“Can you tell me what’s going on with Eden Rose?” I ask a male nurse. Then I take a deep breath, search deep, and say, “Please.”
He taps something on a computer behind the desk just as Eden’s sister scurries in. She stops abruptly when she sees me standing there, and she quickly approaches.
“And you are?” the male nurse asks.
“I’m Ripley King.”
His head snaps up, and he looks at me for the first time. He swallows and asks, “Any relation to Ms. Rose?”
“I’m her husband.” The lie easily slips out of my mouth.
“No, he’s not,” the most annoying voice says. “He’s not related to Eden at all, but I’m her sister. Carla will vouch for me.” She points at an older woman on the other side of the desk.
“Okay,” the man says. I notice his name tag says Wilford. “I’ll need your permission to—”
“No,” Sylvie says quickly. “He can’t have any info, and he can’t see her.” She tilts her head and crosses her arms.
For this moment, she has claimed victory, but what she doesn’t know is that the only thing I’ve ever cared about in my life is on the other side of the wall, and I have no idea what’s going on with her. I would take on everyone in this hospital to get to Eden.
Sylvie’s smug face quickly morphs into fear when I inch close to her and crowd her. Leaning down, I whisper, “I will make you fucking disappear.”
She gasps and takes a step back, but I crowd her again. “They will never find your body, and the world will be better off without you.”
The color on her face disappears. She stands frozen and mute. Preacher returns and must read the room, so he steps between us.
“Do you hear me?” I yell. She runs to the other side, but I face Wilford. “Tell me what the fuck is going on with Eden Rose,” I order.
Randall and Serena come running in. I can see the fear and worry in their eyes. Their daughter joins them a few feet away from me.
“You have to calm down,” Preacher whispers to me. While the three of them talk, I can feel eyes on us. I’m not sure if anyone has seen Preacher before. He doesn’t live in Shadow Cove and meets with us covertly, and he’s only recently started meeting us in person. “I need to tell you something.”
He lowers his voice and tilts his head toward the door, signaling for us to go outside.
“No. I’m not going anywhere.”
He looks around and pulls me to a quiet corner. “It wasn’t an accident.”
My heart drops. That same thought has been in the back of my mind, but I stuffed it down.
“It was Brennan.”
I bite down on my bottom lip so hard that I taste my blood.
“I hacked into his phone so I could track him,” Preacher says.
“Where is he?”
“Dax—”
Just as the word leaves Preacher’s mouth, my phone buzzes. I pull it out, and it’s Dax. I listen as he tells me that he has Brennan. “Keep him alive,” I order before hanging up.
Dax is the one who gives the orders, but he knows me well enough to know that I’m the only one who can dole out the kind of justice Brennan deserves.
The Roses remain several feet away from me. Every few minutes, one of them will look my way, but they don’t speak. After what feels like forever, a short, bald man in blue scrubs enters the room.
He looks around and says, “Who is here for Eden Rose?”
I push off from the wall and stomp to him. He’s only a few inches above five feet, but he’s not intimidated by me.
