“That’s true,” she said soothingly. She needed to keep him talking no matter what.

“People will be coming to look for her,” he continued. “And, unlike you, she’s connected to this ranch. After they search her house and maybe a few other places she frequents, they’ll check here, too.”

Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. “Can’t you just say you haven’t seen her? She told me no one else even knows she was planning to stop by.”

It seemed as though he wanted to grab the easy solution she was trying to hand him. Now that Edna was with her, Evelyn didn’t want him to move them somewhere else—because he was right. Edna’s presence boosted their chances of being found.

But then he said, “And if they ask to look around?”

That would be the best of all eventualities for Evelyn, of course. Although she felt terrible that Edna was now facing the same deprivation, fear and outright danger, she couldn’t help hoping the older woman’s misfortune would have a silver lining—that they’d both be found. “You don’t have to let them.”

“If I refuse, they’ll suspect something is up and come back with a search warrant, at which point they’ll discover Emmett’s body under all that chicken manure in the coop in back. And I doubt they’ll believe me when I tell them it was you who killed him.”

When she didn’t deny her involvement, Edna whimpered on the bed. She had to be horrified by the conversation, as any normal person would be. Evelyn hadn’t mentioned Emmett, hadn’t told Edna what she’d had to do. Maybe that was a mistake; it was much harder to hear it stated so casually. But she couldn’t explain or attempt to justify her actions right now. She had to make Bishop believe she was a confederate of sorts, appeal to his desire to be liked and admired—his desire to be loved, as tragic and depraved as lying to someone about that was—or they might never escape.

“I don’t know if that’s entirely true,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper so that only Bishop could hear. “She’s just an old lady who’s lost her husband and her business, doesn’t have much else going on in her life. I don’t get the impression she’ll be missed.”

Her heart pounded as she awaited Bishop’s response. She desperately needed to sell him on the fact that there was nothing to worry about, so he’d relax and those who would miss Edna could have a chance of finding them.

“I can’t take the risk,” he said. “You and our baby mean too much to me.”

Evelyn had to curve her fingernails into her palms to keep from reacting to that statement as violently as she was tempted to. He made it sound as though he could just that easily step into Amarok’s shoes.

“So … what are you going to do?” She was proud of herself when she managed to sound normal, interested, fine with having him claim her and her baby.