Page 329 of Nobody's Girl

Eden comes back in. “You won’t believe this.”

“What?” Kyle and I ask at the same time.

“Her car has a tracking device. I should’ve thought about that before, but I didn’t. Anyway, she’s right down the road. You won’t believe where,” he says.

“Eden, just tell us,” I say.

“Sheriff Hardy’s house,” he tells us.

“How can that be?” I ask.

Kyle stands up. “I’ll go get her. You two stay here.”

“Wait, Kyle. One of our security guys works in Austin as a bodyguard for the governor. He’s coming out to take care of the situation,” Eden tells him.

“So we have to wait?” Kyle asks.

“It won’t be long, Kyle,” Eden assures him.

“I’ll make some sweet tea while we wait,” I say.

“Why would Laura be at the sheriff’s house?” Kyle asks us.

“I have no idea,” Eden answers him.

“We will know shortly, Kyle. Just try to relax until then. I found some chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge. I’m going to make some cookies. Come help me, Kyle,” I tell him, trying to distract him.

“I guess I should find out where everything is in here. I don’t want Laura to have to do all of the cooking,” Kyle says.

“The cookie sheets should be under the cabinet, Kyle. I’ll pre-heat the oven.”

“I’ll be out back by the pool. I need to call our parents and let them know how things are going,” Eden tells us, then walks out of the back door.

I finish making the tea, then pour Kyle a glass. “Here, have some tea. It’ll calm your nerves.”

“Thank you, Al. Thanks for understanding. I feel like I’m going crazy here. I can’t figure anything out about any of this. It makes no sense why Laura would be over there,” Kyle says as he puts the tray of cookies into the oven.

“I know it’s confusing, to say the least. I mean, why in the hell didn’t the sheriff say anything to me about that?” I ask.

“It doesn’t make any sense at all. I just want it over soon,” he says.

The back door opens and Eden walks in. “He’s here.”

As we walk out the front door, a black suburban drives up. A well-built man wearing a black suit gets out of the car. Eden walks over to him as Kyle and I hang back.

“What do you mean, she’s in jail?” Eden shouts at the bodyguard. Kyle and I look at each other, then get closer so we can hear everything.

“The sheriff said she left here last night and he happened to be driving down the road on his way home. She pulled out of the gate here and sped down the road in front of him. She appeared to be drunk, so he had his deputy, who was riding with him, take her car to his house and he took her to jail,” the bodyguard, Jake, tells us.

“I don’t understand why she hasn’t called anyone to tell them that,” I say.

“The sheriff said the judge deemed her a flight risk. She was apparently very hostile towards Sheriff Hardy, hitting him repeatedly. The judge has not set her bail yet. They won’t let her make any calls until that time. They also have her in isolation so she can’t hurt anyone,” Jake says.

“This is ridiculous. We need a lawyer. That sheriff, a couple of his deputies, and a judge were here last night. They have an idea that we’re hiding what the jet was chasing,” Eden says.

“Then she needs to be out of there as soon as possible, before they get her to talk,” Jake tells us.

“She won’t say anything about that. She takes her responsibility seriously. She would never give up any information about them,” Kyle says.