Page 51 of Enigma

But the hard part was just beginning.

CHAPTER 33

The building was dark and eerily quiet, filled with an antiseptic smell that seemed universal to medical facilities.

Jason led the way through a narrow hallway lined with exam rooms and offices, moving confidently despite the darkness.

Olive followed close behind, every nerve on edge.

This felt different from their other break-ins—more deliberate, more calculated. More illegal. They weren’t running from immediate danger this time. No, this time they were actively seeking information that could change everything.

She prayed this would all be worth it.

“Here.” Jason stopped outside a door marked “Office.” “This was Dad’s.”

He opened the door, and Olive saw a desk against one wall, filing cabinets along another, and a small window that looked out over the parking lot.

Jason went straight to a section of wall beside the filing cabinets and ran his hands along the baseboards. “It’s behind here. Dad built it himself, said he needed somewhere secure for sensitive patient files.”

Olive kept watch at the door while Jason worked.

“He was paranoid about keeping certain records separate from the main files. I never really questioned him. To be truthful, sometimes Dad acted paranoid. Maybe it’s because he was paranoid.”

Jason found what he was looking for and pressed against a section of baseboard. A panel about two-feet-square swung inward, revealing a small space behind the wall.

Inside was a metal door with a combination lock on it.

“That’s it.” Jason stared at the safe. “Now comes the hard part—cracking the code to get inside.”

“Any idea what the combination might be?” Olive sat beside Jason on the floor and studied the safe.

Jason stared at the lock, his brow furrowed in concentration. “He always used significant dates. Mom’s birthday, the day he graduated medical school . . .”

Jason tried several combinations without success.

“What about the day you were adopted?” Olive suggested.

Jason tried those numbers.

Nothing.

“Your siblings?” she asked.

He tried again.

Still nothing.

Jason sat back, his brow furrowed. “There has to be something. He wouldn’t have made it impossible for family to access if something happened to him.”

Olive watched Jason think, watched as he rubbed his jaw.

“What about . . . ?” Jason’s fingers moved to the lock again. “The day we moved to Oasis.”

“You actually remember that date?”

“It’s easy—Fourth of July when I was only six.”

Olive was impressed.