chin and frowned at him. “Why would you automatically assume I’m not guilty as charged? You don’t even know me.”
Clancy realized he had just become the subject of this interrogation. “I did know you, once, a long time ago, and I am looking at you right now. You’re right here in front of me. I’ve watched how devoted you are to Christina, how much she loves you. And I see you carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, more crap than any one person should have to deal with. But you know what I don’t see when I look at you?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t see a ruthless kidnapper. And I will do whatever I can to help you sort this out.”
Evie’s chin trembled. It took her a moment to pull herself together enough to speak, and when she was ready, she lifted her sea-glass eyes to Clancy. “So you’re not going to turn us in?”
“Ah, Evie. No. I’m not. But we’ve got our work cut out for us.” Clancy held out his arms and she fell into his embrace. He felt her begin to shake slightly. He knew she was trying not to cry.
“It’s going to be all right.”
She shook her head against his chest, then sat upright, wiping her eyes. “I really do need your help. I have nobody else to turn to.”
“You’ve already got it.”
“What are we going to do about my name? My alias is all over TV. I picked Cricket because that’s Chris’s nickname for me, which only my immediate family knows. Dickinson is my mother’s maiden name. But now I can’t be Cricket or Evelyn.”
“I guess you’re Evie again.” Clancy gave her a gentle smile. “At least until we sort this out.”
She blew out air and looked away for a moment, like she was summoning courage. “Before we go any farther, I have to know—did you ever think of me? Even just a little?”