Chapter 2
“Your father’s men are tearing up New York trying to find you, Eden. Maybe you should go home.”
Eden Tyson rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Ida. Don’t tell me Elijah Tyson has put the fear of God into you, too. I signed that modeling deal for Paris, which will make you a lot of money as my agent.”
“All that commission won’t do me any good if I’m not in any shape to spend it,” Ida argued.
Eden nibbled on her bottom lip and wished she could tell Ida that her father was merely full of bluster, but she knew that was not the case.
She was her parents’ only child. They said they were only trying to protect her, but she knew it for what it was ─control.
She gripped the phone receiver tight in frustration.
“If you’re going to cave in to Dad, then I will have to find another agent, one who will put me first.”
“Save yourself the time. I quit.” She heard Ida release a frustrated breath.
“I’m too old for this, Eden. I hadn’t known Vogue would put you on the cover as an up-and-coming modeling star instead of simply doing a small article in the magazine on you.
Your parents, especially your father, were fit to be tied when he saw it. ”
“They are merely upset because they want me to return home and marry Mark Lambert. But I refuse to do that. All Mark and I will ever be is friends. We tried telling our families that, but they won’t listen,” Eden said, looking around at her surroundings.
She’d appreciated getting a ride this far from the mother of two who had picked her up.
Escaping from New York had been easier than she had thought.
Her destination had been Florida, but she had ended up in Phoenix.
The woman, whose name was Beth, and her two-year-old twin girls, were racing across state lines on their way to their parents’ home in Phoenix.
She’d been running from the man she called her ‘crazy husband’.
And here Eden was, doing her best to escape her parents, going anywhere, as long as it was far away from Boston.
“Where are you, Eden?”
“It’s best you don’t know my location, Ida,” she said, looking around the area from the safety of the phone booth.
“You can’t lie straight, and Dad’s henchmen will have you shaking in the knees and spilling your guts in no time.
Besides, you dropped me as a client, so there’s no reason for you to know my whereabouts.
The only thing I will tell you is that I’m safe. Goodbye.”
“Eden, wait!”
“What, Ida?”
“You should know that I overheard one of your father’s men say they are tracking your credit cards and they know you’re headed west.”
Dang. She hadn’t thought of that. She’d filled Beth’s car with gas, paying for everyone’s hotel rooms, and making sure they ate along the way. “Thanks for telling me.”
Eden then disconnected the call and fished coins from the pockets of her jeans to make another one. She hoped Amélie, hopefully her soon-to-be agent, was still in New York and hadn’t left for Paris.
“Bonjour. Are you ready for me to manage your career?”
“Yes.”
There was a long pause, and then Amélie asked, “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely. Ida dumped me after my father put the fear of God in her.”
“Well, her loss is my gain. Where are you?”
“On the run. Dad’s men are trying to find me.”
“The fashion industry is closed for the holidays and won’t be back in full swing until the first of the year,” Amélie said. “Can you get to Paris this week?”
“No. Dad is tracking my credit card purchases, so I can’t buy a ticket.”
“Then I will purchase one and send it to you. Where are you?”
“In Phoenix, but I’m not sure how long I will be here if I can get a ride elsewhere. I think I’ll go into hiding for a while. At least until after the holidays.”
“Okay, Eden. When the holidays are over, let me know where you are, and I will get a ticket to you. In the meantime, I will arrange for you to have a nice flat in the heart of Paris, ready for you upon your arrival. If your father’s men try taking you away after you get here, it will be considered kidnapping. ”
There was no need to tell Amélie that if her father gave his men orders to bring her home, they would do so, no matter what it took. “I will keep you in the loop. The only good thing is that Dad doesn’t know anything about you.”
“And if he did, it wouldn’t matter. I know how to handle controlling fathers ─I had one myself.
Ida was a fool for caving. That cover on Vogue helped jumpstart your modeling career, and I plan to ensure the name Eden is known worldwide.
Vogue is just the beginning. Take care of yourself, and I expect you to keep in touch, just to let me know you’re okay. ”
“Will do, Amélie. Goodbye.”
Coming out of the phone booth, Eden studied her surroundings.
