Page 31 of Behind These Four Walls
She’d nearly forgotten. She went back to Myles and scribbled,Jackass, rude AF.But then she remembered:Bought me clothes in right size. Very observant.
That was kind of nice of him, she hated to admit. He was always watching. She’d have to be careful with him. She trailed her fingers over the stickies with their corresponding photos.
Jackson:Foundation lawyer, but with whom does his allegiance lie? Brooke or Victor?
Eden:A Corrigan. How does she fit in? What made her leave? Why did she lie to me?
The thoughts were coming back in a rush faster than Isla could write them down.
How does V have E’s bracelet? Date of postmark.She drew three bold lines beneath the words.
Isla marked the day they’d left Daytona on a Greyhound, the day they’d arrived at the Charlottesville bus depot, and the day Eden had disappeared. Now she wrote the date marked on the postmark. Two weeks after their arrival in Charlottesville.
Did Eden go back to Daytona?
Isla doubted that. Unless she’d thought she’d be tracked and wanted to confuse them. There were too many questions. Too many unknowns.
Before she left for the estate, she needed to make sure all her notes were put away. She’d be gone for longer now, and if housekeeping did decide to enter the room, she doubted they’d go in the closet, but just in case they peeked, she’d make sure to prop the foldable luggage rack against the wall to cover her handiwork.
It was time to check in. She pulled out the burner phone and dialed Rey. He picked up on the second ring.
Rey started in, “What the hell, girl? Hold on, let me dial Nat in. She was about to call the cops, no lie. You know how she goes zero to a hundred in a second.”
Isla couldn’t tell if he was talking about the epitome of calm Nat or himself. When Nat was connected, Rey continued. “We’ve only been blowing you up all night long. No calls, no messages since you left to return the keys.” The frantic tone of his voice made her smile. It felt good to speak with a friend and to turnoff.
“I know. Sorry.” She hadn’t considered that her friends could be freaking out until this moment. “But I have an update you’re not going to believe. I’d barely believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself. Also, these Corrigans are intense. I can’t even explain how much.” She backed up against the bed and leaned against it as she sat on the floor, refusing to think about the last time the carpet was cleaned.
“I can’t believe it fucking worked,” Rey said while Nat cheered in the background. “The cover held?” he asked incredulously.
“Me coming down here to work some big events with the East Coast branch of Elite Events Services. Great hookup you had with your brother. Oh, and thank him for firing me this morning.”
Rey laughed. “It’ll be the first time he’s ever been thanked for firing someone. Now I owe Manny big-time. I was able to get access easier because he heads the West Coast branch, which enabled me to create a personnel file for you and get you on the roster over there. So that means you owe me big-time for this big-ass job we will not be getting paid for,” Rey reminded her. He waited a beat. “You sure we can’t blackmail these people when you find out whatever huge secret they’re hiding? They’re good for the money. I checked today for the hell of it, and the man is worth $114.7 billion.”
“Rey, this is for justice and to fix our screwup with Leonard,” Nat chastised. “We’ve been through this. Get over it.”
Rey whined, “But so much money.”
Isla didn’t want to ask, but had to. “Charli?”
“Still off with a boyfriend at the casinos or wherever she makes them take her to spend their money on her. She’s not thinking about you,” Nat said. “Yet.”
“Well, when she does, you know what to say. And you stay away, Nat. You can’t take her interrogation. She should have been a cop.”
Rey laughed. “And give up the good life of being a kept woman while having a sucker—I mean, intelligent young lady—manage the retirement facility that she’s supposed to be managing?”
Nat cut in before Isla had a chance to retort. “What’s the next move?”
Isla let the dig slide, instead focusing on the wall. She told them everything she’d learned and her major discovery.
Rey breathed, “You’re shitting me.” Isla heard him typing at his keyboard. “Nothing. We’ve already searched under her mother’s last name, Parker. There’s nothing on Eden Corrigan. Not now. Not ten years ago. Not before then. It’s like any information on her was scrubbed. Wiped clean.”
“Like off the face of the earth,” Isla muttered.
Nat asked, “You had no idea? You spent so much time with her and her mother.”
“She never said who her father was. But that’s not unusual, because I don’t talk about my mother. I’ve never met her.” Isla shared the earlier questions she’d had about Eden with them.
“She’s younger than Bennett? She’d be, what, pushing twenty-nine now? He’s thirty, with Myles four years older. So Victor cheated on his wife, Brooke, when Bennett was a baby?” Nat asked.