Page 60 of Enigma (Pros and Cons Mysteries #6)

O live 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’ll never work 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?”

“We set up a tripwire around the house and activated it after you got here.” Sarah shrugged. “Just as a precaution.”

Olive suddenly felt as if she might pass out. The room began to swirl.

Jason and Mitzi . . . were they okay?

“What have you done?” Olive stared at Sarah, her heart pounding out of control.

“I’m not stupid, Olive. I knew you wouldn’t come here alone. Just like you, I always have a backup plan.” Sarah raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t think we were going to blindly trust you, did you? You’re smarter than that. I know you are.”

Olive’s throat went dry. “I don’t know how you live with yourself.”

Sarah waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Get her out of here.”

The men moved closer, one of them grabbing her arm.

“Where are you taking me?” Olive asked.

She knew she couldn’t leave here. These men would kill her, and her friends might never be seen again.

Olive couldn’t get the image of Jason and Mitzi lying outside hurt out of her mind. She needed to get to them. Needed to know they were okay.

But she knew she wasn’t going to be able to walk away from this.

“What do you want from me?” Olive demanded.

“I’m going to need your cooperation.” Sarah pulled out a tablet and swiped to a video file. “I think you need to see something before you make any hasty decisions.”

The screen showed a concrete room with harsh fluorescent lighting. Olive’s breath caught as she recognized three figures tied to chairs—Tevin, Trick, and Nova. All three looked roughed up but alive.

“Your friends have been asking about you.” Sarah kept her tone conversational. “Especially this one.”

She tapped the screen where Tevin sat, his face bruised but his eyes alert.

Anger flowed through her.

“Let them go,” Olive demanded. “They have nothing to do with this.”

“Actually, they have everything to do with this. They’re your weakness, Olive. The thing that will make you cooperate.” Sarah’s finger hovered over the Play button. “But I need you to understand how serious I am.”

The video began to play. A masked figure entered the frame and walked directly to Tevin. Without warning, he pulled out a pistol.

“No!” Olive lunged forward, but the armed men blocked her path.

The gunshot echoed through the tablet’s speakers.

Tevin jerked in his chair, then slumped forward, blood spreading across his shirt.

Olive’s knees nearly buckled as tears rushed to her eyes. “You killed him. You actually killed him.”

“I did what was necessary to get your attention,” Sarah said calmly, closing the tablet. “The other two are still breathing. Whether they stay that way depends entirely on your cooperation.”

The room spun around Olive as grief and rage warred in her chest.

Tevin—brilliant, loyal, caring Tevin who’d flown across the country to help her—was dead because of her investigation.

“What do you want?” Olive whispered as despair tried to bite deep.

Sarah smirked. “Now you’re being reasonable. We’re going for a little drive.”