She was at a strip mall somewhere in Phoenix.
She only knew that because Beth had told her that when she had dropped her off.
Eden had liked Beth and her girls, but hated that she’d had to give them a fake name.
Still, it had been for the best. The fewer people who knew of her whereabouts, the better.
One thing was for certain ─this place was definitely in the holiday spirit.
Every shop was decorated with Christmas decorations.
Christmas had always been her favorite holiday, but not this year.
After finding out about her modeling contract, her father had demanded she come home for Christmas.
When she had refused, reminding him that she was now twenty-one, he had told her she didn’t have a choice.
That was when she decided to prove him wrong.
Instead of going home to Boston, she had packed as many of her belongings as she could get into her backpack and left her apartment, bound for parts unknown.
She had taken the train from New York to Philly, and then the bus to New Jersey.
She’d been lucky to run into Beth at a coffee shop in Trenton.
“Hey, green eyes. I’ve been watching you. Aren’t you a pretty little thing?” a man said.
Eden blinked at the tall, robust man who had suddenly appeared in front of her. He wore jeans and a t-shirt that seemed to have had better days. He’d been watching her? At least he wasn’t one of her father’s men. All of them wore business suits.
Deciding to ignore him, she moved to go around him when he grabbed her arm. “Turn me loose.”
“No, sweetheart, you are coming with me. And if you think of screaming, I will break your arm,” he threatened.
“If you don’t turn me loose, you’ll be sorry,” she warned him.
“I doubt that,” he said with a sneer. “Now come with me.”
When he tried pulling her toward a beat-up pickup truck parked at the curb, she knew she had to make a move and do it now, even if it was in the middle of a busy sidewalk filled with Christmas shoppers.
Unfortunately, the shoppers seemed more interested in the sales posted in the stores’ windows than in a woman about to be abducted in broad daylight.
The one thing she would forever appreciate was her father’s decision to have her take self-defense classes.
Eden knew she surprised the heck out of the man when she went in combat mode, kicking his legs from under him, before using her pointed-toe boot to kick him in the groin.
He released her, falling to his knees and howling in pain while clutching his balls.
Eden took off running and didn’t look back.
Rounding the corner at the end of a building, she darted in between cars and kept running until she came to what looked to be a truck stop.
She glanced toward a parked tractor-trailer.
Its back was open and boxes were being loaded into it.
Hiding low behind a crate, she waited until the two men who were standing by the truck went into the building.
Seeing her chance, she ran to the truck and peeked inside.
Deciding this was a safe place to hide for a minute, she climbed into the back and found a good place behind several tall boxes that shielded her from view.
The men returned, and she heard them talking.
“Do you think you will make it to Escondido with this shipment before nightfall, Drew?”
“That’s the plan. It’s just across the California border. Then I will reload and head east to make a delivery to Dollywood.”
“That park is still under construction?”
“Yes. It’s supposed to be completed in another year.”
“That’s a thirty-hour haul from California to Tennessee, right?”
“Thirty-five with periodic stops in between, which includes three hotel stays. I’ll get there in three and a half days, hopefully.”
“Where will you spend the holidays, since North Carolina is off limits to you? It’s a shame you can’t spend the holidays with your family.”
“It’ll be fine. When I leave Dollywood, I plan to head up the Smoky Mountains to a lodge there. I’ll start back a day or two after New Year’s.”
“If you change your mind, you’re always welcome to join me and Marcie for Christmas dinner.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine. I’m looking forward to a little alone time. It’ll be nice to enjoy some peace and quiet for a change.”
Fred nodded. “Thanks again for agreeing to deliver those bikes to Delores when you get to Escondido. She’s having a hard time since Stan died, and I wanted to surprise my nephews with those bikes for Christmas.”
“I had extra space in my truck, so it’s no problem.”
“Well, I appreciate it, Drew. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.”
“The same to you, Fred.”
Then they closed the back of the truck, and everything went dark.
Eden pulled her miniature flashlight from her backpack and glanced around.
Boxes were everywhere, but there was space for her to stretch out, and a quilted blanket that covered one of the boxes looked clean and decent. It would have to do.