He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What do you want, Reyes? There’s a reason you kept her here and called me. What is it?”
“What? You don’t think I did it out of the goodness of my heart because I was worried about her? A Little wandering around in a bar filled with big, bad wolves.”
Zeke just stared at him. Reyes sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Why did you come here, Eden?”
Zeke was surprised that he’d turned to Eden. Reyes had made it clear that he had some old-fashioned views about women. But Zeke wanted to know the answer to that question as well. He stared over at Eden. She looked around at the three of them, as though searching for an answer.
Then she sighed. “You know why I came here.”
“I know what you told Ink,” Reyes said.
“That the guy out in the bar? The tattooed surfer wannabe?”
Duke snorted. Reyes shot his gaze up to his large second.
“Gonna have to tell Ink that one,” Duke commented. “Don’t think he’s even been to the beach.”
Eden shrugged.
Reyes tapped the desk. “Enough. What did you say to him? Why’d you come here tonight?”
Zeke sent Reyes a warning look, not liking his tone of voice. He was already on edge, knowing that they’d kept Eden locked up while waiting for him to get here. While he appreciated that she was no doubt safer there than she would have been on her own in the bar or parking lot, it still didn’t sit right with him.
“It’s no secret and I don’t see what the big deal is.” Eden watched Reyes carefully. “I got a voicemail from a friend earlier. She sounded scared and the message got cut off. When I couldn’t get hold of her, I came here since I thought this was where she worked.”
“A friend? What friend?” Zeke asked. “Tyla? Brittney?” Those girls didn’t deserve Eden as a friend. He still hadn’t worked out why she hung out with them so much. They used her. They were often calling her at all hours to come pick them up and drive them around. Then they’d ditch her when she was no longer useful.
“It’s someone you don’t know,” Eden said.
“Keira Blackwell,” Reyes supplied him with the name.
Keira Blackwell? Who the hell was that? Why hadn’t he heard of her before?
“Who is she? Why is she important? Why the hell would you come here looking for her?” he snapped.
Eden shrugged. “She sounded like she was in trouble.”
“She is in trouble,” Reyes said harshly. “But she definitely hasn’t been here tonight. Believe me, she won’t be showing her face around here any time soon.”
“So, she doesn’t work here?” Eden asked.
“Oh, she used to work here. She doesn’t anymore.”
“Do Clint and Kent know her?” he asked. “Why would you come here looking for her without telling anyone?”
Half the things she did for her so-called friends he didn’t understand. She was a strong person; she was someone that anyone would be lucky to have as a friend. Loyal, kind, smart. So why was she friends with people who used her?
Zeke made a mental note to have Corbin look into this Keira. Anyone in his girl’s life, he was going to know about.
Eden sighed. “We were in the hospital together after this happened.” Eden waved her hand at her legs. “Keira had a broken pelvis and two broken legs. She was in traction. Even though I had a private room, I hated being on my own so when Clint and Kent weren’t around the nurses would wheel me into Keira’s room. We were the same age, I guess they thought we’d get along. And even though we were very different, we actually did. She made it more bearable to be in there. I got to leave before she did, though.”
“What happened to her?” Duke asked softly.
“Officially, she tripped and fell down the stairs. But the truth was that Keira’s dad was a mean drunk. He pushed. He only visited her twice in the hospital. Once when she arrived and then to pick her up. Keira said it was a blessing, not having him around. I asked her why she didn’t tell anyone what he’d done. That he hit her regularly. She just said that there were worse things out there than a dad that hurt you. I didn’t get it. Nobody had ever hurt me. But her story, it helped me rise out of the. . .the sadness, I guess. Because she was right. There were worse things out there than what she and I had endured.”
“How old were you?” Duke asked.
“Ten.”