Page 5 of Enigma (Pros and Cons Mysteries #6)

C learwater General Hospital smelled like disinfectant and industrial-strength coffee.

Olive sat in the emergency department waiting area, surrounded by the usual collection of people.

A mother held a feverish toddler, an elderly man clutched his chest while his wife filled out paperwork, and a teenager with a clearly broken wrist tried to look tough while his parents worried beside him.

Olive checked her phone for the dozenth time.

It had been three hours and fifteen minutes since her call with Jason. He’d said six hours, which meant she still had two hours and forty-five minutes to figure out what she was going to say when he walked through those doors.

Needing to stretch her legs, she stood and walked to the front desk. She knew because of HIPPA laws that they couldn’t give out much information, but maybe they’d share something.

“Can I help you?” asked a nurse whose scrubs were decorated with cheerful cartoon characters that were a stark contrast to the given circumstances.

“I was wondering if there were any updates on Lloyd Stewart.”

“Are you family?” The nurse blinked sweetly as she waited for Olive’s response.

“No, I’m not. But I’m the one who found him.”

The nurse frowned. “I can’t give you details, but I can tell you he’s stable. We’re still waiting on some of the toxicology results, but his vital signs are improving.”

“Thank you.” Olive took a step back.

At least Lloyd was holding steady. That was something she could tell Jason when he arrived—assuming he was still speaking to her.

Maybe she should call him again. Should try to explain better, try to make him understand why she’d felt the need to come alone.

At the thought, Olive pulled out her phone and stared at Jason’s contact information, her thumb hovering over the call button.

But what could she say that would make this better? That she’d been so afraid of losing him that she’d made a decision guaranteed to push him away?

She twisted her lips in a wry frown.

Maybe calling him was a bad idea.

But she desperately wanted to talk to someone about this situation—someone who wasn’t upset with her.

With that thought, she scrolled through her other contacts and found Tom Greer’s number.

As Olive’s former guardian and the FBI agent who’d taken her in after her family’s murder, Tom had become something of a father figure to Olive over the years.

She desperately needed someone to talk to, and Tom kept popping into her mind.

He was a busy man, but she knew he’d make time for her. He always did.

“Olive?” Tom immediately sounded concerned. “Everything okay? Aren’t you supposed to be taking some time off?”

“I’m in Florida,” she said without preamble. “I went to see Lloyd Stewart—Jason’s father. Long story short, someone drugged him and left him for dead.”

A long pause. “Please tell me you didn’t go there alone without telling anyone.”

“I told Jason. Eventually.” Olive rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache building behind her eyes. “He’s not exactly thrilled with me right now.”

She usually didn’t talk about her love life with anyone. But she’d gone back to Indiana to have dinner with Tom and his wife, Jill, when she took time off from work. She’d caught them up on some parts of her life—including the fact that she and Jason had reconnected.

The truth was, Tom hadn’t even seemed surprised.

Did he keep tabs on her?

She wasn’t sure, but part of her could see him doing so.

She’d also talked through the situation concerning Lloyd.

“I can imagine.” He paused. “What did you find at the scene?”

Olive described Lloyd’s home, the puncture wound, the evidence of a professional at work. Tom listened without interrupting. He’d always been a great listener.

The period in her life after her family had died had been horrible, but Tom and Jill had helped make it bearable. For that, Olive would always be grateful.

“Sounds like someone wanted to silence him but make it look natural,” Tom said.

Olive rubbed her forehead, wishing the motion would take away the ache there. “What if someone went to Lloyd’s house looking for records about my father? What if Lloyd was getting ready to tell the truth about his involvement, and someone tried to stop him?”

“It’s possible. But Olive, you need to be careful. If someone was willing to kill Lloyd to keep him quiet, they might be willing to do the same to you if they think you’re getting too close to the truth.”

The warning sent a chill down Olive’s spine, but his words didn’t surprise her. She’d been in dangerous situations before, though usually not because of her own impulsive decisions.

“I know. I just . . . I need answers, Tom. About my father, about what really happened to my family. Lloyd is the only lead I have.” They’d talked about this before. The FBI had investigated the murder of her family, after all.

And Olive had always suspected there were things Tom never shared with her.

“I understand,” Tom said. “But promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I will.”

After she ended her call with Tom, Olive settled back into the uncomfortable waiting room chair and watched the clock on the wall tick away the minutes.

The automatic doors at the front of the emergency department slid open with a soft whoosh, and Olive’s head snapped up. She expected to see Jason—even though she knew it was too early.

Instead, it was another family dealing with their own crisis.

Disappointment—and a measure of relief—swept through her.

Two and a half more hours, she told herself. Two and a half hours to figure out how to apologize.