Page 49 of Artifice (Pros and Cons Mysteries #4)

A be crouched in a shallow alcove formed by the building’s Victorian architecture, nearly invisible in his dark hoodie.

“What are you doing out here?” Olive whispered, scanning for security cameras.

“Waiting for you.” His eyes were wide, nervous. “I saw Thorne heading for the dispensary. Figured you might be there.”

“How did you know?—”

“Because that’s where Colin went before he disappeared.” Abe glanced over his shoulder. “We need to move. Follow me.”

He led her around the building to a maintenance shed, slipped inside, and pulled the door closed behind them. The space smelled of soil and motor oil, with gardening tools hanging on the walls like strange instruments.

“Colin figured it out,” Abe said without preamble. “Whatever they’re giving us—those supplements—he realized they were experimenting on us. Changing us.”

“How?” Olive asked.

“Like I told you earlier, he stopped taking them. Pretended to swallow, then spit them out later. After a couple weeks, he said his head felt clearer than it had in months.” Abe’s voice trembled slightly.

“He started noticing things. Like how some kids who fought the system suddenly became perfect little robots. Or how Dr. Wells would take blood samples from everyone, but some kids got called in more often than others.”

“He documented this,” Olive said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. On his phone. Videos, photos, recordings. He was building a case, he said. For when he got out. His dad’s a lawyer, and I guess Colin paid more attention than he let on.

” He swallowed hard. “The night before he disappeared, he told me he was going to follow Thorne to see where they were taking the ‘special cases’—kids who’d been in the Quiet Room too many times. ”

“Did he tell you where he hid his phone?”

“Not exactly.” Abe hesitated. “But the day before, he showed me this place where he could get cell reception. Where the school’s signal jammers don’t reach.”

Olive tensed. “Where?”

“There’s a cave on the northwest side of the cliff near the lighthouse.

Locals call it the Osprey Nest because birds roost in the rocks above it.

” Abe’s voice dropped lower. “Colin said if anything ever happened to him, that’s where I should look.

He had a solar battery pack—the kind hikers use.

Said it would keep his phone alive for months if needed. ”

“Why there? Why not just email the evidence to someone?”

“He tried. Said the school’s Wi-Fi blocks certain uploads.

The signal jammers block most cell service on the property.

” Abe’s eyes looked haunted in the dim light.

“But the cave entrance . . . it’s like a weird dead zone where signals can get through.

Colin thought it had something to do with the old lighthouse equipment still embedded in the cliff, creating some kind of pocket where the jammers don’t work. ”

“How do I get there?”

“You don’t.” Abe’s voice was flat. “It’s a death trap. The only path down was damaged in the last storm. Colin was on the rock- climbing team at his old high school, so he knew what he was doing. Even he said it was sketchy.”

Olive thought about the bottles in her jacket. Evidence, yes, but not enough. They’d need Colin’s documentation to bring down both Lighthouse Harbor and whoever was behind it.

She had no choice but to check it out.

Abe studied her face, then nodded slowly.

“There’s a maintenance trail that branches off from the main lighthouse path.

Follows the cliff edge. When you reach the rusted warning sign, look for a path heading down to the left.

It’s overgrown, barely visible. Follow it until you see a split juniper tree.

The cave entrance is about twenty feet below that, set into the cliff face.

” He hesitated. “You can’t see it from above. You have to already be on the ledge.”

Olive committed the directions to memory. “Thank you.”

“If you find his phone . . .” Abe’s voice caught. “Colin was my friend. The only real one I had here. I need to know what happened to him.”

“I’ll find out. But Abe, you need to be careful. They’re watching everyone closely, especially after tonight.”

“I know how to be invisible here,” he said with a bitter smile. “It’s the only way to survive.”

A beam of light swept past the shed’s single dirt-streaked window. Security patrol.

“Go,” Abe whispered. “I’ll count to fifty, then make some noise on the east side of the property. Should give you time to get clear.”

Olive nodded, her hand on the door.

As she slipped out into the darkness, her mind was already racing ahead to the cliff, to the cave, to the evidence that might finally reveal the truth about Lighthouse Harbor—and the truth about what happened to Colin Andrews.

She had a change of clothes in her car—black pants, a black T-shirt, and tennis shoes.

She’d need to quickly swap out her outfit . . . because the heels she wore now just weren’t going to work.