Page 30 of Enigma

“Me too.” Jason pocketed his phone and looked at her injured arm again. “Come on. We need to at least clean and bandage that cut properly.”

CHAPTER 18

Olive sat on the edge of Lloyd’s bathroom counter while Jason carefully cleaned the cut on her forearm with supplies from the medicine cabinet.

She was hyperaware of every touch as Jason gently dabbed at the wound with an antiseptic pad. His hands were steady and sure, and she smelled his familiar scent—soap and something else distinctly him.

The aroma reminded her of all the times they’d been close like this.

Her mind flashed back to when they’d dated in high school. To the Friday night football games. The stolen kisses beneath the bleachers. The way she’d felt as if she was walking on air.

Then, just for a second, her thoughts drifted to Tevin. Drifted to his confession four days ago. To the hurt in his eyes when she’d walked away.

Could her future really be with him instead of Jason?

Tevin was steady, reliable, someone who understood her work and never made her feel like she had to choose between her heart and her investigations.

But sitting here with Jason gently tending to her injuries, feeling the familiar pull of attraction and connection, she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

“This might sting,” Jason warned, applying antibiotic ointment to the cut.

“I’m fine.” Olive’s voice came out smaller than she’d intended.

“You keep saying that, but you’re clearly not fine. None of this is fine.” Jason reached for a bandage, his movements careful and precise. “Someone tried to hurt us tonight, Olive. Twice. Someone with training and resources.”

“I know.” She watched his face as he worked, noting the concentration in his expression, the way his brow furrowed slightly when he was focused. “The question is, who were they?”

“And what did they want?” Jason secured the bandage and stepped back slightly, though he didn’t move far in the small bathroom. “Were they trying to stop us from finding Dad, or were they trying to send us a message?”

“Both, maybe. And we still don’t know about Nancy. I know we’ve already talked about this, but is she involved or is she another victim? I’m not any closer to a conclusion.”

“I can’t believe she’s involved,” Jason said, but uncertainty stained his voice. “You saw how worried she was about Dad. That felt real.”

“Everything about this feels real until it doesn’t,” Olive murmured. “I’m sure the woman who attacked your father seemed like a legitimate woman in need of assistance.”

Jason ran a hand through his hair. “So where does that leave us? We don’t know where Dad is, we don’t know if Nancy’s trustworthy, and we have people willing to use violence to stop us from investigating.”

“We keep looking,” Olive said. “We follow every lead until we find answers.”

“Even if it gets us killed?”

Before Olive could answer, her phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID, and her pulse quickened. “It’s Tevin.”

Olive answered the phone quickly, putting it on speaker so Jason could hear. “Tevin, please tell me you have something.”

“I do, and it’s urgent,” Tevin’s voice came through clearly. “Lloyd Stewart just used his debit card at an ATM. Ten minutes ago.”

Olive’s pulse spiked. “Where?”

“Corner of Gulf to Bay Boulevard and Missouri Avenue. It’s a Sun Bank ATM outside a convenience store.” Tevin typed rapidly in the background. “He withdrew a thousand dollars, which I’m guessing was his limit.”

Jason already moved toward the bathroom door.

“Tevin, how far is that location from Pelican Drive?” she asked.

“Maybe eight minutes by car if you drive fast.”