Marco pulls his car up beside mine in the empty parking lot of a strip mall that's long since closed for the night. I stopped here to get my bearings and rack my brain for any other place I might check.
I've been back by the hospital and Eli's room twice. I've checked her old apartment building. Her school. The few people outside of the Society who she spoke to in passing. Her family's house is under watch. They are all under watch. And driving the streets without any particular destination is only serving to exacerbate this insanity looming in the darkest parts of my mind.
Abel hasn't shown his face anywhere, which can only mean he must be with her. And all I can think about are my sister's words. The conversation she overheard.
He said he would sooner rot than let you impregnate Ivy. And if you did, he would cut the baby out of her himself.
My eyes feel raw when I blink and try to shake away that thought. I can't go there. Thinking about it won't do me any good. Not until I find her and fix this once and for all.
"I've got the situation with Hazel handled," Marco informs me. "Two guys are watching her place for the night."
"Good." I nod at him, staring out at the street.
"We have men everywhere," he says. "If she's anywhere on any of these streets, I can promise you we'll find her."
He's trying to put me at ease, I think. But those assurances mean nothing. Abel would know I'd bring down the full power of IVI on him. I have an army at my disposal. He would have planned for that. And in my gut, I know Ivy won't be on these streets. She'll be hidden away somewhere he thinks I can't get to her.
He hasn't responded to any of my texts. Not even the one about his father being alive. It seems my threats to torture Eli can't even draw him out, proving he truly has no loyalty to anyone or anything.
"I think you should go home and get some rest," Marco says carefully. "There's nothing else you can do right now. You need to eat something and close your eyes for a few minutes."
"I can't," I growl. "I have to do something."
He watches me as I stew in my frustration. He doesn't know that every time I close my eyes, I see her face. I feel her body against me. And I smell her. The ghost of her scent haunts me, even when she isn't here.
Something has snapped inside me. I don't know what it is, but I feel... broken. I never truly knew what that word meant until now.
"We have to find her, Marco." I grab him by the shirt and shake him because I don't know what else to do. "I need her back.”
"I know you do, boss." His hands come up to grip my arms, gently removing them from his shirt. His lips are set into a grim line, reflective of the way I feel. He knows as well as I do this won't end well.
"There's one other option," he says quietly. "It isn't a pretty one."
"What?" I demand. "What is it?"
"The little girl," he says. "She might know more than she's letting onto. And I don't like bringing children into this, but if this is a life-or-death situation..."
He's right. Evangeline is the key. She could give me answers. More places to search. Something on Abel. Anything.
I'm already moving for my door handle when I freeze and turn back to Marco. "I don't know how to talk to children. I terrify them."
"That may be true." His lips tilt up at the corner. "But not this one. I've seen the way she looks at you. She's not scared."
"Scared, no," I admit. "She's defiant. Like her sister. But she's still young—"
"Talk to her like an adult," Marco suggests. "And maybe she will surprise you."
Evangeline is still awake when Antonia opens the door and leads me inside. She's curled up in a chair next to the window, staring outside in contemplation. She's only thirteen, but she looks like someone burdened with the responsibilities and worries of an adult, and I realize Marco was right. She hasn't ever had the chance to be a child, I suppose. Not with a mother like hers, who would abandon her to the wolves for the sake of her own self-preservation.
"What do you want?" She glares up at me as I move toward her.
Despite the somber mood, I can't help but smile a little at her response.
I pull the chair from the desk and come to sit across from her while Antonia lingers in the doorway.
"You can go, Antonia."
She hesitates for a moment before shutting the door softly and taking her leave. Eva watches and swallows before turning her gaze back to me. Her hands curl in her lap like she's preparing herself for a fight.
"You are so much like your sister," I tell her.
The softness in my tone seems to catch her off guard, and she jerks her chin in agreement. "I know. I don't need you to tell me that."
"I think I never really saw it until now," I confess. "She must have been just like you at this age. Hardened by the world around her. Parents who are oblivious to her needs. It couldn't have been easy for her, as I'm sure it’s not easy for you."
