Rob threw me a grin as he shifted the truck into gear. “Somehow I don’t think it’ll work on Eden, but you’re welcome to try.”
Visibility in the snow wasn’t terrible yet, but the roads were getting worse by the minute as we made our way out of town. When Rob passed me his phone, I pulled up the photo and wondered which of these was Eden’s destination.
“What was she thinking, going out there alone?”
“Milo, if there’s one thing I know about Eden, it’s that when she has an idea in her head, she fights like hell to make it happen. She’s been like that since she was a toddler. Not impulsive, just…determined.”
A memory of the look on her face that night when she approached me in the hotel bar, vulnerable but so beautifully bold, flashed through my mind.
Determinedwas a good word for it. In this instance, it was hard to appreciate that trait, but I had so little insight into Eden’s childhood that I thought a little bit of information might take my mind off the danger she was diving straight into.
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw and muttered, “Determined. Yeah. I’ve noticed.”
“And also stubborn as a mule. Honestly, I’m willing to bet that was why her parents fought so hard to shut her down at every turn. If Eden knew how powerful her own will truly was, she’d have left them in the dust years earlier.”
“She was just a kid.”
Rob laughed bitterly. “A kid, yeah. A kid who could have moved mountains. I’m thankful every goddamn day that they never managed to crush her spirit. They certainly tried hard enough.”
Christ, I hated that. I had to close my eyes against the urge to scream at the injustice of it all. When I finally had a handle on my temper, I forced myself to ask the question I knew I should be asking Eden.
“Did they hurt her?”
After a harsh exhalation, Rob said, “No. Not physically. Our parents considered suing for custody, but there was no evidence of anything they could use in court. Just the religious stuff, the criticisms, cutting her down. My mom knew if they tried and failed, we’d never see Eden again.”
“And then she’d have no one,” I murmured.
“Exactly. For years, they kept a journal where they wrote down anything Eden mentioned happening at home, in case it came to that, but she was healthy, if not happy. She did well in school, even if she had no real friends besides us.”
“What about her brother?”
Rob didn’t glance away from the snowy road, but he made a face. “Isaiah stayed in his lane. He wasn’t an asshole, not to Eden, but he didn’t do a thing to make her life easier.”
“She was afraid he had something to do with this,” I said quietly. “Do you think he’s capable?”
The immediate shake of his head was more of a relief than I anticipated. “No. He had plenty of opportunities to drag herback under their thumb when she was a teenager, and he never did. I think…”
“What?” I prompted when he trailed off.
“I think he wanted to show her it wasn’t all bad. Even if their parents took it too far, Isaiah’s one of those people who just has that faith, you know? Less fire and brimstone and punishment, more love and forgiveness. I think he was shackled too tight by his dad to be able to share that with Eden back then.”
It broke my heart to think of the child she’d been, friendless and alone apart from the occasional visit with her cousins.
Now, though? She had all of those things she’d been missing out on—a life she’d created, friends and family all around her, a home where she was happy. And she’d chosen to run off in a snowstorm to face down a woman who was like a specter from her past.
For me.
My lungs felt too tight to take in enough air as panic crawled up my throat. “Rob, we need to tell the police where she went. I should’ve thought of that before we even left. I just hoped we’d catch up to her at one of the buildings.”
“Call them,” he said immediately, peering through the snow that now fell like a curtain over the road in front of us. “Call them now, because we’re almost there.”
Before I could choke on the threat of what we might find when we arrived, I set Rob’s phone in the cradle on the dash so he could see the map, pulled up Rose Hanson’s contact on my own phone, and hit the green button.
“Milo, what the hell is going on?” she demanded as soon as she answered the call.
Surprised by her response, I said, “Eden went after the woman who attacked me.”
“Where are you now?”
