Page 4

Eden

I let out a shaky breath once I was alone in the car.

I’d found him.

Bishop Chambers.

And he was nothing like what I had been expecting or imagined. The man had an intensity about him that scared me.

What did you expect, idiot? He makes people disappear.

Well, for one, I hadn’t expected to be grabbed, tied up, and stuffed into the trunk of a car by three men. For another, when I was freed, I didn’t think it would be by the man I was supposed to be meeting. And thirdly , why was he acting like he hadn’t expected me?

I rubbed my left wrist. My entire body ached, partly from being manhandled, mostly from … I cut off that thought. The last thing I needed was to break down in the middle of nowhere in front of the man holding a gun.

Where were we, anyway?

I looked around but couldn’t see much. The entire area was dark.

He’d mentioned flying to New York. Were we at an airport? It seemed too quiet to be one of the main ones. Could it be a private airstrip? They were a thing, weren’t they?

“Clock’s ticking.” A sharp rap on the window accompanied his words, and I jumped.

I didn’t need to think about his proposal. New York was where I lived. My hesitation was down to the fact that it was where my ex lived as well. And he would know the moment I returned. I was sure he would already be aware I’d left, and my heart rate increased just thinking about his reaction when I arrived back home. I had to hope I could convince this man that he wanted to be hired.

I took a deep breath, then reached for the door.

He was standing at the back of the car, his hip propped against the trunk, arms folded. When I stepped out, he straightened.

“Well?”

I nodded. “I agree to your terms.”

His eyes tracked over my face, paused on the bruise on my cheek. “That’s not recent.”

“No.”

“Are there anymore?”

“Yes.” I waited for him to demand to see them. He didn’t.

“Alright. Let’s go then. I’m already late.”

He set off without checking to see if I followed. I scrambled into movement and caught up. His longer strides meant I had to trot to keep up with him, but he didn’t slow his pace. After a minute or two, a small plane came into view. I glanced at the man beside me.

He didn’t look at me.

“It’s a friends. We both need to go to New York for different reasons, so I’m hitching a ride with him.”

“Bishop!” A shadow detached itself from beside the plane and came toward us, hand outstretched.

“Wade.”

They shook, and the newcomer looked at me. “This is the company? ”

“Possible new job. I’m multitasking. Need to do an assessment and don’t have time to stop, so we’ll do it on the way.”

“When did you start doing the assessment work?”

“When I was given no other choice.” He slanted an unreadable look at me. “You have three and a half hours to convince me.”

“Speaking of time, we need to get in the air,” his friend, Wade, said.

The man I’d traveled over one thousand miles to find turned to me.

“After you.” He swept a hand toward the steps leading up to the entrance of the aircraft.

I hesitated. This was it. If I stepped onto the plane, there would be no going back. This was the start of erasing Eden Marshall from the world.

“Tonight would be good. Unless you’ve changed your mind?”

The cool words drove me forward and up the steps.

I’d never been on a private jet before. The interior of the plane was not what I expected. The seats were soft beige leather, set in pairs facing each other with a table between them. A bar was at one end, and a large screen television on the other. Two doors were next to each other beside the bar. I had to assume that at least one led to a bathroom.

A firm hand pressed against my back. “Take a seat.”

I took one near a window and clipped the seatbelt into place.

“Would you like something to drink?” the other man asked.

“Just water, please.”

He nodded, while Bishop slipped into the seat opposite me. “I guess it’s time for a formal introduction.” He held out one large hand. “Bishop Chambers.”

I took it, masking a wince at the firm grip as we shook. “Eden Marshall.”

His brows met in a dark frown, but his voice was level when he spoke. “So, Eden , tell me about your situation.”

I licked my lips. “Like I told you in the car, I need to disappear. It’s the only way my ex is going to stop coming for me.”

“Tell me about him. Why isn’t he able to move on? Were you living together? Married?”

“We lived together.” I took a deep breath. “I was twenty when I met him. My car had blown a tire and he pulled over. He introduced himself as a detective, showed me his badge, and changed the tire for me. He was sweet, nice , and asked if I’d get a coffee with him sometime. I said yes.” I broke off when Wade placed the bottle of water on the table. “Thank you.”

“Bish, I’m going to speak to the pilot. Call me if you need anything.” He disappeared through a door at the front of the plane.

