Page 49 of Enigma (Pros and Cons Mysteries #6)

T evin opened his laptop and pulled up a series of spreadsheets and financial documents.

“I’ve been trying to follow the money,” he explained. “The shell company that owns your old house just didn’t make sense to me.”

“It didn’t make sense to me either,” Olive admitted, shifting on the bed to get a better view of his screen. “Why keep paying taxes and maintenance on an empty house for a decade?”

“Exactly. So I dug deeper into the Northwood Investment Group’s financial structure.

” Tevin’s fingers moved quickly across the keyboard, pulling up account records.

“It’s basically a sophisticated money laundering operation.

They take cash from illegal enterprises and filter it through legitimate-looking investments and real estate purchases. ”

“I suspected that much,” Olive said.

Tevin’s eyes lit with the excitement he always got when a complex puzzle started coming together. “But here’s where it gets interesting. I kept connecting the dots and following the money, and . . . I think this is all linked to Anton Karakov.”

Jason moved closer to look at the screen. “You actually found a direct link?”

“I did.” Tevin nodded. “And Anton Karakov is big. He runs criminal enterprises all over the world.”

“Yes, he does,” Olive murmured. “This almost seems like small beans compared to Anton’s usual enterprises.”

Tevin’s eyes continued to light up. “But I don’t think this is small beans at all. I think it’s much bigger than we ever thought. Whatever is going on in Oasis is an arm of a much larger, highly sophisticated organization.”

“Keep going.”

Tevin clicked to another screen. “I was able to trace some of the funds to one other person, a woman named Sarah Mitchell.”

Olive’s breath caught. “That’s the name the woman used when she went to Lloyd’s workplace asking about his schedule.”

The woman who’s possibly my mom. She didn’t say those words aloud, however.

“The same woman who probably abducted him.” Jason rubbed his jaw as if hiding his frown.

Olive stared at the financial records on the screen, her mind racing. “But why would she try to kill Lloyd and then abduct him?”

“Maybe something changed,” Jason said.

Tevin nodded. “Maybe she realized after the fact that he was still useful—as long as he was under their complete control.”

Olive looked at Sarah’s name on the screen, and a chill ran down her spine. She thought about the surveillance photo Simon had shown them. The woman looked so much like an older version of her mother. It was unsettling.

“Tevin . . .” she started. “Is there any way to find out Sarah Mitchell’s real identity?”

“I’m working on it. But whoever created this persona was a professional.” Tevin paused, studying Olive’s expression. “Why? Do you think you know who she might be?”

Olive met Jason’s eyes across the room, seeing her own suspicions reflected there.

“I think,” she said carefully, “Sarah Mitchell might be my mother.”

The gang had agreed they needed to meet somewhere more private than the hotel.

Tevin had used his computer magic and found a house for them to rent. Then the three of them had packed up their things and headed out.

By the time they got to the house, the rest of the team was in flight. They should be landing any time, and it would take an hour to drive there from the airport.

The old farmhouse that sat on the outskirts of Oasis was unremarkable, forgettable, and perfect for their purposes.

She, Jason, and Tevin all sat around the kitchen table. The men drank cheap coffee as they reviewed all the information they’d collected so far.

“How are you feeling right now, Olive?” Jason asked when Tevin ran to the bathroom.

Olive tested the movement of her shoulder. The cut Elena had given her would heal, but her ribs were still tender, and she had a persistent headache from where her head had hit the bathroom wall.

“Sore, but functional,” she finally said. “I’m not sitting this out.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you should. But it’s going to be easy to let your emotions dictate your actions.”

Her jaw stiffened. “I’ll be on guard.”

“I know you will . . . but that doesn’t mean I don’t still have some concerns.”

“And I appreciate that . . . but the only time you’ll need to be concerned about me is if I don’t find any answers.”

Near six p.m., their colleagues arrived.

Her teammates had all been wrapping up an assignment together in Oklahoma, so the timing had worked out remarkably well. They’d picked up some barbecue on the way, and everyone grabbed dinner to eat as they worked.

Within thirty minutes, the living room had been transformed into a command center. Nova had set up multiple laptops on the dining table, Mitzi spread printed copies of the photographed documents from Lloyd’s safe across the coffee table, and Trick assembled surveillance equipment near the window.

Patrick “Trick” Grimshaw had a trim build and curly, dirty-blond hair. He claimed to have mischievous Irish roots, something that was believable with his easy grin. He was also capable of quickly charming women.

Mitzi McGraw was beautiful, blonde, and bodacious. In her early thirties, she was an extrovert and had an instantly likable personality. Right now, her hair was pulled back in a bouncy ponytail, and she wore a focused expression.

Nova Levington was a tech genius. Petite and curvy with a small waist, her dark hair had distinctive purple streaks at the edges. She wore bright-blue glasses, and her clothing choices were notable for being either very colorful or entirely black, with no in-between. She loved cosplay and cats.

“Let’s start with what we know.” Mitzi pulled up a chair.

Olive walked the team through everything that had happened—Lloyd’s disappearance, Simon Long’s revelations about her potentially alive mother, and the financial records Tevin had uncovered showing Anton Karakov was involved.

“So we have a missing doctor, a criminal mastermind, and someone named Sarah Mitchell, who might be Olive’s mother,” Nova summarized. “Plus Elena Vasquez, who’s supposed to be dead but is very much alive and trying to kill people.”

“Don’t forget the bigger criminal infrastructure,” Tevin added. “Based on the financial patterns, this isn’t just about fraud. They’re funding something much larger.”

Trick’s lips twisted into a frown. “Human trafficking?”

Jason craned his neck, showing his skepticism. “I hate to think that’s true, but it’s a viable theory. Small towns like Oasis would be perfect for moving people or goods without detection.”

Mitzi studied the documents spread before her. “These medical records Lloyd kept—some of these patients don’t exist. But others . . . others look like real people with real injuries. The kind of injuries you’d see from forced labor or abuse.”

“So maybe Lloyd was treating trafficking victims,” Olive murmured, stealing a quick glance at Jason.

He flinched at the words but otherwise remained composed and professional. Still, she knew her words had to sting.

“Possibly. Or documenting their conditions for insurance fraud while they were being exploited.” Mitzi’s expression was grim. “Either way, he was deeper into this than he let on.”

Nova held up Elena’s phone. “I’m making progress on this, but it’s going to take time. The device has professional-grade encryption. Whoever Elena works for has serious resources.”

Yes, whoever she worked for did have serious resources.

Olive pressed her eyes closed as the next question slammed into her mind.

Was the person Elena worked for Olive’s mother?