Page 97 of Enigma

She couldn’t do it. Shewouldn’tdo it.

But if she didn’t . . .

She glanced over and saw the trafficking victims.

How could she live with herself if they died? How could she live with herself if Tom died? If Trick and Nova were killed? If Jason and Mitzi had really been taken out by that tripwire?

She needed to think of a way out of this.

She glanced around, trying to memorize the warehouse’s layout. The loading docks, the exit points, the locations of guards.

That was when she saw a security monitor on the desk.

There on one of the screens were Trick and Nova. They sat in what appeared to be a holding cell. Beside them, Tevin lay on the floor.

A cry caught in her throat when she saw the blood on his chest.

Nova held something on his wound as if to stop the bleeding.

Did that mean he was still alive?

Hope sparked in her chest.

CHAPTER 63

Olive had been pretending to contemplate her phone call when she heard it—the subtle sound of movement near the loading docks.

Her heart leaped as she recognized Jason’s silhouette slipping between shipping containers, followed by Mitzi and a third figure she couldn’t immediately identify.

They’d come for her. Her pulse quickened.

They hadn’t died because of that tripwire. In fact, somehow they’d managed to follow her here.

But she knew they weren’t out of danger yet. They were seriously outnumbered.

Had they brought backup?

“Time’s up,” Sarah announced, walking back toward Olive with Elena and two armed guards. “What’s your decision?”

Olive snapped her gaze away from her friends and stared at the phone. Again, her mind raced through impossible calculations.

Tom had saved her life, given her a future when she had nothing left. But if she didn’t make this call, he’d walk into their trap anyway—completely unprepared.

“I can see you’re struggling with this.” Sarah’s voice took on an almost maternal tone that made Olive’s skin crawl. “But think about it logically. Tom’s already a dead man. We know his schedule, his routines, where he lives. The only question is whether he dies confused and alone, or whether you give him a fighting chance by warning him what he’s walking into.”

White hot anger rushed through her veins. “You’re asking me to betray him.”

“I’m asking you to save him,” Sarah countered. “Make the call. Use code words he’ll understand. Tell him it’s dangerous. A man like Tom Greer didn’t survive thirty years in federal law enforcement by being stupid.”

Elena pressed the phone into Olive’s palm. “Tick tock, niece. He leaves his office in three minutes.”

Olive’s hands trembled as she held the device. She could picture Tom in her mind—the way he’d looked when he’d first taken her in, grief-stricken and determined to give her stability. The pride in his eyes when she’d graduated from college. The worry in his voice every time she called him from a dangerous assignment.

“What’s the address you want me to give him?” she asked quietly.

Sarah smiled. “Smart girl. There’s an abandoned grain silo on Route 47, about twenty miles north of town. Tell him you found something there—evidence about your mother’s survival.”

Olive’s finger hovered over Tom’s contact. Maybe she could word it carefully, make him understand the danger without alerting Sarah and Elena. Tom was smart. He’d pick up on the subtext.