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Story: The Children of Eve

I decided to drop by and speak to Zetta Nadeau on the way back to Scarborough, since it wasn’t much of a detour. I found her out front, using a dolly to move sheets of metal from the back of a pickup to her studio. She paused as I stepped from the car but didn’t try to open the gate.

“Need any help?” I asked.

“No, I’ve got it.”

And still the gate remained closed.

“Do we have an issue, Zetta?”

“I was going to call you when I was done. I’ve been thinking: I want you to stop looking for Wyatt.”

“And why is that?”

“If he’s so eager not to be found, let him stay that way. I don’t see why I should waste any more of my time or money on him.”

She folded her arms in anticipation of an argument. If so, she wasn’t going to get one.

“That’s fine,” I said. “I’ll bill you for the remaining hours, and our contract will be concluded.”

Zetta looked relieved. Slowly, she unfolded her arms.

“I thought you’d be annoyed,” she said, “or try to pressure me into continuing.”

“You’re the client. If you want to step back, that’s your right.”

I waited. Zetta wasn’t dumb, so it didn’t take her long to spot the catch.

“You’re going to stop searching for him?”

“No.”

“But I’ve asked you to, and I won’t keep paying you.”

“You’re free to ask, but I’m not obliged to comply. As for the money, there’s a certain liberation in working purely for pleasure.”

Zetta approached the fence and gripped its links, like a prisoner begging for release.

“I want you to stop. I’mtellingyou to stop.”

“When did he contact you, Zetta?”

She stared at me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She spoke very slowly, as though wary of stumbling and leaving herself more exposed. “If Wyatt has gotten himself into trouble, I don’t want it spreading to me—or you.”

What she was saying might have some truth to it, but we both knew that she was using it in the service of a lie. Riggins had been in touch, and at the instigation of Devin Vaughn or one of his underlings.

“Where is he, Zetta?” I asked gently.

She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the wire.

“He didn’t say.”

“Zetta—”

“He promised me he was safe and well, and I told him I’d been so worried that I’d hired someone to find him. He wasn’t angry, but he asked me to call you off, which is what I’m trying to do. If he’s in no danger, you don’t need to search for him. I want him left alone.”

“Did he say why he’d run?”