Eva's lip trembles, despite how much she's trying not to let it show. "You don't know anything."
The tears clinging to her eyelids tell me otherwise.
"I know that you think I’m a monster, and I suppose in many ways it’s true. But your sister has shown me that I am capable of more. I am capable of feeling things I never thought I could."
Eva shifts, her eyes darting to the floor as her hair falls around her face. "If you care about her, then you wouldn't make her cry. You wouldn't have made her end up in the hospital like she did. That's not love."
Love.
The word hits me like a bullet, fragmenting inside my soul.
"I'm not capable of love," I confess, throat raw. "But I have... feelings."
My voice sounds foreign to my own ears as I try to unpack these thoughts to a child. I feel like I'm fumbling through this, and I don't know that I'm making any progress. But when Eva looks up at me, the tears have fallen from her eyelids and streamed down her cheeks, and she does not try to hide them. She is showing me her own vulnerability.
"Everyone is capable of love," she whispers. "Even monsters. Because monsters are still men, and men have hearts. Even you, Santiago De La Rosa."
I can feel my grimace. My doubt. It must show on my face. But Eva leans forward, studying me with an intensity that no girl of her age should possess.
"I hate you for taking her away from me," she says. "You don't let me talk to her or see her. And you keep her locked up like a prisoner. If I'm being honest, I don't think you deserve her."
"Those might be… valid points," I answer uncomfortably.
"My point is you shouldn't go after her. Not if you don't love her."
I dip my head and rub my aching temples. I don't know how to answer that. But I know that not having her here is not an option.
"Eva, she's in danger," I tell her. "She's been taken, and she's being held somewhere against her will. Abel is involved somehow, and you're the only person who can help me right now. If something happens to her, if I don't get her back..." My voice fractures, and I reach out to touch her arm but stop short. "I am begging you."
She frowns, worrying her lip between her teeth. "If that’s true, how could I help?”
"I need to know where Abel might have taken her. It doesn't matter how small or insignificant you think it might be. It can be any place at all. We are running out of time, Evangeline. Your sister is pregnant, and he plans to take her baby. Our baby.”
Her eyes widen in disbelief. “Abel would have told me if that were true.”
“He didn’t tell you because he doesn’t want her to have the baby,” I answer.
She sits there quietly, peeking up at me several times while she digests this news. I gather she’s trying to determine what’s true and what’s not.
“I have no reason to lie to you,” I say. “I’m not a man who needs to be deceptive. I might say something you won’t like, but I won’t lie to you.”
Her brows pinch together in challenge. “Why was my sister in the hospital?”
“Because she overdosed on aspirin. And if you’d like to see her medical records, I have copies in my office. With proof of her pregnancy.”
She flinches at the news I deliver without any sugar-coating, considering it for a long moment. When she speaks again, her voice is softer. “Why would Abel want to get rid of her baby?”
“Because he hates me, and he can’t stand the thought of her having my baby.”
“I know he hates you,” she admits.
I meet her gaze, so there can be no misunderstandings that what I’m telling her is the truth. “He tried to kill me, Eva. He hired someone to poison me, and I almost died. Your brother is a dangerous man, and I don’t know what he might do to Ivy. But I know she isn’t safe, and I need your help.”
She sucks in a sharp breath and stands up, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Then why are we here? Let's go look for her."
A knock on the door interrupts us, and when it opens, I'm surprised to see Marco standing there. My eyes move over his face, searching for any sign of the news I've been dreading.
"Boss." He nods at me and then Eva. "Someone left a package at the front gate. There's an address inside."
"Ivy?" I breathe.
He jerks his chin. "I think that's the meaning of it. But it could be a trap."
I glance down at Eva, who's now tugging at my sleeve. "Take me with you," she pleads.
"I can't." I frown. "It's too dangerous."
She glares up at me and shoves me away. "Then go get my sister and make sure she’s safe. Don't waste any time."
I turn around and head for the door, but the next thing she utters follows me out, echoing all the way down the hallway.
"I guess that means you do love her."