Page 59 of Enigma (Pros and Cons Mysteries #6)

O live’s mind raced as she stared at the woman in front of her.

Her aunt ? Her mom was an only child. She didn’t have any sisters.

But Olive couldn’t deny the resemblance between the two women.

Her heart pounded harder.

“I don’t have any aunts.” Olive’s voice sounded thin with trepidation.

Sarah’s smile slipped as her features darkened into a scowl. “That’s because your mother told me I wasn’t allowed near you.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She didn’t feel I was safe.” Bitterness punctuated each word. “She didn’t like the company I kept.”

“And what kind of company was that?”

“As you know, your mother was sent to foster care. So was I. To different homes. I wanted to be with your mom, but no one listened to me. I ended up with a fairly affluent family in the DC area.”

Olive waited, her pulse thumping in her ears as she listened. “And?”

“And . . . because of their affluence, I was able to travel to Europe after graduating high school. I wanted to get a job and try to adopt Margot. My foster parents told me it would never work and that I shouldn’t give up my future for this.”

“And you listened?”

Sarah’s gaze darkened. “It was hard, but they made some good points. Besides, Margot had changed. She’d met your father and . . . well, it was complicated. I went to Europe. While I was in Amsterdam, I met a man who saw real potential in me.”

“So you fell in love? With Anton, I can only assume.”

Sarah shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it that. He was more like a father figure. And he asked me to do things for him for some extra cash. And you know what? I was good at doing the things he recruited me to do—things like making drops, following people, getting them to give me money.”

Olive’s mind raced forward. “I can only assume that, since you excelled, you continued.”

“He opened up a whole new world to me. Turned out my foster parents were into some pretty shady things in the DC area. I helped some of those things come to light also.”

“So this guy targeted you because of your foster parents essentially.”

Her gaze darkened. “He targeted me because he believed in me.”

Pieces began clicking into place in Olive’s mind. “So, then you began recruiting people to help in your little network. You were the mastermind behind all the cons, weren’t you? Not my mom.”

Sarah’s scowl transformed into a satisfied grin. “That’s right. Anton and I built something beautiful—an international network that moves millions of dollars and provides services that certain people desperately need. Your mom and dad were simply people who worked for us.”

“You were calling the shots? Not my parents?” Olive asked, though she was beginning to understand the truth.

Sarah smirked. “They wanted in at first. Your father was always looking for easy money, and your mother . . . well, she was good at reading people, at making them trust her. They made a good team. They were useful for a while.” Sarah moved to a chair across from Olive but didn’t sit down.

“Then they wanted out. Started talking about going legitimate, giving you kids a normal life. They thought they could just walk away.”

“But they were in too deep.” Pieces continued to click together in Olive’s mind.

“Exactly. I couldn’t let them expose everything we’d built just because they suddenly developed a conscience.” Sarah’s voice carried the cold logic of someone who’d made peace with violence long ago.

“So all my father’s schemes . . .” Olive tried to process everything she was learning. “They were all your ideas?”

Sarah laughed, a sound devoid of warmth. “Not exactly. I may have taught him everything he knew about reading marks and setting up cons, but he did much of what he did on his own. Your father understood the most effective ways to get money—and it wasn’t by working a nine-to-five job.”

Olive stared at this woman who claimed to be family, trying to reconcile the loving memories she had of her parents with what Sarah was telling her.

Everything felt like too much.

But she had to comprehend this—and fast.

Because time was running out.

“I don’t understand,” Olive finally said. “Did you kill my family?”

The smile faded from Sarah’s face, and a shadow filled her gaze. “I tried to protect them, Olive. You have to understand that.”

“What does that mean?” Olive demanded, emotion trying to well in her.

“It means your parents went behind my back and got the feds involved.” Sarah moved to the window and peered out through the curtains. “They cut a deal—information about our operations in exchange for witness protection.”

The ground seemed to shift beneath Olive’s feet. “So my dad really did have a change of heart?”

“Oh, he had a change of heart all right,” Sarah said with a bitter laugh.

“When we moved into the human trafficking realm, your mom and dad freaked out. Didn’t want anything to do with it.

Then your father said he found Jesus. He started taking online theology classes, talking about redemption and making amends. ”

“What?” That wasn’t what Olive had expected.

“It all started to change in Oasis. He decided he wanted out.”

Her mind raced through her memories, trying to grab onto something that would make everything make sense. “Did something happen there?”

“One of our contacts roughed up your mother, and your dad decided he was done. He said he couldn’t continue living that kind of life.”

Olive’s heart pounded in her ears. “Wait . . . those bruises on my mom weren’t from my dad?”

Sarah snorted. “No. Your dad wouldn’t have hurt your mom like that. Like I said, one of our contacts tried to send a message.”

Her thoughts continued to race. That changed so much about everything Olive had thought about her mom and dad. Maybe Dad wasn’t the monster she’d thought he was.

“So up until that point, he was working for you,” Olive murmured. “They both were. But then they wanted out.”

“They did. But your parents knew too much about our network, about the people we worked with, the money we moved. There was no way they could just ‘get out.’”

More pieces clicked together in her mind. “That’s why we moved in the middle of the night, isn’t it? My family left Oasis trying to get away from you.”

“Now you’re putting things together,” Sarah muttered. “He really thought they could start a new life, but he was in entirely too deep. If he’d just listened to me, if he’d kept his mouth shut . . .”

“And my mother? Your sister. How could you . . . ?”

The implication hung heavy in the air.

Things would have been different if they’d kept playing along. Her parents could have continued their cons. Continued supplying money, products, and information to Sarah and Anton.

If so, her family would still be alive.

But her parents had tried to do the right thing. It had ultimately gotten them killed.

Nausea roiled in her gut at the thought.

“Witness protection pickup was scheduled for the next morning. Your father thought he was so clever, arranging it all behind my back.” Sarah turned away from the window. “But I have people everywhere, Olive. People who keep me in the loop.”

Some of her disgust quickly morphed into anger. “So it’s true then. Just like I thought. If I’d been home that night, I’d be dead too.”

Sarah’s expression flickered with something that resembled regret. “I didn’t want any of you kids hurt. That was never the plan. But my opinion, well, it was . . . vetoed.”

The casual way she said it—like Olive’s life had been decided by committee vote—sent a surge of rage through her chest.

“You killed my sisters!” Olive’s voice rose. “Jessie and Jules were only eleven years old. They were innocent!”

“I know how old they were!” Sarah snapped, some of the glibness leaving her gaze.

“I told them not to hurt the kids. I even thought about what it would have been like to raise you girls myself. I thought Anton and I had reached an agreement—that you girls wouldn’t be harmed, no matter what everyone else said. But then . . .”

Her hand covered her mouth as if the memories were too much to take.

“I should have done it myself, then this would have never happened,” Sarah continued. “Your sisters would have been alive. But it was too late.”

“You should have protected them! That’s what aunts are supposed to do!”

Her nostrils flared. “Do you think that was easy for me? They were my nieces too.”

Her nieces too? Like she cared. Like she wasn’t a career criminal only concerned with power and money.

This woman disgusted her.

Olive lunged toward Sarah, fury overriding every tactical consideration. “You murdered my entire family! You took everything away from me. Everything! All for your own selfish gain.”

Before she reached her aunt, three armed men stepped from the shadows.

All three had their weapons trained on Olive.

“I wouldn’t,” the man behind the couch said calmly.

Olive froze. She was outnumbered and outgunned.

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.”