Page 48 of Behind These Four Walls

She decided to pivot. “Asking questions about an estranged child is about Victor, James,” Isla said lightly. “It lets me know what kind of kids he’s raising. It helps me mold the types of questions I’ll ask Mr. Corrigan when I sit down with him soon,” she explained as patiently as she could. She hoped she looked earnest enough and not desperate. She couldn’t afford to scare him off. But the skepticism with which he looked at her made her feel her chances were lessening by the moment and she needed to back off.

“Also, it seems like you had a lot of things on your mind. Like you had no one to talk to, and here I am. An objective ear to help you figure out what to do next to relieve some of these feelings you’re going through. I think Eden ... and I say that because I don’t know your Edie and the way she was presented to me was as Eden. So I’ll likely switch back and forth between names as I’m figuring out how she fits into Mr. Corrigan’s story.” That was the most truthful thing Isla had said about herself since she’d been here.

James stared at her dully, the fight going out of him, leaving only residue. “She doesn’t fit into his story. It’s why she left. Her family was too much for her. They broke her. That’s what they do. Even to their own.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Isla thought about James her entire ride back to the Corrigan estate. His haunted demeanor troubled her as she returned the car she had borrowed and walked back to her room. When she was alone, she sat on her bed and typed up everything she remembered and the multitude of questions she had on the laptop Rey had given her. She called him and Nat on three-way.

“Sounds to me like he and his buddies were involved in whatever happened to her,” Rey said.

“Two things,” Isla mused. “First, what happened that changed Eden so much over Labor Day weekend? I think if you run some checks around that year and time and cross-reference a car accident, that could help me ask the right questions. And then there’s what happened when Eden and I got here two years later. She had to meet someone. She told me she was doing that, setting things right.”

“Whatever James the coward and his goon-squad friends did, Eden was involved, and James didn’t stop it,” Nat continued over the noise on her end. “What if she came back to settle the score before she came to LA with you?”

“And what? It went sideways?” Isla asked before she could think about what she was saying. She was talking about her friend, not a third-party job with no ties.Sidewaysmeant someone who didn’t likethe score Eden was settling could have hurt her. Isla whispered, a crack showing through her businesslike demeanor, “Do you really think they would have hurt her over some high school thing? Really?”

Isla didn’t want to believe it. She couldn’t. The Corrigans were a lot of things: ruthless in the business world, fiercely protective of their members, private. But were they capable of more than that? Were they deadly?

Rey cut through. “I’ll do some searching here and let you know.”

“Got it,” she said.

Nat said, “And promise me one more thing?”

“What’s that?” Isla asked.

“To be careful.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Isla was back at the row of parked golf carts, determined to get the right one this time and go for a spin around this place. She was looking for number 8 when she noticed someone familiar strolling down one of the maze of pathways coming from the estate, his hands in his pockets, in a suit with the vest but minus the jacket. This wasn’t his stomping ground, and if he needed one of the staff, he’d message them on their watch.

She found number 8 and was slipping in the driver’s seat as he passed her. He looked deep in thought. She wasn’t sure he’d seen her.

“Myles,” she loudly whispered.

He stopped short. Startled, he looked around until he followed where the voice had come from and spotted her sitting in the cart. She flipped on the light, and he threw an arm up to shield his eyes. She laughed, turning it off.

He strained as his eyes adjusted. “Isla? There you are.” The sound of his deep baritone after so much quiet sounded like a foghorn. It was the best sound she’d heard all day. “What are you doing sitting in a cart in the dark?”

“What are you doing walking through this neck of the woods? This here is for staff and workers. Main-house people don’t come past the guesthouses unless you’re going to play golf. I doubt you’re doing that this late.”

“Looking for you, actually.” He paused. “And then literally looking for you when you weren’t at the main house or staff quarters. They said to check the cart lot because you’ve been itching to get in one since you got here.”

That was right, because Lawrence wanted her traipsing around on foot, something entirely unnecessary.

He was here for her. She pointed at herself.

He made a face. “Don’t act so surprised.”

But she couldn’t leave it alone. She’d always figured she’d be the one going to Myles Corrigan, not him coming to her. “You’ve barely said two words to me since we met that fateful night. And you’ve been scarce since.”

“It’s only been two or so days, right? I didn’t know I made such an impression on you, Miss Thorne. I apologize for not being at your disposal.” She half expected him to bow, as his voice dripped with sarcasm. Isla considered running him over with the idling cart.

She ignored his jab, instead motioning for him to join her. He could sit in the passenger seat. He hesitated before doing so, likely considering insisting on doing the driving, but Isla patted the passenger seat and turned on the lights.

When they were on their way, following a path that looked as good as any, Myles asked, “Where are we going?”