The night was clear and cold, which made the ten-minute walk to Ms. Kate’s bitter. They knocked on the door, hoping to be invited in, but a brawny man with dreadlocks opened up and frowned. Georgia checked the time on her phone. Only eight-fifteen. Not that late.
“Yeah?” He asked in a gruff voice.
“We’d like to talk to Ms. Kate please,” Georgia said.
“Why? Who are you?”
Jimmy flashed his ID. “We’re worried about one of her—residents.”
“Who?”
“She’s going by the name of Lisa,” Georgia said.
The man stared at Georgia. “Just a minute.” He closed the door. Georgia stamped her feet.
A moment later Ms. Kate opened it, slipped into a wool jacket, and joined them on the stoop. “What’s this about Lisa?”
“We need to talk to her.”
“Who are you?”
Jimmy explained and showed Ms. Kate his ID. Georgia held out her PI license. Ms. Kate studied them both. Then she looked over at Georgia. “You related to her? You could be her sister, woman.”
“We’re not related.”
“You met her?”
Georgia shook her head.
“Well, then, how do you know about her?”
“It was just a coincidence when it started.” She explained how she, her mother, and Vanna had stayed in Nauvoo at the motel during their weekend excursion. “A server in a restaurant thought I was her.” Georgia shrugged. “So did the motel clerk. If we hadn’t gone to Nauvoo or stayed at the motel, I wouldn’t be mixed up in it.”
“Georgia, some things just happen,” Jimmy said.
“Why do you want to talk to her?” Ms. Kate asked.
“Because she’s in trouble, and we want to protect her,” Jimmy said.
“How do I know that’s the truth? You said yourself you haven’t met her. Maybe you’re here to take her back to her abusive husband. You got any proof?”
Georgia told her how the motel clerk almost ran her over in Evanston. “We’re pretty sure he thought I was her.”
“Uh-huh.”
“We think they’re ready to try again,” Jimmy said. “We know they’re looking for her. Possibly a trade. Or maybe they want to kill both women.”
“Well, In that case I’ve got bad news. She’s gone.”
“What?” Shocked, Georgia took a step back.
“She took off before we got up this morning.”
“This morning?”
When Ms. Kate nodded, Georgia and Jimmy shared an exasperated glance. So many people were looking for Eden, and most of them assumed Georgia was her.
“Why’d she leave?”
“I can’t be sure, but most abused women leave for two reasons. Either they find it’s too hard to make it on their own and go back to their abuser. Or they get spooked. Even captured. Maybe their abuser finds them, or they recognize someone who will force them to go back.”
“Matt,” Georgia said to Jimmy. “He and John Stone probably scared her. I’ll bet she thought her husband sent them.”
She explained to Ms. Kate.
“Damn him,” Jimmy said under his breath.
Georgia held up her palm. “It happens.” She turned back to Ms. Kate. “But I can’t imagine her going back. Her real name is Eden Christiansen, by the way.”
“Ahh. She did tell me she was Mormon,” Kate offered.
“Fundamentalist,” Georgia said. “I’ve done some research on them. They’re hard-nosed. Violent. And hypocritical. They’re known for their cruelty when people try to leave the religion.”
Ms. Kate nodded. “I can see why she ran. But I really don’t think she’d go back on her own.. Except to get her kids.”
“That’s why we’re concerned,” Georgia said.
Ms. Kate gazed at Jimmy then Georgia. “And I should believe you why? How do I know you’re not working for her husband?”
Georgia looked at Jimmy who nodded. “After I was nearly run down by the motel clerk, who was Mormon, we drove over to Nauvoo and learned her husband was searching for her. He’d printed up a bunch of flyers and posted them all over town.”
Ms. Kate nodded. “That’s what she’s afraid of. She’s worried they’re going to kill her.”
“Kill her? Why?”
“She wouldn’t say. Just that it involved illegal business. That’s when she said she might have made a mistake coming to Chicago.”
“What kind of illegal business?” Georgia asked. “And why was it a mistake for her to come here?”
“She wouldn’t say.”
“So do you have any idea where she went?”
Ms. Kate shook her head. “All I know is how she got here, not how she left. She came in on a train. Union Station.”
“Which means she could be on a train for anywhere now.”
“Listen. If you find her, I’ll keep her safe. No one will know. Except the three of us.”
“You can promise that?”
“I haven’t been in this business for twenty years without picking up a safe house or two.”
Georgia turned to Jimmy. “But she’s at least twelve hours ahead of us. How are we going to find her?”
Jimmy folded his arms. “Don’t you have a powerful friend at the Bureau?”