Page 41 of Enigma

“Or whether this is?—”

Jason’s words were cut off by the sound of car doors slamming. Not from the sedan, but from behind them.

Olive spun around to see two men emerging from a white panel van parked near the hotel’s side entrance. Both wore baseball caps pulled low and moved with the purposeful stride of people who knew exactly what they were doing.

“Run,” Jason said. “Now.”

As Olive turned toward the hotel lobby, a third man stepped out from behind a concrete pillar near the entrance.

He wore the same dark clothing as the attackers from Nancy’s house, and his hand moved toward something concealed beneath his jacket.

She and Jason were trapped in a triangle of assailants, caught in the open parking lot with nowhere to go and innocent bystanders close.

“The pool area.” Olive grabbed Jason’s arm. “More witnesses, more cover.”

They broke into a sprint toward the pool deck, weaving between parked cars as footsteps pounded the asphalt behind them. Olive heard one of the men speaking into what sounded like a radio.

Her stomach clenched.

These weren’t random criminals or opportunistic kidnappers. These were people who did this for a living.

The pool area was separated from the parking lot by a decorative concrete wall about chest-high, with an opening that led to the deck where hotel guests lounged in chairs and played in the water.

Olive vaulted over the wall, Jason right behind her.

They landed hard on the concrete pool deck.

“Hey!” A hotel guest looked up from his magazine, startled by their sudden appearance.

“Call 911,” Olive gasped. “Men with guns in the parking lot.”

The effect was immediate.

Guests began scrambling out of pool chairs, parents scooping up children, and everyone rushed toward the safety of the hotel building. The chaos provided cover, but it also put innocent people in potential danger.

She lifted a prayer for their safety, desperately hoping they hadn’t made the wrong decision.

Olive looked back toward the parking lot and saw their pursuers had reached the concrete wall.

Soon, those men would reach Jason and Olive. It was only a matter of time.

That meant every second counted.

CHAPTER 26

Sirens approached, becoming louder, and Olive saw flashing lights reflecting off the windows of nearby buildings.

In moments, the parking lot would be flooded with police cars, and their pursuers would melt away into the crowd of confused hotel guests and bystanders.

“We need to get out of here,” Olive said. “Before the police arrive and tie us up with questions we can’t answer.”

“Where? Our car?—”

“Is compromised. They know what we’re driving.” Olive already moved toward the hotel’s rear exit, staying low behind the concrete wall. “We need another way out.”

As they crept along the pool deck, using overturned furniture as cover, Olive caught sight of movement in her peripheral vision.

One of the attackers had circled around the building and approached from the far side of the pool area.