“We dated for a while. Everything was good ... perfect , even. And about six months into the relationship, he gave me a key to his apartment. Said I spent more time there than at my own place, so I might as well have the ability to let myself in while he was at work.” I paused and shook my head. “It was little things at first, barely noticeable. I stopped going out with my friends on weekends. He pointed out that he was at work so much, it was the only time we could spend together. Then I changed my job because it was easier to find something closer to his apartment.”

I looked down at my hands, fingers clasped together. “The first time he hit me was because I was late getting home. He said it was because he was scared something had happened to me, and anger and relief made him lash out.” My laugh was quiet. “I swallowed it, of course. He’d never shown any signs of aggression before that.”

“They never do.” His voice was dry.

My eyes darted up to his. “The second time was over a disagreement about where we should go to eat one night. He flew into a rage because I wanted to stay home, and he wanted to eat out. He apologized and promised it wouldn’t happen again.”

“But it did.”

I nodded. “It got worse from there. By that point, my friends had all moved on. I lost my job because I was constantly making excuses and not turning up. How could I, with black eyes and a broken nose? They would ask questions. His job would be at risk. No one would believe me. He was a detective.” I pressed my lips together to stop them from trembling. “It would be his word over mine, and he worked in law enforcement. Who would they be more likely to believe? He had a perfect track record.”

“How did you find the strength to leave?”

“It was his landlord, believe it or not.”

“His landlord? Did he walk in on a situation?”

I shook my head. “No. He walked in on the aftereffect of one.” I took a sip of water.

“Tell me about that.” He stood and crossed to the bar, poured a drink, and then returned to his seat. “Did he overhear you fighting?”

“No, he came to remind Chester about the rent being overdue. Chester had just left. I was…” My intake of breath was shaky. I didn’t enjoy reliving that moment. “He’d broken my arm when I… when he…” I cleared my throat. “Anyway, I was trying to get dressed when he knocked. I thought it was Chester and that maybe he’d forgotten his keys, so I hurried to open the door. But it wasn’t him. Greg took one look at me and guessed what had happened. He helped me put on clothes and then took me to his apartment. It took him hours to convince me I had to go to the hospital for my arm, then insisted he drive me there and waited while they checked me out. When I tried to tell the doctor that it had been an accident, he chimed in with what he thought had happened.

“They asked if I wanted a report written up so I could press charges. Of course, I said no. If he found out about that, it wouldn’t have stopped with him breaking my arm.”

“But once you had it on record, if anything further happened to you afterward, it would have made it clear it was him.”

“No, it wouldn’t. You don’t understand. He’s charming, loved by the entire team he works with. They wouldn’t believe me. I told the hospital I didn’t want to go to the police and left.”

“Is that when you ran?”

“No. I… It’s stupid looking back, but I was sure when he calmed down and realized how badly he’d hurt me, he would feel remorse, guilt , and try to be better.”

“But he didn’t.” It wasn’t a question.

“No, he didn’t.” I reached for my water again, my hand shaking as I lifted it to my lips.

“Let’s fast forward. How long until you left? How did you leave?”

“Another two months. He kept a close eye on me after I went to the hospital. I think he was sure I was going to try to talk to someone, so he took time off work, claiming he needed to help me after my unfortunate accident. But eventually, he had to go back to work, and once he did, I called Greg and he helped me pack. He owned another building and said I could take an apartment for as long as I needed. It was on the other side of town, and I thought that maybe it would be far enough away.”

“For someone who needs that level of control, the other side of the world wouldn’t be far enough away.”

“I know that now. He found me two weeks later, and… I had to move again. I thought once I’d made it clear we were over, he’d leave me alone, but he wouldn’t. I think he has people in the police force watching for me. It doesn’t matter where I go. I’ve moved across the city twice and he still finds me.”

“And that brings you to me …”

I nodded. “I’ve been saving up every bit of spare money I could. My plan was to try and leave New York completely. Maybe move to a different state. Then I was told about you. I didn’t call the number they gave me straight away. I needed to be ready. They’d said that contact could be made at a moment’s notice, that it could take minutes or weeks after I left a message. So, it took me a couple of months before I called and left a message.”

“How long did it take to get a response?”

“Three days.”

“And they told you to come to Dallas and go to the …. Swallow Falls Motel, you said? And that I’d make contact with you?”

“Yes.”

“And then they sent you to the Dallas Spring Hotel?”

I nodded.

“Nothing else?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”