“Did you go to college together?” Daisy asked.
“No. He graduated, but his grades were poor. He’d missed a lot of schooling growing up in Eden. The drugs had gotten bad, too, so that wasn’t helping. When I got my scholarship, I almost said no. I wanted to stay home and take care of him, but he wouldn’t let me. He pushed me to go. Came to my meets. Cheered me on.” Lawton closed his eyes, visibly steeling himself. “Then he hanged himself from a tree in his uncle’s backyard.”
There was silence until Agent Dabney broke it with a heavy sigh. He hadn’t said a word throughout, just listened, his expression pained. “Does your involvement here indicate that the Bureau is reopening the Eden investigation?”
Lawton’s eyes grew wide. “Wait. You mean the government knows about these assholes and hasn’t stopped them?”
“That’s complicated,” Gideon said. “I reported them when I first joined the Bureau and the FBI searched for the community, but the leaders of Eden are very good at hiding themselves. I’ve been assigned to lead the investigation now that we have some new evidence. We’ve been a little busy with a serial killer the past week, but now that it’s been resolved, I’ll be focusing all my time on finding them. Lawton, if you could provide the name and address for Levi’s uncle, that would be helpful.”
Lawton’s mouth thinned. “He died, too. He had a heart problem, and finding Levi’s body hanging like that was the kicker. He and Levi didn’t get along. His uncle couldn’t understand why he’d turned to drugs. He threw Levi out a few weeks before the suicide.”
Gideon’s jaw clenched and he nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Lawton, for talking to us. Please let me know if you remember anything else.”
“I will.” His eyes narrowed, glinting with hatred. “I hope you fry their asses. I hope they go to prison and find out how Levi felt.”
Amen, Daisy thought, the viciousness of her own thought taking her breath away.
Dabney and Gideon ended the call and the three of them sat quietly.
“Goddammit,” Gideon breathed.
Mercy sighed. “What now, Gideon?”
“We keep looking for others who’ve gotten out.” He closed his laptop. “And we have the wedding photos. Edward McPhearson and Ephraim Burton had to have come from somewhere. Hard to believe that men that evil weren’t cruel to others before arriving in Eden.”
The flicker of true fear in Mercy’s eyes was gone so quickly that Daisy wondered if she’d imagined it. Daisy opened her mouth to ask, then closed it when Mercy shot her an imploring look. Don’t ask. Please.
So Daisy kept the question to herself. And wondered.
“But we have somewhere to go right now,” Gideon went on, seemingly oblivious to the silent conversation she and Mercy had shared.
Mercy’s smile was wan. “On a date, I hope.”
Daisy put Brutus in her bag. “Well, maybe after. I’m going to a meeting. Gideon will wait outside, worrying about me, and then hopefully there will be dinner.”
Mercy was frowning. “A meeting? Like a neighborhood meeting?”
Daisy hadn’t realized that Mercy didn’t know. “No, an AA meeting. Mercy, I’m a recovering alcoholic. Eight years sober,” she added when Mercy’s eyes widened.
But all Mercy said was, “Have a good time.”
“You’re welcome to come with us,” Daisy offered. “You can keep Gideon company while he paces outside the community center.”
“No, thanks. I think I’ll go sit with Rafe a bit.”
Gideon looked like he wanted to kiss Mercy’s cheek, but she pulled away. Schooling his features, Gideon hid his hurt and tried to smile at her. “We’ll see you later.”
Mercy swallowed hard. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Gideon stilled. “For what?”
“I can’t be touched. It’s . . . It’s not you, okay?”
“Okay,” he said gently. “I get it.”
He held the door open for Daisy, not saying a word until they stood outside on her front porch. “She didn’t know,” he whispered.
He didn’t have to clarify. That Mercy hadn’t known why he’d escaped was at the top of Daisy’s mind, too. “I know. Look, I’m perfectly capable of getting myself to the community center. You can stay here and really talk to her. I know you’ve been wanting to.”
He sighed. “She said she came to talk, but every time I’ve tried to start a conversation, she finds something else to do. I figure I’ll just wait for her to come to me.”
“That’s probably for the best.” She wrapped her arms around him because he looked like he needed it. He drew her close and rested his cheek on top of her head.
“No wonder she resented me.” His voice broke. “She thought I ran off just because I hated it there, leaving Mama to be abused for years.”
“I know,” she soothed. “Give her time, Gideon.”
“I’m trying.”
“I know, baby.” She stepped back, taking his hand. “I need to go or I’ll be late.”
He drew a breath and nodded once. “Let’s go. Where are we going for dinner afterward?”
She swallowed hard. “Trish and I used to go to this dive. The Forty-niner Diner.”
“Would you like to go there?” he asked gently.
She’d been debating it all day but had realized it was what Trish would want her to do. “Yeah. I think I would. I might even have an extra ice cream sundae for Trish.”
He squeezed her hand and led her to the sidewalk. “Forty-niner Diner it is.”
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 10:30 P.M.
“I like your house,” Daisy said, running her hand over the marble countertop in Gideon’s kitchen. The house had clean lines, the decor very simple yet masculine. Very Gideon.
It was the first time she’d been in his house. They’d been staying over at Karl and Irina’s, in Sasha’s old room, which had a queen bed, so they didn’t roll onto the floor. Daisy had wanted to spend as much time with her father as she could before he returned to Maryland. Her father, to his credit, had barely lifted an eyebrow when she’d stated that she and Gideon would be sharing a room.
Karl had told her later that her father was choosing his battles. Daisy could live with that. Especially since they hadn’t done anything more than hold each other and sleep.
But tonight, she wanted some alone time with Gideon. She knew that he needed it, too, especially after the afternoon they’d had. Her heart broke every time she remembered the look on Mercy’s face when she realized the truth about Gideon’s departure from Eden.
But she wasn’t going to think about that now, because Gideon was smiling at her from where he leaned against the doorjamb, watching her explore. “I’m glad,” he said, “but I have to admit to being a little jealous of my countertop.”
She looked down at her hand rubbing the countertop and chuckled. “No need to be. It doesn’t do anything interesting when I rub it.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “God. Daisy.”
She feigned innocence. “What?”
He shook his head, still smiling. “You’re . . . absolutely perfect.”
“Not really.” She gladly gave up rubbing the marble to wrap her arms around his neck. “But I’m awfully glad you think so.” She kissed him, quick and fast. A teasing peck. “So I’ve seen this floor. What else is there to see?”
“The bathroom I just finished. The tile has sparkles.”
She grinned. “Sparkles? Really?”
“Irina picked it out.”
“And did she help decorate your bedroom, too?”
“No,” he murmured, kissing her for real, deep and wet, until her toes curled. “The bedroom is all mine,” he whispered against her lips, suddenly serious. “Wanna see it?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” she whispered back.
Taking her hand, he led her up the stairs and through the door at the end of the upstairs hallway. The bed was the first thing she saw—king-sized, with the sheets turned down. The second thing she saw was the accent wall behind the bed. The rest of the walls were a pearl gray, but the wall behind the bed was a specific shade of blue.
“It matches my eyes,” Daisy murmured.
“I noticed that.” Standing at her back, Gideon slid his good arm around her waist. “I thought it was a good omen, since I picked that color myself.”
He thrust his hips ever so slightly, so that she felt the brush of his erection. He was hard and ready.
She was ready, too. They’d been doing a teasing dance since dinner, lighthearted with the hint of what was to come. But it was past time. Going to the community center without Trish on Thursday night seemed alien and wrong, and most of their AA group had burst into tears at some point during the meeting. It had been utterly draining. She needed this.
She needed him.