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.