'I remember you. You smiled and sang, but Mama said you never
wanted me.'
Eva stuck her chin out, defying him to believe she cared but pain
shot through her eyes.
'Mama didn't much like me either but at least she didn't leave
me.' With this she turned and rushed into the bar, her shoulders beginning to
shake.
Milo followed her leaving Gray, horrified and shocked, outside
with the owner who now put his gun away and introduced himself as Ty, Milo's
uncle.
'I'm guessing by the look on your face that you didn't leave
her?' Ty asked. Gray shook his head numbly.
'Aisha... Her mother. She used Eva to try and fix our
relationship. I loved Eva, still love Eva, but when I told Aisha it was over
she just vanished and took Eva with her. I've been searching for her for a
decade.'
Ty looked at the man in front of him with sympathy, his
expression was so desperate, his tone so broken that Ty knew he wasn't lying.
'Listen man, you have to tell Maia, I mean Eva, all of that. But
she's gonna want proof and it won't be easy to make her believe you. She's not
even fourteen but she's been hurt too often, she puts on a good front with the piercings and the attitude, but she's a mess. You want your daughter back, I get
that, but it's going to take time and it's probably going to break you heart
all over again.'
Gray nodded, he'd never really imagined what might happen if he
found Eva, imagining her personality to be the same as she'd been as a child.
He would do whatever it took.
'Ty, can you tell me what you know about her, so I have some idea
what I'm dealing with before I go to her and try to persuade her to come home with
me?'
The older man nodded grimly.
-------------------------------------------
'I met Eva when she moved to the neighbourhood a year ago. Milo
found her sleeping in the bus station and brought her here for the night. It
took a couple of months to get her to trust us. She's never told us much but
here's what I figured out.
Antonia brought Eva and
her little sister Cara, short for Carmen I think, to town a year ago to hide.
Seems she had been married to a guy who made his money importing and exporting
certain high risk products. Antonia was a cold woman, One time she came in here
drinking and told me she'd only brought Eva here because her husband, Jorge I
think he was called, said what she was smuggling in would be best hidden on a
kid, specially an adorable white kid.'
Gray seethed, he'd
believed many things of Aisha over the years and she was living up to most of
them.
'Even then I think Eva knew her ma didn't much care for her, especially
when she saw how she was with Carmen. Cara was a sweet child, a little slow,
but Eva and Antonia both worshipped her. Her pa liked her just fine, as long as
she stayed quiet when he had his associates over. They wanted for nothing, even
Eva was taken care of, and Antonia would have done anything for that man. What
she did do and know was the reason she was out here hiding.
Just before they moved, someone killed Jorge, don't know how,
don't know why. The girls were away at the spa. Antonia knew that with what she
knew and without his protection she was a dead woman. So she ran.
Soon after she got here she threw Eva out, I never found out why but
I got the impression from overhearing her and Milo that Antonia believed Eva
had leaked the info that lead to Jorge being killed. Eva's a smart girl and I
don't believe that's true, but one way or the other she ended up living on the
streets, creeping back in and sleeping when her ma was at work and caring for
Cara.
After Milo brought her here she asked for a job. I gave it to her
and offered her a place to stay. Two weeks ago she went back to see her sister
and found the place shot up and her family dead. I can't imagine what that was
like. We've been hiding her in case those guys are looking for her too.
Your daughter is a good girl, but she's scared and she's angry
and she doesn't trust anyone. Not even Milo really. We only found out her real
name because she was screaming in her sleep.'
Gray's head was in his hands. He'd wondered what kind of life Eva
had had, imagining all sorts of horrors which now seemed less ridiculous than
he'd convinced himself they were. Her childhood sounded alright but it was a
far cry from the affection he would have showered her with. And the past year... he couldn't begin to make sense if it, his mind going back over and again the look of
betrayal in his daughter's eyes when she'd accused him of leaving her.
Gray wasn't sure if he could ever make it all right for her, but he would
try.
After talking with Ty, it was decided that Gray would get his
proof together, ready to show that he hadn't ever given up and Ty would try and prepare Eva for
the truth of her abduction. Gray called a cab back to the police station to
collect his evidence and to see what paperwork would be involved in trying to
get Eva back home.
After a brief conversation with the police it became clear that
the issue of Eva's identity would be difficult to prove, especially if it was
tied up with the Jorge Garcia murder investigation. The man had been a kingpin
of a major drug trafficking organisation who were caught up in a deadly turf
war with a rival. However she was an at-risk minor (it was believed that the killers
of Aisha and Cara were still in the area) they might be able to issue a
temporary Visa which would get Eva home and the formalities could be dealt with
then.
The catch? Eva would have to go willingly.
Whilst the wheels were set in motion Gray called Rachel who
seemed genuinely thrilled that Eva had been found. Despite the demanding cries
of their 12 hour old son, Rachel insisted Gray should stay in Mexico and try
and orchestrate Eva's return, Casper would probably be in NCU for at least a week and
she could manage.
Gray felt as if his heart was being pulled in two. Across the
border a beautiful woman with a kind heart was caring for a demanding toddler
and a newborn baby and here in Mexico, his long- lost daughter was hurting and
alone.
It took three days to get the temporary Visa and five days to
persuade Eva to come back to Lucky Palms. She had been less harsh with Gray
once he had shown her the newspaper appeals he had made with Hallie's help, the
stacks of research and the police reports. But she couldn't dispel the
idea that she would once again become the odd one out in a family or forget the last ten years.
Eva's response to Gray's remarriage had been minimal, a single tear
that she refused to acknowledge or wipe away running down her face as he told
her about Rachel, Lillia and Casper, unable to keep the adoration from his
voice. Gray begged and pleaded, promising to protect her, to treat her equally
and to help her adjust, but Eva was stubborn in her refusal, she knew how to
survive here, she had friends.
In the end it was Milo and Ty who convinced her; Milo with his
impassioned pleas to get away from the area before whoever was out for her
family found her and Ty by threatening to kick her out and fire her. In the end Eva agreed because she was out of options.
It was far
from the loving reunion that Gray had always imagined but he didn't care as
long as she was coming back.
As they pulled away from Ty and Milo in a cab headed to the
airport, Gray tried to squeeze Eva's hand and then tried not to be hurt as she
pulled away, staring out of the window. He knew that nothing but time and
actions would truly convince his lonely daughter that she was wanted and safe.
After a quiet flight and a tense drive they arrived at their house,
Gray fighting the urge to rush inside, kiss his wife and meet his new son, giving Eva time to adjust and prepare.
As she finally began to walk through the gate, tugging nervously
on the hem of the only new dress she had let him buy her, Gray allowed himself
a small smile.
Eva was home.
