CHAPTER NINE* * *RYDERWith one connecting flight, St. George, Utah, was less than four hours of travel time from Los Angeles. I flew from L.A. to Vegas, and after a quick layover in Sin City, I landed at my destination. This part of Utah was also only a few miles from the Arizona border.

The Grand Canyon wasn’t that far from here. If this were a recreational visit, I might have considered venturing out to see it. But this visit was far from recreational. What was it? Investigational? Even as I soaked in the dry heat outside of the airport, I was no more certain that I was making the right decision.

Wasn’t this an invasion of her privacy?

After picking up my rented Audi, I punched the address for Ellerby’s into my GPS and hit the road. It was approximately twenty minutes from the airport. I’d booked a hotel in town that I’d check in to later, depending on how things went.

Surrounded by canyons, I couldn’t help but think a sky view of all the red rocks would be amazing.

I’d read up a little bit about the area while I was on the plane. Apparently, the sun shines here most days. The city was named for the nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints’ church apostle George A. Smith. It wasn’t all Mormons who inhabited the area, though. There was a mix of cultures. St. George connected three geographical regions: the Mojave Desert on the west-southwest side to California, the Colorado Plateau and its four national parks, and The Great Basin to the north. Seemed like a place I’d love to visit again sometime when I wasn’t busy being a stalker.

Thirty minutes later, I finally pulled up to Ellerby’s and found a parking spot across the street. It was four in the afternoon. I had no idea if Eden even worked at this place, let alone what her hours were. She did tell me she worked during the early part of the day, which would make it likely she wasn’t even on shift.

After an hour of sitting across the street, observing people coming and going, I forced myself out of the car and entered the restaurant.

A man stood at the hostess station and grabbed a menu as he saw me approaching.

I forced my words out, trying to seem casual. “Is Eden here?”

“Eden doesn’t work on Mondays. She’s in tomorrow.”

My heart thundered through my chest as I processed his response. Eden was her real name. Eden did work here. Eden wasn’t dead—or at least they hadn’t been notified of it.

“What time does she get here?”

“She does the lunch shift. So, like, eleven in the morning.”

I swallowed. “Thank you.”

Taking a deep breath, I made my way back outside.

Alright. Calm down. You have until tomorrow to freak the fuck out.

I got back in the Audi and headed to the hotel.

The first thing I did after checking in to my room was log in to my email to see if she’d responded. There was nothing. Then I ventured over to the camming website to make sure her profile was still there. It was, although it again showed her as offline.

Now that I knew she was expected in to work tomorrow, I felt more like she might have had a change of heart about continuing to interact with me. But then I reminded myself that she hadn’t been online at all, not even for her show. So that told me something was wrong. The camming was her livelihood.

Tomorrow would be telling. I’d show up at the restaurant early so I could see whether she entered the building. And then I would wing it. Whether that meant going inside and confronting her or waiting for her to get off shift so I could follow her, I didn’t know yet.

Maybe I would just make sure she was okay and leave. I was still so fucking confused. I really didn’t want to bother her if she didn’t want to see me, but the need to confirm that she was okay trumped all. Could I ensure she was okay without making my presence known? Would it be enough for me to just confirm she was alive? My gut told me I wouldn’t be able to rest unless I knew more. And that meant confronting her.

I’d never been so damn nervous about anything in my entire life.***The next morning, I pulled up to Ellerby’s at 9AM. I didn’t know what time someone would show up for an 11AM shift, but I figured nine was early enough that I wouldn’t miss her.

The street was pretty desolate, just a few brick buildings and the restaurant. There weren’t a lot of other businesses around, and Ellerby’s wasn’t even open yet.

It was a long, slow morning, but nothing could have prepared me for the shock to the heart I felt when at approximately 10:45, I saw the silhouette of a woman approaching in the distance. As she got closer, I recognized her willowy body and long, wispy hair that was the color of sand.