Page 93 of Enigma

Sarah straightened and looked at Olive, disappointment dripping from her gaze.

“You always were too much like me,” she said. “Too quick to anger, too willing to act before thinking. It’s what got your parents killed, and now it’s going to get you killed too. I can’t protect you any longer.”

CHAPTER 60

Olive paused and raised her hands in the air.

She needed to tamp down the heat of the situation before these men killed her.

She couldn’t let that happen. Not yet.

Hopefully not at all.

“Where are my friends?” she asked. “Lloyd? Lloyd’s girlfriend.”

Sarah’s shoulders relaxed. “You don’t worry about them.”

“Of course I’m going to worry about them. That’s what you do when you care about people—not that I expect you to understand.” Olive hadn’t meant for those words to slip out.

Sarah tilted her head. “I do care about you. It’s the only reason you’re still alive. I see so much of myself in you.”

“We’re nothing alike.”

She clucked her tongue. “I wouldn’t say that. You think you’re noble, but you still operate on deceit, just like me. You just try to justify it differently.”

“I try to help people.”

“I help me.” She shrugged.

Irritation festered between her shoulder blades. “You help the powerful become more powerful for their own selfish gain. There’s nothing righteous about that.”

Sarah shook her head. “There it is. You sound like your parents now after they’d had their change of heart and realized they wanted more for their children. It was a crying shame.”

Olive stared at her. “What are you going to do with me?”

“Convince you to work for me.”

“That’s never going to happen.” The thought was almost laughable.

“I could use someone with your skills on my team.”

“I’llneverwork for you.”

Sarah sighed. “I figured you’d say that much. In the event you did, I’ve been given strict instructions.”

“And what are those instructions?”

Sarah motioned to the men around her. “That I eliminate all witnesses. I’m sorry, Olive. I really did want this to turn out differently.”

This would be a great time for Jason and Mitzi to intervene.

Almost as if Sarah were reading her mind, she grinned.

Instantly, Olive knew that Sarah knew something she didn’t.

The next instant, an explosion sounded outside.

Olive swallowed a scream. “What was that?”